The meat industry has come under criticism for its inhumane treatment of animals. Slaughter methods that were supposedly deemed humane have been shown to be anything but. The documentary “Earthlings” takes a critical look at the way humans relate to animals in the environment.

Joaquin Phoenix narrated the documentary, which examines situations where animals are exploited in some way, such as puppy mills and factory farms. Hidden cameras are used as a means to capture the exploitation at play in real-time, rather than relying simply on anecdotal tales.

For example, cameras show a “halal” and “kosher” slaughterhouse. The entire principle of those forms of slaughter is that the animal should not feel pain when being killed. However, the footage of said slaughterhouse told a vastly different story.

Stun guns were used, which prolongs the animal’s pain when being slaughtered. If the animal’s pain is prolonged, it is highly antithetical to the principle of halal and kosher slaughter.

Cameras also showed a puppy mill, where a “rape rack” was used to forcibly impregnate female dogs who were selected for breeding. In addition, dogs were beaten and not given appropriate amounts of food.

I feel that the approach behind “Earthlings” is not to scare the viewer, but to educate them. If someone only hears anecdotes about animal abuse, that is one thing, but seeing it before their eyes drives the point home.