meat is murder

When I was a teenager, I was so influenced by Morrissey and The Smiths that I went strictly vegetarian for a while. I totally cried when I saw them perform that song in concert and made my entire family frustrated with me for as long they allowed me to impose my lifestyle choices upon them.

Nowadays, I am a pescatarian and an occasional chicken eater. If I do eat any animal, I am adamant about knowing its source. They must be humanely treated and harvested. Otherwise we are supporting a sick system of animal cruelty.

Today I am reminded of the famous song and album by The Smiths as I'm editing a story about downer cows at a slaughterhouse in Chino, California. The Humane Society distributed a video about the treatment of sick cows at this facility, which is sadly indicative of many other facilities across our nation. Here's your chance to watch the video and read the story. I promise you that you'll never be able to digest a hamburger the same way again (unless it's grass-fed, free-range and organic). And even then, it'll be hard to swallow.

Here's an update from CNN today. I told the producer that this piece I'm editing is starting to make me feel nauseous, and his reply was that after awhile I should become desensitized to it. God, I hope I never become desensitized to cruelty.