The Grand Canyon , 2011

Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. 

John Muir

Animal Liberation

This week we had to read the chapter "Down on the Factory Farm" from the book Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. To say the least, it was a rough read. I had to stop numerous times and collect myself. Factory farming is so far removed from my everyday thought and to have it roughly pushed back to the forefront of my mind was intense. The intensity was needed though because its good to be reminded why I'm a vegetarian. Not only am I a vegetarian because I vehemently disagree with factory farming but also due to the fact that being a vegetarian is so much better for the earth.

"A 2006 United Nation report revealed that the "livestock sector" generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, trains, ships, and planes in the world combined. The livestock sector is one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide and the single largest source of both methane and nitrous oxide emissions."

I was surprised by how much I learned from this reading because I've definitely tried to educate myself on this topic by watching Food Inc., reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer and (trying) to watch the movie Earthlings. Earthlings, if you've never heard of it, is similar to Food Inc, but one hundred times worse. I couldn't finish it. Dare to watch it and that's only if you have an incredibly strong stomach. I wouldn't recommend it, in the sense that's its extremely disturbing, but if you type "Earthlings" into google you can find the website and watch the movie for free.

Okay, so after reading the chapter Down on the Factory Farm, I've decided to share with you three new things I learned about factory farming:

1. Male chicks are considered to have no commercial value, so they are discarded. "Some companies gas the little birds, but often they are dumped alive into a plastic sack and allowed to suffocate under the weight of other chicks dumped on top of them. Others are ground up, while still alive, to be turned into feed for their sisters." (107-108).
2. Veal, aka baby cow, is raised on a liquid diet with no iron so that their meat will stay the pale color it needs to be. They are taken away from their mothers a couple days after their birth. To get the calves to gain as much weight as possible farmers don't give them water, so all they have is the liquid diet, which consists of powered milk and fats. In order to get them to gain even more weight the cows are confined to small stalls that they can't move around in. Many farmers also keep the calves in complete darkness 22 out of every 24 hours to keep the calves from being restless. 
3. "cattle often spend up to forty-eight or even seventy-two hours inside a truck without being unloaded. Not all truckers would leave cattle this long without rest, food, or water, but some are more concerned with getting the job finished than with delivering their load in good condition" (148). I also want to to share that: "For an eight-hundred-pound steer to lose seventy pounds, or 9 percent of his weight, on a single trip is not unusual; and it may take more than three weeks for the animal to recover the loss" (149).

So there you have it! Three tidbits that shocked me and that I thought I should share!

Meet Leon

This is Leon! He's a little alpaca living in Vermont.

He's more or less the mascot of this blog, so I thought I should introduce him to everyone. 

I decided to call my blog Leon Living Unfettered because I think that animals should have a life similar to his. Leon has a safe place to live and graze in, he is treated well and he receives the care he needs. The word unfettered is defined as: To set free or keep free from restrictions or bonds; released from physical or mental bonds; unrestrained. Leon has an unrestrained life that allows him to live as he pleases. 

We'll see how my perspective changes as I learn more in class. 

I can't wait to explore and dissect the topics we cover in class about the rights of animals and ecosystems.