Click to Enlarge - Courtesy of Farm Sanctuary
What comes to mind when you picture a pig farm? I think of pigs lazily rooting around in the mud to keep cool on a hot summer day. In reality, factory farmers keep their pigs contained in cages so small they cannot even turn around, kept inside dark buildings where they never see blue sky or feel the sunshine on their backs, surrounded by the excrement and urine of thousands of other pigs. They are constantly fed antibiotics to keep them from getting diseases that would certainly be epidemic in such an unhealthy, unsanitary environment. They are given growth hormones to make them bigger so they'll bring more money at slaughter time.
Mother pigs, called sows, are chained on their sides and forced to nurse their piglets constantly so that they'll grow fast and can be sent to the slaughterhouse quicker. When the piglets reach 2-4 weeks, they are yanked from their Mother's cage and she is immediately impregnated again to bring in more dollars for the farmers. After remaining in this condition for 3 or 4 years, her exhausted body is finally sent to slaughter.
What comes to mind when you picture a poultry farm? Hens and roosters happily clucking and squawking in their pens? A barn containing rows and rows of nests made of hay where hens contentedly lay their eggs? In reality, the chickens are kept inside large, stinky buildings, crammed into tiny battery cages, unable to groom themselves or even spread their wings.
Being confined to this stressful, cramped environment causes the chickens to injure themselves and others so it is now a routine practice to slice off their beaks with hot irons at birth. In egg-production facilities, only the egg-laying females are needed. Baby male chicks are thrown into trash bags or dumpsters and left to suffocate.
What comes to mind when you picture a ranch? Cows grazing in a grassy meadow on a beautiful spring day? Calves staying close to their mothers who keep a watchful eye on them? In reality, cows raised for beef are castrated, dehorned and branded without anesthetic by ranchers with no veterinary training. They are pumped full of growth hormones and antibiotics to keep them alive and make them big. If they become sick, they receive no medical care, and when they can no longer stand, they are either dragged by chains or forklifts to slaughter, or left to slowly die on their own. These unfortunate cows are called "downers." As soon as the cattle reach a certain weight, they are stuffed into trucks, transported long distances in sometimes searing heat or bitter cold, without water, to slaughterhouses. The assembly line of death moves so fast that one only hopes that the electric prod briefly touching the cow's head did its job and killed the cow before it was hung upside down, its throat cut so the blood will drain out, its hide ripped away and its body chopped into pieces. Assembly lines process one cow every 24 seconds so there is no time to make certain they are dead, or to re-electrocute cows that remain alive. No pictures here – I couldn't stomach them.
What comes to mind when you picture a dairy farm? You probably don't picture dairy cows kept chained inside dim buildings with concrete floors who are only allowed to move when they are taken to the milking stations and hooked up to milking machines.
Dairy cows are pumped full of growth hormones so that they will produce unnaturally large quantities of milk which can cause health problems for the cows. They are kept constantly impregnated and their unfortunate calves are taken from them at birth and forced to become veal calves.
To produce milk-fed veal, newborn calves are ripped from their mothers at birth and spend their entire lives chained to a 2 ft. wide wooden crate, prevented from moving so their muscles cannot develop (resulting in tender meat) and fed only liquids so they will be anemic (resulting in a white meat fancied by gourmets). When they reach 4 or 5 months old, the calves are slaughtered and this barbaric practice produces a tender meat known as white or milk-fed veal.
More information on veal calves can be found HERE.
This is the reality of factory farming. No thought is given as to the unnatural and hellish life these animals live prior to being slaughtered. They crowd as many animals as possible into as small a space as possible. They give them drugs to make them grow as big and fast as possible and have as few people tending to them as possible. They spend as little money as possible on their upkeep and care - all in an effort to reduce overhead and increase profit. Factory farmers are only motivated by money. To them, the animals are nothing but property to be exploited for the farmer's own monetary gain.
Visit HERE for more information on factory farming.
What can we do?
For more detailed information on how you can help, visit Farm Sanctuary’s website at www.farmsanctuary.org.
No Veal Campaign: seeks to stop the practice of taking newborn calves from their mothers, chaining them by the neck in crates measuring just two feet wide where they cannot turn around, stretch their limbs, or even lie down comfortably. This severe confinement makes the calves' meat "tender" since the animals' muscles cannot develop. They are fed an all-liquid milk substitute which is purposely deficient in iron and fiber to keep them anemic so they will have the pale-colored flesh fancied by "gourmets." At approximately 16-20 weeks of age, these weak calves are slaughtered and marketed as "white" veal (also known as "fancy," "milk-fed," "special-fed," and "formula-fed" veal). Visit www.noveal.org for more information.
No Foie Gras Campaign: seeks to prevent the suffering of ducks and geese raised for Foie Gras, which means "fatty liver." The birds have metal pipes shoved down their throats and are force fed massive amounts of food several times a day until their bodies and livers are grossly enlarged. Visit www.nofoiegras.org for more information.
No Downers Campaign: seeks to prevent the suffering of farm animals who are sick and unable to even stand. The current practice is to drag and push the "downers" to slaughter with chains and forklifts, or simply leave them to slowly die without food or water. Visit www.nodowners.org for more information.
Sentient Beings Campaign: seeks to challenge the belief that farm animals are mere commodities to be used and exploited by human beings, and that they are not living, feeling beings. Visit www.sentientbeings.org for more information.