intensivemethodsaslongastheycansellwhattheyproduce
by these methods; they
willhavetheresourcesneededtofightreformpolitically;and
theywillbeabletodefendthemselvesagainstcriticismwith
thereplythattheyareonlyprovidingthepublicwithwhatit
wants.
Hencetheneedforeachoneofustostopbuyingtheproducts
ofmodernanimalfarming—evenifwearenotconvincedthat
itwouldbewrongtoeatanimalswhohavelivedpleasantly
anddiedpainlessly.Vegetarianismisaformofboycott.For
mostvegetarianstheboycottisapermanentone,sinceonce
theyhavebrokenawayfromflesh-eatinghabitstheycanno
longerapproveofslaughteringanimalsinordertosatisfythe
trivialdesires of their palates. But themoral obligationto
boycottthemeatavailableinbutchershopsandsupermarkets
todayisjustasinescapableforthosewhodisapproveonlyof
inflictingsuffering,andnotofkilling.Untilweboycottmeat,
andallotherproductsofanimalfactories,weare,eachoneof
us,contributing tothe continued existence,prosperity,and
growthof factoryfarmingand allthe othercruelpractices
used in rearing animals for food.
Itisatthispointthattheconsequencesofspeciesismintrude
directlyintoourlives,andweareforcedtoattestpersonally
tothesincerityofourconcernfornonhumananimals.Here
wehavean opportunityto dosomething,insteadofmerely
talkingandwishingthepoliticianswoulddosomething.Itis
easytotakeastandaboutaremoteissue,butspeciesists,like
racists,revealtheirtruenaturewhentheissuecomesnearer
home.Toprotestaboutbullfightingin Spain,theeating of
dogsinSouthKorea,ortheslaughterofbabysealsinCanada
whilecontinuingtoeateggsfromhenswhohavespenttheir