The Horrors of Factory Farming

I have recently seen some of these clips on youtube and other places about how bad mass farming is. I was a vegtarian for 12 years and for the last year I ate chicken and turkey because im the one who cooks in our family and they wanted those things. I have not purchased pork or cows for 11 years. I have gone back to my vegan way of life 2 weeks ago. we have no meat in the freezer and it will stay that way. I dont want any animal slaughtered for me, my family relizes the change and they will adjust as they assured me. I also changed most products we use like cleaners, shampoo, soap,etc to ones that dont test on animals ando not contain animal byproducts. I have been speaking to others about where their meat comes from. I wrote an email letter about this to the USDA and they havent responded. I was urging them to get the AWA law to cover animals raised for food. currently it does not cover them. I will continue to write letters to them until I get a responce. I am not asking everone to become vegetarian, but I am asking everyone to take interest in changing laws so that ALL animals are covered under the AWA (animal welfare act).

I have recently seen some of these clips on youtube and other places about how bad mass farming is. I was a vegtarian for 12 years and for the last year I ate chicken and turkey because im the one who cooks in our family and they wanted those things. I have not purchased pork or cows for 11 years. I have gone back to my vegan way of life 2 weeks ago. we have no meat in the freezer and it will stay that way. I dont want any animal slaughtered for me, my family relizes the change and they will adjust as they assured me. I also changed most products we use like cleaners, shampoo, soap,etc to ones that dont test on animals ando not contain animal byproducts. I have been speaking to others about where their meat comes from. I wrote an email letter about this to the USDA and they havent responded. I was urging them to get the AWA law to cover animals raised for food. currently it does not cover them. I will continue to write letters to them until I get a responce. I am not asking everone to become vegetarian, but I am asking everyone to take interest in changing laws so that ALL animals are covered under the AWA (animal welfare act).

I would love, LOVE, to get my hands on the people who do this to animals. I have a black belt in karate – mainly because I was bullied as a child and I know what it’s like to be helpless in the hands of cruel a$$holes who love to beat you up because you’re smaller than they are. That’s exactly what these jerks are – bullies who found a legal way to exercise their desire to torture the weak. For some reason it’s fine for them to to unspeakable things to defenseless little animals, but it’s illegal for me to turn around and stand up physically against these jackasses. That’s the only thing they deserve – to be beaten to within an inch of their lives.

Thank you Brooke for your comment I actually got tears in my eyes as I remembered the farms that I and my cousins grew up on. I dont think those animals accepted their fates any easier than the animals do today. At least they were treated humanely and accepted their fates with some sort of dignity. They were outside every day. You also reminded me of the asparagas that grew along side of the roadside that my granny and aunts used to pick. Dont try that today, youll get ran over. Today I saw a beautiful Hawk or Eagle in a tree that my son and I admire almost everyday. Everyday we ask each other “did you see the bird today”? I would very much like to stop and take his picture or even just to admire him with the binoculars that I keep in my car. Guess What??? No place to even pull my car over!!! With all the road expansion and cement curbs there isnt even a side to the road anymore around here. Hopefully there will be a tree for him to perch in for a while yet, who knows how long.

The horrors that animals face compelled my first comment but Kathy’s recollection of days no longer touched a sadness inside that I have not cared to acknowledge. My grandparents farm was not a refuge for the animals because they were there to be eaten and I grew to despise this. For a long time I could not justify the family farm over factory farming. Is it okay if it’s the lesser of two evils (in my opinion)! What I am realizing to be just as disheartening is the loss of space and life that filled in the gaps between man and nature. I remember the cottonwood trees lining the drive (they were cut down) that the chickens would gather under. I remember the bar ditches and the wild asparagus…the baby toads in the spring, ridding the horses along the river bottom and stopping for a swim at the head gates. I remember picking watermelons and being chased off by raccoons…eating the best strawberry I have ever tasted. I remember the bats in the barn and the skunk that sauntered through the living room. I remember my grandpa on the tractor and the harvest moon. And, the mice that I could catch soon after. Thank you Kathy for bringing this back to me. I could go on and on as I’m sure you could. A long time ago I read Fast Food Nation and it explained how the small farmer/rancher could no longer exist it todays world of cost and demand. I think it hardened me inside as I accepted our future and did not reflect upon my past. All the despair I had as a child for the loss of nature was nothing compared to the loss I have witnessed in less than 20 years. Kathy, it seems you are right, those days are no longer. They were not perfect but as the world becomes smaller and the population becomes bigger our wondrous experiences may become extinct. What can we do?

Well when I look around here where I grew up its ridiculous. They are not going to stop until the whole area is covered with subdivisions and mini malls. Lets dont forget parking lots. The trees I was refering to were some trees along a highway where I used to be able to ride my horse along. We used to Zig zag thru these trees like we did in a certain competition in the horse shows. That was back in 1973. Last spring 2009 they cut them all down for some reason. Even a friend of mine noticed it. There are no farms or farm animals around here anymore and almost no farm fields where crops grow. So where is the food coming from??
Food Factorys I guess. The pig farm was as bad as the turkey factory farm I saw. I guess it wasnt the farm itself it was the Butterball slaughter house for turkeys. I guess after that was aired Butterball had a had time finding companies to carry their products and the company that had them sold them. That also was very sad.

I do admire you for watching that video Kathy,that was brave !!
I know how you feel. Looking back it seems the world was a kinder place but in reality it wasn’t, just look at the old sayings ‘Screaming like a stuck pig’ ‘Running around like a headless chicken’ etc, that still live on. Animals have always suffered and always will until people stop using them. I think they do know their fate.Look at that picture above, the pig in the corner looking down at the dead ones and no way to escape apart from her own death.
Michael’s comment’One day I think the majority of people will be vegetarian as is it more civilised’ is the way I see it too, but I think it will be many more generations before that happens. I read the other day that lots of children don’t even know where meat comes from.
I can believe that as I never gave it a thought either when I was very young.
But just as many young people as they grow up are becoming more aware about animals used in experiments and asking why, now that there are alternative ways,hopefully more will begin asking about the way animals born for humans food are treated.
But we can’t make everyone aware,the ones who don’t want to know will never listen.
I know how you feel about trees too Kathy, it seems that everything in Nature has to make way for the ever expanding human race.
The future of this Earth is very worrying.

The video you added was much worse almost than the one I saw. I havent been able to sleep or even open my freezer for the fear that there may be a pork chop in there. People need to be made aware of what goes on. I originally found the fa ctory farm pamphlets in my library. There were ones on veal calves and chickens as well. I grew up on a farm and I though all farm animals were treated with respect. As an adult and looked around where I grew up I began to wonder where all the farms went and the farm animals. There are no more beef or cattle farms anywhere in this area (rural of Chicago) We had all the commuters move out here from Chicago because they wanted to live in the country. So now we are a suburb. It stinks. I cry every time I see a tree cut down.

Some people think people can’t survive without eating meat,poultry and fish but many of us are here to prove them wrong lol
Some people don’t see why they shouldn’t eat it as if it’s their given right to eat other living creatures, whatever the cost to those creatures.Yes they are sorry about them but that’s not going to stop them eating their flesh.
Some people know how much animals suffer, living in terrible conditions and being horribly slaughtered, but they don’t care.
I even used to feel a bit embarrassed at first, as if I was odd but then I started feeling better about myself and I love it now when anyone hears me asking in cafes etc what the vegetarian options are. Thankfully there are many more options now than jacket potatoes.
Roast mushroom is delicious,who needs meat ?
I often think it might make people think more if they had to ask for a joint of cow, instead of a joint of beef,rashers of pig instead of bacon,or a pig chop !! But then again leg of lamb doesn’t put some people off.

Good for you Michael. I too have been vegetarian for nearly ten years but recently started adding very small amounts of meat to my diet. But after being reminded of why I gave up meat in the first place by seeing this article I will definately be giving meat a miss.

What does really annoy me about meat eaters is that they ask you why you dont eat meat, and when you explain to them about animal cruelty you always get the same response, “but it’s food” and they talk to you like your mad.

I always try to explain that we dont need to eat meat to survive anymore and that there are plenty of other options but as they say “ignorance is bliss”. I have heard many meat eaters say that if they had to kill the animal themselves they wouldn’t eat meat. Say no more.

Since being a vegetarian my diet is alot better as I eat alot more fruit and vegetables. Maybe if they showed more documentaries on cruelty in these farms people would be alot more aware of what they are putting into their bodies.

Type “swine flu traced to farm in North Carolina” into your search engine and see what pops up. You’ll be amazed and shocked

I couldn’t bear to watch the video, but I already know of the horrors of the meat producing industry and am now in my tenth year of vegetarianism, I just wonder why I left it so long! If you hate the thought of the cruelty involved in meat & fish production just ditch it, make your decision and stop eating animals, you will truly find it is liberating not worrying about your Sunday roast or whether to have steak or sausage. There are loads of alternatives to eat and no longer will you have dead flesh decaying in your intestines. Go on folks, go for it!

Good for you Michael ! You can still have the taste of meat if you want to but know that a life hasn’t been taken horribly to produce it.
Qourn do a wonderful range now, you can’t tell their mince from the real thing and it’s fat free too.We made a meal for a visitor one day, she’s usually very picky about her food but she ate a huge plate of ‘mince’ with yorkshire pud,veg and chips and said she hadn’t enjoyed a meal so much for ages.She was astounded to find out it was Quorn, not real mince. Their ‘chicken pieces’ and ‘sausages’ are equally as good.
It’s not for everyone, I know,but you can but try !
No one coming to our house for meals gets meat,poultry or fish and so far they’ve all come back for more.

Despite being brought up in an environment were meat (flesh really) was the norm, I am gradually becoming vegetarian.

One day I think the majority of people will be vegetarian as is it more civilised.

Factory farming is simply horrible and brutal. It disgusts me. I watched the first ten seconds of the video and stopped it.

There must be a better way, surely. Brooke is right. If we hate factory farming we shouldn’t eat it.

I think I just stopped eating pork for ever. I have almost stopped eating fish because of overfishing.

Kathy, thank you for this article, hopefully a lot of people will read it and become more aware of the cruelty going on daily. This is just the very tip of the iceberg too as many many animals and birds suffer unspeakable lives and deaths!
Good luck on going veggie, you’ll know if and when the time is right for you.
I’ve just posted some of my thoughts on the ‘Canned lion hunt’ topic,which I think we are all following so I won’t repeat myself here.

I am repeating this article as i had earlier posted it on “Canned Lion Hunting”, realising that this caption would benifit the readers on my personal opinions of “ANIMAL SLAUGHTER”.Just converting oneself into “VEGETARIANISM” is never going to solve the problem of atrocities against “FARM ANIMALS” meant for “HUMAN FOOD CONSUMPTION”. Animals themselves are carnivorous and “SLAUGHTER” their own kind in the forests which is a part of natural living. A tiger or Lion has to be “CARNIVOROUS” to survive in its natural habitat and if the “Carnivores” were totally exterminated from the natural environment then there would be a total imbalance of “NATURE”. The “Herbivores” would run riot on Planet Earth leading to “Famines” due to lack of vegetation from “OVERCONSUMPTION” by “Herbivores”. Ultimately a “BALANCE OF NATURE” in the wild is required , the most intelligent mammal on planet Earth, “HUMANS’ are carnivores by nature adapting to herbivore diets for personal reasons.Agreed, documentaries on “Animal farming and slaughter” are extremely sickening to watch, but, this reality exists everywhere from the developed World where “Farm Products” are available in “Supermarkets” to underdeveloped impoverished economies where “Livestock and Farm products” are slaughtered in public slaughter houses.Don’t forget, the domestic cat and dogs that are humans best pets are themselves ‘CARNIVOROUS” by nature unless artificially fed on a ‘Vegetarian diet” since birth. Ultimately, farm animals that are reared for human and pet consumption should be treated humanely which is easier said than put into practice. This is the stark unavoidable truth about a “Carnivorous diet” and a “Vegetarian Diet”, both amongst humans and animals.I myself am a “Carnivore” and hence not a member of “P.E.T.A” although a “Wild-Life Conservationist” and “Pet crusader”. I totally agree with Brooke that “ANIMAL SLAUGHTER” is akin to watching a “HORROR FILM” as no slaughter house or farm either in First World Country’s or the Developing World ever truely practices “HUMANE SLAUGHTER” akin to putting your “Pet Dog or Cat” to sleep.

I grew up knowing that my grandparents animals would one day be food and I would eat them. There IS a difference between small farm raised and mass produced meat although it is marginal. A small family farm may take better care of their animals meaning they have more room, they are feed and watered and not ignored when sick but they are still food or a $$. The family farm and the conglomerates still see the ends to every tail! I had the joy of bottle feeding a calf named George and carrying around a black and white piglet in my shirt to keep him warm. I loved them. They were my friends and then I would go back to visit grandma and grandpa and George and Piglet were in the freezer. At 5 or 6 you feel this is wrong but it’s a fact of life if you are going to eat meat. George ended his days in a feed lot. I encourage everyone to visit a feed lot and a slaughter house! Piglet was killed and butchered on the farm. When I got older I was introduced to castration, branding and the killing of animals. Non of it was humane! It is not like putting your pet to sleep and anyone that has had to go through that knows its not just falling asleep. God help them that they go fast because every bullet, bolt or shock cost $$ and that is the bottom line! I have not eaten meat from the age of 14 and became vegan 7 yrs later. Mass produced dairy farms are no better. I am not saying is eating meat is bad but I feel that those that eat meat should experience the slaughter. Man once respected the life of animals because they experienced something at the taking of their lives. This no longer exists because death comes pre-packaged without looking into the eyes……… I could never kill another animal EVER for food but if I had a cow I could care for and love we would make butter.

Recently on the news, a cow was being sent to slaughter, and took matters into her own hands and jumped a tall fence and ran for her life.
I will never be convinced that this terrible treatment is necessary, or that the animals don’t have fear and suffering.

What have we become to treat these defenceless animals like this?

I too am eating less and less meat, and since I love fruits and vegetables and other sources of protein I have no problem transitioning to a vegetarian diet. As long as Americans demand cheap meat, this will continue, we have become a very selfish society.