Millions of New Yorkers are getting some serious food for thought thanks to an eye-opening new anti-meat ad campaign sponsored by the national animal advocacy organization Mercy For Animals. The “How Much Cruelty Can You Swallow?” and “Why Love One But Eat the Other?” themes invite viewers to consider the horrific cruelties suffered by factory farmed animals and to compare their plight with that of beloved family pets. The campaign consists of over 200 posters on Manhattan-area buses throughout June and July – amassing a total of 14.7 million viewings.
Two of the ads point out the cruelties embedded in production of meat, poultry, dairy and eggs, noting the typical practices of overcrowding, mutilation, and inhumane handling throughout the factory farming system. A third version notes the typical American’s inconsistent treatment of animals, reminding us that we cherish our companion cats and dogs while condemning chickens, turkeys, cows and pigs to harsh lives of suffering and deprivation.
The campaign is a reminder that a farm life with green pastures and idyllic barnyard scenes of years past is a distant memory. On today’s factory farms, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy windowless sheds, wire cages, gestation crates, and other cruel confinement systems. These animals will never root in the soil, build nests, or do anything that is natural to them. They won’t even feel the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they are loaded onto trucks bound for slaughter. Across the country, billions of animals are denied virtually any legal protection. For example, birds – which alone comprise 95% of all animals slaughtered each year – receive no legal protection under the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.
Thankfully, compassionate consumers can remove their support from this violent industry by adopting a vegetarian diet.
