Chad Dechow
Associate Professor, Dairy Cattle Genetics
Department of Dairy and Animal Science
The Pennsylvania State University

“Instead of redesigning the factory farm to suit the animals, they are redesigning the animals to suit the factory farm”
Matthew Scully. The American Conservative, May 23, 2005.

My most memorably painful experience occurred when I was a teenage farm kid that stomped on the end of a pitchfork. My intent was for the handle to swing up and whack my sister in the hand. Alas, she was not the embarrassed teenager who left for our family vacation the next day with a well deserved set of stitches. In the seconds after the handle did its damage, I knew where I was hurting, I knew that it was a rather intense sensation, and I knew that it was not at all pleasant. What I did not know was that these experiences where the result of two different sensory pathways. The first pathway told me that my chin hurt, and badly; the second told me that it was not pleasant (for me at least – my sister was on the ground laughing).

Neuroscientists are beginning to understand how we and our fellow creatures sense pain. Lab mice that have a genetically altered anterior cingulate cortex sense pain and remove themselves from the source of the pain, but apparently are unaware that pain is an unpleasant experience and are less likely to avoid future painful situations. Some apparently believe this a terrific opportunity to produce genetically altered farm animals that have no concept of pain’s unpleasant effect.

Genetic manipulation through selective breeding is nothing new and has often benefited farm animals. In return for milk and meat, animals have been protected from extreme environmental conditions, starvation and predation. Selective breeding has made enormous contributions to society by allowing us to feed a growing population without compromising our environment or the well-being of animals. For example, Ever-Green-View My 1326-ET just completed a new world milk production record with over 8,400 gallons of milk in one year’s time, or nearly 23 gallons per day from a single cow! And she was not “worn out” at the end of the year. In fact, she was classified “Excellent” for her outstanding physical appearance; an honor bestowed on less than 1% of our nation’s Holstein cows.

There are, of course, examples of selective breeding pushing animals too far. A story is told of a well intentioned farmer growing 4,000 free-range turkeys. Unfortunately for the farmer, when it rained his turkeys stood looking into the sky and drowned. This story is held up as an example of how those who believe animal agriculture has gone wrong really have no clue about farming realities, but the opposite is true. Eliminating some of the most basic instincts for survival shows we value their meat, but not their intrinsic worth as turkeys.

The idea of manipulating an animal’s genome to eliminate their pain avoidance instinct is far more sinister than accidentally breeding exceptionally dumb turkeys. It would be an extreme example of “designing the animal to fit the factory farm”. It is not our farmers suggesting this would be a wonderful development at this point, but might they someday be forced to breed such animals just to survive economically?

The premise that this would increase animal welfare because the animals don’t realize they are in pain is absurd. Animals were designed with a pain response for a reason. Eliminating such a basic instinct would prevent them from avoiding future painful situations, and it raises the potential for abuse to new heights. What happens if animal handlers are absolved from any feelings of guilt because they are no longer inflicting pain? My bet is they won’t spend more time petting the farm animals. If it no longer is unpleasant to lie in a stall that has no bedding, will farmers continue to spend limited resources trying to make their animals more comfortable? With “pain free” animals, will we concern ourselves with making sure they are housed in systems that prevent lameness?

I am not suggesting we ignore problems in modern animal agriculture production. The continued demise of the traditional system with animals owned and cared for by a farm family is tragic. This transition has not been good for rural communities or farm animals. Breeding robotic animals that have been redesigned to take minimal notice of a painful situation does not solve these problems or promote more humane animal treatment. It is simply a faster road toward unmitigated animal exploitation. Views of farm animals range from mere economic assets to fellow creatures bestowed with their Maker’s breath of life. If we eliminate the most basic sense that pain is to be avoided, we have no right to claim we care about farm animals for anything beyond how much of a return on assets they can generate.