# Hoof and Mouth Disease

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoof-and-mouth-disease/59302>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 24, 2001, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoof-and-mouth-disease/59302 "2001-03-24T12:43:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoof-and-mouth-disease/59302/1 "2001-03-24T12:43:45Z")

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Has PETA taken a position on the wholesale slaughter of animals in the attempt to halt the epidemic of hoof and mouth disease?

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**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoof-and-mouth-disease/59302/2 "2001-03-25T04:46:03Z")

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They have a web site on what’s happening:

[PETA Foot & Mouth Disease/Mad Cow Disease Site](http://www.peta.org/feat/mouth/index.html)

It’s kinda hard to get a bead on what their stand is _exactly_. It seems like, from their site, that they are against the meat industry in general, saying that this is a result of its practices; “The disasters striking overseas are the result of ‘modern’ methods used in the meat industry,” in regards to mad cow disease. They also say, “As terrible as these images [or slaughter] are, they are no worse than the inside of any slaughterhouse on any normal day.”  
Also on the page PETA writes, “The farmers ‘weeping’ over the animals killed are the same people who routinely castrate and de-horn cattle, and castrate and tail-dock pigs without any anesthesia or painkillers. Their tears are motivated by economics, not compassion.” So it seems that they are against the slaughter, but in regards to the meat industry’s responsibility for it.