While some students lounged on the Plaza of the Americas, others sat confined in crates.
Peta2 held a Glass Wall Slaughterhouse Exhibit on Wednesday and Thursday. Students were able to sit in sow gestation crates in a burgundy, 20-foot-by-30-foot inflatable tent and watch a video narrated by Paul McCartney about the conditions animals have to cope with in the meat industry.
Peta2, the youth division of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, decided to bring The Glass Wall exhibit to college campuses because students tend to be open-minded, said Lisa Hines, the exhibit coordinator.
Peta2 came to UF because of its strong ties with UF’s Student Animal Alliance.
“Most people aren’t aware of what happens in a slaughterhouse and what animals go through,” she said.
Hines said most students were receptive and wanted to know how they could help.
Alain Delapaz, a 26-year-old business management junior, said he’s against animal abuse, such as chicken fights and killing animals for fur. But he doesn’t see the harm in killing animals for food.
“We must improve animals’ quality of life while they’re living but still harvest them like we’ve been doing for centuries,” he said.
Delapaz said vegetarian and vegan foods taste good, but he couldn’t survive off it because he said he needs protein.
“God gave us these [teeth] to eat through meat,” he said.
Chemical engineering senior Jhon Cores, 22, reads a banner about the abuse of chickens in peta2's inflatable factory farm on Wednesday afternoon. The farm will be on the Plaza of the Americas through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
