Factory Animal Abuse

Manure lagoons, mostly located near factory farms, is another danger that affects workers and the environment or community. “A pig produces approximately four times the amount of waste a human does, and what factory farms do with that mess gets comparatively little oversight,” (Walsh 169). The process is a very dangerous one in of itself to ensure that the waste is gone and the factories can continue producing bacon and ham steaks for millions of people. A Rolling Stone Journalist, Jeff Tietz, wrote an article about these lagoons that Smithfield Foods controls. He goes into detail about how toxic these lagoons are and the effects they can have on workers. He tells a story about an incident in a lagoon in Michigan for the company. “A worker was overcome by the fumes and fell in. His fifteen-year-old nephew dived in to save him but was overcome, the worker's cousin went in to save the teenager but was overcome, the worker's older brother dived in to save them but was overcome, and then the worker's father dived in. They all died in pig shit,” (Tietz). Workers across the country are being put under these conditions in these levels of toxicities every day not knowing if this might happen to them.

Minimize the loss to the business by treating the animals humanely. Instead of injecting the animals with growth hormone, let them grow naturally. Cows won’t get udder infections and won’t need antibiotics (an unnecessary cost to the business). Give the animals more space and let them graze on the land as they would naturally and you won’t need preventative antibiotics. More space will help the animals grow and live as they were meant to. They will not be stressed. Their bones will not be brittle. Chickens can be stunned as they were meant to be before being slaughtered, the humane way.

Antibiotic resistance can develop wherever antibiotics are: medical facilities, animal products and communities. Breaks in infection control, inadequate water sanitation and poor hygiene all contribute to the spread of resistant bacteria from person to person (Collignon, et al., 2015). The majority of antibiotic usage worldwide is in animals raised as a food source (Collignon, et al., 2015). 80% of antibiotic use in the United States is for growth promotion and disease prevention of farm animals used for food sources (CDC, 2015). This usage of antibiotics leads to the development of resistant bacteria, which spread to people via the food chain or water (Collignon, et al., 2015).

Animal rights are practically non-existent in many different ways today. Factory farming is probably the worst thing they can do to the poor helpless animals. Factory farming effects chickens, cows, pigs, and many other animals that are used for food, milk and eggs. One of the biggest organizations against factory farming is called Compassion Over Killing (COK). They go to great lengths to protest and inform people about animal cruelty.

Hormones are added to the diet of animals to grow livestock faster and increase the size of the meat produced.

Henry Spira a seaman activist became one of the most important in the United States. In a gradual measure, he founded the “Animal Rights International” in 1974. The organization is not working any longer but was the most successful in genuine structural change. ARI main concept was: “Making the public aware of animal suffering is not enough. By turning words into actions, real change is possible and anima suffering can be measurably reduced.”

When you come think about pets, your dog or cat, you think of how cute and cuddly they are and how much you love them and how much they love you. Your pet is like your child, an animal that will love you unconditionally and it's your responsibility to take good care of it. But there are some people out there that could care less about the animal that they decided to bring home. Many animals are often abused by their owners and a dog or cat doesn't have to be physically abused to feel neglected. There are two kinds of animal abuse and that is passive abuse and active abuse. Such things as not providing food or water, or not providing good shelter in bad weather conditions, or failing to provide medical care that can be seen as passive abuse.

Industrial farm animal welfare is horrendous, only two federal laws protect these animals which proves this true. Firstly, the law regarding trucking animals states that every 28 hours they are unloaded from the truck for rest, water and food. Trucks aren’t required to be cleaned during this rest period. Meaning the livestock has to stand in feces during travel. Secondly, livestock be quickly rendered insensible to pain before being slaughtered. These laws aren’t actively enforced leading to increased animal cruelty. In addition to the surprising lack of empathy for these animals, poultry is exempt from both laws.

Animal neglect or abuse is a crime and should be treated and punished as such, no one should get away with endangering or abusing an animal. While thinking of animal abuse being a crime or felony people may have may questions such as, what is a crime? what exactly is animal abuse? or why should I care about animal rights? Although there may be an array of different questions asked about this specific topic but animals should be treated like humans, since both humans and animals are living beings. Abuse to any living being is highly unacceptable and could possibly be a danger for anyone. “Reporting, investigating, and prosecuting animal cruelty can help take dangerous criminals off the streets” (By the Time) this is because most people who grow

The biggest user of antibiotics, however, is the livestock industry. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that in 2009, “80% of all antibacterial drugs are dedicated to use on animals”. Thirteen tons of antibiotic were used on livestock for uses other than to treat disease[1]. Because of this excessive use, antibiotic resistant bacteria can develop in livestock which ends up being consumed by humans, thus transferring the bacteria to us. Out of the 12 most dangerous resistant pathogens, 4 are found in food[1]. The most notable are Campylobacter and Salmonella. Combined these two are responsible for 410,000 infections in the U.S. annually[1]. In 2013, antibiotic resistance was responsible for an estimated 700,000 deaths worldwide[2]. A report made that year had also estimated that if nothing is done, in 2050 the number of deaths due to antibiotic

The waste is also stored temporarily underground, but if something went wrong, water ways and farming soil could be damaged and effect many people. Even if there was a safe place, with lots of people using it, we would soon run out of room. You could reprocess it into

Antimicrobial agents have been used for the past seventy years to treat infectious diseases in humans and animals. They have revolutionized the face of medicine extending human lifespan and enabling worldwide breakthroughs including safer childbirth, surgeries and organ transplants (2).

“A century ago, the top three causes of death were infectious diseases. More than half of all people dying in the United States died because of germs. Today, they account for a few percent of deaths at most. We owe much of that, of course, to antibiotics,” states Aaron Carroll a professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine (Carroll). Now, once easily treated bacterial infections are increasingly difficult to treat and rid from a patient’s system because antibiotics can no longer effectively treat some common diseases. Antibiotics are overused and overprescribed; medical professionals use antibiotics to treat viral infections when they are intended for bacterial infections only. With consistent overuse, antibiotic

The American diet boils down to three distinct options, each differentiated by the type of meat they eat, omnivores, selective omnivores, and vegetarians or vegans. Omnivores are people who eat whatever they so choose, the big distinction between omnivores and the other two dietary options is the fact that regular omnivores will eat factory farmed meat. Vegetarians or vegans and selective omnivores choose to either not eat meat, or to eat humanely grown meat. A major reason why these groups make that choice is because they know what factory farming is, and they know what happens within these farms. Animal cruelty in factory farming is probably the largest reason why these groups make that choice. And while making any dietary choice other than being a normal omnivore and eating factory farmed animals is a wise choice, being a vegetarian or vegan is simply not realistic in some cases, it is too extreme. The perfect middle ground for the American diet between the two extremes, eating factory farmed meat and not eating meat at all is to become a selective omnivore and eat only humanely grown meat.

Animals raised in factory farms, for the pleasure of Americans, suffer a great majority of their lives. For 250 million consumers, approximately 6.2 billion chickens will survive in unthinkable conditions. Because factory farms treat chickens (and other farm animals) like moral inferiors, American families should boycott major chicken production agencies and opt for a natural and humane alternative. They don't, however, due to the small impact they think they may have on the industry, or simply because man thinks we are superior to other species, morally speaking. Alastair Norcross (in Puppies, pigs and People) uses Fred and factory farmed meat, the rationality gambit, and the problem of marginal cases to prove that, no, farm animals are not morally inferior to you or I, and yes, boycotting these large industries will make a difference.