Existing comment:
Animal Welfare
Raising Food Animals:
In recent decades, the way we raise food animals has changed in some places. Increasingly, livestock are raised by large-scale operations in which thousands of animals are housed inside enclosed structures. These systems can be efficient at producing meat and animal products at relatively love cost. But there are other costs -- namely, the creation of concentrated animal wastes and concerns about the health and welfare of the animals, farmworkers and consumers.
Animals raised in this way face crowded conditions and numerous diseases. Antibiotics are used to combat these diseases and to promote faster growth. In the United States, up to 80 percent of the antibiotics given annually go to food animals. Alternative systems in which food animals are treated humanely can address welfare concerns and provide animal products that are healthier and safer for human consumption. |