Aren farm animals raised humanely?
Conditions on factory farms and at slaughterhouses are deplorable. Most farm animals live in cramped, filthy quarters that do not allow for even the most basic needs such as fresh air, sunshine, sanitary conditions, unrestrained movement, natural mating, suckling offspring, or developing normal social behaviors. For example, laying hens are typically housed in bare wire cages stacked several rows deep in huge, stifling warehouses. Four to five birds are crammed into each cage making it impossible for them to walk, stretch their wings or roost. Excrement drops onto the birds below creating a cesspool of squalor and a choking stench that damages the hens’ delicate lungs. These crowded conditions lead to stress-related fighting, pecking cannibalism, illness and disease, including the development of harmful pathogens, such as salmonella, that infect both the chicken and her eggs. At the slaughterhouse, the chickens are either boiled alive or bled to death while fully conscious. Similar har
