The Ugly Side of Dairy Factory Farming

I have to give a warning before you read this article. It is disturbing, it will make your stomach turn and it will make you think twice about the food you are giving your children. Reality is not always nice but everyone has a right to know. Everyone has a right to find ways to protect their families.

Every day in America someone gets fined or imprisoned for animal cruelty. If someone smacks a dog or they neglect a cat the animal protection services will come knocking at your door. It's illegal to harm animals or to treat them in cruel and unusual ways. With that being said, how are these factory farms still able to be in business?

The definition of factory farming is as simple as it's name, high quantity of animals, high quantity of product, pumped out with enormous modern technology with little thought to anyone or anything. Factory farms are also known as confined animal feeding operations (CAFO's). The only factor in these farms is profit. Profit that is increased every time we buy a product they produce. Product's produced with no care about the animal or the consumer, just their money.

The dairy cows that are born, raised and forced to live in these enviorments are treated horribly. They usually get a small stall to live out their entire life in. This stall is not even large enough for the animal to lay down. They have their tails chopped off so the auto milker can be lowered and placed without a distraction. There is no room for them to even move. The animals are impregnated at least once a year. While the cow is still lactating from the previous birth they are impregnated again. These same cows are given hormones (BGH,which is a growth hormone) and high energy feed to up their milk production. This in itself causes not only the animal health problems but anyone who would drink the milk. (Did you ever wonder why children go through puberty at such young age's now? Well, BGH is your answer).

Diseases such as milk fever, Bovine Leukemia Virus, Bovine Immunodeficiency Virus,Johne's disease and mastitis are prominent at these farms. Many of these diseases go on without detection.

When large amounts of animals are housed, as in the way the factory farms have them, there poses another problem; animal waste and lot's of it. The chemical, bacterial, and viral compounds from animal waste may travel in the soil,air and water. People who live near these farms deal with the odors and flies, as well as adverse health effects. No one wants to live near one of these farms and yet anyone who is unlucky enough to have one open up near them, can not sell their home.

All of this cruelty to our dairy cows causes their life span to be shortened. Once upon a time ago a dairy cow who was allowed out in the pasture to graze, be in the sunshine, walk around, lived up to 25 years. Now these caged milking machines live up to 4 years before being hauled off, slaughtered and ground into your next hamburger.

The next time you hand your toddler a sippy cup filled with milk or the next time your family sits down to enjoy a juicy steak dinner, think about where those things came from and think about what exactly you are allowing them to consume.