SOC 2080 Lecture : SOC 2080 Mar.15.docx

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 2080
• Professor: Anthony Winson

Document Summary

Greek, judeo-christian ethics and animals: inferior, subordinate to humans. Capitalistic era: animals as property, commodification of animals, factory system. Renewed ethics: leopold and extending ethical treatment from humans to animals; re-evaluation of intelligence, sentient qualities, etc. Factory farming: a holocaust in the animal kingdom. 4-5 hens in space of 2 phone books. Animals brought together and fed on corn based meals to fatten them up. Some environmental costs: inputs: water-1lb. pork= 430 gallons (1600 l) 1lb beef = 390 gallons carbon footprint-large amounts of petroleum go into the production of beef. Inappropriate feed: gastric erosion from high energy corn feed [these animals not meant to eat such large amounts of corn; meant to eat grass] 4. 37 million deaths of cattle and calves in "91 poor animal husbandry practices. Drugs: 1990 usda survey-15% of samples of meat contained drugs they couldn"t identify. Non-therapeutic use of antibiotics is endemic: beef, poultry, swine.