Why vegans should run slaughter houses

Walking past stacked cages of chickens almost every day, I feel like I should buy a few and give them a home. Not think about the big picture, just for these ten. Give them a comfortable life. If I was in the cage, I’d want someone to save me and give me a home.

But then, I start thinking. If I buy animals meant for slaughter, there is of course the benefit to that animal, but overall I’ve just fed into the cruel eco-system of meat production and consumption.

It’s also an approach with diminishing gains. If I am saving ten chickens every day by buying them from the slaughter house and bringing them home; soon my home will be as packed as the slaughter house cages.

Here’s an alternative thought. I bring those chickens from the poultry and let them be, so they have some time to get over their misery; which has lasted for their entire lifetime up until this point. Then slaughter them with as little suffering — physical and emotional — as possible. This is not a whole lot different from free range chicken business, that is, if those are running as advertised. But, there is a key difference.

The intent. My intent is not profit. I will not promote my slaughter house as a eat-chicken-without-guilt-by-paying-more. I will just sell meat at cost, and undercut the regular slaughter house. That way, I’d have not increased the consumption. I’d have just taken over a small fraction of what is being consumed and channeled it through a less cruel pathway. I think if the end goal is to reduce suffering, then this is much more sustainable than a one time rescue via purchasing.

Also, when people buy from my slaughter house, I can slip in the vegan literature.

I don’t know though, that if there is a god with a karma score book, which column will I be getting points in. It’d have to be a rational sort of god for this to work out in my favor.