“[Trigger warning: violence] Animal vs human welfare: sharing some personal reflections” by Forumite

EA Forum Podcast (Curated & popular)

For many years, I devoted myself to improving human health and wellbeing. But then I shifted to working to prevent suffering for animals. In this post, I will briefly share some considerations that pushed me to make this change.

Violence

The phrase ‘animal welfare’ can sound pretty calm and gentle.

But when we talk about ‘animal welfare’, we are usually talking about preventing direct, brutal, physical *violence* against sentient beings.

Animals in the food system are brutalised, beaten, confined, stabbed, castrated, cut, boiled alive, dragged, gassed, asphyxiated, separated from their mothers/children, violated, skinned.

Imagine being castrated, with no anaesthetic. Having your throat slit while you are still conscious. Violated, and forcibly inseminated. Being crammed into a tiny, tiny space for days on end, where you can’t stretch your limbs, or turn around. Skinned alive.

There is something so…brutal, maximalist, harsh, extreme about the intense physical violence that we [...]

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First published:
October 10th, 2024

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/RZEvk6cBtBg2mpgwS/trigger-warning-violence-animal-vs-human-welfare-sharing

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.