There is not enough appreciation for farm animal contributions and the value of these to our society. Yes, PETA went a bit overboard with their memorial, but recognize that it might be better to memorialize some cattle, than the other approach, which you see so commonly, that of neglect. You do not mention this in your (January 16, 2012, Life is Simple) article, the lot of egg-laying chickens and abuse heaped on turkeys on turkey farms. Get a tiny camera and just visit some local pig, or poultry farms if you want material for your articles.
I am a farmer also, with chickens, goats, sheep, cattle and horses. I have worked in the dairy industry and the turkey barn business and have first-hand knowledge of what goes on there.
Does this make you proud of the industry that you represent, as a writer, if nothing else? Perhaps you could enlist your considerable talents detailing what you find on these farms. Perhaps you could help with a bill to correct some of these abuses which one finds commonly on American farms.
I say, if we can’t treat farm animals humanely, than we need to quit using these animals and learn to be vegetarians. This is a moral issue. I could write articles on what I have observed on farms that is appalling and reprehensible.
Again – PETA goes overboard, granted, but someone needs to carry the flag and no one else is doing it.
Melinda Oberman
Pleasant Hope, Mo.
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