Slaughter of animals is an issue worthy of long debate

If John Arnone is so infuriated when he reads letters encouraging compassion for our fellow sentient beings, might I suggest that he simply stops reading them. Yes, John. I use the word “sentient” too because it means “experiencing sensation or feeling” and this accurately describes the animals we so casually, and needlessly, send to a terrifying, premature and violent death in our slaughterhouses. John believes we should continue eating animals because humans have eaten them for thousands of years but people have murdered, raped and enslaved other humans for thousands of years too. Does that make these things justifiable? Of course it doesn’t – and robbing other living beings of their precious lives for something as frivolous as momentary taste bud pleasure is not justifiable either.

As the great Albert Schweitzer wisely said, “The thinking man must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition.”

Jenny Moxham

Victoria, Australia