ISSUES PRESENTED WITH THE UTILIZATION OF ANIMALS FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES. Animal Agriculture.

ISSUES PRESENTED WITH THE UTILIZATION OF ANIMALS FOR

AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.

Animal Agriculture

Animal Welfare

Concept implying that humankind has dominion over animals.

Dominion

Power or Right– over animalsAgree?Disagree?Why or Why not?

Dominion

Responsibility- Humans have the responsibility to care for animal well-being. Animal Well-being:

Minimize Stress Minimize Pain Minimize Suffering Minimize deprivation While providing for physiological and behavioral needs.

Animal Rights

Concept implying that animals should be used for no other purpose than the benefit of the animals themselves.

Abolition

Of animal use in science and research.Dissolution of animal agriculture and

entertainment, and the total elimination of commercial and sport hunting and trapping.

Moderation

Limited use of animals where a mutual benefit between animals and humankind is demonstrated.

Animal Discussion

Animal Advocacy Movement In response to: (animal)

Cruelty Exploitation Rights Liberation

Animal Cruelty

Group has no problem “punishing” animal.Starvation Abuse for their benefits

Animal Exploiters

- Dog Fighting- Bull Fighting- Cock Fighting- Poaching

- Trapping- Using Animals for Target Practice

Animal Welfarists

Believe in the following: Protection Care Use with humane ethic It is okay to use animals for human benefit for:

Food Research Fast and painless death

Animal Rightists

Animals are: Not to be eaten Not to be used for research Not for killing, hunting or sport Opposed to Vivisection (cutting)

Animal Liberationists

Most Extreme Eliminate all types of animal use Willing to commit Arson Not afraid to use terrorism Belief that they are above the law because their cause

is noble.

Nature and Science

Perception of Nature?Liberationists’ Perception of Nature?What is Science?What role does nature play in our belief

system?What role does emotion play?

Science and Nature

Science- building process whose major function is to utilize facts based on experimentation rather than on emotions or personal beliefs to make decisions.

We need Science to best understand Society.

What are the Facts?

Nature: Appears tranquilHowever . . .In the wild

Animals Kill Animals Eat Animals are vivisected against their will.

Your Perspectives?

What do you think?Who’s right and who’s wrong?

CAFO

Confined Animal Feeding OperationHouse and feed a large number of animals in

a confined area for 45 days or more during any 12-month period.

EPA began regulating CAFOs during the 1970s

Public Health Concerns

chronic and acute respiratory illnesses musculoskeletal injuriesinfections that travel from animals to humansodor and fliesCDC has shown that chemical and infectious

compounds from swine and poultry waste are able to migrate into soil and water near CAFOs

Scientists do not yet know whether or how the migration of these compounds affects human health

Health Concerns

Antibiotics, which may contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens Pathogens, such as parasites, bacteria, and viruses, which can cause disease in animals and humans

Nutrients, such as ammonia, nitrogen, and phosphorus, which can reduce oxygen in surface waters, encourage the growth of harmful algal blooms, and contaminate drinking-water sources 

Pesticides and hormones, which researchers have associated with hormone-related changes in fish 

Kentucky Regulations

Operations that are defined as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) pursuant to 401 KAR 5:060, Section 10, are required to obtain a Kentucky Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (KPDES) permit. In order to be categorized as a CAFO, an operation must first meet the definition of an animal feeding operation (AFO), as follows:

AFO

Animal Feeding Operation -- A lot or facility where animals have been stabled, are currently stabled or will be stabled or confined and fed or maintained for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period; and where crops, vegetation forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained over any portion of the lot or facility in the normal growing season.

CAFO

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation --  In addition to the AFO definition above, (1) there are more than 300 animal units confined and there is a discharge to the waters of the commonwealth, or (2) there are more than 1,000 animal units confined. The majority of potential CAFOs in Kentucky fall under this latter category

Animal equivalents for 1,000 animal units follow:

Beef -- 1,000 head of beef cattleDairy -- 700 head of dairy cattleSwine -- 2,500 pigs, each weighing more than 55 poundsPoultry -- 125,000 broilers or 82,000 laying hens or pullets

Permitting Requirements

Once defined as a CAFO, the operation can be permitted under either a KPDES General Permit or KPDES Individual Permit, depending upon the nature of the operation. All operations housing between 1,000 and 1,500 animal units are eligible for coverage under a KPDES General Permit with some exceptions:

Construction Permits

For any animal feeding operation (including CAFOs), regardless of size, that plans to construct a new or expand upon an existing liquid waste handling system, a Construction Permit pursuant to 401 KAR 5:005 must be obtained prior to the start of construction. To apply for a Construction Permit, Short Form B must be submitted along with any supporting documentation. There is no fee for the permit.

Issues

The large concentration of animals, animal waste and dead animals in a small space can poses many ethical and environmental problems.

Some animal rights activists have charged that some CAFOs are cruel to animals

air pollutionground water contamination

In 24 states, isolated cases of groundwater contamination has been linked to CAFOs.

ten million hogs in North Carolina generate 19 million tons of waste per year. The US federal government acknowledges the waste disposal issue and requires that animal waste be stored in lagoons. These lagoons can be as large as 7.5 acres. Lagoons not protected with an impermeable liner can leak waste into groundwater under some conditions, as can runoff from manure spread back onto fields as fertilizer in the case of an unforseen heavy rainfall.

Benefits

Lead to economies of scale and allow for profits at lower slaughter house prices

Large meat packing operations desire to deal with large operators (schedules and standards)

Large capital to solve environmental problems

Concentration of pollution/heath problems at one location

Main Benefits:

We’ll have enough meat when the year 2050 rolls around!

CAFOs are extremely efficient!According to Dennis T. Avery, Author of

Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastics, it’d take the whole nation of Canada to free range all of the chickens in production in the U.S.

I can see chickens running around in downtown Vancouver- looks like a win-win to me!

Problems

OdorGroundwaterSurface WaterSocial Fabric of Local CommunityPsychological Problems of CommunityDiseaseRemoval of the DeadHoof and Mouth in England (no incinerators)

Options

Land application of liquid fertilizersLagoonArtificial Wetlands to process wastesAnaerobic Digesters

Shift Gears: Hormones in Chicken?

Should I be concerned about hormones in chicken?

A. The use of hormones has been illegal in U.S. poultry production since 1952, according to USDA regulations. If you're eating American-grown chicken from a reputable source, there's no need to be concerned about added hormones or other growth-enhancing agents.

Antibiotics?

Are there antibiotics in the chicken we eat? Why are people concerned?

A. Stringent FDA and USDA regulations require chickens to be weaned from all antibiotics well before processing, so there are absolutely no antibiotics or antibiotic residue in the chicken you buy and serve to your family.

Perception is Reality

Use of hormones in chickens is illegal!Why do we think it is legal?

Super Bugs!

U.S. farmers typically use antibiotics to prevent contagious diseases or to promote faster growth among poultry. However, many scientists and consumer groups contend that routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock -- along with overuse of the drugs in humans -- is producing bacteria that are more resistant to such treatments.

Campylobacter and Salmonella

Research conducted by Consumer Reports and the Sierra Club, found that while the presence of campylobacter and salmonella in broilers has declined 33 percent since 1997, some 50 percent of specimens tested still harbored one of the two bacteria, or both. Moreover, 90 percent of the campylobacter bacteria tested from the chicken and 34 percent of the salmonella showed some resistance to antibiotics often used to treat people

Posilac: BGH

Bovine somatotropin (abbreviated bST and BST) is a protein hormone produced in the pituitary glands of cattle. It is also called bovine growth hormone, or BGH. Monsanto Company, a U.S.-based corporation, first synthesized the hormone in large quantities using recombinant DNA technology and marketed it as "POSILAC" beginning in 1994. The resulting product is called recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), or artificial growth hormone.

Human health

According to the Food and Drug Administration, food products made from rBST treated cows are safe for human consumption, and no significant difference exists between milk derived from rBST-treated and non-rBST-treated cows. Furthermore, the FDA found bGH to be biologically inactive when consumed by humans and found no biological distinction between rBST and BST

Review:

What is rBST?What is Posilac?Are hormones legal in chicken?What is campylobacter?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw&feature=fvsr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBBFTpTMUbc&feature=more_related

What just happened here?

What do you think?Is it odd that humans drink milk from a cow,

and no other species robs milk from another mammal?

What about Posilac?Is it odd that it is banned in Europe?What about Canada?What about how that report went down?

Cloning

FDA Studies Cloningcloning poses no unique risks to animal health,

compared to the risks found with other reproduction methods, including natural mating

the composition of food products from cattle, swine, and goat clones, or the offspring of any animal clones, is no different from that of conventionally bred animals

because of the preceding two conclusions, there are no additional risks to people eating food from cattle, swine, and goat clones or the offspring of any animal clones traditionally consumed as food

What Is a Clone?

"Clones are genetic copies of an animal," says Larisa Rudenko, Ph.D., a Molecular Biologist and Senior Adviser for biotechnology in CVM. "They're similar to identical twins, but born at different times."

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer:

Animal cloning has been around for more than 20 years. Most cloning today uses a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer:

Scientists take an egg from a female animal (often from ovaries at the slaughterhouse) and remove the gene-containing nucleus.

The nucleus of a cell from an animal the breeder wishes to copy is added to the egg.

After other steps in the laboratory take place, the egg cell begins to form into an embryo.

The embryo is implanted in the uterus of a surrogate dam (female parent), which carries it to term and delivers it like her own offspring.

Rodeo

Forget The Myth!Rodeo associations claim very few animals

are injured and killed in rodeos. That is a lie. In fact, rodeo associations do not disclose animal injuries and deaths. Furthermore, those who do commit humane violations are granted anonymity.

(http://www.sharkonline.org/?P=000000034)

Is Rodeo Cruelty To Animals?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR9h84pTRs8