Dr. Jane Goodall illustreert pijn, angst en dood in de vee-industrie met de beelden uit Tielt

“Wanneer Dr. Jane Goodall wordt gevraagd wat zij van de vee-industrie denkt, antwoordt ze met drie woorden: “Pijn, angst, dood”.” Zo begint een artikel van januari 2024 geschreven door Jane Goodall en Koen Margodt, getiteld “Essay on Factory Farms: Reasons for adopting a plant-based diet”.

Lees het artikel hier: Essay on Factory Farms: Reasons for adopting a plant-based diet, Jane Goodall and Koen Margodt, January 2024

Animal Rights is vereerd dat de Amerikaanse co-schrijvers de woorden “pijn, angst, dood” als opening van hun essay onderbouwen met de beschrijving van de beelden die een medewerker van Animal Rights begin 2017 maakte in het slachthuis van Tielt:

“Pain, Fear, Death

A large, modern slaughterhouse in Europe, that claimed to be a facility of excellence, is slaughtering more than 1.4 million pigs a year in what it states is a highly professional way. An animal advocacy organisation shattered this assertion with a five-minute video, captured by a brave man who had worked undercover at the facility for a month. Pigs are beaten, kicked, and pulled violently by their ears and tails. One image shows a pig being beaten/kicked as he drags himself along on his front legs, his back legs seemingly broken. Several pigs have open wounds. Other footage shows a pig who was meant to be electrically stunned but was still alive and screaming in terror as he was pushed backwards towards his cruel death. Other pigs lay shaking and kicking with their feet in a pool of blood.

Another pig who was still alive was hung up by his hind legs and his throat was sliced. Still alive and conscious, he was dropped from the hook into a sixty degrees Celsius (or 140 degrees Fahrenheit) scalding bath. He tries to swim, he tries to escape, his eyes look frantic, he screams, his head goes underwater, he reappears a few times before finally disappearing, drowned in the hot water. This footage is amongst the worst animal suffering we have ever seen. Towards the end of the video, a member of staff calmly comments that some things should not reach the public eye.

This is just a brief glimpse into the dark world of factory farms, where billions of pigs, calves, cows, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, salmons, and other animals are used for their meat, milk, eggs, hides and other products. Factory farms are constructed to be as efficient as possible – generating profit by breeding the largest number of animals in the shortest timespan. Slaughterhouses, to be profitable, must kill as many animals as possible in the shortest possible time. Thus, cruelty is inevitable. The treatment of the pigs in the above example is not, unfortunately, atypical – it is an inevitable outcome of the system. Factory farms try to conceal the immense animal suffering they cause from the public eye. Fortunately, brave photojournalists and other animal advocates are revealing the horrific truth.”

“This footage is amongst the worst animal suffering we have ever seen,” zeggen de schrijvers, waaronder dus de wereldberoemde antropologe en biologe Dr. Jane Goodall. Des te schokkender is het dat Animal Rights recent aantoonde dat deze misstanden blijven voortduren in Belgische slachthuizen en dat er ondanks de vele beloftes geen einde aan lijkt te komen.

Animal Rights staat dan ook achter de conclusie van het essay:

“Factory farms are one of the worst ethical developments in human history. During their years of confinement billions and billions of animals suffer Pain, Fear and Death. At the same time, this is in principle one of the easiest ethical issues to resolve, as we can and should shift towards a plant-based diet. This will be a win-win-win situation for animals, people, and Mother Nature. We have outlined the reasons why we should work to end the evil of factory farms and relegate these places to where they belong – the past.”