Factory Farming

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Industrialization has revolutionized America’s economy. Mass production allows products in demand to be easily available for purchase. But at what point does this system cross the line? It is one thing to mass produce electronics and clothing, for example, but applying mass production to the meat industry is entirely different. In order to generate the most profit, livestock are killed systematically at a massive scale on an assembly line. These animals are treated as nothing more than objects that can be processed, packaged, and sold to a consumer. For this business to take place with both time and cost efficiency, the welfare of the livestock is placed as one of the last priorities. Factory farming has gotten out of hand, and America is doing an inadequate job managing and enforcing the legal guidelines that explain what is permitted to take place in these institutions. It is necessary for there to be serious reformations nationwide towards the care and handling of animals, in addition to monitoring the practices that take place in the farming industry.

Factory farms are centers for under-the-radar animal cruelty. New York Times columnist Mark Bittman states that new workers at the E6 Cattle Company in Texas were videotaped using hammers and pickaxes to shatter cows’ skulls instead of properly euthanizing them (Bittman). Unfortunately, it is doubtful that this is an uncommon example of needless torture in the meat industry. There must be a lack of either training or supervision of employees for these events to occur without a supervisor noticing. Note that the aforementioned incident was recorded, so it is possible that the owner of the farm in question was unaware of his new employees’ behavior until he saw the videotapes. S...

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...tion for their wellbeing before making use of them for consumption. Even if the animals are still going to be killed in the end, most people would agree that we should let these animals experience a cruelty-free life and the least painful death possible. No person wants to know that animal have to suffer so that they can enjoy a meal, but with stricter government regulations on factory farming techniques, a compromise can be achieved so that animals will not have to be subjected to a lifetime of mistreatment.

Works Cited

Bittman, Mark. "Who Protects the Animals?" Opinionator. New York Times Company. 26

Apr. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.

Ernst, Stephanie. "Animal Use and Abuse Statistics." Change.org News. 5 Oct. 2008. Web. 26

Feb. 2012.

Lin, Doris. "Bills to Ban Undercover Factory Farming Videos.” Animal Rights. About.com. 23

March 2011. Web. 25 Feb. 2012.

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