Nick Cooney's Presentation

Nick Cooney did a fantastic job displaying various facts about animal treatment in our society today. What was really interesting to find out is that the U.S., a rather modern nation, is so behind the European states with the moralities of animal treatment. He stated that in "1990s European Union banned battery cages, veal crates, and gestation crates," whereas the United States even in the year 2011 allows for these materials to be used in most states when dealing with animals. Another reason I found his presentation and argument fascinating is his use of factors other than ethical beliefs to influence his audience to make a change. He included information about the feces of animals and how it is hazardous to our atmosphere in large quantities even adding that the unnatural reproduction of animals has caused them to produce "170 times more feces than people." He also added that feces is the "#1 cause of water pollution in the United States," and that it has caused numerous Dead Zones around the world, information to which I was completely ignorant prior to his presentation. It was extremely interesting to watch him connect global warming to what one chooses to consume. By doing that, he in a way suggested that even if some people are not on the same page with animal rights activists in terms of feeling bad for the animals and caring for their experiences as live beings, they may now consider animals simply because they care about their own experience as a live beings.