About non-human animals

 

Our name incorporates the designations 'people' and 'animals', and we use these terms because they are generally understood and functional. We are, however, aware that these terms not only deny the particularity and difference of the (individual) Other, but connote a problematic disengagement that can perpetuate a human-animal hierarchy. The term 'animal' strictly speaking refers to all beings belonging to the kingdom Animalia and thus includes human beings. We ultimately advocate the disimprisonment of all animals from captivity and exploitation and the inclusion of all animals in the sphere of ethical concern.

 

Some of the facts

Here are some of the facts about humankind's 'use' and abuse of non-human animals.

 

Factory-farm animals 

 

Chickens 

 

The modern-day chicken evolved from the wild, free, jungle fowl of Thailand, domesticated for (ab)use over 8000 years ago.

- Over 26 million laying hens are confined in battery cages in South Africa, with the number of chickens bred for flesh close behind.

- In a battery cage, hens have an allotted space allowance of 450 cm² per hen (less than an A4 sheet of paper), with five hens crammed into each cage.

- 26 million laying hens will spend their short lives confined, never seeing the sun, soil or even a blade of grass.

- Male chicks are discarded by the egg industry – usually by mincing or suffocation – as they are considered useless.

- It is standard industry practice to de-beak and de-toe chicks without anaesthesia.

- The SPCA has repeatedly raised growing concern regarding the high levels of abuse of chickens in South Africa, most recently in April 2015. 

 

Sheep 

 

(called 'mutton' or 'lamb')

Domesticated sheep descended from the 'mouflon', wild sheep found in Europe.

 

- An estimated 28 million sheep are being used for their flesh and wool in South Africa, 86% of them in the Eastern Cape.

- The SPCA laid charges against GWK, Woolworths’s 'free-range Karoo lamb' abattoir in February 2015 for cruel practices, including the dragging and assault of sheep and the discovery of unhealed injuries from wool shearing.

- Many lambs are subjected to 'mulesing', where their tails and surrounding wool are removed, without anaesthetic. Males are tied up in a mechanical restraint and their horns are also removed without anaesthetic.

- A large number of sheep are slaughtered and bled out by people of the Muslim faith during the annual Eid-ul-Adha celebrations.

- Almost all sheep, regardless of how they have been raised, are transported in trucks without weather protection and end up at the abattoir to be slaughtered for their flesh after having stood in line in pools of blood, watching those before them being slaughtered.

 

Cows 

 

(called 'beef')

Cows were first domesticated for human (ab)use over 5000 years ago, with over 900 different breeds around the world today.

 

- In South Africa, some 600 000 dairy cows produce around 3 billion litres of milk for our consumption annually.

- Dairy cows are artificially inseminated yearly as they only come into milk when pregnant. They are then killed after five to seven years of constant use (the normal lifespan is up to 18 years).

- The majority of cows are injected with growth hormones to increase milk supply and suffer from painful mastitis and other ailments due to the unnatural life to which they are subjected.

- All calves are removed from their mothers at birth so that they do not drink the milk that was meant for them, some locked alone in veal crates until slaughter. Female calves are raised on powdered milk formula to replace their mothers' milk.

- 200 000 male calves are born into the South African dairy industry each year and discarded, as they are considered to be of little value. The Department of Agriculture confirms that there are cases where some 70% of these calves die of dehydration, malnutrition and disease.

- All 'cattle', regardless of how they have been raised, are transported in trucks without weather protection and end up at the abattoir to be slaughtered for their flesh after having stood in line watching those before them being slaughtered.

 

Pigs 

 

(called 'pork', 'ham' or 'bacon')

Domestic pigs originated from the Eurasian wild boar.

 

- 60 000 female pigs ('breeding sows') are used in South Africa to breed the piglets used for ham and bacon.

- Female pigs are confined in farrowing crates for the duration of their pregnancy and for four weeks after giving birth, unable to move forward or backward, or to turn around.

- Newborn piglets are removed from their mothers after only four weeks and forcibly weaned, while their mother is immediately impregnated again.

- It is standard industry practice to castrate male piglets and remove piglets’ teeth without anaesthesia.

- Since January 2013, keeping pregnant pigs in crates longer than the first four weeks of pregnancy was banned throughout the European Union. Farrowing crates are already banned in the UK and Sweden and are being phased out in Tasmania, New Zealand, Australia and certain states in North America.

- All pigs, regardless of how they have been raised, are transported in trucks without weather protection and end up at the abattoir to be slaughtered for their flesh after having stood in line watching those before them being slaughtered.

 

For more on the above, see the book Farmageddon: the true cost of cheap meat, by Philip Lymbery, CEO of Compassion in World Farming, which works tirelessly for the welfare of farm animals worldwide as well as locally (see http://www.animalvoice.org/).

 

Fur animals 

 

The fur trade is one of the most vicious on earth. Here are some of the facts:

 

 

• Millions of cats, dogs and other fur animals such as fox, raccoon, mink and rabbit raised for their fur spend their entire lives in horrendous conditions (in unbearably small, barren, filthy cages with no sanitation) and are subjected to violent handling and inhumane transport before being clubbed, strangled or electrocuted to death.

• An estimated 5 400 cats and dogs are killed for their fur in China every day. (There is currently no animal welfare legislation in China to protect animals against these atrocities.)

• In the East, most fur animals are skinned alive.

• There is video evidence of cruelty on fur farms even in countries such as France and the USA.

• Fur animals trapped in steel-jaw traps sometimes spend days bleeding to death in these traps, and often gnaw their own limbs off in an effort to free themselves.

• Fur 'harvested' in China and elsewhere is exported internationally and used on garments and other articles worldwide.

• Real fur is used as trim on garments, toys, hair trinkets etc, or as all-fur hats, jackets and coats.

• Animal fur is often mislabelled as faux fur, or under exotic sounding names such as Chat de Chine.

• Real fur is routinely dyed unnatural colours and sheared, giving it the appearance of faux fur.

• Many well-known personalities world-wide have taken a stand against fur, such as our own Charlize Theron. The first lady of France also declared herself anti-fur, and Michelle Obama has described fur as 'old-fashioned and cruel'.

 

For more information, see the Fur Free SA (FFSA) website at www.furfree.net.

 

 

Companion animals 

 

Although companion animals such as dogs and cats tend to be much better off than farm animals (most people are raised to love some animals and 'use' or eat others), they are also often abused and neglected. Fortunately in many countries worldwide - as in South Africa - there are individuals, groups and organisations striving to ensure that such animals are treated humanely and find their way to good homes or to shelters. 

 

Working animals 

 

Working animals - typically horses and donkeys - can live lives ranging from that of pampered comfort to that of abject misery, depending mostly on the circumstances enjoyed or suffered by their 'owners'. Horses 'used' in the racing industry are often discarded when they are no longer 'useful'. 

 

Animals used for entertainment 

 

Animals used for human entertainment - usually in circuses - tend to live their lives in strict confinement cages and other small spaces, and are habitually abused to force them to perform the 'tricks' their handlers want them to perform. speak! is against the use of any animals - particularly wild animals - for entertainment purposes. See the Ban Animal Trading (BAT) website at www.bananimaltrading.org for more information.

 

Animals used for vivisection

 

In countless laboratories worldwide, animals are routinely abused to test the safety of products destined for human use. These experiments are always painful and often excruciating and/or lethal, and entail individual animals being confined, sometimes for years (as in the case of chimps) or for their entire lifetimes. Much of this testing is unnecessary and is only carried out because it is required by local laws, which are often outdated. See the Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC) website at www.bwcsa.co.za for more information.

 

Wildlife 

 

Although many animals in nature reserves worldwide live natural lives, this 'industry' is plagued by problems such as hunting (especially 'canned' hunting) and poaching, especially of rhino and elephant.