Why are They Different From Us?

Animals around the world are being treated cruelly, wether it be because it is the easiest or cheapest way to do it, or because people are just cruel. Factory farms are an inhumane way to raise animals, they put the animals in cages where they never see the sun, can hardly move, and are never cleaned or given any medical attention. Unfortunately factory farms are the most efficient and cheapest way to mass produce animal products. They do this to thousands of animals at a time, thousands of farm animals all crammed together in cages, can hardly move, all breathing the same air, and all suffering the same lifestyle. Most people don't know where their beef or chicken comes from, but most of the time their meats have come from factory farms where the animal was forced to live a terrible life just to be slaughtered and eaten. The meat that is from the healthy animals is hard to find, unless you look for it at grocery stores, but free range eggs or meat are from animals raised on a farm where they are free to wander and lay down in the sunlight. The people who run the factory farms are doing things that slightly increase productivity but are extremely cruel, such as in some factory farms the chicks get debeaked so that they won't try and fight other chickens due to frustration.

These methods of raising animals started during the eighteenth century, this change was known as the agricultural revolution. These allowed farmers much greater profits, so over time many places around the world adopted this new technique of raising animals. This lead to the mass production of animal products. People discovered this worked because now they could use vitamin supplements to get nutrition instead of giving them a variety of food. Now with antibiotics and vaccines it was possible to raise livestock in larger numbers without a much smaller chance for disease transmission. And with chemicals created during World War II they were able to make pesticides to grow enough food for even more animals to eat. By 1990 thirty percent of meat production was due to factory farming, and by 2005 it was forty percent.

Different organizations have opened up to try and reduce how cruel the animals are treated and  to make sure all the animal waste is properly used and the desease rates drop. The FAWC (Farm Animal Welfare Council) try to give animal freedom from hunger,  thirst, discomfort, pain, from injury or disease, fear, distress, and to express normal behavior. The factory farms aren't becoming humane anytime soon, but that doesn't mean their efforts have been wasted, in certain places the animals have been treated with more respect. In the U.S. the CDC has been actively lowering disease between humans and animals, this stops humans from getting diseases, but in many cases the best way to stop the farmers from getting sick is by stopping the animals from getting sick. Even though the animals are the ones that are suffering the most, organizations tend to mostly help the people who own the farm from getting sick, but relatively few humans are dying from disease compared to the amount of animals dying because of humans. In some facilities, people are removing pigs teeth and tails to stop them from fighting, but often the pigs die from shock because often there is no anesthetic present during the operation, that means the pig is completely conscious and aware of the pain. Although in some places the owners realize that the animals deserve some respect, they actually care about them and make sure they are content and this has been proven to make the product better, less stress hormones, cleaner skin and meat, and healthier mear as well.

Whether we like it or not Factory farming is here to stay, it may get much better and humane, but it's not going away. The tide will not be held back by humanitarian, ethics, the animal lovers, or by organizations that work towards the well being of animals. In a few years factory farming will most likely grow, people won't care where their meat came from, and the amount of happy livestock that are allowed to walk freely in fields, will become scarce.