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Animal rights and factory farming
Case study about animals being mistreated as a result of factory farming
Abuse of animals in factory farming essay
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Over the past few decades, small and medium sized farms have been taken over by large-scale factory farms. These farms house billions of animals used for consumption each year. The conditions on factory farms are filthy, overcrowded and disease ridden. Animals forced to live out their lives on these farms are subject to extremely harsh conditions, such as mutilation, confinement and living spaces piled high with feces. Not only do conditions on factory farms make life for livestock absolutely miserable, but factory farms are also negatively impacting human health and the environment. The production and sale of meat has become a billion-dollar industry based upon the bloodshed of other sentient beings. With this being the case, at the very least, factory farms need to be properly regulated and companies involved need to be held accountable for their abuse.
The horrors of factory farming are nothing new to the American people. We are all to some degree aware that the cow used for a typical beef patty was not raised on a nice green pasture, with the ability to graze freely and socialize. Most Americans know that livestock are kept in
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dirty and crammed conditions, but few know the true extent of the abuse these animals face. Of all the animals raised for consumptions, chickens are subject to the most abuse. Hens are Donehue 2 kept in what are known as “battery cages”. These cages house anywhere from five to ten hens, with each hen given an amount of floor space that is less than the equivalent of a sheet of letter-size paper (Farm Sanctuary). After one to two years in confinement, hens are considered “spent”. Spent hens are killed by the thousands via gas chamber. This gas chamber method has proven to not be fully effective. Some have reported seeing live hens crawling out from piles of decomposing hens (Farm Sanctuary). Since male chickens cannot lay eggs, they are deemed useless to the industry and millions are killed every year directly upon hatching (Wikipedia-chick culling). Chickens are not the only animal raised for consumption who have it bad. Pigs are naturally social creatures, and have proven through several studies to be quite intelligent (discovery.com), but are kept in extreme confinement and isolation. Pigs often live out the whole of their lives in gestation crates that do not even allow for room to turn around. Pigs are constantly impregnated and then have their litter taken from them directly after giving birth. Once a pig can no longer reproduce, it is sent off to be slaughtered. Cows live in very similar conditions to pigs. Dairy cows are kept in small cages with no room to move. They are constantly impregnated so they are able to produce milk, with only a few months resting period. Dairy cows are connected to a milking machine which causes extreme discomfort, sores and bruising on the udder. The circumstances in which these animals are forced to live in is simply wrong and inhumane. Americans claim to be such a civilized group, but how civilized can we be when we have created an industry based upon torture and abuse? It is also an industry in which the people involved choose to turn a blind eye to the immoral practices taking place. The corporations that Donehue 3 own these factory farms will do almost anything to cut costs. This attempt at cutting costs wherever possible has had grotesque effects on the lives of factory farmed animals. Corporations trying to find loopholes not only affects the livestock, but also the consumer.
Chickens are selectively bred and given feed with arsenic added to it to promote faster growth. A study conducted in 2006 found that 55% of uncooked chicken bought in a supermarket contained arsenic (Farm Sanctuary). Studies which have been completed focusing on long term exposure to arsenic showed that it can cause skin, lung, kidney or bladder cancers ("Scientific Facts on Arsenic."). Dairy cows are often repeatedly injected with bovine growth hormone, a genetically-engineered hormone that has been proven to increase the risk of health problems in dairy cows. The growth hormones used most commonly by dairy industries have been shown to notably increase the risk of breast, prostate and colon cancer in people who consume beef (Farm
Sanctuary). Many who agree with the practices of factory farming use the argument of efficiency to support their stance. While we are producing more than double the amount of meat and dairy we were producing one hundred years (Farm Sanctuary), is the risk of contamination and disease worth the extra yield? Overcrowding and filthy living spaces is a huge contributor to the cause and spread of disease on factory farms. In fact, research done on this topic showed that pigs raised on large-scale farms appeared to be at much higher risk for H1N1 infection (swine influenza) than pigs raised on smaller farms (Greger, Michael, M.D.). Simply regulating certain aspects of factory farming would cut down on these risks exponentially. Government must set a standard of sanitation on these farms to ensure safety for the animals and consumers alike.
Every year worldwide, over seventy billion animals are killed for food in factories without the inclusion aquatic animals (“Factory Farms Overview¨). The animal rights movement began in Europe during the nineteenth century to protect horses, dogs and cats (Recarte 1). However, now modern animal rights groups have switched their focus to factory farms, test animals and the removal of ag-gag laws. The fight to create less painful and stressful environments in factories and the altogether removal of animal testing and ag-gag laws has been taken on by animal rights groups like ASPCA (“Factory Farms”). The biggest issue currently facing animals is factory farming.
...in the market. Diversified mid-sized family farms used to produce most of our meat, but now, only a few companies control the livestock industry. This has resulted in driving family farmers out of the market and replacing them with massive confined feeding operations that subject the animals to terrible living conditions that subject our food to contamination. Major food corporations are only concerned with minimizing overhead in order to deliver the consumer cheap food, regardless of the health implications.
What are sweatshops? The Miriam-Webster dictionary defines sweatshops as: A shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions. These factories are mainly located in Third-World countries, although there are still a few in the United States. Many popular, name brand companies like Nike, use sweatshops around the world. Today there is much controversy about sweatshops and whether they should be banned and closed. In reality, the conditions of these factories are terrible. The employees are paid very little, even after working long, hard hours. The supervisors of these shops are often cruel, malicious, and brutal. Sadly, these factories are often the only source of income for Third-World workers. As bad as these sweatshops might be, they have pulled many countries and individuals out of poverty. So, are sweatshops beneficial?
Everyone loves puppies. Adjectives like cute, cuddly, adorable, and innocent are used to describe them. Sadly, the way they come into this world can be described as nothing short of ugly, premeditated and negligent. There are those who treat “man’s best friend” as though they were man’s worst enemy. Those people are in the business of manufacturing puppies by the millions, for millions. These particular manufacturing facilities they own and run are called “puppy mills”, where dogs and puppies are forced to live in the most inhumane, despicable conditions, far greater than prisoners of war or the worst criminals in our nation’s prisons have endured, causing inevitable high mortality rates. Of the six million puppies bred in puppy mills in the US annually, four to five million of them don’t survive. Everyday, eleven thousand cute, cuddly, adorable, and innocent puppies die due to these ugly, premeditated and negligent breeding procedures. Puppy mills should be shut down and made illegal until such time that strict laws are put into place to control and enforce humane breeding and living conditions, protecting the welfare of these dogs, and drastically lessening their mortality rate and the way puppy mill owners make their living.
Animals trapped in factory farms are severely abused and tortured from birth to death. Chickens sometimes will be starved for up to 2 weeks and given no water to shock their bodies into moulting, chickens and hens will have their beaks removed to prevent fighting between other animals. Pigs will get their tails cut off to stop other pigs biting them off. These cruel procedures are done to minimise as few of animals dying as possible so more product can be created by the farmer. Within factory farms, animals are abused with overuse of antibiotics to prevent disease and maximise their body growth to create a higher yield of product. According to Animal Rights Action, 2 out of 3 farms are now factory farmed worldwide and factory farming is only increasing this is leading to more animals being raised for slaughter, abused and tortured, mentally and physically. This is not fair. How would you feel losing your child minutes after it's born? As within factory farms, female cows get their calves are taken away from them within minutes they are born never to be seen again. This leaves these poor female cows depressed which causes them to lose weight and because of this are slaughtered as farmers want to maximise their yield of
Do you know what factory farming is? If you do you probably switched to Free Range meat. Well there really is no big difference between the two. They pump so much steroids and hormones in the animal that they can’t even stand up all of the way. Free range farming is no better than factory farming. They couldn't go outside if they wanted to.Free range doesn't really mean free ranged and if it did they wouldn’t go anywhere anyways.
The issue with factory farming is always going to remain exactly that, an issue, but there is a large misconception there, too. People may be willing to partake in Meatless Monday, but what they do not realize is that the population is going to reach around 9 billion by 2050 and animal agriculture is very much needed. Josh Balk, a member of the Humane Society of the United States, states “the current levels of meat consumption in the U.S. support inhumane practices in industrial factory farms, and push small family farmers out of business. Eating less meat is better for animals, creates less waste and pollution, and places more value on humane and sustainable agriculture (2014).” This is a hoax as the level of production will not decrease just as the slaughter rates will remain the same. Even though they are saying Meatless Monday is a global movement, not every person is going to swear off meat for a
Within the last couple of decades, factory farms have become the standard system of raising livestock: no longer is the stereotypical red barn with acres upon acres of open grassland the prime example of where meat and poultry are manufactured. Instead, there are cages packed with animals; and dirt, grime, and feces cover the livestock, farming grounds, and surrounding land and lakes. Animal welfare and environmental safety, as well as public health issues, are aspects this modern form of farming disregards to accommodate the market’s increasing demand for a quick and cheap product; but this is intolerable considering the abominable procedures and consequences connected.
of miles in space, looking like a dot. He said to a crowd “Look again at that dot. That 's here.
Like many other industries, the farming industry has evolved into big business, “Animals on factory farms are regarded as commodities to be exploited for profit.” In each industry from clothing to instruments, the bosses want to make a profit. The more they can supply with the least amount of waste, the more profit they make. The same goes for factory farming. However instead of humans being the ones directly affected by big bosses, the animals are. They don’t have a voice, and can’t stand up for what is right or wrong. These animals are manipulated in every way to make a better profit. Factory farms mass produce animals for ...
Not only those who eat the meat are at risk, but those who work at a factory farm or live near one. Studies have found that those living near factory farms are at risk for developing respiratory illnesses, asthma, neurobehavioral symptoms, and psychological impairments due to the contaminates that are exposed. Chemicals from factory farms can cause irritation to the throat, eyes, and nose. They can also cause nausea, vomiting and headaches (Greger and Koneswaran 2010). Lastly, factory farms can cause weakness and chest tightness (Hribar 2010). These effects of factory farming could be prevented if less chemicals were used and the air pollution was under control. Factory farms are harming human health and it is making it hard for humans to be
There are many debates around the world about the topic of animal abuse. Animal abuse in the food industry has become a major problem due to the cruel treatment of animals. Most of the world's population might think that animal cruelty is only found in homes and on the street, but they forget about the other forms of animal abuse that affect the food industry. Large contributors to animal abuse are due to fishing methods, animal testing, and slaughterhouses. "Animals have always been a major part of our society in history and they have played huge roles in agriculture" (ASPCA). Factory farming is a system of confining chickens, pigs, and cattle under strictly controlled conditions. Slaughterhouses are places where animals are killed
America focuses heavily on its livestock and crops earning us a major role in global trade as a farming nation. Unfortunately this has led to some poor choices in treatment of our animals. Many farmers who believe in animal rights say that it started back when farmers only tended to fewer animals, “Ownership of farm animals became concentrated in fewer hands, and flocks and herds grew larger. As a result, the individuality of animals was lost to their owners and they began receding from most people's everyday life” (Namit 29). When people lost their connection to the animals that provided their food, the quality of the animal's lives began to dramatically decrease. Consumers constantly pushed farmers to their limits with high quotas. To keep up with demands agriculturalists turned to some unorthodox practices to keep costs low and still maintain their annual quotas; “To raise efficiency and cut costs, farm animals began to be engineered for abnormally rapid weight gain, fed unnatu...
The animals that are raised in factory farms, and the farms are ran just like any other business. According to the article Factory Framing, Misery of Animals, the factory farming industry strives to maximize output while minimizing cost, always at the animal’s expense. “The giant corporations that run most factory farms have found that they can make more money by squeezing as many animals as possible into tiny spaces, even though many of the animals die from disease or infection” (Factory Farming). This is actually quit disgusting that we eat food that walks around in each other’s feces and can attract disease. These animals live a life of abuse, but we sit back and say it’s okay because we will eventually eat them. “Antibiotics are used to make animals grow faster and to keep them alive in the unsanitary conditions. Research shows that factory farms widespread use of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threatens human health” (Factory Farming). These animals aren’t treated with proper care and we act as if they are machines. Chickens for example, become so big and distorted that their legs can longer support them. Eventually they die because they can longer walk to get food or water. According to Factory Farming, most of these animals have been genetically manipulated to grow larger and to produce more eggs and milk than they naturally
Factory farming is raising livestock in a small, confined area on a large scale for the purpose of supplying food for human consumption. It is argued that factory farming is extremely cruel for the animals involved and that there are better ways for food to be produced. The food produced by factory farms may be cheaper, but the chances are it is also of lower quality. The animals inside these factories are not fed on a particularly healthy diet. Factory farming may lead to the production of cheaper meat produced, but this could be bad for society when the health consequences can result fatal. Factory farming should be banned worldwide because not only is it cruel toward innocent animals, it also results in economic problems and major health concerns.