Animals should never be unduly mistreated. Mistreatment is in the eye of the beholder. To some just being the owner of a pet dog or cat and a human being the master is mistreatment. Some may believe that restraining a pet to the owner’s property is mistreatment or to keep a dog on a leash is nasty. Some believe animals are the equal to humans and should have all the same rights as people.

Do you know how nasty chickens are to each other? Do you know that if a chicken is hurt or sick the other chickens will peck the ill one to death? As a former teacher I saw the same conduct with my 8th graders. If one was a little different the others picked, teased, and bullied. Now with emails and Facebook the taunting is 24/7 and in some cases the end result is tragic.

Again, it is wrong to mistreat animals and there are laws and people are prosecuted but most of us are meat eaters and we depend on farmers and processors for a large amount of our food supply. We enjoy milk & eggs and someone needs to provide this. On any farm the livestock must be confined, and how much space do you give to each cow, to each hog, to each hen? A rancher in Nevada needs 320 acres per cow while in Iowa an acre can perhaps graze two cows. For an egg business to be viable how many hens are necessary? How large should the hen house be and how much would it cost to build such a house? What would it cost to maintain such a house and how many workers to care for the operation. The bottom line — what woud a dozen eggs cost?.