Cruelty In the North American Livestock Industry

Everywhere I look people are pointing fingers at cruelty to animals in other parts of the world, specifically in the food industry.  I suspect many of these people have never been to a factory farm or slaughter house in their own country.  

I will note that in many places of Europe (including the UK) the general welfare of livestock and conditions in which they are kept is generally better than how livestock animals are raised and kept in the USA and Canada.  As such this article is primarily directed to those in the USA and Canada who are upset with people in other countries eating dog meat, dolphin meat, and so forth.

I am most familiar with how livestock are kept and raised in Canada and the USA partially through my own experiences which include living rurally and attending agricultural college.

Certainly killing is cruel no matter how you do it.  All animals want to live, so meat is “murder” no matter why, and no matter what animal. 

In the USA, and Canada, there are no humane slaughter laws for chickens, other poultry, fish, or rabbits.  Hmm, imagine that!

Day old male chicks are killed, often tossed (yes literally tossed) into large garbage bags and frozen (to be used to feed to reptiles and birds of prey) or put live into meat grinders (to be used in pet food).

The hens are debeaked and, depending on their breed/purpose, either fattened for killing at a few months of age, or kept until they are old enough to be shoved into crowded cages and forced to lay eggs with nothing to do other than to peck at each other all day.

Pigs are kept in gestation crates, they cannot move, they cannot even turn around.  Mother pigs are not allowed to nurture their litter for fear they will squash one.  Pigs are as smart as dogs.  Would anyone allow a dog to live its life in a cage not much bigger than its body?  Even puppy mill dogs are treated better than that.

dairy calfThis calf will live in this tiny pen until it is butchered, its meat is veal, its stomach contents are rennet which are used to make cheese.

Dairy animals have it pretty bad too, with dairy possibly being more cruel than meat due to the fact that the calves are an unwanted by-product, and are kept in tiny pens, fattened, and killed for veal.  Not to mention that the growth hormones (in the USA) given to the milking animals causes them health problems, and that they are killed after only a few years due to the decline in milk production.

Ever force fed a duck by shoving a metal pipe down its throat until the point it has fatty liver disease?   Guess what happens in your food industry every day? 

So please, do not tell me you are disgusted by the fact that some people eat dog meat, or dolphin meat, until you have stopped eating meat altogether!

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