Cattle lot cows suffer, too
Re: Up to Saanich to break feedlot stalemate, Letters (Oct. 15)
The writers of the open letter asking Mayor Leonard to shut down the Alberg feedlot mention the rats, putrid smells, fecal dust, growing manure piles and bright lights they have had to endure.
It must be horrible indeed — imagine how it feels for the cows. They are crowded in this mud and waste under the lights, being fattened for the final terrifying delivery to slaughter.
(The next neighbours see of them will probably be on the butcher’s slab at the supermarket, or in a hamburger.)
Truly, these conditions don’t belong in a suburban neighbourhood or anywhere else.
Maybe this close-up view of feedlots (and this is nothing compared to vast industrial meat farms) will cause the neighbours to contemplate the larger picture of factory farming – and to consider vegetarianism.
S. Barbara JulianSaanich
