History of World Farm Animals Day | What is Factory Farming? Criticism on it!
World Farm Animals Day, also known as the ‘World Day for Farmed Animals’ is celebrated annually on October 2nd. This day is celebrated to raise awareness and educate people about the rights of farmed animals in factory farming. In addition, it also highlights the impacts of factory farming on animals, the environment, and human health. The Farm Animal Rights Movement started this day.
History of World Farm Animals Day
The date of World Farm Animal’s Day is chosen in honor of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. This day was established in 1983 by the Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM). The Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) is a non-profit organization founded in 1976. This organization advocates animal rights used in agriculture, veganism, and sustainability. It primarily focuses on ending the exploitation and abuse of animals in factory farming through public education, advocacy, and outreach. This animal rights organization is working for the rights of farmed animals. This organization is against the use of animals in food and factory farming of animals. World Day for Farmed Animals demands for the care and rights of farm animals.
What are Farmed Animals?
Farmed animals are raised or bred by humans for various purposes, typically for food production, such as meat, milk, eggs, or other agricultural products. Generally, they are kept in captivity and bred for industrial purposes, typically in large-scale or intensive farming systems.
Annually, an estimated 80 billion land animals and over 1 trillion fish are reared in factory farms worldwide. These land animals include chickens, cattle, turkeys, sheep, goats, ducks, geese, and others.
What is Factory Farming?
Factory farming is an industrialized method of animal farming designed to maximize production and minimize costs. It is also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), Intensive animal farming, industrial livestock production, and macro-farms.
Factory farming means, a large number of animals of a single species kept in confined, crowded spaces, often without access to natural light, fresh air, or room to move. Large number of animals and birds are raised on one site to produce food such as milk, eggs, meat, cheese, or other products for human consumption in this type of farming.
In this type of farming, farmed animals do not graze or forage, their diet is designed to promote rapid growth. This farming often relies on automation and usually employs mechanization, such as automatic waterers and feeders which reduces labor costs.
World Farm Animals Day and Criticism on Factory Farming
According to the critics of factory farming, it has devastating environmental impacts including the production of large amounts of waste, which can contaminate local water supplies and release harmful gases like methane, As a result, it accelerates air pollution and climate change. As well as deforestation is often driven by the need for land to raise livestock and grow feed crops like soy and corn. It also causes species extinctions due to livestock-related habitat destruction. World Day for Farmed Animals also focuses on this criticism.
History of Factory Farming
Intensive animal farming or factory farming is a modern development in the history of agriculture. However, it started in the United States. Factory farming began in the United States with the industrial raising of chickens. The development of the commercial chicken industry in the 1940s was an early shift toward intensive farming. Selective breeding, controlled feeding, and confinement in large numbers helped meet the rising demand for inexpensive meat.
Although, factory farming has important role in feeding a growing global population, but it also faces criticism.
