Pupils in Year 8 English having been honing their persuasive writing skills. Take a moment to read this extended piece of writing by Cassia, who has put together a very articulate case for being vegan.
BEING VEGAN
BY Cassia T (Year 8)
A vegan is different from a vegetarian. A vegetarian will not eat meat but will eat products from an animal like eggs or milk. A vegan however, will not eat meat or products from an animal like eggs or milk. If you have a pet you would assumingly love them, right? They show love for us and play with us and we love them back. They can help us to cheer up when we are sad by making us laugh or just by cuddling them. But don’t you think that all animals deserve the care that we show for our pets? Animals also live and love. They also have children and would sometimes walk for hours on end each day just to feed them.
In many ways we are a lot like the animals around us yet we don’t think about the fact that they had feelings when you eat a fish, or think about the life they could have lived when you eat a lamb. We just take it for granted and immediately assume that their lives are less meaningful then yours. You can deny this but the proof is their when you don’t recycle or you happily eat their meat. Factory farms are farms that take in animals to kill. The animals would stay in these factories for weeks before being slaughtered.
Families were separated and they would live in small pens that were so small you couldn’t turn around and your sides would touch the side of your pen. You would have to eat and sleep in the same place you poo. Here are some facts about animal’s lives in the wild and in factory farms. A hen will lay eggs in the wild which will become her chicks. Even though the chicks are in their shells, the mother will coo to them and they will respond. When they grow up they will play games like chase and hide and seek. In factory farms several chickens are crammed into one small cage that is so small, they can’t even spread their wings.
You might not think it but turkeys are very close as families. When one starts to coo, gobble or hops around the others all join in for fun and for celebration. They even share each other’s sadness just like we might do with our friends. And, just like us they can blush and their snoods change colour depending on their mood. When night falls they all fly to the treetops and sleep under each other’s wings. In a factory farms, a turkey can’t even use their wings. They are fattened to the point where they are too heavy to fly just so you can eat the meal you want on Christmas day.
Every year, ducks and geese fly across entire countries just to keep them and their baby’s warm. In factory farms they are stacked on top of each other resulting in that when one poos, it go’s onto the bird below. They are kept in cages so small that there skin is rubbed raw. Birds in factory farms get so scared and sick that they start losing their feathers.
Pigs are some of the most sensitive, smartest and believe it or not cleanest of all the animals on earth. They can recognise each other’s snorts and whistles from far distances. The only reason that pigs roll around in mud is to call off from all the rooting for food and wrestling they do. This is because they don’t sweat. Pigs need each other more than anything. They get so close that sometime it’s hard to get them apart. A factory farm pig is all alone and fattened to the point where she is stuck in her pen and can’t move. A wild pig never sleeps where they poo, but a factory farm pig has no choice.
Cows have a whole range of moods. They are curious and funny and can even hold grudges against each other. Proud cows show off, friends take walks together and calf’s play follow the leader. All these things humans do as well. On factory farms, cows can’t even eat the right food. They are fed corn, which fattens them up and gives them gas and tummy ache. Cattle farms waste precious water and make pollution leak into the sea. If we all just grew our own food, we would save the environment massively. And the food and water we would save would feed hundreds of hungry people all over the world.
Fish have amazing senses. They have quick instincts and delicate nerves. Their bodies can feel nearby fish, food or objects without even touching them. Every year, fishing nets tangle and crush millions of fish and thousands of sea turtles, sharks and dolphins which are all part of the eco-system. Fishing boats pollute the sea. The earth is being ridden of its fish. Can you imagine a sea with no fish?
Rain forests hold some of the world’s most amazing and exotic species. They also stop our world from heating up. The amazon rainforest is known as ‘the lungs of the world’. In the present, our rainforests are being burned down and bulldozed to make space for things like cattle farms. This means that we are losing animal species, medicines and plants, not to mention animals losing their homes. When we destroy the rainforest, we are destroying ourselves to. Try eating natural, it has shown you soak up the sun more, get more nutrients and make better choices. As the saying goes’ you are what you eat’.
Many people like wearing the latest fashions. But have you ever thought about what it’s made off? Shoes made from crocodile skin, leather jackets made from cows, furs made from small furry creatures like racoons and purses made from snake skin. An animal has been ridden of a lifetime of love and happiness just so you could wear a jacket for two weeks before throwing it away. Animal testing includes things like chaining up a monkey and spraying perfume in its eyes leaving it blind. Many animals die from animal testing every year.
You might enjoy the zoo, but the animals don’t. There is nowhere to run, hunt, forage or drink from rivers as well as the fact that humans are gazing at you all day from all angles. Animals grow sick tired and angry. They usually live shorter lives in zoos. Orca whales swim up to a hundred miles a day but in an aquarium, they have no space. It would be like spending your life in a bathtub. You do not have to be clever to know that animals do not want to balance on balls or jump through hoops of fire but animals in the circus have to, or they are faced with being beaten with whips or hooks whilst tied up. The earth belongs to the animals just as much as it does to us. To conclude, I would like to ask you, after all you have heard from today, are you still going to enjoy eating meat? Sure they might have had a good time on the farm but in the end they are still caught and killed. So after my speech today, at least consider turning vegetarian or vegan, if just for a week. It will save many lives and that will feel good.
