The actions of farmers in the meat industry are increasingly becoming unacceptable. In as much as the industry wants to make profit, it should not go to the point where animals are treated with the highest form of cruelty.
Apart from the animals suffering these abuses, human consumption of meat can also lead to some serious health consequences.
With the help of genetic engineering, the meat industry is churning out fake meat, with serious health implications for its consumers. Genetic engineering is the modification of an organism's genetic composition by artificial means, often involving the transfer of specific traits, or genes, from one organism into a plant or animal of an entirely different species.
Recently, the Alternative World News Network released a video showing how farmers in the meat industry have capitalized on mutated genes to grow cattle of a huge size, in order to increase their profit.
The animals are massive in size. Even looking at them critically, one can see that the animals are artificially created.
One such breed of cattle is the Belgian Blue bull, which farmers - especially in Belgium - have been selectively breeding for many years now.
It has been reported that mutated genes are isolated in order to cause the animals to grow to such size. The mutation is called "double muscling," and occurs when a gene is missing that regulates muscle growth. The farmers and the meat industry have therefore exploited this mutation to increase profits, growing their cows larger and slaying them for more meat.
However, as the meat industry is profiting from this act, the animals lives are in a mess. Their lives are always in danger before they are killed for human consumption; some of the diseases they suffer are directly transferred to humans who consume the meat.
Firstly, the lives of these animals are very difficult because of their size. Beginning with pregnancies, which are usually very difficult, caesarean sections are often required to deliver the calves. Once born, the calves are often not without birth defects.
Calves born can have enlarged tongues, making it difficult or even impossible for them to nurse. Others may have cardio-respiratory, bone and joint problems, amongst other ailments. With all these defects and diseases, the animals are finally killed for human consumption.
Some activists are beginning to ask questions regarding the treatment of the animals. Why should our governments allow this to happen to animals? Why are we not taking action against this cruel practice collectively?
The best we can do now is to boycott buying their meat products. We should not support farms that abuse their animals with selective breeding and antibiotic treatment.
In the United States for example, animals are injected with growth hormones in order to increase their meat. Traces of these growth hormones have been found in the animals’ meat on the market. It has adverse effects on our health - producing a resistance to treatment against bacterial infections with our own antibiotics.
This shows that the concern is not only about the animals. We too, are at risk. We can act collectively by forcing ourselves to become vegetarians. In that way, we can stop the practice. Certainly, the day we would stop buying their meat products would be the day they will stop these heinous crimes against the animals and us.