Heather Baker, a UW freshman, walked in circles, moving her head up and down to accommodate the large headset strapped to her face while she explored the world of a chicken in a factory farm.
A touring group from PETA2 (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) tabled in the Union breezeway Wednesday and invited students to participate in a virtual reality simulation of the life of a chicken called “I, Chicken” that included walking in a field and being captured, caged and transported to a slaughterhouse. Baker, a vegetarian for four years, said the simulator was still eye opening.
“I’m already a vegetarian so I already empathize with them,” Baker said. “It was a really interesting experience to see what they actually go through.”
Bridget Dillon, the tour manager for the three person group, said “I, Chicken” is on its second tour, and will visit over a hundred different college campuses. She also said the program is an entertaining way to get students thinking about how chickens are treated.
“Studies show that it takes at least 14 impressions to change someone’s mind about something, so ‘I, Chicken’ is such a fun way to sort of build an impression,” Dillon said. “Chickens aren’t seen as individuals with interests, wants, needs and desires. They’re seen as mere objects produced for their meat and eggs.”
Dillon said participants experience things that are pleasurable to chickens, and subsequently begin to empathize when the chicken is captured.
Lauren Boushey, another member of the touring group, said the simulation could be more effective than violent depictions of animal slaughter.
“A lot of times people will be like ‘Yeah, I’m not interested in seeing the graphic misery, I’ve seen it on Facebook,’ but with this there’s no tactic that’s meant to scare anyone,” Boushey said.
Boushey and Dillon said the group’s interactions in the Union were positive, and that students were typically open-minded.
“No matter where we are, the response is always overwhelmingly positive,” Dillon said. “People are usually shocked to find out chickens are one of the most abused animals on the planet. People aren’t aware of what’s happening to chickens, but once they become aware, they decide to maybe start changes.”
Not all UW students agreed with PETA 2’s message, though. Around 3 p.m. a group of four or five students gathered in front of the booth to dispute some of the group’s claims.
Holden Fauber, a UW senior majoring in petroleum engineering that has worked with cattle his whole life, said he disagreed with some of Boushey’s claims about agriculture.
“I disagree with some of what they’re saying,” Fauber said. “They’re saying they don’t need products of animal agriculture, but they do.”
Fauber debated with Boushey in front the group’s booth for around 20 minutes.
“You’re bashing animal agriculture, but you need it,” Fauber said to Boushey.
Fauber also said he took issue with the group’s claim that the average pound of beef requires 2,000 gallons of water.
“They said it takes 2,000 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. If you have a 1,400 pound steer that would be 2,800,000 gallons of water per steer if the steer was butchered as a two-year-old,” Fauber said. “That’s a steer consuming 3,835 gallons per day. A steer will drink roughly 30 gallons of water a day max.”
The group and simulation will be in the Union until 3 p.m. today.
