Calves do not have a choice, but we do
Chandra Vaidyanathan
graduate student
In his letter on Monday, Alex Pagnani makes an interesting argument challenging the effort of ND for Animals to eliminate veal from the dining halls. I am sure there are many others who would readily agree with Mr. Pagnani on his nice anecdote and the banning of smoking as an act that is against the right of people to indulge in their freedom of choice.
An often quoted saying, "Your freedom to blow your fist in the air ends where my nose begins," is what comes to mind first on reading his column. Sure enough, smoking is of no concern to anyone as long as others are not made passive smokers. According to the Centers for Disease Control, second hand smoke causes "lung cancer in adult non-smokers and serious respiratory problems in children."
If this is not reason enough to pass laws making it illegal to smoke in bars or on public streets, what else could be? It suffices to say the right of anyone to smoke in public ends the moment it poses a substantial public health hazard.
Coming to the issue of cruelty to animals, I only wish animals could speak out for themselves, for perhaps then people would come to a better understanding of the tyranny that they are subjected to at our hands.
Here are a few facts about the veal and calf industry. According to PETA, "Male calves used for veal are taken from their mothers one or two days after their birth. They are chained inside tiny crates barely larger than their bodies and are usually kept in darkness except to be fed two or three times a day for 20 minutes. During their brief lives, they never see the sun or touch the earth. They never see or taste the grass. About 14 weeks after their birth they are slaughtered."
How would we react if these were the conditions under which a fellow human being was treated? Would we then be content with the fact that we do not indulge in such actions and not bother to interfere with one's choice to ill treat someone else or would we raise up collectively against such an outrage? We belong to a society where we care about the conditions and liberties of even those who are in prison.
The poor veal does not have any one of its own to take up its case. Unless we, as compassionate human beings, live up to our highest of moral and ethical judgments, there is no end to this human tyranny against animals.
It is not Mr. Pagnani's choice to eat veal that ND for Animals is protesting against. It is the low moral ebb that we as human beings have hit that it is protesting against. The act of not consuming veal would go a long way in sending the message across to the heartless veal industry that we do care about how animals are treated. That is least we could do, for the calves do not have a choice.
Chandra Vaidyanathan
graduate student
off-campus
April 15
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, April 16, 2003
