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 animal
cruelty.Caring, concerned viewers, welcome to Animal
World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Today on the Stop Animal Cruelty series we
will meet a member of the New Zealand-based animal protection group
Save Animals From Exploitation or SAFE.
As swine flu cases
rapidly spread worldwide, the media have been focusing on the cause of
the pandemic. The source is no mystery; the problem stems from the
factory farming of pigs, chickens and other animals.
Groups and
individuals around the globe are working non-stop to protect the lives
of the gentle beings trapped in these cruel, intensive agricultural
systems.
In New Zealand, for example, SAFE is conducting the
LovePigs Campaign to raise awareness about the extremely inhumane
living conditions of pigs on factory farms, and to ask the public to
stop buying pig-based products.Now let’s hear from SAFE’s Campaign
Director Hans Kriek, who will explain why we should care about the
lives of these beautiful beings.
Hans Kriek (M):
Yes, I think us, as human beings, we connect with each other by looking
each other in the eye. And when you actually look at an animal, like a
pig, in the eye, you can see that there is a sentient being there.
You can see that there is a soul in there. You can see that there is a thinking creature there that is suffering.
A lot of people that have dogs, for instance, when you look at your dog in the eye, people know that there is a soul. .
They
know that there is an animal in there that has thoughts, that’s happy,
that’s sad; we can read emotions in our own dog, and we can’t do that
with factory farmed animals because we don’t get to see them, because
the farmers keep them well clear from us behind their closed doors.
For more information on Save Animals From Exploitation (SAFE), please visit
www.safe.org.nz