Down On The Factory Farm Essay Research

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Down on the Factory Farm

Peter Singer s critique of factory farms is a very detailed description of how huge factory farming companies exploit animals. This practice of farming used to be much more humane when it wasn t so industrialized.

Before huge companies took over, animals weren t housed in living quarters with others literally on top of them, drinking their nutrients through a straw instead of digesting solid and liquid foods like their body was designed to do and they weren t generally harmed and mutilated solely to gain a higher profit value. Overcrowding continues to be a problem within these factory farms and vices also become a problem. Vices occur when overcrowded animals, such as the chickens discussed in the first few pages of the article, peck and even begin to cannibalize.

Before I read this article I never really stopped to think about how the animals I was eating were being treated while they were alive. I had no idea how gruesome and horrific the details really were. His description of these factory farms absolutely disgusted me. By the time I was finished reading about de-beaking not only was I almost sick but, I swore never to eat chicken again. Just the mere possibility that something like this could still be occurring in farm factories today makes me want to swear off meat all together. As I was reading this article I was thinking the only real way for these factories to stop being so profit oriented would be if there simply weren t such a high demand for meat anymore; that however is a ridiculous thought. People have eaten meat for thousands of years and I m sure they will continue to do so. The article suggests countries should set minimal standards to protect against overcrowding. But the author states the only way to really know how many animals are packed into one cage is to go and look for yourself.