Intense Factory Farming
Eng 102 Ms. Williams March 1st, 2012 Essay # 2 Intense Farming In our world today we no longer are able to farm clean natural products for others to consume. A factory farm is where animals are bred and fattened using modern industrial methods. This method allows more farming jobs to stay in the US. If we had to do it the way a farm has been run in the past, farmers wouldn’t be able to compete with prices of food from China because their labor costs are much lower.
According to The Scientific Veterinary Committee of the European Commission has stated, “Since the extent of the inactivity and unresponsiveness indicates abnormal behavior, the sows may well be depressed in the clinical sense and poor welfare is indicated. ” Although factory farming produces more of the product to be mass distributed among countries, animals are being treated as an object instead of a living creature. These methods are rather cruel and can be harmful to these animals. These living things are here for humans to have domain over them but the nature that these factory farmers are pursuing it is unethical and wrong.
There are many more facts to be explored and through these resources one can develop the opinion whether or not these actions are right or wrong. Factory farming is something that has evolved over time. Without the advancements in medicine there would be no way our livestock would end up like this. CAFO is known for specializing in the raising of domestic pigs to be slaughtered when they have reached the proper weight. This system of pig production, grower pigs are housed indoors in group-housing or sheds. Pregnant pigs are housed sow stalls or pens and give birth in these crates.
A gestation crate is only 7 feet by 2 feet; it is enclosed so the pigs aren’t able to move around freely. Animal welfare supporters see the use of gestation crates as one of the most inhumane features of animal production. More than ninety percent of pigs in the U. S. today are raised on factory farms. These pigs spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy warehouses under the constant stress of intense confinement. Their natural ways are denied through this system that supposedly produces more in the cost of the happiness and welfare of an animal. When the time comes for slaughter, pigs are forced onto transport trucks that travel for many miles through all weather extremes. Many die of heat exhaustion in the summer or arrive frozen to the inside of the truck in the winter. According to industry reports, more than 1 million pigs die in transport each year, and an additional 420,000 are crippled by the time they arrive at the slaughterhouse. Because of improper stunning methods, many pigs are still conscious when they are dumped into scalding-hot water, which is intended to remove their hair and soften their skin. ”
