What should be done? Legitimately curious, because I'd assumed the strategy was to repair the harm done by eugenics and let the animals be free generations later. Won't the species die out if put back in the wild?
Animal ag isn't going to end overnight, I don't think. What's most likely to happen is that it will phase out over time. That means animals will unfortunately still get slaughtered at a fraction of their life. But if we want to begin ending production, we'll necessarily have to phase out forced artificial insemination and breeding, which means there will be less and less of these animals born. In this way, their population will decline. Those who aren't slaughtered (though it is likely most still will be) can be rescued and given medical treatment. Layer hens, for instance, can be given birth control so they don't lay so often. And what eggs they do lay can be fed back to them (this is a natural behavior for hens).
Some species will die out. Turkeys raised for slaughter grow so big, they literally cannot have sex. The only way these turkeys breed is through artificial insemination.
But our goal should not be to wipe out domesticated animals simply because they are often dependent or disabled. Rather, we should care for them to the best of our ability.
Sunaura Taylor wrote a really good book you might be interested in about the intersection of disability and animal rights. Give it a read if you get the chance:
Beasts of Burden (I can find you other formats too if epub doesn't work for you)
What should be done? Legitimately curious, because I'd assumed the strategy was to repair the harm done by eugenics and let the animals be free generations later. Won't the species die out if put back in the wild?
Animal ag isn't going to end overnight, I don't think. What's most likely to happen is that it will phase out over time. That means animals will unfortunately still get slaughtered at a fraction of their life. But if we want to begin ending production, we'll necessarily have to phase out forced artificial insemination and breeding, which means there will be less and less of these animals born. In this way, their population will decline. Those who aren't slaughtered (though it is likely most still will be) can be rescued and given medical treatment. Layer hens, for instance, can be given birth control so they don't lay so often. And what eggs they do lay can be fed back to them (this is a natural behavior for hens).
Some species will die out. Turkeys raised for slaughter grow so big, they literally cannot have sex. The only way these turkeys breed is through artificial insemination.
But our goal should not be to wipe out domesticated animals simply because they are often dependent or disabled. Rather, we should care for them to the best of our ability.
Sunaura Taylor wrote a really good book you might be interested in about the intersection of disability and animal rights. Give it a read if you get the chance:
Beasts of Burden (I can find you other formats too if epub doesn't work for you)