Today's New York Times has several powerful letters-to-the-editor condemning all forms of animal production for food - regardless of the "humane" label. These excellent letters endorse a truly compassionate, vegan diet and tell the truth about farmed animal abuse. UPC President Karen Davis's letter states:

To the Editor:

The term "free range" sounds prettier than it usually is.

Egg production, including on free-range farms, entails the mass killing of newborn male chicks, a point made in Nicholas D. Kristof's column ["Humanity Even for Nonhumans," April 9: www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/opinion/09kristof.html?ref=opinion].

However, it is not just the male chicks that are routinely executed. Hens in all forms of egg production endure an equally cruel execution once their profitability has declined.

The debeaking of hens and other routine cruelties of egg production are seldom put before the public. Blithe images of all forms of animal production hide the bleak realities.

Karen Davis
Machipongo, Va., April 9, 2009
The writer is president of United Poultry Concerns, an advocacy group.