Visual Images from the Food Industry

When I was 15, my friends (especially the guys) were interested in watching documentaries called "Faces of Death", which documented brutal and/or unusual deaths of humans and animals. When I watched it there was a clip from a slaughterhouse. It was my first visual exposure to how cows are killed for food and it changed my life. I did not eat meat of cows, lamb, pigs or any other animals again until last year, after temporarily listening to an acupuncturist who incorrectly told me it would help a health problem I have. I am now back to avoiding meat.

Current issues in the food industry have brought awareness to genetically modifying animals so that they are many times the weight they would be naturally. Food turkeys are albino. Factory farms have grown into unsanitary conditions, in addition to being places of utter torture. Nutrition and other health concerns have finally grabbed the attention of the masses.

My knowledge of animal rights was updated last summer when I visited an animal sanctuary. I was not expecting the intense stores that I heard from the people who run the place. I heard stories of abuse of factory farm animals, as well as the results of racing horses. There were other random stories as well. In addition to listening to all of this I also saw the results. There was a gigantic pig, a chicken that could not stand due to its massive of body weight, a horse without eyes, a chicken with the bones of its wings exposed, and strange looking albino turkeys. I would like to document the images I've seen. As a start, I recently I briefly volunteered at an animal sanctuary in Woodstock, NY (existence was primarily focused on rescuing factory farm animals) in exchange for a few photos (see below).

However, the problem with animal abuse is not only within the food industry. All chemicals are tested on animals, from shampoo to Coca-Cola. The images I've seen have gone beyond food and into other aspects of life such as Elephant training for tourism in Thailand, animal testing for cosmetics, cock fights, bull fights, horses that are raced until they are crippled, and visiting animal sanctuaries in Upstate New York. It's traumatizing to see and hear about these things, but not as traumatizing as the truth behind the imagery.