Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with breeding and raising of domestic animals such as cattle, hogs, sheep, and poultry  as food or product sources.

“Our society is showered with images of happy animals living on farms where the cows graze in lush green fields and the chickens have the run of the barnyard. This vision of free-roaming animals living out their days in sunny fields is very far from the reality. A majority of the animals that are raised for food live miserable lives in intensive confinement in dark, overcrowded facilities, commonly called factory farms.”

Some concede the necessity of animals for food and products but feel that goals in raising stock should always be focused on the humane caring of animals.  Over the past two decades there has been increased advocacy for the “free-range” care of domestic animals in opposition to the meat industry’s abuse of animals and environmental devastation.

Over the past two decades considerable research has been done on the human-animal connection but almost all of it from the human point of view and focused on companion animals.  We now know that stroking a bunny, cat, chinchilla,  or dog or even watching fish can lower blood pressure. We know animals act as social catalysts for the elderly and people with disabilities, and that a pet can help create a more successful recovery for the victim of a heart attack.

I became aware of “Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others” by Mark Bittman through a link in an email sent to me by a friend who receives DawnWatch.

It’s time to take a look at the line between ‘pet’ and ‘animal.’ When the ASPCA sends an agent to the home of a Brooklyn family to arrest one of its members for allegedly killing a hamster, something is wrong.

“That ‘something’ is this: we protect ‘companion animals’ like hamsters while largely ignoring what amounts to the torture of chickens and cows and pigs. In short, if I keep a pig as a pet, I can’t kick it. If I keep a pig I intend to sell for food, I can pretty much torture it. State laws known as ‘Common Farming Exemptions’ allow industry — rather than lawmakers — to make any practice legal as long as it’s common.

It’s a thought-provoking article. At the heart of animal rights is the knowledge that all animals are sentient beings, capable of suffering and feeling pain. As much as our society values companion animals, there are still many issues regarding cat and dog overpopulation, spaying and neutering, animal cruelty, feral cats, and exotic pets that remain unresolved.

Political advocacy, changes in diets clothing, cosmetics and household products we purchase can help animals raised to become food or products. But what would it be like to live in a society where farm animals and companion animals were treated equally?