In his total commitment to nonviolence, Gandhi always included animals, stating,
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
While we name, love and accept some species into our homes, sometimes even regard them as
family, we mutilate, torture, rape and slaughter other species for no necessity. Pigs are often castrated and cows horns burned out and tails cut off without any pain killers.
Male calves in the dairy industry are immediately sent to their slaughter for veal, and male chicks in the egg industry are often grinded alive (Milk is Cruel, Shocking Animal Cruelty).
Many consumers admit that they don’t know if they could slaughter an animal and very few can watch the cringe worthy, brutal footage of the abuse and violence at factory farms without thinking twice.
Still, we continue to pay others to carry out such absurd abuse. To what extent animals comprehend the abuse and violence they endure is hard to know, but there is no denying that they are sentient beings with nervous systems and the capacity
to feel physical pain.
