John Perez
EGL 102
Scott Johnson
12/05/12
Antibiotics in livestock
Everyone gets a cold, and then what do we do? We go see the doctor and most of those
doctors prescribe you antibiotics and a few days later you’re better. What if one day some of our
most precious antibiotics were no longer effective in treating our illnesses? Most of us never
even question what an antibiotic is, so to get it straight “Antibiotics may be informally defined as
the subgroup of anti-infectives that are derived from bacterial sources and are used to treat
bacterial infections” (TheFreeDictionary.com). It’s outrageous to me that we use those very
same vital drugs are being fed to farm livestock to promote size gain. According to the Union of
Concerned Scientists, it’s estimated that 70 percent of the antibiotics used in the United States
are for use on the farm. (Noah Berlatsky, "Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous
and Unnecessary." Opposing Viewpoints.) That might just seem odd to most people but the truth
is the practice of feeding livestock the same antibiotics used to help humans in quite dangerous.
When the bacteria become more resistant to the drugs that are fed to chickens and pigs they also
become resistant to the same drugs used to treat sick humans (Noah Berlatsky, "Antibiotic Use in
Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous and Unnecessary." Opposing Viewpoints.). Not only is it
dangerous to humans but it also causes direct damage to the animals. In my paper I will explore
what exactly feeding antibiotics to farms animals is, and the reasons why it’s necessary for a ban
to be put on the usage of antibiotics in factory farming.
Basically what we’re looking at here are farm animals such as pigs, chickens and cows
being fed or injected with antibiotics which promote rapid growth. For decades the united states
have been feeding these animals medicallt important drugs (Noah Berlatsky, "Antibiotic Use in
Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous and Unnecessary." Opposing Viewpoints.). This problem isn’t
a new, we have been feeding 100 percent of all commercially raised poultry antibiotics since
1970 (Noah Berlatsky, "Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous and Unnecessary."
Opposing Viewpoints.). So that means 100 percent of the poultry we get from any grocery store,
unless stated otherwise has been raised on antibiotics. It is true however, that some of this use is
to treat sick animals but the majority is to produce large quantities of meat for the lowest prices
(Debra Miller, “The Use of Antibiotics in Food Animals May Be the Main Source of Resistance
in Food Borne Pathogens.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints). Dr. Sharfstein who is employed by the
Union of Concerned Scientists said basically that uses other than for health reasons should be
stopped, he continued that it wouldn’t all effect the safety of the food (Gardiner Harris,
“Administration Seeks to Restrict Antibiotics in Livestock.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints). If by
taking part in this introduction of drugs to animals isn’t making it safer for us to eat or making
the healthier then why are we continuing this practice?
We are continuing a practice that we know is capable of creating a super bug that would
be resistant to medically important antibiotics. The more and more these bacteria come in contact
with the antibiotics the more they build a resistant to them. The main problem is that the disease
causing microbes are constantly mutating, the wider we use them the more of a chance that one
of those mutations will defeat the drug (Jan Grover, "More Powerful Antibiotics in Dairy Cattle
Increase the Likelihood of Drug-Resistant Bacteria Infecting Humans." Gale Opposing
Viewpoints). Once the mutation defeats then we won’t be able to ever use that same drug again
to defeat the bacteria. These bacteria can be found in the air, water and soil found on and around
the farm (Noah Berlatsky, "Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous and
Unnecessary." Opposing Viewpoints). We can come into contact with these deadly bacteria by
eating infected meat, coming in contact with fertilizers made with raw manure and by water
contaminated by animal waste (Noah Berlatsky, "Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is
Dangerous and Unnecessary." Opposing Viewpoints). The CDC antibiotic resistance expert says
“we are skating just along the edge.” The bacteria are evolving faster than our ability to create
the drugs. A CDC medical historian explains that it takes us around 17 years to create new
antibiotics and it only takes the bacteria virtually seconds to defeat it (Noah Berlatsky,
"Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous and Unnecessary." Opposing Viewpoints).
With the risks and dangers clearly stated here it’s not surprising some steps have already been
pushed into motion. An article published in the New York Times talks about how the Obama
Administration has issued some new guidelines to using these drugs making it necessary for a
vegetarian to be present to use these drugs (“Antibiotics off the farm.” New York Times). This
right here is one of those steps I feel is necessary to take in order to rid ourselves of this looming
disaster. If we can rid the factory farming industry of these drugs we can ensure the health and
safety of using these same drugs in humans. According to the New York Times its estimated that
almost two million people each year get sick due to bacteria and about 99,000 thousand die each
year (Gardiner Harris, “Administration Seeks to Restrict Antibiotics in Livestock.” Gale
Opposing Viewpoints). Can you imagine how that number would continually go up and we
continue to lose the drugs that are so vital to us?
What about the effect of these very same drugs on the animals? No one has even stopped
to ask the question of how this affects the ones who can’t talk. When the animals ingest the drugs
only a certain amount of energy, protein, and other nutrients are absorbed into the system the left
over in diverted toward building muscle and fattening up the animals (Noah Berlatsky,
"Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous and Unnecessary." Opposing Viewpoints).
This doesn’t make sense though because it’s proven that birds who grow up in germ free
environments with no antibiotics grow faster (Noah Berlatsky, "Antibiotic Use in Animal
Agriculture Is Dangerous and Unnecessary." Opposing Viewpoints). The animals suffer from
rapid growth which makes the animals experience extreme stress due to the drugs (Noah
Berlatsky, "Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous and Unnecessary." Opposing
Viewpoints) The chickens take the worst of this blow, the chickens suffer from joint problems
and deformities, and also heart and lung problems from growing so fast (Noah Berlatsky,
"Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous and Unnecessary." Opposing Viewpoints).
These animals grow so fast in such dirty and crowded conditions a lot of them suffer from heart
failure resulting in massive deaths (Noah Berlatsky, "Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is
Dangerous and Unnecessary." Opposing Viewpoints). We can clearly see the drugs aren’t faring
better on the animals either. Imagine how painful it would be to be growing too fast for your
internal organs to develop. It sounds like some sort of torture. I don’t see how we can allow any
living thing to suffer in such a way.
I’m calling on you readers to join me in the fight to ban these drugs from use on the
farms completely. I have showed you exactly what’s going on with the drugs on the farms. I
have given you sufficient evidence of the negative effects that these drugs are having on all
living creatures. I explained to you the fine line we are walking involving the use of the same
drugs in people and animals. I showed you how if we keep introducing the bacteria to the
medically important drugs that the bacteria will become immune. You saw how the ball has
already begun rolling on this issue with new regulations and prescriptions being used in order to
continue this practice. I then continued to tell you how the animals are being negatively affected
by these exact same drugs. If the drugs aren’t vital to the health of the animals, and they could
cause such destruction to humans then why are we continuing to look the other way and let these
practices continue?
Works Citied
“Antibiotics off the farm.” New York Times 16 Apr. 2012: A18(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In
Context. Web. 3 Oct. 2012.
"Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous and Unnecessary." An HSUS Report:
Human Health Implications of Non-Therapeutic Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture.
Humane Society of the United States, 2009. Rpt. in Antibiotics. Noah Berlatsky. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context.
Web. 2 May 2012.
Harris, Gardiner. "Administration Seeks to Restrict Antibiotics in Livestock." New York Times 14
July 2009: A18(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 2 May 2012.
Harris, Gardiner. “New Prescription Requirement Will Cut Use of Antibiotics in Livestock, F.D.A
Says.” New York Times 12 Apr. 2012 A19(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web.
3 Oct. 2012.
"More Powerful Antibiotics in Dairy Cattle Increase the Likelihood of Drug-Resistant Bacteria
Infecting Humans." Food. Ed. Jan Grover. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Current
Controversies. Rpt.
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Antibiotics