I have no moral qualms about eating animals. The earth is a brutal place where animals killing other animals is a fundamental part of the food chain. I don’t see why humans should be any different than other animals. But I do have trouble with the mistreatment of these animals. They are, after all, feeding us which is a tremendous sacrifice on their part and vital to our existence. I think it is the least we can do is give animals a good life while they are still alive.

So, I read with great horror about the fire that killed 18,000 cows in one barn. How is that possible? I realize that this wasn’t your standard barn but if it was as big as a football field, could 18,000 cows live in it comfortably? Cows are big animals. 18,000 of them roaming, shitting, pissing and eating in a football field sized barn doesn’t seem big enough for that many animals. As far as the fire, or for that matter any disaster that might occur at the barn, how can you get 18,000 panic stricken cows out of a barn safely. What about disease? Isn’t putting 18,000 animals in the same barn risky if some disease should spread through the herd. The very notion that these animals are humanely and safely housed is ludicrous. This wasn’t even the worst barn disaster involving farm animals. Between 100,000 and 400,000 chickens died in another fire. Even if you lowball it at 100,000, that’s a lot of chickens in one barn. Can’t we do better than this?

I know the opposing argument is industrial farming is what has made cheap meat prices possible. If we housed animals better, we would need to spend more money which would bring up the price of food. Yes. Of course. We can’t be humane because it would cost too much money which has become a standard response to any problem we aren’t interested in fixing. It is just too damn expensive. We just have to learn to live with the homeless, insufficient public transportation, high rents, and paying people low wages. As an answer, I find too much money is a pretty lame response anymore because, of course, there is money, indeed plenty of money, there is however no will to make these things happen. Who wants to pay $5.00 for a hamburger?

Animals don’t have effective advocates mostly because a most of them are pressing vegetarianism as the answer. This radical change in the way Americans eat just isn’t going to happen. Beef, pork, and poultry are mainstays in the American diet. They can’t easily be removed from the American diet without resistance from people who like this diet. They want to eat meat. I don’t blame them. I want to eat meat.

What could change is how we view industrial livestock production. Which will be difficult and frustrating and will take years to have an effect but I think would have a more lasting impact on the American people. The first step is we need to care about the lives of animals which is easier said than done. Every time I learn anything about what happens to animals my reaction is usually the same — I don’t want to know what happens to my food. Their treatment almost always sounds cruel and inhumane. I would much rather an animal lived in the wild and was hunted for food than for an animal to live through industrial farming. Unfortunately that isn’t the way it happens and, to be fair, I understand why so much of our meat is produced this way. It is easier, cheaper and efficient for us that it might be painful for the animal is beside the point. We need this food.

But we can care about the animal and try to make their lives better. In order for it to happen we would have to actively learn what happens to animals and what actions would be possible to improve their lives. This would also mean we would have to change a lot of people’s attitudes towards animals. They aren’t just dumb animals that can be mistreated simply because they are dumb animals. They don’t care how they live as long as you feed them. As someone who has met cows and pigs , I don’t believe that for one minute. They are living creatures who deserve more from life than being stuck in barns and pens laying in their own shit and piss, never seeing the light of day for years on end. Because we have the capacity to think and to improve how we do things, we can care about their living conditions and make those changes when possible.