If Pigs Could Swim

I read an interesting article about animal cruelty today, called "If Pigs Could Swim." The overall gist was that animals, particularly farm animals, are treated a lot better in Europe, where farmers are legally required to give chickens enough space to stretch their wings and pigs hay to root around in (by comparison, in the U.S., chickens are crammed into tiny cages too small for them to stretch, and pigs are kept on bare concrete floors). The European Union will outlaw veal crates in 2007, and battery egg production in 2012. This is really good to hear. But it's frustrating that we're so far behind. Most Americans don't seem to care about animal welfare, and most of our laws are geared towards insulating businesses from having to comply with any regulations, regardless of how little it is to ask (enough room to stretch, for Pete's sake!) or how much difference in the quality of life it would make for the animals.

The article goes on to make the interesting point that in the U.S., we tend to believe in the basic decency of our fellow Americans, and so the general feeling is that livestock producers aren't cruel to their animals, or at least "no more than necessary". The horrible conditions under which farm animals live, and the routine nature of violence against animals by the workers who are supposed to care for them (usually resulting from boredom), show that this belief is misguided. In Europe, however, people typically believe that their fellows are capable of appalling cruelty, and so laws to protect animals are seen as universally necessary. This attitude has benefited people as well as animals - the end of slavery and the women's suffrage movement came much sooner in Europe than in the U.S.

I think there are two lessons here: First, don't be naive about people's capacity for evil. Believe the worst, prepare for it, and guard against it. Second, do what you can to prevent boredom among farm workers. Their jobs may be awful, but they could be structured to provide the variety and the occasional rewards that people need to keep from turning to destructiveness. I wonder if anyone is working on this.