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Effects of agriculture on the environment
Animal agriculture environmental impacts
Effects of animal agriculture
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How is our livestock is raised? They are not really raised like they should. They are fed a lot of medications that could harm them and have bad, unbearable living conditions. For a long time livestock has been raised in confinement, no sun, no space to move, and live in horrible conditions where they are fed food with a lot of antibiotics in it. There should be regulations on the amount of medications animals can be fed, they should also have a chance to go outside at least three times a day. Feeding animals so much medication can cause them to overdose, grow so fast to the point they can not stand, and can make the bacteria that antibiotics are fighting off become immune to it. Animals also should be let outside, the fumes from all of the excrement inside the warehouse can kill them. This is why there should be regulations on the amount of medication our livestock can be given and why they should be able to go outside. …show more content…
Animals being in cages all day is inhumane because when they are bunched up all day they may not be able to find a way through the crowd to get food. If animals can not find a way to eat, they are starving and being starved. It was not the animal’s choice to be stuffed in a crowd of wild animals with nowhere to move. A lot of them could also die this way. Keeping livestock inside all day is very unsafe, they will not get the things necessary to live this way. From animal feces being in the farms all day, it gets very toxic. Keeping the animals inside fumes can kill them, even humans can not handle the toxins. Being exposed to all of these things all day can make them have health defects also. Letting animals suffer, get sick, and die daily by their own excrement when something can be done is inhumane and should not be
When it comes to the pros and cons of factory farming, according to a non-profit organization called Farm Sanctuary, the cons definitely outweigh the pros. Food production in the United States today is dominated by factory farms, and their treatment of animals has been downright abusive. The usual farm consists of small, hugely overpopulated living spaces for the animals, and they are considered commodities to get more money rather than a living animal. Almost all of the animals undergo extreme amounts of mutilation at the hands of the farm workers and they usually cause chronic and/or extreme amounts of pain to the animals because they are usually done without any form of pain relief for the animals. All of this abuse towards the animals is all so the farmers can maximize the output of the products they get from the animals, and the animals’ bodies cannot support the overgrowth and they usually form painful, debilitating deformities from it. The areas in and around these large farms are generally extremely polluted from the extreme
middle of paper ... ... There are also many people that are worried that the use of antibiotics for treating bacteria on farms could cause the drugs to become resistant to the bacteria, which also infect humans. It is said that hormones are used more in the beef cattle operations than in dairy cattle operations.
Factory farming has changed drastically over past 6 decades. We often believe that our food comes from a peaceful, happy farm, but in reality farm animals are put through misery on a daily basis. Regardless of whether it is an independent farm or contracted farm, livestock is mistreated and then harvested for meat or dairy production. The way production animals are treated on factory farms should change for the safety of the animals and the people who consume them.
Over the past few decades, small and medium sized farms have been taken over by large-scale factory farms. These farms house billions of animals used for consumption each year. The conditions on factory farms are filthy, overcrowded and disease ridden. Animals forced to live out their lives on these farms are subject to extremely harsh conditions, such as mutilation, confinement and living spaces piled high with feces. Not only do conditions on factory farms make life for livestock absolutely miserable, but factory farms are also negatively impacting human health and the environment. The production and sale of meat has become a billion-dollar industry based upon the bloodshed of other sentient beings. With this being the case, at the very least, factory farms need to be properly regulated and companies involved need to be held accountable for their abuse.
...nts that are harmful are released. The factory farms have not only been seen to affect humans, but the animals also. The food given to these animals are supposed to make them grow faster, but it is also causing serious digestive problems for the animals. According to the Sustainable Table, “recent studies have shown that chemical additives in feed may accumulate in animal tissues, potentially exposing consumers to unwanted chemicals such as veterinary drug residues and heavy metals.” This is not fair for the animals and humans to have to suffer through something like this just so unhealthy food can be produced.
According to the Organic Consumers Association, in 1970 there were approximately 900,000 family farms in the United States; by 1997 there were only 139,000 family farms. This number is continually decreasing by the year. Why is this a problem? Factory farms promote abusive practices in order to maximize production at minimal cost at the expense of the environment, the community, and even our personal health. They house thousands of animals and inject them with hormones in order to maximize their growth and food output. The techniques being used are inhumane and are used thousands of times a day. According to the Organic Consumers Association, two out of every three animal products in stores come from factory farms. Factory farms dominate food production throughout the country. Animals most commonly consumed that require large-scale farming practices are cows, chickens and pigs. The methods of farming are not only bad for the animals themselves, but it’s affecting the meat we put into our bodies, and is therefore affecting one’s health. Factory farms ultimately have a negative effect on the health of both the animal and the consumer of the animal product.
Many farmers are to blame for the abuse of the animals not the process. Factory farming indirectly helps the public better themselves by stimulation the economy and giving those in need of work jobs, also the process of factory farming has the potential to be more humane than how it is used. Without the proper regulation and supervision the abuse of the animals rises. This is why many feel that factory farming should be throw away and forgotten. But it is very helpful in many ways. Factory farming allows many to have jobs in places where many jobs are stable and an opening for an already filled job is very unlikely. Also, Factory farming if used properly can be “natural” for animals. Farmers do not have to abuse the animals nor inject them with antibiotics to make them grow unnaturally large muscle. Factory farming improves the economy, and allows the opportunity for technological advancements to happen. This type of farming should be kept and enhanced so it can feel morally right instead of
All of the livestock being raised throughout the world produce enormous amounts of manure and urine, which in turn pollute natural resources. Animal waste changes the pH of our water, contaminates our air; and the gases emitted are believed to be a major cause of global warming. To keep costs down, the modern animal farming practice is to raise livestock in feedlots and factory farms where thousands or tens of thousands of animals are crowded into small spaces. However, this makes the animal waste problem worse because of concentrated waste. Livestock in the U.S. produce 2.7 trillion pounds of manure each year. That’s about ten times more waste than was produced by all the American
Others will point out that the conditions the livestock placed in are in-human as some would describe it as the livestock stood in their own fecal matter. Which leads to a bigger problem for some scientist and doctors. The livestock are often in conditions that are unfavorable, such as cramped areas or even standing in their own feces. This type of environment is a breeding ground for various virus and bacteria so they require lots of antibiotics. But this leads into a much bigger issue, because they are pumped with antibiotics, scientist and doctors worry that it could lead to an antibiotic resistance strain of bacteria or viruses. This super virus/ bacteria could become a much larger problem. If bacteria and viruses become resistant to our antibiotics then it could lead to a much bigger problem. Other environmental impacts of the industry would be the waste created by the animals, in one case the waste storage failed leading to a runoff that made it into a nearby river that damaged the entire ecosystem of the river. With that said we need to become aware of the conditions that we placed the livestock in, as it could become a much bigger problem that we will have to
...event future water and air pollution. In addition, all animal cruelty practices such as 'debeaking' should be outlawed. Practices of keeping animals in confined spaces should be outlawed. Farm animals should be required to have enough space to accommodate all the farm animals at each farm. There should also be mandatory yearly inspection at each place that intends to sell their meat, dairy and egg products to buyers. If an inspection is denied, the farmer should be fined. Animal right groups such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) suggest boycotting meat and dairy products from factory farms to raise more awareness of the cruelty to farm animals. Boycotting these farms is an acceptable response to bring attention to this problem and to get states to pass laws to make animal cruelty not only illegal towards household pets, but also farm animals.
Animals trapped in factory farms are severely abused and tortured from birth to death. Chickens sometimes will be starved for up to 2 weeks and given no water to shock their bodies into moulting, chickens and hens will have their beaks removed to prevent fighting between other animals. Pigs will get their tails cut off to stop other pigs biting them off. These cruel procedures are done to minimise as few of animals dying as possible so more product can be created by the farmer. Within factory farms, animals are abused with overuse of antibiotics to prevent disease and maximise their body growth to create a higher yield of product. According to Animal Rights Action, 2 out of 3 farms are now factory farmed worldwide and factory farming is only increasing this is leading to more animals being raised for slaughter, abused and tortured, mentally and physically. This is not fair. How would you feel losing your child minutes after it's born? As within factory farms, female cows get their calves are taken away from them within minutes they are born never to be seen again. This leaves these poor female cows depressed which causes them to lose weight and because of this are slaughtered as farmers want to maximise their yield of
Factory farming began in the 1920s soon after the discovery of vitamins A and D. Shirley Leung said, when these vitamins are added to feed, animals no longer require exercise and sunlight for growth (B2). This allowed large numbers of animals to be raised indoors year-round. The greatest problem that was faced in raising these animals indoors was the spread of disease, which was fought against in the 1940s with the development of antibiotics. Farmers found they could increase productivity and reduce the operating costs by using machines and assembly-line techniques. Unfortunately, this trend of mass production has resulted in incredible pain and suffering for the animals. Animals today raised on factory farms have had their genes manipulated and pumped full of antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals to encourage high productivity. In the fast food industry, animals are not considered animals at all; “they are food producing machines” (BBC). They are confined to small cages with metal bars, ammonia-filled air and artificial lighting or no lighting at all. They are subjected to horrible mutilations: beak searing, tail docking, ear cutting and castration. The worst thing is that ...
The animals do not even have space to move for their life. Living life only to be tortured and slaughtered alive is a really horrible thing to experience for the animals. It is obvious that factory farming should be banned. They use antibiotics on the animals and produce harmful meats to eat. Furthermore, they contribute a lot to pollution and cause health problems.
America focuses heavily on its livestock and crops earning us a major role in global trade as a farming nation. Unfortunately this has led to some poor choices in treatment of our animals. Many farmers who believe in animal rights say that it started back when farmers only tended to fewer animals, “Ownership of farm animals became concentrated in fewer hands, and flocks and herds grew larger. As a result, the individuality of animals was lost to their owners and they began receding from most people's everyday life” (Namit 29). When people lost their connection to the animals that provided their food, the quality of the animal's lives began to dramatically decrease. Consumers constantly pushed farmers to their limits with high quotas. To keep up with demands agriculturalists turned to some unorthodox practices to keep costs low and still maintain their annual quotas; “To raise efficiency and cut costs, farm animals began to be engineered for abnormally rapid weight gain, fed unnatu...
The animals that are raised in factory farms, and the farms are ran just like any other business. According to the article Factory Framing, Misery of Animals, the factory farming industry strives to maximize output while minimizing cost, always at the animal’s expense. “The giant corporations that run most factory farms have found that they can make more money by squeezing as many animals as possible into tiny spaces, even though many of the animals die from disease or infection” (Factory Farming). This is actually quit disgusting that we eat food that walks around in each other’s feces and can attract disease. These animals live a life of abuse, but we sit back and say it’s okay because we will eventually eat them. “Antibiotics are used to make animals grow faster and to keep them alive in the unsanitary conditions. Research shows that factory farms widespread use of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threatens human health” (Factory Farming). These animals aren’t treated with proper care and we act as if they are machines. Chickens for example, become so big and distorted that their legs can longer support them. Eventually they die because they can longer walk to get food or water. According to Factory Farming, most of these animals have been genetically manipulated to grow larger and to produce more eggs and milk than they naturally