Pain-free animals to take suffering out of farming

Neuroscience and genetics can now make it possible that animals dont feel the pain when they are slaughtered. As a meat eater, is this what you would prefer? Do you want to know if the animal that you are eating is pain free or not? If animals are farmed pain free then I would eat those animals and not eat animals that are not pain free. We can take out the suffering of the animal and still eat it's meat.

WITH "hormone-free", "cage-free" and "antibiotic-free" becoming common labels on our supermarket shelves, might "pain-free" be the next sticker slapped onto a rump roast? As unlikely as that may seem, progress in neuroscience and genetics in recent years makes it a very real possibility. In fact, according to one philosopher, we have an ethical duty to consider the option.

"If we can't do away with factory farming, we should at least take steps to minimise the amount of suffering that is caused," says Adam Shriver, a philosopher at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. In a provocative paper published this month, Shriver contends that genetically engineered pain-free animals are the most acceptable alternative (Neuroethics, DOI: 10.1007/s12152-009-9048-6). "I'm offering a solution where you could still eat meat but avoid animal suffering."

Source: www.newscientist.com...


[edit on 3-9-2009 by sunny_2008ny]

I cannot stand to think about the pitiful life of cows that are mass produced, it is not just about the death of them, it is the quality of life that they are allowed as well, which is zip. I do not eat beef anymore, or pork, I do still eat chicken and fish, I know they have a plight as well, but I have gotten to where I rarely eat chicken anymore because of the way they are mass raised, I have been buying organic chicken too, but who can assure me they had a better life than the mass ones?

I know that there is no turning back, and I might feel better about 'pain free death' if the label also said 'this cow lived a happy life too".

Cows are not mass produced. They are fed out in large feedlots for slaughter, but the beginning of their life is in a pasture eating grass. Cows are happy as long as they have plenty to eat.

reply to post by space cadet

I know that there is no turning back, and I might feel better about 'pain free death' if the label also said 'this cow lived a happy life too".

How would you define a happy life for an animal? Does the animal have feelings of happiness like we do, do they understand what it means to be happy in life? I dont know, maybe not.

Does the animal know that it is going to be slaughtered? I dont think they realize that they are being killed for their meat which we humans will then eat.

I'd like to eat animals that were overdosed on opiates.

Slaughtered in a state of bliss with all their pleasure centers activated; it is the least we can do for them. Their last reward.

*Now that we have Afghanistan, this method of slaughter could be quite cheap.

reply to post by sunny_2008ny




Ultimately, we shouldn't be seeking "Pain Free" meat, but Animal Free Meat. By cloning tissue in factory labs, we can substantially reduce the impact of farming on pollution and land-use, as well as price. Once the technology is fully mature, it would provide extremely cheap and plentiful food for the developing world as well as for us in the first world. With human life spans expected to extend considerably thanks the advent of Pharmaco Genomics, Tissue Generation, and advanced robotics/nanotech - we're going to need to free up extra land while providing more food... which "Shmeat" will go a long way to helping accomplish.

The problem is... taste. Shmeat sucks now, and it's got a ways to go until it can accurately reproduce texture and flavor of full-animal meat. Initially, I see a large market as a processed meat for things like canned ravioli, cheapie chicken nuggets, and percentage based mixtures with full-animal meat to get around this problem. Even after taste and texture has been rather closely replicated, though, there will always be a market for "the real thing" as a high-dollar specialty item.

So while I hope pain free slaughtering techniques don't provide incentive for the meat industry to drag it's feet, I think this is an excellent complimentary technology to reduce suffering both during the transition - and after.

And while I am sure this will please those who champion animal rights, it's not really going to convert any vegetarians. Does watching factory workers throw live baby chicks into a meat grinder take on any less moral sting if you know the chicks can't feel themselves being shredded alive? We don't empathize as much with lobsters when they are cooked alive, because... well, they're lobsters. They look more like monstrous giant cockroaches, whereas chicks are fuzzy and cute and helpless. When you throw a lobster into a boiling pot, all you hear is the water splash. When you throw a chick down a chute to a grinder, you can hear it's desperate anxious peeping echoing as it descends toward the blades... then silence.

We weep for the cry of a bird, but not the blood of a fish. Blessed are those who have a voice. (GitS: Innocence)

[edit on 4-9-2009 by Lasheic]

reply to post by sunny_2008ny


So long as they don't linger and it's done quickly and cleanly. Just making them not able to feel period strikes me as a bit out there.

reply to post by sunny_2008ny



ARghh! Stupid politically correct animal lovers! This news has upset me. I will eat a big fat juicy meat slaughtered the old fashioned way to comfort me self.

Oh btw, pass me that fabulous Gucci fur coat, will ya?

I like this idea

I mean i hate to see anuimals killed but I will never give up eating a nice juicy steak or a nice roasted chicken. Asd long as its done quickly and cleanly Ima ll for it.....and also if I dont have to do it

reply to post by sunny_2008ny


I am really conflicted on this because I'm a voracious meat eater...but I know that even if they don't feel pain, they still have fear as they sense their death in the air.

i dont know if i like this idea or hate it

would life be life if we didnt feel pain

would it be better? can we feel happiness if we cant feel pain?

if they use it in animals whats to stop them from using it on us eventually

this is a dangerous path and i hope truly responsible people are in charge of it

and i dont mean the U.S. government because if they are involved in anyway, we need to ban this idea immediately

Originally posted by MBF
Cows are not mass produced. They are fed out in large feedlots for slaughter, but the beginning of their life is in a pasture eating grass. Cows are happy as long as they have plenty to eat.

It depends on the country. In Britain there are better levels of animal husbandry and feedlots are not used. Similarly, pigs seem to be better cared for in Britain than the States.

I am happy to eat all forms of meat which carry the Britsih Quality Standard mark (or similar) as the animals have been treated well - in the context of something that is going to be clobbered. I also buy meat from butchers who source locally and am not too fussed with organic, as that can be a bit of a con in my experience.

I am wary of chickens which come from supermarkets and think that of all the animals bred for the table, these poor feathered creatures have the worst experience.

British Pork yummy

Regards

This is all stupid. What we need to do is go back to small community based family farms. There is still A LOT of unused land surrounding suburbs and and cities that would be better suited for family farms instead of strip malls and concrete. Bottomline is we need to change the way we live and go back to our roots of small scale family farms. It's complete and utter bs that we can't feed all the people without industrial farming. Hogwash! We may not be able to feed the world but it's not our responsibility anyways. American produces so much food to feed the world twice over as it is anyways. Pain free animals? Gimme a break. Animals deserve more than that.

Yeah, the main problem is the big slaughter industry, not eating meat or killing animals because they're tasty.
I purchase all my meat and all other things like eggs and vegetables from local farmers. They don't use any poison stuff and feed just natural stuff to their animals. I even have the chance to choose which pig or the cow i want and i can watch the every step, from taking the animal, killing it and make some good food out of it - and let me tell you, i doesn't look half as evil as what those big slaughterhouses do.
In my oppinion this is the only right way. The animal is killed as fast and "peaceful" as possible and as it lived as natural as possible, the meat is just excellent and way better than the crap you buy at the supermarket.

reply to post by paraphi


I don't think that Britain would have open areas that would be required for large feedlots. In my opinion, the smaller lots would be better anyway.

I would agree with you to buy from a butcher that obtains his meat from a local source, also, I think that organic meat is a ripoff.

As long as it doesn't raise the price of my beef and milk, they can do whatever they want with them.

I rarely think of how the animal lived when I throw a nice thick T bone or Porterhouse steak on the grill. It can go peacefully in its sleep or kicking and screaming as long as the end result is the same.

aah the ignorance of meat eaters....for one humans are not designed to eat meat very well. in fact meat was used as survival food way back before we manged properly to cultivate crops. One of the biggest giveaways in the human body to show we are not designed to eat meat is the intestines. Compare carnivours with herbivours and you will see a difference. The only true land animal that are designed to eat meat is cats and meat provides a chemical they can only get eating meat and they need this chemical to maintain its body more than any other vitamin or mineral(I forgot the name of the chemical). There has been studies associating meat with cancer and short life where vegeatarians are less likely to get cancer by a huge margin and they tend to live a lot longer.
not to mention eating meat leads to agressive behaviour in which we can easily eliminate from our society.
So the more people go vegaetarian the less likely we need to keep cattle retake the cattle lands and plant crops ..no more methane etc.....
and we dont have to play around with animal genetics.....


[edit on 9-9-2009 by loner007]

[edit on 9-9-2009 by loner007]

reply to post by loner007


I should point out that suggesting humans are naturally vegetarians / herbivorous is not valid and not scientifically proven or accepted by the mainstream. Humans can eat both meat and vegetable without contention i.e. are omnivorous.

One of the “man-should-not-eat-meat” rants is based on intestine length as a proportion of animal size and (surprise, surprise) the human neither herbivorous nor carnivorous.

Cat is x3 (small intestine length = meat)
Horse is x12 (long intestine length = veggie)
Human is x8 (medium intestine length = meat and veggie – well that’s a surprise)

Another point is of course the absence of specialist organs or mechanisms to cater for the breaking down of difficult-to-digest vegetable matter. For example, we don’t “chew the cud” and have multiple stomachs.

Oh, and what about human teeth? We have a multi-purpose set – shall we call the set an omnivorous set?

The fact is that humans are born to eat meat. Vegetarianism exists, but is made possible by access to a wide variety of food stuff which may not be indigenous to where you live and / or are the result of modern farming and production methods. Soya may give protein, but there’s no soya where I live! In a survival situation the vegetarian would soon realise that being an omnivore is the path to survival.

Meat = aggressive behaviour... Er, any scientific evidence. Anyway, Adolf Hitler was a vegatarian and he was hardly peaceful.

Regards

Pain free or no doesn't mean they can suffer abuse. In fact, they are more likely to be abused and neglected even more if people think they are "pain" free.

Stupid humans. INstead of simply changing practises. They try to change the animal. To keep on being glutonous.