Three hundred and forty-seven potential Class of 2010 students were aborted as fetuses.Those who did manage to make it to Prince throw out 90 cubic yards of recyclable waste each day. And the latest figure to hit the Frist Campus Center north lawn? Princeton students kill 587,000 animals every year.
Apparently, we have a lot to feel guilty about. Like most students, though, I find it easy to walk right by these displays, more concerned with getting into Frist to check my email than reading up on a fringe cause. The latest display, however, strikes me as different — and not just because a group I belong to, the Princeton Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), is responsible for it.
You, the average Princeton student, have not aborted a member of the Class of 2010. Your occasional forgetfulness about recycling does not cause immediate harm to any being. But if you are like most of my classmates, you do eat meat, and you eat a lot of it.
In fact, you eat an average of 95 animals a year. Your consumption is directly responsible for the slaughter of these animals. You have blood on your plates — and on your hands.
I can't say I blame you. I used to eat fleshy burgers and chicken myself until a few years ago. What changed? I stumbled across information on the modern meat industry, and I could no longer assume that the animals I was eating had a nice life on a farm straight out of "Charlotte's Web." Unfortunately for the animals, most Princeton students still can, and do.
If you knew that pigs — who are as friendly and intelligent as your dogs — spend their entire lives in stacked stalls under a constant stream of excrement from the stalls above, would that ham still be appealing? If you knew that chicks have their beaks sliced off so they don't peck each other to death in cramped conditions, would those chicken wings taste so good? If you could see the imploring eyes of a cow, with shackles on her feet and blood draining from her slit neck, would you still find it morally acceptable to scarf down a burger just because it tastes good?
I hope not. And I don't think so. No matter what ethical system you subscribe to, I believe you would find the modern treatment of animals appalling — if only you knew more about it.
That's where PAWS comes in. We're a new student group focused on raising awareness of animal exploitation and doing everything in our power to end it. We are a small part of the broader animal liberation movement, a movement that seeks to give equal consideration to sentient beings regardless of their species. That doesn't mean giving monkeys the right to vote or dogs the right to free speech; it simply means that the desires of one species should not overrule the basic needs of another.
I know what you are wondering, and yes, it's true: At times, we might be in your face. We might be obnoxious, graphic and controversial. Hey, we might even get naked for the cause (keep your eyes peeled!) The mission of PAWS is to reduce the suffering of animals, and we will work to accomplish that in any way that we can. We will, however, always be rational, reasonable and more than willing to discuss the ethical considerations driving our demonstrations.
So, question us, challenge us and debate us. But before blindly assuming, as I once did, that animals are treated as humanely as possible, take a good look at modern factory farming. Read Peter Singer's Animal Liberation. Browse the People for the Ethical of Treatment of Animals website. Check out the screening of "Earthlings" tonight.
I know, I know — animals may be cute, but you have bigger problems to worry about. There's genocide in Darfur, there's a failed war in Iraq, there's poverty, AIDS, cancer and the looming catastrophe of global warming. (Incidentally, the livestock sector contributes more to greenhouse gas emissions than transportation does, but that's another column.)
Luckily, eating fewer animals does not detract from your other concerns. It does not take any time out of your day to get a veggie burger instead of a meat burger, but it does reduce the demand for an unethical product.
Next time you are walking by Frist, take a minute to appreciate the 1,000 animals behind each flag. If you are still eating meat, you are paying for the slaughter of these animals.
You can wash this blood off your hands as soon as you stop eating it. Jenny Palmer is the president of and writes on behalf of PAWS. She may be reached at jspalmer@princeton.edu.
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