Thank you for the story on many delicious vegetarian holiday recipes ["Vegetarian Alternatives for Thanksgiving," November 21].  Cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals suffer greatly on the modern factory farm.  They do not get to roam freely on big, open green pastures as some may still believe.  They typically are confined in overcrowded conditions indoors in their own feces.  Dairy cows are rarely allowed to nurse their young.  The male calves who are not slaughtered right way are taken from their mothers shortly after birth and placed in a veal crate so small, they cannot even turn around for 18-20 weeks.  Egg-laying hens spend their lives immobilized in small wire cages.  The industry standard for these cages is too small for the birds to even spread one wing.  Denying animals to do what their natural instinct tells them to do is cruel.  Slaughter practices are also inhumane.  Cows are often still alive and conscious as they are dismembered body part by body part.  Pigs are often still alive when they are dipped into scalding hot water to ride them of their fur.  

Luckily there is something we can do.  By adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet, we can save many animals from this suffering.  Information on eating a plant-based diet is available at www.cok.net.