Review: Death On A Factory Farm
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If you’re a sensitive vegan, you might have avoided watching Death on a Factory Farm, which premiered on HBO March 16th 2009. You might have tried to shield yourself from the disturbing video footage caught by an undercover investigator.
The images are bad, but if you’re vegan then the images probably aren’t anything worse than what you’ve already seen. In fact, I found Earthlings to be much more difficult to watch. Earthlings is a horror story of animal cruelty across the spectrum from animals used for food to animals used for entertainment and everything in between. Death on a Factory Farm is only about animals used for food. And of that, it’s only about hogs. And of that, it’s only the abuses on one hog farm in Ohio. (But those abuses are normal and common within the meat-production industry.)
The majority of Death on a Factory Farm is not full of images of cruel farm practices. The majority of the film is about an animal cruelty court case. Death on a Factory Farm can be thought of as three documentaries in one:
- a documentary about an Ohio factory hog farm’s cruel practices,
- a documentary about an animal rights undercover investigator, and
- a documentary about the US courts and impotent animal welfare laws.
However, the images are disturbing. If you’re really sensitive, you might want to fast-forward through them. (Spoiler alert! Read no further if you plan to watch the film and want it to remain a surprise.)
The images show:
- gestation crates where the sows cannot turn around or lie down easily
- furrowing crates where the sows cannot turn around, but can lie down a little bit more easily
- piglets with deformities or injuries left to die
- piglets tossed into wheeled bins, piling up on top of each other
- pigs prodded and shoved onto buses
- sick or injured sows left to die and rot in their own filth
- skinny, weak, sick, or injured piglets were slammed against a hard surface in order to “euthanize” them
- another method of piglet “euthanasia” was to beat their skulls with a hammer
- sick or injured sows being hung to death (the rationale: other methods of “euthanasia” were too expensive or too dangerous to workers)
I had a lot of reactions to this film. I went from curiosity about a secret life of an undercover investigator to disgust and empathy regarding the cruel treatment of factory farmed pigs to frustration over the US legal system.
It’s terribly sad that human labor in animal agriculture is so devalued that it’s more cost-effective to neglect sick or injured sows and let them die of starvation, cannibalism, infection, etc. or to pay low-wage workers to cruelly kill the “downed sows” than to pay veterinarians to euthanize them in a more humane manner.
We know what that does to sows, they suffer tremendously: we hear it in their screams and they display pain in their body language. But what does it to to humans? The humans mask their feelings with an aggressive machismo. They seem to enjoy the animals’ suffering. Do they really? One worker seemed to tear up while watching some of the cruelty footage: he blinked nonstop as though holding back tears. Was he worried about prison time or was he experiencing empathy for the sows?
Even though the undercover investigation stemmed from a local employee. She complained to the Humane Farming Association about the animal abuse and subsequently rescued some of the pigs. But the defense lawyer whined, “This case is actually about an animal-rights group from California coming to Wayne County, Ohio, trying to tell us how to run our farms.” When local employees complained about animal cruelty, their complaints were ignored.
More low pay work: undercover animal rights investigation. “Pete” testified he earned only $12,000 a year. Not only is the undercover work low-pay, it’s hard, manual labor that’s emotionally difficult and personally dangerous. Death on a Factory Farm gives you a sneak peak into that life, a life virtually no one sees. In my view, the people who are doing undercover work are fighting the good fight. The video footage they capture changes public perception and changes laws.
Boy, do the laws need changing. The legal system hasn’t caught up to the average American citizen regarding animal treatment. Things that everyday citizens would consider cruel aren’t considered animal cruelty in the eyes of the law. Gallup polls report:
“The vast majority of Americans say animals deserve at least some protection from harm and exploitation, and a quarter say animals deserve the same protection as human beings. [...] A clear majority, however, favors strict laws concerning the treatment of farm animals.”
The treatment of farm animals shown in Death on a Factory Farm was not unusual, though one particular method of so-called “euthanasia” was unusual: hanging. That the court found the defendants “not guilty’ on all but one count proves how usual these practices are. All animal agriculture is cruel. Some farmers are more cruel than others, but animal agriculture is inherently cruel.
Even if we can’t abolish all animal agriculture (maybe we can, maybe we can’t), factory farming has got to go. It’s the most evil of the evil. The cruel killing methods used on the Ohio farm were called “euthanasia.” It’s frustrating that the word “euthanasia” has been so completely corrupted by animal killers that it doesn’t mean what it says it means in the dictionary:
euthanasia
–noun
1) Also called mercy killing. the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, a person or animal suffering from an incurable, esp. a painful, disease or condition.
2) Painless death.
Animal advocates often disagree about using the word “euthanasia” to describe the killings in animal shelters because many of the animals killed are healthy and adoptable, but how often do we talk about how the animal exploiters use the word? Before watching Death on a Factory Farm, I didn’t know that the legal and agricultural connotation of “euthanasia” included hanging sows or beating piglets to death, did you?
The way animal exploiters talk about what they do and the language they use is not truthful. Compassionate, sensible people don’t call swinging a piglet by the legs and smashing his or her head into cement a “painless death.” Compassionate, sensible people don’t call beating a piglet’s brain with a hammer “mercy killing.” Compassionate, sensible people don’t say hanging a sick or injured sow by a chain from a forklift is “euthanasia.”
Even though the farmers got off with a slap on the wrist, they only did so because the current farm animal cruelty laws are so lenient. The case didn’t prove that what they did wasn’t animal cruelty, it proved that animal cruelty in the meat industry is so prevalent that the cruelty is expected and defended.
I don’t know who said this but it certainly applies here:
“Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity….”
~ Recent blog post: Vegans Don’t Eat Bugs, Worms or Parasites in Animal Flesh ~
I didn’t want to watch it because I knew it would be disturbing. You are right that it isn’t as bad as others that fill the frame with the atrocities of factory farming from beginning to end. Somehow, though, when it reached the point where they were hanging the pigs I just burst out bawling. Perhaps as much because of my own powerlessness as for any other reason, including how awful it is to watch a sentient being treated so badly.
The fact that the hanging was determined to be an acceptable way to kill the downed pigs is indicative of the state of the law now, and we can only hope that this is the biggest message of the film. I applaud HBO for airing it, for putting its name on it, for not backing away.
YOU ARE NOT POWERLESS.
YOU ARE NOT POWERLESS.
YOU ARE NOT POWERLESS.
I know you know that. You already do so much for the animals. Veganism is an expression of power. But you do even more! You help people go vegan by blogging about vegan food, by helping organize vegan events, by emailing your friends and family and encouraging them to go vegan, by donating to vegan and AR organizations…
Even just forwarding these videos will encourage some people to go vegan.
I thought the documentary was great, although I couldn’t help wonder, with most of the grizzly animal cruelty scenes in the first half hour, if I was the only one left watching it when they got to the court case.
Perhaps if they would have put the verdict at the beginning and then led into the cruelty for which these people were acquitted, it would have been a bit more impactful.
But overall, I give the documentary an A+.
I try to view people who do these kinds of things as victims of the culture in which they were raised. Their laughter is a psychological defense mechanism. Even still, some compassion leaked out as some of them fought back tears in court. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of person could defend the abuse that was shown in the undercover footage. Absolutely disturbing that anyone could defend that. And, with the exception of the one worker who came forward to complain to HFA, what absolute cowardice that the other workers didn’t stand up and say “NO! I’m not going to do this anymore.”
As nasty as all the treatment of the helpless sows, pigs, and piglets was, I thought that HBOs airing of this and all the subsequent blog talk about it is terrific, it’s the silver lining in the dark cloud, it’s another mainstream media look at how non humans are abused, it follows on the back of the recent Nightline airing of primate abuse in vivisector labs.
‘Pete’ & the HFA are two reasons that I still have respect for humans, I was really upset watching the piglet having her head bashed against the wall and the innocent, sentient, struggling in it’s death throes pig, hung, like a medieval punishment for no other reason than entertainment for the bored owner and his workers, like vicks they should have gone to prison.
Still despite all the injustices, I choose to have a healthy anger about their mistreatment and will use this as a catalyst to verbally bash and pound the animal food farming industry every chance I get.
I am not a Vegan. I don’t want ANYONE to have anything but their OWN beliefs, sense of what’s right and wrong, and of course their freedon of religion. The fact of the matter is something you CXANNOT argue. THE WORLD , not just the U.S. , is NEVER going to stop EATING MEAT . However, that does not mean that animals should not be raised, and slaughterd in a reasonable fashion. Sick animals should be put to death quickly and painlessly. There should be strict guidlines regarding the environment oin which these animals are raised, and treated.
It is up to the Federal Government to put STRICI, and CLEAR guidlines in place, that are ENFORCED, with severe penalties for breaking these laws. These animals are raised for food. This does not mean that every moment of their lives should be filled with pain and terror. I think it’s just “human” to have compassion for all living things. I do not believe all farmers act this way- most I am sure do not. But laws do need to be in place to protect the helpless from the cruel. Even if we have to pay a few cents more per pound for our bacon or steaks.
A follow up to my comments. These animals are born and raised to BE slaughtered for our consunption. However, strict laws should be in place-FEDERAL, not STATE laws, that REQUIRE that compassion is shown to these animals while they are being raised, and how they are slaughtered. There are two reasons for this . BOTH important. The conditions shown, are certainly NOT sanitary, and Farms like the one shown , could certainly be a FERTILE BREEDING GROUND FOR DISEASE. Second, while these animals ARE alive, they should have at least living conditions that are somewhat tolerable. I am certain as I related before, people- the vast majority , would be happy to be a FEW CENTS EXTRA A POUND for these improved conditions to exist on a uniform basis. We do not need people preaching” to us however. I do not tell anyone how to live their lives, they do not have the right to tell others how to live theirs. It is a fact, prople are GOING to eat meat, poultry, fish, pork, all over the world. That is never going to change.
Jon, we don’t agree about whether animals should be slaughtered an eaten, but we can agree that they should not be tortured. Let’s hope that agreement helps move both humans and animals into a new era of compassion and justice.
Hey Jon thanx for your input it’s much appreciated…even if you are right that animals will always be food for humans we actually do have the right to ask people to stop eating them, they may not listen, but vegans will always ask, I’m not sure if you are familiar with this quote but it really helps bring home the message that vegans stand by.
“The question is not, can they reason? Nor, can they talk? But, can they suffer?”
Jeremy Bentham, philosopher and animal rights activist English jurist, philosopher, & legal reformer (1748 – 1832)
Pain is an equaliser Jon, animals are artificially inseminated, pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, they have their throats cut without anaesthetics, some are boiled alive before they are dead, a hens male children are generally suffocated to death in garbage bags or put through a meat grinder and a female cows male kids are torn from her despite her pleas for their return and are killed for veal after a few short weeks of confinement, and there’s more that goes on than the few things I’ve mentioned, but like I said at the beginning of this paragraph, pain is an equaliser, which one of these things would any human agree to have done to them or their children, I’d say none, we ALL feel pain, humans and animals, I can’t imagine the terror that these poor animals experience just so humans can eat them.
It can be tough to change Jon, but maybe you could begin by having a couple of meatless days a week, the animals sure would appreciate it…Thanx again
I recently watched this movie on HBO and was so sick that I felt sick for the rest of the day. I have not eaten any meat since I have watched the film. Before this film I always did deeply care about animals but I would say well the animals are already dead im not the one killing them. I can no longer hide behind this false sense of secruity that most Americans have. I know it is going to be hard for be to cut out meat from my diet as I am very active in weight lifting and sports, but I can no longer view meat the same way.
I just thought I would share, as a first hand account about how powerful this movie is.
Congratulations on your new found compassion and commitment, Drew. I thank you and the animals likely thank you, too.
I just finished watching for the second time. I keep a Hog on my family farm for food. Its really tough bc you get attached to them and they become a pet to the kids. I can tell you my Pigs have all displayed a personality. They are happy and well adjusted to the kids. They love to be rubbed behind the ears. They love to roll in the mud. They push thier tubs up to the gate when they start to run low on feed.
I have a few dogs and my pigs are as much a pet as a dog (Except I would never eat my dog). I recently faced a situation where one of my dogs was shot by a neihbor. The pup lived but he is not the same. He has a fear of loud noises and bc the bullet hit his lung he cant keep up on long runs. He seems to be having a much harder time cooling and we have to keep him cool at all times or his tounge goes purple.
The reason he shot the dog is bc he raises a very expensive breed of fighting rooster. He admitted raising the birds for fighting and the deputy acted like he sypathized with him. After all everyones grandpa raised fighting roosters and grandpa was a good guy. He has them in a pen guarded by a stock dog. But he claims he has the right to shoot any dog who crosses his property line. That was a month ago. He has since shot two other dogs. One boxer and one blue heeler. The heeler didnt make it and she had just delivered a litter.
Anyways the reason Im writing this is bc my experience has made me painfully aware of the lack of concern with the lives and well being of animals in my state. Its basically up to a local deputy and prosecutor whether to even enforce the law. And ours seem not to care. The local vet is nothing but an old cow doctor and he defends the right to shoot animals that come on private property. Ive never heard such backwards thought from an educated man. Do dogs understand property laws? As a vet he should know.
I am allowing my kids to watch the documentary. I know its graphic and disturbing to a child but they need to know. I dont want them to become Vegans or join PETA but I would like to see them show concern for the well being of animals. I geuss the only answer is to create a consiousness and thats what this document does.
I value the part of society who has so much empathy for animals. It says alot about the compassion we are capable of. I feel strongly that dogs deserve near human protection. It should rise to the level that the only reason an animal should not be protected is when it comes into conflict with the health and safety of humans. I know its hard to believe when looking at some of our inlaws but we are still number one on earth. I did start using morning star in chili and spagetti. Its so expensive though and at times we just cant afford to live without the low cost meat we raise. Its a tough conflict. I wonder how many of you have encountered the same.
“I did start using morning star in chili and spagetti. Its so expensive though and at times we just cant afford to live without the low cost meat we raise.”
You don’t need to add veggie meat crumbles to your chili or spaghetti. Just use beans in the chili and leave the spaghetti as noodles and sauce without meat.
Remember, there were vegans before all of these veggie meat products existed. You simply don’t need real or fake meats.
Here’s what I eat that’s healthy, vegan, and cheap:
Breakfast: oatmeal with fruit
Lunch: baked potato w/ salsa, steamed carrots and green beans, and a large green salad
Dinner: rice and beans, steamed squash or corn, and a large green salad
Snacks: fruit, veggies, nuts, or popcorn
Hello, My name is AnnaBelle. I watched “Death on Factory Farm” tonite and I Just want to voice a few things. First of all although Im a singer, writer, and model living in Nashville TN now; I grew up on a farm in Kansas. I gotta tell you I was apalled by what I saw going on at the Wiles hog farm. We raise chickens and cattle and as God as my witness NEVER I mean NEVER is there any reason to treat one of God’s lving creatures the way those pigs were getting treated. YES they are livestock; YES they can be difficult; BUT they have a heart, a will to live and believe it or not they have feelings! I understand they are a source of income as are cattle for my father’s operation; and BELIEVE me I love meat. Nothing Better than steak, fried chicken, or bacon..BUT have some humility. THEY are ALIVE. Even if they are meant to become nourishment for us can YOU not treat them with humility and DIGNITY while they walk this earth? Instead of throwing them around as if they are nothing as piglets? WOW…They are your source of income; so be thankful and treat them well. As for the Wiles I dont see how they could even possibly think that hanging anything is humane? And serisouly…THEY also could have wrote veteriany cost for his farm off on his taxes! Any body knows that! They are being cheap. I was totally apalled that any MAN could stand for treating livestock that way. APPALLING
Wow that video was moving to say the least. I hope those people abusing the animals were punished.
I go months without fruit or vegetables. I cook meat for my cats chicken or beef steaks finely cut then cut again and sometimes put in blender. I did not eat meat from childhood until 35years because my mom did not spend money on food other than beans beans beans and more beans, the 3 siblings found friends to go live with. I went to live in the street begging for money,for steamed rice which was much nicer as being kicked out 2nd month 10th grade. I don’t care about cars banks credit cards or relationships with people or what people eat. I just ask God to bless the animals all day every day and thank my creator because how we treat the air water and Earth are just as bad as how parents starve their kids and beat them and molest them. Me being vegetarian for decades did not prevent my writing from being plagiarized or keep me from muggings gang rapes or beatings or broken into and robbed. So I think at this point Thank You God for your animals and the peace they know through you. I say a silent prayer apologizing for my race and wondering at God’s abundance every time I feed my cats. I go months without eating meat and I started eating it because I was dieing of a bone infection and had no money and found a 5kilo box of frozen sausages some drunk left on a road in Berlin Germany where I was housekeeper and worked for a place to stay 12 years. When I started to turn grey and swell up I knew rice and beans and chick peas and millet and lentils were not cutting it.Finding meat was a good thing because I did not buy it before then and I only eat what I cook. I can go years without riding in a car I can go decades without having intercourse or kissing or hugging.I just thank God I am not being fed to some Reptilian’s and their pets. The 30 years I was vegetarian I thought I might be Vegan someday but starvation in my adult life and torture from pervert Veterinarians which mutilated my cat cost me more money as I have ever spent on anything in my life euthanized after hospitalization, and sadist doctors have nearly killed me under their treatment after a sever beating by neo nazi’s broak my teeth foot hand an skull. I did not go to doc for 16 years and when I did go it was so evil I only go for spider bite boils. Food is not the problem Sadism and gangs and mafia and gov’t mass murder tools like cars pharmaceuticals,alcohol and homicide are the trouble. Animals have God 24/7 the people they only have while they are awake.