Using Factory Farming for Raising and Managing Huge Livestock Numbers Essay

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Introduction

The term, factory farming, is one which is used to represent intensively mechanized systems specifically aimed at raising and managing huge livestock numbers which are commonly in their several thousands. The system managers commonly breed these livestock in confinement in order to manage and care for them more easily. It is very common for them to breed poultry and castrated male pigs (hogs) in the same building and to prevent them from going out. The cooling, heating, watering, feeding and ventilation systems of the building are controlled automatically. Every animal is identified via a special identification number instead of a name. Those farmers who operate small farms often find it difficult to compete with the factory farms in the market. Another name for factory farming is corporate farming (Factory farming, 2016 p.1). 

A number of people have stated that factory farming causes coldness and cruelty towards livestock. They are of the opinion that the animals living within factory farms are diseased and roughly treated. However, some others believe that the factory farms are very healthy. They argue that unhealthy and substandard living conditions would generate unhealthy animals which are underdeveloped or infertile and this would lead to zero returns for the factory farm owners. Several people are worried about the animal wastes from these large farms which they believe are polluting their water and land. Several states which house huge factory farms have passed or are passing laws which would tackle the environmental effects of these farms (Factory farming, 2016 p.1). 

Thesis

Through this thesis, i will make a case for a better and more objective treatment and protection of non-human animals as well as an expansion of our moral compass to accommodate them. Presently, debates on the subject which has been christened “the animal liberation movement” are focused on the way the human treats the animal, however, the character possessed by this person is not evaluated or probed. This misplaced concentration is the major reason why this movement and of course, the animals themselves, suffer. The rifts left by deontology and utilitarianism are filled by classical virtue ethics and this is achieved by diverting attention to the origin rather than the results. Basically, for favorable changes to take place in the views, protection and treatment of livestock much more quickly and comprehensively, we need to start laying emphasis on treating the disease rather than just the symptoms. I will create a different approach for the movement by integrating virtue ethics and after that; I’ll start researching the people who are getting their basic traits from laws and role models. When improved focus and more attention on being a virtuous person to animals is fostered, a general change will be gradually realized which will cause a higher level of concern for animals within the parenting and legislative world and also the socially accepted actions and opinions. Within these systems lie the largest possible support for animals and an improved treatment by humans.

Moral Issues

It is becoming generally accepted that livestock factory farming which is also called CAFOs, which means; concentrated animal feeding operations, is ethically wrong. This is an opinion backed by the American animal rights movement, which, initially laid greater emphasis on animal use for research purposes but has now realized that factory farming is an even bigger abuse of the animals. The statistics backing this claim up are quite clear. Within the U.S., around 20 – 40 million mammals and birds are slaughtered for research purposes each year. This might feel like a huge number and it is much more than the amount of animals slaughtered because of their fur, not to mention the insignificant number of animals in circuses.

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However, this seemingly huge number is less than that seen in the country’s slaughterhouses, where around 10 billion animals are slaughtered annually (Singer, 2006 para 1).

A huge percentage of these unfortunate animals never stepped outside the confines of their sheds for once all through their lives. They literally do not just suffer for a handful of days or hours but instead for their entire lives. The veal calves and the sows are commonly bred in crates which are so narrow that they can’t turn or move, even slightly. The hens which supply eggs are not able to open their wings as the cages where they are kept are often overcrowded and small. Due to this boredom and inactivity, they start to attack one another due to frustration. In order to prevent any losses, the farm managers commonly remove their beaks using a hot knife and in the process, they cut some of the birds’ sensitive nerves. Chickens that are bred in sheds which contain about 20,000 birds are currently raised to grow at such speed that a large number of them end up with leg problems as their underdeveloped bones are not able to carry their weight. Professor John Webster who teaches at the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Science stated that: “Broilers are the only livestock that are in chronic pain for the last 20 percent of their lives. They don’t move around, not because they are overstocked, but because it hurts their joints so much” (Singer, 2006 para 2).

In some cases, their legs give way under their weight and they starve to death simply because they are unable to reach their food. Due to this, the operators make no profit from them, but generally, they still make huge profits from the superbly quick-growing breeds they manage. An article published in an industry journal summarized this by stating that “simple calculations” show that it is often “better to get the weight and ignore the mortality.” Another adverse effect the breed of these birds has is that their parents who produce the chicks that end up in the supermarkets are constantly hungry. This is because, unlike their chicks which are killed after 45 days, the parents need to reach sexual maturity hence they have to live longer. If they are fed the same way as their offspring, they would become excessively obese which would kill them or make them infertile. Due to this, their food is strictly rationed and thus they are always hungry and vainly searching for food (Singer, 2006 para 4).

The general disapproval of factory farming, which was previously believed to be mostly associated with animal rights activists, is now a stance held by several conservatives such as Matthew Scully, the author of “Dominion: The Power of Man, The Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy” and a previous speech writer in President George W. Bush’s White House. According to Scully, despite the fact that we have been allowed “dominion” over all animals by God, this dominion should be administered mercifully and this is not the path followed by factory farming. A lot of conservatives have supported Scully’s publications. One of them is Pat Buchanan, The American Conservative’s editor, which gave cover-story prominence to Scully’s essay “Fear….....

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