There are four main reasons why vegans avoid the consumption of animal products. Going deeply and taking a closer look behind the scene, makes your realize how animals are really treaded in the massproduction. The unethical conditions became one of the main reasons why majority of people decide to become vegan.
Many vegans refrain from eating meat for ethical reasons. They regard humans as those whose duty is to show mercy and compassion towards the weaker ones. Animal suffering should be ended. Because not only in meat production, but also in milk and egg production there is a lot of animal suffering.
Factory Farming
The problem with factory farming is that it does not provide animals a species-appropriate environment. The aim of animal farmers is to make the greatest possible profit. In order to satisfy consumer's desire for cheap meat, they produce as much meat as possible in the shortest possible time at the lowest possible cost. As a result, a lot of animals are squeezed into a small space. For example, a fattening pig weighing 50-110 kg has a minimum area of 0.75 m². A laying hen approximately has a space in the size of an A4 sheet of paper (21 x 29.7 cm).
Lack of Hygiene
In factory farming, the floor usually should be a split floor. These are hard floors which are perforated (with holes). They are used to transport the animals' excrements into drainage channels below. The lack of physical activity and being surrounded by their own excrements, leads to a massive weakening of the immune system.
Antibiotics on our Plates
An unhygienic lifestyle is the best way for bacteria and viruses to spread. This is where antibiotics come into play. To counteract bacterial infectious diseases, the animals are treated with antibiotics. Since the diseases spread quickly with over 20 animals per square metre, often the whole herd is treated with antibiotics via the drinking water, even if only an individual animal is ill. Due to the frequent use of antibiotics, with time it comes to the development of antibiotic-resistant germs such as the ESBL (Extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) / Escherichia coli) and MRSA germs (Multi-resistant staphylococcus aureus). As the word "resistant" implies, these are germs which are immune to antibiotics such as penicillins and cephalosporins. These resistant germs, as well as Salmonella and Campylobacter, are subsequently transmitted to humans through food. Due to prolonged consumption on animal products, those bacteria multiply in our intestines and lead to gastrointestinal diseases and even inflammation of the urinary tract. Furthermore, with a weakened immune system, like in the case of pregnant women, children, seniors, people who are ill or have had an operation, contact with such bacteria can lead to infections like pus ulcers, wound infections, bone inflammation and pneumonia. For people with a weak immune system, an infection like this, usually results in a long and difficult healing process. Occasionally, contact with resistant pathogens ends in death.
The prophylactic use of antibiotics for the treatment of farm animals as well as the use of this preparation to improve performance has actually been prohibited in Germany and the EU since 2006. However, due to the infections caused by the bad, unhygienic conditions, it is almost impossible to avoid the use of antibiotics. Therefore, animal farmers resort to such means. Furthermore, antibiotics are used to accelerate the growth of farm animals, since they not only prevent infections, but also promote the utilization of food. In addition, by regularly giving the preparations to animals, they start to grow faster, which means they can be slaughtered sooner.
In order to achieve stricter rules on the use of antibiotics, the EU Parliament has adopted a package of measures in 2018. This means that the prophylactic administration of antibiotics may now only be carried out in exceptional cases following the advice of a veterinarian. Reserve antibiotics (special antibiotics that are only used for infections with resistant pathogens) must only be used in human medicine. However, this regulation will not come into force until the end of 2021.
Fattening pigs
Pigs are extremely intelligent animals that actually even have a certain degree of self-awareness. The natural habitat of pigs includes forests, where the animals can move around in fixed territories. They live in groups with a clear social structure. It consists of several females and their offspring and is led by the oldest. Most of the time, the pigs search for food together. In factory farming, however, they are unfortunately not able to exercise their natural behaviour. In order to achieve the maximum profit, fattening pigs are bred in a way that allows them to produce a large amount of meat in a short period of time. To attain this, the pigs are fed with a high-energy concentrated feed, bringing them to a final weight of 110 -125 kg within 6-7 months after which they are getting slaughtered.
Geese
Geese are sociable birds. They learn quickly and have a good memory. They live in small family groups consisting of several female geese, their young, also called "goslings" and a gander (male goose). Under natural conditions, geese can reach an age of several decades. However, in mass farming, they are killed after a few months or years.
There are three common methods of fattening geese, which differ mainly in the fattening period. All three methods share intensive feeding as a common feature.
Fast fattening
In fast fattening, the highly concentrated feeding takes place for 8-10 weeks. The shortened fattening period intends to save feeding costs. The geese are usually kept in closed stables without access to the open air or bathing facilities. These animals are slaughtered before the earliest possible time of feather production, which is before their first feather change (moulting).
Intensive fattening
During the 16-week intensive fattening period, these geese gain weight more slowly. The aim is to make sure that the geese put on as much breast meat as possible. Feathers and down are obtained as well. The keeping conditions are a bit different here. The geese live on pasture or in stables and are fed in the evening. In the last four weeks before slaughter, they are taken from the pasture to the stables, where they have little space available due to their size.
Pasture fattening
With this fattening method, the geese live for 30-32 weeks. After several weeks of rearing indoors without any possibility to go outdoors, the geese are gradually accustomed to being kept outdoors on pastures. In the last weeks before slaughter, the geese should reach a slaughter weight of 7 kg. This is achieved by the supply of approx. 140 kg of green feed and 28 kg of concentrated feed. This slaughtering weight is mainly used to produce the so-called Christmas geese. The body parts (feet, wings and necks), which are difficult to market in Europe, are exported to Asia.
Fattening Cows
Under natural conditions, cows live in herds. These herds consist of 20 or more cows and their young. The male animals (bulls) leave the herd at the age of about two years to live alone or in smaller groups of up to three. When they are young, they spend most of their time playing, for example by having two calves chasing each other or bumping their horns against each other. The friendships that are made during this time are often maintained in adulthood. In their natural habitats, which are steppes and forests, cows walk about 10 hours a day. In intensive animal farming, they cannot satisfy their urge to move, and in tethered farming they even have to spend their lives on one and the same spot.
Fattening Cows for Intensive Animal Farming
Fattening cows, such as bulls (uncastrated male cows), steers (castrated male cows), heifers (female cows that have not yet given birth to a calf) and occasionally also unproductive dairy cows, are slaughtered for meat production. Most of the farms have 200 to 500 cows, smaller farms about 20 to 50. Those cows have to reach a weight of 680 to 750 kg within 400 days. The female fattening cows gain 1 kg, the male 1.5 kg per day.
Cows are soft ground walkers. However, when fattening them, you will find full slatted floors made of pure concrete. This often causes the animals to slip, which leads to claw injuries, bumps and other physical wounds. A full-grown bull only has about 2.7 m² of space in conventional farming, whereby injuries are frequent.
The cows are kept in chains, in grating devices, which have a length of 120-140 cm and a width of 70-100 cm. As they are tied to one and the same place all the time, they do not have the possibility to turn on their own axis, to move in general or to exercise social behaviour with their conspecifics. In addition, many farmers use rubber mats instead of bedding, and with poor care, the animals often end up lying in their own excrements. The unhygienic conditions often lead to infections caused by bacteria and viruses. In conventional farming (open stable and tethered farming), the cows hardly get any run. Only about 35% of the animals have access to pasture for an average period of 6.4 months a year. In addition, the fattening bulls are not let outside, as there is a high risk of outbreak.
Cows are subdivided into different categories based on their utility:
Dual-purpose breeds = Breeds that have been bred for more than a single performance purpose e.g. female cows that are used for both meat and milk production
Dairy breeds = Mainly male cows, which are a waste product of the dairy industry
Pure meat breeds = Especially Charolais and Limousin are designed to develop as much muscle mass as possible as quickly as possible.
Physical Suffering and Damages
Due to the poor conditions in intensive animal farming, diseases and injuries regularly occur.
The following health problems are common in fattening cows:
· Diseases of the digestive organs (rumen acidity and abomasal displacement)
· Skin damage (through contact with excrements and parts of the stable equipment)
· Joint and claw injuries (due to getting stuck in fully slatted floors)
· laminitis (inflammation of the claw corium)
· Deformations of the joints (due to reduced bone content)
· Metabolic diseases (ketosis, fatty liver)
· Inflamed tail tips (from kick injuries)
· Respiratory and lung problems (due to reduced heart size and function)
· Fertility disorders
Slaughtering
When the cows reach their fattening weight, they are transported to the slaughterhouse. At this time, the animals have reached an age of 1-2 years.
Fattening Calves
Calves have a strong need to move or run and play. Especially in the first weeks of life, they need social contacts. The birth of a calf can take up to seven hours. In addition, the mother's preparation phase lasts several days. After birth, the mother licks her calf dry, as this forms the mother-child bond. Half an hour after birth, the newborn begins its first attempts to stand up and looks for the udder.
Husbandry
The fattening calves have to gain an average of 1.1 to 1.2 kg of weight per day to reach a final fattening weight of 220 kg to 260 kg within a short period of time. The newborn calf is immediately disconnected from its mother and housed separately. The calves are reared separately from their mothers until they are eight weeks old. During this period, the calves are housed either in a barn or in small pens. Due to the individual housing, the natural mother-child contact is missing. It is especially important that the calves are licked by the mother immediately after birth and supported in their attempts to stand up. The isolation also interrupts the social contact with other calves, which should not be the case, because after birth, the calves have a strong need for affection. Only from the eighth week of life onwards, are the calves kept in groups.
Feeding the Fattening Calves
The calves are not allowed to drink their first milk from the mother's udder, as the mother is milked by hand or machine from the very first day. This is done in order to prevent the development of a bond between the mother and the calf, as that would complicate the separation later. Since weak calves in particular have a low suckling reflex, they are often forced to drink for nutrient supply due to lack of time, although the Animal Protection Act prohibits this practice without medical justification. After two weeks, the calves are fed with a milk replacement either from suckers or automatic feeders instead of the mother's milk. These are processed products consisting of skimmed milk and whey powder, some of which are demineralised and desugared and contain vegetable ingredients. At the beginning of life, the calves' gizzard is not yet fully developed. The milk they drink is digested in the abomasum and small intestine and must therefore pass through the still small and barely functional gizzards by means of a gullet reflex. It is only with increasing age and the right feed that the calf develops into a ruminant with a multi-hollow stomach. This development is prevented in fattening calves, as the animals are fed almost exclusively with milk or milk replacements until slaughtering. However, a liquid-based diet is not sufficient for calves. It is only with the intake of roughage (e.g. hay) that the rumen and rumen villi develop. An early supply of feed rich in crude fibre is essential for ruminants for other reasons as well: For example, many calves are born with an iron deficiency, which cannot be immediately compensated for by the intake of milk. However, if the calf is given early access to roughage and concentrated feed, it can compensate for the deficiency within the first weeks of life. An iron supplements from the farmer under the calf's skin or in the feed are no substitute for an adequate supply of roughage. Even if animals are legally entitled to a minimum amount of roughage and concentrated feed, this is far from sufficient for ruminant development.
Dairy Cows
Under near-natural conditions, cows form family groups consisting of dams (cows) and their offspring. The male animals (bulls) form herds together. Clear rules of conduct apply in the groups: The distance between the animals is determined by their status in the herd. The bond between the mother and her calf is particularly strong. She is always there for the calf, protects it from danger, cares for it intensively and feeds it with her milk. The close mother-child bond is never completely broken. In factory farming, however, the calf is separated from the mother shortly after birth and they are denied any contact with each other.
Husbandry
Stable husbandry
In dairy cow husbandry, the barn is divided into feeding, resting and milking areas. In between there are narrow walkways that are used for moving around. Running areas are not available to the cows.
Tether husbandry
In tether husbandry, the cows are fixed by neck frames, chains or belts and stand in a so-called tie-up stall. This greatly restricts natural behaviours such as movement, social and comfort behaviour of the animals.
Pasture husbandry
Only a minority of cows have access to pasture, usually only during the summer months. On the pasture, the cows get the opportunity to exercise their natural behaviour. Because of the intensive milk production, year-round housing has become the most common method. Based on current research, cows are highly motivated to go out to pasture. The focus is not on hunger, but on the need to be outdoors.
Physical suffering
Due to the common husbandry conditions, the animals suffer from the following diseases and injuries:
· Mastitis (painful inflammation of the udder)
· Diseases of the digestive organs, e.g. rumen acidosis and abomasal displacement
· Various udder injuries (caused by milking machines among others)
· Various hoof injuries or diseases (laminitis, sole-bunion ulcers)
· Metabolic diseases, e.g. ketosis and fatty liver (due to high performance and insufficient roughage intake)
· Joint injuries and diseases
· Birth paresis (milk fever)
· Eczema on the inner sides of the thighs (due to constant rubbing of udder and thigh skin)
· Stall claws (due to lack of movement, especially with tether husbandry)
· Technopathies (injuries caused by the husbandry conditions, e.g. claw injuries caused by slatted floors, chafing on the skin caused by stable equipment)
Fattening Chickens
Chickens form groups of up to 20 hens and a few young cocks under the leadership and protection of one cock. The hens brood their eggs for about three weeks until a chick hatches from it. They communicate with each other through their posture and using various sounds. Over 20 different communication sounds are known. They spend the day together looking for food. When dusk comes, they look for a place to sleep as high as possible, for example on trees. In industrial husbandry, they cannot exercise their needs, mainly because of the stocking density and overbreeding.
Husbandry
The main goal in factory farming is to save costs. Therefore, as many chickens as possible are kept in a small area. Another focus lies on feed consumption. Chickens have to reach a carcass weight of 1600-2000 g as soon as possible with low feed consumption, within only 32 days.
Breeding
The rapid growth and the highly intensified husbandry lead to serious diseases and injuries. In the 1950s, a chicken needed 100 days to reach a slaughtering weight of 1.8 kg. Today, a fattening chicken reaches this weight within only 32 days (one third of the time). The reason for this is that since the 1960s, chickens have been bred specifically for rapid weight gain, which has harmful effects on the animals. In factory farming, chickens live in confined spaces on littered floors and in predominantly windowless buildings. At the beginning, the chicks have enough space, but as they grow up, it becomes quite small for them. Natural behaviour such as fluttering, sand bathing and resting in elevated spots cannot be practised in enclosed and unstructured barns. In extreme cases, they only sit or lie down at the end of the fattening period and can hardly reach the drinking troughs anymore - they die of thirst. Due to overbreeding and poor husbandry conditions, the mortality rate is above average.
Physical Suffering
Skin Diseases
The poor bedding quality and prolonged sitting causes skin burns, chest blisters and foot pad disorders.
Metabolic Diseases
Cardiac death and dropsy are a direct result of turbo breeding.
Infections
Skin diseases are the entry point for the bacteria that cause infections.
Mobility Restrictions
The rapid growth leads to leg weakness and reproductive problems.
Due to the rapid weight gain in a limited period of time, fattening chickens have problems with reproduction. When they reach the age of 24 weeks, the week in which they reach sexual maturity, fattening chickens usually weigh over six kilograms. This extreme weight gain leads to various diseases and high mortality, which in turn reduces the reproductive rate. Farmers try to solve the problem through starving the chickens to sexual maturity by feeding them 40% or in many cases less than what they would otherwise have had available. This artificially delays weight gain and increases the reproductive rate. Unfortunately, however, the animals pay a high price for this. Chronic hunger results in aggressive behaviour that can lead to cannibalism. This contradicts European and national laws, but whether those are observed everywhere is questionable.
Slaughtering
Pigs
Slaughter is carried out as follows. At first, the pigs are benumbed. In smaller farms, each individual pig is benumbed with electric tongs. The electrotodes have to be positioned accurately so that the animals are benumbed for 30 to 60 seconds. Large slaughterhouses have to benumb many animals at once to be more (cost) effective. Therefore, they do not use electricity, but the gas carbon dioxide (CO2). This method is considered safe but does not work immediately. For the first 10 to 20 seconds, the animals suffer shortness of breath and panic. After numbing, they are killed. The carotid artery is punctured with a knife, whereupon the animals bleed to death. For the stabbing, the employees often only have seconds per pig, because of which mistakes are commonly made. Many pigs still show reactions immediately after scalding, which indicate sensation and perception. Farmers try to reduce the suffering of animals, because less stress is also better for the meat. That is why they use noble gases such as helium or argon as an alternative. The pigs do not show panic as they do with carbon dioxide. These are indeed alternatives, but no slaughterhouse has worked with these gases yet, as it is too expensive. You have to save wherever possible for cheap meat.
Cows
After the cows are transported to the slaughterhouse, they are placed in a collection box. One by one, each cow is led into a barred sluice and then brought to the slaughter room. After the cows are benumbed, they are made unconscious. For cows, a bolt gun is often used. The animal feels a strong hit and then becomes unconscious. The benumbed animals are suspended from a tubular track using sling chains. Afterwards, the aorta is cut open so that the cow can bleed out. Up to this point, the cow is only benumbed, but not dead. Many times, they still see how the butcher cuts the two carotid arteries with a knife or performs a breast cut. This involves cutting the large blood vessels near the heart. Due to blood deprivation, the brain is no longer supplied with oxygen, which causes death. The head and forefeet are cut off. Ear canals, upper and lower eyelids are disposed of. The cows are hung up afterwards. The hind feet are taken off and the skin is pre-cut and removed. The caws is then split in the middle to remove the abdominal and thoracic organs.
Animals Feel Pain As Well
Just like humans, animals feel pain, even if they cannot express it in words. Humans bring out the feeling of pain through words. Animals without the ability to speak cannot communicate their condition, but this does not mean that they do not feel pain and suffering.
Acute Pain
Acute pain, like injuries, is a kind of "early warning system" that leads to reactions in the animal. Depending on the species, acute pain results in, crying, wide open eyes or sudden aggression.
Chronic Pain
It is different when painful stimuli occur over a longer period of time. Here, acute pain develops into chronic pain. Chronic pain is a great burden for animals because they react to it with changes in nutritional, sleeping and social behaviour. Changes caused by chronic pain are not conspicuous, so in individual cases, good observation is needed to detect them. Animals suffering from chronic pain react to environmental stimuli differently than in their usual way, which in many cases makes a normal, species-appropriate life no longer possible.
Pain Memory
Chronic pain is firmly anchored in the memory (pain memory). If the animal injures itself again in the future, painful stimuli are perceived much more strongly. But even harmless stimuli, such as a gentle touch, are perceived as pain, even if the actual cause of the pain is not present.
Fish and Seafood
Scientific studies show that fish are similar to vertebrates. They can learn and remember painful experiences. Just like humans, fish feel pain, discomfort, stress and fear.
Aquacultures: A New Form of Factory Farming
Fish are kept in breeding tanks on land, in net enclosures close to the coast and also ‘offshore’ in the open sea.
Husbandry
In order to maximise profit, the pisces are fattened with far too high stocking densities. The fish bred in aquatic farms are squeezed together as motionlessly as chickens in industrial farming. The consequences are behavioural disorders, injuries, permanent stress and malformation. The fish often suffer from infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses or parasites. In order to prevent or alleviate infectious diseases like skin and gill infections, the pisces are given antibiotics and chemicals, which, when administered frequently, lead to the formation of resistant bacteria. Another reason why antibiotics are administered is to accelerate the growth of the animals and to change their reproductive behaviour. Particularly in developing countries, many fish do not survive the transport to the slaughterhouse because they suffocate in the containers, which are overcrowded. The remaining fish are not sufficiently anaesthetized during slaughtering, suffocate painfully or are cut up while still conscious.
Pound Culture
Species: Carp, Trout, Zander, Pangasius, Shrimps
Pond cultures use either natural, partly artificial or purely artificial ponds for the breeding of fish or crustaceans. Farming in ponds with stagnant water is appropriate for fish that naturally prefer calm waters such as carp, tench, pike-perch or pike. Pond culture is the oldest and most widely used form of aquaculture worldwide. These farms are run by both large companies and small family businesses and are predominantly to be found in Europe. The ponds have adjustable water inlets and outlets, but have hardly any need for fresh water due to a low stocking density. The food requirements of the fish are mainly met by the plants and animals naturally occurring in the ponds, such as insect larvae, water fleas, etc. Usually, only cereals are fed. In intensive farming, where many fish are squeezed in a very confined space, the fresh water requirements rise significantly. The high number of fish leads to an increase in oxygen consumption, feed supply, feed residues and excrements. This has a strong impact on the water quality, which in turn leads to an increase in fresh water supply, as the water has to be changed regularly. The unhygienic conditions increase the risk of disease development due to which antibiotics are used. Freshwater fish that need running water with a high oxygen content as a basis for survival are kept in flowing, rural ponds with different flow areas. These fish are mainly fed artificially with industrially produced ready-made feed (pellets). These pellets contain essential fats and proteins derived from fish oil/flour (dried and ground fish or parts of it). Both products are made from wild caught fish or, in the case of organically farmed fish, from the remains of edible pisces.
Raceways/Flow-Through Systems
Species: Trout, Tilapia, Sea Bass
Flow-through systems consist of several channels or basins connected in series. They are either newly built or installed in natural ponds. These basins are constructed in a way that the water can flow through and circulate in each individual basin. Inlets and outlets are located on the sides of the basins, which allow the water to flow and maintain the water quality. Flow-through systems are particularly suitable for fish that live in flowing water. In addition, the high water exchange rate ensures that the oxygen content remains constant. The high water exchange rate makes it possible to keep more fish in the same space, which is not possible with a pond system. Furthermore, the basins are additionally aerated by water edges or cascades (in the form of artificially created waterfall).
As you can easily see, a large amount of water is required for the intended water exchange. It is often pumped from neighbouring waters. In order to achieve the desired exchange, a considerable amount of water has to be pumped from neighbouring water bodies or obtained by natural gradients that are fed into the system. To avoid environmental pollution from excrements and animal feed residues, the waste water has to be treated before being returned to the spring water.
Cage or Net Pen Culture
Species: Gilthead, Cod, Salmon, Pangasius, Tilapia, Sea Bass
Net pen cultures are anchored in natural waters such as rivers, sea or ponds which saves costs. This is beneficial for the breeders, but not for the environment: With net enclosures, waste products from the fish, such as feed rests or medication administered, get directly into the water. If kept intensively, it can have negative effects on the ecosystem by leading to over-fertilisation and consequently to the formation of oxygen-free zones at the sea/river bottom.
Mussel Farming
Species: Mussel, Oyster
Mussel farming is carried out in the sea. Plankton (animals and plants that live in the water and drift around with the current) serves as food for the shellfish. This is very practical because additional supply of nutrient-rich food is not necessary. The most commonly used methods of mussel farming are keeping them in wire baskets / net bags, breeding on artificial collectors (e.g. longline culture) and floor farming. Floor farming and also farming in net bags are usually semi-cultures. In other words, juvenile mussels are collected from natural banks and then brought to the breeding area. In longline culture, the ropes are mainly made of plastic. The ropes are fixed to the surface on a long line, to buoys or other floating objects, as well as to the bottom.
Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS)
Species: Eel, Tilapia, Sea Bass
Closed recirculation systems are a combination of filter systems and basins in which the waste water is continuously cleaned and pumped back into the basins. This means that no natural water sources need to be used. The water is recycled as follows: The water from the fish tank passes through a mechanical filter, which disposes of food residues and excrements of the fish. Afterwards, biofilters and protein skimmers remove the remains. Closed recirculation systems are more cost-intensive than other systems due to the high technical complexity. On the other hand, they have a minimal impact on the environment, as the waters are not polluted. In recirculation systems there is a special form of aquaculture, namely aquaponics. This is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponic (plant cultivation without soil). An aquaponics system is a combination of a closed recirculation system for fish production and a hydroponic system for plant cultivation, for example for vegetables and herbs. Here, the waste water from fish farming is channelled into plant beds, where it serves as a source of nutrients for crops such as tomatoes and basil. They stand in an inorganic plant substrate such as gravel or clay granules.
Feeding
In aquacultures, fish are mainly fed with sea fish, which leads to overfishing of the oceans. To give a better picture, the production of one pound of farmed fish requires five pounds of sea fish.
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