Temple Grandin
Earlier this week I went to hear Dr. Temple Grandin speak at the University. If you aren’t familiar with her, she’s a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University as well as being known and respected worldwide as a designer of livestock handling facilities. She’s developed an objective scoring system for meat processing plants and written several books on animal behavior and autism, which oddly enough, neatly connect in that animals see in pictures much the same way autistics do, and Dr. Grandin is autistic.
Soooo, let’s get right to it, shall we? I am a huge, humongous proponent of animal rights. I’ve been a vegetarian for several years and have recently amped that up and become vegan. I don’t believe in the misuse of animals for anything – not food, sport, entertainment, clothing, science or medicine. I believe in equal rights for all species – from worms to trees, mice to moss. We, the self-absorbed human race, have no right to harm anything PERIOD. But for years I’ve been somehow, and somewhat reluctantly, a fan of Temple Grandin. Sort of. I mean before I was vegetarian, I read her book called Thinking in Pictures and really loved it. At the time I was just as horrified by what I knew of the factory farm industry as I am now, but hadn’t really gone through all the steps in my life to walk-my-talk as they say. Back then, Temple Grandin made me feel hopeful and relieved. Alas, someone doing something for the poor creatures on their way to slaughter. Maybe things aren’t that bad after all, and I can eat my burger in peace. But that was then, and this isn’t. Now, I know that while Dr. Grandin may be easing some of the stress animals go through in their final hours, their final hours are only a very tiny part of the horror they endure their entire short lives.
As I listened to her talk, as details of carbon dioxide stunning and captive bolt stunning formed pictures in my mind, I couldn’t find the hope and the relief I’d somehow felt before. In the space of an evening, Dr. Grandin’s work became questionable for me at best. How is it that someone so knowledge of animal behavior and cognition can make factory farming and slaughterhouses her life’s work? Isn’t she just a brighter side of a very dark problem? Yes! and no. As my partner’s 12 year old daughter so thoughtfully explained, “It’s not like the world’s ever going to stop eating meat. At least she’s doing something to make the animal’s lives better.” She’s right and wrong at the same time. Dr. Grandin’s work IS the bright side, and factory farming is absolutely wrong, period. While I can see that what she does makes a difference, it does not take away the intense and insane horror that 40 billion (yes, I meant to type a b) factory farmed animals are subjected to in the United States alone. The brutality, the neglect, the abuse, the pain. Don’t believe me? Go to You Tube and type in factory farming. Or better yet, watch just the trailer of the documentary Earthlings. Or better yet, visit Dr. Grandin’s site www.grandin.com. It’s all there, and it’s all very, very, very sad.
