I see why #3 (P. E. Bootcheen) reached the conclusion that we should all switch to vegetarian diets, but to me this is no kind of answer to the problem. Moderate consumption of meat and animal products must be able to co-exist with humane, ecologically-sustainable farming of animals for human consumption.

What’s most fault here are badly or unregulated farms that just are raising too many animals per day for too small a return per head. It’s not the total answer of course, but simply putting in place much more limiting restrictions on the number of animals per farm, the number of square metres allocated to each animal, etc, would help a lot. Of course it would drive up the price of meat and animal products, but that is a good thing. It would help lower the consumption of meat and animal products.

I hate that we are so cruel to animals, and we sicken everyone – even those who try to stop animal cruelty and improve their own health. Many people feel they won’t survive on this planet without having to kill and consume animals. Most people refuse to watch the videos or look at the images, and turn their heads as though ignorance is bliss, not irresponsible.

Egotism, undying egotism. I wonder if humans will ever stop assuming they have the right to do whatever they want. It makes me feel quite bitter.

Thank you for this great article and bringing this topic to life. Many of us have seen the horrendous abuse that exists on typical farms. It takes a cold hearted and cold blooded person to kill. Desensitization must occur to kill and raise innocent beings as lifestock.

This is a separate issues from the cleanliness issues of course…but don’t worry thinking about the life of a pig and how a being meant to live outdoors with nose in the grass finding bugs, roots and nestled up to close companions would feel.

It is all about humanity….humanity…humanity…humanity…men who think the world is at their disposal….

Anyone who has experience with pigs, and a sense of history about farming, knows that one of the most striking features of modern pig farms, large and intense, is how clean the animals are. Air (inside) is kept fresh with computer controlled ventilation. Food and water are ad lib. If anything, these animals are sensory deprived, which admittedly is part of an animal welfare critique, but they are not stressed.

There is not one credible study, including the ones sited, that directly ties increased respiratory disease to living near pig farms. No lawyer worth two cents would allow that kind of fact to go unlitigated.

The increase in sub-therapeutic antibiotic use began in the 60’s and was for growth promotion. This is not a defense of the practice, but tying it to the flu is disingenuous.

The truth is that confined animal farming is one of our best defenses against the spread of infectious disease. New viruses are far more likely to mix and spread where multiple species – pigs, poultry, humans, wild birds, other wildlife – come in close and continuous contact. This is why Asia has been the epicenter of the last few outbreaks. Open air butcher shops and live animals at consumer markets are also part of the mix. And in Africa, where the majority of recent new viral appearances have occurred, factory farming is nearly non-existent. Africans are encroaching on and living nearer and among wild animals, and they are eating them in record amounts.

If, for whatever reason, you believe that raising animals for food is immoral, then you can come up with all kinds of stories that sound rational to those lacking first hand experience with the issue. They are extremely effective rhetoric. That doesn’t make them true.

It is amazing that anyone could have ever thought that such huge numbers of animals could be confined in such deplorable conditions without consequences eventually arising for their human tormentors. This could only have arisen by denying that these are living, breathing animals and not mere machines.

The suffering of the animals on these “flu farms” should be enough to shut them down but if our collective sense of compassion is so utterly defiicient that this is not enough to prompt action, there is also a large element of self-interest that should likewise bring us to the same conclusion.

Moral problems are only difficult when there is a conflict of genuine interests…in this case, everyone’s interest lies in ending animal agriculture.

Very informative.