Loka Samastha Ananda Bhavantu

  

Vegetarianism

In water oxygen is provided by fish from the movement of their fins. Organical life relies on the oxygen in the water. If you take fish out of the water animals will die. In the sky the movement in the wings of birds purify and clean the air of negativity. All animals have their part to play to make ecology move on harmony. Everything is divine animals are not created for human food consumption for there is enough vegetarian food to eat in the world without spilling blood. Animals have feeling and understanding.

Farm animals give off more gasses that destroy our planet. There is overstock of animals because of the constant breeding of cattle to keep up with the demand of meat eating. Therefore there is a lot more gases given off from these huge amounts of animals.

Everything in life has cause and effect. You can see what is happening in the world and ecology. There are disasters happening in front of our eyes. One of the 10 commandments is thou shalt not kill this is written in stone by god. This is written for a purpose and truth will never die that’s why the commandment still exists. If you want to stop disasters in the world become vegetarian and allow every creature god has created to live out its natural life peacefully in its own way to do its own divine work how god has intended. Who are we to interfere?

The  Food for the Spirit, Vegetarianism and the World Religions, observes, “Despite popular knowledge of meat-eating’s adverse effects, the non-vegetarian diet became increasingly widespread among the Hindus after the two major invasions by foreign powers, first the Muslims and later the British. Those actually trained in Vedic knowledge never adopted a meat-oriented diet, and the pious Hindu still observes vegetarian principles as a matter of religious duty.
Vegetarianism has always been widespread in India is clear from the earliest Vedic texts. This was observed by the ancient traveler Megasthenes and also by Fa-Hsien, a Chinese Buddhist monk who, in the fifth century, traveled to India in order to obtain authentic copies of the scriptures.
These scriptures unambiguously support the meatless way of life. In the Mahabharat, for instance, the great warrior Bheeshm explains to Yuddhishtira, eldest of the Paandav princes, that the meat of animals is like the flesh of one’s own son. Similarly, the Manusmriti declares that one should ‘refrain from eating all kinds of meat,’ for such eating involves killing and and leads to Karmic bondage (Bandh) [5.49]. Elsewhere in the Vedic literature, the last of the great Vedic kings, Maharaja Parikshit, is quoted as saying that ‘only the animal-killer cannot relish the message of the Absolute Truth [Shrimad Bhagvatam 10.1.4].

Must We Kill in order to Live?


Vegetarianism, known in Sanskrit as Shakahara, was for thousands of years a principle of health and environmental ethics throughout India. Though Muslim and Christian colonization radically undermined and eroded this ideal, it remains to this day a cardinal ethic of Hindu thought and practice. A subtle sense of guilt persists among Hindus who eat meat, and there exists an ongoing controversy on this issue on which we hope this humble booklet will shed some light.
For India’s ancient thinkers, life is seen as the very stuff of the Divine, an emanation of the Source and part of a cosmic continuum. They further hold that each life form, even water and trees, possesses consciousness and energy. Nonviolence, ahimsa, the primary basis of vegetarianism, has long been central to the religious traditions of India-especially Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Religion in India has consistently upheld the sanctity of life, whether human, animal or, in the case of the Jains, elemental.
The Sanskrit for vegetarianism is Shakahara, and one following a vegetarian diet is a shakahari. The term for meat-eating is mansahara, and the meat-eater is called mansahari. Ahara means “to consume, or eat,” shaka means “vegetable,” and mansa means “meat or flesh.” The very word mansa, “meat,” conveys a deep appreciation of life’s sacredness and an understanding of the law of karma by which the consequence of each action returns to the doer. As explained in the 2,000-year-old Manu Dharma Shastra, 5.55, “The learned declare that the meaning of mansa (flesh) is, ‘he (sa) will eat me (mam) in the other world whose flesh I eat here.’ “
There developed early in India an unparalleled concern for harmony among life forms, and this led to a common ethos based on noninjuriousness and a minimal consumption of natural resources-in other words, to compassion and simplicity. If homo sapiens is to survive his present predicament, he will have to rediscover these two primary ethical virtues.
“Is vegetarianism integral to noninjury?” In my book, Dancing with Siva, this question is addressed as follows: “Hindus teach vegetarianism as a way to live with a minimum of hurt to other beings, for to consume meat, fish, fowl or eggs is to participate indirectly in acts of cruelty and violence against the animal kingdom. The abhorrence of injury and killing of any kind leads quite naturally to a vegetarian diet, shakahara. The meat-eater’s desire for meat drives another to kill and provide that meat. The act of the butcher begins with the desire of the consumer. Meat-eating contributes to a mentality of violence, for with the chemically complex meat ingested, one absorbs the slaughtered creature’s fear, pain and terror.
These qualities are nourished within the meat-eater, perpetuating the cycle of cruelty and confusion. When the individual’s consciousness lifts and expands, he will abhor violence and not be able to even digest the meat, fish, fowl and eggs he was formerly consuming. India’s greatest saints have confirmed that one cannot eat meat and live a peaceful, harmonious life. Man’s appetite for meat inflicts devastating harm on the earth itself, stripping its precious forests to make way for pastures. The Tirukural candidly states, ‘How can he practice true compassion who eats the flesh of an animal to fatten his own flesh? Greater than a thousand ghee offerings consumed in sacrificial fires is not to sacrifice and consume any living creature.’

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Amazingly people define vegetarian as a diet which excludes the meat of animals but does permit fish and eggs. But what really is vegetarianism? Vegetarian foods include grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes and dairy products. Natural, fresh foods, locally grown without insecticides or chemical fertilizers are preferred. A vegetarian diet does not include meat, fish, fowl or eggs. For good health, even certain vegetarian foods are minimized: frozen and canned foods, highly processed foods, such as white rice, white sugar and white flour; and “junk” foods and beverages-those with abundant chemical additives, such as artificial sweeteners, colorings, flavorings and preservatives.
In my forty years of ministry it has become quite evident that vegetarian families have far fewer problems than those who are not vegetarian. If children are raised as vegetarians, every day they are exposed to nonviolence as a principle of peace and compassion. Every day they are growing up they are remembering and being reminded to not kill. They won’t even kill another creature to eat, to feed themselves. And if they won’t kill another creature to feed themselves, they will be much less likely to do acts of violence against people.

While their numbers are rapidly growing, vegetarians are still a minority, and it is not unusual to be confronted with a meat-eater who not only protects his own right to eat flesh, but argues aggressively that vegetarians should join him in his carnivorous diet. Carnivores may regard nonmeat-eaters as a strange lot who munch on “rabbit food,” and whose diet doesn’t have the substance to make them strong, productive human beings. The following presentation is designed to turn the tables on such discussions by showing the devastating effects of meat-eating both on individuals and on our planet. It is based on a richly informative poster entitled, “How to win an argument with a meat-eater,” published by Earthsave, an organization based in Felton, California, giving facts from Pulitzer Prize nominee John Robbins’ book Diet for a New America. Below are eight separate arguments against meat-eating and in favor of a vegetarian diet.

Against meat eating

The Facts About Eating Animal Products...


Number of People worldwide who will die of starvation this year: 60 million
Number of people who could be adequately fed with the grain saved if Americans reduced meat intake by 10%: 60 million
Human beings in America: 296 million
Number of people who could be fed with grain and soybeans now eaten by livestock: 1.3 billion
Percentage of corn grown in  eaten by people: 20%
Percentage of corn grown in  eaten by livestock: 80%
Percentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90%
Percentage of oats grown in eaten by livestock: 95%
How frequently a child starves to death: every 2 seconds
Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on an acre: 20,000 lbs
Pounds of beef produced on an acre: 165 lbs
Percentage of farmland devoted to beef production: 56%
Pounds of grain and soybeans needed to produce 1 pound of feed.

Of the 20 million tons of plant protein given to raise cows only 2 million tons of protein are used. That means 18 tons of plant protein are wasted! The 20 million tons of plant protein could have reduced 90% of the world's yearly protein deficit for humans.
Being a vegetarian would alleviate human starvation and in return there would be an increase in growth of wild animals without additonal sufferings on humans or any other animals.

By choosing the vegetarian or vegan alternative, the land used originally for farm animals would feed more people off of plant protein.

Plants yield 10 times more protein per acre than meat.

Chickens are raised in crowded, unnatural enviroments. There are usually 3,000 or more in one pen. The birds are not able to move about freely or even spread their wings due to the over crowding. They use "nests" made out of metal and they are bred by unnatural means.

In order for hens to lay mass amounts of eggs, artificial light is on 17 hours a day. Each hen averages about 300 eggs per year. Once a hen's egg prodution declines they are slaughtered. Most hens live an average of 5 to 6 years.

Veal calfs are raised in cages on an anemic diet. The cages are so small that the calves cannot stand or even move in order to clean themselves. The veal calves are kept in the dark most of their lives within the cages. They are subjected to a cruel and horrid death.

More than 7 billion animals die yearly for human consumption.
dlot beef: 16 lbs.


1. The Hunger Argument against meat-eating
Much of the world’s massive hunger problems could be solved by the reduction or elimination of meat-eating. The reasons:
1) livestock pasture needs cut drastically into land which could otherwise be used to grow food;
2) vast quantities of food which could feed humans is fed to livestock raised to produce meat.
This year alone, twenty million people worldwide will die as a result of malnutrition. One child dies of malnutrition every 2.3 seconds. One hundred million people could be adequately fed using the land freed if Americans reduced their intake of meat by a mere 10%.
Twenty percent of the corn grown  is eaten by people. Eighty percent of the corn and 95% of the oats grown is eaten by livestock. The percentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock is calculated by experts as 90%.
One acre of land can produce 40,000 pounds of potatoes, or 250 pounds of beef. Fifty-six percent of all farmland is devoted to beef production, and to produce each pound of beef requires 16 pounds of edible grain and soybeans, which could be used to feed the hungry.


2. The Environmental Argument against meat-eating
Many of the world’s massive environmental problems could be solved by the reduction or elimination of meat-eating, including global warming, loss of topsoil, loss of rainforests and species extinction.
The temperature of the earth is rising. This global warming, known as “the greenhouse effect,” results primarily from carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas. Three times more fossil fuels must be burned to produce a meat-centered diet than for a meat-free diet. If people stopped eating meat, the threat of higher world temperatures would be vastly diminished.
Trees, and especially the old-growth forests, are essential to the survival of the planet. Their destruction is a major cause of global warming and top soil loss. Both of these effects lead to diminished food production. Meat-eating is the number one driving force for the destruction of these forests. Two-hundred and sixty million acres of U.S. forestland has been cleared for cropland to produce the meat-centered diet. Fifty-five square feet of tropical rainforest is consumed to produce every quarter-pound of rainforest beef. An alarming 75% of all U.S. topsoil has been lost to date. Eighty-five percent of this loss is directly related to livestock raising.
Another devastating result of deforestation is the loss of plant and animal species. Each year 1,000 species are eliminated due to destruction of tropical rainforests for meat grazing and other uses. The rate is growing yearly.
To keep up with U.S. consumption, 300 million pounds of meat are imported annually from Central and South America. This economic incentive impels these nations to cut down their forests to make more pastureland. The short-term gain ignores the long-term, irreparable harm to the earth’s ecosystem. In effect these countries are being drained of their resources to put meat on the table of Americans while 75% of all Central American children under the age of five are undernourished.


3. The Cancer Argument against meat-eating
Those who eat flesh are far more likely to contract cancer than those following a vegetarian diet.
The risk of contracting breast cancer is 3.8 times greater for women who eat meat daily compared to less than once a week; 2.8 times greater for women who eat eggs daily compared to once a week; and 3.25 greater for women who eat butter and cheese 2 to 4 times a week as compared to once a week.
The risk of fatal ovarian cancer is three times greater for women who eat eggs 3 or more times a week as compared with less than once a week.
The risk of fatal prostate cancer is 3.6 times greater for men who consume meat, cheese, eggs and milk daily as compared with sparingly or not at all.

4. The Cholesterol Argument against meat-eating
Here are facts showing that: 1) U.S. physicians are not sufficiently trained in the importance of the relation of diet to health; 2) meat-eaters ingest excessive amounts of cholesterol, making them dangerously susceptible to heart attacks.
It is strange, but true that U.S. physicians are as a rule ill-educated in the single most important factor of health, namely diet and nutrition. Of the 125 medical schools in the U.S., only 30 require their students to take a course in nutrition. The average nutrition training received by the average U.S. physician during four years in school is only 2.5 hours. Thus doctors in the U.S. are ill-equipped to advise their patients in minimizing foods, such as meat, that contain excessive amounts of cholesterol and are known causes of heart attack.
Heart attack is the most common cause of death in the U.S., killing one person every 45 seconds. The male meat-eater’s risk of death from heart attack is 50%. The risk to men who eats no meat is 15%. Reducing one’s consumption of meat, dairy and eggs by 10% reduces the risk of heart attack by 10%. Completely eliminating these products from one’s diet reduces the risk of heart attack by 90%.
The average cholesterol consumption of a meat-centered diet is 210 milligrams per day. The chance of dying from heart disease if you are male and your blood cholesterol is 210 milligrams daily is greater than 50%.


5. The Natural Resources Argument against meat-eating
The world’s natural resources are being rapidly depleted as a result of meat-eating.
Raising livestock for their meat is a very inefficient way of generating food. Pound for pound, far more resources must be expended to produce meat than to produce grains, fruits and vegetables. For example, more than half of all water used for all purposes in the U.S. is consumed in livestock production. The amount of water used in production of the average cow is sufficient to float a destroyer (a large naval ship). While 25 gallons of water are needed to produce a pound of wheat, 5,000 gallons are needed to produce a pound of California beef. That same 5,000 gallons of water can produce 200 pounds of wheat. If this water cost were not subsidized by the government, the cheapest hamburger meat would cost more than $35 per pound.
Meat-eating is devouring oil reserves at an alarming rate. It takes nearly 78 calories of fossil fuel (oil, natural gas, etc.) energy to produce one calory of beef protein and only 2 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce one calory of soybean. If every human ate a meat-centered diet, the world’s known oil reserves would last a mere 13 years. They would last 260 years if humans stopped eating meat altogether. That is 20 times longer, giving humanity ample time to develop alternative energy sources.
Thirty-three percent of all raw materials (base products of farming, forestry and mining, including fossil fuels) consumed by the U.S. are devoted to the production of livestock, as compared with 2% to produce a complete vegetarian diet.


6. The Antibiotic Argument against meat-eating
Here are facts showing the dangers of eating meat because of the large amounts of antibiotics fed to livestock to control staphylococci (commonly called staph infections), which are becoming immune to these drugs at an alarming rate.
The animals that are being raised for meat in the United States are diseased. The livestock industry attempts to control this disease by feeding the animals antibiotics. Huge quantities of drugs go for this purpose. Of all antibiotics used in the U.S., 55% are fed to livestock.
But this is only partially effective because the bacteria that cause disease are becoming immune to the antibiotics. The percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin, for example, has grown from 13% in 1960 to 91% in 1988. These antibiotics and-or the bacteria they are intended to destroy reside in the meat that goes to market.
It is not healthy for humans to consume this meat. The response of the European Economic Community to the routine feeding of antibiotics to U.S. livestock was to ban the importation of U.S. meat. European buyers do not want to expose consumers to this serious health hazard. By comparison, U.S. meat and pharmaceutical industries gave their full and complete support to the routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock, turning a blind eye to the threat of disease to the consumer.


7. The Pesticide Argument against meat-eating
Unknown to most meat-eaters, U.S.-produced meat contains dangerously high quantities of deadly pesticides.
The common belief is that the U.S. Department of Agriculture protects consumers’ health through regular and thorough meat inspection. In reality, fewer than one out of every 250,000 slaughtered animals is tested for toxic chemical residues.
That these chemicals are indeed ingested by the meat-eater is proven by the following facts:
• Ninety-nine percent of U.S. mother’s milk contains significant levels of DDT. In stark contrast, only 8% of U.S. vegetarian mother’s milk containing significant levels of DDT. This shows that the primary source of DDT is the meat ingested by the mothers.
• Contamination of breast milk due to chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides in animal products found in meat-eating mothers versus nonmeat-eating mothers is 35 times higher.
• The amount of the pesticide Dieldrin ingested by the average breast-fed American infant is 9 times the permissible level.


8. The Ethical Argument against meat-eating
Many of those who have adopted a vegetarian diet have done so because of the ethical argument, either from reading about or personally experiencing what goes on daily at any one of the thousands of slaughterhouses in the U.S. and other countries, where animals suffer the cruel process of forced confinement, manipulation and violent death. Their pain and terror is beyond calculation.
The slaughterhouse is the final stop for animals raised for their flesh. These ghastly places, while little known to most meat-eaters, process enormous numbers of animals each years. In the U.S. alone, 660,000 animals are killed for meat every hour. A surprising quantity of meat is consumed by the meat-eater. The average percapita consumption of meat in the U.S., Canada and Australia is 200 pounds per year! The average American consumes in a 72-year lifetime approximately 11 cattle, 3 lambs and sheep, 23 hogs, 45 turkeys, 1,100 chickens and 862 pounds of fish! Bon appetite!
People who come in contact with slaughterhouses cannot help but be affected by what they see and hear. Those living nearby must daily experience the screams of terror and anger of the animals led to slaughter. Those working inside must also see and participate in the crimes of mayhem and murder. Most who choose this line of work are not on the job for long. Of all occupations in the U.S., slaughterhouse worker has the highest turnover rate. It also has the highest rate of on-the-job injury.

Why should you become a vegetarian?

What are the health benifits?

How will it help the environment and others?

Read here to find out

  • An animal based diet is invariably high in saturated fat, animal protein and cholesterol, which will raise the level of cholesterol in the blood-the warning signal for heart disease and stroke. Due to the meat-centered diet of most Americans, these diseases account for nearly 50%of all deaths in the U.S.
  • If tomorrow people in the U.S. made a radical change away from their meat-centered diets, 200 million acres could be returned to forest.
  • Calorie for calorie, spinach has 14 times the iron of sirloin steak. Iron requires vitamin C for absorption, of which animal products are totally deficent.
  • The common cold, as well as allergies to dust, cats and pollen, are more likely to go away when milk is taken out of the diet. No other mammal in nature drinks milk after weaning, nor drinks the milk of other species, as do humans.
  • Fiftenn million pounds of antibiotics are used in animal production every year. In 1988, animal drug sales came to $2.5 billion.
  • Humans have no sharp pointed front teeth to tear flesh as do carnivores; humans have flat back teeth to grind (plant) food unlike carnivores.
  • The positive health benefits a person may think they get from eating fish, can be better achieved through a vegetarian diet. And then, fish lacks carbohydrates, fiber and vitamin C. Fish is high in animal protein, which is hard on the kidneys, and high in fat, which increases the risk for cancer and gall blader disease.
  • According to William Castelli, M.D., Director of the Framingham Heart Study, vegetarians outlive other people by about six years.
  • The treatment of human disease with antibiotics is showing signs of being hampered by the flagrant overuse of antibiotics injected into the animals people eat. People are becoming immune to medicinal drugs just by eating hamburgers and chicken. It is predicted that we are about to embark on a pre-antibiotic era.
  • Number of people worldwide who will die as a result of malnutrition this year:20 million
  • Number of people who could be adequately fed using land freed if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%:100 million
  • How frepuently a child dies as a result of malnutrition:every 2.3 seconds
  • Incresed risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat daily compared to less then once a week:3.8 times
  • For women who eat eggs daily compared to once a week:2.8 times
  • For women who eat butter and cheese 2-4 times a week:3.25 times
  • Increased risk of fatal ovarian cancer for women who eat eggs 3 of more times a week vs. less than once a week:3 times
  • Increased risk of fatal prostate cancer for men who consume meat, cheese, eggs and milk daily vs. sparingly of not at all:3.6 times
  • How frequently a heart attack kills in the U.S.:evey 45 seconds
  • Average U.S. man's risk of death from a heart attack:50 percent
  • Risk of average man who eats no meat:15 percent
  • Risk of average U.S. man who eats no meat, dairy of eggs:4percent
  • Amount of water used in production of the average cow:sufficient to float a destroyer
  • Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of wheat:25
  • Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of Califirnia beef:5,000
  • 95-99 percent of toxic chemicals residue in the American diet come from animal sources.
  • About 30% of all pork products are contaminated with toxoplasmosis, a disease which is caused by parasites. It can be passed on to the cansumers.

5 reasons not to eat meat


In the past fifty years, millions of meat-eaters—Hindus and non-Hindus—have made the personal decision to stop eating the flesh of other creatures. There are five major motivations for such a decision:


1. The Dharmic Law Reason
Ahinsa, the law of noninjury, is the Hindu’s first duty in fulfilling religious obligations to God and God’s creation as defined by Vedic scripture.

 
2. The Karmic Consequences Reason
All of our actions, including our choice of food, have Karmic consequences. By involving oneself in the cycle of inflicting injury, pain and death, even indirectly by eating other creatures, one must in the future experience in equal measure the suffering caused.

 
3. The Spiritual Reason
Food is the source of the body’s chemistry, and what we ingest affects our consciousnes, emotions and experiential patterns. If one wants to live in higher consciousness, in peace and happiness and love for all creatures, then he cannot eat meat, fish, shellfish, fowl or eggs. By ingesting the grosser chemistries of animal foods, one introduces into the body and mind anger, jealousy, anxiety, suspicion and a terrible fear of death, all of which are locked into the the flesh of the butchered creatures. For these reasons, vegetarians live in higher consciousness and meat-eaters abide in lower consciousness.


4. The Health Reason
Medical studies prove that a vegetarian diet is easier to digest, provides a wider ranger of nutrients and imposes fewer burdens and impurities on the body. Vegetarians are less susceptible to all the major diseases that afflict contemporary humanity, and thus live longer, healthier, more productive lives. They have fewer physical complaints, less frequent visits to the doctor, fewer dental problems and smaller medical bills. Their immune system is stronger, their bodies are purer, more refined and skin more beautiful.


5. The Ecological Reason
Planet Earth is suffereing. In large measure, the escalating loss of species, destruction of ancient rainforests to create pasture lands for live stock, loss of topsoils and the consequent increase of water impurities and air pollution have all been traced to the single fact of meat in the human diet. No decision that we can make as individuals or as a race can have such a dramatic effect on the improvement of our planetary ecology as the decision not to eat meat.

Vegetarianism in religion


One of the reasons why the Indian menu offers such a great choice in vegetarian food is because many Eastern religions encourage vegetarianism. In fact the largest concentration of vegetarians in the world is to be found in India where 83 per cent of the country’s 680 million people are Hindu, a religion that supports vegetarianism.
It is in the East that vegetarianism finds its strongest expression in religious thought. Forming the basis of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism
is the belief that all life should be respected because the body is an outer shell for the spirit within.


Hinduism
Hinduism is the oldest of all Eastern religions and an early supporter of vegetarianism. It teaches that vegetarianism is on the path to being truly holy. The Vedas, India’s ancient scriptures in which Hinduism has its roots, state, Only the animal killer cannot relish the message of the Absolute Truth. And of meat eaters the scriptures damningly state, Such sinful persons will be eaten by the same creatures they have killed in this world.
The scriptures set out the principle of non-violence, called Ahimsa, which forms a major part of most Eastern religions. Vegetarianism is the logical extension of this religious thought as the killing of any animal is seen as a violation of Ahimsa. In India the cow is sacred because it is considered to be an animal favoured by the Supreme Lord in the Vedas, Lord Krishna.
This non-violence theme is taken to such an extreme that not only those who kill animals are condemned but also those who sell, cook or serve meat. The Vedas state, You must not use your God-given body for killing God’s creatures, whether they are human, animal or whatever.
The Vedas set out the code of sarva-bhuta-hita, (devotion to the good of all creatures) which says that people should see the same life in all creatures regardless of their outer dress or bodies. In fact the Vedas go so far as to say that those who cannot understand the principle of life in lesser beings are missing the meaning of life altogether and risk losing their sense of humanity.
According to Jain scriptures, All living things love their life, desire pleasure and are averse to pain; they dislike any injury to themselves; everybody is desirous of life and to every being, his own life is very dear.


SIKHISM
The Sikh religion is based on the just cause of Ahimsa (doing no harm). As has been stated by Guru Nanak Sahib : “Dhol Dharam daya ka puur.” All the Gurus right from Guru Nanak have advised the human being to be kind to all the creatures of the Almighty. Without daya (compassion) even a notable saint is a butcher Guru Godind Singh has also stated that God is not pleased with those who kill the Atma: “Tin to kahan parmatam raji; atamghati dhroh jin kia.” Guru Gobind Singh has further emphasized a khalsa is he who has daya and is an opponent to himsa. Apart from this, Guru Gobind Singhji has stated “You should not use your sword fearlessly to kill others; otherwise you will also be killed with the invisible word of God.” the fifth Guru, Arjan Devji, has advised us: “Duukh na dsi kise jia; pat sion ghar jawo.” Guru Nanak Devji has further stated: “Whosoever kills the others, he is also liable to be killed, and will never be forgiven by the Almighty.


Buddhism
Love and compassion are the most important Buddhist beliefs, which explains why so many Buddhists are vegetarian. Buddha strongly discouraged eating meat, describing it as ignorant craving. He saw accepting flesh as supporting killing, which is against the principle of non-violence.
Buddhists believe the root of humans’ aggression against one another is the result of the way we treat animals. So if we have no regard for animal life, the less respect we will have for human life. If we adopt a vegetarian diet where no killing is involved, it is easier to stay peaceful, happy and caring towards other people, they say.
The Buddhist view of animals is best illustrated in the Jakata stories (Buddhist lessons), in which Buddha is born as different animals in previous births. The stories equate killing animals with killing humans by saying that like Buddha everyone has been in animal form before.
Like the Vedas, the Buddhist law of Karma also says that those who cause violence and suffering to living things will experience the same pain at some time in their future.


Jainism

JainismThe Jains, who are strict vegetarians, practise true Ahimsa to the extent that they literally will not harm a fly. Some Jains will sweep the path before them and wear gauze masks over their mouths so as not to harm small insects by inadvertently treading on them or breathing them in.
Another faith with a strong tradition of kindness and consideration towards animals is Judasim. Some Jewish prophets, such as Amos and Micah, spoke against ritual sacrifice, and many Jewish heroes were singled out by God because of their love for animals. The Talmud, the body of Jewish civil and ceremonial law, says that before a man sits down to his meal he has to feed his animals, because they cannot feed themselves.
Jews believe a Messiah will come to earth, by which time man will have reached an Edenic state. An Edenic state is where a person has the utmost regard for all animals - as first seen in Eden. Many Jews have adopted vegetarianism in preparation for this time.


Islam
Some Muslim sects such as the Sufis and Bahai’s [see below] have chosen vegetarianism because they see it as the highest spiritual ideal.
However, Islam is not considered to be a strong vegetarian faith, although it supports the idea that the same moral codes and considerations should apply to all forms of life because they are sacred and have the right to protection.
The prophet Mohammed stressed universal compassion, by condemning and stopping much cruelty-to animals in his day. He said, “He who takes pity (even) on a sparrow, and spares its life, Allah (God) will be merciful to him on the day of judgment.” It is Islamic law that no animal be slaughtered in Mecca, Mohammed’s birth place.
Early biographers of Mohammed say he preferred vegetarian foods such as milk diluted in water, yoghurt with butter, or nuts and cucumber with dates. He would live on honey, pomegranates, grapes and figs for weeks at a time. He instructed people who ate meat to wash out their mouths before going to prayer
Some believe Mohammed’s death from eating poisoned meat was a deliberate attempt by him to prove to people that eating meat was bad. He is said to have known from spiritual insight that the meat was poisoned. He ate it alone and advised others not to eat it.


Christianity
Christianity is another faith which is not strongly vegetarian although its teachings would seem to support the idea. There is much in the Bible to support vegetarianism as an ideal, non violent way of life in line with Jesus’s teachings. Jesus taught people to be considerate of all creatures, not just men, and some theories say that Jesus himself was a vegetarian.
According to one translation of the original Gospels, The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, the angel told Mary, “Ye shall eat no flesh nor take strong drink, for the child shall be consecrated unto God from his mother’s womb, and neither flesh nor strong drink shall he take.” The text goes on to say that the community in which Joseph and Mary lived did not slaughter a lamb in celebrating the feast of the Passover.
The miracle of the loaves and fish is not found in these early manuscripts. Rather, it is described as a miracle of bread, fruit and a pitcher of water.
And where Jesus is reputed in the Bible to have eaten meat, the original Greek words translate more accurately as ‘food’ and not necessarily meat.
The early vegetarians such as the Nazarenes, Therapeuts, Ebionites, Gnostics and Essenes, such as John the Baptist, all closely followed the scriptures which instructed a strictly meatless way of life. In fact in literal translations of early Christian texts there is no instance of meat eating being encouraged or accepted and many of the later Christian reasons for eating meat are based on mistranslation or selective interpretation.
According to the Encyclopedia of Judaica the ancient Israelites were vegetarian, and a recurring expression in the Bible is “grain and wine and oil” - no reference to meat there! In the beginning it would seem that God intended both people and animals not to eat meat.
“And behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which yielding seed: to you it shall be for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to every-thing that creeps on the earth, every-thing that has breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” (Genesis 1:29)
Where the Bible and other religious books do permit meat eating it is usually in a crisis such as when Noah was stranded in the ark and all the vegetation was destroyed by the flood. God said, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you.” (Genesis 9:11)
Even so God prevented Noah eating animals with blood, so he was limited to cold-blooded creatures such as clams, and snails. Compassion towards all living things and the principle “Thou shalt not kill” runs through most religions although the gods, the rituals and practices of each may vary.


Conclusion
Whether people choose to follow a vegetarian life style is down to a variety of sociological, economic, and environmental factors as well as well as personal beliefs. For many, vegetarianism becomes almost a religion in itself - something they believe in and to which they strive to be faithful in their daily lives and exploited for its animal resources.
Many of the world religions have the same basic concept: that a superior force has created all we know, and that we should respect and worship this force, doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Vegetarianism is a philosophy embracing all this, with benefits for human and animal welfare as well as for the planet this force created.


Hinduism and Vegetarianism

Hindu scripture speaks clearly and forcefully on nonkilling and vegetarianism. In the ancient Rig Veda, we read: "O vegetable, be succulent, wholesome, strengthening; and thus, body, be fully grown." The Yajur Veda summarily dictates: "Do not injure the beings living on the earth, in the air and in the water." The beautiful Tirukural, a widely-read 2,000-year-old masterpiece of ethics, speaks of conscience: "When a man realizes that meat is the butchered flesh of another creature, he must abstain from eating it." The Manu Samhita advises: "Having well considered the origin of flesh and the cruelty of fettering and slaying of corporeal beings, let one entirely abstain from eating flesh." In the yoga-infused verses of the Tirumantiram, warning is given of how meat-eating holds the mind in gross, adharmic states: "The ignoble ones who eat flesh, death's agents bind them fast and push them quick into the fiery jaws of hell (Naraka, lower consciousness)." The roots of noninjury, nonkilling and nonconsumption of meat are found in the Vedas, agamas, Upanishads, Dharma Shastras, Tirumurai, Yoga Sutras and dozens of other sacred texts of Hinduism Vedas and agamas, Hinduism's Revealed Scriptures


While most major world religions are traceable to one particular founder, Hinduism has its beginnings in such remote antiquity that it cannot be traced to any one individual. Its roots, however, are firmly planted in the ancient Vedic texts.
The original Vedic system is actually quite different from contemporary Hinduism. Both the old and the new, however, converge harmoniously in regard to vegetarianism. Here are some quotes from the Vedas:
“You must not use your God-given body for killing God’s creatures, whether they are human, animal or whatever.” (Yajur Veda, 12.32)
“By not killing any living being, one becomes fit for salvation.” (Manusmriti, 6.60)
“The purchaser of flesh performs himsa (violence) by his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does himsa by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing. He who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts of the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells, or cooks flesh and eats it-all of these are to be considered meat-eaters.” (Mahabharata, Anu. 115:40)


Cow Protection 
According to India’s traditional scriptural histories, the original cow Mother Surabhi, was one of the treasures churned from the cosmic ocean, and “the five products of the cow” (pancha-gavya)-milk, curd, ghee, urine and dung-were considered purifying. The cow is respected in her own right as one of the seven mothers because she offers her milk as does one’s natural mother. The cow plays a central role in the Vedic ideal for humanity: “simple living and high thinking,” a life close to nature and God. Until recently in India’s history, most people lived on tracts of land suitable for complete self-sufficiency.
The cow thus has always played an important role in India’s economy. For example, cow dung serves as an inexpensive fertilizer. Stored in underground tanks, it also generates methane gas that is used for heating and cooking. Cow dung is also an effective disinfectant and is used both as a poultice and a cleansing agent.
The very name for the cows is aghnaya which means “not to be killed.”


Vegetarianism and Nonviolence
In the Manusmriti, it is stated that one should refrain from eating all kinds of meat, for such eating involves killing and leads to karmic bondage (bandha).
Elsewhere in the Vedas, the last of the great Vedic Kings, Maharaja Pariksit, is quoted as saying that “only the animal killer cannot relish the message of the Absolute Truth.” Therefore, the Vedas inform us to obtain spiritual knowledge, one must begin with being vegetarian.


The Lord’s Mercy
According to the Vedic scriptures, one should offer all foods as a sacrifice to God: “…all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.” (Bhagavad-gita 9.27)
The Gita also clarifies exactly what should be offered: “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” (Bhagavad-gita. 9.26)
The Bhagavad-gita further declares that one who lovingly offers his food to God, according to scriptural guidelines, is freed from all sinful reactions and consequent rebirth in the material world: “The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sin because they eat food which is offered first in sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin. (Bhagavad-gita 3.13)
Remnants of such devotional offerings are called prasadam (literally, “The Lord’s Mercy”). In India, the largest temples, such as Shri Rangam in south India and Jagannath Mandir, the main temple in Puri, all freely distribute sanctified vegetarian foods (prasadam) daily.


Animals and Spirituality
Long before Saint Francis was declared the patron saint of the animals, the sages of ancient India had already recognized spirituality in all living species. Vedic texts even describe incarnations of God in various animal forms.
Some of the more popular are the boar, the tortoise, the fish, and the horse-there is even a half man/half lion incarnation! ( Vedic literature does not promote polytheism, rather, the Vedas affirm that it is the same one God who appears in various forms).
The Vedic viewpoint even acknowledges the ability of ordinary animals to achieve exalted states of spirituality! This is so because of the viewpoint that spirituality is not limited to the human form and that ultimately the external body is a temporary housing for the eternal spiritual soul.
The Vedas say that the living soul transmigrates, from body to body, from species to species, until it finally reaches the human form, equipped with reason and the ability to inquire into the Absolute Truth. Exercising that human prerogative, one can end the cycle of repeated birth and death and attain the kingdom of God.
Here, then, is a religious tradition that emphasizes not only vegetarianism but also the spiritual equality of all living beings




Hindu Scriptures Against Killing and Meat-Eating


LET YOUR AIMS BE COMMON, and your hearts be of one accord, and all of you be of one mind, so you may live well together. 
Rig Veda Samhita 10.191


Protect both our species, two-legged and four-legged. Both food and water for their needs supply. May they with us increase in stature and strength. Save us from hurt all our days, O Powers!
Rig Veda Samhita 10.37.11. VE, 319


One who partakes of human flesh, the flesh of a horse or of another animal, and deprives others of milk by slaughtering cows, O King, if such a fiend does not desist by other means, then you should not hesitate to cut off his head.
Rig Veda Samhita, 10.87.16, FS 90


Peaceful be the earth, peaceful the ether, peaceful heaven, peaceful the waters, peaceful the herbs, peaceful the trees. May all Gods bring me peace. May there be peace through these invocations of peace. With these invocations of peace which appease everything, I render peaceful whatever here is terrible, whatever here is cruel, whatever here is sinful. Let it become auspicious, let everything be beneficial to us.
Atharva Veda Samhita 10. 191. 4


Those noble souls who practice meditation and other yogic ways, who are ever careful about all beings, who protect all animals, are the ones who are actually serious about spiritual practices.
Atharva Veda Samhita 19.48.5. FS, 90


If we have injured space, the earth or heaven, or if we have offended mother or father, from that may Agni, fire of the house, absolve us and guide us safely to the world of goodness.
Atharva Veda Samhita 6.120.1. VE, 636


You must not use your God-given body for killing God's creatures, whether they are human, animal or whatever.
Yajur Veda Samhita 12.32. FS, 90


May all beings look at me with a friendly eye. May I do likewise, and may we all look on each other with the eyes of a friend.
Yajur Veda 36.18.


Nonviolence is all the offerings. Renunciation is the priestly honorarium. The final purification is death. Thus all the Divinities are established in this body.
Krishna Yajur Veda, Prana Upanishad 46-8. VE, 413-14


To the heavens be peace, to the sky and the earth; to the waters be peace, to plants and all trees; to the Gods be peace, to Brahman be peace, to all men be peace, again and again-peace also to me! O earthen vessel, strengthen me. May all beings regard me with friendly eyes! May I look upon all creatures with friendly eyes! With a friend's eye may we regard each other!
Shukla Yajur Veda Samhita 36.17-18. VE, 306; 342


No pain should be caused to any created being or thing.
Devikalottara agama, JAV 69-79. RM, 116


The Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita, Epic History
The very name of the cows is aghnya, indicating that they should never be slaughtered. Who, then could slay them? Surely, one who kills a cow or a bull commits the most heinous crime.
Mahabharata, Shantiparva 262.47. FS,pg. 94


The purchaser of flesh performs himsa (violence) by his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does himsa by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing: he who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts off the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells or cooks flesh and eats it -all of these are to be considered meat-eaters.
Mahabharata, Anu. 115.40. FS, pg 90


He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures lives in misery in whatever species he may take his birth.
Mahabharata, Anu. 115.47. FS, pg. 90


One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one's own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Yielding to desire and acting differently, one becomes guilty of adharma.
Mahabharata 18.113.8.


Those high-souled persons who desire beauty, faultlessness of limbs, long life, understanding, mental and physical strength and memory should abstain from acts of injury.
Mahabharata 18.115.8.


Ahimsa is the highest dharma. Ahimsa is the best tapas. Ahimsa is the greatest gift. Ahimsa is the highest self-control. Ahimsa is the highest sacrifice. Ahimsa is the highest power. Ahimsa is the highest friend. Ahimsa is the highest truth. Ahimsa is the highest teaching.
Mahabharata 18.116.37-41.


He who sees that the Lord of all is ever the same in all that is-immortal in the field of mortality-he sees the truth. And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by hurting others. Then he goes, indeed, to the highest path.
Bhagavad Gita 13. 27-28. BgM, pg. 101


Nonviolence, truth, freedom from anger, renunciation, serenity, aversion to fault-finding, sympathy for all beings, peace from greedy cravings, gentleness, modesty, steadiness, energy, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, a good will, freedom from pride-these belong to a man who is born for heaven.
Bhagavad Gita 16.2-3. BGM, pg. 109


Tirumantiram and other Scriptures
Many are the lovely flowers of worship offered to the Guru, but none lovelier than non-killing. Respect for life is the highest worship, the bright lamp, the sweet garland and unwavering devotion.
Tirumantiram 197


SPIRITUAL MERIT and sin are our own making. The killer of other lives is an outcast. Match your words with your conduct. Steal not, kill not, indulge not in self-praise, condemn not others to their face.
Lingayat Vachanas
AHIMSA IS NOT CAUSING pain to any living being at any time through the actions of one's mind, speech or body. Sandilya UpanishadWhen mindstuff is firmly based in waves of ahimsa, all living beings cease their enmity in the presence of such a person.
Yoga Sutras 2.35. YP, pg. 205


Those who are ignorant of real dharma and, though wicked and haughty, account themselves virtuous, kill animals without any feeling of remorse or fear of punishment. Further, in their next lives, such sinful persons will be eaten by the same creatures they have killed in this world.
Shrimad Bhagavatam 11.5.4. FS, pg, 90


The Tirukural, Preeminent Ethical Scripture
Perhaps nowhere is the principle of nonmeat-eating so fully and eloquently expressed as in the Tirukural, written in the Tamil language by a simple weaver saint in a village near Madras over 2,000 years ago. Considered the world's greatest ethical scripture, it is sworn on in South Indian courts of law.
It is the principle of the pure in heart never to injure others, even when they themselves have been hatefully injured. What is virtuous conduct? It is never destroying life, for killing leads to every other sin.
312; 321, TW


Harming others, even enemies who harmed you unprovoked, assures incessant sorrow. The supreme principle is this: never knowingly harm any one at any time in any way.
313; 317, TW


What is the good way? It is the path that reflects on how it may avoid killing any living creature. Refrain from taking precious life from any living being, even to save your own life.
324; 327, TW


How can he practice true compassion Who eats the flesh of an animal to fatten his own flesh?
TK 251, TW


Riches cannot be found in the hands of the thriftless. Nor can compassion be found in the hearts of those who eat meat.
TK 252, TW


Goodness is never one with the minds of these two: one who wields a weapon and one who feasts on a creature's flesh.
TK 253, TW


If you ask, "What is kindness and what is unkind?" it is not killing and killing. Thus, eating flesh is never virtuous.
TK 254, TW


Life is perpetuated by not eating meat.The clenched jaws of hell hold those who do.
TK 255, TW


If the world did not purchase and consume meat, there would be none to slaughter and offer meat for sale.
TK 256, TW


When a man realizes that meat is the butchered flesh of another creature, he must abstain from eating it.
TK 257, TW


Perceptive souls who have abandoned passion will not feed on flesh abandoned by life.
TK 258, TW


Greater than a thousand ghee offerings consumed in sacrificial fires is to not sacrifice and consume any living creature.
TK 259, TW


All that lives will press palms together in prayerful adoration of those who refuse to slaughter and savor meat.
TK 260, TW



21 REASONS for being VEGETERIAN


Vegetarianism is the fastest growing trend in the developed world. Here are 21 reasons why you should think about turning green too.

• Avoiding meat is one of the best and simplest ways to cut down your fat consumption. Modern farm animals are deliberately fattened up to increase profits. Eating fatty meat increases your chances of having a heart attack or developing cancer.
• Every minute of every working day, thousands of animals are killed in slaughter-houses. Pain and misery are common. In the US alone, 500,000 animals are killed for meat every hour.
• There are millions of cases of food poisoning recorded every year. The vast majority are caused by eating meat.
• Meat contains absolutely nothing - no proteins, vitamins or minerals - that the human body cannot obtain perfectly happily from a vegetarian diet.
• African countries - where millions are starving to death - export grain to the developed world so that animals can be fattened for our dining tables.
• 'Meat' can include the tail, head, feet, rectum and spinal cord of an animal.
• A sausage can contain ground up intestines. How can anyone be sure that the intestines are empty when they are ground up? Do you really want to eat the content of a pig's intestines?
• If we eat the plants we grow instead of feeding them to animals, the world's food shortage will disappear virtually overnight. Remember that 100 acres of land will produce enough beef for 20 people but enough wheat to feed 240 people.
• Every day, tens of millions of one-day-old male chicks are killed because they will not be able to lay eggs. There are no rules about how this mass slaughter takes place. Some are crushed or suffocated to death. Many are used for fertiliser or fed to other animals.

• Animals who die for your dinner table die alone, in terror, in sadness and in pain. The killing is merciless and inhumane.
• It's must easier to become (and stay) slim if you are a vegetarian. (By 'slim', I do not mean 'abnormally slender' or 'underweight' but rather, an absense of excess weight!)
• Half the rainforests in the world have been destroyed to clear ground to graze cattle to make beefburgers. The burning of the forests contributes 20% of all green-house gases. Roughtly 1,000 species a year become extinct because of the destruction of the rainforests. Approximately 60 million people a year die of starvation. All those lives could be saved because those people could eat grain used to fatten cattle and other farm animals - if Americans ate 10% less meat.

• The world's fresh water shortage is being made worse by animal farming. And meat producers are the biggest polluters of water. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat. If the US meat industry wasn't supported by the taxpayer paying a large proportion of its water costs, then hamburger meat would cost $35 a pound.

• If you eat meat, you are consuming hormones that were fed to the animals. No one knows what effect those hormones will have on your health. In some parts of the world, as many as one on four hamburgers contain growth hormones that were originally given to cattle.

• The following diseases are commoner among meat eaters: anaemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast cancer, cancer of the colon, cancer of the prostrate, constipation, diabetes, gallstones, gout, high blood pressure, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes and varicose veins. Lifelong vegetarians visit hospital 22% less often than meat eaters and for shorter stays. Vegetarians have a 20% lower blood cholestrol level than meat eaters and this reduces heart attack and cancer risks considerably.
• Some farmers use tranquillisers to keep animals calm. Other routinely use antibiotics to starve off infection. When you eat meat you are eating those drugs. In America, 55% of all antibiotics are fed to animals and the percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin went up from 14% in 1960 to 91% in 1988.
• In a lifetime, the average meat eater will consumer 36 pigs, 36 sheep and 750 chickens and turkeys. Do you want that much carnage on your conscience?

• Animals suffer from pain and fear just as much as you do. How would you like to spend your last hours locked in a truck, packed into a cage with hundreds of other terrified animal and then cruelly pushed into a blood soaked death chamber. Anyone who eats meat condones and supports the way animals are treated.
• Animals which are a year old are often far more rational - and capable of logical thought - than six week old babies. Pigs and sheep are far more intelligent than small children. Eating dead animals is barbaric.
• Vegetarians are fitter than meat eaters. many of the world's most successful athletes are vegetarian.

Vegetarianism and Climate Change

According to the UNreport “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” livestock production is the greatest contributor to global warming.
AniAnimal waste and feed cropland dump more pollutants into our waterways than all other human activities combined.
Meat-based diets require 10-20 times as much land as plant-based diets – nearly half of the world's grains & soybeans are fed to animals.



Proportion of GHG emissions from different parts of livestock production Livestock production emissions: 18%
Global Transportation emissions: 13.5%
18% of all greenhouse-gas emissions from human activities, including:
9% of CO2
37% of CH4(methane) - 23 times the Global Warming Potential of CO2 over 100 years, 72 times over 20 years
65% of N2O (nitrous oxide) -296 times the Global Warming Potential of CO2 over 100 years, 275 over 20 years
Source: FAO, 2006 (1)

Producing 1kg beef:

• Leads to the emission of greenhouse gases with a warming potential equivalent to 36.4 kg of CO2 .
• Releases fertilising compounds equivalent to 340 g. of sulphur dioxide and 59 g. of phosphate.
• Consumes 169 megajoules of energy .
• 1 kg of beef is responsible for the equivalent of the amount of CO2 emitted by the average European car every 250 km, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days.
• Over two-thirds of the energy goes towards producing and transporting the animals' feed.

The factory farming system of modern agriculture strives to maximize output while minimizing costs. Cows, calves, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and other animals are kept in small cages, in jam-packed sheds, or on filthy feedlots, often with so little space that they can't even turn around or lie down comfortably. They are deprived of exercise so that all their bodies' energy goes toward producing flesh, eggs, or milk for human consumption. The giant corporations that run most factory farms have found that they can make more money by cramming animals into tiny spaces, even though many of the animals get sick and some die. Industry journal National Hog Farmer explains, "Crowding Pigs Pays," and egg-industry expert Bernard Rollins writes that "chickens are cheap; cages are expensive."

They are fed drugs to fatten them faster and to keep them alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them, and they are genetically altered to grow faster or to produce much more milk or eggs than they would naturally. Many animals become crippled under their own weight and die within inches of water and food.

While the suffering of all animals on factory farms is similar, each type of farmed animal faces different types of cruelty:
• Chickens killed for their flesh in the United States are bred and drugged to grow so quickly that their hearts, lungs, and limbs often can't keep up.
• Hens used for eggs live six or seven to a battery cage the size of a file drawer, thousands of which are stacked tier upon tier in huge, filthy warehouses.
• Cattle are castrated, their horns are ripped out of their heads, and third-degree burns (branding) are inflicted on them, all without any pain relief.
• Cows used for their milk are drugged and bred to produce unnatural amounts of milk; they have their babies stolen from them shortly after birth and sent to notoriously cruel veal farms so that humans can drink the calves' milk.
• Mother pigs on factory farms are confined to crates so small that they are unable to turn around or even lie down comfortably.
• Fish on aquafarms spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy enclosures, and many suffer from parasitic infections, diseases, and debilitating injuries. Conditions on some farms are so horrendous that 40 percent of the fish may die before farmers can kill and package them for food.
• Turkeys' beaks and toes are burned off with a hot blade. Many suffer heart failure or debilitating leg pain, often becoming crippled under the weight of their genetically manipulated and drugged bodies.


When they have finally grown large enough, animals raised for food are crowded onto trucks and transported over many miles through all weather extremes to the slaughterhouse. Those who survive this nightmarish journey will have their throats slit, often while they are still fully conscious. Many are still conscious when they are plunged into the scalding water of the defeathering or hair-removal tanks or while their bodies are being skinned or hacked apart.

Take a stand against cruelty to animals: By switching to a vegetarian diet, you will save more than 100 animals a year alone.