Yes, once we’ve domesticated an animal we’re in the position of needing to take care of it, but that is generally provided for by the animal’s purpose in being domesticated. The ill-treated hunting dog fails to retrieve felled birds; the mistreated cow gives little milk: the abused house-pet becomes aggressive and temperamental. If we exploit our domesticated animals, then they become less useful for the functions for which they have been domesticated. Responsible owners endeavor to prevent these outcomes because it would cost them time, money, and aggravation in correcting the undesirable behavior or acquiring another animal.

Factory-farming is in fact similar. Factory-farmed animals live lives full of fear in unsanitary conditions, which makes their meat tough and often unsanitary. Organic meat tastes better and is the clearly superior product as a result of the less cruel raising and slaughtering process. In the end it will probably win out because it is more appetizing and healthier, and you get what you pay for.

Also, I don’t have no other blog anymore; I decided a while back to consolidate everything here.

The problem with this, though, is a problem of social perception. By saying “animals have no rights” you have now (in the eyes of a lot of people who jump to conclusions) put yourself in a position legitimizing cruelty to animals. And by cruelty to animals, I obviously don’t mean “killing them and eating them”, I mean factory farming – what basically amounts to pointless profit-driven torture, with social gains that are far outweighed by the social costs. Because in social terminology, “animal rights” is the opposite of “animal cruelty”, and thus spurning one automatically associates you with the other, and all its related terms and ideologies (i.e. anti-animal rights probably means you’re also pro industry, anti-environmentalist, pro Hummer, etc. etc.). I’m sure you’ve already encountered this wonderful American binary system of guilt by association for being a gun enthusiast. You’re pro-gun rights? You imperialist, Bible-thumping, neocon pro-lifer!

I’m anti-industrialized farming not because I believe in animal rights, but because agribusiness treats animals as if they aren’t animals (and, incidentally, the animal rights activists are doing this too, as you have pointed out). And every time we treat nature as if it is something it isn’t, we get into big trouble. Every environmental and social problem we have arises from humanity treating nature (ourselves included) as if it weren’t what it actually is.