What's Wrong with Factory Farming

Personal thoughts:  It's hard to imagine the horrors that occur in animal slaughterhouses - cows, pigs and poultry lined up in assembly line, grinding machines, getting cut open and skinned while conscious, being shot multiple times, locked up in severely confined spaces, fed with antibiotics to induce growth and the list goes on. These sound so bad to be true. But it's the reality. This is the reality of millions of animals who suffer from birth to death in factory farms. Today, more animals are tortured in the history of U.S. The days of animal-human bonding, family farms and organic products free from disease-causing antibiotics and growth chemicals are long gone. Ultimately, we are fed with flesh of animals that is byproduct of greed, corruption, cruelty, torture, blood, diseases, death and environmental contamination. Factory farming has evolved in such horrific ways that we are almost forgetting what it means to be human. However, I refuse that all hope is lost. Though factory farming is deeply ingrained in our current society, it doesn't mean it can never be dismantled or challenged. But is has to start with people knowing that day to day reality that occurs in it, so we can take actions and evoke change.


What's Wrong with Factory Farming?

The intent of presenting this data is not to "demonize farmers, many of whom went into the business out of a desire to work with nature and be close to the land, and don't like what's going on any more than you or me. But something has happened to the way animals are treated in modern meat production that is a disgrace to the human spirit, and a violation of the ancient human-animal bond...

The process of rearing farm animals in the US has changed dramatically from the family farms of yesteryear. This reality, coupled with the exemption of farm animals from laws that forbid cruelty to animals, has produced a heartbreaking situation. More animals are subjected to more tortuous conditions in the US today than has ever occurred anywhere in world history. Never before have the choices of each individual been so important." John Robbins, The Food Revolution (2001)

Statistics*

* All statistics and information compiled from The Food Revolution by John Robbins (2001), Diet for a New America by John Robbins (1987), Frances Moore Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet and the Rainforest Action Network.
 
Excrement:

Production of excrement by total US human population: 12,000 pounds/second

Production of excrement by US livestock: 250,000 pounds/second (including 25 pounds of manure per cow per day)

Sewage systems in US cities: Common

Sewage systems in US feedlots: None

Amount of waste produced annually by US livestock in confinement operations which is not recycled: 1 billion tons

Where feedlot waste often ends up: In our water

Gallons of oil spilled by the Exxon-Valdez: 12 million

Gallons of putrefying hog urine and feces spilled into the New River in North Carolina on June 21, 1995, when a "lagoon" holding 8 acres of hog excrement burst: 25 million
 
Fish killed as an immediate result: 10-14 million

Antibiotic Resistance:

Antibiotics administered to people in the US annually to treat diseases: 3 million pounds

Antibiotics administered to livestock in the US annually for purposes other than treating disease: 24.6 million pounds

Antibiotics allowed in cow's milk: 80

Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1960: 13%

Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1988: 91%

Reason: Breeding of antibiotic resistant bacteria in factory farms due to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock

Response by entire European Economic Community to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: Ban
Response by American meat and pharmaceutical industries to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: Full and complete support

Numbers of Animals Slaughtered for Food in US:

Number of cows and calves slaughtered every 24 hours in the US: 90,000

Number of chickens slaughtered every minute in the US: 14,000

Food animals (not counting fish and other aquatic creatures) slaughtered per year in the US: 10 billion

Slaughterhouse:

Transcript of New York Times full page ad published June 22, 2001 detailing the horrors of our modern-day slaughterhouses. With 309-330 cows per hour coming by on the "disassembly" line, there are many who are still fully conscious with eyes wide open when skinned and cut apart. They die literally piece by piece.

Factory Farm Animals with Diseases from Intensive Conditions:

A report by the USDA estimates that 89% of US beef patties contain traces of the deadly E. coli strain. Reuters News Service 8/10/00

US pigs raised in total confinement factories where they never see the light of day until being trucked to slaughter: 65 million (total confinement factories are banned in Britain)

US pigs who have pneumonia at time of slaughter: 70%

Primary source of Campylobacter bacteria: Contaminated chicken flesh

People in the US who become ill with Campylobacter poisoning every day: More than 5,000
 
American turkeys sufficiently contaminated with Campylobacter to cause illness: 90%

Americans sickened from eating Salmonella-tainted eggs every year: More than 650,000

Americans killed from eating Salmonella-tainted eggs every year: 600

Increase in Salmonella poisoning from raw or undercooked eggs between 1976 and 1986: 600%

90% of US chickens are infected with leukosis -- chicken cancer -- at the time of slaughter.

Average lifespan of a dairy cow - 25 years; average lifespan when on a factory dairy farm - 4 years.

Water:

Water needed to produce 1 pound of wheat: 25 gallons

Water needed to produce 1 pound of meat: 2,500 gallons

Cost of hamburger meat if water used by meat industry was not subsidized by US taxpayers: $35/pound

When water shortages occur, citizens are often requested to not wash cars, water lawns and to use low-flow shower heads. However, cutting back on meat consumption would save much more water given that the water required to produce just ten pounds of steak equals the water consumption of the average household for a year.

About 70% of the water used in the 11 western states is dedicated to the raising of animals for food.
Years until the Ogallala Aquifer runs dry (formed by glaciers, the largest underground lake in the world and source of fresh water beneath an area from Texas to South Dakota, and Missouri to Colorado): 30 to 50
The amount of water that goes into a 1,000 pound steer would float a (Naval) destroyer. (Newsweek article "The Browning of America")

Advertising:

Amount spent annually by Kellogg's to promote Frosted Flakes: $40 million

Amount spent annually by the dairy industry on "milk mustache" ads: $190 million

Amount spent annually by McDonald's advertising its products: $800 million

Amount spent by the National Cancer Institute promoting fruits and vegetables: $1 million.

Source 


"A better attitude leads to better actions and a better world..."

Personal Thoughts: The Horrible Exploitation in Farm Factories

Factory farming has dominated the food industry in the United States and other countries worldwide. Upon industrialization, multi-billion dollar companies found a way to exploit livestock animals and the consumers with factory farming business. Millions of animals are grown in locked up facilities, very tight cages, under unimaginable, torturous and miserable conditions. They are deprived of their natural lifestyle and food. They consume antibiotics so they can grow up to the ideal size for meat consumption. Ever wonder why we get all kinds of diseases, infections and cancer? Have you ever thought about why cancer is now the leading cause of death? Do you know that these antibiotics injected and fed to pigs, cows, chickens and other livestock animals are the same that alter our cells, our growth and development that make us susceptible to cancer, various infections and antibiotic-resistant diseases?

Pregnant pigs are locked up in gestation crates that barely fit their size. Every single day, 24/7, they are confined to these crates standing and laying on their own feces and urine. Piglets go through tail docking, (cutting of their tails) without any pain relief, causing severe pain, distress and infection. 

Cows suffer the same 'protocol.' Cows are locked up in dark facilities, cramped up next to each other, never able to see the light of the day. Their ears are clipped with numbers by hot iron rod, again without any pain relief, that causes burn, infection and severe pain. Calfs are deprived off their mother's milk because we take them away for our consumption. Mothers and babies are violently separated from each other and never see each other again. Cows used for dairy have milking apparatus attached them for hours or on constant basis, as if they're milking machine. They often cause mastitis (breast inflammation and infection) resulting in pain and misery for the cows.

Pigs and cows sent to slaughterhouses are either shot or shocked to be unconscious. Afterwards, their necks are cut off so they can bleed to death. However, many still remain conscious as they are hung upside down, cut from their throat and bled. Many suffer for awhile, seizing and crying out of agony, before they die.

Chickens suffer in the same tight, cramped up living conditions. Their beaks are cut off at early age to prevent so called 'aggression' that is proven to be very painful and distressing. Male chicks are sent to grinder to be ground up alive as soon as they hatch. The misery is so unimaginable in fowl cages to the point it gets difficult to tell which ones are dead and alive. When it's time for slaughter, chickens are shackled (hung upside down), which is very painful and stressful for them and one by one their necks are sent to a grinder. They are also sent to scalding water, while still alive.

These are just the three main livestock animals abused, tortured and exploited for our meat consumption. This is not to mention the goats, lambs, turkeys, ducks and many other farm animals that simply become 'an object' rather than living beings that share the planet with us, that are also created to coexist with us.

Worldwide, approximately 70 billion farm animals are grown for food. There are at least 19,000 farm animals that are killed every minute. How did we get to this? How can we call ourselves humans because of this?

Large farms are replaced by tight cages, confined crates, dirty and bloody floors. Green pastures are nothing more but grinding machinery, knives and blades for slaughter. Animals are not living beings but objects, a means of production. Our desire for their flesh is overshadowed by the fact that they possess incredible intelligence, individual personalities, and desire to live a life free from suffering and pain. Instead of personal names, they are assigned with individual numbers. They are mutilated. Abused. Exploited. Tortured. And killed.

Burned bodies

Most of us grew up with meat consumption. The steaks. The pork chops. The barbecues. The ribs. The fried chickens. The bacon. As we enjoy all these things that are plastered all over the place, all over the markets, have we ever come to think how these foods get into our grocery stores, supermarkets and our plates?

We must realize that farm factories is not far off from sexism, homophobia, human trafficking and racial segregation -- social issues that have plagued the human kind throughout our history. It's a form of oppression. It's a form of human cruelty and exploitation. It's a matter of domination and thirst for power and greed. It's just in a different face. We, as consumers, are buying into this. We grab a piece of fried chicken filled with antibiotics that kill us within, that put toxins in our bodies. We breathe air pollution and live in the age of global warming because of the environmental pollution caused by farm factories. In short, we consume our own destruction and we pay for them with our money. 

The link of farm animal oppression to any social injustice that have troubled our society in the past and today gives me the agony and hope at the same time. Much progress has come for those who were oppressed and treated as less. Women who cannot vote, work or say their voice are now lawmakers, businesswomen, celebrities, millionaires, activists...African-Americans who were treated as slaves and animals because they're black and a lower class of human beings are now lawmakers, business owners, CEOs, celebrities, activists..The homophobic sentiments are now turning to increasing acceptance towards same-sex couples, same-sex marriage. The tightening regulations and prosecutions for human trafficking prove that justice is underway.

These kinds of social progress instill hope in me that we can find a way to speak up for the voiceless farm animals. That we would find the compassion within all of us to stand up for their powerlessness. That we would gain the strength to change our lifestyle so they can have the right to live among us, just as how we want to live in this world. That we would find it in our hearts to treat them as valuable living beings, our companions.

A lot of work needs to be done and it starts by being educated and informed on farm factory atrocities. It's not until we become aware that this horrible system goes on that we can start making responsible decisions and choices on how we could deal with our crooked, flawed and greedy food industry that don't really care for our welfare as much as they care about the money that comes to their bank accounts.


"A better attitude leads to better actions and a better world..."

Dilemma on SeaWorld and Animal Parks

Last year's documentary film, 'Blackfish', has stirred attention and controversy on the dark side of SeaWorld. What is believed to be pure entertainment and joy catered to families and kids apparently comes with cruelty and suffering for orcas, dolphins, marine animals held captive in the popular animal theme park. Behind the dolphin smile, killer whale splash and amazing tricks... there lies loneliness, agony and frustrations for these captive animals that have been deprived of their natural habitat. In the wake of this remarkable documentary film, more reports have circulated regarding the awful lives of orcas that are trained to perform for the audience at SeaWorld. 

I feel like the 'Blackfish' along with the 2009 Oscar Winning documentary film 'The Cove' that presents the heartbreaking and shocking hunt and slaughter of dolphins in a cove of Taiji, Japan delivers an ethical dilemma for us. At some point, we all have gone to the zoos and animal parks. We have this fascination for beautiful and seemingly elusive sea animals. A lot of that has to do with the fact that we don't get to see and interact with them in our daily lives and the zoos and animals parks serve this purpose for us. Because of places like SeaWorld, we get to see the amazing killer whales and adorable dolphins up close, take pictures of them and maybe even touch them. Zoos and animal parks have always served to entertain and educate us about them and the marine life.

I have gone to SeaWorld twice after a decade of absence at the park. At the beginning of Shamu show, I looked around the large stadium. I see audience applauding and thumping on the bleachers, cheering for the killer whales to come out. I looked at the small tank behind the center stage where the orcas are waiting to be released for the show. Something didn't feel right. I asked my sister, "Do you think they get stressed out with all of these, 'cause I feel like they do."

Few months later, the 'Blackfish' comes out and all my assumptions about the emotional and physical stress of orca performers in captivity are validated.

So what happens when this blissful belief of education and empowerment about sea animals becomes tainted by the harsh reality of what really goes on in these animal theme parks? All it takes is documentary films like 'Blackfish' and 'The Cove' to open our eyes to this animal cruelty. Hunt and slaughter of dolphins, beluga whales and killer whales. Living in small tanks. Forced to perform tricks. Separated from their families. Deprived of their natural habitat. These are all the uproars of animal advocates, activists, documentary films and investigations regarding SeaWorld and animal parks.

Dolphins in Taiji, Japan

Dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan

So, what now? Should we boycott SeaWorld and animal parks? Do we tell our kids that they are never to set foot in those parks? 

While my personal take on this matter is to never go to SeaWorld or any animal parks anymore, there seems to be no shortcut solutions to this dilemma. There is a tradeoff. To not go to SeaWorld anymore would stop the demand for the marine animal performers like the orcas and dolphins. When there's no demand, the need to hunt, capture and torture these sea animals also stops. Hence, killer whales and dolphins get to live their lives free in the vast ocean where they belong. But when you take out SeaWorld and animal parks out of the equation, it's hard to imagine how to bridge the gap between people and marine animals. So, there's that question that haunts me -- would majority of the people show great concern and appreciation for sea animals if there's no medium like SeaWorld that conveniently connects us to life in the ocean? SeaWorld and its underlying cruelty exist because of animal lovers and fascinated people. So, there's the irony. 

Dolphin tanks

This brings me to one compromise that respects the lives and wellness of orcas and dolphins in their natural habitat without depriving people of their desire to connect with the fascinating marine animals. If we can create a humane alternative to SeaWorld along the lines of sanctuaries and whale watching, we might have a shot at changing the flawed system. Marine animal sanctuaries, whale watching tours and local waterways seem like a better way to observe and appreciate sea animals in their natural environment. Their effectiveness on changing this form of animal cruelty is still yet to be seen. Maybe down the road, big and money hungry corporations would still find ways to exploit and abuse them after all. However, I still want to believe that they're the beginning to more research and evolution to come for animal parks that would give high regard to the welfare of marine animals. As of now, what's important are the echoes of thousands to millions of people who were captivated by the heart wrenching lives of orcas like Tillikum in the 'Blackfish' and the international concern for the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan. Awareness and compassion are a good start. A start for a better attitude that leads to better choices and actions for a better world for these fascinating and highly intelligent marine animals. People who have gone to SeaWorld and animal parks do not generally support animal cruelty and captivity. We are just often misinformed or unaware of the realities. 

A landmark bill that seeks to ban orca shows, orca captivity and captive breeding of orcas at SeaWorld is recently introduced in the legislation by Assemblyman Richard Hershel Bloom. Whether this bill would pass or not, it signals a changing trend and changing views toward SeaWorld and marine parks.

Below are some of the widespread controversies that came up against SeaWorld in follow up to the spurt of 'Blackfish.'



Five orcas currently at SeaWorld were kidnapped from their ocean homes, as were others who have since died. For example, Tilikum, a 32-year-old orca, was captured at the age of 2 by a marine "cowboy." Tilikum wasn't taken from his natural environment because he was injured—instead, he was torn away from his family against his will and confined to a small concrete tank for a hefty profit.

A scientific study by Newcastle University found that dolphins in close proximity to humans experience extreme stress, "preventing them from resting, feeding or nurturing their young." Despite these findings, SeaWorld continues to allow park guests to swim and touch dolphins at its Discovery Cove location in Orlando, Florida.



In 1965, the first-ever orca show was performed by a female orca named Shamu at SeaWorld San Diego. During Shamu's capture, her mother was shot with a harpoon and killed before the young orca's very eyes by a marine "cowboy" named Ted Griffin. Griffin's partner, Don Goldsberry, later worked for SeaWorld and was assigned to bring orcas into the park. He continued kidnapping and slaughtering orcas, and at one point, he hired divers to slit open the bellies of four orcas, fill them with rocks, put anchors around their tails, and sink them to the bottom of the ocean so that their deaths would not be discovered.



In nature, orcas choose their own mates. But at SeaWorld, orcas are forced to breed on a regular basis. Male orcas are trained to float on their backs, and their trainers masturbate them to collect their sperm. Females are artificially inseminated and forced to breed at a much younger age than they would in nature. Katina was forced to breed when she was only 9 years old (at least five years earlier than she would have naturally bred in the wild). Now she is used as a virtual breeding machine and is even being inbred with her own sons.

SeaWorld's corporate incident log contains reports of more than 100 incidents of orca aggression at its parks, often resulting in injuries to humans and even causing one death by extensive internal bleeding.

Following a 2006 attack by an orca on a trainer at SeaWorld in San Diego, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health concluded that it was "only a matter of time" before someone was killed while interacting with the orcas. A further investigation into these attacks could have prevented injuries and deaths.



Orcas in the wild have an average life expectancy of 30 to 50 years—their estimated maximum life span is 60 to 70 years for males and 80 to more than 100 for females. The median age of orcas in captivity is only 9.

In captivity, all male orcas have collapsed dorsal fins as adults, which is a sign of an unhealthy orca. SeaWorld claims that this condition is common and natural for all orcas. However, collapsed dorsal fins are caused by the unnatural environment of captivity and are rarely seen in the wild. Only 1 to 5 percent of male orcas in some populations (and none in others) have fully collapsed dorsal fins.



Contrary to popular belief, trainers often have no formal education in marine biology. Their main purpose is to entertain and put on a "good" show for visitors, not educate people about the intelligence, social nature, or natural families, foraging behavior, and habitats of the animals held at SeaWorld.



On January 11, 2012, the USDA issued an official warning to SeaWorld San Antonio for its "repeated failure to provide drain covers that are securely fastened in order to minimize the potential risk of animal entrapment"—a violation that resulted in the death of a sea lion.

In March 2013, prompted by PETA's complaint about a child who had been bitten by a dolphin at SeaWorld, the USDA conducted an investigation and cited the marine park for several violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including the use of expired surgical materials, some almost a decade old. The USDA also documented that a dolphin tank and the areas surrounding the orca performance tank were in disrepair and contained cracked and crumbling concrete and rusty beams that could pose a threat to the health and safety of both the animals and workers. The USDA pointed out that the unsafe conditions "might create a health risk if these pieces of concrete fall off into the pool and get ingested, or if they become abrasive" and that they "do not facilitate cleaning and disinfection."



SeaWorld confines whales and dolphins—who often swim up to 100 miles a day in the wild—to tanks that, to them, are the size of a bathtub.

SeaWorld presents itself as a family establishment full of fun "educational" activities. However, these activities harm animals physically and emotionally. SeaWorld has the financial means and ability to create coastal sanctuaries, where the orcas would have a more natural and less stressful life and where they could feel the tides and waves; see, sense, and communicate with their wild relatives and other ocean animals; and engage in other natural behavior that they are now denied. However, the park instead chooses to stick with the same inhumane business model that it has used for 50 years, despite all the violent and deadly incidents and evidence of harm. Please say NO to SeaWorld and its enslavement of animals by refusing to buy a ticket to this abusement park, and ask the marine park to release these animals to sanctuaries.

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"A better attitude leads to better actions and a better world..."

Valentine's Day Special: Animals Prove Love has No Boundaries

1. The Cat and Her Chicks

2. The Dalmatian and her Lamb

3. The Greyhound and Her Fawn

4. The Greyhound and Her Fox Kit

5. The Hen and Her Ducklings

6. The Cat and Her Ducklings

7. The Goat and Her Wolf

 

8. The Lioness and Her Antelope

9. The Dog and Her Guinea Pig

 

10. The Mama Pig and Her Kitten

 

11. The Baboon and Her Galago

 

12. The Cat and Her Cub

13. The Pointer and Her Puma Cub

14. The Great Dane and His Baby Chim

15. The Cat and Her Rottweiler Pups

16. Let’s get one last snuggle-filled “awww”!!

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"A better attitude leads to better actions and a better world..."

Wild Bees Recycle Plastics

New findings suggest that bees are now starting to recycle plastic. Two species of bees in Canada have been found to use plastics to incorporate in their nest. Plastics are an increasing problem in our world. They pollute oceans, lakes, lands and just about any parts of our world and ecosystem. Bees' use of plastic as part of their nests might shed some light on how nature has its way of adapting to our environmental problems and dilemmas. Bees are very important part of our ecosystem especially when it comes to farmlands and growing crops. Their wonderful ability to make use of plastics shows they're very valuable species. Regardless, our growing problems on plastic wastes deserve our utmost attention and solution. Legislation that ban or limit use of plastics and our own conservation on use of plastics are always steps to take into account to stop this growing pollutant. 

Two bee species in Canada have begun using plastic waste to build their nests, hinting at the extent of plastic pollution as well as nature's limited ability to adapt.

Plastic is piling up in ecosystems all over the world, not just oceans and lakes. Its harmful effects on wildlife have been widely documented, but a few animals — like bowerbirds and hermit crabs — are doing what they can to recycle it. And according to a new study, wild bees in Canada have joined the effort, using bits of plastic waste to build their nests.

These tiny insects can't recycle nearly enough plastic to put a significant dent in the problem, but their resourceful use of polyurethane and polyethylene is still a rare, encouraging example of nature making the best of manmade plastic pollution.

"Plastic waste pervades the global landscape," the study's authors write in the journal Ecosphere. "Although adverse impacts on both species and ecosystems have been documented, there are few observations of behavioral flexibility and adaptation in species, especially insects, to increasingly plastic-rich environments."

The researchers found two species of leafcutter bees incorporating plastic into their nests, each bringing home varieties that mimic the natural materials they traditionally use. Leafcutter bees don't build big colonies or store honey like honeybees, opting instead for small nests in underground holes, tree cavities or crevices in buildings.

One of the bees they studied, the alfalfa leafcutter, normally bites off pieces of leaves and flowers to make its nests. But the researchers found that three of eight brood cells contained fragments of polyethylene plastic bags, replacing 23 percent of the cut leaves in each cell on average. "All pieces were of the same white glossy color and 'plastic bag' consistency," the researchers report, "and thus presumably from the same source."

While they don't make honey, alfalfa leafcutter bees still make money for U.S. and Canadian farmers by pollinating crops including alfalfa, carrots, canola and melons. The Eurasian insects were introduced to North Amerca in the 1930s for that purpose, and they've since become feral, joining the continent's many native species of leafcutter bees.

The researchers also examined a second bee, the native American Megachile campanulae, which normally gathers resins and saps from trees to build its nests. Along with those natural nest materials, the species was found using polyurethane sealants in two of seven brood cells. These sealants are common on exteriors of buildings, but since they were surrounded by natural resins in M. campanulae nests, the researchers say bees may be using them incidentally and not due to a lack of natural resin options.

"It is interesting to note that in both bee species, the type of plastic used structurally reflects the native nesting material," the researchers added, "suggesting that nesting material structure is more important than chemical or other innate traits of the material."

Plastic can have both advantages and disadvantages in bees' nests, the study suggests. The bees that used bits of plastic bags didn't suffer any parasite outbreaks, for example, echoing a 1970 study of alfalfa leafcutters that nested inside plastic drinking straws. Those bees were never attacked by parasitic wasps, which were unable to sting through the plastic, but up to 90 percent of their brood still died because the plastic didn't let enough moisture escape, encouraging the growth of dangerous mold.

The plastic bags also didn't stick together as well as leaves do, the researchers note, and easily flaked off when they were inspected. But the bees took steps to minimize this structural deficiency, locating their plastic pieces only near the end of a series of brood cells. Because of this, and the blending of manmade with natural materials, "bee naivete does not appear to be the cause for the use of plastic," the study suggests.

It's still unclear why exactly leafcutter bees are using plastic, but as non-biodegradable materials continue piling up in nature, this kind of behavior could become increasingly important. "Although perhaps incidentally collected," the researchers write, "the novel use of plastics in the nests of bees could reflect ecologically adaptive traits necessary for survival in an increasingly human-dominated environment."

Source

"A better attitude leads to better actions and a better world..."