What are factory farm animals injected with?
In factory dairies, cows spend their entire lives confined to concrete. To boost production, some cows are injected with the growth hormone rBGH or rBST, which increases a cow’s likelihood of developing lameness and mastitis, a painful infection of the udder.
Is factory-farmed meat unhealthy?
Factory farms and the contamination that they produce cause illnesses in humans that range from brain damage and depression to miscarriage and birth defects. They are also responsible for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections and severe respiratory problems.
What is a problem with factory farming of animals?
As a result, factory farms are associated with various environmental hazards, such as water, land and air pollution. The pollution from animal waste causes respiratory problems, skin infections, nausea, depression, and even death for people who live near factory farms.
How are animals treated on factory farms?
On factory farms, animals are subjected to routine mutilations, extreme confinement, and are otherwise manipulated to benefit human consumers. These practices are generally harmful to the animals.
What are the dangers to humans from factory farms?
The conditions on a typical factory farm – where animals are forced to live in close proximity to one another in cramped spaces – facilitate the spread of bacterial pathogens such as E. coli and Salmonella. These can cause gastroenteritis in humans and, in extreme cases, death.
What are the problems with factory farming?
Waste from factory farms pollutes the water, land and air in neighboring communities, compromising both human health and environmental integrity. Additionally, these facilities consume massive quantities of finite resources, including water and fossil fuels, while releasing a number of harmful emissions.
How are animals killed in factory farms?
In industrial slaughterhouses, chickens are killed prior to scalding by being passed through an electrified water-bath while shackled. This method can be used for sheep, calves and swine. The animal is asphyxiated by the use of CO2 gas before being killed. In several countries, CO2 stunning is mainly used on pigs.
What do farm chemicals do to animals?
Farmers spray agricultural chemicals onto food grown for animals in order to kill bugs, rodents, weeds, and other organisms that would otherwise supplant or eat the grain grown for the animals. They also apply these substances directly to animals’ skin, fur or feathers to combat insect infestation. [13]
What chemicals are used in animal feed production?
Most food produced for animals is grown using a combination of untreated animal waste and synthetic fertilizers, both of which contain excessive amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and heavy metals (such as zinc, copper, chromium, arsenic, cadmium, and lead). [18]
What are factory farms doing to the environment?
Factory farms dump tens of millions of tons of animal waste and agricultural chemicals into the environment every year—driving land, water and air pollution in the process:
What are the chemicals in cattle litter?
This waste may contain drugs such as antibiotics and hormones that have passed unchanged through the animals’ bodies. The poultry litter that is fed to cattle contains rendered cattle parts in the form of digested poultry feed and spilled poultry feed.