FACTORY FARMING – HORRIFYING TRUTH

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the
way its animals are treated. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the
more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.”
–Mohandas Karmchand Gandhi

We are humans….
We are the most developed species on this planet earth…
We have the most active and powerful brains among all the species on this planet…
We follow the Darwin’s theory “survival of the fittest”…
We kill the weaker species and feed on them…

All the above give facts are true …aren’t they?

But some of the new practices of men have posed a question mark on the above facts. As man is becoming technologically advanced and developed, his progress is bringing some disastrous change in environment around and even in the minds.
One of such latest gruesome trend is Factory Farming.
Factory farming began in the 1920s soon after the discovery of vitamins A and D; when these vitamins are added to feed, animals no longer require exercise and sunlight for growth. This allowed large numbers of animals to be raised indoors year-round.
This was accepted in many nations as the cost of production reduced considerably, as the land cost, maintenance cost and feed costs.

Moreover, the high input costs of agricultural operations result in a large influx and distribution of capital to a rural area from distant buyers rather than simply recirculation existing capital. A single dairy cow contributes over $1300 US to a local rural economy each year, each beef cow over $800, meat turkey $14, and so on. As Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff states, “Research estimates that the annual economic impact per cow is $13,737. In addition, each $1 million increase in PA milk sales creates 23 new jobs. This tells us that dairy farms are good for Pennsylvania’s economy.
But, these plus points seem only meager infront of the suffering and harm to nature.
Along with causing harm to surroundings, natural bio diversity the biggest price is paid by the animals.

In some videos the bare truth is so harsh that I couldn’t even dare to watch full video .
Here are some shocking facts….
Pigs
It is estimated that 90% of all pigs raised for food are confined at some point in their lives. Pigs are highly social, affectionate and intelligent creatures, and suffer both physically and emotionally when they are confined in narrow cages where they cannot even turn around. Many pigs become crazy with boredom and develop vices like mouthing, and nervous ticks; others are driven to fighting and cannibalism because of their frustration. Pigs are born and raised inside buildings that have automated water, feed and waste removal. They don’t see daylight until they are shipped for slaughter. Dust, dirt and toxic gases from the pigs’ waste create an unsanitary environment that encourages the onset of a number of diseases and illnesses, including pneumonia, cholera, dysentery and trichinosis.

Veal Calves
The veal industry is notorious for the cruel confinement of calves. Calves are kept in small crates which prevent movement inhibit muscle growth so their flesh will be tender. They are also fed a diet deficient of iron to keep their flesh pale and appealing to the consumer. Veal calves spend each day confined alone with no companionship and are deprived of light for a large portion of their four-month lives

Dairy Cows
Dairy cows are bred today for high milk production. For cows who are injected with Bovine Growth Hormone, their already high rate of milk production is doubled. Half of the cows in the national dairy herd are raised in intensive confinement, where they suffer emotionally from being socially deprived and being prohibited from natural behavior. Dairy cows produce milk for about 10 months after giving birth so they are impregnated continuously to keep up the milk flow. Female calves are kept to replenish the herd and male calves are usually sent to veal crates where they live a miserable existence until their slaughter. When cows become unable to produce adequate amounts of milk they are sent to slaughter so money can be made from their flesh. The cows are kept in a holding facility where they are fed, watered and have their waste removed mechanically and are allowed out only twice a day to be milked by machines.
Turkey
The birds live mired in their own waste, breathing strong ammonia fumes, which burn their eyes and lungs. To keep them alive in these filthy, disease-ridden conditions—and to stimulate their growth—farmers feed them antibiotics. Because the birds are drugged and bred to grow so large in such a short period of time, their bones can’t support their weight, and many suffer from broken legs. Some birds attempt to drag themselves by their wings to reach food and water.
At the slaughterhouse, the terrified turkeys are hung upside-down, and their heads are dragged through an electrified “stunning tank,” which immobilizes them but does not kill them. Many birds dodge the tank and are still conscious when their throats are cut. If the turkeys’ throats are not cut properly—which happens often—the birds are scalded to death in the tanks of water used to remove their feathers.

This was all about suffering of the poor speechless creatures. But apart from this this also cause harm to the environment, usually the most fatal communicable diseases are spread in unhygienic as ideally provided by these farms. It is being reported that SARS was first detected in a owner of duck farm ( this has not yet received scientific confirmation yet).

Waste Pollution and the Environment
(1) The USDA reports that animals in the US meat industry produce 61
million tons of waste each year, which is 130 times the volume of human
waste – or five tons for every US citizen.

(2) North Carolina’s 7,000,000 factory-raised hogs create four times as
much waste – stored in reeking, open cesspools – as the state’s 6.5 million
people. The Delmarva Peninsula’s 600 million chickens produce 400,000 tons
of manure a year.

(3) According to the Environmental Protection Agency, hog, chicken and
cattle waste has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and
contaminated groundwater in 17 states.

(4) Pfiesteria, a microscopic organism that feeds off the phosphorus and
nitrogen found in manure, is a lethal toxin harmful to both humans and
fish. In 1991 alone, 1,000,000,000,000 (one billion) fish were killed by
pfiesteria in the Neuse River in North Carolina.

(5) Since 1995, an additional one billion fish have been killed from manure
runoff in estuaries and coastal areas in North Carolina, and the Maryland
and Virginia tributaries leading into the Chesapeake Bay. These deaths can
be directly related to the 10 million hogs currently being raised in North
Carolina and the 620 million chickens on the Eastern Shore of the
Chesapeake Bay.

(6) The pollution from animal waste causes respiratory problems, skin
infections, nausea, depression and even death for people who live near
factory farms. Livestock waste has been linked to six miscarriages in women
living near a hog factory in Indiana

(7) In Virginia, state guidelines indicate that a safe level of fecal
coliform bacteria is 200 colonies per 100 milliliters of water. In 1997,
some streams had levels as high as 424,000 per 100 milliliters

What can we do about it ……….
The best thing one can do is…
TO TURN TO VEGETERIANISMvegetarian food is not just a treat for your taste buds – it is great for your health too. Leading scientists are now proving that what we eat directly affects the quality of our lives. While animal foods contribute to cancer, heart disease, obesity and many other killers, a vegetarian diet can make us healthier and much much more….
But some might find difficulty in turning vegetarian all of sudden so, atleast you can see to it that you don’t contribute in such inhuman act. In india factory farms are still less in numbers compare to other countries in the world.
Apart from that we as Indian hold a moral responsibility toward every fellow living creature.
In srimad bhagwad gita (chapter 14, verse 5) lord Krishna describes three types of qualities-goodness(satva), passion(rajah ) and ignorance(tamah). Each one of these binds human mind with their respective nature. Satva leads to selfless attitude toward work, rajah leads to workaholic nature and tamah leads to ignorance and laziness.
The point to note here is that it is said that food also varies in these three categories and the type of food taken by a person also reflects the nature and the qualities to be shown by him.
In verse 10 chapter 17 Lord describes the kind of food
the food intake of animals slaughtered in these factory farms (not to mention the suffering and torture they undergo before dying) surely lie under this category. So eventually even if we are forced to eat such food this will eventually lead us to ignorance. And ignorant citizens will not be able to contribute in building of our nation.
Even if one doesn’t follow hindism but at least as humans it is our moral responsibility to stop this massacre.
There are many sites which will give more detailed information about the suffering of animals.
Some of them are

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Toxic/factoryfarm.cfm

http://www.idausa.org/facts/factoryfarmfacts.html

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1547

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/factory-farms-in-asia-blamed-for-pandemic-473244.html

http://www.chow.com/blog/tag/factory-farming

http://www.petaindia.com/campaigns/veg.asp

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/02/factory-farm-workers-face-first-ever-felony-cruelty-charges/

http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=West_Virginia_Turkey_Farms_Investigation_2008-Peta&Player=wm

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~ by restless14 on June 26, 2009.