At the end of WWII, the world woke up to the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust. People treated as objects, systematically and efficiently killed, devalued to the point where a guard would think it normal to rip out a victim’s gold capped teeth. It’s as if the world had suddenly gone mad. It horrified us because the guards were just like us – regular people doing their job. We prayed that we would never see the like again and were grateful that it was over. But I learned something last night. It’s not. And I’m the cause.
Before you read further, let me make one thing clear. I’m not exaggerating. None of what I say is for effect. Nothing is overstated. In fact, I find it impossible to use words that are strong enough to state the truth as it is. Anything I say falls short of reality. That is why for the first time on this blog, I am using videos. In spite of being a professional writer, my skills aren’t sufficient to convey what I feel.
Last night my wife and I watched a documentary called “Earthlings.” Remember when you were little, and your parents told you that there was a place called Hell? Where you would burn alive in boiling oil, and were skinned? Last night, I realized that such a place exists. In fact, many do. For the sake of satisfying my trivial wants for clothing, entertainment and “quality” meat, animals are routinely mutilated, tortured, beaten, boiled, and skinned alive. Alive I say. Without anesthesia and without anything to dull the pain. In my name.
Fur Farms
It pains me to have to show this on my blog. I don’t like to manipulate people into feeling something by showing them well arranged footage with stirring music. But in order to convey the horror of what I feel, here is a 30 second clip from the video: (Warning – this is graphic)
Fur Farm in China
These animals have to undergo this brutal torture for being beautiful. Because we feel we have a right to their fur which was given to them by birth for their protection. Because we don’t believe that they have the right to keep it. Such a fur coat sells for $50,000 in US stores. If it were worth a million, it would still not be worth it.
Slaughter Houses
But most people who are reading this will say that they don’t use fur. That only a small handful of rich people can afford to wear genuine fur. This is true. But a very large percentage of us eat meat – including myself. There was once a time when I prided myself on saying “I’m a pure non vegetarian.” I absolutely hate vegetables. I was comfortable with the idea of animals dying for me.
But I never realized they were being tortured.
What I learned from “Earthlings” and confirmed by my own independent research was that all slaughterhouses indulge in the following (and none of it is with anesthesia).
Cows
For cows who are killed for meat and milked, their fate is:
- Clipping their horns with shears (dehorning)
- Branding with red hot irons on the face
- Being made to stand while a machine milks them till they drop and die
- Being hung up while still alive and drained of blood while they slowly die of asphyxiation
Here’s a 33 second clip showing a cow being branded on the face and dehorned.
Pigs
For Pigs who are killed for meat:
- Their tails are casually plucked off by hand as the piglets scream in pain
- Their teeth are ripped out with pliers (so that they don’t bite each other)
- The male piglets are castrated by hand with the men simply tearing off their testicles. They then dig with their fingers to get the remaining flesh out
Watch this 82 second clip to see how men take pleasure in hitting the pigs, cursing them, tormenting them as part of their job. Here is a 135 second clip showing men ripping off the tails of piglets, cutting their teeth, and tearing out their testicles.
Chickens
For Chickens, the documentary shows little yellow chicks just born, who’re still unaware of what’s going to happen to them – chirping away happily before their misery begins. It’s very tough to watch. This is what happens to them:
- Their beaks are burnt off so they don’t peck each other
- To maximize the number of chickens per sq. foot, they’re crowded together in impossible densities
- In desperation, they peck each other despite their severed beaks. Cannibalism is an everyday affair
- They are thrown against the wall violently to kill them. Men then come and jump on them to kill those who don’t die.
It’s impossible to describe the casual way in which all this is carried out. Here is a 35 second clip showing them being jumped upon and beaten to death with rods.
Dolphins
Dolphins are then killed in a uniquely cruel manner. The commercial fishers attract a school of dolphins and just injure one to draw a lot of blood. Dolphins never abandon wounded family members and the rest of them flock to their companion and are then brutally caught. To see this happen, here is a 78 second clip.
But there is more. Much much more.
These are not isolated examples. A little bit of research will inform you that this happens everywhere and everyday. The documentary shows how cows in India are slaughtered for leather – how they’re transported to a state where their slaughter is legal, how their tails are repeatedly broken to keep them moving. None of this is isolated. When I first went to the US, I had thought it was better there. I was brutally disillusioned. I now know that it’s much worse.
The better infrastructure for killing in the US means that animals can be treated even more impersonally and brutally. The moment a killing system becomes a system, it becomes horrifying. Motivated by nothing more than profit, large corporations in the US cut corners to push through as many as 10 billion cattle a year. That’s almost twice the human population in just 365 days.
Circuses
We like to think that animals are trained using “positive reinforcement” instead of torturing them. In “Earthlings”, an elephant trainer says that he never uses the rod to hurt the animal. In this 50 second clip we see just how true this is. Notice how the trainer tries to impress upon his apprentice that he must cause the maximum amount of pain in order to successfully train the elephants.
A person like me may find watching these clips is too stressful. But if I eat beef, chicken, or pork I have no right to say that. If those animals can suffer the real torture, I have no right to spare myself the knowledge. After all, can my suffering be compared to theirs?
We are the Nazis
I hate to think that the Holocaust is happening right now. But twist it any way I wish, I can’t deny that it is. The effect that this documentary has produced on me is colossal. I find it very hard to love humans after seeing something like this. I’m not a person who easily gets upset by blood and gore. Not at all. But this is tough – real tough to watch. But I have a responsibility to see it. I must know what I am causing.
Can we stop the Holocaust from continuing? Compared to what these animals are going through, the original Holocaust was a piece of cake. I’m shaken and I have very little energy left. I hope this post has the ability to waken people who read it. To realize what is happening in our name and for our sakes. There is only one thing left for me to do. And I’ll save that for a later post.
People have many different reactions when watching and reading stuff like this. Sometimes we’re not sure ourselves how to feel. Put your thoughts down in the poll below.
You can select any two choices.
Circuses
We like to think that animals are treated using “positive reinforcement” instead of torturing them. In “Earthlings”, an elephant trainer says that henever uses the rod to hurt the animal. In this 50 second clip we see just how true this is. Notice how the trainer tries to impress upon his apprentice that he must cause the maximum amount of pain in order to successfully train the elephants.
A person like me may find watching these clips is too stressful. But if I eat beef, chicken, or pork I have no right to say that. If those animals can suffer the real torture, I have no right to spare myself the knowledge. After all, can my suffering be compared to theirs?
I am glad that the documentary has made u think.. thats what they make them for na.. to atleast make a few people think twice about their actions..
I aint no Animal Rights Activist or someone who owns pets and my relationship with animals have been being afraid of my street dog or admiring my neighbors cute dog.. and there it stops.. I have been brought up as a Vegetarian, not because of some family customs.. but one fine day before I was born my dad started feeling that he was eating a dead body instead of meat and stopped eating Non vegetarian food immediately and mom followed suit, so I was never introduced to the same. Though its hard for me to sit next to people on a lunch table eating non vegetarian food, but I try hard to not judge them. As I never knew what being non vegetarian was they never knew what being vegetarian was.
I felt very bad and infact horrified when I first saw the fur video and promised to myself that I would never buy fur even at some hypothetical point in life when I could afford it..
But now all that I can do about the second thing is that I have decided never again to spend my money on Non Vegetarian food.. basically when I give birthday treats and all, we tend to go to a common place where NV people also can eat.. so from now on.. All I can do is never spend money on this.. and there comes to end my pointless rant..
Ah! well I remember what was the point I started the comment with.. U cant generalise.. just because you are a Nazi everyone else isnt… I aint no Nazi
@Sakthi
I get what you’re saying. Why I made the Nazi claim was that even if a person doesn’t use fur or eat meat, they still use services or products based on animal suffering.
An example is drugs the we use. Most of them are first tested on animals kept in living conditions not better than the slaughterhouses.
Another example is clothing. Who hasn’t worn leather shoes? Or had a leather handbag? The documentary shows how cows are casually tortured till they slowly die…
In this world of ours, it’s very hard not to use something or another that is based on murder. Hence the generalization.
Ok :D let peace be upon us
@Sakthi
But of course :)
I became a veggie recently [because the woman I love is also a veggie; it is unrequited love though]! :)
I have a fur jacket but I will not wear it from this season. I saw the video! :o
p.s.: The links on the left top of your main website are not working including the contact me link. Came here from IHM.
@Vikas Gupta
Hey thanks a whole bunch for pointing out the broken links I’ve fixed them now – I was missing my .htaccess file.
Oh, one question – what is IHM?
@bhagwad
LOL IHM Is Indian Home Maker! Even I was stumped on my maiden encounter with the acronym!
@Vikas Gupta
Ah I see. I’ve just visited your blog. Very interesting for a guy like me. I’ve subscribed to your RSS feeds – I see you use feedburner too. Gotta love it eh?
I couldn’t read it…I just couldn’t.
Have you considered turning a vegetarian after this?
I think I will if I read the whole thing.
@tearsndreams
I have. I love meat, and I can barely imagine not eating it. Transitioning will be incredibly tough. But I imagine it’s worth it.
That is what my next post will be about. But I feel that anyone who eats meat has a responsibility to watch what happens. I mean how can our suffering by watching this compare with the actual suffering of the tortured chickens, pigs and cows?
Still there’s no doubt that “Earthlings” is very difficult to watch. Which is why I extracted little clips for those who don’t want to/can’t watch it in full. I feel that the animals who die deserve at least this much. That people know about them.
I beg you to please watch the rest.
I did not watch the video or read the post. I have done enough of this and it gave me nightmares, and I have given up using animals products or eating animals long ago. You should add this as an option in the poll. I agree with none, I would have chosen -”I know about this and I do whatever I can. I have given up anything that I learn has been created by torturing an animal. I talk about this to others, I blog about it too. And giving up all this has made my life any less worth living. I love music, good vegetarian food, I love my dogs and cats, and the animals i have occasionally helped and released where I found them. I love walks, trekking, books and blogging, good cotton clothes, music, celebrating – but nothing I do is ever going to be (knowingly) a cause for hurting any living creature on this earth.” I feel very strongly about this. I am glad you are blogging about it – even though I only browsed through it.
@bhagwad
There was this quote on the side bar of my last blog, “If slaughter houses had glass walls, there would be no non vegetarians.” Our family never goes to KFC no matter how hungry we are and how conveniently placed it is.
@indianhomemaker
Thanks for the suggestion. I guess the option for those who are already aware of all this and are doing whatever they can was missing.
Suggestion heeded and option is now available.
Thanks. Voted… I loved this post, but wished it wasn’t needed. I hope if we really know how some of our products are created we’d never use them…
have forwarded on……
excellent post,
thanks for posting the video. its necessary to see the video without that there will not be any impact.
@sm
Thanks. I hope people watch the entire documentary – there’s so much more that I can’t put up here.
[...] : Bhagwad What : Animal Torture – I’m a Nazi…and so are you Tangy : Torturing any living being in the world is the worst thing anyone can do. Bhagwad has this [...]
Congratulations on being selected by Blog Adda :) Brilliant post!!
After watching the first video I dared not see any more… !!!
Humans are the worst spieces on the earth !!!!
the mantra of life was survival of the fittest … but we just modified it to
SURVIVAL OF ONLY US – humans !!! sigh…
first time here… thanks to Ihm’s tweet… interesting name…
BJP !!!!! :lol:
@hitchwriter
Well you have shaken me up buddy…. i am a vegetarian and do not like leather clothes and am also a huge cynic of most of our so called development in the last 100 years. You have forgotten to mention monkeys who pay a huge price for having near human faces and intelligence. All beauty products and vaccines are tested on them. Their faces are burnt with chemicals and lips are charred, skin corrosive to test our perfumes.
The dialog in matrix sums it up when he calls humans viruses who inhabit an area suck it dry and move on. We have a huge ego and are paranoid of being equated to any other being on the planet. Thus we have a make belief set of customs, rituals, beliefs which evolve like technology to suit our convenience. The who idea of “god the supreme being” is used to differentiate humans from others and we use god as own intellectual property.
The human god who demands sacrifice and are only their to improve human lifestyle, ensure kids pass exams, marry well, have more kids who pass exams and marry well. No god for animals or plants.. Jai Ho
Heartfelt thanks for your post. Made me wake up.
Akshay
I could not muster strength to watch the videos. Text was powerful enough for me. I passed it on to others as well to read.
@hitchwriter
@Akshay
You’re right. I too feel that Humans are like a curse. But then I have to keep reminding myself that not all humans are like that – I for one show no solidarity with the people and the corporations that torture animals like this.
More often than not, I think it’s humans placed in compelling situations that cause this mayhem. In fact, one might argue that all of us have a breaking point. But of course I’m sure that will hold true for any animal as well.
Its just that we have the power to do evil, and so we end up doing it on a massive scale…
I am glad to come come across someone who thinks and feels like me in at least one dimension of life, if not more ! I too have seen earthlings !!!
[...] to go veg by a couple of months. I saw the documentary called “Earthlings”, which revealed the systematic torture of animals who are killed for our food, clothing, and entertainment. That was enough to make me stop eating [...]
@bhagwad
Hey Buddy
Its artificial greed rather than any self compelling evil. Their is a beautiful video on ted talks which describes how america’s food habits changed. All due to greed of corporations to make money in country with excess of Soy and animals. Hence have soy based meat for everything. They started a campaign where women were told they have equal rights like men. So please dont cook and buy packaged food to save time.
Greed rather than need governs us. Politicians will never be able to spend 200 crores they amass. But greed plays a role here also. We believe in god because we cannot digest the fact that one humans actions can harm others. Its not a karmic cycle of “As you sow so shall you reap”.
We had people during nazi wars also who risked their lives to save jews. Most problems we have are not problems of reality but of perception especially in west. Poorer and third world countries have a different story.
Hey, I’ve been putting off reading this for a while. But I’m glad I did. Really powerful stuff.
[...] think the same way. When you start looking at the entire world using just one metric – money, you commit terrible atrocities because your sole aim is then to increase that metric to the expense of everything else. The whole [...]
This is cruel ..indeed Cruel ..why cant to Ban the entire Slaughtering and Meat industry in the World ..As it is always said that ..the hunger of the World will be eliminated if people stop eating Meat ..atleast if not for animals for our fellow human beings and for the World ..we must stop eating Meat ..This has changed my World ..
This is cruel ..indeed Cruel ..why cant to Ban the entire Slaughtering and Meat industry in the World ..As it is always said that ..the hunger of the World will be eliminated if people stop eating Meat ..atleast if not for animals for our fellow human beings and for the World ..we must stop eating Meat ..This has changed my World ..
this post reminds me of the movie “Two Brothers”, a story about the life of 2 tigers… i did not watch any of the videos… the words in this post are enough to cause considerable pain…
am striving to give up eating meat.. if that will make a difference in the life of at least one animal…