What Is The Veterinary Feed Directive?

The farmers of long ago took pride in their animals treating them with kindness and care, but today they are kept in small cramp areas with countless other hogs where the ability for movement is often constricted this for the animal causes stress and in turn makes the meat more tough, and sometimes fattier. Some of these animals are filled with hormones that will increase their size making the animals today larger than the ones in the past, but larger doesn’t always mean better. The hormones that they are using can cause illness to some people this unacceptable this is not only unethical, but inhumane to the animal and how they are treated. The small hog farmers are bought out from the big business, but they still allow the farmer to raise the animals under strict guidelines that they must follow this in turn makes the small farmer feel like they “work for the man” and their understanding of the business is often shot down because they have little or no control of their farm they are told how to raise the hogs, how to process them and transport them, but at times they are the ones that have to take the fines if they are not following standing USDA procedures with the big corporation

Everyday, animals worldwide are discriminated upon strictly because of their appearances. Could you imaging your beloved chihuahua being taken out of your home and killed for the sole reason of it looking “aggressive”? For many, this vision is a harsh reality. Dogs of several breeds are becoming banned and illegal to own because some consider them an aggressive breed or a threat to the safety of others around them. This discrimination is inhumane and should ultimately be stopped.

“We take care of animals, and the animals take care of us.” (Rollin 212). The preceding phrase is a policy that American farmers in the old west lived their lives by. Modern farmers live do not live their lives anywhere near to this phrase because they own factory farms, and the whole reason for having a factory farm is to fit as many animals in a small space as possible in order to maximize profit. Factory Farms, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) first appeared in the 1920s, right after Vitamins A and D, because if animals are given these vitamins in their diets, exercise and sunlight are not necessities for the animals to grow anymore (In Defense of Animals 1). The growing

America is a country of meat lovers! Yet a lot of us don’t know about how most of these farm animals are killed. Farm operators know what they are doing is wrong and they will try hard to hide these gruesome images from the public. A new popular method used by the agriculture lobby is the ag-gag law. This law makes it so it’s a crime to secretly videotape industrial feedlot and slaughterhouses to expose animal mistreat and abuse. Already seven states have this law in the book! In a nation that lavishes loves and has legitimate securities on house pets, processing plant animals are forgotten and exposed to the harsh elements.

The Final Guidance 209 deals specifically with feed and water uses of antibiotics in animals; it outlines the FDA’s position on phasing out growth promotion claims on medically important antibiotics (all drugs that are important for therapeutic use in humans) and implementing veterinary oversight of these compounds. The Final Guidance 213 outlines the process in which a sponsor can withdraw growth claims from the label and how they can apply for a prevention or a therapeutic claim. Finally, the Veterinary Feed Directive is a mechanism in which the FDA will use to apply veterinary oversight to a broad range of products used in animal

The movie “Food Inc.” is a documentary created to shed light on the topic of industrialized farming of crops and animals. The video shows many scenes that display the poor methods of industrialized farming as well as the harsh conditions the animals have to endure while they are being farmed. This video however also takes a political standpoint on the topic and expresses many opinions on the matter. The movie is also filled with recent facts and statistics on the industry and compares them to how the food business used to be. “Food Inc.” also provides first-hand accounts of how farmers are affected and the types of techniques that giant corporations are imposing.

There is a continuing concern in the United States is bacterial resistance to antibiotics. The government continues to research and analyze the use of antibiotics in animals and humans. It is not a fact that the use of antibiotics in animals’ cause resistance in humans. Antibiotics are a necessity in the production of food animals therefore if they completely band antibiotics it would put animal welfare and food safety at a large risk. By implementing the VFD the government can assure people that farmers and ranchers are using antibiotics

The United States Department of Agriculture estimated there to be three million pig farms with fifty-five million pigs in 1950. Those statistics would round out to approximately nineteen pigs per farm. In 2007, the United States Department of Agriculture estimated there to be 65,640 pig farms with 65 million pigs; resulting in a ratio of 992 pigs per farm. Dairy farms have reduced by more than half and chickens produced for meat has increased from 12,630 in 1950 to 300,000 in 2007 (Johnson, 82). Currently, each minute, fourteen thousand chickens will be killed. Every twenty-four hours, ninety thousand cows and calves will be slaughtered (Wilson, 314). In order for the alarming amount of growth in animal numbers to occur, their quality of life had to diminish. Gene Baur and his colleagues at Farm Sanctuary have been fighting to change laws regarding the treatment of factory farmed animals since 1986. In more recent years their hard work in lobbying has paid off. In 2003 the United Stated Department of Agriculture enacted a policy to remove downed cattle from the food supply. Downed cattle refers to cattle that are unable to walk due to malnourishment or physical abuse. In California, Baur’s home state, it was outlawed that downed cattle be used for slaughter. Farm Sanctuary also promoted the outlaw of foie gras which is a liver meat of forced fed ducks. Both

The food system in the U.S. has changed a lot over these decades. In the past, people grew crops in their land and vegetables in their gardens. Today, the food system is dominated by the industrial farms and food companies. The industrial food system prevents us from knowing the food. We do not know where the food comes from, how it is produced, and what the conditions that animals live in are. Animals, such as cattle and chickens, are raised in concentrated feedlots where the conditions are terrible and the space is narrow. When it comes to the meatpacking, we do not know how the animals are slaughtered, gutted, and skinned. The operations are invisible and conducted behind walls. The industrial food system aims to produce more food faster and more cheaply. However, it hides lots of truths, such as its effect on consumers’ health, the environment, and the society. If there were more transparency in the food system, the inhumane practice of meatpacking would be reduced; the living conditions of animals would be improved; fewer fertilizers and pesticides would be used in agriculture; consumers would have the chance to see how the food is produced and make a wiser choice of what to eat; and the current industrial food system might be replaced.

In the United States approximately sixty seven percent of all veterinarians specialize in companion animals such as dogs or cats leaving an alarming thirty three percent of veterinarians concentrated on large animals of that thirty three percent only two percent specialize predominantly on livestock that will produce food products. (Kelly Roy,2011) In nine predominantly rural states there are more cattle than people. South Dakota leads this statistic with close to four times the number of cattle to people. With statistics like these there is a clear deficit of accredited veterinarians to treat these animals. This leads to the question; how does America solve this looming issue?

With the modernization of the United States over the last decades, companies are manufacturing food rather than farming. Industrial farming, also known as factory farming, is an abusive and inhumane way of raising animals. The amount of food these farm factories are mass-producing is not the issue, instead, the quality of food needs to improve. The nation contains over hundreds of millions of people that need to be fed, the right way. The government needs to make sure the nation’s health is not at risk and properly manage the way food is made.

A growing issue in the world today is the use of antibiotics and growth hormones in animal production industry. However, for over sixty years Americans have been exposed to hormones on a regular basic when they consume beef. (Organic Consumer Association) On average eighty percent of all feedlot cattle are given hormones to help them grow at an increased rate. (Communication Foundation) “In 1988 the European Union banned the use of all hormone growth promoters.” (Organic Consumer Association)

There is a large problem of animal cruelty linked to the food industry in the United States. Countless slaughterhouses, chicken farms, and other meat producers have been found guilty of harming animals and killing them inhumanely. This is something that clearly needs to change.

These animals have minimal water, food, and care. Furthermore, cleaning becomes a low priority. These animals live in cramped and filthy cages. They eat, drink, sleep, and even urinate in the same place. When animals do not perform well during a training sessions or travel seasons, they are often forced to go without food and water for a long period of time. Trainers do this in order to keep the animals afraid and submissive. The United States Animal Welfare (AWA) has cited circuses for violating the minimal standards of care. Circus animals are not given a good amount of food and water throughout the day so they are left thirsty and hungry. Water supply is not a priority to the animals. Lack of care is very hard for animals. Especially the

People start to assume that every animal that gains weight quickly are being pumped full of antibiotics or steroids. From personally living on a farm I see no problem with antibiotics being used for animals. I have had personal experience with most of the livestock and dairy animals.