Is "factory farming" as bad in Europe as it is in the United States?

Question

Is "factory farming" as bad in Europe as it is in the United States?

Answer 1

Factory farms have to be judged on an individual basis.  They are not all as bad as you see in the films being put out by activists.  I am not a fan of factory farms, but realize that they are necessary to continue to feed the increasing population.  What needs to be done is do away with or clean up the non-humane farms and see to it these conditions are eliminated.  I think Europe and the US both are having this same problem.

Answer 2

The regulations are stricter in Europe, but they are not enforced as well as in the US.  Many of the animal confinement farms in Europe are never inspected

Answer 3

I lived in Germany for seven years and was able to experience "the Continent"... at that time it was not. But, I fear it is taking over.  I hope I'm wrong.

Answer 4

Its by far worse. smaller land base hence more pollution.

Answer 5

When you say "as bad", what do you mean?  As in "as common" or "as cruel"?  Europe has large scale livestock operation just like the US does.  They also have a lot more aminal rights induced cr@p to contend with.  

In Germany, it's either now law or will soon be law that sows in confinment will be required to have 20 minutes daily of "human contact".  This means people will have to be hired to babysit sows that could care less.  Maybe they can read them the Three Little Pigs story.

Within 2 years, pork producers in Holland and Switzerland will be required to anesthetize pigs before casteration.  Farmers in Norway already have to have a vet anesthesize the pig and have the vet cut it.  The vet will give each piglet a $2 shot, then wait a couple of minutes until the little guy is really mellow (and his momma is tearing the place apart trying to get to her piglet) and then cut him in about 10 seconds.  The problem is, any time such drugs are used, there's the possibility of the "patient" dying.  It happens to people on the operating table, some people just can't handle it.  You can be a lot more piglets die from the meds than from a simple casteration.  

In 2009, it will be lillegal in Norway to casterate pigs.  That means there's going to be a lot of meat on the market with boar "taint", in other words, meat that smells like boar pee.  

Years ago my mom threw some boar pork chops into a cast iron skillet.  When they started cooking, the whole kitchen smelled like strong boar pee.  She ended up throwing the meat out to the dogs and the stink had soaked into the skillet so badly that she had to leave it outside in the weather for a couple of months to get the stink out.  

I guess if Norweigens like eating meat that smells and tastes like a big bowl of hot boar pi$$, then more power to them.  Incidently, I bet it won't be the animal rights activists eating any of that stinking stuff.  I'd like to force feed those people some of that nasty meat.