Ex-slaughterhouse worker Susana Soto used to kill chickens for a living, but now she fights for animal rights instead.
Originally from Mexico City, Soto was a slaughterhouse worker who killed “thousands of chickens.” Now an animal rights activist, she uses “every opportunity to speak in support of those who are abused.”
In a Facebook video, Soto tells her story. She explains it wasn’t just the animal abuse — which included hanging birds upside down so they couldn’t fight — that made the job unbearable.
Violence often breeds violence, which Soto explains was the case with the slaughterhouse owner, who abused his wife. Realizing the toll the job took on their daughter, Soto’s parents recommended she move to California.
Soto now lives with her children, in whom she tries “to instill compassion“, and campaigns for “a better world [for them].”
Radical Change in the Farming Industry
Soto isn’t alone in turning her back on animal agriculture. Many farmers and farm workers are opting to move on from the industry; there’s even a whole website dedicated to telling the real-life stories of those who have chosen a more ethical way of life.
Animal advocacy organization Free From Harm runs a separate section on its website called “Sowing Change.” It features profiles on farmers who used to run or work on meat and dairy farms, but now choose to farm only crops. The sites notes, “[the profiles] are hope-filled proof that even those who stand to lose most by renouncing animal exploitation are capable of a massive change of heart.”
Embracing a Vegan Future
Whether they have fully rejected the meat and dairy industry or not, many farmers recognize that consumer demand is growing for more plant-based foods.
Recently, a vote at the Oxford Farming Conference revealed that 40 percent of farmers believe vegan food is the future.
Irish dairy farmer Darragh McCullough is particularly vocal about innovation in the farming industry. In an op-ed for the Irish Independent, he wrote, “[I]t’s time for the farming community to get their head around veganism.”
He added, “anyone who ignores the massive issues facing livestock farming shouldn’t be in livestock. The combined forces of climate change, animal welfare, and health concerns about high levels of meat consumption are unstoppable.”
