Thursday, August 15, 2019

The factory farms normally hold a large number of animals

Factory farming can be perceived as an enterprising activity that is aimed at increasing the animals' productivity at the lowest cost   possible so as to increase the profit margins while meeting the huge market demands.The factory farms normally hold a large number of animals, and mostly cows, pigs, chickens and also turkeys indoors, and the purpose of holding these animals is to produce milk, meat and eggs at the cost effective production level. A wide range of artificial applications are practiced in order to improve the animals' health and production and they include   the application of growth hormones, vitamin supplements and also the use of antimicrobial agents.Due to the large number of animals within a small area, their movements and actions are restricted as these movements and actions are considered to be unnecessary, as the main objective of the farm is to increase productivity which will definitely imply high profits.The breeding of these animals while in factory far ms is controlled by limiting the animals to the production of certain breeds which are likely to be productive depending on the manipulated genetically compositions.The paper emphases on the various practices in the factory farms on animals and their impact on the animals, the environment and also the effect on humanity as the consumers of these products. The paper ends by giving the possible measure that can be put in place to correct evils of factory farms if any as identified in the following arguments.The treatment of animals in factory farms can be perceived as being unfair if the animals are to be regarded as living things which are liable to respond to irritations and other stimuli. The animals that are held in the factory farms are treated unfairly at the expense of the farm owners trying to maximize their profits, hence treating animals like just production units.The animals in factory farms   which are held for the production of meat, eggs and milk are subjected to anima l abuse, genetic compositions are alterations to produce the desired breeds with high productivity levels, they are over crowded and confined in cages which restricts their movements and certain behavioral actions, they are subjected to cruel mutilation, they are handled in a harsh manner, neglected, and they are slaughtered in an inhumane manner (Seitz 216).All the above mentioned unfair treatment of the animals in factory farms has been occurring and is certain to continue increasing as the demand for the products from these animals increase.This scenario of animal abuse has been enabled by the fact that there is no federal   legal protection for these animals like in the case of dogs and cats where these acts are likely to be illegal, which portrays the biasness in the application of law (Francione & Watson 145).The farm animals are equivalent to dogs and cats who are cherished as champions as they less sensitive, intelligent and responsive to pain than the dogs and cats thus t hey need a fair treatment.The animals that are kept in cages, are deprived their freedom to move and also the liberty to exercise, and rather their energies are preserved so as to increase their productivity (Armstrong and Botzler 180). The animals are fed with drugs with an aim of fattening them faster and getting genetically manipulated to grow faster, produce a lot of milk than they can produce naturally and also the laying of eggs made quicker and the quality of eggs ensured.This treatment of the factory farm animal is unfair because it is likely to impose stress on the animals making them to develop some behaviors which are not natural because they are over strained to meet a given production level which is high above the natural level, thus over capacity utilization.This situation also posses the risk of loosing the indigenous breeds due to the genetic manipulation, which eliminates the indigenous traits in animals.There is also a risk of a certain species of animal going into extinction as the genetically modified animals are meant for some specific purposes like the production of meat, egg or milk, while ignoring to consider the future existence of these animals because these genetically modifications are meant to meet the immediate need for profit maximization and not considering the possibilities for the animals to ensure generational progress, without forgetting side effects inherent in the manipulations which might come up later in the future generations including the infertility of the animals (Kistler 90).

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