Life on "Old MacDonald's Farm" isn't what it used to be. The green pastures and idyllic barnyard scenes portrayed in children's books are quickly being replaced by windowless metal sheds, wire cages, gestation crates, and other confinement systems integral to what is now known as "factory farming." Animals on modern day factory farms are confined to the point that they can barely move, denied veterinary care, mutilated without painkillers, and finally brutally slaughtered.

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These abuses, suffered by over 9 billion sentient land animals every year in the United States alone, is what compelled Mercy For Animals to launch it’s new “Behind Closed Doors” TV advertising campaign. The commercial takes Columbus MTV, BET, and Animal Planet viewers behind the scenes of factory farms and slaughterhouses, exposing the routine abuse of farmed animals. MFA’s first TV ad showed cows and chickens having their throats slit, turkeys being beaten to death with iron rods, a cow having his horn cut off, and a pig having her head slammed into the ground. The ad was rejected for being “too graphic” for all audiences. All the scenes depicted were standard industry practices. MFA feels that this rejection poses the serious question of whether compassionate consumers really want to support an industry whose practices are so violent that they cannot be aired on television.

MFA has released a second version of the commercial which has now hit the airwaves. In this new version, the most violent footage has been replaced with less graphic images of animals suffering from intensive confinement on factory farms. Even these are scenes that the industry does not want seen. For many viewers, this will be their first and only opportunity to see even a glimpse of the suffering involved in the production of meat, eggs, and dairy products.

The most important thing you can do to stop the suffering of farmed animals is to simply adopt a vegan diet (one free of animal products). Choosing veganism is the cruelty-free, healthy, and environmentally-friendly choice. Let MFA help you make the transition: click here to order your free veg starter kit. Don’t know where to eat? Log-on to VegOhio.com for listings of veg-friendly restaurants and health food stores in your area.