Farm AnimalsChapter 4

But farm animals include any animals, domesticated or wild, which are farmed for a variety of reasons.

This is what you think when you think of a farm animal, right?

What might be some examples?

Most are raised to be killed. Some are more profitable alive.

◦ Egg laying chickens◦ Sheep for wool◦ Horses, mules & burros for their physical abilities◦ Bees for honey

Farm animals are big business.

2007 USDA Animal Health Report p.

53Overview of U.S. Livestock, Poultry, and Aquaculture Production in 2007

more farm animals were living in the United States than there were humans on Earth.

In 2007

2008 Gallup Poll on Treatment of AnimalsSee Figure 4.2 on page 55 in your text.

U.S. Livestock Business Critics

Farm animals are well treated. Farm animals must be thriving

because there are so many of them.

American Meat Institute – 2009◦ “Optimal handling is

ethically appropriate, creates positive workplaces and ensures higher quality meat products.”

High productivity is an indicator of the efficiency of the system, not the well being of the animals in the system.

Undercover footage which is the rule and not the exception.

Bottom of page 53

2005 – Compassion Over Killing undercover video prompted USDA to do its own investigation, resulting in the law applying to livestock transported in trucks too.

28 Law of 1873 – Federal – only rail

Top of page 55 – paragraph … “ The law required slaughter by humane methods at slaughterhouses subject to federal inspection. This meant…”

ANSWER: LIVESTOCK HAD TO BE RENDERED INSENSITIVE TO PAIN BEFORE BEING SLAUGHTERED

Humane Slaughter Act of 1958

1980s and 1990s

See page 55 in text!

Specific goals of these organizations include

Animal ProductsCheck this out.

So they must arrive alive at the slaughterhouse. Cannot be drugged. Byproducts (or rendered products) include hooves, bones, beaks, feet,

feathers, fat, inedible organs and tissues to become gelatin, soap, candles, lubricants, paints, varnishes, cement, pharmaceuticals, pet food, toothpaste

and cosmetics.

Animals killed for meat must be processed immediately.

Prior to 1997, livestock were fed these byproducts as protein supplements.

1997, USDA outlawed this practice for cattle to prevent the spread of Mad Cow Disease.◦ Rendering plants also process whole carcasses of

farm animals that die of illness and other dead animals, such as euthanized pets.

Byproducts (or “rendered”)

Routine Farming Practices

Standard? Or cruel?No anesthetic

Culling is rejection of inferior or undesirable animals. Example: male chicks of laying breeds will never lay eggs and are not acceptable meat chickens. So,

millions are routinely killed each year when they are one day old.

Culling

Centuries-old practice. Rationale: control of population, reduces aggressive behavior, better tasting meat

Castration

What do you think the rationale for this is?

p.57

Dehorning

Routine Farming Practices

Branding Tail docking

Factory FarmingWhat is a farm?

Many people think of a farm…

Reality is massive industrial type facilities owned by corporations

USDA definition of “farm”

Page 582007census: 2.2 million farms in U.S.

2007 Census of Agriculture Check out Table 4.4 in our text.

Of the 2.2 million farms reported by USDA statistics in 2007, 1.9 million were owned and operated by

individuals and families.

But many of these farms operate under contract to corporate farming operations.

More than 60% of farms in the U.S. have 1-40 cattle and calves.

Less than 2% of the farms in the U.S. have over 1000 cattle and calves.

But when it comes to the total amount of cows and calves in the country, the small farms only have about 10%, while the factory farms have about 30%.

Figure 4.7 Explained

How Factory Farms Work

Animal Feeding Operation (AFO)

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)

Facilities where animals, feed, manure & urine, dead animals and production operations are all on a small land area

Facilities where animals, feed, manure & urine, dead animals and production operations are all on a small land area

More animals than AFOs

Both AFOs and CAFOs are highly concentratedNo grazing areas so that the animals

can be fed, housed, medicated and processed with ‘efficiency’.

Females are artificially inseminated. Pregnancies are spaced close together.

Mothers and offspring are separated quickly to keep the process moving.

Antibiotics, hormones, and growth enhancing drugs are used to ensure rapid growth and prevent deadly

diseases. The goal: meat quantity.

Pros and Cons: Factory Farming

ECONOMIC, LABOR COSTS DOWN, PRODUCTION UP ANIMALS…

Lots of meat at cheap prices

Food dispensed with machines

Eggs collected by conveyor belts

Chickens (who are intelligent sensitive animals) don’t see humans until slaughter

Animal Abuses Old days – animals

were more cared for – a bond with the farmers – if an animal was sick it was noticed and cared for

CattleEat vegetation…

Some bred for meat

Some bred to produce milk. Babies are taken away for human milk consumption.

Heifers are cows that have not given birth, yet.

Bulls are uncastrated male adults used only for breeding.

Male cattle castrated before reaching sexual maturity are steers – and a major source of

beef in the U.S.

Beef Cattle

Beef cattle shipped by rail to places like Chicago and Kansas City for slaughter.

Add refrigeration and electricity and slaughterhouses were able to move to rural areas.

Early 20th Century

1950s◦ Large meat companies set up feedlots for cattle

and corn became the primary feed for beef cattle.◦ Before this, cattle mostly ate grass.◦ Corn-fed beef has a richer more fatty taste and

cattle raised on these diets get fatter more quickly.

◦ Add that to the fact that it’s cheaper and demand for corn-fed beef rose.

How did this happen?

The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which requires that animals be rendered insensible to pain prior to slaughter, is the only major law affecting

the handling of farm animals.

A few states have humane slaughter provisions but enforcement is lacking.

Federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act

So how does it go for beef cattle?

Page 60

Dairy Cattle

2007 USDA Report◦ 20.7 gallons of milk◦ 27.4 pounds of cheese◦ 25.2 pounds of ice cream

◦ Combination of factory farming, high tech breeding and antibiotics and medicines has resulted in higher production of milk per cow over time 1998-2007: Milk production per cow up 18%

Figure 4.8

Some stats

Dairy cows = Milk producing machines

• Most dairy cows live in small indoor stalls or are confined to large dirt pens called dry lots.

• The fact is, to produce milk, cows must have calves.

• Therefore, dairy cows are kept pregnant almost constantly, through artificial insemination.

• Calves are taken away as soon as possible after birth so they don’t drink the milk.

• Any male calf or cow that ceases to produce milk is slaughtered for beef.

• Health problems include mastitis, lameness due to back and leg problems.

One of the most controversial drugs given to dairy cattle: bovine growth hormone

(BGH) which can increase milk production by 25% - used in dairy herds since 1993

BGH enlarges cows’ udders so much that cows suffer from spine and back problems not to mention dragging their udders in dirt and

manure. BGH is banned in Europe and Canada.

Dairy cattle spend long periods of time on concrete surfaces, metal gratings, ands

dry lots.

Many are killed because they are lame while being raised, or sent to slaughter when adults,

as “downers”, sold for as little as $1.

Veal

Veal is meat from young calves raised to produce light, delicate flesh.

Veal farmers buy unwanted calves from the dairy industry and raise them for veal.

Separated early from their mothers – extremely confined – no exercise or muscle

Fed diets low in iron so they are kept light in color – become anemic – can’t stand up and have health problems. This (low iron

diets and extreme confinement) is banned in Britain.

2006 – AZ bans use of confining crates for veal calves

2008 – CA voters pass Prop 2◦ Outlaws caging of farm animals so that they

cannot stand, turn around, lie down, or fully stretch their limbs.

◦ Effective 2015

Arizona, California

Veal consumption See p. 63 figure 4.9

USDA weighs in

The animal is then hoisted up with one leg and its throat is cut. The animal is hoisted so that no animal falls into the blood of other slaughtered animals. Then the animal

moves down the assembly line to other processing stations where its tail, hocks & hide are removed and the belly is cut open.

Slaughterhouse

Cattle Slaughter

Cattle are directed single file through a chute that leads to the stunner, which shoots a stun bolt into the animal’s forehead and supposedly renders the

animal unconscious.

Preferred method of slaughter is stun gun.

Temple Grandinp. 63

5 main performance categories:

◦ Stunning proficiency◦ Insensibility on the bleed rail◦ Electric prod usage◦ Slipping and falling cattle◦ Vocalizing cattle

Grandin on an audit procedure on how well slaughterhouses meet AMI (American Meat

Institute) guidelines:

“Survey of Stunning and Handling in Federally Inspected Beef, Veal, Pork, and Sheep Slaughter Plants”◦ Only 3 out of 10 were able to stun at least 95% of

the cattle with one shot.◦ Problems with maintenance, supervision, too

much use of electric prods, transport of downed animals with forklifts

So let’s take a 1996 audit:

28 of the 44 plants stunned 99% - 100% of the cattle on the first captive bolt shot.◦ That means 16 out of 44 did not.◦ And this was during a planned, prepared-for audit

where procedures were undoubtedly cleaned up.◦ 8 of the 44 plants failed the audit - p. 64 .◦ Grandin says plants must have zero tolerance.

2007 --- 44 beef plants audited

Problems with the Process

2001 USDA records and worker interviews of workers (making $9 an hour) claimed to see many conscious cattle moving down the bleed rail.

They Die Piece by Piece

USDA relaxed oversight since 1998

Between 1996-1997 alone, 527 recorded violations in which live animals were skinned, cut or scalded

p. 64

That’s about 7 animals a minute or one every 10 seconds. A line is supposed to stop when a conscious animal is detected but according to reports this does not happen,

and if it did, production would be slower.

Most plants process around400 animals per hour.

Downed Animals

Downed Animals Mostly dairy cattle Illness, injury or other causes Tossed alive onto trash heaps or dragged

around stockyards

Animal groups have tried to get the Downed Animal Protection Act passed by Congress which would require critically ill or injured farm animals be humanely euthanized.◦ Then in 2003 a downed cow in Washington State

tested positive for mad cow disease. The USDA quickly announced a ban on the

processing of downed cattle for human consumption unless the animal was deemed fit for slaughter by a veterinarian.

Since early 1990s

2008

Hallmark Westland Meat Company scandal

HSUS Rocks the Boat, AgainAnd again

USDA Press Release August 2008

Of the nearly 34 million cattle that were slaughtered in 2007, less than 1,000 cattle that were re-inspected were actually

approved by the veterinarian for slaughter. This represents less than 0.003 percent of cattle slaughtered annually.

Ban on "Downer" Cattle Finalized in U.S.

March 14, 2009

Ritual SlaughterJews and Muslims

Jewish = “kosher” Muslim = “halal”

Teachings require animals killed for food be moving and healthy

Religious slaughter

Exempt under Federal Humane Slaughter Act

As long as animal suffers loss of consciousness by anemia of the brain caused by the instantaneous

severance of the carotid arteries …But therefore cattle are not stunned before being

bled out.

.

Animals that struggle against restraints stay conscious the longest.

The idea is to induce “near immediate collapse” with throat cutting that is done precisely with a razor sharp knife. Jewish law requires removal of the lymph nodes

and sciatic nerve which is difficult to do on the hindquarters so these portions of the animal are often sold in commercial markets. See page 66, textbook.

There are upright devices recommended but not required by the law.

PoultryChickens, turkeys, geese and ducks

Most common – 2007 - 9 billion broilers Highly social – pecking order – usually one male

and a dozen or so females Average lifespan 6-10 years Like to forage, peck, flap wings, take dust baths Hens prefer to lay eggs in a private nest. If the hen has mated with a rooster, the eggs

become chicks.

Chickens

Pecked to death, eaten, injured

Factory farming’s solution - debeaking

Conditions like this lead to aggression.

The National Chicken Council (NCC), based in Washington, D.C., is the national, non-profit trade association representing the U.S. chicken industry. NCC is a full-service trade association that promotes and protects the interests of the chicken industry and is the

industry’s voice before Congress and federal agencies. NCC member companies include chicken producer/processors, poultry distributors, and allied industry firms. The producer/processors account for approximately 95 percent of the chickens produced in the

United States. p. 67

National Chicken Council

Day old chicks are moved into chicken hatcheries where food and water are dispensed by machine. Antibiotics are given to prevent spread of diseases and

drugs are administered to speed up growth.

Broiler chicks

Egg production is way up but consumption PER CAPITA is down – meaning there is increased demand from food manufacturers and restaurants but individually

Americans are eating less. See graphs in text on page 68.

Laying hens

Only females are kept. Males are killed, either by suffocation or grinders, because of their breeding (by humans) which makes them not meaty enough

for human consumption.

Laying-hen chicks are sorted when they are one day old.

Banned in Europe

p. 68 text

Forced Molting

Outlawed in Austria, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland and E.U. will phase out by 2012

About 95% of all egg laying hens are confined to battery cages.

Cage Free

Beginning 2015 Will outlaw caging of farm animals so that

they cannot stand, turn around, lie down or full extend their limbs

So how do you think this will play out?◦ Estimated to increase production costs by 20%◦ Egg prices in CA probably will not go up because

out of state egg producers will start marketing their eggs in CA. Eliminate CA’s egg industry in a few years…?

Proposition 2 California 2008

Humane Methods of Slaughter Act does NOT apply to poultry so chickens do not have to be made unconscious before their throats are slit.

Chicken Slaughter

Gathered by feet and carried upside down to crates

Shackled upside down to a conveyor belt If they are made unconscious prior to their

throats being slit (some slaughterhouses have this) their heads are dunked in water while an electric current passes through the shackles to make the chicken unconscious.

The Reality

Birds then pass by an automated cutting blade which slits their throat.

Blood drains and after about 90 seconds they are dipped in scalding water to loosen their feathers before being forwarded to the cutting stations.◦ Just part of a regular night’s work

The Reality

Grandin noted from a 2006 audit of 19 poultry plants that 5 of these plants passed the audit even though there were serious abuses. Grandin maintains that “when plants

are required to uphold a higher standard, they are capable of doing it. Unfortunately there are some people in the producer community who want to make standards so low

that even the worst places can pass.”

National Chicken Council Standards = Lax

Turkeys

Raised the same way broiler chickens are raised. Unnatural crowding leads to pecking and cannibalism. Slaughtered at 3-6 months. Production steadily

increasing (Figure 4.14 p. 70).

Modern turkeys are bred to gain weight fast.

Ducks and Geese

Ducks and Geese

Ducks Geese

Raised indoors Big states: Wisconsin

& Indiana Federal law (FDA)

prohibits use of hormones

Slaughtered by electrocution baths & throat slitting

Raised inside for first 6 weeks then outside

Big states: California and S. Dakota

Federal law prohibits use of hormones

Slaughtered by electrocution baths & throat slitting

Foie GrasClick on link above.

This causes the birds’ livers to become fatty and swollen 6-10 times their normal size.

Foie gras comes from force feeding male ducks and geese a rich mixture of corn, fat, salt and water.

An electric pump forces the mixture down the bird’s throat through a12”-16” tube, several times a day. They are kept in cramped cages to keep

them from losing weight.

Click icon to add picture

About 2-4 weeks prior to slaughter the process starts.

Animal advocacy groups maintain the birds suffer pain from unusually swollen abdomens and throat lesions.

Autopsies have revealed severe liver, heart and esophagus disorders.

Considered a delicacy About $50 a pound Mostly comes from France Production has been banned in Denmark,

Finland, Germany, Israel, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K.

California passed a law in 2004 to ban the production and sale in CA, effective 2012.

Foie Gras

Two plants in the U.S.Sonoma Foie Gras of Sonoma, CA

Hudson Valley Foie Gras of Ferndale, NY

Hogs and PigsDomesticated swine

Some facts: A pig is a young swine that is not sexually mature. A young female hog is called a gilt and an adult female hog is called a sow. Hogs is a

generic term. Hogs are curious, intelligent and supposedly smarter than dogs. Pregnant sows like to build nests of grass and under natural conditions

give birth to piglets (a litter averages 8) twice a year. Normal life expectancy is 12-15 years.

Gene Baur

Figure 4.15 p. 712007 – 61% of all hog farms - less than 100

3.9% of all hog farms raised 5,000+ 3.9% of all hog farms have 56% of the hogs.

Up to 12,000 – concrete or slatted floors – short tethers or in cages to keep the animals fatty (and not toughen the meat) – aggression due to crowding – tail

docking and teeth clipping are standard without anesthetic– antibiotics, hormones

Hog-Raising Practices

Breeding sows are kept in stalls or tethered until ready to give birth. Gestation crates are about 7’ – 2’ . She eats, urinates and defecates where she stands.

In 2006 – USDA reported almost 70% of sows on U.S. farms give birth this way. Spent breeding sows are slaughtered at 2-3 years of age. The piglets are

slaughtered at 4-6 months of age when they reach about 250 lbs.

Gestation Crates

Gestation Crates – Pro Con

Industry Officials Animal Advocates

Crates are necessary to keep aggressive sows from fighting and therefore miscarrying fetuses.

Protects sows from environmental extremes & hazards

Get beneficial attention

What would you say are some of the cons?

BANNED in U.K. and Sweden European Union phase-out 2013 Florida – 2002 – outlawed Arizona – 2006 – outlawed Oregon – 2007 - outlawed Colorado – 2008 – voluntary phase-out California – 2009 voted to phase-out by

2015

Gestation Crates

Electrocuted or stunned – cardiac arrest or unconscious

Hoisted up by their back feet and bled out◦ Should be bled out within 30 seconds of stunning to

avoid consciousness Lowered into vats of scalding water to remove

hair before being processed Audits scores were good in 2008 but you have

to remember these are not surprise audits◦ And as we saw in PK, it is absolutely terrifying for

these animals.

Hog Slaughter

Horsemeat/SlaughterAlso covered by Humane Slaughter Act –

supposed to be unconscious before being hoisted onto the bleed rail and cut open

Fish Farming?Take a look at p. 73.

What’s with all these labels?

Vegans oppose farming of animals for human consumption and use.

Vegetarians do not eat meat, but some consume secondary products like milk and eggs.

Small but increasing minority – 2.3% in 2006 ADULTS

Many do it for the reasons we have seen in this presentation, others for health reasons, or environmental, or religious.

Labels, labels

Cage FreeNo legally enforceable meaning because they are not clearly

defined. Cage free could still mean in a concrete pen without access to the outdoors; the animals are just not in battery

cages.

Growing demand in the U.S. for meat and other animal products that are raised or slaughtered more humanely.

Thanks to PETA and others…

Free-range or free-roaming

Required by USDA to give their chickens some access to the outside but there is NO

VERIFICATION PROCESS to prove claim

Free range Pasture fed Free roaming

Means the animals must have been allowed to eat grass and live outdoors during at least part of their lives. Rare inspections. USDA relies on claims on livestock

producers.

USDA DEFINITIONS

ORGANICWhat’s the buzz word you hear

everywhere?

But it’s kind of like an honor system: farmers must provide documentation to the U.S.D.A. that they are following standards.

Farmers are not allowed to use this label unless they meet requirements of the U.S. National Organic Program.

◦ U.S. Government’s National Organic Program No growth hormones or genetic engineering The animals are not fed animal byproducts. Some restrictions on manure management, slaughter

procedures, antibiotics & pesticides, and access to the outdoors

To use the label organic farmers must meet their standards. Not optional. But the standards aren’t particularly rigorous or enforced.

So what are the requirements?

◦ Some animal protection groups developed and implemented their own programs to define and certify welfare-friendly farming operations.

◦ To be called “Certified Humane” the producers must meet specific criteria on manure management, slaughter procedures, diet and lack of growth hormones, antibiotics & pesticides, and access to the outdoors through inspections and verifications.

Additional (Optional) Certifications (with inspections and verifications):

◦ American Humane Association’s American Humane Certified◦ Humane Farm Animal Care program is funded by HSUS, ASPCA and some

others.

Certified Humane

Antibiotics administered to farm animals are consumed by those who eat those animals. This nontherapeutic use could lead to antibiotic resistant diseases. Also animal to human disease transmission

(known as zoonoses) can result including anthrax, brucellosis, leptospirosis, tuberculosis, streptococcus, orf, avian influenza, ringworm and mad cow.

Human Health Issues

WHAT YOU CAN DOFarm Sanctuary

Catskill Animal Sanctuary

Get involved.

.Things Oprah should know about Veganism

Farm Sanctuary Virtual Experience

Click here to enter and explore.

     “The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?"”

There’s a better way.

HVCC BTC Auditorium

Gene Baur's Message of Compassion

Monday, October 24th, 2011