The Absence of the Rights of Animals as White House Agenda?
January 20, 2009
Dear President Obama and the White House,
Congratulations! We as citizens of this country are hopeful and eager for a change and for a peaceful path towards the future that you promise to bring. And though the agendas stated on the website speak to this end in regards to humans, there is no mention of non-humans.
As a vegan, I am deeply concerned about this omission. The animals raised en mass for human consumption is done in the worst possible ways and is akin to the torture and slavery of Africans. They are a voice that is not heard: the painful and horrific deaths, the cramped and torturous lives, the de-beaking, de-clawing, de-horning, and the wholesale disposal of newborn innocence for a bottom line profit. The experiments done on animals in the name of science are reminiscent of the worst horror movies, and yet those movies will never approach the reality that these unwilling participants endure.
How can this be an accepted practice by anyone seeking peace? How is the systematic oppression of other species any more acceptable than the systematic oppression of an ethnicity or religion? As anyone who loves their pet knows, animals have personality and thought, they feel pain and they love absolutely. Dogs, cats, and birds are not different than any other animal. I've volunteered at a farm sanctuary and see in all those cows, chickens, and pigs we take for granted the same personality in what we consider pets. Why are pets protected to some degree and not animals on farms or in labs?
I once consumed animal products. But having pets of my own, and loving animals and never wishing them any harm, I was conflicted in how I should view animals I eat. I thought abstaining from meat was a big start, until I learned of all the death involved in just dairy and eggs. The leather that my wallet and belt are made of is the skin of baby animals and a direct result of dairy. Opening my eyes further, I began to see how ingrained the use of animals are in this society and the world at large. I bring up farm animals often only because of the sheer concentration and volume of abuse and death involved, but it is not to lessen the other uses of animals.
This is in no uncertain terms a violent set of industries. Animals are slaughtered, cut open and kept alive, purposely crippled, skinned dead or alive.
Again, I ask, how can this be an acceptable path towards peace?
Though my ambitions and ideals go beyond animal welfare, I would expect at least that much from your administration. The combined pain and anguish of these innocent beings cannot be fathomed, nor is there pain lessened by what we perceive as limited intelligence. Pain is universal. The human animal and the non-human animal, when enduring torturous pain, can hardly call on intelligence for any purpose, especially if both are meant to die at the hands of a human.
Please consider and enact new reforms that at least grant farm animals more natural rights: diet catered toward the animals; exercise in non-crowded pastures; sunlight and fresh air. Please abolish the farming practices of abandonment and slow and painful death for all animals. Please open a path where animals will one day have a right to their own life. Vegan alternatives exist and would not be hard to come by if the reliance on animals wasn't so great.
Dexter King and Coretta Scott King are vegans. They saw it as an extension of Dr. King's vision. I, all vegans, and above all else, the animals that are born, raised, and killed for human needs, ask that you can also be open to the ultimate peace: non-violence for all.
Sincerely,
Kaiser Shahid