Factory Farming By: Hannah Ross

What is a Factory Farm? The term factory farm can be defined as “a large, industrial operation that raises large numbers of animals for food” (What is a Factory Farm). The main goal behind factory farming lies within profit and regards no concern to the well-being of the animals that are forced to pass through. The conditions these animals face induce extreme mental and physical distress. It has even been observed that animals born into factory farms and that know no other life still resort to their natural instincts.

What Conditions do Animals Face? The animals raised in factory farms most commonly include cows, pigs, and chickens. These animals face unimaginable cruelty before they are slaughtered for meat. Chickens turn to cannibalizing their cage mates due to the stress they face from not being able to move, and it prevent this have their beaks cut off with hot knives.

Conditions cont. Piglets are weaned at 10 days compared to 13 weeks This leaves adults pigs with an overwhelming need to chew. To satiate this need, pigs gnaw on the tail of the pig that is packed not even inches in front of them. The confinement cause them to become depressed which leads to a ''learned helplessness’’, meaning they do not even bother stopping other pigs from chewing their tails to the point of infection. (Pollan). To prevent this workers chop off the tails of pigs. The removal of the pig’s tail is not even to stop the chewing, but to make it so painful once bitten that the pig is forced to react and make the other stop.

Regulations? Over 10 billion animals are raised and killed for food in the United States every year and there are no federal laws that regulate the conditions in which these animals are farmed and raised (Farmed Animals and the Law). The minor regulations are often ignored since the United States Department of Agriculture claims that most do not even apply to birds, which make up nearly 90% of the animals that are slaughtered for food (Farmed Animals and the Law).

Why is this Tolerated? Species and equality seem to be the main reasons why this practice takes place. Most people view the interest of animals to be of less moral importance since they are a different species than us. People tend to turn away from the reality of the situation since they often have no connection to the animals being farmed.

What Can be Done? Fortunately factory farming is not the only way that meat is produced. “Cruelty free” farming is a method that allows animals to lead a “natural” life before they are killed and sold. Polyface Farm is a farm where animals are raised naturally and in smaller numbers. Naturally raising an animals means that the animal is given the right to live its life exactly how it would on its own and is killed quickly and efficiently when its time comes.

Personal Beliefs With conditions the way they are in factory farms I find eating meat produced at one to be intolerable. A human’s want to eat an animal is not more prominent than the animal’s want to not be tortured merely because they are of a different species. Factory farming is a practice that should be entirely outlawed worldwide. Instead, people should turn to cruelty-free farming or meat-free life styles.

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Works Cited "Farmed Animals and the Law." Animal Legal Defense Fund. N.p.. Web. 6 Apr Pollan, Michael. "An Animal's Place." New York Times. N.p., 10 Nov Web. 6 Apr ml?src=pm&pagewanted=1. ml?src=pm&pagewanted=1 "What is a Factory Farm." ASPCA. N.p.. Web. 6 Apr cruelty/what-factory-farm. cruelty/what-factory-farm

Works Cited cont. actory-farming/eggs/ actory-farming/eggs/ tions/id5.htmhttp://courtneyscott.org/beyond_produc tions/id5.htm