THERE has been recent Postbag correspondence regarding the regrettable incident of animal cruelty on a local farm.

This has horrified some people, but this pales into insignificance compared with the mass cruelty inherent in factory farming.

Generally speaking, small traditional farms do care for their stock, to the extent of treating animals as individuals, even giving each cow a name.
Factory farming is a different matter altogether. It is by far the biggest cause of animal cruelty on the planet.

Cruelty is systematic in that the creatures involved are kept in conditions unrelated to their natural environment, often in cramped, unhygienic conditions, which then require chemical antidotes like antibiotics to prevent disease and/or hormones to promote growth.


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This particularly relates to laying hens, broiler chickens, ducks and pigs. In big dairy farms too, cows are pushed to high production limits, their natural cycles disrupted and calves removed at 24 hours old.

These animals are treated as commodities rather than the sentient beings they were legally recognised, as in 1997.

Regardless of this, their individual physical and emotional needs are given no consideration at all.

If you find these particular practices you might consider supporting charities campaigning against them, e.g. Compassion in World Farming or ViVal, and/or you could become a vegetarian and enjoy a healthier lifestyle.

MARY BROWN
Bishops Hull 
Taunton