I have been a vegan for a while now. If anyone is thinking about becoming vegetarian or vegan, all I can say is, if you watch this documentary you will have no problem never eating meat again. I am disgusted, deeply saddened, sick, you name it over this program. It is meant to show how cruel humans are for their own benefit.

I feel so sad tonight.

Morning -

I hadn't heard of this one but I think I will spare myself. I have long since signed off animal products and am perfectly content with that decision. Sometimes I am just too sensitive for the details of the meat industry. I know enough already.

Thanks for posting however. I at least looked it up.

I don't blame you Chloe. I couldn't sleep last night thinking about all of the torturous things that I witnessed and those poor animals. I don't think I've ever watched anything that affected me so much. People hide their heads in the sand to the horrible things we do to animals so that they continue in denial.

I forced myself to watch it and I had to turn away quite a few times. My eyes are now more open than ever, and for that, I am thankful to this documentary.

It was watching this documentary that pushed me over the edge into vegetarianism. I was already leaning that way, but after I saw Earthlings I just made up my mind and did it.

Now I would never consider going back, indeed I cannot, knowing what I now know.

It changed my life.

Not to deny anyone's perspective: I would just like to say that there is a VAST difference between mechanized and industrial farming and raising your own eggs, meat, produce, etc in a traditional way. Just saying.... There is a lot of human cruelty and exploitation that happens in the mechanized production of fruits and veggies, too. Certainly not in the way that happens with large comercial production and animal processing. I don't mean to be disrespectfull....

You are not disrespectful at all. I actually greatly admire people that raise and slaughter their own or do the same with other small time farmers. It is far more "humane" and I think does far less environmental damage.

I have been vegetarian for over 20 years. It was effortless at the time and continues to be. That being said, I always tell people that if you are miserable not eating animal products don't do it. But do consider where your animal food sources are coming from.

And no kidding on the human cruelty side. We may not kill the underpaid worker, but it doesn't mean there isn't some very shameful exploitation there. Very good points.

If you watch the documentary, I think the key message is about how we use animals in general for our own selfish purposes. In entertainment, for scientific experiment, in our food and clothing choices. It isn't specifically about slaughter houses, although that is part of it. I grew up on a family farm and even though it was not even close to the atrocities cited in this film, death is death. Animals ALL have a central nervous system and all feel pain, fear, and despair. There is no denying that. No disrespect meant to anyone here, however that is not a fact that you can refute or deny.

This is true. I have leather coats, leather gloves, and leather shoes. The "Earthlings" segment on leather has me thinking maybe I need to change. We certainly have the technology to make high-quality, humane substitutes for these items.

All I can do about the pet overpopulation problem is spay/neuter my own pets and always adopt shelter pets, which I do.

This is exactly my point and I feel the same way. I have a great respect for animals and regardless of the way they are killed, they are still in pain and very scared. Earthlings changed my life as well. You always hear about people saying that their life was changed by something that they saw or witnessed. I guess I never really understood the true impact of that statement until I saw this film. I allowed myself to be fooled into thinking that there was a humane way that animals were killed for our pleasures. That simply isn't true.

Thank-you for highlighting this issue of the torture of animals. As a vegetarian, I am well aware of this stuff so don't plan to watch it. But I wish meat-eaters would--they are the ones who need to know how their tasty BBQ or KFC made its sad, terrible journey to their table.

blueheron-that is exactly right.

If anyone could watch this film and not have it change the way they think about animals and how we interact with animals, they would have to be extremely shallow.

If you are looking for another good reference, check out Gary Yourofsky's speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMmC4

He's a fantastic speaker and raises good points. Also check out the Q and A session.

Forks over Knives is interesting, too (on netflix instant watch).
The Cove was pretty enlightening.
As was Food, Inc.

Books: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer is also really good. Skinny B!tch is a good one that points out how suspect the government is. Vegan Freak you'll either love or hate. They are a little too strong for me.

I could go on for days lol. Earthlings was a good one, but I will say Eating Animals solidified it for me. I went veg on July 18, 2011 after reading the seafood chapter (I was considering becoming pescatarian). I have no desire to eat meat at all. Still working on my cheese addiction. But it is getting better.

ade903-thanks for listing the other references. I have seen Forks Over Knives, and I've read Eating Animals. I am going to watch the speech you referred to.

I am one of those people who loves animals, all animals, and I can't eat anything that has to die a nasty, violent death just so that I can have 5 minutes of "enjoyment". But, hey, that's just me. To each his or her own I guess. I wish things were different, but some things are just too deeply ingrained.

What strikes me as odd is the fact that so many people think veganism or being a vegetarian is an odd eating style. It seems the other way around to me. Thanks again for the references.

It is really sad how people treat animals. I know the meat industry here is bad, but I feel especially bad for how the animals in Asia are treated...it's crazy, I've seen videos where they will just start skinning the animals alive for their fur or just beat them to death and not even kill them humanely. I have cats and have spent time with dogs and I just can't believe how people can kill companion animals the way they do in some Asian countries. How can people still even wear fur knowing how the animals are killed for it? It's the most vain sacrifice. I understand not everyone will give up meat... but fur should be easy, you know?

I really want to get to that place. I really want to look at cheese and think "yeah, that is just as bad as a hunk of dead cow" but sometimes I have a difficult time making that connection. I'm cooking more and more and I do not cook with animal product. It is when I am away from home that I'll cave it. And then I feel like a hypocrite. So yeah. I need to get over that.

I just read your weight loss story. You are such an inspiration. Congratulations!