Historically, man has expanded the reach of his ethical calculations, as ignorance and want have receded, first beyond family and tribe, later beyond religion, race, and nation.

To bring other species more fully into the range of these decisions may seem unthinkable to moderate opinion now. One day, decades or centuries hence, it may seem no more than ‘civilized’ behavior requires.

“What Humans Owe to Animals,” The Economist, 8/19/95

Male chicks, of no economic value to the egg industry, are found dead and dying in a dumpster behind a hatchery. Typically they are gassed² or ground up alive.⁹ Other standard agricultural practices—often performed without anesthesia—include castration, tail docking, debeaking, dehorning, toe trimming, and branding.⁹

True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power.

Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.

And in this respect humankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.

-Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, 1984

Ducks and geese are force-fed to produce liver pâté.

Humans—who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals—have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain. A sharp distinction between humans and ‘animals’ is essential if we are to bend them to our will, make them work for us, wear them, eat them—without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret.

It is unseemly of us, who often behave so unfeelingly toward other animals, to contend that only humans can suffer. The behavior of other animals renders such pretensions specious. They are just too much like us.

-Dr. Carl Sagan & Dr. Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, 1992

There are no laws protecting hens while on the farm. (February 2005, Maryland) EggIndustry.com

A Healthy Way