Programs
Programs
Animal Programs
Find out more about our animal programs by clicking on the appropriate picture.
1.0 Humane Education
Farm Stay encourages educators to teach about biological and ecological processes in a manner that instills a greater respect for animals and avoids methods that treat animals as disposable commodities.
Humane education can be defined as the teaching of compassion and empathy for all living beings and respect for their habitats. FarmStay encourages educators to teach about biological and ecological processes in a manner that instills a greater respect for animals and avoids methods that treat animals as disposable commodities. More than 12 million animals, including frogs, cats, rats, fetal pigs, fish and a variety of invertebrates are used for dissection in the Africa each year.
The study of animals in their natural habitats can be particularly educational for students and can even be done in urban environments—such as observing birds at feeders, squirrels in parks, and insects on plants. In an effort to connect children with the natural world, some classrooms have made pets out of animals such as hermit crabs, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals. However, these animals don’t always receive adequate care, and some are taken from the wild in a manner that is inhumane and ecologically harmful. Instead of purchasing animals for the classroom, teachers and students can set up temporary habitats in the classroom to study smaller invertebrates found locally, such as earthworms and insects, whose habits are not disrupted by captivity and who can be released following the classroom observations.
2.0 Farmed Animals
Farm Stay seeks an end to cruel methods of housing, handling, transporting, and slaughtering farmed animals. We promote pasture-based farming systems that allow animals to express natural behaviors, as an alternative to factory farming.
Half a century ago, family farms were prevalent. Animals grazed on pasture, breathing fresh air, and feeling sunshine on their backs. During inclement weather, they were sheltered in straw-bedded barns. In contrast, the rearing of farmed animals today is dominated by industrialized facilities (commonly referred to as “factory farms”) that maximize profits by treating animals not as sentient creatures, but as production units. Raised by the thousands at a single site, animals are confined in such tight quarters that they can scarcely move, let alone behave normally. Such production creates what appear to be “cheap” meat, eggs, and dairy products. But what at the cash register seems inexpensive in fact costs dearly to farmed animals, the environment, rural and traditional farming, human health, and food quality and safety.
Over 2 billion chickens, pigs, cattle, turkeys, sheep, goats, ducks, and geese are bred, raised, and killed for food annually in Africa. Each is a social, feeling individual capable of experiencing pleasure. The vast majority, however, are only familiar with deprivation, fear, and pain. The life of a farmed animal involves breeding, raising, transport and. Each phase offers the opportunity for cruelty or compassion. For each aspect of industrial production, alternative methods that are both humane and economical are possible.
Making Better Food Choices
Most of the meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs sold in American grocery stores and restaurants come from animals raised under intensive conditions on “factory farms”. Animals on these operations suffer pain and distress as a result of extreme confinement, bodily mutilations without pain relief, and denial of the opportunity to behave normally.
85%
Of animals are raised on low fare factory farms
15%
Of animals are raised on medium welfare farms
<1%
Of animals are raised on high welfare farms
Consumers have the power to change this through the food choices we make every day. Farmers will produce, and retailers will sell, what shoppers demand. Seemingly small changes—like switching to a vegan diet, choosing only higher-welfare products, or consuming fewer animal-based foods in general—can make a big difference in the lives of farmed animals. Unfortunately, the knowledge required to navigate the complicated world of food labeling claims is not always easy to obtain. If consumers are not provided with clear information on the meaning and integrity of animal-raising claims such as “free range” and “humanely raised,” they can be easily misled into purchasing a product that is not consistent with their personal values.
On the farm
Approximately 80 billion animals (not including fish) are slaughtered globally each year in the meat, dairy, and egg industries, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Animals raised for food comprise about 98 percent of all animals used by humans in various industries.
The vast majority of farmed animals are raised in conventional, industrial agriculture systems known as concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs (often referred to as “factory farms”). These systems are designed to maximize productivity and profit for the producer, but they create serious welfare for animals.
A very small but growing percentage of farmed animals are raised on higher welfare farms that allow the animals to exhibit more of their natural behaviors, get exercise, have extended access to the outdoors and fresh air, and be social with each other. Although the animals are raised for food, these farmers strive to provide them with a high quality of life during their lifetimes.
Farm Stay analyzes animal agriculture practices and scientific studies and works to inform and influence policymaking in a manner that raises the welfare standards of animals on the farm. Welfare concerns vary for cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, and poultry raised for food production.
During transport
In today’s specialized food system, the majority of animals raised for food are transported to different locations based on their “stage of production” such as breeding or fattening. At minimum, animals are transported from the farm to the slaughterhouse, and many will be subjected to the additional stress of a livestock auction.
Even under the most controlled conditions within the industry, transport is stressful. Farmed animals are deprived of food, water, and bedding during transport. Trucks are so overcrowded that animals are unable to rest, and may trample or fight with one another in search of space. The risk of injury is particularly high during loading and unloading, when electrical prodding and other brutal handling methods are often used to move fearful and disoriented animals. Trucks waiting in line to unload is a serious problem as well; animals in trucks that are stalled in queues or stuck in traffic, especially on asphalt in hot weather, are extremely stressed and may even die as a result.
AUCTIONS AND MARKETS
Auctions, also commonly referred to as “stockyards” or “livestock markets,” are establishments where farmed animals are kept until they are sold or shipped to another destination. Some animals may have to endure transport to multiple auctions before they are ultimately sold for fattening, or more likely, for slaughter.
Auctions have a poor record of animal welfare. There exist no standard protocols for providing animals with sufficient food, water, space for rest, shade in hot weather, and comfortable quarters in cold weather. Animals too sick or injured to walk (referred to as “no ambulatory animals” or “downers”) may be unable to reach food or water and can suffer from inhumane attempts to force them to move, including being rammed with forklifts, shocked repeatedly by electrical prods, and dragged by chains around their necks or legs. Downed animals may be left to die, and sometimes even tossed onto garbage piles while still alive.
Due to serious welfare concerns and the potential for spreading disease, Farm Stay opposes the selling of animals at livestock markets.
3.0 Wild Life
Terrestrial Wildlife
Farm Stay seeks to reduce the detrimental impacts of human activities on wild animals. We work to strengthen national and regional wildlife protection and foster humane, nonlethal solutions to conflicts with wildlife.
Humans threaten wildlife through harassment, habitat degradation, encroachment and destruction, cruel and irresponsible hunting and trapping, capture and killing for profit, incidental poisoning and vehicle strikes, and culling. Farm Stay works to safeguard wild animals and their habitats, and minimize or eliminate the impacts of detrimental human actions. We urge governments and other policymakers to halt or prevent damaging actions by calling for better enforcement of wildlife protection laws, promoting severe penalties for wildlife criminals, and supporting increased funding for federal land and wildlife management agencies. We advocate for humane solutions to human-wildlife conflicts, and engage and educate the public on ways to help wildlife.
Farm Stay works to prevent commercial exploitation of threatened and endangered species by fighting for enforcement against poachers, smugglers, and dishonest animal dealers. We are actively involved in monitoring and contesting unsustainable or inhumane trade in wildlife, including through our participation in meetings of the convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to help ensure that international trade in wildlife does not threaten species with extinction.