THE CRUELTY OF FACTORY FARMS

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THE CRUELTY OF FACTORY FARMS

 

DATELINE: 21 August, 2000

 

Transmitted by: Dr. Paul Kail, CZECH REPUBLIC

 

It is an enduring myth that efforts to reduce animal abuse inevitably come into

conflict with human needs.

 

For example, the atrocities that take place in factory farms are assumed to be

an inevitable price that we pay for feeding a growing human population. However,

far from being necessary to reduce human malnutrition, intensive farming

actually increases it.

 

When animals are kept in factory farms, the grain that they eat could just as

well have been used to feed a hungry person. The International Food Policy

Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington DC says that it takes three calories of

grain to produce a single calorie of meat; less conservative estimates put the

ratio as high as nine to one. Two thirds of all grain produced in the US, and

one third of all the grain produced worldwide is used to feed livestock, rather

than people.

 

Quite apart from this, factory farms pose very serious ethical problems. In many

cases, pigs, calves and chickens are kept in cages so small they cannot even

turn round. Even where they have a little more space, the stress caused by

overcrowding makes the animals'

lives a misery. Undercover work by Gail Eisnitz of the Humane Farming

Association has shown that when the animals are killed they are often not

stunned properly

first, and may be cut up and skinned while they are still alive.

 

Unfortunately, many people are unaware of the cruelty that is involved. The

corporations that have the most to lose from any changes have, through their

advertising dollars, PR agencies and legal departments, done their best to keep

the public in the dark, and to ensure that there is no open debate about the

issue.

 

More: http://www.g21.net/daily0821.htm

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