Animals shown at California fairs deserve compassion

It was sad to read your July 12 article, “Santa Barbara County Fair kicks off with a moo-moo here, and a moo-moo there” about the 4-H and FFA kids who sell their animals at the fair.

These kids have been grooming, feeding and playing with their companion animals not that differently than we all do with our cats and dogs. But then, these teens who have come to care for these animals just sell them to get as much money as possible. How sad. This surely does not teach compassion, but rather greed and callousness.

I wish all these students who raise animals for food would be mandated to tour a meat processing plant where terrified animals have a bolt slammed into their heads, which may or may not kill them outright. Even if not completely unconscious, animals would then have their throats slit, while hanging by one leg.

How many teens would participate in this horror? Yet, this is the destiny of most of the animals they raised. Please, choose compassion.

This story was originally published August 1, 2017 at 8:56 AM with the headline "Animals shown at California fairs deserve compassion."