Is the Public Ready to Roast the Meat Industry?
For decades, the well-being of farm animals has been a largely ignored issue. So it may come as a surprise that most Americans want animals to be protected from cruelty. This is the overall finding of a recent telephone survey of 1,012 adults by the Opinion Research Corporation of Princeton, New Jersey, for Animal Rights International. The survey found that 93% of US adults agreed that animal pain and suffering should be reduced as much as possible even though the animals are going to be slaughtered anyway. Nine out of ten adult Americans also disapprove of current methods of raising food animals in spaces so confining that sows and calves can’t even turn around and that laying hens are unable to stretch their wings. With these concerns, it’s hardly surprising that more than eight out of ten people think the meat and egg industries should be held legally responsible for protecting farm animals from cruelty. And that 91% think the US Department of Agriculture should be involved in prote
