What Are Animal Welfare People Telling Us?

Abstract

In brief, the animal welfarists are telling us that the most popular systems for producing meat, milk and eggs in the U.S. constitute abuse and deprivation of the animals involved. One of the major lessons of that trial and of other experience regarding this issue is that there are very good reasons why livestock producers have adopted the practices and systems they use. We've sometimes forgotten why these systems were adopted, but we're reminded quickly when we test some of the alternatives suggested by the welfarists.