Week 5 Final Project

Case Analysis

Brea P. Sylvester

14 January 2019

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Case Analysis

The association PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) identifies factory

faming as the packing of livestock in dirty, lightless sheds and jammed into wire cages, metal

enclosures, and other cruel devices where the farm does not let them raise their young, forage

around freely, develop nests, or engage in any other natural and important activities (PETA, 2018).

A company accused of this practice many times is chief poultry and pork processor Perdue Farms.

The economic system serving as the setting for this business is defined mainly by a high and

increasing demand from a growing national and global market. Poultry trends reports that global

poultry output in 2018 neared 123 million tons, a 1.7% rise from 2017, and expected the developing

world to be its key industry driver in a decade (Poultry Trends, 2018). The laws that affect the

operations of factory farming differ in every jurisdiction but are commonly conditional on

environmental protection. In the United States, the USDA-approved CAFO (Concentrated Animal

Feeding Operation) obliges farms to adhere to strict waste disposal requirements devised in line

with the Clean Water Act of 1972. The same body also exempts farmers of livestock from 50% of

all state animal cruelty law, which entails the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 and Humane Methods of

Livestock Slaughter Act of 1958 (EPA, 2000).

Thesis and Ethical Theory

Factory farming is morally unjustifiable. The ethical theory that supports this moral position

is utilitarianism. Broadly speaking, utilitarianism is a fundamental principle of equality that asserts

that everyone’s happiness equally matter. Essentially, its slogan is optimal happiness for everyone

regarded. The theory is commonly considered a vital part of the ethical basis for equal rights for all

people because it offers people equal deliberation in all dynamics of society (Carnegie Mellon

University, 2002). Utilitarianism lends itself to this paper’s moral position when animals get the

same equal consideration that the theory originally intended. Meat and other livestock products

have been proven many times to be tastier from sources raised in humane, clean, and sustainable

environments (Singal, 2016). With the establishment that livestock, and most complex living things

including poultry, experience happiness out of their natural liberties to feed, breed, nurture, and

interact freely, it makes sense to extend this theoretical principle to animals as well.

Premises

Factory farming is morally unjustifiable because animals just being a means to man’s ends

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3 4

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1. Please review the APA

manual for proper

formatting. Please double-

space text. [Ephraim

Janssen]

2. The

"One" ethical theory, not

"the" ethical theory. (You

could come to the same

conclusion using another

theory.) [Ephraim Janssen]

3. If a theory can have a

slogan, this one's would be

the Greatest Happiness

Principle, which you should

quote or refer to in some

way. [Ephraim Janssen]

4. matter.

Check verb number and

form. [Ephraim Janssen]

5. (Carnegie

Please review the APA

manual for proper citation

elements. The institution is

not the author and the

author deserves credit for

their words. [Ephraim

Janssen]

6. man’s

Using "man" to refer to

humans is a bit archaic. We

generally use "human" or

some other more accurate

equivalent. [Ephraim

Janssen]

does not justify cruelty. Man’s ends in this case is feeding a growing appetite for meat, and

particularly poultry. For example, Poultry Trends (2018) reports that the developing world is poised

to be the global industry demander of chicken by 2027. Moreover, awareness about the

contributions of red meat to climate change are shifting consumer preferences towards white meats,

with chicken being the cheapest option. Today, studies have established that animals are capable of

experiencing suffering, which is why hunting many of them for sport has been largely outlawed in

most jurisdictions (Dawkins, 2008). The fact that societies recognized and took action concerning

this characteristic of animals means we possess the resources and will to extend the categorical

imperative to animals.

Factory farming is also morally unjustifiable because the acts of feeding, living, breeding,

nurturing, and movement are analogous to human activities cultivated by the corresponding duties

of society. Our responsibilities to animals are implicit and draw from our responsibility to respect

and facilitate the ends of humanity, which forms the basis for the conventional animal rights

doctrine (Humphreys, 2013). This doctrine then became the ethical foundation for some of the acts

passed by the United States government to regulate livestock farming humanely and

environmentally sustainable. The 1966 Animal Welfare Act, 1963 Clean Air Act, 1876 Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act, and 1958 Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act are good

examples of laws at work supporting the animal rights doctrine as seen from a utilitarian

perspective (The Animal Legal Defense Fund, n.d.). CAFO, California’s Proposition 2 Standards

for Confining Farm Animals, and the Utilization of Manure and Other Agricultural and Industrial

Byproducts consider animal rights built on environmental protection principles to stop intensive

livestock production methods like factory farming (EPA, 2000).

Comparative Analysis

A moral solution offered by applying the utilitarianism ethical theory to the problem of

factory farming superior to that offered by deontology is realizing the mixed prioritization of profit-

oriented farming strategies with kindness towards animals. If animals are a crucial source of man’s

ends, then their state of being should stifle our emotions. The deontology theory emphasizes

responsibility and rules that supports the endeavor of farmers like Perdue Farms to meet demand

and consequently trumps kindness towards animals (Alexander, 2016). The time factor and vast

resources that make up the backbone of the livestock economy limit the capacity of the production

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1. The entire developing

world? I suspect this is a bit

more specific. [Ephraim

Janssen]

2. outlawed

In what country? [Ephraim

Janssen]

3. utilitarianism

Utilitarianism: noun

utilitarian: adjective

[Ephraim Janssen]

4. stifle

Check word choice.

[Ephraim Janssen]

5. deontology

Deontology = noun

deontological = adjective

[Ephraim Janssen]

process to observe animal rights effectively. The moral solution that would result from applying the

deontology theory to this moral problem would be more standardized factory farms and a slow

descent into previously outlawed practices. The emphasis of duty can impose a significant

argumentative force on devising laws for standard livestock farming and ultimately the market

forces of supply and demand of animal products. The duty to feed a rising global appetite would

lower the priority of animal welfare and result in harsher but more economic and profitable means

of production. In place of deontology, utilitarianism would enable societies to judge each other

based on treatments of animals. Those cruel to animals often develop the same hard attitudes

towards their interaction with other people. Animal cruelty ultimately results in human cruelty,

which is a self-interest degree capable of informing others to what extends they ought to interact

with such people and on what kinds of subjects. The cruelty to animals that transpires in factory

farms would be oblivious to deontologists because livestock, to them, is just there to feed and offer

us other uses for their body parts or products. Animal suffering would be a non-factor in the

deontological moral solution whereas it would be prioritized under the utilitarianism theory.

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1. (image annotation)

Please review deontology

(including the PPT I provided

in an Announcement) and

rewrite this section before

submitting your Final Paper.

What I will need to see is

how the theory is applied,

almost like a geometry proof.

Show all the steps of the

reasoning. [Ephraim

Janssen]

References

Alexander, L. (2016). Deontological Ethics. Retrieved from

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/

Carnegie Mellon University. (2002). Utilitarian Theories. Retrieved from

http://caae.phil.cmu.edu/cavalier/80130/part2/sect9.html

Dawkins, M. (2008). The Science of Animal Suffering. Ethology, 114(10), 937-945. doi:

10.1111/j.1439-0310.2008.01557.x

EPA. (2000). Profile of the agricultural livestock production industry. U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency. Office of Compliance. EPA/310-R-00-002. 156 pp.

Humphreys, R. (2013). A Critical Examination of the Moral Status of Animals, with Particular

Reference to the Practices of Factory Farming and Animal Experimentation. Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy. School of English, Communication and Philosophy, Cardiff

University, pp. 375.

PETA. (2018). Factory Farming: Misery for Animals. Retrieved from

https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/factory-farming/

Poultry Trends. (2018). Watt executive guide to world poultry trends 2018. Retrieved from

http://www.poultrytrends.com/201811/index.php#/2

Singal, J. (2016). Why Humanely Raised Meat Tastes Better. Retrieved from

https://www.thecut.com/2016/08/why-humanely-raised-meat-tastes-better.html

The Animal Legal Defense Fund. (n.d.). Animal Protection Laws of the United States of America.

Retrieved from https://aldf.org/article/animal-protection-laws-of-the-united- states-of-

america/

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