Global chaos - be very afraid

BEFORE I got involved in animals rights, I was oblivious to man’s inhumanity to other lifeforms.

It was only after taking in and nurturing an abandoned sparrow chick that I was forced to stop and think about what life must be like for less fortunate animals, even the smallest of creatures like this tiny bird.

Compared to captive animals, my little bird and his feathered friends are the lucky ones. A great many other creatures are dismissed as either food animals or else fair game in the field.

Right about now, the Japanese are about to slaughter 1,000 whales on the pretext of scientific research. At least that's the excuse they've given. The real truth behind this senseless slaughter is that these mammals are destined to be served up on Japanese dinner plates. 

It doesn't matter to the Japanese that these magnificent creatures are still endangered - and to hell with what the rest of the world thinks.

But, I can hear you say, lots of animals are killed for food, so what does it matter if umpteen whales are slaughtered, so long as there are still a few left? 

The problem is that we as a species cannot keep abusing nature because she is beginning to bite back..... hard.

We have to stop persecuting certain species of animals (eg foxes, deer and hares) just because they happen to be successful.

Let’s face it, there is no species on the planet more successful than man. Yet we continue to reproduce and gobble up the earth’s resources at an alarming rate, squeezing out other animals.

Just this August the Yangtze river dolphin became extinct. And, yes, mankind was to blame.

Our obsession with eating meat is by far the biggest global threat, far more than nuclear weapons. Yet successive governments continue to ignore this fact: by propping up farmers and giving them huge subsidies, they are keeping the global economy healthy.

But this comes at a price. A price that is way too high. 

They keep the message going that we all need meat to be healthy, wealthy and wise. What they are really saying is that they need to keep their jobs, so looking good in the eyes of the public is all that matters.

As long as they can keep the economy booming, it doesn't matter about the all-important rest.
They forget that our high meat consumption is causing the NHS to burst at the seams. But as long as the taxpayers keep coughing up, they can keep throwing money at it.

 We're in a no-win situation. In other words, live now, pay later. A bit like drug addicts and alcoholics. 

Breeding and killing billions of animals to feed an increasing world population is not just harming our health and causing animals to suffer, it's causing our planet to crumble.

We are devouring our world so fast that we are leaving nothing for future generations.

Yet still our leaders tell us to eat meat. 

Never mind that our actions are seeing off more and more endangered species, or that intensive animal farming is the main cause of global warming.

Our politicians are ignoring the warming signs - at our peril.

Critics of modern agriculture say it is more to blame for global warming than industrial and transport pollution

Not so long ago, I saw a letter in a local newspaper accusing me of trying to destroy the livelihoods of farmers. It seems telling the truth about the cruelty involved in animal farming is taboo. They see people like me as a threat to their lifestyle, so they call us nuts! 

What they should be concerned about is how their intensive farming methods are killing us all off.

But then it all comes down to money. Money is the root of all evil, or so the saying goes. And there is no better proof that watching how the world’s leaders protect the meat industry.

 Just listen to our MPs claim that we have the highest animal welfare standards in the world, then consider how most of Britain's so-called food animals are kept. Housed in their thousands and crowded into stinking filthy sheds, lying amongst some of their dead and dying siblings.

Even many free-range animals like sheep and cattle have to suffer many traumas, not least transport and the slaughterhouse.

Ask yourself why some poor animals have fled marketplaces and killing sheds (only to be shot by police marksmen).

They are terrified and rightly so!

Take a damn good look at the way we treat animals and be ashamed, be very ashamed. Because I am!

But above all, be afraid.....