Why Does It Matter?
By Starlight
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

The baby calf was pulled from her mother's uterus
After eighteen hours of painful labor
And she spent her first twenty-four hours with her mother
Only to be later confined to a cage
Where she couldn't even turn around
You say, "So what?
Why does it matter?"

Her whole life was spent
Smelling her own feces' scent
Not once did she see sunlight
Not once was her life bright
You say, "So what?
Why does it matter?"

And when she was old enough
They inseminated her too
And she got desperate and frightened and tried to be tough
So they beat her and said that she was rough
You say, "So what?
Why does it matter?"

And then she gave birth
And her young was taken away from her
And when she was no longer needed
She was taken away to the slaughterhouse
You say, "So what?
Why does it matter?"

She smelt the smell of death
She heard the last screams of others
She knew what lay ahead for her
And she cried and shuddered
You say, "So what?
Why does it matter?"

They pulled her up by her back leg
Though she was shocked, she was still conscious and the pain could be felt
They called her dumb and laughed at her
She struggled, kicked, and cried for help
But no one went to help her
They slit her throat
And let the blood pour into a bucket
You say, "So what?
Why does it matter?"

Then the day came
When her murderer was tortured
Some youngsters called him stupid and dumb and taunted him
"For the pure fun of it," they said
They kicked him and hit him
They stabbed him and beat him
I say, "So what?
Why does it matter?"