Humane Meat? No such thing.
Kristy Watkins
English 2 MoWe
8/23/11
In this overly industrialized high-tech world, there’s one thing that most people don’t realize has been streamlined, almost to the point of becoming what should technically be called the world’s most streamlined killing machine. Literally billions of animals are slaughtered for food products every year. The animals are born into slavery, raised on the cheapest food, packing on pounds at astonishing and unnatural rate. Chickens which should take about 18 weeks to become large enough to eat are now being fed up to market weight as young as 7 weeks of age. 1
America is one of the most carnivorous countries on the planet, with meat centered meals all day every day. This country’s average person eats an estimated 215 pounds of meat per year. 2 Most of these people blissfully put it out of their heads the atrocities perpetrated on animals by the meat industry. The cramped, filthy conditions, the diseases that are either ignored or treated with mega-doses of antibiotics, the abuse by workers who are frustrated by dealing with thousands of animals who are confused, sick, and injured. These nightmares of life are placed firmly out of mind while the average American bites into a burger or chicken ‘finger’.
In the article I chose, “Humane Meat? No Such Thing,” the idea was raised that it is better for the animals to be raised more humanely, the way that would be envisioned if one thought of “Old MacDonald’s Farm”. They would be treated better, allowed to be free roaming, to grow at a more natural rate, fed better food, and then killed in a more humane method, if there is such a thing. The idea is, of course that this is better for the animals and more ethical.
Part of the problem with this method is that at the rate that Americans eat meat, there is no way to give all the animals we eat the adequate room to be considered humane. For instance, humane standards would require each chicken gets 5 square feet of space3, but common factory farm practices give them a mere 130 square inches4. That’s less than one foot by slightly more than one foot, only enough room for the animal to stand up, sit down, and turn around if its neighbor will move a little. The majority of Americans would have to commit to becoming a vegan so that some others could enjoy humanely raised animals on their plate because otherwise there would not be enough room for them all.
Another problem is that no matter how well the animal is treated, being robbed of its life is never humane, it is always depriving an animal of something that is so basic, and it is astonishing that we would even think to take it from the animal. This animal is so simple and innocent; they only want one real thing, to live free and happy. They perpetrate no crimes against man but are habitually given the death sentence, often in the most brutal ways possible. How is it fair of us to determine whether a living being deserves to live or not? I don’t believe it is.
When I hear the words “humane killing” I feel like it’s one of the most disgusting oxymorons, it evokes a sense of self righteousness and a sense of entitlement to people, they think because the animal dies in a way that a human deems “okay” that it is what the animal would have wanted. Or perhaps they don’t even care what the animal would want. I don’t think it is necessary or good for anyone involved to continue to eat meat at the pace with which America does. In the end, I don’t think there is such a thing as “humane meat”.
Citations:
Article of Choice: Humane Meat? No Such Thing
1. Factory farming facts; http://www.animalsuffering.com/resources/facts/factory-farming.php
2. A look at the average American meat consumption; http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-11-14-3913750537_x.htm
3. How much space does a chicken need?; http://www.citygirlfarming.com/Chickens/HowMuchSpaceDoesAChickenTake.html
4. Chickens on the factory farm; http://www.mspca.org/programs/animal-protection-legislation/animal-welfare/farm-animal-welfare/factory-farming/chicken/chickens-on-the-factory-farm.html
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