The images in the following program are very sensitive and may be as disturbing to viewers as they were to us. However, we have to show the truth about cruelty to animals.

Respected viewers, today’s Stop Animal Cruelty program features our presentation of Part 4 of the award-winning 2005 documentary on animal suffering “Earthlings” directed by vegan US filmmaker Shaun Monson, co-produced by noted vegan US actresses Persia White and Maggie Q and narrated by Golden Globe- and Grammy-winning vegan actor and artist Joaquin Phoenix. The film features music by the world-famous vegan DJ and musician Moby from the United States.

“Earthlings” has received numerous honors, including the Proggy Award given by the US-based animal welfare group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and the Best Documentary Award in the Animal Advocacy category at the International Artivist Film Festival, held annually in California, USA.

The film is known as “the vegan maker” because it has prompted so many people to transition to the compassionate and life-affirming plant-based diet. Such individuals include the Emmy award-winning US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as well as the well-known Canadian professional ice hockey player George Laraque.

Last week on Part 3 of our program, Joaquin Phoenix described the horrendous conditions and unfathomable suffering endured by animals raised for food. This week, we will see how animals are brutally exploited and undergo unimaginable cruelty and torture to provide us with clothing. Let us first hear from “Earthlings” director Shaun Monson on why he decided to collaborate with Joaquin Phoenix on this extraordinary project.

I wanted him from the start. I’d heard he’d been a vegan since he was three years old. He was in Venezuela or some place, I don’t know, don’t quote me exactly on that, but he had seen fishermen as a boy, throwing fish against a wall to kill them. They’d catch them in these nets and just throw them against this wall to kill them and he was so horrified by that, he wouldn’t eat animals anymore. I’d heard this about him.

And he was young, he is younger than I am and he was becoming better known as an actor and I thought he was interesting and I wanted him to do it. I wanted to get someone who was vegan. I thought someone who was living it already, might come through the voice box just a little bit different. That was the theory anyway, that it would work, which was true with him.

We now present the fourth installment of “Earthlings”; a life-changing documentary that serves as a voice for our precious animal co-inhabitants.

PART THREE CLOTHES

The demand for leather comes primarily from the United States, Germany, and the UK. Just about everybody wears it, with little or no thought of where it came from. Thousands of India cows are slaughtered each week for their skins, purchased from poor families in parts of rural India who sell them only after the assurance that the animals will live out their lives on farms.

Shoeing and roping

To relocate the animals to a state where they can legally be killed, since cattle slaughter is forbidden in most of India, the animals must be shoed and roped together in preparation for a harrowing "death march," which could last for several days. Forced to walk through the heat and dust without food or water, coupled with the sheer stress of this terrifying experience for them, many of the animals collapse and are unable to continue.

Bear in mind that most of the cattle are being placed in a truck for the first time in their lives and are likely to be frightened, especially if they have been handled hastily or roughly by the men loading the trucks. The noise and motion of the truck itself is also a new experience, one which makes them ill. After one or two days inside the truck without food or water, they are desperately thirsty and hungry, especially since it is normal for such cows to eat frequently throughout the day.

tail breaking

But when the cattle become weary and grow faint, the bones in their tails are broken in an effort to get them back up on their feet. This is done by repeatedly pinching the tail in several areas.

handlers

Handlers must constantly keep the cattle moving, pulling them by nose ropes, twisting their necks, horns, or tails. They lead, or rather force, the cattle down embankments and in and out of trucks without ramps, causing injuries like broken pelvises, legs, ribs, and horns.

chili pepper

Chili pepper and tobacco are also used to keep the animals walking. This practice is done by rubbing the pepper directly into their eyes, in order to stimulate the animal back onto his or her feet.

slaughter

And all this before the slaughter. As many as half of the animals will already be dead by the time they arrive at the slaughterhouse. But to make the experience even more traumatic and terrifying, they are often killed in full view of each other. And instead of the required "quick slice" across the throat with a sharp knife, they are generally killed through hacking and sawing with a dull blade.

tanning

Afterwards, the skins from these animals are sent to tanneries that use deadly substances like chromium and other toxins to stop decomposition. Remember, leather is dead flesh. It is dead skin, and, therefore, natural for it to decompose and rot away unless treated with such potent substances as these. And for people, the health effects of such chemicals in tanneries, in lieu of the continued demand for leather goods, is yet another issue.

retail

Ultimately, leather from Indian cattle make their way to clothing stores all around the world. Most major chains sell Indian leather. Leather that comes from completely different cows than those we eat.

When we return, Joaquin Phoenix discusses the despicable and appalling treatment of animals killed and skinned for their fur. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Viewed French language version of “Earthlings”

What’s the main message?

The main message is that we’re all connected – humans, animals, and the environment. And we need to look at that interaction, that synergy to make the world a better place for all beings.

And are we starting to see the effects of such a message here on the population in Quebec?

We are. People are changing their habits all the time. If you look in grocery stores, the amount of vegetarian/vegan products is growing all the time.

This is Stop Animal Cruelty on Supreme Master Television. We now resume our presentation of the documentary “Earthlings” with this segment focusing on how our vulnerable and innocent animal co-inhabitants are subjected extreme violence and heartless abuse in the process of being turned into so-called “clothing” and “fashion items.”

fur

And what about fur? Over 100 million wild animals are murdered for their pelts every year, 25 million in the United States alone. These animals, obtained by hunting and trapping, are kept on fur farms in conditions like these.

cage madness

Naturally, these undomesticated, wild animals are not accustomed to being caged. And cage madness develops when frightened and frustrated animals are driven crazy from the stress of confinement. These wild, free-roaming animals and their offspring find themselves unable to live a natural life, can never take even a few steps or feel the Earth beneath their feet. Instead, they are reduced to scratching, circling, and pacing endlessly.

The physical injuries these animals endure on fur farms involve broken and exposed bones...... blindness...... ear infections, dehydration and malnutrition, exposure to freezing temperatures, lack of veterinary care, and slow death. No laws indicate the killing of animals on fur farms.

Therefore, the least expensive methods are the most appealing. Carbon-monoxide poisoning, strychnine, suffocation, breaking the neck, and anal electrocution are some of the more common methods used. Removed from his or her cage with a heavy neck pole, the animal is walked past the rows of bodies of slaughtered foxes, sables, raccoons, and wolves, among others.

Death by anal electrocution is a crude process that requires a probe to be inserted in the rectum while the animal bites down on a metal conductor. Oftentimes this inept procedure must be repeated to actually kill the animal. And the skinned carcasses seen here will later be ground up and fed to the animals still caged. How much does this run? This is $49,500.

Shaun Monson has the following thoughts on the fashion industry.

The fashion industry amazes me because these designers, they’re amazing; they’re tremendous, they are so gifted. I have no fault recognizing their skill in designing clothing, for instance. Why they feel that animal is the quintessential be-all, end-all, Holy Grail of source material baffles me! That need to have the alligator boot or the python bag or something exotic.

I heard of one company, this is shocking, I cannot believe this, that couldn’t find fur that was soft enough, and so it would take an animal, may have been a baby lamb or something. A mother would go almost full term with the baby, then they would abort it just before, weeks before. Because inside the womb the fur was the softest of all.

And so you think about this and you think, “You guys can design bags and clothes and jackets and pants and stuff out of anything, textiles of all kinds, manmade materials, whatever the case may be, make it look fantastic, really.” So it be great if the designers frankly had the guts to not be afraid to say, “I’m not going to use leather for this.” Because to get leather, which isn’t from the same cows that we eat, a different bunch of cows.

For instance, we break their tails, we stick chili pepper in their eyes, we do all the stuff you see in the film to get this part that you then wear. So we find another way. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if a company could create a product that wasn’t at the expense of humans, animals or ecology. Am I asking for the Moon here? I mean, am I asking for too much? Wouldn’t it be great to create conscious products, totally conscious products?

There is something that every one of us can do to stop this unspeakable cruelty to our fellow animal co-inhabitants and that is to vote with our wallets. Before buying any product, whether it is a food or clothing item, consider if an animal had to suffer in order to produce it. Then act with compassion and choose not to support violence and inhumanity.

We would also like to convey our humble appreciation to director Shaun Monson and all those involved in the making of “Earthlings” for their passionate and sincere efforts to protect all beings. May we all soon switch to the loving, organic vegan diet so our animal friends can always be at peace and free.

"Earthlings" may be viewed online at www.Earthlings.com
The "Earthlings" DVD is available at the same website.

Thank you for joining us for today’s program. Please watch Part 5 of our six part presentation of “Earthlings” next Tuesday on Stop Animal Cruelty. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May all beings on Earth be forever respected and protected.