Animals Are the Issue by Katz Linda S.;Kistler John M.;

Author:Katz, Linda S.;Kistler, John M.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2004-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Factory Farming

The small family farm in the United States is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Some still exist, but the majority of farming today falls under the umbrella of “factory farming.” The industrialization of agriculture has brought with it the factory farm. Factory farming was meant to increase production enough to meet an ever-growing demand while keeping overhead costs to a minimum. Unfortunately, this has translated into animals being treated as units of production rather than sentient beings capable of suffering. Animal welfare advocates have tried to bring attention to some of these issues.

One of the concerns is animal suffering. Other issues include standards of sanitation and the treatment of sick animals. These can become problems not only for the animals, but also for the consumer of these animals. One example of the practice is the keeping of broiler chickens in ‘battery cages.’ These cages are typically so small that the chickens cannot turn around or spread their wings. Often, these chickens will be de-beaked in a painful manner to keep them from pecking one another. For more background information from an animal welfare perspective, you can view the Humane Farming Association web site [http://www.hfa.org/].

Budianski, Stephen. The Covenant of the Wild: Why Animals Chose Domestication. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999. 212 pp., (0300079931). Budianski rejects the animal rights movement and its arguments for conservation of species. He believes that human beings have naturally evolved to a dominant role over animals, and that animals benefit from this role as much as we do, which is why so many species have evolved to become domesticated animals. The author discusses many conservation-related issues and comes out on the side of letting evolution take its course; saying essentially that human beings should not interfere with the course of evolution. He holds to this even when the process of evolution may destroy entire species. “The dominance of man and domesticated animals and plants is not the end of nature; it is no more than the beginning of yet another new period in nature’s long and varied history” (125). The author does not fully address the issue of suffering in animals inflicted by human beings. Human beings may hunt and kill, but excessive suffering is not needed, and suffering of animals is one of the main concerns of animal rights and welfare advocates. He seems to argue that animals would prefer to suffer rather than possibly die, and that suffering is inevitable and natural (15).

Davis, Karen. Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry. Summertown: Book Publishing Company, 1996. 176 pp., (1570670323). This is an expose on the broiler-chicken and egg-laying chicken industries. Karen Davis is an animal rights activist, and she is passionate about the issues. Davis draws upon her personal experiences touring such farms and researching other literature in the field. Davis talks about the lack of protection of chickens in the Animal Welfare Act, and the unfortunate consequences of that fact. She takes issue with those

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