Inappropriate Handling of Animals in Factory Farming - Free Essay on Ethics

The Aristotelian virtue-based ethics provides that the existence of the human being should follow good action. Such a sentiment emphasizes goodwill that is exemplified by individual deeds. For this purpose, it is important present an argument that people that are raising animals in factory farm conditions are using improper care and handling. Thus, it is vital to illustrate the particular conditions that affect the animal welfare (Singer, 2006). Importantly, there is need to argue in line with the Aristotelian virtue-based ethics which accounts for proper deeds that improve life.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

An ideal starting point for the discussion develops in the sense that many of the factory farms tend to minimize expenditures while maximizing the profits. Notably, factory farms are large scale industrial based operational houses that host animals of different categories. Under such farms, the animals are treated with particular antibiotics and hormones that enhance their faster growth for maximum food output (Kraut, 2001). This may seem advantageous for the farmer while in the real sense it is very hazardous and morally wrong when properly analyzed by groups that fight for animal rights. In this view, it is important to note that a contrasting view develops between what is morally right and the justifiable actions.

Important evidence that justifies the morally wrong actions of the factory Farms includes the fact that several animals are confined within smaller partitioning. The main idea of such an operation is to benefit the farmer by producing more waste material which can later be converted into manure for other farming mechanisms. On the contrary, there are very many associated issue that arise in such a setting (Singer, 2006). Firstly, it is of salient value to note that animals subjected to such conditions are at high risk of acquiring complex diseases at a later stage of their lives. Subsequently, the same animals may carry diseases that would later be transmitted into human beings upon consumption.

A good example that would justify the inhuman act of factory farms is the case of the broilers that are confined in the chicken sheds. These types of breed are fed with hormonal foods that enhance their growth at a faster rate. The complication that develops in such a case is that they cannot support the weight of their body due to the immature bones. Consequently, they tend to collapse within the chicken shades on many occasions (Singer, 2006). As a result, they not reach for the feeds and die as a result of starvation. In this view, one would agree with the Deontology theory that such actions do not value the rules provided in the context of humanity.

Conclusively, Aristotelian virtue-based ethics gives the ground for human beings, including the factory farm owners, to regulate their deeds with intent to improve life. On the same note, the Deontology theory also emphasizes the need for people, including the same factory farm owners to observe the rule that governs humanity. Instead of feeding the confined animals with foods obtained from the cropland, they would decided to increase the croplands to be used for commercial feeding of the human beings. Such reasoning is of value given that the extended lands used for factory farms would effectively be used for croplands.

References

Singer, P. (2006, March). Factory Farming: A Moral Issue, by Peter Singer. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/20060322.htm

Kraut, R. (2001). Aristotle's Ethics. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/