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Thank you for dispelling some myths about animal agriculture and global warming! It's refreshing to know that some people still have a brain in California! However, I suggest checking all the facts before making rather biased comments.
Case in point, "The waste often contains the cancer-causing element arsenic, which is added to most U.S. chicken feed to promote growth." Arsenic, or rather ORGANIC arsenic is added to SOME poultry broiler (meat chicken) diets to act as an alternative dewormer. Some other dewormers used in poultry production are sythetically produced and therefore, continuing on with the common popularity of organic in today's society, many producers have turned to more "natural" forms of parasite control. Aresenic is a naturally occuring element. On a side note, most everything, natural or not, is a carcinogen at some level!
Another point, "Plus, chicken poop frequently has mercury in it, possibly from fish meal used as feed, or from vaccines." Fish meal is used in very small amounts in poultry diets for two reasons. One, it's expensive, and two, high amounts (above about 4%) will make your chicken meat and eggs taste like fish! Mercury is found in a lot of different places other than fish too, so maybe people should avoid water! And the idea that any considerably harmful level of mercury is found in chicken "poop" from vaccine is pretty ridiculous. By the way, vaccines are administered at doses of about .1 to .5 mL and most of that volume isn't mercury folks!
I will try to be succinct with this last point, "And let's be clear: The life of an industrially raised chicken is not a happy one. The growing birds are warehoused in spaces so small they can't flap their wings, turn around or preen. Breeding for maximum meat production has resulted in animals whose bodies have difficulty supporting their own weight, meaning chickens live much of their lives in pain." First of all, not all poultry are housed the same way. Let's consider broilers (meat chickens) and turkeys. They live in temperature controlled barns where it is common for them to jump, run, flap and preen! Have you ever been hit by the wing of a flapping turkey? Probably not, because you would remember it! If you have ever actually been in a broiler or turkey barn, and I don't mean seen pictures of, you would understand what I am talking about! And birds, much like humans, don't do any of the above when they are in pain! Granted, laying hens are housed in smaller quarters, but I have yet to see any space where a bird cannot turn around or preen! Birds have been selected heavily for meat production, and while there have been skeletal issues in the past, the genetics companies will no time soon go out of business since they are always improving not only growth and efficiency, but also bird health (including the ability to walk freely). The skeletal integrity of poultry today, is much more adequate than it was 10 years ago!
Again, thank you for making the very important point that not all animal agriculture is the same. And most importantly, thank you for dispelling PETAs myth that animal agriculture is the leader in global warming. But in the future, do all of us a favor and research all of your talking points. It will save those educated in the areas that you aren't a lot of headaches!
