Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
from aggressive hogs, space to explore, mulch to dig in, and
more. Few hog farms like this exist, though, because it costs
up to 30 percent more to raise hogs, and few consumers are
willing to pay this premium. There is a movement in the
United States led by both the United Egg Producers and the
Humane Society of the United States to convert all egg farms
currently using small, barren cages to enriched cages. They
wish to do this by lobbying for federal legislation requiring
enriched cages and standardized cage sizes across the United
States. There is little doubt that hens are able to behave more
naturally in enriched cages, but it would raise egg production
costs by around 12 percent, and if consumers would volun-
tarily pay this premium, no legislation would be necessary, as
farmers would voluntarily adopt them. However much con-
sumers, farmers, and pet owners want animals to experience
superior states of welfare, there is a limit to what they will pay
to achieve it.
Husbandry Practices and Medical Procedures
There is little controversy about what type of environment
animals need to achieve optimal welfare. Controversy exists
because few people are willing to pay the price necessary to
provide all these needs, so the argument revolves around
which needs should be sacrificed. To provide some examples,
consider table 8.1, listing various medical procedures that, on
the one hand involve pain and stress, but on the other hand
provide benefits to both the animals and consumers.
Readers are probably familiar with the black-and-white
dairy cows on Chick-fil-A commercials. Next time you see
the commercials notice that the cows do not have horns. This
is not because that breed is hornless, but because the horns
were surgically removed by the farmer. While dehorning is
certainly painful and is often performed without anesthetics,
it prevents the cows from injuring each other and farmwork-
ers. Male pigs are castrated because boar meat is inferior, and
