The Dirty Practice of Factory Farms

Why we need to re-access how we raise food animals. by Jerry Bierens    January 5, 2016

There is a very bad thing going on in America and around the world today that needs to be exposed and talked about in depth, and it only gets minimal attention, when it should be a concern for all.

That is the practice of “Factory Farming”. To call it “farming” is a real stretch of the way I remember the dairy farm (my neighbor’s) that I worked on throughout my formative years. Maybe that’s why I find these “modern” practices so offensive but I think that even without this experience, I would be abhorred by this.

These farms and their practices, like this (literally) horrendous shit, from the cesspools, to the aerating of the waste, hogs raised in gestation crates (where they can’t even turn around) and just the inhumane practice of raising these animals that are known to be very intelligent (smarter than your dog and way smarter than a cat) is something that is NOT necessary and should be illegal.

To treat the humans that are (most of the time ) forced to live nearby, with the disrespect, stench and potential for disease is not right. Most of them don’t have the means to move either.

One of the worst parts of this is how harmful it is to the animals, as some of the pigs go literally insane (you might too, if tortured in this manner).

It’s a practice that needs to be changed and it can be done with common sense laws (like no gestation crates and no feces/urine pools), regulations and regular inspections and fines for inhumane practices.

Then there’s this: Dairy farming with huge numbers of animals (as many as 8000+ in some cases, although 1000 to 2000 is way more common) is another form of farming that is driving the small farmers out of business and also is in need of some new regulatory laws.

There’s not much else I can say here in this limited time and space but you get the gist of it, I hope.

You know they say the best test of a society’s morality is how well (or badly in these cases) they treat the most vulnerable among us. We ask a lot from these animals and by treating them in this fashion is just plain wrong.