The Abuse Against Chickens

What would you do if everything you took for granted was ripped away from you? What if you never got to meet your parents, feel the sun on your face, breathe fresh clean air or be able to run free? Unfortunately, that is the harsh reality for a chicken living on a factory farm. “Chickens are the most abused farm animal on the planet. More than nine billion chickens are killed for their flesh and ninety-nine percent of these animals spend their lives in total confinement.” (GoVeg) This is truly revolting and I was honestly shocked when I learned this information. How would you feel if you lived your entire life in complete confinement? The average human would probably go insane, so why are we doing this to innocent animals? I believe that all of us have a right to help these creatures who cannot do anything for themselves. We need to pull together and demand tougher laws that have higher consequences for animal abusers and provide a safe and healthy environment for all animals.

From the day a baby chicken is born on a farm, their life of misery begins. Once they are born they are immediately placed in a small, dirty metal cage, where they are forced to stand all night and day because the cages are over filled with too many chickens. There are so many chickens in one cage that none of the chickens can even spread their wings and they are constantly surrounded by feces. This is incredibly nauseating to think that all day these chickens are standing and sleeping in feces and nothing is being done. All the chickens can do all day is sit there and stare because there is nowhere to move and nothing to do. It is extremely depressing. What is even worse is the air that these chickens are breathing. Twenty-four hours a day a chicken is breathing in ammonia fumes and feces, which results in many chickens being blinded and dealing with numerous diseases including bronchitis and sometimes-even death. (upc-online) Also on the farm, the workers like to over feed their chickens so they get nice and plump. Most of the time the chickens get so fat that they can’t even stand and walk to eat their food or drink some water, so they die of starvation. The workers also like to inject antibiotics into the chickens so they can grow faster, but this too makes the chickens so fat they end up dying a slow, horrible death. Did you know that the average chicken is given four times the amount of antibiotics than a human being? (Humane Society) How do you think you would feel if the doctor gave you too much medicine? At least you would be able to do something about it, a chicken is completely helpless. It is pure torture to be living as a chicken these days, and there is no good reason for it.

If a chicken can survive through the containment, the diseases and the antibiotics, it is still has a long journey just to get to the slaughterhouse. About 100 million male chickens do not even make to the slaughterhouse because they are deemed useless and are grounded up alive or suffocated in bags. (GoVeg) The chickens are put into even smaller cages then the ones they call home and are put into a huge truck filled with hundreds of other cages filled with chickens. The chickens then have to travel miles and miles through horrible weather conditions like heat waves, blizzards and freezing rain and some of them do not even survive the trip. Once they arrive at the slaughterhouse, they are hung alive from metal shackles, put head first into electrified water and then they have their throats cut. Sometimes there are mistakes and a chicken will survive the cut and will still be alive when they are then taken and put into scorching water to get rid of all their feathers (mercyforanimals). Is this really necessary? Do we really need to go to these extreme lengths? I believe that if we must put down an animal, that we should do it in the most humane way possible. What is wrong with euthanizing chickens like we do with dogs and cats? Why do we have to cut their throats and boil them alive? It is truly sadistic and makes me very sad that we live in a world where we do this to animals. If you are one of those people who say that humans are superior to animals and animals should be treated like our slaves, I would like to ask them, who gave them the authority over animals? Weren’t animals on this planet before humans, so shouldn’t we be inferior to them? Just because animals don’t have a voice and can’t stand up for themselves, doesn’t give us the right to subject them to physical and emotion harm. Animals have feelings just like we do, even if they can’t express those feelings in the same way we do. Now I know many people out there would say that since the chickens are going to die anyway, what is the point of their life? I agree with you that yes, the chickens are going to eventually die, but does that mean that we should butcher them and make their last living moments on this earth horrifying and freighting? If everybody knew that you were going to die, would you like it if we abused you and caused you a horrendous death just because? No, of course not, so why should we do that to innocent animals? We need to stand up and do something for the innocent animals that cannot help themselves. We have to be the ones that stops this abuse and saves the farm animals.


Works Cited

Go Veg PETA, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. .

Human Society N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. .

Mercy For Animals N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. .

United Poultry Concerns N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. .