Editor’s note: Today’s letters to the editor are from Southwest Junior High students learning about persuasive writing.

To the editor:

Have you ever wondered how the animals you eat were treated before they were killed? Current laws in the U.S. state that animals must be stunned before they are killed for meat. However, many companies that distribute our animal meats are not stunning their animals properly. Even after many incidents were reported, the law is doing little to stop or even prevent this.

This is extremely shocking, and the shock doubles when some officials said, “We know it’s happening, but there is nothing we can do about it.” We can and must do something about this cruelty. People don’t treat animals like they would treat people. Animals have brains too, but humans have the ability to communicate with words and organize effectively. That is why it is our job to protect the animals that don’t have developed brains as ours. The most important thing, of course, is to make sure that people are stunning animals properly. When we stun animals properly, we ensure that these animals suffer no pain and die a painless death. This is and always will be the right thing to do.

Lawrence Chen,

Southwest Junior High