Bill Maher is against not only wet markets, he is also against the 'factory farming' we see in the US, which he thinks leads to diseases in animals which then eventually make their way into human beings. The video shows scenes of chickens and pigs factory farmed, and pictures of such things as live chickens having their beaks removed. Ultimately I think Maher is suggesting vegetarianism, although that is not quite the main emphasis of the video. The main emphasis of the video is the way the animals are kept crowded in small areas by meat producers. Although he does mention and show a couple pictures of the wet markets such as in China, that is not the main emphasis of the video.
Factory farms are not perfect and the animals don't have the best lives but it is the best way we have to produce enough meat safely at prices people can afford. Many factory farms have stopped using antibiotics in their feed and increased the square footage per animal but they are kept under lockdown quarantine because most diseases that can make them sick are present in wild birds all the time so there can be no interaction. Factory farming is the reason that turkey flock was found to have bird flue before they entered the food stream and the flue was contained to one flock. Without the factory farm system of quarantined flocks and other safety procedures this bird flue could spread through and wipe out the turkey industry and we'd all be eating ham next Thanksgiving. As far as those Pigs having pneumonia it's most likely from dust not a virus. The reason they debeak chickens is because they bully each other they'll peck out eyes and rip out feathers and even kill each other, have you ever heard of the "Pecking Order" where do you think that comes from and that saying has been around long before factory farms. Farmers used to debeak problem birds even in free range chickens hundreds of years ago and they don't remove the whole beak they just blunt the tip, basically disarming them. Factory farms are not perfect and I would never say don't complain about it's problems because most of the improvements that have been made are because of public scrutiny but factory farms are not going away. Even though the image of farm animals living on the family farm like charlotte's web seems like the ideal it is not realistic or safer than factory farms, they don't quarantine these animals because it's cheaper or easier they do it to prevent the spread of disease because one infected flock could easily become a farm wide, state wide, nation wide epidemic that could destroy the industry.
It's hard to argue with what he had to say.
Is there a text version, or can anyone convert the YouTube? I have been to many wet markets, and have posted a photo-essay about one in Chengdu.
I havent been able to find a text version.
Bill Maher is against not only wet markets, he is also against the 'factory farming' we see in the US, which he thinks leads to diseases in animals which then eventually make their way into human beings. The video shows scenes of chickens and pigs factory farmed, and pictures of such things as live chickens having their beaks removed. Ultimately I think Maher is suggesting vegetarianism, although that is not quite the main emphasis of the video. The main emphasis of the video is the way the animals are kept crowded in small areas by meat producers. Although he does mention and show a couple pictures of the wet markets such as in China, that is not the main emphasis of the video.
Factory farms are not perfect and the animals don't have the best lives but it is the best way we have to produce enough meat safely at prices people can afford. Many factory farms have stopped using antibiotics in their feed and increased the square footage per animal but they are kept under lockdown quarantine because most diseases that can make them sick are present in wild birds all the time so there can be no interaction. Factory farming is the reason that turkey flock was found to have bird flue before they entered the food stream and the flue was contained to one flock. Without the factory farm system of quarantined flocks and other safety procedures this bird flue could spread through and wipe out the turkey industry and we'd all be eating ham next Thanksgiving. As far as those Pigs having pneumonia it's most likely from dust not a virus. The reason they debeak chickens is because they bully each other they'll peck out eyes and rip out feathers and even kill each other, have you ever heard of the "Pecking Order" where do you think that comes from and that saying has been around long before factory farms. Farmers used to debeak problem birds even in free range chickens hundreds of years ago and they don't remove the whole beak they just blunt the tip, basically disarming them. Factory farms are not perfect and I would never say don't complain about it's problems because most of the improvements that have been made are because of public scrutiny but factory farms are not going away. Even though the image of farm animals living on the family farm like charlotte's web seems like the ideal it is not realistic or safer than factory farms, they don't quarantine these animals because it's cheaper or easier they do it to prevent the spread of disease because one infected flock could easily become a farm wide, state wide, nation wide epidemic that could destroy the industry.