# Factory farming > A term referring to highly intensive forms of livestock farming. It began gradually during the 19th century Industrial Revolution, and grew rapidly after World War II due to the invention of synthetic germicides and insecticides, the development of transportation networks, and so on. Melanie Joy criticizes factory farming in Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows as the cruelest system in human history. Factory farming is also one of the most extreme forms of animal objectification. A term referring to highly intensive forms of livestock farming. It began gradually during the <19th century> , and grew rapidly after due to the invention of synthetic germicides and insecticides, the development of transportation networks, and so on. criticizes factory farming in [Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Why%20we%20love%20dogs,%20eat%20pigs,%20and%20wear%20cows.txt) as the cruelest system in human history. Factory farming is also one of the most extreme forms of [animal objectification](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Animal%20objectification.txt). ## The "Fourth Stage" of Meat-Eating criticizes "factory farming" in [The Sexual Politics of Meat](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/The%20sexual%20politics%20of%20meat.txt) as a euphemism, and proposes calling it "the fourth stage" of meat-eating instead. The first stage is the early form of hunting. The second stage is group hunting using tools, and from this point onward distance begins to be created through bows, spears, and so on. The third stage is . At this stage, meat-eating begins to increase greatly. The fourth stage is the imprisoning of animals. By the time this stage is reached, animals are isolated from almost everyone until they are slaughtered and become "food," and the process of imprisoning and slaughtering animals to produce "meat" becomes industrialized. ## Animal Abuse In almost all factory farming environments, animals live in extremely crowded conditions in cramped spaces, and their teeth are pulled out or their beaks/tails/horns are cut off without anesthesia. They are forcibly impregnated, and the young they give birth to are taken away; the 'unnecessary' young are often killed by being ground up in grinders. They eat feed mixed with various and , and suffer various forms of physical pain, such as broken bones, due to excessive selective breeding. Even during transport to the slaughterhouse, there are animals that suffer extreme pain or die due to , malnutrition, and so on. In slaughterhouses, because slaughter is carried out at excessively high speed in order to increase productivity, situations where limbs are cut off while the animal is still conscious also occur frequently. For details, refer to the following: - Chapter 3 of [Animal liberation](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Animal%20liberation.txt) - Chapter 3 of [Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Why%20we%20love%20dogs,%20eat%20pigs,%20and%20wear%20cows.txt) - The documentary film ## Scale For details, see [Slaughter statistics](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Slaughter%20statistics.txt). ## Zoonotic Infectious Diseases According to [a study (Zoonosis emergence linked to agricultural intensification and environmental change)](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3666729/), the increase in is related to modern factory farming environments. No matter how high the level of 'animal welfare' may be, animals become vulnerable to various because they are confined in unsanitary and cramped spaces. It is also a problem that, because humans eat meat, an abnormally large number of individuals live in abnormally dense conditions and come into abnormally frequent contact with humans. ## Various Other Problems Factory farming causes a variety of problems besides the issue of animal abuse. - Air and water pollution, depletion of drinking water - Destruction of - Soil contamination - Deforestation - Acceleration of the [climate crisis](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Climate%20crisis.txt) due to emissions