Animal mistreatment is a major problem in our food system. Animals often live in awful conditions on farms. They are forced to live and sleep on concrete, stand in their own waste, and barely have room to walk. They also have little access to fresh air and pastures and are fed harmful antibiotics.

Slaughterhouses are also often unsanitary. The animals are slaughtered quickly and many at a time, which means mistakes such as animals being killed before being unconscious and being skinned alive after merely being stunned can be common.
Slaughterhouses also sometimes produce meat contaminated with feces and bodily fluids.

Not only is animal mistreatment bad for the animals themselves but it also has major effects on human health, the environment, and family farmers. In terms of human health, animals are often fed large doses of antibiotics to fight e coli, salmonella, and other bacterias. But the misuse and abuse of antibiotics causes a dependency on them which leads to the potential for new antibiotic-resistant bacterias that threaten human health when this meat is eaten.

In terms of the environment, according to the aspca, “Waste from large-scale confinement farms pollutes the water, land and air in neighboring communities, compromising both human health and quality of life.” These facilities use large amounts of fossil fuels, which also negatively affects the environment.

Family farmers are also affected. Large corporate industries have wiped out many small, family farmers and independent farms. There are now many more animals on farms than there are farmers, making individual animal care impossible. Contract systems have made it difficult for the individual farmers working for larger companies to decide how their animals are treated and what happens to them, and these farmers are often trapped in oppressive debt.

Ag-Gag laws are anti-whistleblower laws. They make it illegal to secretly film animal abuse in factories, which ultimately limits freedom of speech. These laws were legal in many states but have since been outlawed. However, some parts of this law are still legal in Iowa. For example, it is illegal to use misrepresentation to gain employment or obtain records with the intent of causing harm to a farm’s “business interest” or property.

In order to fully protect the rights of animals, these laws need to be outlawed.
If not, our food system will continue to suffer.