Good news: there's a meat shortage
Announcement posted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Australia 15 Jul 2020
Dear Editor,
After yet another COVID-19 outbreak connected to a slaughterhouse, Coles has warned customers that it may subsequently run out of meat products. What a great time to drop our society’s cruel and deadly meat habit!
In recent months, four separate slaughterhouses have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks, with Victoria’s Chief Medical Officer saying these workplaces make it “intrinsically difficult” to manage the virus’ spread. Workers are often stationed in close quarters while doing physically demanding work, and fear taking time off their already low-paid, insecure jobs to be tested, or to self-isolate.
Events in the United States offer a terrifying vision of what happens when slaughterhouses are ordered to remain open, despite the risk they represent. More than 16,000 slaughterhouse workers have been infected with the Coronavirus there, and a staggering 87% of these came from minority communities.
Whether or not these shutdowns lead to less meat on the shelves, we should use them as a reminder to reconsider our eating habits. We don’t want infection numbers like the U.S.A, and nor do we need to kill feeling, thinking animals for our appetites, when humane, tasty, and immunity-boosting vegan foods can be found easily.
Desmond Bellamy
Special Projects Coordinator
PETA Australia
PO Box 2352
Byron Bay NSW 2481
0411 577 416
DesmondB@PETA.org.au
After yet another COVID-19 outbreak connected to a slaughterhouse, Coles has warned customers that it may subsequently run out of meat products. What a great time to drop our society’s cruel and deadly meat habit!
In recent months, four separate slaughterhouses have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks, with Victoria’s Chief Medical Officer saying these workplaces make it “intrinsically difficult” to manage the virus’ spread. Workers are often stationed in close quarters while doing physically demanding work, and fear taking time off their already low-paid, insecure jobs to be tested, or to self-isolate.
Events in the United States offer a terrifying vision of what happens when slaughterhouses are ordered to remain open, despite the risk they represent. More than 16,000 slaughterhouse workers have been infected with the Coronavirus there, and a staggering 87% of these came from minority communities.
Whether or not these shutdowns lead to less meat on the shelves, we should use them as a reminder to reconsider our eating habits. We don’t want infection numbers like the U.S.A, and nor do we need to kill feeling, thinking animals for our appetites, when humane, tasty, and immunity-boosting vegan foods can be found easily.
Desmond Bellamy
Special Projects Coordinator
PETA Australia
PO Box 2352
Byron Bay NSW 2481
0411 577 416
DesmondB@PETA.org.au