4. A Brief History of
The Farmed Animal Protection Movement

For a while after their development, intensive farming methods were generally not questioned in the western world. Intensive farming operations were mostly hidden away from public view, and the general public didn’t question where their meat, milk and eggs came from.

However, with the growing social movements in the west in the 1960s and 1970s, animal rights began to receive attention. Subsequently, organisations were formed to address the issue of animal rights.

In 1964, Ruth Harrison wrote a groundbreaking book, “Animal Machines''. She highlighted that animals being raised in intensive farming systems were suffering in ways that had not been seen before. The existing legislation in the UK at that time could not properly address these issues. People started to debate the ethics of these modern farming methods and consider the welfare of the animals. It is thought that “animal welfare” emerged as a fundamentally new language and concept in the context of these 1960s debates about intensive farming. Ruth Harrison worked within the political processes to obtain a fair deal for farmed animals. As she wrote in a contribution to “Animals, Men And Morals”, it was to ensure that an "animal has pleasure in life while it lives and is then humanely slaughtered”. One of the first organisations to look specifically at the welfare of farmed animals was Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), which was established by a farmer in the UK in 1967.

It was around the early 1990s that undercover investigations into intensive farms properly began. These led to the shocking discoveries of poor living conditions and cruel treatment of animals, which received significant media attention in the late 1990s. Members of the public were appalled by what was happening on industrial farms behind closed doors, and they called for more humanely-produced products.

In particular, the force-feeding of geese and ducks to produce foie gras, and the confinement of calves in veal crates for veal, generated such intense public outrage that these practices have been phased out in many places (although they do still occur in many countries).

Over the years, other aspects of how farmed animals are treated have also come under the spotlight. One major issue is the slaughter process. Shocking undercover footage obtained by animal advocates and released to the media has revealed unquestionable suffering of animals in slaughterhouses, from harsh methods of handling to the killing process itself.

The transportation of live animals over long distances from the farms on which they are raised to slaughterhouses has also generated considerable concern from animal advocates and the general public. Many have called for the transportation of live animals to be banned altogether. Animals have been observed crammed into trucks or on ships, denied food and water, subjected to adverse weather conditions and rough handling. Such transportation processes can last from hours to even days or weeks, before the gruelling journey ends with slaughter.

Certain practices and confinement systems have been banned or at least modified in some regions. Whilst there has been some progress with animal agriculture reform in some of the more affluent nations due to the tireless work of animal advocates, much remains to be done globally to address the animal welfare problems inherent in modern farming practices. This is especially true in regions where industrialised farming systems are becoming more widespread, such as Asia.