Lambs are sweet, gentle animals, often portrayed in
children’s stories as soft and pure. Yet each spring millions of these
intelligent, sensitive creatures are violently slaughtered after suffering
immensely at factory farms. Let us fill you in.
The USDA reports
that more than 2 million lambs were killed for meat in 2016. Just like cows,
pigs, and chickens, lambs are raised at filthy factory farms, subjected to barbaric
mutilations, and violently slaughtered.
Lambs are usually “tail docked just a few weeks after they
are born. This cruel and painful mutilation is performed without anesthetics
and often leads to infection, chronic pain, and rectal prolapse.
While their natural lifespan is about 15 years, lambs raised
at factory farms are slaughtered at around six to eight months of age. Yes,
that’s right—all lambs killed for food are just babies.
Mother sheep are deeply caring and form strong bonds with
their babies. In fact, they can recognize their lambs who have wandered too far
away by their calls. Sadly, this bond is broken at factory farms where lambs
are ripped away from their mothers within just a few days of being born.
But lambs are not only sweet and gentle; they’re also highly
intelligent. Lambs are capable of problem solving and considered to have IQs
that rival those of cows. They have great memories and can recall at least 50
individual sheep for years!
Through sophisticated communication skills, lambs use
various vocalizations to express different emotions. They can even convey
emotion through facial expressions. Let that sink in for a minute.
How can anyone hurt these smart, gentle animals?
At the kill floor of the slaughterhouse, scared lambs are
often ineffectively stunned and have their throats violently cut open while
still conscious. We hear countless stories of lambs trying to flee being killed.
Just read this
story of a frightened animal at a Chicago slaughterhouse who made a
panicked escape to save his own life.
No animal wants to
die.
Watch this sickening undercover footage shot by Swiss animal
rights organization PEA—Pour l’Egalité Animale (For Animal Equality) that
shows fully conscious sheep desperately trying to escape brutal slaughter. It’s
truly devastating.
People who are opposed to animal cruelty often cling to the
idea that eating meat is necessary. But the science is clear: Humans are more
than capable of living happy, healthy lives without eating meat or other animal
products.
It’s time to put our ethics on the table and stop eating
lambs and all other animals. We can live our values of kindness by switching to
a vegan diet. Click here to get started. And check out
our Pinterest page for thousands of recipe ideas!