Animalogy:Conquest of the Animal World
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ANIMALOGY: CONQUEST OF THE ANIMAL WORLD FOOD, FUR, FARMING At times animals have been used in ways that have resulted in the worst forms of killing, abuse, torment, torture, mass slaughter, humiliation, frivolous entertainment, and fun killing (killing for the heck of it). All’s not bad, however. There are good uses for animals and there are many people who love animals. In this book I have used ‘English Canada’ spelling. My computer is naturally set up in this manner. So, there will be slight differences in spelling to those of ‘English America’ spelling. I apologize for any inconvenience. This is not an animal rights book. This book is tilted towards the animal welfare and animal use perspective. Humans can use animals to their own benefit but without the excessive humiliation, frivolity, torture, or brutality that is all so apparent. This is not speceism this is realism! I have used the word ‘Animalogy’ in my title to describe what my book is about. There are now literally thousands of animal related websites; pertaining to animal rights, animal welfare, animal use, animal abuse, entertainment, social work, social studies, human services, consumption, war, history, criminal justice, criminology, breeding, trafficking, work, clothing, killing, trapping, trading, medicine (medication, anatomy, physiology, vivisection), pharmacology, health, psychology (behaviour, vivisection), academics, display, food (pet food, animals as food), etc. Although estimates vary considerably, there are likely over 80 million cats and over 70 million dogs living in American households. Countless strays are on our streets; with five to seven million of them being euthanized annually. Animal activism is now prevalent throughout much of the world. Animal specializations in the fields of sociology, criminology, criminal justice, and social work are greatly needed. College and university students should have an option to specialize major in criminal justice, sociology, or social work with a specialization or emphasis in animals. Animal abuse is a prevalent phenomenon in our society, and in our criminal justice system. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs should be ‘academically extended’ to companion animals. What does your dog or cat need to become self-actualized? Incorporating the field of Animalogy will help to create countless jobs. In addition, many students would love to have more animal course options. All of us cannot be first class biologists or zoologists. Companion animals that are treated Animals that are treated with love, kindness, and compassion, by their owners should be ever thankful. Companion animals, like babies, cannot speak. Unless the abuse or neglect of the companion animal is manifest or blatant, it is often difficult to detect, let alone prove. Animals have been used to satisfy humanity for eons. Animals have been our companion animals, guards, slaves, entertainers (cinema, fighting, display), objects of vivisection (animal experimentation), non-paid soldiers, traction (pulling), worship, toys, objects of displaced aggression, hoarding, consumption, aphrodisiacs, and other by-product use. Humans have literally conquered the ‘animal world’. Even many of the deep sea creatures cannot evade human pollution of the waters. In addition, droves of animas in unprotected forested areas are on borrowed time. Wildlife can neither run nor hide from us humans. Our weapons can take down anything that is alive in this world. If animals could speak to us, that's what they'd say. It is estimated that ten billion animals area slaughtered annually for food in the U.S. This does not include what is taken from the water. Over 90 percent of the animals are from the poultry sector. It is estimated that over fifty billion animals are slaughtered annually for food on this planet. I’ve come across a 1.5 billion sea creature annual estimate, but it doesn’t seem accurate. The number is most likely higher. Not to mention by-catch, or throw away creatures. For instance ‘tuna nets’ are responsible for the killing of countless dolphins every year. Thankfully, new and improved dolphin safe nets are on the market. The shrimp industry is responsible for many by-catch killings. The beginning of large-scale meat eating and production was in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Salted pork was placed in barrels for storage and sale. The Massachusetts Bay Colony enacted the first animal cruelty statute in 1641. Article 92, called the ‘Body of Liberties’. This law forbade any ‘man’ from exercising cruelty or tyranny unto an animal that is used by ‘man’. This law, incredible for its time, was enacted only two decades after the Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock. Later, there were the incredible trail drives, giant slaughtering facilities. The most famous being the Chicago Union Stockyards. Factory farms carry the highest numbers of food animals. It is possible to someday see multi-level factory farms. Larger tracks of land cost more than smaller ones. ‘AGRIBIGNESS’ is in the business to make money. Factory farms hold units, or ‘singular-stocks’ not living creatures. In addition to meat, humans use the skins, eggs, milk, fat, enzymes, hair, fur, teeth, even eyes, testicles, bones, bone marrow, tongues, entrails, brains, heart, blood, fecal matter, urine, semen, etc., of animals. My personal philosophy is to enact and enforce better humane legislation for the animals, workers, and the environment. The sheer quantity of output makes it quite difficult to go slow and easy with each and every slaughtering. Many people still believe that factory farm animals live normal lives. People need to know the truth! In the end it’s the consumer who will decide. Factory farmed animals end up nicely packaged into ‘pretty’ pink-red, red, or white slabs that can be cooked into edible food. Most of us prefer to see the ‘packaged version’ of the animals. The Chicago Union Stockyards (CUSY) was established in 1865 in order to feed the demand of millions of Americans. America was a powerful nation even back then. The population was also growing rapidly. The CUSY behemoth encompassed almost 1 square mile. At the CUSY labourers unloaded animals directly into the facility for slaughtering, canning and then packing. Over twenty thousand five thousand people were employed in Chicago's meatpacking industry. Later, the number reached forty five thousand. The CUSY was responsible for ‘meat-feeding’ eighty percent of America. Americans loved meet, and they got it from the CUSY! R apid technological advances in the 1870's helped to bring forth refrigerated transport. We can thank a genius named Gustav Swift for developing the first refrigerated railroad car. Processed meat could be shipped long distances. Prior to this remarkable invention, animals were transported live. Meat producers now had a choice. Refrigerated freight cars could be ‘parked’ at loading docks to be filled with meats. Once filled, they could be transported vast distances. Although the CUSY improved the assembly line system of processing, it was in Cincinnati that this process was first used. The famed Henry Ford discovered the use of the assembly line in production from the slaughterhouse operations. In the CUSY many thousands of carcasses (regardless of shape, weight, or size) could be processed quickly. Overhead rails were used to move large carcasses from station to station. This method is still being used in many slaughterhouses. Not surprisingly, work in this environment is potentially harmful to labourers and the animals sent to slaughter. CUSY labourers had to work ‘too fast’. As a result, brutality to animals was commonplace. Knockers used sledge hammers to smash the heads of large animals. Sometimes, several blows were needed to knock out or kill an animal. The knocker had to hit a homerun on the first blow. At the CUSY, Women comprised twenty percent of the labour force. They performed jobs that required dexterity (canning, packaging, cleaning the entrails of carcasses). These women had to work ‘too fast’. Accidents during canning, cutting, and cleaning were commonplace. The repetitive motions on their hands and fingers caused hand painful and sometimes lifelong hand problems. In order to induce the women workers to work harder and faster, bonuses were given for extra canning. Full credit must also be given for the hardworking woman at the CUSY. The CUSY’s men and women were hard-working individuals who fed millions of people. Many of the workers had no alternative job offers. They were forced to work in this kind of environment. Eventually, ethnic tensions at the CUSY and nearby neighbourhoods in Chicago reached a boiling point. Ethnic groups at the CUSY were stereotyped. Members of a ‘specific’ ethnic group would work at an assigned department. This is 'ethnic compartmentalization’. Today, many Latino migrants (Mexicans and Central Americans) are moving to small town America. They are desperate for work. Many Latino migrants end up in slaughterhouses, factory farms, or as farm labourers. Conditions for these hard workers are not good. No medical care, systemic racism and discrimination, no recourse, no benefits. We must give them credit. They are hard-working people doing jobs that many of would never do. Seniority meant nothing and re-instatement after a layoff was never assured. Foremen held incredible leverage over their workers. Foremen could, and often did, abuse their workers. The atmosphere lacked mercy and compassion. CUSY labourers constantly worked in and around blood, sweat, stench, maggots, rats, animal droppings, shrieks, and brutality (upon the animals, from the supervisors). The ‘slaughterhouse stench’ could’ve killed a lion. It extended into the neighbourhood. Cold Chicago winters, hot and humid summers, increased the difficulty of working in the CUSY. Employees worked up to twelve hours a day, without benefits or medical care. Today, legal and illegal factory farm workers, many of whom are Hispanics and Asians, have filled the post of factory farm workers. Slaughterhouse workers at the CUSY were immigrants, including: Germans, Slavs, visible minorities (blacks, Hispanics).