Lots of hand-wringing on this one, and I can well see why.
On the other hand ....
Commercial hatcheries are businesses. They work within a regulatory framework, and economic necessity.
If you feel they are unnecessarily cruel, then it's your burden to make animal welfare a priority in a nation that still permits the declawing of cats. I wish you luck.
From an economic standpoint ..... It is a priority of hatcheries to ensure the stock arrives at the growers healthy and undamaged. I imagine the viewing of the process is worse than the actuality.
Even were this not the case, and I am sure there will be those who argue it inherently cruel, then who is going to pay the extra $$$ KFC will charge were all the chicks (tens of millions) to be handled one by one, in a manner that would satisfy enthusiasts.
Chicken is business, big business, and it is controlled by companies whose priority is money, not animal welfare. However, everytime the word *regulation* is mentioned, someone bangs on about freedom and liberty.
You can't have it both ways.
just my 2c
ps .... There are animal welfare concerns, and I share them. This is probably not the worst example tho ... I have seen much more distressing video.
My question is, how did hatcheries operate before this kind of mechanized equipment? 'Back in the old days' they must have handled them with more care, I would think...
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I would suspect that, in many cases, they did not. That the processes were probably more cruel, not less.
Usually, advances in technology benefit the animals as well as the producers, if only for the sake of *efficiency*.
I agree that some efficiencies cause more suffering, not less, and would cite battery cages and hog crates as examples. They underline the need for regulation to go hand in hand with production.