Agcricultural, farming laws.

[LadyLynn]

Don't you ever find you get a little sick of seeing threads about "farm meat being slaughtered and how they are so cruely put to death?

I feel horrible about it, and yes, I do think the government tries to put the breaks on farm hands and farmers that are torturing an animal that is being slaughtered, but the truth is and I tried to read up on what could be done about it is that this is the standard problem.

Farmers have the right to run their farms as they see fit, you know just like you can live a private life in your private home.

Trouble is there aren't any organizations that are paid to check up on farms locally in each city. The humane society probably could, but there really is a 'right to privacy kind of thing or something sort of like that.

I'l have to find the article I read on that and post its link but it may be a while before I get it done.

Its the thing that some of us pet owners or those that don't have living on a farm experience know much about.

ignorance here isn't blizz, its just how do we as a society get control of this?

Right now, there just isn't a way, the issue is way too big.

[Wiztherewoz]

Out of sight, out of mind.

I personally think that reminding people every now and again about the realities of the suffering endured by livestock intended for human consumption is a positive thing. Not a pleasant thing; but a positive thing for sure.

Otherwise, no, there is no hope of things ever changing for the better for these poor animals.

In general, people's attitudes to farm animals being kept/killed in horrific conditions is somewhat blasé. Mentioning it tends to summon this reaction: "It's a shame, but there's nothing I can do about it, so I choose not to think about it."

The way I see it, if everybody bought their meat from humanely kept/killed livestock ONLY, (preferably from local farmers too), then the farming industry would have no choice but to keep their animals in better conditions and kill them in less distressing ways, as there would be no money to be made from factory farming.

But the sad fact is that this will never happen. The general public does not care how the animals are kept/killed, just so long as they have a constant supply of affordable meat on their plate. (It's only a cow, after all, cows don't play fetch or roll over on their backs asking you to scratch their tummy, so they clearly don't have feelings(!))

I think raising awareness to people, (whether they're already aware or they have no clue what's going on behind the scenes at all,) is better than everybody being left completely in the dark about such matters. Not having to think about it makes it all the easier for people to continue purchasing meat from factory farmers, guilt free. (Out of sight, out of mind)

Just my opinion.

But, having said that, I do understand why you don't like people bringing it up every two minutes. It's excruciatingly depressing, and it won't change. Not in our lifetime anyway.

[LadyLynn]

I'm not arguing the point that we need to be reminded about this often creul way of putting an animal to death to end on peopl'es plates.

the trouble is: most people are "UNFAMILIAR, with farming laws.... people need to know more about those than the occassional pop up of oh this is what's going on.

and then one thing that I at least find a bit irritating is quite suddenly its 'your evil if you eat meat type things that usually follow his type of posts

so no I don't have a problem with the occassional reminder, but I really think that they lack the "oh by the way here are some farming laws, and followed by the questions, what can we really do about it,

the vegitarian thing, its really a personal choice, and I'm sure those that eat meat and are petlover forum members also in some ways feel a bit annoyed about that to, so I want to see some actual farming law links posted here, perhaps with some examples of the cruelty to these farm animals that are being slaughtred.
I hope this clarifies a few things.

[Julia423]

I would imagine that there are federal regulations in the US along with state laws that are in place to help. I do know that there are quite a few, very stringent laws in my state regarding "humane" slaughter of livestock. Now, just how many people are available to keep an eye on things is another matter unfortunately.
I'm not quite sure I read one of your comments correctly...that farmers have the right to run their farms as they see fit? If the farmer is farming for commercial purposes, then he/she does not have that right, but must follow laws governing many aspects of farming.
It's quite the issue...so much involved. I buy meat because the two people I live with eat it (I've never much liked it). But we have reduced just how much we buy significantly over the years.

[That_girl]

There are inspectors that will come to farms on a regular basis. If your farm is deemed unfit, they will not buy your milk. Just like everything else, there are laws that govern farms and there is law enforcement.

Also, interestingly, kennels are goverened by the USDA, the same organization that regulates farm and food products.

[That_girl]

Farmers have the right to run their farms as they see fit, you know just like you can live a private life in your private home.

Trouble is there aren't any organizations that are paid to check up on farms locally in each city. The humane society probably could, but there really is a 'right to privacy kind of thing or something sort of like that.

This is not true. Farms are goverened under the USDA. They send inspectors regularily. ALso there are inspectors from the companies that buy the milk that dairy farms produce. If the farms are deemed unfit, the companies won't buy the milk. Just like everything else, farms are under regulations and there are groups that do enforce laws. The problem is just like anything else in the world - too much to do, not enough people to do it.

Interestingly, kennels are also governed by the USDA. There are bills to change that to humane law enforcement, but I don't see that happening any time soon, since they already have enough stuff to do.

If you see a problem on a farm, you can call the USDA and they will come inspect. I grew up on a farm and saw inspectors regularily. I'm sure it's different out in Idaho where the livestock is spread over a lot more land, but they are still governed by the USDA.

[Llamalady]

Does the USDA inspect horse farms? Because I couldn't tell you how many horses I rescued in Mississippi that were starving to death, or blind from toxic spills on their property, etc.,.

[LadyLynn]

if I remember the article I read, it is yes their responsibility, but they normally don't or do very very few because of the "farmers privacy, and they also pass it off from, it's not the federal government's responsibility and its up to the state concerned.

when I do a little more research I'll try posting some links on it, but in the meantime I hope everyone else will research ag laws to and post links to them here as well.

this way if we can at all possible make a difference to these poor animals being cruely put to death by farm hands perhaps we can instead of whine and complain about it instead. just don't have the time right now. sorry.

[That_girl]

They should be inspecting all types of farms. I think as a rule, they probably don't just do "random" checks. Instead, they probably wait for a complaint to be made before they do anything. That's why it's important for anyone who sees an animal that doesn't look right to call the sheriff's office and make a complaint.

My boss gets regular, scheduled checks at the kennel. Twice a year, I believe.

[LadyLynn]

thatgirl: case in point is the man who recently had 150 head of cattle seized,
it wasn't the USDA that came around to inspect.

it was an unusal twist that the humane society stepped in, something that rarely if evr has happened.

case in point about right to privacy and run the farm as they see fit.
news team told us, that this farmer may get his cattle back....

I'm sure USDA inspections are random.

Federal defers to state, state defers to the city, and then neighbor to neighbor, forget it!

so to speak, and yes indeed I don't have the time to find the article yet but when someone posted cruel death to pigs I looked a bunch of ag laws up, and what I'm telling you is written in the article.

sorry but that's how it is.......

[Wildrosebeef]

Folks, the main problem is this: it's the few farms that mistreat their animals that makes the whole animal agricultural industry look bad, much worse than it actually is. Unbeknownst to most who do not live on a farm or are so far removed from the goings-on of agricultural practices, there are a lot more "farmers" (or producers, as I like to call them, since I hate the word "farmer") that are not cruel or inhumane or any of that stuff to the animals they care for. Yes there are rules and regulations and bylaws and all that that are in place for people to follow, but these rules are more for those who lack the common sense than for those who have common sense and know how to raise livestock in a manner that is in the animals' best interests, not the producer him/herself. The producer that raised those cattle inhumanely like you mentioned here, LadyLynn, is one that does not have the common sense, and thus it caught up with him.

But farms indeed are run as the owners see fit. The reason for this is that no farm is the same. No producer runs their farm in the exact same way, shape or form as their neighbor does or the neighbor's neighbor does. Thus rules cannot get so particular that they cannot nor do not apply for all farms. If there was a rule that all farm animals should be required or provided food, water and shelter, the shelter part does not apply to all farm animals because there are some farms or ranches where beef cattle quite often do not nor need shelter in the same way that dairy cattle, hogs or poultry do. Quite a number of farms have extensive grazing practices with their where it's not required to "provide feed" because cattle are doing just fine doing grazing with a bit of snow on the ground. Again, this is different for other livestock species that cannot nor do not do this sort of thing.

It's supposedly that all farms get inspected. But in truth that's not the case. Some farms will get inspected if they are raising livestock to sell to other people that are not family or friends. Other farms may get inspected if they are growing crops for a certain big corporation like Monsanto. Still other farms will get inspected if they have had a past history or current problems with reportable diseases like BSE or Tuberculosis. But of every other farm that does not fall into these "categories," nope, not inspected at all. The farm I've lived on since I was born has never once been inspected by the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), and we've been responsible farmers for years. Why is there a need for more farms to be inspected when it's the few cases and the few farmers that lack common sense that have made the farming industry look bad??? I really don't understand that. I don't think it's about privacy concerns, I think it's more to do with the fact that the government knows damn well that farmers and farm folk have a heck of a lot more common sense and logic than those hooligans that live in the urban communities! You get people coming from the city to these rural areas and all of a sudden they start whining and complaining about farmers and farms being "cruel" to their animals when they see a cow on her side sleeping away or find a "lost and abandoned" calf in the the tall grass. I've heard a story about the latter and the calf nearly died after being "rescued" by a woman who had good intentions but no knowledge of anything involved with raising cattle.

As a person who grew up and lived on a farm all her life, I really don't like it when people have to blame all the farmers for the troubles that so few have caused to put a really bad image on the farming industry like that. To say that "poor animals being cruely put to death by farm hands" is clearly coming from those who don't have a clue about agriculture. There's a reason that those "poor animals [are] being cruelly put to death:" it's either because they have a disease that cannot be cured by antibiotics, or they are being slaughtered for food. I don't know where the "cruelly put to death" comes from, because in most cases (especially if the animal's really sick) it's much more cruel to leave an animal to die slow than to put it out of its misery with a bullet. And animals being slaughtered die quick anyway.

But really, it's all about having the common sense and logic that makes farms run like they can and have. Saying that all farms need to be inspected because you believe that they are being "cruel" to their animals is not right. Yes, more people need to be educated about farm life, but you can only educate those who are willing to listen and won't come to sudden conclusions based on half-truths.

[Wildrosebeef]

Mods, you can lock this down, but I hope I've made my point here. :)