Personal Development
Animal Husbandry: Reality Check
for related topics, visit:
- animal agriculture, omnivorous diets and environmental impacts
- what covid-19, other pandemics and pathogens have to do with consumption of animal products and animal farming
- background and reasoning for going vegan plus useful vegan resources and recipes
- research on plant-based nutrition and health
- veganic farming with examples
- Regenerative Farming: For Taste Buds and Profit or Ethics and Sustainability?
“Bei anderen Nutztieren zeigt sich ein Ă€hnliches Bild: Bis zu 39 Prozent aller MilchkĂŒhe leiden an schmerzhaften Erkrankungen der Klauen. Bei jeder zweiten Milchkuh in einem Bio-Stall wurden EuterentzĂŒndungen festgestellt. Bis zu 97 Prozent aller Legehennen weisen KnochenbrĂŒche auf â in KĂ€fighaltung ebenso wie in der Bio-Haltung. ”
English translation:
Organic animals also get sick en masse.
“A similar picture emerges for other livestock: up to 39 percent of all dairy cows suffer from painful hoof diseases. Inflammation of the udder was found in every second dairy cow in an organic barn. Up to 97 percent of all laying hens have broken bones â in cages as well as in organic farming.
Eggs, milk and meat from these sick animals still end up in supermarkets in large numbers, without consumers being aware of this.”
“Keel bone fractures (KBF) in commercial poultry production systems are a major welfare problem with possible economic consequences for the poultry industry. Recent investigations suggest that the overall situation may be worsening. Depending on the housing system, fracture prevalences exceeding 80% have been reported from different countries. ”
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0256105
FSA: 4,000 major breaches of animal welfare laws at UK abattoirs in two years
Pigs and chickens were boiled alive at slaughterhouses, animal welfare report reveals
whistleblower on slaughterhouse regulations
“data reveals more than a quarter of slaughterhouses – 29% – have failed a key hygiene regulation around preventing contamination. Some of the plants are run by companies which supply big brands including M&S, Asda, McDonalds and Waitrose among others.”
“in 2016 more than 30 abattoirs refused to let FSA vets see film of animals being killed, according to an investigation by The Times”
“”The general public need to know that inspectors and vets are dealing with physical and verbal abuse, damage to property“
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-09-19/blowing-the-whistle-on-the-meat-industry
hidden abuse of animals
âThe overall impression given is of routine poor practice in premises barely fit for purpose.â
Alick Simmons, Former Deputy Cheif Veterinary Officer
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/08/secret-abattoir-video-animal-abuse
“they die, piece by piece”
“primary sense-organ clipped at day old”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/24/real-cost-of-roast-chicken-animal-welfare-farms
“Slaughterhouse pigs choke on gas meant to stun them”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/slaughterhouse-pigs-choke-on-gas-meant-to-stun-them-xvx22jrdx
Vets: abuse of, pressure to remain silent
“An industry source told the Bureau there was âplenty of day-to-day abuse that is just accepted as part of the culture and environment.â
Factory farm vets:
“They have become servants of the industrial farming machine, they are the technicians that are called in to fix things before they break down, to patch things up and keep the system going.
Their job is to keep animals healthy for long enough to be productive. They cannot afford to upset their clients by accusing them of institutional cruelty – to do so would be professional suicide. The system remains self-reinforcing.”
https://theecologist.org/2014/dec/01/it-shouldnt-happen-factory-farm-vet
“Nach einer Anzeige der Soko Tierschutz ist der Betrieb durch die Kontrollbehörden sofort geschlossen worden. Umweltminister Glauber spricht von “schockierenden Bildern” und fordert “hartes und konsequentes Eingreifen”
EU-Subventionen an verurteilte TierquÀler/innen
https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/ndr-wdr/eu-agrarsubventionen-tierquaelerei-101.html
“Der aufrĂŒttelnde Film zeigte nicht nur mit dem Finger auf ein paar schwarze Schafe, sondern die AuswĂŒchse komplexer globaler Fehlentwicklungen, die vermutlich nicht mehr so einfach zu stoppen sind und mit uns allen als Gesellschaft, aber fraglos auch mit jedem einzelnen Konsumenten zu tun haben.” – MSN
Skandal auf Schlachthof: Ărzte quĂ€lten Rinder mit Elektroschocks
âHunderte Verfahren eingestelltâ (von Behörde)
https://taz.de/Soko-Tierschutz-zeigt-Staatsanwalt-an/!5898923/
9%+Â Fehlbeteubung in Deutschland
“40 Prozent der Tiere wachen beim Zerlegen auf”
Ministerium stoppte Zwangsgeld
“Das ist eine riesengroĂe Sauerei. Der Minister hat sein Amt schamlos missbraucht und damit die Fortsetzung der TierquĂ€lerei ermöglicht”
https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/fakt/zwangsgeld-schlachthof-101.html
Eine Qual – mit amtlicher Genehmigung
Eier – KĂŒkentöten
“Wer selbst beim Einkauf darauf achten möchte, Eier ohne KĂŒkentötung zu kaufen, kann sich bei deutschen Eiern trotz Verbots hierzulande nicht sicher sein. “
https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/kuekentoeten-kuekenschreddern-gefluegel-foodwatch-102.html
Dairy
âAnimal Equalityâs investigators have witnessed on countless occasions cows who are unable to walk or stand,â Lockie states. âWe have filmed workers forcing lame cows to walk, and hitting them with shovels when they could not. We have documented farms refusing to euthanize sick cows who are in agonizing pain, leaving them to suffer overnight.â
Lameness refers to an inability to use limbs. Cows who suffer are unable to walk properly, and often cannot stand up. Many develop the condition after being forced to stand on hard surfaces for long periods of time while being milked. Lameness also occurs due to injury, ineffective hoof trimming, or infectious disease.
It is thought that around 30 percent of cows used in the dairy industry suffer from the condition.
New ExposĂ© Shines Light On Lameness âEpidemicâ Among Dairy Cows
Impact of genetic selection for high yields of milk
“Dairy cows may continue to be economically productive for many lactation cycles. In theory a longevity of 10 lactations is possible. The chances of problems arising which may lead to a cow being culled are high, however; the average herd life of US Holstein is today fewer than 3 lactations. This requires more herd replacements to be reared or purchased. Over 90% of all cows are slaughtered for 4 main reasons:
- Infertility â failure to conceive and reduced milk production.
- Cows are at their most fertile between 60 and 80 days after calving. Cows remaining “open” (not with calf) after this period become increasingly difficult to breed, which may be due to poor health. Failure to expel the afterbirth from a previous pregnancy, luteal cysts, or metritis, an infection of the uterus, are common causes of infertility.
- Mastitis â a persistent and potentially fatal mammary gland infection, leading to high somatic cell counts and loss of production.
- Mastitis is recognized by a reddening and swelling of the infected quarter of the udder and the presence of whitish clots or pus in the milk. Treatment is possible with long-acting antibiotics but milk from such cows is not marketable until drug residues have left the cow’s system, also called withdrawal period.
- Lameness â persistent foot infection or leg problems causing infertility and loss of production.
- High feed levels of highly digestible carbohydrate cause acidic conditions in the cow’s rumen. This leads to laminitis and subsequent lameness, leaving the cow vulnerable to other foot infections and problems which may be exacerbated by standing in faeces or water soaked areas.
- Production â some animals fail to produce economic levels of milk to justify their feed costs.
- Production below 12 to 15Â L of milk per day is not economically viable.[citation needed]
Cow longevity is strongly correlated with production levels.[25] Lower production cows live longer than high production cows, but may be less profitable. Cows no longer wanted for milk production are sent to slaughter. Their meat is of relatively low value and is generally used for processed meat. Another factor affecting milk production is the stress the cow is faced with.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairy_cattle
Use of flame to burn udder hair
FISH
The âenormousâ lack of information is âgoing to translate into extreme suffering for individual animalsâ, said report co-author Becca Franks, a research scientist at New York University.
The report, published in the journal Science Advances, found that a failure to provide the right environment and to handle aquatic animals correctly can lead to birth defects, restricted mobility, aggressive behaviour and extreme pain during slaughter.
Conditions for workers in slaughterhouses
“Largest outbreak in Canada” (….”In the U.S., rates of coronavirus infection are 75 per cent higher in rural counties housing large beef, pork and poultry-processing plants”)
Outbreak in German slaughterhouses
1500+ infected
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/22/business/meat-plant-germany-coronavirus-outbreak/index.html
exploitation of workers at Tönnies (site of major Corona outbreak)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53177628
Rund 300 Mitarbeiter positiv Heftiger Corona-Ausbruch in Schlachthof
“American slaughterhouse workers are three times more likely to suffer serious injury than the average American worker.”
“Working at slaughterhouses often leads to a high amount of psychological trauma”
“in the UK 78 slaughter workers lost fingers, parts of fingers or limbs, more than 800 workers had serious injuries, and at least 4,500 had to take more than three days off after accidents.[29] In a 2018 study in the Italian Journal of Food Safety, slaughterhouse workers are instructed to wear ear protectors to protect their hearing from the constant screams of animals being killed.[30] A 2004 study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that “excess risks were observed for mortality from all causes, all cancers, and lung cancer” in workers employed in the New Zealand meat processing industry.[31]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse
Trauma, psychosis, intense shock amongst slaughterhouse workers
“Two abattoir workers tortured two acquaintances to death before mutilating them in a “gruesome echo” of their butchery work, a court has heard. ”
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-63576414
A Call to Action: Psychological Harm in Slaughterhouse Workers
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-50986683
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4841092/
LOBBYISM IN AGRICULTURE
“Die deutsche Agrarlobby: verfilzt, intransparent und wenig am Gemeinwohl orientiert”
https://www.nabu.de/natur-und-landschaft/landnutzung/landwirtschaft/agrarpolitik/26321.html
Coronavirus and other pathogen outbreaks from animal-farming /-consumption
[GTranslate]
for related topics, visit:
- animal agriculture, omnivorous diets and environmental impacts
- background and reasoning for going vegan plus useful vegan resources and recipes
- animal ethics and worker conditions in animal farming
- research on plant-based nutrition and health
(links to media on pathogens below)
We can see below the dangers of farming and eating animals just from zoonotic diseases beside supporting the greatest damage to the environment, to health and animal suffering. A pandemic scenario very similar to that of Covid-19 was warned of in 2007. Without animal farming (especially industrial) and consumption of animal-products, pandemic outbreaks are highly unlikely to occur, or, if the highly plausible lab-leak theory is correct, highly dangerous gain of function research would have no excuse to be allowed to continue, and specifically the covid pandemic would have been prevented in this way. Meat markets / factory farms and even slaughterhouses are often infested with pathogens. Abnormal high density of infected animals, their transportation and contact with humans results in optimal pathogen-spreading and mutations. An additional dilemma is the high usage of antibiotics in industrial farms to fight pathogens, which is the main cause of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, considered as a major threat by WHO, potentially killing millions in the coming years.1 2 3 4 “Drug-resistant infections know no borders and do not respect barriers between industry, regulators and buyers, or between animals, humans and their wider environment”5
Spanish flu 1918 â wild birds to poultry farms to humans
https://www.nature.com/news/study-revives-bird-origin-for-1918-flu-pandemic-1.14723
or swine plus humans
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2014.14723
How Denmark significantly reduced its death-rate by cutting out meat, alcohol and reducing dairy herds by one third due to wartime shortages:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikkel_Hindhede
(Note that meat consumption in industrialised countries was considerably less in the early 20th century, an era before intensive agriculture and factory farming. Therefore reduction of dairy herds by a third would mean minimal dairy intake and is therefore not comparable with 2022)
In Denmark the Spanish Influenza pandemic claimed just 0.2% of the population
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181023-the-places-that-escaped-the-spanish-flu
“Recent studies have, by comparing international mortality levels for 1918, noted that Denmark stands out as the country with the lowest levels of excess mortality [2,3].”
https://paa2008.princeton.edu/papers/81563
17% death rate reduction from non-epidemic causes 1917 and 34% in 1918 (pandemic year)
SARS 2002 – bats/civet cat-eating/farming to humans
https://www.who.int/ith/diseases/sars/en/
swine flu 2009 – pig farms to humans
https://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/information_h1n1_virus_qa.htm
swine flu origins in intensive pig farming
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/28/swine-flu-intensive-farming-caroline-lucas
Current threats and examples of continuous problem
Fur Farms and Covid-19 spread
Deadliest Avian Flu Outbreak In US History Kills Over 52 Million Birds
Bird flu
Human infectedvia cows in USA:
https://utopia.de/news/vogelgrippe-mann-steckt-sich-bei-infizierten-milchkuehen-an_669190/
“Der Biogeograf und Ornithologe Peter Petermann, der sich seit Jahren mit dem Thema beschĂ€ftigt, bezweifelt dagegen die Zugvogel-Hypothese. Viel naheliegender sei die Verbreitung ĂŒber die GeflĂŒgelindustrie, argumentiert er. Die Möglichkeit der Verbreitung bei den GeflĂŒgeltransporten werde aber möglicherweise aus RĂŒcksichtnahme auf den wichtigen Agrarwirtschaftszweig weitestgehend ausgeklammert, kritisiert Petermann auch an die Adresse des FLI. »Es wird zu wenig untersucht, wie die Ausbreitungswege in der GeflĂŒgelwirtschaft wirklich sind.«
Petermann sieht beispielsweise in GeflĂŒgeltransporten auf der StraĂe gefĂ€hrliche Ăbertragungswege. Durch die notwendige BelĂŒftung fĂŒr die dicht gedrĂ€ngt eingepferchten Tiere entstĂŒnden auch ideale Bedingungen fĂŒr die Verbreitung von Viren ĂŒber groĂe Entfernungen. Auch am StraĂenrand verstreute Federn aus den Transporten quer durch Europa seien ideale Wege zur Weiterverbreitung. Ein weiteres Problem entstehe, wenn ein Ausbruch nicht erkannt werde und die toten HĂŒhner oder Puten im Zuge der Entsorgung beispielsweise zu DĂŒnger oder Fischfutter weiterverarbeitet wĂŒrden.”
â backyard chickens
Avian flu origins in animal-farming
“At least eight types of bird flu, all of which can kill humans, are circulating around the worldâs factory farms â and they could be worse than Covid-19”
UK has more than 1000 mega-farms
“Cromie said that while improving biosecurity was the best short-term solution, the authorities should be looking at how these viruses originate in and are amplified by industrial meat production. Britain slaughters more than 1 billion chickens every year.”
Virus causing âhigh levels of mortalityâ in birds, with risk to chickens and other poultry
Fatal strain of bird flu outbreak S.Carolina
General outbreak (in German)
African Swine Fever outbreak in Poland April 2020
Antibioticresistant bacteria in pig feces as fertiliser (German)
Die nĂ€chste Pandemie könnte aus dem HĂŒhnerstall kommen
Christian Drosten, virologist at Berliner Charité (article in German)
âDer aktuelle Grund sollte jetzt sehr ĂŒberzeugend sein, notwendige VerĂ€nderungen in Angriff zu nehmen. Das Problem ist der Fleischhunger in der sich ausweitenden Gesellschaft.â
âThe current reason should now be very convincing to make the necessary changes. The problem is the desire for meat in an expanding society. ”
“Zudem warnte der Virologe angesichts der Tierhaltung weltweit vor weiteren Pandemien. Diese biete “ideale Bedingungen fĂŒr ein Virus, um sich an den Menschen anzupassen”.
Darum dĂŒrfen wir nicht nur auf Asien und die Schleichkatzen zeigen oder auf die Kamele im Orient. Was wir hier mit den Schweinen machen, ist auch nicht gut.”
°Eine wachsende Menschheit mit wachsendem Fleischhunger berge das Risiko fĂŒr kĂŒnftige Pandemien, so Drosten.”
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/panorama/corona-drosten-interview-zeit-schulschliessungen-100.html
MERS (H1N1) 2012 â bats to camel farms to humans
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/5/140513-mers-saudi-camels-health-contagion-spillover-bats-disease/?fbclid=IwAR3OLavNP6fNht42PIupqvVbatIBKiM8YW-VEKeSsqDa8gcpshYbFOVlRUE
Covid-19 (“Coronavirus”) 2019 â bat-eating / pangolin farms
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00364-2?fbclid=IwAR3U8ebx6B5HBMXjrPq9W6HZJerxtCOroSqE1FMGykjBsZkkXLCdIZucWs4
“for a precursor virus … an animal host would probably have to have a high population density (for natural selection to be efficient)…”.
Spread via slaughterhouses?
“the single-biggest source of coronavirus cases in the U.S.”
Smithfield Hit With Lawsuit for Failing to Protect Pork Factory Workers From COVID-19
“Largest outbreak in Canada” (….”In the U.S., rates of coronavirus infection are 75 per cent higher in rural counties housing large beef, pork and poultry-processing plants”)
Outbreak in German slaughterhouse:300 cases (in German)
Rund 300 Mitarbeiter positiv Heftiger Corona-Ausbruch in Schlachthof
“Schlachthöfe und Fleischbetriebe entwickeln sich gerade zum Corona-Brennpunkt im ganzen Land”
“Löhne unter dem Mindestlohn, MassenunterkĂŒnfte, kaum Erholung fĂŒr kranke Kollegen”
652 Infizierte
“Corona-Massenausbruch bei Tönnies: Hunderte infiziert – die Ansteckungsrate ist enorm – heftige Konsequenzen drohen”
bird flu – wild birds to poultry farms to humans
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/260025#1
Spread of bird flu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_spread_of_H5N1
history
âWhile most wild birds have only a mild form of the H5N1 strain, once domesticated birds such as chickens or turkeys are infected, H5N1 can potentially become much more deadly because the birds are often in close contact. H5N1 is a large threat in Asia with infected poultry due to low hygiene conditions and close quarters. Although it is easy for humans to contract the infection from birds, human-to-human transmission is more difficult without prolonged contact. However, public health officials are concerned that strains of avian flu may mutate to become easily transmissible between humans.[18â
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avian_influenza
HIV and Ebola from bushmeat hunting
Further Antibiotic Resistance Information
Antibiotic use in animal farming – EU comparison
Antibiotic resistance adds to the impact of Covid-19
Antibiotic resistance: the hidden threat lurking behind Covid-19
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200401-coronavirus-why-death-and-mortality-rates-differ
https://www.aidian.eu/news/antimicrobial-resistance-amr-has-a-role-in-covid-19
Cardiovascular aspect of covid-19 (another reason for preventative approaches to heart disease)
The General Problem:
“The world is in an âera of pandemicsâ and unless the destruction of the natural world is halted they will emerge more often, spread more rapidly, kill more people and affect the global economy with more devastating impact than ever before”
‘We should start thinking about the next one’: Coronavirus is just the first of many pandemics to come, environmentalists warn
Coronavirus: Pandemics will be worse and more frequent unless we stop exploiting Earth and animals, top scientists warn
Coronavirus: Industrial animal farming has caused most new infectious diseases and risks more pandemics, experts warn
Go vegan or risk further pandemics, experts warn
Meat-eating creates risk of future pandemic that âwould make Covid seem a dress rehearsalâ, scientists warn
Pandemics over the last 200 years
German video summary
List of Zoonotic Diseases (before covid 19)
https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/zoonoses.htm
Other pathogens
Salmonella origins in animal-farming, animal manure
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/287/5450/50.full
e.coli origins in animal-farming, animal manure
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/e-coli
Anthrax origins in animal-farming
https://www.cdc.gov/anthrax/resources/history/index.html
References
1. http://www.fao.org/3/a-bp285e.pdf
5. https://ec.europa.eu/health/amr/sites/amr/files/amr_studies_2015_am-in-agri-and-env.pdf