The Harm Caused by Factory Farming

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The term abuse refers to the harmful use or treatment of something. We are well aware of child abuse, spousal abuse, drug abuse and so on with in our society; but does the word abuse bring to mind images of farms and your dinner table? Well it should, because there is another form of abuse that has been on the rise since the 1930's which has tortured animals and placed them in our homes all while making millions in profit. Its called factory farming and for the past 80 years it has worked to put independent farmers out of business and used unethical methods of production while still avoiding all the legal consequences that their practices should have evoked. Factory farming should be banned not only because it uses cruel methods to produce meat, but also because it causes economic problems, and results in many various health concerns.
As can be seen throughout history with events such as the industrial revolution, a desire for high production and high profits often times leads to conditions that are unsafe and inhumane. Today we have realized this and made many reforms to abolish this kind of callous behavior, yet these reforms have not been extended to apply to the animals that are daily abused at factory farms. In order for these operations to have the high amount of output they do they must train their workers to desensitize themselves to the plight of the animals. At a typical slaughterhouse approximately 250 cows are killed every hour, this rush forces workers to shift their view of the animals to become mere objects of production, and in effect promotes inhumane treatment to force cooperation (Factory Farming: The Truth From Behind The Barn Door).
As is required by law, cattle are to be properly sedated before being slaug...

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