Would you put a price tag on your life?

           No argument is valid in terms of torturing an animal.  Some arguments for factory farming include faster food production, a safer environment for the animals, healthier and proportioned food for the animals, and cheaper food production.  It is true; factory farming does produce faster amounts of food.  Another fact: we are quickly consuming our source of food.  An article stated, “Dr. Robert Lawrence of the new Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future points out, ‘The inefficiency of converting eight or nine kilograms of grain protein into one kilogram of animal protein for human consumption would by itself be sufficient argument against continuation of our present dietary habits,’” (Motavali).  Factory farming is unsustainable.  Growing too much grain protein will damage the land, therefore putting a halt to a food source for animals, thus a halt to our meat source.  The future doesn’t hold a job position for factory farming.  It is safe to say that the environment in which the animals live in is not a safer one.  Yes, it is free of natural predators, but the new predators are humans.  According to Brown in her article, Do they not bleed? Industrial agriculture and the cruel fate of farm animals, “Animals on factory farms are subject to painful procedures and surgeries, often done to prevent aberrant behaviours resulting from the frustration of living in barren, unnatural environments.”  A few examples of these actions are beak cutting to prevent pecking, tail removal to prevent biting and gnawing on other animals, and being kept in tight pens where little to no movement is allowed (Brown).  Does this describe a safer environment?  Humans have created a whole new level in the game of “escape the predator”.  The food that is administered is not, in any way, healthy.  Most of the food that is given to these animals is full of antibiotics that will make them grow larger than they naturally would with less fat.  The food proportions are also extremely harmful because the animals are overfed.  This also creates a much larger amount of waste, and as seen in an earlier post, effects the environment drastically.  In Stephanie Brown’s article she explains how chickens are affected by their food intake, “Their bodies are pushed beyond their physical limits in a bid to cope with their incredibly rapid growth, propelled by antibiotics which are commonly administered to meat chickens to speed growth and keep the birds alive in stressful, crowded conditions.”  Factory farms do not produce cheaper food products.  A life full of suffering doesn’t fit under the definition of “cheap”; nor does killing the environment in which we inhabit, or filling our bodies with chemical grown chickens.  Would you consider your life cheap?  Don’t use a price tag to determine how to treat living organisms, whether it be you, an animal, or a thriving habitat. 

 

Sources:

Brown, Stephanie. "Do they not bleed? Industrial agriculture and the cruel fate of farm animals." Canadian Dimension July-Aug. 2011: 23+. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 23 June 2013.

<http://ic.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ic/ovic/MagazinesDetailsPage/MagazinesDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Magazines&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA265486985&userGroupName=colu91149&jsid=4b48d29c2acced5a3e17d4f536ba8e9b>.

 

Motavali, Jim. "Factory-Farmed, Meat-Based Diets May Cause a Food Scarcity Crisis." Factory Farming. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "The Trouble with Meat." Emagazine.com. 2009. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 23 June 2013.

<http://ic.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010701210&userGroupName=colu91149&jsid=3cc5c03aecafcae827f6f6efb3d3423d>.

Environmental Harm

            Factory farms infect more than just the animals; it infects and consumes everyone and everything.  Factory farms have a choke hold on the environment and the environment is losing air quickly.  How does it affect the environment, one may ask?  An obvious reason, these large factories need to be built somewhere, causing the destruction of healthy habitats.  It has been described as, “…’the major driver of deforestation, as well as one of the leading drivers of land degradation, pollution, climate change, overfishing, sedimentation of coastal areas and facilitation of invasions by alien species,’” (Pearce).  A second cause of environmental harm is water pollution.  “According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), factory farms produce approximately 500 million tons of manure annually…and yet…‘the management and disposal of animals wastes are poorly regulated,’” (Boris).  Factory farms use the manure on soil, but this mass amount of waste is not compatible with fewer amounts off soil.  This, in turn, creates a run off and many chemicals and nutrients take over the water (Boris).   A third effect on the environment is air pollution.  According to Boris, “’…greenhouse gas emissions from all livestock operations account for 18% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, exceeding those from the transportation sector.’”  She also states that this occurs from uncovered manure tanks, spraying manure that gets picked up in the wind, and from the naturally occurring digestion of these animals (Boris).  Together these three environmental harms also cause global warming.  All of the major causes of global warming that are discussed in politics fail to acknowledge factory farming as a huge issue.  As stated earlier, these mass amounts of animals are creating a large output of air pollution, water pollution, and biodegrading.  Being more aware of these issues can bring great light to the vast darkness.  Should we be allowed to live like this?  It isn’t just a question if allowing animals to live in poor conditions is moral, it involves more.  It involves our everyday.  We cannot allow owners of factory farms to control how we, and our non-English speaking friends behind those closed walls, live.

 

Sources:

Boris, Lynn M. "The Food-borne Ultimatum: Proposing Federal Legislation to Create Humane Living Conditions for Animals Raised for Food in Order to Improve Human Health." Journal of Law and Health 24.2 (2011): 285. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 June 2013. <http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=colu91149&tabID=T002&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm¤tPosition=7&contentSet=GALE%7CA280091955&&docId=GALE|A280091955&docType=GALE&role=>.

Pearce, James I. "A Brave New Jungle: Factory Farming and Advocacy in the Twenty-first Century." Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum 21.2 (2011): 433. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 June 2013. <http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=colu91149&tabID=T002&searchId=R4&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=11&contentSet=GALE%7CA280092018&&docId=GALE|A280092018&docType=GALE&role=>.

What will you do with your power?

America is falling behind in the race to end factory farming.  If anything, the government is showing less concern for the animals that are being tortured.  Laws are in the process of being created to ban videotaping within factory farms.  These laws are to protect the criminals, not the innocent.  According to an article from The New York Times, the American Legislative Exchange Council is in charge of creating model bills and, “One of the group’s model bills, “The Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act,” prohibits filming or taking pictures on livestock farms to “defame the facility or its owner.” Violators would be placed on a “terrorist registry,” (Oppel 1).  How can we possibly think it is okay to strip defenseless animals of basic living rights?  Using these undercover tactics help us see how these animals are really being treated and we can now start to find a resolution.  The only problem is these law makers.  Other countries have already begun to solve the maltreatment of these animals.  Sow stalls are small, metal barred compartments meant to hold pregnant pigs.  These pigs have no room to turn around or move.  Most pigs can only lie down, and not even comfortably; if they lie down, they invade a neighboring stall.  How far behind is the United States? According to The Australian, “Sow stalls are already banned in Britain and Sweden. New Zealand will ban them from 2015. Switzerland, The Netherlands and Finland have implemented partial bans and an EU directive restricts the use of sow stalls to the first four weeks of any pregnancy by 2013,” (Kirby).  America should have never allowed sow stalls in the first place.  Kirby later writes that a handful of states have begun to look over restrictions, but that is still no excuse for how animals are treated in factory farming.  In this same article from The Australian, Kirby states that Australian consumers are more aware of what his happening and thus opening doors for law makers.  “The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently began legal proceedings against three large industrial chicken producers for misleading conduct. New bills are being introduced into our parliaments requiring fairer labeling of animal products,” (Kirby).  This is the example that should be set for America, as well as the banning and restrictions on sow stalls by Britain, The Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand, and Finland.  If we, the consumers, can start a movement as big as Australia’s, we could show lawmakers and the factory owners that we will not stand for the mistreatment of animals.  If we can show them that we want healthy living conditions and healthy food, then we will be in control; not these big companies.  The future of America truly does lie in our hands.  The only question is: what will you do with this power?

Sources:

Oppel, Richard A., Jr. "Taping of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the Crime." The New York Times 7 Apr. 2013: A1. The New York Times. 6 Apr. 2013. Web. 3 June 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/us/taping-of-farm-cruelty-is-becoming-the-crime.html>.

Kirby, Michael. "NATION SHOULD BE A LEADER IN ANIMAL WELFARE." Australian [National, Australia] 29 Nov. 2012: 12. Global Issues In Context. Web. 23 June 2013.

<http://find.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/gic/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=c145c8640b56a7316602bf3be787cd86&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=colu91149&tabID=T004&docId=CJ310192938&type=retrieve&contentSet=IAC-Documents&version=1.0>.

Government and their animal laws

How many animals do you think the following picture saved?

Countless.  How would the law know about the type of animal cruelty going on behind closed doors without photographs and videos?  They wouldn’t, and these animals could still be suffering.  How would we like to see farming?

The government in some states have proposed to make filming and photography illegal behind closed doors.   According to an article in The New York Times, “…a dozen or so state legislatures have had a different reaction: They proposed or enacted bills that would make it illegal to covertly videotape livestock farms, or apply for a job at one without disclosing ties to animal rights groups” (Oppel 1).  This news is shocking.  Wouldn’t you want to know what you’re putting in your body?  As a matter of fact, when you consume an animal coming from a factory farm, you are ingesting many harmful toxins.  In these farms, the animals are injected with many growth hormones and antibiotics that directly affect your own body.  The animals that inhabited these factory farms have, “…meat contaminated with Escherichia coli--better known simply as E. coli--that in turn infects humans, often small children with weaker immune systems, and literally melts their intestines” (Pearce).  To change the contaminated meat coming out of these factories, we need to be able to see what is wrong to change it.  If the government, in fact, passes these laws, how would we be able to locate the issues?  It is evident that photography is beneficial to these animals.  For example, one case in California was exposed and opened doorways to other cases of abuse in other states (Cruelty in the Name of Food).  Photography by animal rights activists can be a crucial gateway to helping other animals everywhere.

 

Is there any benefit to slamming the doors in the public’s face?  It is a violation of our rights to not know what is in our food.  I feel as if we should be more concerned about what secrets our government is keeping from us.  This isn’t just about the animals anymore, it’s about the entire world.  Together we can overcome this.

"Cruelty in The Name of Food.(Editorial)." The Washington Post [Washington D.C.] 27 Apr. 2013: n. pag. Global Issues in Context. Web. 20 June 2013. http://find.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/gic/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DateDescend&tabID=T004&prodId=GIC&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R3&searchType=¤tPosition=3&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C13%29factory+farms%24&userGroupName=colu91149&inPS=true&docId=A327825652&contentSet=IAC-Documents&docId=A327825652&docType=IAC.

Boris, Lynn M. "The Food-borne Ultimatum: Proposing Federal Legislation to Create Humane Living Conditions for Animals Raised for Food in Order to Improve Human Health." Journal of Law and Health 24.2 (2011): 285. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 June 2013. http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=colu91149&tabID=T002&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm¤tPosition=7&contentSet=GALE%7CA280091955&&docId=GALE|A280091955&docType=GALE&role=.

Pearce, James I. "A Brave New Jungle: Factory Farming and Advocacy in the Twenty-first Century." Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum 21.2 (2011): 433. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 June 2013. http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=colu91149&tabID=T002&searchId=R4&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=11&contentSet=GALE%7CA280092018&&docId=GALE|A280092018&docType=GALE&role=.

Oppel, Richard A., Jr. "Taping of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the Crime." The New York Times 7 Apr. 2013: A1. The New York Times. 6 Apr. 2013. Web. 3 June 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/us/taping-of-farm-cruelty-is-becoming-the-crime.html.

Learning more about my blog

Animal cruelty is punishable by law.  Do you support it?  You may have answered no to that question, but do your actions show it?  Eating meat is a way to show support for animal cruelty.  Would anyone want to be labeled a supporter for animal cruelty?  I don’t think so.  There are ways to stop it; one simple solution, cut down on your intake of meat.

            When was the last time you consumed meat?  Do you now the history of that animal?  Today, many people turn a blind eye to factory farms, but this is a serious matter.  Millions of animals only know a short life of brutality and uncomfortable living conditions.  According to an article from Canadian Demension, “More animals are killed in agricultural production than in hunting, shelters and research combined. An estimated 696 million land animals were killed for food last year in Canada alone” (Brown).  This should be eye opening.  Humans are consuming more animals than ever which calls for a higher supply; as these demands grow, so do factory farms and the poor treatment of livestock.  Factory farms are a cost efficient way to raise animals for slaughter and make a profit while doing so.  Most don’t want to understand how poorly these animals are treated.  For example, “A concrete, steel-barred sow stall (also known as a gestation crate) confines the pregnant mother pig during her four-month pregnancy in a space so small she cannot turn around. She eats, sleeps, urinates and defecates on wet concrete in a space only inches wider than her body” (Brown).  This is just one pig.  Imagine other helpless animals confined in areas too small for living.  Next time you pick up your food, ask, “Is my satisfaction for cheaper food really worth a life of suffering for an innocent animal?”

            What if you only knew a life of living in a cramped pen?  Imagine that you are this poor pig, what do you do for fun?  Socialize with the suffering pig next door?  These animals are trying to call out for help.  We can help them.  We just have to learn how to help.

 

Brown, Stephanie. "Do they not bleed? Industrial agriculture and the cruel fate of farm animals." Canadian Dimension July-Aug. 2011: 23+. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 20 June 2013.

<http://ic.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ic/ovic/MagazinesDetailsPage/MagazinesDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Magazines&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA265486985&userGroupName=colu91149&jsid=4b48d29c2acced5a3e17d4f536ba8e9b.>

A little bit about me.



My name is Ruthie Heying.  I am nineteen and I attend Salisbury University on the eastern shore of Maryland.  I enjoy animals very much.  I have two brothers, one older and one younger.  I also love to play sports.  In high school, I played lacrosse and ran cross country. I also like to hang out with my friends in my free time, when I have some, that is.

My friends turtles and I.
 

My older brother, Louis, and I when we were younger.

My younger brother, John, and I.  He went to prom with my friend, who coincidentally had the same color dress as me.

 

My friend and I posing with Sammy after Lobster Fest.

 

My teammates and I after our last home game my senior year.

 

My teammates and I before a big cross country meet.

 

My closest friends and me before a school dance.