For the billions of animals at factory farms across America, life is absolute hell . We relegate them to intense and unimaginable cruelties: extreme confinement; brutal mutilations; and bloody, violent deaths.





Despite being similar to dogs and cats in all the ways that matter, farmed animals have nearly no legal protections.





That’s right, not a single federal law protects farmed animals during their lives at factory farms. What’s more, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act excludes birds and rabbits, leaving 95 percent of the animals raised and killed for food in the U.S. with essentially no protections.





So which abusive practices at factory farms are considered legal? Here is a brief list.





1. Thumping









Piglets who are too sick or not growing fast enough are killed by being slammed headfirst onto concrete floors. This is considered an acceptable form of “euthanasia” by the industry and is 100 percent legal.





2. Tail Docking









Although outlawed in a few states, tail docking is a common practice. It involves cutting through the sensitive skin, nerves, and bones of calves' tails without any painkillers. This purposeless and inhumane practice has been condemned by animal welfare experts.





3. Dehorning













4. Debeaking









Perpetrated by the egg and poultry industries, debeaking is the painful removal of the tip of a bird’s beak , usually with a hot blade.





5. Castration









Within days of being born, male piglets are castrated without painkillers . Farmers use a blade to slice open the scrotum and then pull out the testicles.





6. Maceration









Since male chicks will never lay eggs and don’t grow quickly enough to be raised profitably for meat, they’re killed within hours of hatching. These young animals are often ground up alive in macerators





7. Extreme Confinement









To maximize profit, animals at factory farms are kept in cramped, disease-ridden conditions, and many won’t see the sun until they’re on their way to the slaughterhouse.





8. Breaking Up Families









At factory farms babies are often ripped away from their mothers , causing severe distress for both mothers and their young.





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These heartbreaking and barbaric acts are ALL 100 percent legal and they show the complete disrespect for animals at factory farms.



