Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, has announced plans to build a dairy farm on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, and local residents aren’t having it.
According to The Seattle Times, “Opponents of the Hawaii Dairy drive around with bumper stickers—’No Moo Poo in Maha’ulepu,’ as the area of the island where the dairy would go is known—summarizing their main cause of concern: that animal waste could contaminate drinking water or the oceanfront and cause unpleasant smells.
This opposition has halted plans for the farm until an environmental assessment is completed to determine the effect on water sources and neighboring communities. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. dairy industry has a record of egregious water pollution. In fact, animal excrement and other agricultural runoff from large-scale farms have polluted nearly one-third of rivers in the U.S.
See for yourself:
But it’s not just dairy farms. Earlier this week, a Lilydale chicken slaughterhouse in Calgary announced plans to relocate following neighbors’ complaints. “Residents of the southeast community of Ramsay have long complained about the Lilydale plant and its unpleasant smells, loud noises, ammonia leaks, blood spills, and even chickens running around with their heads cut off, explains Yahoo! News.
Factory farms for chickens produce high concentrations of dust and noxious gases, causing serious distress to those who live nearby. In June, a study from the Netherlands found that increased ammonia levels around factory farms cause lung damage in local residents.
But industrial animal farms aren’t just awful for people and the planet; they’re also places of horrific suffering and neglect for countless animals.
At factory farms, cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals are subjected to cruelty that few of us can even imagine. Often kept in extreme confinement, mutilated without painkillers, and brutally slaughtered, these gentle, sensitive creatures are denied nearly everything that comes naturally to them.
By choosing delicious vegan foods, we can stand up for vulnerable communities, spare countless animals a life of misery, and stop wasting resources.
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