Let me begin by speaking about the definition of animal cruelty which refers to acts of violence
or abandonment by humans towards any non-human animals. Generally, animal cruelty can be
divided into two categories: neglect and intentional cruelty. Intentional cruelty occurs when an
individual purposely inflicts physical harm or injury on an animal. For example, by abusing,
torturing, tormenting, kicking, burning, stabbing, mutilating, beating, shooting, killing them,
making them fight against each other like it happens during the popular dog or cock fights. On
the other hand, neglect cruelty happens when animals are deprived of basic or adequate
necessities such as food, water, shelter, ventilation, light, space to move, to exercise, or
veterinary treatment, they are kept in conditions that are unsanitary, or they are not protected
from different weather conditions that can affect them like the rain or excessive heat or cold.
I already just mentioned some examples of animal cruelty but I think it is important that I talk
more deeply about a specific one which is present in the daily life of most humans all around
the world and that is eating meat. People who eat meat argue that it’s “natural” for humans to
consume animals. But is this actually true or is it just an excuse to ignore the horrible ways in
which animals are killed for food? Humans have the concept of eating meat so normalized
because it’s a part of their daily life since they are born, so they don’t sit down and think why
do we eat animals? It’s so common it makes people think it’s necessary to eat animals when in
reality this is not true.
Because to begin with, humans are anatomically not carnivores. We have short, soft fingernails
and small “canine” teeth. In contrast, all true carnivores have sharp claws and large canine
teeth that are capable of tearing flesh without the help of knives and forks. Another physical
characteristic we have is that our jaws can move up and down and from side to side and we
have flat teeth that allow us to chew. Whereas, carnivores’ jaws move only up and down and
due to their sharp teeth they have to swallow big chunks of meat. Humans aren’t born with
the necessary tools to kill animals and we cannot eat raw meat because our stomachs won’t be
able to handle the bacteria so we’ll get sick, that’s why we cook it. And how many carnivorous
animals do you know that need to cook their food?
Numerous studies have shown that meat is not ideal for the human body and that it may
actually be making us sick and killing us because meat can cause heart disease, strokes, cancer,
obesity, amongst other things.
Aside from health complications eating meat can have a severe and damaging impact on the
environment because of the vast environmental footprint animal farming has. It contributes to
land and water degradation, biodiversity loss, acid rain, coral reef degeneration and
deforestation. Its also responsible for 18% of human produced greenhouse gas emissions
worldwide. Which is even more than emissions from all means of transport put together. That
means it’s a big cause of climate change which has been described as the greatest threat to
human health in the 21st century. Reducing consumption of animal products is essential if we
are to meet global greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
Apart from that, meat production requires big masses of grain, water and land. Farmers need
huge amounts of grain to be able to feed the animals and roughly 15 thousand litres of water
are used to produce a single kilogram of beef. Also around 30% of the earth’s land surface is
currently used for livestock farming and this is all related to inefficient use of resources
Now I want to make a point that focuses more on the daily suffering of farm animals. We all
know animals are sentiment creatures which means they have needs and interests, so if we
plan to kill them at the end of the day why are we forcing them to have miserable lives? I know
humans want to eat meat for pleasure but what’s the pleasure in completely ignoring animals’
welfare? Animals don’t have any space to move around and they are locked in small cages for
their whole life to later have a terrible destiny.
I want to say that I believe eating meat is morally wrong not because there is something
special about pigs or chickens or cows, but because of the harm it causes, whether that harm is
caused to animals, humans, or the wider environment.
To conclude, I want to clarify that the purpose of this speech isn't to make anyone feel bad. It's
not to say that you're a bad person if you eat meat but my objective is to make you question
yourself and your daily life choices regarding what products you consume.
