Conflict between Cheap Food and the Well-Being of Farm Animals - Essay Example

Animal Welfare Abstract The nutritional shift from red meat to white meat in this age of fast food has created huge demand for white meat production. The huge demand has therefore led to large scale commercial animal farming. Chicks for beef chicken - also called broilers – for instance, are currently chosen genetically to give faster growing breeds with good beef. This process of farming often disregards the welfare of the animal. This report explores the conflict between cheap food and the well-being of farm animals. Also explored in the report is the likelihood of people paying more to get organic chicken meat. This report highlights some of the best and worst farming trends in European countries and discusses the effects of such practices on the welfare of the animal. Further, it suggests good farming practices and some alternative to fast animal farming. The report concludes that while organic farming of animals is often costly, most people prefer such meat products. Introduction Animal welfare is defined as the care for the physical and mental wellbeing of animals in general by having proper farming practices that take into account the animal’s “species, its size, weight, age, and sex”. While most laws have made cruelty against animals illegal, the mare absence of cruelty does not define animal welfare. In Great Britain the government has appointed an a wholly independent body (Farm Animal Welfare Council-FAWC) that comes up with acceptable definitions and standards with regards to treatment of farm animals. FAWC defines animal welfare in terms of conditions of stay of farm animal- their shelter, food, space. Such definitions are always in line with the Five Freedoms of animal. The five freedoms of animal welfare outline five preconditions of a good animal welfare system: freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury and disease, freedom to express normal behavior, and freedom to from fear and distress. These clamor for animal welfare has become a great debate especially now with the increasingly fast food world where the demand for some animal meat, like chicken, has outstripped natural production cycles. It is estimated that in the Great Britain alone, over 850 million broiler chickens are reared each year, and approximately 26 chickens are slaughtered every second (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2010). In fact, over the past thirty years, the demand for chicken meat has been exponentially rising which makes poultry farming a very viable commercial activity. And like all commercial enterprises, the aim has been to achieve greater and greater profits by reducing the costs of production. Unfortunately, the reduction in the cost of production has gradually led to more and more genetically selected breeds of broiler chicken that are able to give higher meat production in less and less time. Moreover, the conditions for rearing such chickens has generally deteriorated and are often not considerate of the welfare of the chicken. Often the chickens are reared in a confined space with little or no light, and have to struggle for food and water. This struggle often leads to starvation of some chicken and injury to others. However, there are some exceptional cases where the welfare of the chicken are taken care of even though they are still kept in large numbers in confined spaces. There is also an emerging trend of consumers preferring free range chicken, or organic chicken to those reared in confined spaces. This leads to the question on the possibility of paying more for well kept or organic chicken rather than the more cheap ill kept chicken which are reared in conditions that have no regard for the welfare of chickens. Methodology There is growing concern among animal rights activists that the exponential rise in the demand for chicken meat is gradually leading to further deterioration of the conditions of stay of farm animals across the world. Most countries are therefore passing legislation to curb cruel treatment of animals. In the United Kingdom (UK), there are legislative requirements that protect almost all aspects of animal farming-rearing on the farm, marketing, transportation, slaughtering-all have to pass strict codes of practice to ensure the best possible, and most appropriate treatment of livestock (Donnellan 2001). While most of this paper focuses on the welfare of farm animals, majority of the laws in UK that relate to animal welfare do not offer wide distinction between the species of animals, whether farmed or pets. The emphasis is however mostly put on farmed animals because they are the most widely reared, and are also reared intensively. The Protection of Animal Act of 1911, the precursor to Animal welfare Act of 2006 was the first legislation that criminalized inhumane treatment of animals. In the act, the maximum punishment for animal cruelty was set as six months of labour together with a fine, which was set at twenty-five pounds. Later, this was seen as too lenient and was succeeded by London Police Act which prohibited the use of animals for fighting sports. In 2006 the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals lobbied the consolidation of the many acts that dealt with animal welfare into the current animal welfare Act. The act specifies conditions that are deemed as cruel to animal wellbeing. Such conditions include confined housing, freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury and disease, freedom to express normal behavior, and freedom to from fear and distress. These freedoms are checked in every aspect of farming, from the time the animal is born to the time they are slaughtered for food, if they are meant for food. However welfare of animals is also a cultural issue which means different communities treat different animals differently. For instance dogs in UK are treated more humanely than those in the Far East Asian countries. Individual perceptions and prejudices also curtail animal welfare, and while one person may treat animals humanely, another may be cruel to the animals. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (RSPCA) is a body that develops good standards that consider the welfare of animals in the intensive animal farming enterprises. Their standards are developed from observation of best practices, experience in farming, and latest scientific research. One area that has received wide attention is chicken farming, especially for meat. Broilers, as chicken reared for meat are called, are the second largest most popular white meat in UK, after fish, by production and consumption (Donnellan 2001). Over the past 30years there has been an increasing demand for chicken meet which has made chicken farming a lucrative venture. The vastness of this enterprise has led to outright neglect of animal welfare in some firms at the expense of huge profits. A study done by Farm Animals Welfare Council (FAWC) in 1992 to ascertain the state of affairs in chicken farming industry indicated that while overall the management of chicken farms was good, there were concerns on the possibilities of overcrowding in the shelters (Donnellan 2001). Overtime, the gradual genetic selection and breeding of fast growing breeds has also led to a number of problems especially those associated with growth. A video documentary by Compassion in World Farming titled Live fast Die Young: the story of a broiler chicken detailing investigation done over a year the poultry industry of Europe showed further showed other problems such a heart failure of chicken, crippling disabilities in some chicken, overcrowding. Despite these, these there are other firms that maintain the same commercial setup while still having regards for welfare of the chickens. The difference here is in the management of the production process. For instance, there is generally less overcrowding in the shelters, the litter they sleep on are dryer, and the chickens are allowed other behavioral space for pecking, and perching. Results and Data Analysis As part of this report, questionnaires were used to find out the consumer perspectives about the animal welfare in general and especially on chicken. The fifteen point questionnaire was administered to fifteen randomly selected student interviewees of different age. The ratio of respondents with respect to sex was two girls for every three boys. Further, most males (80%) did not have pets while 90% of the females said they had pets. Of the number of males who admitted to having pets, 20% percent viewed animal welfare as important, 30 percent did not think it was important. 60% of all males however thought that animal welfare is an important factor in animal farming. 95% of all ladies thought animal welfare is very important. Most respondents (80%) to the questionnaire were between the ages of 19 -24 years. In response to the mode of killing, 20% percent were of the opinion that they would not eat animals killed by pistol or electric shock, 80% of the respondents thought the mode of killing of the animals does not matter. Conclusion and Recommendations Animal welfare is defined as the care for the physical and mental wellbeing of animals in general by having proper farming practices that take into account the animal’s “species, its size, weight, age, and sex”. Animal welfare becomes a serious concern especially at this time when demand for intensive farmed animals is on a steep rise. This rise in the demand has caused some firm to major on getting huge profits at the expense of animal welfare. Animals in such farms are often overcrowded, starved, thirsty and sickly. To reduce this animal cruelty, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals continually develop standards for humane treatment of farm animals. Consumer expectations, which also drive the demand also shows a positive acceptance of organic bred animals rather than the cheaper intensive farmed animals. More and more consumers are willing to pay more for organic chickens. This trend should help in reducing the dependency on cheap food got from ill treated animals. Read More