Factory Farming Should Be Banned!

Lana West

I believe that factory farming should be banned for its cruelty to animals, unhealthy
consumption by humans, and the pollution it causes. Individually, these reasons are enough to
have this heartless food processing industry stopped, but put together create an overwhelming
and horrible truth that many animals live through, and Americans eat as dinner. I believe that we
should stand up for these poor creatures, many of whom have never even seen real sunlight. To
ban factory farming would help many animals escape from a life of pain and suffering.

The cruelty towards these animals is unbelievable. Chickens are bred selectively and
genetically modified until the birds cannot stand up due to the fact that their bones cannot
support their weight. Hens are crammed into cages and crates so small, they have to have their
beaks and toes cut off so they don’t kill each other trying to move. Veal calves are kept in cages
so confined that they can’t move any muscle. This is done to prevent muscle growth and
development, so the meat is soft and tender when it finally gets to us. Not only this, but they are
fed on an iron-deficient diet so that the meat they produce is pale. The only reason they do that is
for the consumers likings. Many animals grow sick from the unhealthy diets and
unsafe/unnatural housing. For example, pigs are very social animals. Factory farms keep them in
pens so small they can’t turn around. Not only that, but they are left by themselves. This causes
depression, and many are driven to fighting and cannibalism because of their frustration.
Animals die in many unsanitary and inhumane ways due to factory farming. Roosters are sorted
out at birth, then strangled and suffocated in garbage bags. To kill an animal in that way is
inhumane, to say the least. People boast that we have more brainpower than animals. Well if
that’s so, shouldn’t we know that this is wrong?

Not only is factory farming a horrible way to produce meat, it is unsafe for us. The
animals are injected with chemicals, which transfer over to our bodies. These chemicals replace
things animals need, such as natural sunlight and iron. Sometimes, people take out vital vitamins
and minerals just so the meat looks more appealing to humans when it shows up on our plate for
dinner. If an animal is contained in an unsanitary place while it’s living, chances are that it will
have a large variety of diseases. These diseases transfer over to humans after we eat it. This leads
to many people ending up with horrible diseases, most of whom don’t know what’s causing their
sickness. The leading way that factory farming is unsafe for us is what ends up in our meat that
we don’t know is there. Unwanted parts of animals, such as beaks, feet, and eyes, could end up
in your processed meat. These meats include sausage, bologna, hotdogs, and certain brands of
premade hamburgers.

More now than ever, people are concerned about the environment. Factory farming is
contributing to pollution. Every single animal in a factory farm gives off waste. This adds up to
tons and tons a day. Where does all this go? Right into convenient nearby streams and rivers.
Most of these rivers are used by people, either to drink out of, or just to play around in. When
you drink from water that is mixed with tons and tons of animal waste, you are most likely to get
very ill. Unfortunately, many people don’t know that there is waste in that water, and they do
drink out of it. In simple terms, this is very bad. When you are sick, doctors tell you to drink
plenty of fluids and get lots of rest. Well, when you don’t know that the source of your sickness
is in the water, and you keep drinking it, you’re not going to get better. Your immune system
will already be weakened, and adding more chemicals to it could cause death. Not to mention
that it smells horrible. Can you imagine it? Just think of how bad a barn smells, than multiply
that by about twenty. Very unhealthy.

Humans should ban factory farming for the sake of the environment, our population’s
health, and for the animals. It is a very cold and heartless industry that needs to be stopped.
Every day, animals suffer in ways which are so horrible, most people can’t even imagine. Similar
to pigs, humans are very social. Now imagine if you were kept in a pen so small, you couldn’t
turn around. You were by yourself all of the time. Your first experience with seeing the real sun
and feeling its warmth was on your way to be killed. Every day, these things happen to poor and
innocent animals. Banning factory farming would save the lives of many of these creatures. They
call out to us every day, begging for help and mercy. We should at least give them that.