JAS: Genetic Manipulation Causes Farm Animal Suffering |
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October 14, 2009
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Industry already has created oversized calves who can only be born using Caesarean sections. iStockphoto |
An article by Michael Greger, M.D., The Humane Society of the United States' director of public health and animal agriculture, appeared last week in the prestigious, peer-reviewed Journal of Animal Science.
The article warns that genetically engineering farm animals could further exacerbate welfare problems that already cause billions of animals to suffer chronic pain in the United States every year.
In his paper, "Trait Selection and Welfare of Genetically Engineered Animals in Agriculture," Dr. Greger documents the epidemic of "production diseases" that resulted from the meat, dairy, and egg industries' emphasis on genetically manipulating animals for extreme production capacity at the expense of animal health and welfare. Already the industry has created:
- "Double-muscled" calves so freakishly large they can only be extracted via Caesarian section
- Turkeys so top-heavy they are no longer physically capable of mating
- Egg-laying hens with skeletons so fragile that up to a third arrive at slaughter plants with freshly broken bones
- Chickens with such rapid muscling that 2.5 billion suffer in chronic pain from skeletal disorders that impair their ability to walk
A report by the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council's Committee on Defining Science-Based Concerns Associated with Products of Animal Biotechnology concluded, "Indeed, it is possible that we already have pushed some farm animals to the limits of productivity that are possible by using selective breeding, and that further increases only will exacerbate the welfare problems that have arisen during selection."
There are currently no statutory or regulatory constraints on what can be done in pursuit of increasing farm animal productivity.
Dr. Greger's paper concludes that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's proposed guidelines for the approval of genetically engineered farm animals for the American food supply could "make animal suffering more profitable with the potential of adversely affecting the welfare of billions of animals every year."
Related Links
An HSUS Report: Welfare Issues with Genetic Engineering and Cloning of Farm Animals
An HSUS Report: Welfare Issues with Selective Breeding for Rapid Growth in Broiler Chickens and Turkeys
An HSUS Report: Welfare Issues with Selective Breeding for Production in Egg-Laying Hens
