The images
in the following program
are highly sensitive
and may be
as disturbing to viewers
as they were to us.
However,
we have to show the truth
about cruelty to animals,
praying that
you will help to stop it.
Involved viewers,
this is the Stop
Animal Cruelty series
on Supreme Master
Television.
When you think
of a festive season, what
images comes to mind?
Perhaps you reminisce
about past gatherings and
happy times with friends,
family, and loved ones.
Every year
on the 25th of December,
people from across
the globe celebrate
the birth of the beloved
Master Jesus Christ.
He is truly
the embodiment of light,
hope and benevolence.
The joyous times
may include
a special holiday meal…
but have you ever
thought about
where some of the dishes
being served
actually came from?
The answer may shock you.
For billions of beings
across the world,
Christmas and
the rest of the year
are filled with pain,
suffering, fear and sadness.
Surely everyone agrees
that Jesus Christ would
have never wanted
the innocent and meek
to be subjected to
cruel treatment like this,
let alone on the celebration
of his birthday.
Paisley the Pig
I was born in this place;
it’s quite dark in here.
I don’t know
where my family is, they
have all been taken away.
We get beaten very often;
even though we didn’t
do anything wrong.
The other day
a man pointed to me
and said that I would be
a Christmas roast this year...
I am not sure
what he meant, but
I hope it means that my
life will become better.
Paisley does not realize
that her life will end
quite soon and
she will be turned into
a roll of roast ham
for the holiday season.
She will be viciously
killed by having
her throat slit open
and then be dropped into
a vat of boiling water.
Can anyone eat ham
knowing that
a porcine friend lived
their entire life in despair
and then was murdered
to produce meat?
During festive occasions
many people eat sweets
such as cakes, cookies,
and other baked goods
containing eggs.
But at what cost
to animal lives?
Chickens trapped in
egg production facilities
are forced to lay more
eggs than they could ever
possibly imagine.
By manipulating
the lighting in the shed
and their diet,
farmers cause birds to
shed their feathers which
stimulate egg production.
A bird is thus induced
to lay up to 290 eggs
per year,
which is 10 times the
normal amount for a hen.
When the hen ceases
to reach her expected
production amount,
she is barbarically killed
and her carcass is sold
for consumption.
Hannah the Hen
I’m Hannah.
These days I am laying
so many eggs,
yet they all get taken
away and then I have to
start all over again.
It’s really uncomfortable.
My home,
called a battery cage,
is essentially a prison –
it’s very small and
the cage wires cut my feet.
The wounds
never get time to heal;
the wires just cut them again.
I cannot turn around
or flap my wings.
When I tried to show
my unhappiness by
plucking my feathers -
the humans came and
just cut my beak off.
It was the most
painful thing that has
ever happened to me,
I cried the entire day.
These gentle beings are
artificially inseminated
and turned into
egg laying machines
against their will.
Crowded and utterly
filthy conditions result
in many terrible diseases
running rampant
through the battery cages
such as bird flu.
In 2010, approximately
380 million chicken eggs
produced by two
factory farms in the US
were recalled due to
salmonella contamination.
Salmonella,
a type of bacteria,
causes severe diarrhea,
abdominal cramps,
and fever. Some people
develop Reiter’s
syndrome which is
marked by joint pain,
irritation of the eyes,
and painful urination
and can last for years.
Other beings that
will have no reason to
celebrate this Christmas
are dairy cows
and their young.
A dairy cow’s fate
is quite bleak: though
it jeopardizes her health
and welfare,
she will be kept pregnant
via artificial insemination
her entire life in order to
maximize the milk
that can be taken
from her body.
Being milked every day
results in her udders
being swollen and infected,
and sometimes
even causes bleeding.
When she gives birth,
her baby will be
torn away
from her immediately.
A newborn’s destiny
is just as dark
as their mother’s:
to join a dairy farm
if female or
sold for veal if male.
Calves that are seriously ill
or otherwise deemed
to lack economic value
will be bludgeoned
to death or just left to die.
Carla the Cow
My name is Carla.
I hope you are enjoying
your Christmas season.
I wish I could also
enjoy Christmas
with my family,
but I do not know where
my parents or children are.
They put something
in me to make me
have another baby
as soon as
they take my newborn.
And they milk me
all the time.
My legs are so sore
from standing –
I do not have room
to move around.
My entire body aches.
I have never been outside.
There are so many of us
in here; it smells so bad.
Finally, tired and worn
out from her harsh life
and all the hormones
and antibiotics
she has received,
Carla will also be sent off
to slaughter –
her murder will begin
with an electric shock
or the shooting
of a captive bolt gun
into her skull
which is meant to stun
but often fails, followed
by her throat
being slashed while
hanging upside down –
possibly while
she is still breathing
and fully conscious.
Although banned
in some countries and
cities across the globe,
the sickening production
of foie gras unfortunately
continues today.
Making foie gras involves
regularly forcing a pipe
down a goose’s throat
in order to inject
a large quantity of food
into his stomach.
This painful procedure
is not only
extremely stressful
and traumatizing,
but also damages his beak,
scars his throat and
esophagus and inflames
his liver.
Force feeding a goose
results in his liver
expanding up to 10 times
its normal size.
Knowing what foie gras
is – diseased liver tissue
from a tortured goose–
there is no way one could
possibly calls this item
a “delicacy.”
Gary the Goose
My name is Gary;
I wish I could spend
a nice warm Christmas
with my friends
and family –
instead of living like this.
I know my time is
coming to an end soon,
because they are force
feeding me even more
frequently these days.
It really hurts everywhere.
My mouth, my throat,
my stomach, my liver,
my kidneys,
everything is swollen up.
It feels as if
I am bleeding myself to
death from the inside out.
Maybe I am…
Through deep sea trawling,
which has been likened
to strip mining for its
level of destructiveness,
and other methods
marine life like fish,
lobster, shrimp and
others are snatched
in the billions from
their homes every year,
resulting in their
painful death and
environmental devastation.
In large-scale aquaculture
operations, fish are
jammed tightly together.
Tuna in the wild can live
for up to 40 years
and swim
70 kilometers per hour.
However, in the farms
2,000 tuna are confined
to a 30 meter tank.
Wild salmon are
migratory and are used to
swimming across oceans,
thus claustrophobic
confinement causes some
farmed salmon
to die from stress.
When the fish
are to be sent to market,
they are cruelly stunned
with electricity or put
into water saturated
with nitrogen so that
they cannot breathe
and therefore
suffocate to death.
Other sickening methods
of killing sea life include
placing lobsters
in boiling water,
a practice so inhumane
that it has been made
illegal in some places,
including Reggio Emilia,
Italy.
Leo the Lobster
I am Leo the Lobster.
I know some people
think I do not have feelings,
but it’s not true.
I have a heart, eyes,
hands and legs –
maybe they just look
different than yours.
I am small, and hope
to be protected,
not violently cut up,
stabbed or thrown
into boiling water.
Believe me, I do feel pain,
being immersed
in boiling water
will hurt and kill me, just
like it would do to you.
I hope you will remember
I have feelings.
Have a Happy Christmas.
According to research
conducted by
In Defense of Animals,
a US-based non-profit
animal welfare
organization, due to
selective breeding and
the use of antibiotics to
unnaturally speed growth,
today’s factory farmed
turkeys are nearly
double the size of
their wild ancestors.
They grow so large that
their legs have difficulty
holding up their bodies
and they can barely
walk about.
Teresa the Turkey
My name is Teresa,
I have been living
in this space
with thousands
of other turkeys since
I can remember.
I don’t know
who my mother is: I was
hatched by a machine.
Life here is terrible,
and many of my friends
have gone crazy, because
it’s too crowded
and hard to breath.
When some start pecking
due to frustration,
the humans just cut off
their beaks and
sometimes also their claws.
They say it was
very painful, and still is.
Why do humans
do this to us?
Every single second
of our lives is filled with
pain, anguish and fear.
Please help us.
Turkeys are forced
to lay many eggs which
then get taken away.
The eggs are hatched
in incubators,
and the poor baby chicks
will never see their mother.
Their fate will be
the same as hers – death
in the slaughterhouse –
as the merciless
turkey production cycle
continues.
Another kind animal that
will suffer tremendously
due to cruel treatment
this holiday season
is an icon of Christmas,
the reindeer.
Reindeer are found
in Scandinavia, Russia,
North Asia,
and North America.
Some are semi-
domesticated
and are raised in herds.
In certain Scandinavian
countries they are sent
to slaughterhouses
for their meat.
My name is
Rudolph the Reindeer.
We used to always
enjoy Christmas in peace
and harmony until
humans decided
to make us a part of
Christmas dinner.
Please stop eating
all animals,
we are in agony.
You have so many
other choices.
Please let us enjoy
our lives; stop hurting
and killing us.
We did not do anything
to you, why are you
doing this to us?
Statistics say that
one child dies of hunger
every five seconds –
while more than a third
of the world’s cereal
and up to 90% of soy is
currently fed to livestock.
Grain consumed
by livestock is enough to
feed two billion people.
Eating animal products
means the death of
billions of animals,
endangers our health,
and kills our
fellow human-beings.
During
the Christmas season
many of us will be
enjoying days filled
with peace and love;
however many beings
on our planet
will sit silently
in tremendous agony.
Please remember that
during these festive times
and the rest of the year,
all of us can very easily
help our animal friends
by simply making
a different selection
for our meals.
By choosing not to eat
animal flesh, carcasses,
organs and products;
by not turning
our stomachs into the
graveyards of animals,
we can all ensure
a better life for all beings.
If we follow
an organic vegan diet,
all will live in tranquility,
harmony and abundance.
In the wise words of
Supreme Master
Ching Hai:
“If the lion is to lie down
next to the lamb
peacefully,
humans must do it first.”
Thank you for joining us
today for this edition of
the Stop Animal Cruelty
series.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News.
May peace always reign
upon our Earth.