Bravo to Joseph Bechard for his column, “Vegetarians curb fecal conditions, immoral industry” (ODE, April 22), which very accurately described the cruelty and contempt with which animals in the agriculture industry are treated.
Ten billion cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, sheep, goats and other animals are slaughtered each year in the United States for human consumption. The majority of them are raised in massive factory farms, usually confined in extremely cramped stalls or cages, most never going outside. They are routinely forced to undergo barbaric procedures performed without painkillers, including castration and the partial amputation of tails, toes and beaks. Their abbreviated lives typically end violently in slaughterhouses, where they are dismembered, sometimes while still conscious.
There is a vast array of great-tasting, environmentally friendly foods on the market free of meat, eggs and dairy products. By switching to a vegetarian diet, each one of us can practice compassion by not contributing to the suffering of animals.

Barb Lomow

Eugene