Would You Watch Grisly Slaughterhouse Video for a Buck?

The ”10 Billion Lives” tour is coming to Wayne State University Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 23-24. (Photo via Farm Animal Rights Movement)

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Activists from non-profit Farm Animal Rights Movement have come up with a clever way to get consumers to watch undercover video footage of factory farms and slaughterhouses: Pay them a buck.

They’ll be at Wayne State University Wednesday and Thursday, trying to hook students for a buck to watch a four-minute video as part of the “10 Billion Lives Tour,” so named because U.S. farmers raise nearly 10 billion land animals for food consumption each year.

Those who watch the video, which F.A.R.M. claims has been seen by 320,000 people, will be encouraged to decrease their consumption of animal products and work toward adopting a vegan diet.

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F.A.RM. claims that more than 80 percent of viewers commit to eating fewer animal products after viewing the video, a collection of hidden-camera footage shot inside agriculture facilities.

F.A.R.M. claims the video “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.”

However, groups like the Animal Agriculture Alliance call the campaigns “misleading.” Representatives of the alliance of industry groups recently attended F.A.R.M.’s 34th annual Animal Rights National Conference, where speakers emphasized the importance of focusing on “incremental changes” toward veganism by running pressure campaigns against food companies and convincing consumers to gradually adopt a vegan lifestyle.

The Animal Agriculture Alliance has compiled a report of the activities of F.A.R.M. and several other anti-meat activist groups.

“The report captures the true goals and motivations of the leading animal rights organizations,” Animal Agriculture Alliance President and CEO Kay Johnson Smith said in a statement, noting the report, available to members, exposes “the true agenda of the various activist groups, which is to put animal agriculture out of business.”

F.A.R.M. will be on the campus from 9 a.m-1 p.m. both days at 5347 Cass Ave., just outside the Detroit Public Library.