Post by Demi on Dec 22, 2012 17:45:28 GMT -5
I'm writing this because an new book just came out about the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. www.cafothebook.org/
Those factory farms extend to all species of animals and most non organic meat in the western world comes from such operations. The book reveals the truth about the ethical issues as well as the actual cost of this kind of production (how many people know that including everything, CAFO meat is more expensive that sustainable, organic meat, but the prices are kept artificially low!)
While many people have some idea that factory farm conditions are less than ideal, many people still think that "It cannot be so bad" and "Well, since it's legal, it must be OK"... etc.
I've heard it many times. Esp. when I go telling people how it actually looks inside a CAFO, most find it hard to believe.
Animals at a factory farm are not treated like living beings. They are treated like some kind of 'machines', exploited only for one particular purpose, to produce as much as possible while ignoring any ethical issues.
I want to tell you my story from having a job at a CAFO.
The first thing one notices walking into a CAFO is the smell. It burns in the eyes and mucous membranes. This is the only air the animals gets to breathe all day. It's not possible to air out and the ventilation system seems not to work very well. The sows are permanently confined in the crates and they cannot even turn around. They look at you when you walk by but their eyes are dead, apathetic. The sows are inseminated when they aren't fully grown, to maximize their breeding season. The bones in their uterus are not big enough to give birth. Therefore there are some long rubber gloves there. It's very painful for the sow to give birth the first time, because she is not fully grown inside and the piglet's heads get stuck. So the farmer assistant puts the glove on and sticks his hand into her vagina to pull out the piglets when they are getting stuck in there. The sow goes screaming when he does that.
In another section the pigs are very close together. They often bite each other to blood and bite their ears off because pigs are territorial animals, and about one third has some kind of infections (which is mixed with the other meat, btw!) The sick pigs who cannot walk or having other issues are put in the "waiting room" for weeks, until they are taken to the slaughter house, and sometimes they are just thrown on the garbage pile outside while they are still alive together with the dead pig corpses, and then put in some big plastic bags or containers and taken to utilization.
It didn't take me long to quit my job (and continue to Organic Ag. training).
The CAFO looks so innocent from outside, on an energetic level I felt that they produce a very bad influence that goes into society on a subtle level, its vibrations creating misery for human society as well.
If any domestic animals such as dogs (equal in intelligence to pigs) were treated like this the doer would be jailed, but this is how mainstream food production is going on, with the silent approval from the majority of society. Animals are weaker than us and we must protect them. Animal cruelty on such large scale should not belong in the 21st Century. I hope more and more people are going to become aware that taking sustainable choices helps the planet which is a part of our own Self.
All the best,
Demi
Those factory farms extend to all species of animals and most non organic meat in the western world comes from such operations. The book reveals the truth about the ethical issues as well as the actual cost of this kind of production (how many people know that including everything, CAFO meat is more expensive that sustainable, organic meat, but the prices are kept artificially low!)
While many people have some idea that factory farm conditions are less than ideal, many people still think that "It cannot be so bad" and "Well, since it's legal, it must be OK"... etc.
I've heard it many times. Esp. when I go telling people how it actually looks inside a CAFO, most find it hard to believe.
Animals at a factory farm are not treated like living beings. They are treated like some kind of 'machines', exploited only for one particular purpose, to produce as much as possible while ignoring any ethical issues.
I want to tell you my story from having a job at a CAFO.
The first thing one notices walking into a CAFO is the smell. It burns in the eyes and mucous membranes. This is the only air the animals gets to breathe all day. It's not possible to air out and the ventilation system seems not to work very well. The sows are permanently confined in the crates and they cannot even turn around. They look at you when you walk by but their eyes are dead, apathetic. The sows are inseminated when they aren't fully grown, to maximize their breeding season. The bones in their uterus are not big enough to give birth. Therefore there are some long rubber gloves there. It's very painful for the sow to give birth the first time, because she is not fully grown inside and the piglet's heads get stuck. So the farmer assistant puts the glove on and sticks his hand into her vagina to pull out the piglets when they are getting stuck in there. The sow goes screaming when he does that.
In another section the pigs are very close together. They often bite each other to blood and bite their ears off because pigs are territorial animals, and about one third has some kind of infections (which is mixed with the other meat, btw!) The sick pigs who cannot walk or having other issues are put in the "waiting room" for weeks, until they are taken to the slaughter house, and sometimes they are just thrown on the garbage pile outside while they are still alive together with the dead pig corpses, and then put in some big plastic bags or containers and taken to utilization.
It didn't take me long to quit my job (and continue to Organic Ag. training).
The CAFO looks so innocent from outside, on an energetic level I felt that they produce a very bad influence that goes into society on a subtle level, its vibrations creating misery for human society as well.
If any domestic animals such as dogs (equal in intelligence to pigs) were treated like this the doer would be jailed, but this is how mainstream food production is going on, with the silent approval from the majority of society. Animals are weaker than us and we must protect them. Animal cruelty on such large scale should not belong in the 21st Century. I hope more and more people are going to become aware that taking sustainable choices helps the planet which is a part of our own Self.
All the best,
Demi