The ideas expressed in this opinion article are held by the specific author, not Eagle Eye News or Broward County Public Schools.

Dear Editor,

Factory farming as a whole is very cruel to animals. Now, I don’t have a problem with people eating animals, but I do have a problem when the animal isn’t given a good life. With smaller farms the animals have space to roam, interact with each other, and are given proper care, factory farms however aren’t like that. In factories the animals are confined to small cages barely bigger than their bodies. Chicken’s typical cages are only a few feet wide and are the height of the chicken itself, with pigs and cows they don’t even have space to move. The animals also face mutilation like de-beaking and tail docking. The animal’s life spans are very short, laying hens live for 1.5 years while boiler chickens only live 1.5 months old, keeping in mind chickens can live up to 5-10 years. Pigs are killed before they are even a year old when they can live 15-20 years old. With cows killed for meat around 2-3 years old, but with veal they are only a few months old and can live up to 15-20 years. I feel like we should care more about the animals providing us with food and give them a better and longer life before they are killed.

Submitted by Rio Rice, 9.