Michael Vick is the tip of the iceberg - Baltimore Sun LTE

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The Baltimore Sun August 1, 2007 Wednesday FINAL EDITION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SECTION: EDITORIAL; LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; Pg. 10A Fights a small part of cruelty to animals The national media have had a field day reporting on allegations that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick ran a brutal dogfighting operation and slaughtered dogs ("Dogfight fans aren't so easy to categorize," July 29). Yet they rarely report on the brutal slaughter every hour of every day of every year of cows,

pigs and other innocent, sentient animals that are just as deserving of our respect and compassion as dogs. In today's factory farms, cows' babies are torn from their mothers at birth and chained by the neck for 16 weeks in tiny wooden crates to produce veal. Among pigs, breeding sows are impregnated artificially and confined in similarly tight metal cages. Among chickens, as many as seven laying hens are stuffed for months in a metal cage the size of a folded newspaper. Following this kind of abuse, animals are trucked for hours without food or water and exposed to extreme cold or heat. Many never make it to the slaughterhouse. Then, at the slaughterhouse, the remaining animals are frequently dismembered, skinned, scalded or drowned while fully conscious. Every dollar we spend for meat or dairy products at the checkout counter is our direct subsidy

for animal cruelty. Let's remember our own responsibility when we get upset at the latest report on the cruel treatment of dogs. Kelly E. Lally Lutherville

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