Concern for animal welfare is not a new concept. A quote attributed to Buddha who lived about 2,000 years ago has him advising that "When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble." And Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) felt that "The morehelpless the creature, the more that it is entitled to protection by man from the cruelty of man." Indeed most cultures have customs that implore them not to be cruel to animals. Thus historically we see that human-kind does feel empathy toward animalsand this hasn't changed. However, what has changed is that people used to interact daily with animals. Families would have a milk animal, a few swine, and a flock of chickens. People cared for animals and in return the animals provided food, labor, and clothing. The world's population has become disconnected from agricultural animals as industrialization allowed for migration of people from farms and into cities to make a living. With this disconnect has come a lack of understanding by non-agriculturalpeople (the public) of the basic physiology, behavior, and needs of farm animals. In addition, as agricultural practices, like industrial practices, became more sophisticated and technical it quickly became the norm that the public lacks understanding ofwhy and how these practices are used to produce animal products. However, at the same time, many agricultural people have also become numb to how animals are raised and they (we) consider what has become normal production practice, as meeting all animalneeds without really questioning if this is true. For instance, the high death rates (cull rate) of sows and cows in some modern production systems is often seen as normal when in reality it is possible for these animals to live for several to many more years.
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