Eating for the Animals

Compassion Over Killing

Every hour, one million chickens raised for meat are slaughtered after having spent their shortened lives inside ammonia-filled and barren sheds.

Each year in the United States, 10 billion land animals are raised and killed for meat, eggs, and milk.(1) Just like the dogs and cats we welcome into our homes, chickens, pigs, turkeys, and cows have their own personalities, inquisitive natures, likes and dislikes, and—most importantly—the ability to feel pain, suffer from boredom and frustration, and experience joy.

Yet these animals are routinely mistreated on industrialized factory farms. No federal law protects animals from cruelty on the farm, and most states exempt customary agricultural practices—no matter how abusive—from the scope of their animal cruelty statutes. The welfare of farm animals often loses out to the economic interests of factory farmers, who can make larger profits by intensively confining animals and breeding them for rapid growth with little regard for the animals' suffering.

Birds

Of the 10 billion land animals killed annually in the United States, 95 percent are birds. The overwhelming majority are "broiler" chickens raised for meat—with one million killed each hour. Additionally, nearly 300 million laying hens(2) are raised for eggs, and 250 million turkeys(3) are slaughtered for meat.

Chickens exist in stable social groups. They can recognize each other by their facial features. They have 24 distinct cries that communicate a wealth of information to one another....They are good at solving problems. As a trick at conferences I sometimes list these attributes, without mentioning chickens, and people think I'm talking about monkeys.a —Chris Evans, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

On factory farms, birds raised for meat are confined by the tens of thousands in barren sheds,(4) unable unable to carry out many normal behaviors, including roosting and foraging.(5)

The most significant assault on their welfare is fast growth.(6) The poultry industry has used selective breeding and growth-promoting antibiotics to produce birds whose bodies "are on the verge of structural collapse."(7)

To put their growth rate into perspective, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture reports, "If you grew as fast as a chicken, you'd weigh 349 pounds at age 2."(8) As a result, 90 percent of broiler chickens have painful(9) leg problems(10) and 26 percent suffer chronic pain as a result of bone disease.(11)

After approximately 45 days for broiler chickens(12) and 16 weeks for turkeys,(13) the birds have reached market weight. Workers hastily and roughly catch the animals, causing dislocated and broken hips, legs, and wings, as well as internal hemorrhages.(14) Crammed into crates stacked one atop another on trucks, the birds aren’t typically given any food, water, or protection from extreme temperatures during their journey to the slaughterhouse.(15)

Don't Animals Have to Be Treated Well to Be Productive? Animal agribusiness representatives often claim that it's in their own interests to treat animals well, and a common defense of factory farming is that "only happy animals produce." But as farm animal welfare expert Donald Broom, M.Sc., Ph.D., explains, "efforts to achieve earlier and faster growth, greater production per individual, efficient feed conversion and partitioning, and increased prolificacy are the causes of some of the worst animal welfare problems."b According to poultry welfare expert Joy Mench, Ph.D., "[i]t is now generally agreed that good productivity and health are not necessarily indicators of good welfare....Productivity...is often measured at the level of the unit (e.g., number of eggs or egg mass per hen-housed), and individual animals may be in a comparatively poor state of welfare even though productivity within the unit may be high."c

Like birds raised for meat, chickens in the egg industry suffer immensely—beginning right after birth. Male chicks are considered byproducts, as they’re unable to lay eggs and aren't bred for meat production. Millions each year are gassed, crushed, or thrown into garbage bins to die from dehydration or asphyxiation.(16) Most female chicks are painfully mutilated without any anesthesia.(17) The tips of their sensitive beaks are sliced off with a hot blade, making it difficult for them to grasp food.(18)

Approximately 95 percent(19) of hens in U.S. factory farms are intensively confined in small wire "battery cages," stacked several tiers high and extending down long warehouses. Each hen is given less space than the area of a letter-sized sheet of paper(20) in which to eat, sleep, and lay eggs. This intensive confinement in barren conditions makes nesting impossible—the most significant source of frustration for battery-caged hens—and prevents them from engaging in other natural behaviors, including dust bathing and foraging.(21) While many countries are phasing out the battery cage system, U.S. egg producers still overcrowd hens in cages so small the birds can't even spread their wings.(22)

After one to two years, the hens are no longer profitable and are forcibly removed from the cages, their limbs often torn(23) by teams working at hourly rates of up to 1,500 birds, with individual workers grabbing as many as seven hens at a time.(24) As with broiler chickens and turkeys, egg-laying hens are crammed in crates stacked on transport trucks and are typically denied food, water, or protection from extreme temperatures during their journey to slaughter.(25)

At the slaughter plant, the birds are dumped onto conveyors and hung upside down in shackles by their legs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not require that the birds be rendered unconscious before they are slaughtered, as the agency excludes poultry from the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.(26) Their throats are cut by hand or machine. Slaughter lines run at speeds of as many as 8,400 chickens per hour, so mistakes are common and some birds are still conscious as they enter tanks of scalding water intended to loosen their feathers.(27)

Read more about chickens, turkeys, and ducks and geese.

Pigs

Compassion Over Killing

After giving birth, mother pigs are intensively restricted in "farrowing crates" that don't even allow them to turn around. Metal bars separate these naturally caring mothers from their young.

Pigs are intelligent, highly social animals, yet factory farmers treat the more than 100 million pigs(28) slaughtered annually in the United States as meat- or piglet-producing units.

Female pigs, known as sows, suffer through rapid cycles of impregnation, birthing, and nursing, all while intensively confined. During their four-month pregnancies, an estimated 60–70 percent(29) of sows are kept in barren "gestation crates"—two-by-seven-foot metal stalls(30)—so small the animals can't even turn around. While many countries have banned gestation crates because of their inherent cruelty, their use is still common in the U.S. pork industry.

Before giving birth, sows are moved into equally restrictive "farrowing crates"—stalls that are designed to separate a mother pig from her nursing piglets and that are so small that the mother can only stand up and lie down. After the piglets are weaned prematurely,(31) the the cycle begins again for the mother pig, who averages 2.1–2.5 litters each year.(32) Once the sows can no longer reproduce efficiently, they are sent to slaughter.

Farm Sanctuary Pregnant sows are kept in two-by-seven-foot "gestation crates" so cruel they've been banned in many countries.

Pigs raised for meat undergo painful mutilations—including castration and tail docking—without anesthesia.(33) For six months, they’re confined in filthy sheds or pens until they reach market weights of more than 250 pounds.(34) Like birds, pigs aren't typically given food, water, or protection from extreme heat or cold during their transport to slaughter.

According to the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, pigs and other livestock are to be rendered insensible to pain before they're shackled and killed.(35) However, a January 2004 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office on the USDA’s enforcement of the Act found that some animals are still conscious as they are hung upside down and their throats are slit.(36)

Read more about pigs.

Cows

Farm Sanctuary

Calves raised for veal are tethered inside individual stalls so small they can't even turn around. After 16 weeks, the calves are slaughtered.

Every year in the United States, approximately 35 million cattle are killed for beef,(37) 9 million cows are raised for milk,(38) and 1 million calves are raised for veal.(39)

Most beef cattle endure painful mutilations such as castration, dehorning, and branding(40) without any anesthesia.(41) For seven months, calves graze on the range(42) before they're transported to feedlots,(43) where they’re fattened on unnatural diets. Within another six months, they reach market weights of 1,200 pounds(44) and are trucked to slaughter— with no food, water, or protection from the elements during the journey.

Dairy cows endure annual cycles of artificial insemination, mechanized milking for 10 out of 12 months(45) (including 7 months of their 9-month pregnancies), and giving birth. Many cows are given antibiotics and hormones to get the highest possible milk yield. This rigorous cycle overburdens the cows, who are considered "productive" for only two years(46) and are slaughtered when four years old.(47)

Farm Sanctuary On dairy factory farms, cows are artificially inseminated and milked for 10 of 12 months each year until their productivity wanes and they are killed.

A by-product of the dairy industry is a calf per year per cow. Within their first few days of life, the calves are taken from their mothers.(48) Females usually join the dairy line, while males are often sold to veal farmers. Indeed, the veal industry wouldn't exist without the dairy industry. Calves raised for veal are confined and tethered in individual stalls so small they can't turn around during their entire four-month lives before slaughter.(49) Veal crates are widely known for their inherent cruelty.

As with conventional battery cages and gestation crates, veal crates are being phased out in the European Union yet are still in use in the United States.

Cows suffer the same mistreatment as pigs during both their transport and slaughter.

Read more about cows.

Aquatic Animals

USDA

An increasing percentage of aquatic animals are raised in factory farm systems in the United States every year.

Commercial fishers use a variety of techniques, from setting miles of line with baited hooks in order to catch large animals such as sharks, to ensnaring schools of fish in overcrowded large nets towed by trawlers. When deep sea fish are quickly brought to the surface, some may experience decompression and their organs can burst before they suffocate on the boat's deck.

Fish caught in nets can suffer as they're quickly brought to the ocean's surface.

The industry's nets aren't discriminating, catching fish, sea turtles, birds, and other animals. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that one in four animals caught in fishing gear dies as "bycatch"—unwanted or unintentional catch.(50) Leading marine mammal scientists have stated that entanglement in fishing gear is one of the largest threats to whales, dolphins, and porpoises worldwide, killing more than 300,000 animals per year.(51)

Another significant animal welfare problem is aquaculture—the factory farming of fish—which is the fastest growing agribusiness industry in the world. By weight, more than one-third of all aquatic animals eaten in the United States—800 million pounds—are now raised in settings(52) reported to be "basically an aquatic version of broiler chicken production."(53)

Read more about aquatic animals. 

Aren't There Laws That Protect Farm Animals?

From life on a factory farm to death at a slaughter plant, animals raised for meat, eggs, and milk suffer immensely. And, as shocking as it may be, much of the abuse these animals endure is perfectly legal. There are no federal animal welfare laws regulating the treatment of the billions of animals raised for food while on the farm. And while all 50 states have cruelty statutes, most explicitly exempt common farming practices, no matter how abusive.

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1. USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, "Poultry Slaughter: 2003 Annual Summary," http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/poultry/ppy-bban/pslaan04.pdf; USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, "Livestock Slaughter: 2003 Annual Summary," http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/livestock/pls-bban/lsan0304.pdf.

2. USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, "Chickens and Eggs," Jan. 24, 2005, http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/poultry/pec-bb/2005/ckeg0105.pdf.

3. USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, "Poultry Highlights," May 29, 2002, www.nass.usda.gov/ca/rev/poultry/205polna.htm.

4. Ernst RA, University of California Cooperative Extension, Poultry Fact Sheet No. 20, June 1995, http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/pfs20.htm; Voris JC, University of California Cooperative Extension, Poultry Fact Sheet No. 16c, Sept. 1997, http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/pfs16C.htm.

5. Duncan IJH and Hughes BO, "Free and Operant Feeding in Domestic Fowls," Animal Welfare 20 (1972): 775.

6. Duncan IJH, "Welfare Problems of Poultry." In: Benson GJ and Rollin BE, eds., The Well-Being of Farm Animals: Challenges and Solutions (Ames, IA: Blackwell, 2004): 310.

7. Wise D and Jennings A, "Dyschondroplasia in Domestic Poultry," The Veterinary Record 91 (1972): 285–86.

8. University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, "Top Ten Facts about Chickens," www.kidsarus.org/growit/raiseit/chickens.asp.

9. Danbury TC, Weeks CA, Chambers JP, Waterman-Pearson AR, and Kestin SC, "Self Selection of the Analgesic Drug Carprofen by Lame Broiler Chickens," The Veterinary Record 146 (2000): 307–11.

10. Kestin SC, Knowles TG, Tinch AE, and Gregory NG, "Prevalence of Leg Weakness in Broiler Chickens and Its Relationship with Genotype," The Veterinary Record 131 (1992): 190–94.

11. Ibid.

12. Duncan IJH, "Welfare Problems of Meat-Type Chickens," Farmed Animal Well-Being Conference at the University of California–Davis, June 28–29, 2001; personal correspondence with Stephen Pretanik, director of Science and Technology, National Chicken Council, Washington, DC, Jan. 14, 2004.

13. National Turkey Federation, "Turkey Facts & Trivia," www.eatturkey.com/consumer/raising/raise.html.

14. Duncan IJH, "The Assessment of Welfare During the Handling and Transport of Broilers." In: Faure JM and Mills AD (eds.), Proceedings of the Third European Symposium on Poultry Welfare (Tours, France: French Branch of the World Poultry Science Association, 1989): 79–91; Gregory NG and Wilkins LJ, "Skeletal Damage and Bone Defects During Catching and Processing." In: Whitehead CC (ed.), Bone Biology and Skeletal Disorders in Poultry (Abingdom, England: Carfax Publishing, 1992): 313–28; Gregory NG, Animal Welfare and Meat Science (Wallingford, England: CABI Publishing, 1998): 183–94.

15. Weeks C and Nicol C, "Poultry Handling and Transport." In: Grandin T (ed.), Livestock Handling and Transport (Wallingford, England: CABI Publishing, 2000): 363–84; "Twenty-Eight Hour Law of 1877," Michigan State University College of Law Animal Legal & Historical Center, Jan. 2005, www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusfd49usc80502.htm.

16. MacArthur M, "Analyst Says Poultry Growers Oblivious to Poor Conditions," Western Producer, Dec. 12, 2002; Fraser D, Mench J, and Millman S, "Farm Animals and Their Welfare in 2000," State of the Animals 2001 (Washington, DC: Humane Society Press, 2001): 89.

17. Duncan IJH, "Animal Welfare Issues in the Poultry Industry: Is There a Lesson to Be Learned?" Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 4 (2001): 207–21; Mench J, "The Welfare of Poultry in Modern Production Systems," Poultry Science Review 4 (1992): 112.

18. Mench J, "The Welfare of Poultry," op. cit.

19. United Egg Producers, "United Egg Producers Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg Laying Flocks" (Alpharetta, GA: United Egg Producers, 2002).

20. Ibid. at 12.

21. Duncan IJH, "The Pros and Cons of Cages," World's Poultry Science Journal 57 (2001): 385.

22. Stamp Dawkins MS and Hardie S, "Space Needs of Laying Hens," British Poultry Science 30 (1989): 413–16; Mench J and Swanson J, "Developing Science-Based Animal Welfare Guidelines," a speech delivered at the 2000 Poultry Symposium and Egg Processing Workshop, http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/pubs.htm.

23. Duncan IJH, "Animal Welfare Issues in the Poultry Industry," op. cit.

24. Estevez I, "Poultry Welfare Issues," Poultry Digest Online 3 (2002): 2.

25. Weeks C and Nicol C, "Poultry Handling and Transport," op. cit.; "Twenty-Eight Hour Law of 1877," op. cit.

26. Wolfson DJ, Beyond the Law (Ithaca, NY: Farm Sanctuary, 1999): 14.

27. Higgins KT, "Tools of the New Trade," Food Engineering 4(1) (Jan. 2002): 46; Boyd F, "Humane Slaughter of Poultry: The Case Against the Use of Electrical Stunning Devices," Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 7 (1994): 221–36.

28. USDA, NASS, "Livestock Slaughter: 2003 Annual Summary," op. cit.

29. Ibid.

30. National Pork Producers Council, Swine Care Handbook (Des Moines, IA, 1992): 13.

31. USDA, Swine 2000. Part I: Reference of Swine Health and Management in the United States (2000): 16.

32. Rollin BE, Farm Animal Welfare: Social, Bioethical, and Research Issues (Ames, IA: Iowa State Press, 1995): 76.

33. Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, Pork Industry Handbook (2001): 8.

34. USDA, NASS, "Livestock Slaughter: 2003 Annual Summary," op. cit.

35. Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter, 7 U.S.C.A. § 1902(a). Humane Methods, www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusfd7usca1901.htm.

36. U.S. General Accounting Office, "Humane Methods of Slaughter Act: USDA Has Addressed Some Problems But Still Faces Enforcement Challenges," GAO-04-247, www.gao.gov/atext/d04247.txt.

37. USDA, Livestock Slaughter 2003 Summary (2004), http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/livestock/pls-bban/lsan0304.pdf.

38. Ibid.

39. Weise E, "Illegal Hormones Found in Veal Calves," USA Today, Mar. 28, 2004, www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-03-28-veal-usat_x.htm.

40. Goodrich R and Sticklin WR, "Beef," South Dakota State University College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, Department of Animal and Range Sciences, Extension & Research, Oct. 19, 2004, http://ars.sdstate.edu/animaliss/beef.html.

41. Rollin BE, Farm Animal Welfare, op. cit., 65–68.

42. Ibid.

43. Lawrence J, Harmon J, Lorimor J, et al., "Beef Feedlot Systems Manual," presented by the Iowa Beef Center and Iowa State University Extension as a supplement to the Cattle Feeding in Iowa for the 21st Century Conference, Nov. 1, 2000, www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1867.pdf.

44. Goodrich R and Sticklin WR, Beef, op. cit.

45. USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, "Dairy 1996 NAHMS Study," 15–16.

46. "Extending Functional Longevity," Country Folks of Pennsylvania, May 12, 1997: A9.

47. Wallace RL, "Market Cows: A Potential Profit Center," University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, 2004, www.traill.uiuc.edu/dairynet/paperDisplay.cfm?Type=Both&ContentID=354.

48. USDA, APHIS, "Dairy 1996 NAHMS Study," op. cit., 21; USDA, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Consumer Education and Information, "Safety of Veal...from Farm to Table," Feb. 2003, www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/veal.htm.

49. USDA, FSIS, "Safety of Veal," op. cit.

50. Alverson D, Freeberg M, Murawski S, Pope JG, “A Global Assessment of Fisheries Bycatch and Discards,” FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 339 (Rome: United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, 1994), www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/T4890E/T4890E00.htm.

51. Cetacean Bycatch Resource Center, www.cetaceanbycatch.org (accessed February 21, 2007).

52. Harvey DJ, "U.S. Seafood Market Shifts to Aquaculture," USDA, Economic Research Service, "U.S. Seafood Market Shifts to Aquaculture," AmberWaves, Apr. 2004, www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/april04/Findings/USSeafood.htm.

53. Cheeke P, Contemporary Issues in Animal Agriculture (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2004): 282.

a. Grimes W, "If Chickens Are So Smart, Why Aren't They Eating Us?" New York Times, Late Edition, Jan. 12, 2003: 2.

b. Broom DM, "Does Present Legislation Help Animal Welfare?" Sustainable Animal Production: Workshops, Discussion, Online Resources, agriculture.de/acms1/conf6/ws5alegisl.htm.

c. Mench J, "The Welfare of Poultry," op.cit., 108-9.

d. Rollin BE, "Farm Factories," The Christian Century, www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=2194.