Introduction
Raising animals for human consumption, either used as meat mi, milk, or any other products, is a market with certain ethical issues that should be considered in the times that we live in, where people’s attitudes to animal welfare and sustainability matter. Throughout the semester, we have looked into the systems of animals, which range from simple classifications to mechanisms of digestion and reproducing this animal. At this stage of the livestock lifecycle, particularly when animals are slaughtered at a very young age to meet deadlines from a production perspective, it would be morally right to examine this question of practice and see if there are alternative ways of treating animals.
Ethical Issues in Animal Production
Animal production represents the care and attention paid to these animals and prepares them for retail production. This dichotomy often leads to several ethical dilemmas: This dichotomy often leads to several ethical dilemmas:
Young Slaughter: A record number of production animals are sent to slaughter at a young age, and that causes life quality and longevity. This fact is highly disputed (Coles,2015). For example, calves (veal) may be slaughtered six months after birth, which many find this industry animal abuse.
Quality of Life: Humane care and medical treatment for animals guaranteed by today’s farmers often differ from their overall keep (Coles 2015). Stress due to living in confined conditions, the lack of the ability to wander in the free outdoors, and industrial production methods often contribute to the physical well-being of the animals becoming detrimental.
Utilitarian Approach: The utilitarian view that animal lives can be used for the benefit of humans disregards the right of animal lives without any intrinsic value in their lives (Coles, 2015). Formerly, this point of view was opposite to ethical standards nowadays in which the existence and rights of animals are taken into account, not their suffering.
Alternatives and Suggestions for Ethical Improvements
To address these ethical issues, several alternatives and improvements can be proposed to enhance the welfare of production animals:
Adopting Higher Welfare Standards: Implementing and putting strict welfare requirements into practice can give farm animals a higher quality of life (Harfeld,2016). Practices such as providing more space, the opportunities offered outside and the stimulative environment enabling natural behaviours will be of great importance.
Regulatory Changes: One can have stricter rules that need to be followed to let animals be cared for as long as they live and to ensure that they are treated humanely in the slaughter process (Harfeld, 2016). The scope of such rules will encompass tighter limits on animal slaughter age where they are made to live longer and more fuller lives.
Promotion of Plant-based Alternatives: Prompting people to abstain from or reduce the amount of animal products they consume can be a readily accessible way to decrease demand for animal products such as meats, dairy, fish, poultry, and others (Harfeld,2016). This reflects the ethical concerns and the environmental ones, which, by the way, are amplified by a plant-based diet, which is commonly recognized as the more sustainable option.
Labelling Transparency: Consumer education can be achieved by ensuring clear labelling, which offers knowledge and information about how the animal has been treated and killed.
Development of Cultured Meat: Through the funding and advancement of cell-based meat production, where meat is grown from the cells of animals without actually killing them, an industry-changing approach could be a future booster that one could not have imagined before.
Conclusion
The ethical matter of animal production is multifaceted, not to mention the ethical considerations of animal production. The carefulness of the farming process of these animals can be scientifically controlled to maintain their physical wellness. However, many people are still questioning their psychological feelings about the morality of slaughtering young animals for food while they are still living. We hope to find an ethical approach to animal production by improving the welfare standards, implementing – and improving – the law, encouraging the consumption of other food sources, and investing in new technologies. The management of these issues not only strengthens the animals’ lives but also is in line with the rising tendency towards responsible consumption and sustainable livelihood. As we progress, what is important is that these ethical concerns be our guide to formulate the rules and principles of animal production.
References
Coles, D., Frewer, L. J., & Goddard, E. (2015). Ethical issues and potential stakeholder priorities associated with applying genomic technologies to animal production systems. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 28, 231-253.
Harfeld, J. L., Cornou, C., Kornum, A., & Gjerris, M. (2016). Seeing the animal: on the ethical implications of de-animalization in intensive animal production systems. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 29, 407-423.
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