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WICHITA — Animal rights activists on a national tour aim to offer everyone in America a dollar to watch four minutes of video taken in factory farms and slaughterhouses – a tactic they call “pay-per-view.” The tour stops at Fort Hays State University and Wichita State University this week.
Monday and Tuesday, activists from FARM, will be on the FHSU campus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Quad.
According to USDA reports, nearly 10 billion land animals are raised and killed every year in the U.S. alone. The appropriately named 10 Billion Lives Tour, coordinated by the nonprofit organization Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), travels in a specially equipped truck with eight screens that can accommodate up to 32 viewers. The truck will stop in busy public locations and offer people $1 to watch the video, which documents the treatment of farmed animals.
After watching, viewers are encouraged to decrease consumption of animal products and work towards a vegan diet. To date, more than 250,000 people have seen the video – nearly 20,000 college students this past fall semester.
“Consumers have the right to know where their food comes from, and the 10 Billion Lives Tour will expose people to the harsh reality of animal agriculture,” said FARM ‘s executive director Michael Webermann. “Viewers often tear up or become angry after watching the video, and turn that passion into action by making food choices that are consistent with their values.”
The video, collected from hidden-camera footage inside animal agriculture facilities, reveals horrific conditions and cruelty as well as standard, legal industry practices that are shocking to most viewers and out of step with most Americans’ values. The video is also available at 10BillionLives.com, where one in 25 online viewers will win a pair of movie tickets.
FARM has found that by offering an incentive, the pay-per-view campaign succeeds in enticing Americans to voluntarily learn more about these issues – rather than forcing the information on them. More than 80 percent of viewers commit to eating fewer animal products afterward. In follow-up surveys, over 60 percent of respondents maintain this pledge.