What Factory Farming Is:

According to dictionary.com , the definition of factory farming is "a system of large-scale industrialized and intensive agriculture that is focused on profit with animals kept indoors and restricted in mobility." It is an extremely inhumane way of raising farm animals for slaughter. In addition to intense confinement, animals also have to undergo massive doses of hormones and antibiotics, battery cages, debeaking, tail docking, gestation crates, and veal crates. The animals spend their entire lives in miserable conditions until they are eventually slaughtered. The welfare of animals can never compare to the economic interests of factory farmers.

Debeaking:

Debeaking is cutting off a bird's beak, without anesthesia. This process is done by inserting the beaks one by one into a machine that chops the front part of their beaks off. The procedure is very painful, and afterwards some birds stop eating and die of starvation.

Tail Docking:

Pigs have their tales cut short to prevent the pig from biting each other's tails off. Also done without anesthesia, the process is very painful and cruel.

Battery Cages:

Egg-laying hens are locked in battery cages to maximize profits. These hens live their lives never being able to spread their wings. The cages usually measure 18 by 20 inches, with 5 to 11 birds crowded into each cage. Battery Cages are stacked in rows on top of each other. Usually there is little to no human contact with the animals. So, birds that fall out of cages, get stuck between cages, or get their heads or limbs stuck between the bars of the cages die without access to food and water.

Gestation Crates:

A breeding sow spends her life in a gestation crate, which is a crate made of steel bars. It is so small that she cannot turn around or stretch her limbs. The pig has many litters of baby pigs until she is sent off to slaughter.

Veal Crates:

Veal crates are where male dairy calves are chained and confines in crates that do not allow them any space to move or turn around. After birth, they are taken from their mothers and fed a synthetic formula, never able to drink their mothers' milk.

Use of Hormones and Antibiotics:

Factory farms force the animals to take hormones and antibiotics in order to grow faster, produce more milk, and produce more eggs. As there are large numbers of animals living in intense confinement, disease could spread quite rapidly among them. The animals also suffer from cuts from their cages. All the animals are treated with antibiotics to minimize losses from infections and the spread of diseases. Small daily doses of certain antibiotics can also cause weight gain, so the animals are overly-medicated. This causes the bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics. Therefore, both the antibiotics and the resistant bacteria reach the consumer in the meat produced.

Why You Should Care:

Stopping the inhumane treatment is a very important cause. Factory farming is notorious for its inhumane treatment of animals, and also the fact that it's sole purpose of raising animals is for profits only. Factory farming is not only negatively impacting the lives of innocent animals, but also contributing negatively to the environment and to human health. Factory farms have a history of maximizing volume and profit at the cost of human health and safe food.

How You Can Help:

A major way to not support factory farms and inhumane treatment is buying products labeled "organic," "hormone-free," "Free Farmed Certified," and "free-range". These labels are all associated with humane farming practices. A product that is Free Farmed Certified means that the farm the product is from has been inspected by the American Humane Association and meets the animal welfare standards. These standards insure that the animals have a healthy life, free of disease and injury, plenty of fresh food and water, and a cage-free environment.
Next time you buy a product, try to know more about the supplier. Check the label of your product and see if they are certified humane. And if you do decide to start buying humane certified products, make your preferences known to your local, state, and federal representatives. It's up to humans to finally give these mistreated animals a voice.