The Environmental Effects of Cruelty to Agricultural Animals

Abstract

Laws criminalizing animal abuse should apply to the agricultural industry. When we exempt the agricultural industry from these laws, factory farms increase production to unnaturally high levels. This increased production causes devastating environmental effects, such as climate change, water shortages, and the loss of topsoil. In light of these effects, the law needs to do much more to regulate the agricultural industry, and the first step should be to criminalize cruelty to agricultural animals. This would force the industry to slow down production to more natural levels that are much less harmful to the environment.

Keywords: animal law, environmental law, agriculture, factory farms, climate change, water, topsoil, externalities

JEL Classification: H23, K20, K32, L66, N50, Q10, Q18, Q20, Q30, R14