The Hidden Truth About Factory Farming

By: Maittrella Rodriguez, EarthScope Intern (Tam High)

April 6, 2017

Have you ever thought of where our animal  products come from? Have you ever thought of the way the animals have been treated? This wasn’t something I really thought about until our class had an interview with Gene Bauer. He made me realize how badly the animals are mistreated, and how little factory farming companies actually tell us.

    Gene Baur is the co founder and president of farm sanctuary which helps “ protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living.” Farm Sanctuary was founded in 1986 and “work to investigate and expose the cruelty of animal agriculture,” and also is currently “the nation’s largest and most effective farm animal rescue and protection organization.” once they come to farm sanctuary they are “friends not food.”   

    All the animals in factory farming are treated very badly. According to Baur he has seen piles of animals where they are still alive but left there to die. For example, pigs that are used for this industry, are first impregnated at seven months, and for the rest of their lives they follow the same cycle. This cycle includes: pregnancy, birth, and nursing and is repeated until they are sent to be slaughtered. The whole time when the pigs are pregnant they are put in a gestation crate, where they have no room to even be able to turn. These crates are made so that manure can fall through the cracks,this meaning that they live directly above their own waste which exposes them to high levels of ammonia, and respiratory diseases. Once they give birth they are moved onto crates that separate them from their babies but are still near so they can nurse. After about twenty days, the piglets are separated from their mothers and moved to a pen with no room where they go through a series of mutilations and are kept until they weigh enough to be slaughtered and sold for meat. The mother on the other hand is sent back to the crate where the cycle continues until she isn’t considered to be good for impregnating.

Another animal that is treated badly are chickens. Chickens are used for egg production and are one of the most abused animals. If male chickens are hatched they rarely get to see life because since they can’t lay eggs they are killed upon hatching. The female chickens are kept in battery cages which hold up to five to ten birds at once, where they also have no room. The females are most likely to be debeaked so that they can't peck their feathers, from the stress of being in battery cages. Being in these cages can also result in bruising and loosing feathers because the birds rub against the wire from being in such a tight space. A chicken's life span is usually up to five to eight years out with thus forced egg production they live from one to two years which means their average lifespan is cut more than half.

    By doing this class interview with Gene Bauer i have been informed on the unfair treatment of animals. They don't deserve this lifestyle and with farm sanctuary they can be rescued and protected and treated as friends not food. They can't help rescue all animals but they can help inform the public. The more people informed the less abused animals. Our thanks to Gene Baur for allowing us to conduct this interview with him, so we can inform more people on the hidden truths about factory farming.

For more information on farm sanctuary check out  https://www.farmsanctuary.org