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...t, are raised in a very narrow crate. They are chained at the neck and cannot even lie down comfortably. Animals raised under these conditions receive no personal attention. Farmers feed the animal antibiotics and hormones to make it grow faster. Sows go from one pregnancy to another without breaks in between. Also, many animals suffer from lung diseases from toxic gases that accumulate in the building they are kept in. After an animal is big enough, it is loaded into a crowded truck with many other animals to be transported to the slaughter house. Once at the slaughter house, the animals are unloaded, feeling sick, injured, hungry and disoriented. Animals are supposed to be knocked unconscious before being killed, but foul are usual not. Sometimes, animals are slit at the neck and are left to bleed to death. Though many people believe that animals do not have feelings, this is not true. Most animals raised for food have central nervous systems and they feel pain, just like people. The American method of farming livestock also harms the environment, in several different ways. As Alan Durning, a senior researcher of global issues, said, "Livestock production is the most ecologically damaging component of American agriculture." Forty-five percent of continental USA land is used for production of meat, most of which is used for growing grain used for animal fodder. Energy experts say that it would be much more efficient to just eat the grain. If Americans decreased their meat-eating by only ten percent, there would be enough grain to feed sixty million people. To make room for so much land fit for raising livestock, people must destroy many areas of natural environments such as prairies and forests. Out of all the types of animals raised for meat, cattle are the most damaging. The land on which they graze erodes aw...