Life on the farm isn't what it used to be.

[spadlet]

Generally, when considering industrial practices it is a good idea to divide things into the following categories:

Practices recommended by the law and thier consequences
Practices not mentioned by the law and their consequences
Practices banned by the law and the use of those practices despite the ban.

Many countries have some for of Animal Welfare Law. The United States of America, which is the area the video seemed to target has it's Animal Welfare Act and Regulations publically available on the internet at Animal Welfare Act and Regulations

The United States of America also have a Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act of 1958 which can be viewed here: US CODE--TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE

The video states that 'chickens are shackeled and have their throats cut often whilst conscious'.
For cows 'at slaughter their throats are slit open and many are skinned and dismembered whilst stil fully conscious'
'Pigs that aren't growing fast enough, called fall behinds, are killed by being thrown against a concrete floor' with an image of the activity occuring with fully concious pigs in the same pen so it is difficult to determine whether the thrown pig is concious.
All of the above practices shown in the video are illegal according to the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act which states

(a) in the case of cattle, calves, horses, mules, sheep, swine,
and other livestock, all animals are rendered insensible to pain by
a single blow or gunshot or an electrical, chemical or other means
that is rapid and effective, before being shackled, hoisted, thrown,
cast, or cut; or
(b) by slaughtering in accordance with the ritual requirements
of the Jewish faith or any other religious faith that prescribes a
method of slaughter whereby the animal suffers loss of consciousness
by anemia of the brain caused by the simultaneous and instantaneous
severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp instrument and
handling in connection with such slaughtering.

A good reaction to anyone showing mistreatment of animals and stating that it is condoned by the law is often to ask them to point out which part of the law condones it. In any industry there are people that flout the law and they may not neccessarily get picked up on their behaviour due to issues such as a limit on enforcement capabilities. If the images you are seeing are people that are not following the legal guideline, or deliberately breaking the law, then for starters the evidence should be documented properly and submitted to the relevant authorites.

If the law condones the mistreatment of animals then maybe it's worth suggesting a change to the law?

A number of certification schemes for food from animals which are supposed to have been bred, reared and or kept in better conditions than those permitted by the law are also in opperation such as Freedom Foods Certification in the UK RSPCA || Freedom Food

Would people like to further examine the laws that various countries have regarding the rearing, keeping and slaughter of livestock? Or further analyse the video?

[LMagic007]

I only viewed a portion of the video, but it was clear it depicted a number of scenes that could be considered cruel, in fact to some people I suspect disturbing. But each to their own view. It's certainly nothing that should be hidden behind closed doors. It should be out there for all to form a view on, good, bad or indifferent. Suffice to say, it must be a surreal moment in time, to be a chicken on a factory production line about to get the chop. There are scenes of many chickens in single cages cages. Electric prods used on cattle, branding of live cattle, clearly giving rise to pain.

As I said, people have different standards of what constitutes cruelty, but also I guess the notion of public morality might play a part in shaping the majority of views. Also as Spadlet indicated, there are laws and regulations that govern live animal treatment in the context of farming and production. I think one important thing is that we don't shy away from information even if appearing extreme, though by all means be critical in whatever area one deems appropriate if one chooses. It was an eye opener to me because I had not really given great thought to such matters and had not seen some of the scenes presented.

Clearly the video appears to be designed to be confronting, nothing wrong with that in itself though. Yes the site is pro vegetarian, so you would expect their views to influence the video, just as a pro farming or meat lobby would put their own gloss on things. I'm not suggesting all the scenes in the video reflect common practice, though I would not be surprised if a number of them did. Obviously if one is going to eat meat, one has to think that somewhere along the line the animal will be killed. No issue there, but in terms of the farming methods and live processing methods prior to slaughter, as I said and without casting stern judgement, an eye opener for me.

The link is not loading at the moment, perhaps it's getting too many hits. I also need to check my download amount. If I have some spare bandwidth at the end of the month I might be able to get a better account of it.

[LMagic007]

Live export of sheep to the Middle East, has been quite controversial at times in Australia.

RSPCA Victoria: Campaigns / Live Animal Export Trade

[UrbanFarmboy]

I wonder if this same group would shreik at our ancestors who used rocks and sticks to gore and bash animals to death so they could be eaten?

There is a difference between killing animals for food and deliberatly making an animal suffer before they are killed. I will not defend animal cruelty, but I will take issue o how its defined.

[LMagic007]

As should everyone that cares about important matters like cruelty toward man and beast. Of course definitions vary around the world, so I suspect it will always be a challenging issue. People should feel free to highlight the good methods and examples in addition to the bad.

[Cricket Tragic]

Originally Posted by LMagic007

Clearly the video appears to be designed to be confronting, nothing wrong with that in itself though. Yes the site is pro vegetarian, so you would expect their views to influence the video, just as a pro farming or meat lobby would put their own gloss on things. I'm not suggesting all the scenes in the video reflect common practice, though I would not be surprised if a number of them did.

To maintain that certain practices are common in an industry, when they are in fact uncommon and illegal is called lying in my book. Your moral code may find lying OK if it is meant to be confronting, mine doesn't.

I don't think there is anything much more to say on this.

[Myrtti]

I haven't watched the video, but I just have to say that you can never generalise things like these. I'm not saying that these kind of things don't happen, but it's important to remember that most farms take care of their animals as well as they can. And those who don't often have personal "human life" problems behind them. In most cases where animals have been poorly treated on farms the farmer has had mental issues / alcoholism / something else and has become kind-of-unable to take care of the creatures that in the end bring the food to the farmer's table. In Finland there was a video filmed by animal rights activists which was shown on tv. The point of the film was to show "how badly things are on pig farms". Later the whole thing went to police investigation and none of the farms accused for cruelty to animals had no signs of such practise. And also if you really have a properly working farm you probably also have a vet visiting your farm quite often. And at least here they monitor how animals are being taken care of on farms quite well.

[LMagic007]

Originally Posted by Cricket Tragic

To maintain that certain practices are common in an industry, when they are in fact uncommon and illegal is called lying in my book. Your moral code may find lying OK if it is meant to be confronting, mine doesn't.

I don't think there is anything much more to say on this.

I'm not aware such practices depicted in the video were said to be common. In fact I suspect the video might depict some practices that may be more isolated. Thus on your reasoning it seems no such lies could exist. Further more as I understand, you have not viewed the video. However I would still not be surprised if some of the practices were more common than others. Not surprised at all.

[Cricket Tragic]

Originally Posted by LMagic007

I'm not aware such practices depicted in the video were said to be common. In fact I suspect the video might depict some practices that may be more isolated. Thus on your reasoning it seems no such lies could exist. Further more as I understand, you have not viewed the video. However I would still not be surprised if some of the practices were more common than others. Not surprised at all.

When I watched the video (yes I did eventually watch it and it was not in any way different to what I expected), it certainly indicated that these practices were common in the industry.

The fact that some practices might be more common than others, does not equate to the practices depicted being commonly employed. That was such a silly comment, it was barely worth responding to.

[LMagic007]

Originally Posted by Cricket Tragic

When I watched the video (yes I did eventually watch it and it was not in any way different to what I expected), it certainly indicated that these practices were common in the industry.

The fact that some practices might be more common than others, does not equate to the practices depicted being commonly employed. That was such a silly comment, it was barely worth responding to.

See it as you wish, each to their own. I have seen no proof presented in this thread that indicates any of the practices as not common, nor that they are common, though I would not be surprised if some of the depicted practices were common and or widespread.