Earthlings Documentary Available for Free
 

This isn't yorkie related, but i figured that people here likely have an interest in animal rights....

EARTHLINGS is now offering a full length web quality version of their documentary on their website. anyone who has an interest in not only animal rights, but human rights should watch this documentary. it is the most powerful and distubing movie i have ever seen and is life altering for most that watch it.

there are many many graphic and violent clips in this documentary, but if you eat factory farmed meat (most in grocery stores), buy puppies from pet stores and puppymills, wear leather and fur, go to the circus...THIS IS what you are supporting...

ignorance may feel better for people who don't want to know, but it doesn't make the suffering of the animals and humams alike and less real.

http://www.earthlings.com/earthlings/video-full.php

I completely agree. I think it's the most important film I've ever seen. I actually bought the DVD after I first saw it, bc I wanted to watch it w/ my husband. However, I haven't yet been able to watch it a second time - bc it is so traumatic.

But so important and honest.

one of my favourite quotes from the film... ‎"It is not the inability to find out what is going on as much as the desire not to know about facts that may lie heavily on ones conscience that is responsible for the lack of awareness..."

I started watching but had to stop. I promise I'm going to watch this later when I have more time and will come back and post again.

I had read this thread before you posted the above quote and wanted to admit the few minutes I watched made me feel very uncomfortable....which I decided is all the more reason to watch the entire movie. I have a feeling it will change forever my opinions and thoughts and that is a little anxiety provoking for me, but I can't avoid discomfort any longer....it would be selfish and that isn't who/what I want to be.

Thank you!

beautifully stated and very admirable of you. it is not an easy watch, i wont lie. I have seen it twice and had to take regular breaks both times.... sometimes just to cry and feel ashamed to be human. but i remind myself that my discomfort of watching the film is NOTHING compared to what hundreds of thousands of animals go through each day. now that i am fully aware of what goes on, i make can make the choice to support the abuse or not. it is amazig how many times a day i have to make this choice now that i am aware...

oh, and Jencar...let me know your thoughts after you watch it....

I too tried to watch, and will have to take it in sections. The numbers quoted in the first part (pets) are rather astounding; and I'd like to review again the stats. some scenes I'm pretty sure are not from North America. Not that it matters all that much.

I read a book, couldn't get through the whole thing either called The Omnivore's Dilemma. It was truly eye-opening. There are not going to be easy answers, to wrestling back from the "manufacturers of food animals", the lock they have on the market. And yes if you read this book, there are ways we can naturally use the land, scientific ways to plant, to move cattle from pasture to pasture, with no need for the antibiotics, growth hormones, insecticides, having cows live in their own feces, etc.

But this is not "mass production of livestock", and if what I suspect might be true, if every single North American embraced the outlawing of animal mass production, a whole lot of belts will need to be tightened. The cost of meat, will likely go up (a whole lot).

We would have to reclaim a whole lot of land that went into corn that corn that was used to feed the cattle in the huge commercial enterprises. In fact because cows have been forced to eat corn, which is NOT their natural diet, a whole lot of medicine needs to be given to make their systems absorb corn nutrients. Then there are all the corn subsidies that farmers get.

I do remember oh 25-30 years ago or so, most mainstream folks, thought vegetarians were beyond weird, that we were shouting hysterically about what growth hormones are doing, antibiotics in the food chain, pesticides in the vegetables, the danger of pollution, the ozone layer, etc.

I would like to point out, that being a vegetarian requires more forethought and planning to get the nutrients the human body needs. We (the human species) are omnivores. While our diet doesn't need to be as heavily meat based as it is currently, meat protein does have it's place in the development and maintenance of healthy bodies.

no, many scenes are not from North America in the film, but that does not mean these animals suffer any less. And for something like the fur and leather industry, the cruelty goes on mainly in other countries, but is sold here. the section on leather was particularily eye opening for me as the Indian leather trade is not only an animal rights, but HUMAN rights situation. the chemicals they use to prederve the rotting flesh (which is what leather is) is destroying drinking water and soil for many communities.
(side note that most of the puppymill and factory farm footage IS northamerican)


not too sure if you meant the "belts tightened" comment to be tounge in cheek, but it totally is. the fact is that North Americans eat far more processed meats than the rest of the world is contributing to the high obessity rate.

the cost of meat likely will go up, yes. that is something that I personally would be willing to accept. If i do not accept this fact than I am saying that me saving a few extra dollars a month is worth more than the suffering of hundreds of thousands of animals ever month. If I could give up a latte or two a month to help the overall well being of these animals, you bet i would do it. We live in a very selfish society and I know many people would not be willing to sacrifice superficial and materialistic items for the wellbeing of others, let alone a different species.

yup, it happens all the time...when my mom was pregnant with me there was ashtrays in the delivery rooms! until we know the actual dangers in something, we want to convince ourselves that it is ok becuase we enjoy it...


funny as it may sound with what i have said so far, i am not a vegetarian or a vegan. I eat meat and believe the human body was designed to eat meat. I do, however consider myself a "conscience carnovoir" I only buy meat, milk and cheese, etc directly from farmers that i have researched their farming practices and some i have even been to their farms. I know that the animal i am eatting are raised well and live happy lives. I am, however, a vegan when I eat out at restaurants or anywhere I don't know where the animal products came from. I also do not buy leather or fur.

again, yes it does take more time and thought to eat vegeterian, vegan or to research where your meat is coming from, but to me it is worth it to know that I am not supporting the unessisary distruction in videos like EARTHLINGS

After watching some of the clips floating around the net a couple years ago, I had to make some very hard decisions. I could not justify the cruelty, and in May '09, I stopped eating meat. At first it was just going to be a personal ban on factory farmed animals, but then I go to thinking some more and gave it up entirely. While buying meat from farmers who only raise animals humanely is amazing and ok for most people, for me personally I couldn't justify continuing to eat it at all. Next will be a change in my egg and dairy suppliers.

Anyway, while I don't say that everyone should be vegetarian, I do find it interesting that some are almost scared of what would happen if they don't have a steady flow of meat. Humans are omnivores, but we can still do very well without meat, poultry, or fish of any kind. There are things that people who adapt this diet need to be aware of (VB deficiency, iron deficiency, etc.); however, the AHA has a list of things on their website that we are less likely to get (stroke, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and maybe even some cancers). I'm not advocating vegetarianism for health benefits, but they are some and that is very clear.

:thumbup:

dairy was one of the first things i changed because of a video i had seen even before this documentary of factory farmed dairy cows with infections on their utters with puss and infected wounds oozing while being milked. nasty. i thought milk was gross before...that just sealed the deal.

not too sure if you meant the "belts tightened" comment to be tounge in cheek, but it totally is. the fact is that North Americans eat far more processed meats than the rest of the world is contributing to the high obessity rate.

yes I meant that literally, and not facetously. I buy my organic, eco conscious farmed raised meat in downtown Toronto. It is quite pricey. Anywhere from double to triple the cost of the same cut in a grocery store.

Organic veges same thing.

i wasn't coming down on you for the remark, i thought it was quite brilliant , actually!

but the mistake you are making is buying from a store in downtown toronto. we buy all organic veggies and farmed meats from the St.Lawrence market and we pay no more than we would for conventional meats and veggies in the stores. of course specialty stores are going to mark up the price on high quality items that are in high demand. we actually probably spend less now on feed and eat far better than we ever have in our lives! you just need to know where to go...again, takes a little mpore planning, but to me, it is worth it. not only for the better well being of the animals, but for my health as well