If free range eggs were the only available they would have to be more competitive. Besides Barn Laid eggs are the practical solution. It removes the cruelty without becoming impractical.

There is enormous room for improvement in food production and when people need to do things they tend to develop innovations to make it more economically feasible. Unfortunately the most vocal people with regard to cruelty drop out of the market as vegetarians and don't exert the same type of consumer force as they could if they didn't. If the people eating barn laid eggs had just stopped eating eggs it would not be an alternative. Luckily with eggs a different approach was taken. I don't think there is an identifiable meat eating group calling for more humane production (except of course live exporting).

I owned and operated a travelling farm show for several years, and as a consequence, I am now a vegetarian.
It's not that I don't accept the necessity of one animal dying, so another can live; it's about the manner of their dying, and the unnecessary cruelty involved.
I see nothing morally wrong with eating kangaroo for instance, if there are too many of them and if they are cleanly killed; shot in the paddock with no warning and no pain.
But I really don't understand how it's right and proper not to be cruel to a dog or a cat or a canary, but food animals are different.
We found free range pigs to be odourless, extremely affectionate, very intelligent and unbelievably funny. Again, if shot cleanly in the paddock, without warning...
In the early days, we sold 2 'backfatters' to a butcher, and sent them on to the abattoir. When we rang 2 days later about the cheque, we found that they still hadn't been killed. At the butcher's request, they had been left without food and water for 2 days, to get rid of some of that fat. We were paid on dressed weight.
Never again.
In primitive cultures all over the world, there was almost a universal tradition to honour the prey, and thank them for giving up their lives, so the hunter's family could live. It's that empathy, that ability to imagine what another creature is feeling, which I believe defines Humanity.
Or some of us, at least.

Have you ever thought of animal welfare in relation to how it affects your welfare as the one eating their meat?

There are not too many people that dont love crackling. Pigs are not skinned like sheep and cattle, they are only dehaired. I would prefer my crackling came from a pig out on pasture than one forced to marinate in its own crap.

I would rather eat an animal that produced muscle naturally thru exercise than one that was fed growth promoters and hormones because the confinement of the pigs prohibits natural growth.

I would prefer to eat meat from animals that have had a relatively happy life with minimal disease and stress burdens than from those that are only kept alive with drugs until slaughter.

Yep, my welfare depends a lot on theirs - if I want to live a long, health life.

*The consumption of a 4 month old animal, like lamb is disgusting.*

Desmond, lambs are commonly 7-11 months old when we eat them, but
they are certainly tasty :)

Now you are going to have to explain what is disgusting about that,
for the issue is of course suffering, not death.

To put it another way, if you are hit by a proverbial bus tomorrow,
you won't be around to care if it hit you are not. Next thing
you'll be worm food.

“The consumption of a 4 month old animal, like lamb is disgusting.”

Damn it Desmond, I love lamb. Yabby… ya farming pedant.

“People should be forced to slaughter and eat their pets until they are all gone, thereby giving their non-pet owning neighbours some peace and quiet.”

Well then what you’re really saying is that people with annoying pets should eat them immediately Leigh. You have my full support.

“I would prefer to eat meat from animals that have had a relatively happy life with minimal disease and stress burdens than from those that are only kept alive with drugs until slaughter.”

Agreed PF. Since that Swine Flu thread when I joined OLO I have been much more selective with meat.

Which reminds me, not one person back then could tell me who polices this industry.

So who has rules for keeping, breeding, killing etc animals?

Who monitors it?

Who enforces these (if there are any) rules?

The idea that the only way we can achieve sustainability is by ignoring issues of humane animal husbandry lacks compassion.

Some possible ideas:
- less intensive animal production in a mixed farming integrated system set up rather than our narrow view of monocultures.
- Concentrate on local production centres rather than centralised mega-operations.
- as rechtub said ban imports of animal/animal products we can produce here without having to compete with nations where labour is exploited and where there are limited if no animal cruelty regulations.
- this ties in with population sustainability and how much we can produce humanely.

There is no excuse for animal cruelty in food production yet we all turn a blind eye to it because of some misguided allegiance to a highly flawed economic system.