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Taking Action
Discuss what people are doing to improve the treatment of animals
on factory farms. Ask students to come up with a list of answers.
They might come up with the following ideas:
• Learning more about the issues. The
more informed we are, the more empowered we are to make better
decisions and suggest helpful alternatives.
• Passing laws prohibiting the use of battery cages
and other inhumane farming practices. Countries like
Germany and the Netherlands have passed laws to prohibit the use
of battery cages, and the European Union will phase out the use
of conventional battery cages by 2012.
• Boycotting companies that profit from inhumane
farming practices. People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals spearheaded successful campaigns against McDonald’s,
Burger King, Wendy’s, and grocery chain Safeway, prompting
them to force their suppliers to eliminate some of their most
egregious abuses of farmed animals. The organization is currently
campaigning against KFC. Learn more at KFCCruelty.com.
• Lobbying legislators to ban cruel practices.
People are writing, calling, or meeting with their representatives
to encourage them to ban battery cages, debeaking, the intentional
starving of hens (called “force-molting”), the crating
of sows and veal calves, and other cruel practices. Florida citizens
actually conducted a successful ballot initiative to ban the crating
of sows in coffin-sized stalls.
• Encouraging truth in advertising. Washington,
D.C.-based animal-protection group Compassion Over Killing (COK)
says that the “animal care certified” logos printed
on egg cartons are deceptive and misleading because certified
companies may still confine hens to battery cages, purposely starve
them during force-molts, and debeak them. COK filed petitions
with the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration,
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, asking for the false claims
to be prohibited. COK is encouraging people who agree to voice
their concerns as well. Learn more about this issue at EggScam.com.
• Educating others about the issue. Many
animal-advocacy organizations and individuals work to educate
the public on these issues because they know that as more people
become aware of the inhumane treatment of animals who are raised
for food, laws, policies, and choices will change.
• Eating fewer animal products and becoming vegan.
Many people are consciously cutting back on their consumption
of animals and animal products by incorporating more vegan meals
(meals that are free of animals and animal products like milk,
cheese, and eggs) into their diets. Millions of people around
the world have decided that they do not want to support factory
farming and have, instead, adopted a vegan diet, which includes
a variety of breads, grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts,
and other plant foods.
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