which permits unscrupulous farmers to have "downer cows" and other unfit animals offered up for slaughter and sale as food sources. Factory farms also have a tremendous impact on the environment; the earth simply was not made to allow any single area to absorb the impact of hundreds of thousands of food-sized animals to be raised in a small area. Finally, the process of factory farming has had a negative impact on American health; because it is cheap and readily available, Americans eat far more meat than they should. In addition, the hormones and antibiotics found in factory farming products make their way into the American consumer. Overall, the factory farming picture is grim, leading one to the conclusion that consumers should boycott factory farm products, and pressure legislators to outlaw the factory farming process.
             America is a country full of animal lovers, but it is also a country full of meat-eaters, a contradiction that seems hard to reconcile. However, it is possible for one to eat meat, while still having a concern for animal rights. Dominion over animals may mean that people should feel free to eat animals for sustenance, but it does not necessarily convey the right to treat those animals in an inhumane manner. This can be seen by the fact that most Americans eat chicken and beef, but that bullfighting and cockfighting are illegal throughout the United States. In fact, the majority of people who consume meat in America probably do not realize that most of the meat that they consume is raised in a very inhumane manner. However, a description of conditions on a factory farm quickly demonstrates that these animals are treated in a cruel manner. In fact, any individual animal owner who treated an animal in such a manner would probably be violating the animal cruelty laws of his state.
             First and foremost, the biggest problem with how these animals are treated is that they are generally confined so...