The Film, “Dominion” – WARNING: You Might Cry

The Film, “Dominion” – WARNING: You Might Cry

Commentary by: TLB Staff Writer Lucille Femine

Before I watched this two hour documentary last night, I was 90% vegan – for health reasons. After I watched it, I was 100% for reasons which went far beyond the state of my body.

Let me say first, I am not promoting veganism. That is your decision totally. What I AM presenting, however, in this highly graphic, un-doctored expose, described in painful detail, are the processes gone through to slaughter animals for food, cosmetics and experimentation – the state of most slaughter houses in this country and beyond, especially the huge commercial ones.

By the way, there are many other videos on this horror which shows how bad and widespread it is.

The documentary: 

What we see in the supermarkets are those neat packages wrapped in plastic and we have some vague knowledge of the animals they once were, if we even think about it. And we sure don’t want to think about it.

You have fonder memories of the pet farms kids are taken to where they get to enjoy the sweet lambs, horses, cows, pigs, etc. As we watch them, do we stop and think – Gee I eat some of those all the time. No. And why not? Because that would be too painful and we prefer to think maybe they hatched overnight in the supermarket?

Well, that’s what the kids might consider in between video games and we would hope they never ask where they came from.

But that is not exactly my point. Again, I’m not asking anyone to give up meat just because we can’t confront their slaughter. After all, eons ago, animals were hunted and killed for food directly. Of course, that was the only way it could be done but still, I’m talking about some extremely unnecessary and somewhat sadistic means of containing and killing animals. I watched some of those workers positively gleeful as they bludgeoned pigs, cows, goats, etc. One might wonder how they behave when they go home.

These slaughterhouses are kept secret and barred from the public for the most part. Is it because the meat and dairy industry simply just want the public to not have to deal with these deaths which make them uncomfortable and sad? And they will lose money if more people avoid meat? Or is it really because of the deplorable conditions the animals are forced to endure? Maybe both but I suspect more the latter.

In these startling scenes, I was drawn to images of Nazi concentration camps, only far worse. People may say – Well, they’re just animals! I beg to differ. I can’t think of any reason to treat a sentient animal with such cruelty. All for profit. Besides that, because the animals are so neglected and ill, they need to be fed antibiotics which humans ingest and get ill. So the crime is much broader.

You might be thinking now – Sure, but there are humane slaughterhouses. Yes, there are. Here’s one in Australia where a very cordial, respectful talk went on between a vegan and a slaughterhouse worker – who loves meat and eats the animals she helps kill. I found that very hard to digest…so to speak.

At one point, he asked pointedly how she felt about being part of the killing. She was very willing to discuss that with him, yet she looked uncomfortable throughout the interview. I would say even sad as her underlying emotion. It made me wonder why such a sweet person would pick a vocation like that. Only thing I could think of is that it might be in the family.

The answer to his question was disturbing to me. She said, again uncomfortably, as if she couldn’t quite wrap any truth around it, was that “Animals reactions are only learned behavior”. Huh? In other words, they have no emotions of their own. Like robots? Some kind of artificial intelligence? It was clear to me this was a way to wall herself off from the reality of her job and a justification for it.

How many of you think your animals are only mimicking YOUR emotions? Is that what you think when they look at you with love and devotion? Is that why some dogs will lay at their master’s graves day after day in deep mourning?

I read once of a bird who pecked at a window to wake someone up in a burning house – until it died but saved the person. Just a learned response?

Yesterday, as I watched one of these horrible scenes, my cat, who rarely pays attention to what is on my screen, got up really close for a long time and watched with me, very still and startled. At one point, he reached up a gentle hand toward the animal in pain. That proved to me how empathetic animals can be.

How about when your dog or cat greets you with overwhelming affection when you come home? Did you command them to “react” that way? Do they just want food? I don’t think so, at least from my own experience. I believe they feel the same emotion that humans exhibit toward each other.

All those questions don’t mean I am on a bandwagon for everyone to stop eating meat, even just to protest inhumane slaughterhouses. That would border into the area of violating human rights. But I put forth this issue because, even after watching the “humane” way a cow was killed in the below video, I was disturbed.

What does it mean when we have to divorce ourselves from the origin of those neat little packages at the supermarket? Have we just become wimps compared to our ancient ancestors who “faced” the reality of hunting?

Or possibly the act of witnessing these slaughters reminds us too much of its cousin – murder. I just wonder if that’s all there is to it. But, slaughter is actually a synonym for murder or killing. Just a thought.

Here’s the video:

Here’s an even more humane view I’ve seen of a cow’s slaughter. On a grass-fed farm, they are free to roam free their entire lives, mostly illness-free, until they are shot and gutted. Regardless, do these guys have to smother their affinity for them? Do they consider them just dumb, useless animals only fit for food?

It was still difficult to watch the whole procedure. Personally, I would want to make all of them pets. Or just use them to produce milk and let them be until they die naturally.

Here’s the scene too often occurring in this country and others. From a Rolling Stone article – In the Belly of the Beast-Meat Factory Farms Animal Activists, the fate of pigs, for one:

“That hour before her end is usually the only time a pig sees a government rep; from the moment she’s born, she’s on her own, spending four or five years in a tiny crate and kept perpetually pregnant and made sick from breathing in her own waste while fed food packed with growth-promoting drugs, and sometimes even garbage.”

In my opinion, people in this country eat far too much meat and very little fruit and vegetables which is unhealthy and helps create serious illnesses. On top of that, many eat these animals raised in appalling conditions, horribly unhealthy themselves and simply pass it on.

This video explains the statistics on our meat consumption. Whether you are vegan or not, these figures spell destruction of the environment and bad health from too much meat.

I’m just offering data to consider the ethics and health aspects of too much meat consumption and meat produced in the above conditions. The meat and dairy industry has certainly been attacked for its money-motivated intention rather than the health of its consumers.

From the article below linking politics with large meat consumption, “the meat industry has historically had “huge influence” on USDA …”

Food Politics: The Influence of Meat & Dairy Industry on Government, Education, News, Media & Health Professionals.

All of life is precious, even cockroaches, according to this article. However, I’ll pass on keeping them around as buddies.

Are Cockroaches Actually Useful?

Just because cows, pigs, chickens and goats, etc have no other purpose for most people than food does not mean we should condone their suffering or ignore it.

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TLB Note: Lucille Femine is a longtime, highly valued TLB Staff member. She is also an author, writer, researcher, activist, and an exceptional artist to boot! To enjoy more of Lucille’s wisdom, research and presentation … CLICK HERE

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Read more great articles by Lucille here

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The Dark Lane – A Great Novel By Author & Artist: Lucille Femine

A fictional story yet one all too true in the world of psychiatric drugs. Two brilliant, young boys forced to take these drugs and the resultant havoc on their physical, emotional and spiritual selves. The fight is on to save them.

(click on the image below to find out more about this outstanding book)

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