Animal Cruelty on Farms

It is so easy to become complacent in our sheltered world and to turn the other cheek to the violence and misery that our every life decision can perpetrate, and that the majority of the country (mostly unknowingly) buys into. The fact is that if the horrors of the meat industry were common knowledge, the business would decrease, and drastically at that. So, to keep the knowledge from becoming widespread, meat and animal factory farms are content to work quietly and discreetly in the sparsely-populated back corners of the country where no one can see what is being done without making an active effort. The problem for them is, many people have been making an active effort- as the animal cruelty cause became more mainstream, the US saw a huge increase in the investigative journalism aimed at uncovering the flaws of factory farming. These findings have been explosive, and have led to animal rights legislation , (although sadly, this legislation does not protect all animals). This boom in investigation led most factory farms to close down plants to the outside world, no longer allowing tours or photography and dramatically increasing the security during the hiring process in an attempt to eliminate undercover journalists. Representatives of the factory farm industry claim that they they work out in the middle of nowhere and have increased security for the welfare of the animals; however, this is clearly not the case. They are covering up the overcrowding, the starvation, and the misery that the world is all too happy to ignore, as long as ignoring it means that they can continue on with their lifestyle. The truth is that there is no such thing as a “happy” factory farm animal- even the supposedly “ethically treated” animals, the free ...

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... Lorri Houston were driving in the countryside when they saw a pile of downed sheep (“downed” being the industry term for an animal that has collapsed and left to die). Among the sheep, who were mostly dead, Lorri and Gene saw one who, although looking to be on the brink of death, was still clinging to life. They picked up the sheep and took her to the vet, who gave her some food and water. The sheep recovered and was walking around within a few hours, and the rest is history. Gene and Lorri founded Farm Sanctuary, a place where factory farmed animals of all species, often left for dead, can live out their natural lives. Since 1986, Farm Sanctuary has expanded to two location, one in upstate New York and one in California. They continue their good work with animals of all species, relying on the help of a caring staff and interns to keep the farm running smoothly.