<story><title>Taping of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the Crime</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/us/taping-of-farm-cruelty-is-becoming-the-crime.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>kyrra</author><text>This is not meant to defend cruel people, I just want to raise a few points about farms.&lt;p&gt;While I have only been to small farms, I have definitely seen what some people would consider animal cruelty.  But I think it&apos;s important to understand the mentality of people that work with these animals.&lt;p&gt;Animals on farms are seen as property, not a pet in any way.  Most owners and workers of animals distance themselves from the animals to keep themselves mentally healthy as they will be putting these animals to slaughter to sell or eat.  When distance yourself from an animal, you won&apos;t be treating it as nicely as you would your family dog.&lt;p&gt;When talking about farm help, they may hold a grudge against the animals they are working with.  A friend would work his uncle&apos;s farm every saturday to help clean up after the pigs.  His job was basically shoveling pig poop for 8 hours (or other equally not-fun jobs).  It would take a day before he smelled normal again.  Doing this kind of work can make some people resentful of the animals they work with.&lt;p&gt;Farmers and farm help see animals as money, so they won&apos;t do anything that could jeopardize being paid (won&apos;t damage the product).&lt;p&gt;When people are disconnected with the animals they are working with, it is easier for some people not to be so nice to those animals.  This isn&apos;t to say that all people working with animals will be abusive towards them, but it creates an opening for those people that aren&apos;t as nice to take their anger out on the animals.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nilved</author><text>&amp;#62; When talking about farm help, they may hold a grudge against the animals they are working with. A friend would work his uncle&apos;s farm every saturday to help clean up after the pigs. His job was basically shoveling pig poop for 8 hours (or other equally not-fun jobs). It would take a day before he smelled normal again. Doing this kind of work can make some people resentful of the animals they work with.&lt;p&gt;Working in a call center, I resented every customer I dealt with.  At no point did I electrocute, scald, maim or torture them.  Not just because of the distance, but because I&apos;m not a fucking psychopath.  People who abuse living creatures do not need any defense; on the contrary, they&apos;re immoral, depraved and indefensible.</text></comment>
<story><title>Taping of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the Crime</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/us/taping-of-farm-cruelty-is-becoming-the-crime.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>kyrra</author><text>This is not meant to defend cruel people, I just want to raise a few points about farms.&lt;p&gt;While I have only been to small farms, I have definitely seen what some people would consider animal cruelty.  But I think it&apos;s important to understand the mentality of people that work with these animals.&lt;p&gt;Animals on farms are seen as property, not a pet in any way.  Most owners and workers of animals distance themselves from the animals to keep themselves mentally healthy as they will be putting these animals to slaughter to sell or eat.  When distance yourself from an animal, you won&apos;t be treating it as nicely as you would your family dog.&lt;p&gt;When talking about farm help, they may hold a grudge against the animals they are working with.  A friend would work his uncle&apos;s farm every saturday to help clean up after the pigs.  His job was basically shoveling pig poop for 8 hours (or other equally not-fun jobs).  It would take a day before he smelled normal again.  Doing this kind of work can make some people resentful of the animals they work with.&lt;p&gt;Farmers and farm help see animals as money, so they won&apos;t do anything that could jeopardize being paid (won&apos;t damage the product).&lt;p&gt;When people are disconnected with the animals they are working with, it is easier for some people not to be so nice to those animals.  This isn&apos;t to say that all people working with animals will be abusive towards them, but it creates an opening for those people that aren&apos;t as nice to take their anger out on the animals.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lprubin</author><text>As of a couple of years ago, the average job tenure of an employee working in a slaughterhouse was 6 months.  Many people lasted half a day to three days.  The emotional stress and trauma of witnessing living animals being put through the kind of things factory farming does to them is emotionally overwhelming to even the most hardened people.&lt;p&gt;The people who have to witness that day in and day out frequently end up with extreme emotional turmoil/psychological trauma similar to PTSD and it is these traumatized employees who end enacting much of the crueler practices talked about in these videos.&lt;p&gt;It&apos;s very challenging for a person to witness what goes on in a slaughterhouse and to maintain their sanity.  Trying to keep the idea that these are living creatures with rights but also that it is perfectly fine for them to suffer the horrible treatment they are subjected to requires a tenuous mental gymnastics that apparently seems to break down after only a couple of months of exposure.</text></comment>