In my Sensation & Perception class, we’ve been discussing pain perception. My professor mentioned an article in the New York Times about factory farms, called “Not Grass-Fed, but at least Pain-Free” which brings up this issue: “because the amount of red meat that Americans eat per capita has held steady at more than 100 pounds a year as the population has increased, more animals than ever suffer from injuries and stress on factory farms.”

So, is there a solution?? (Other than the obvious– avoiding animal products)

photo by Xosé Castro

Here’s where it gets highly controversial. It’s the concept of reducing animal discomfort with neuroscience. “Recent advances suggest it may soon be possible to genetically engineer livestock so that they suffer much less.” There are essentially two types of pain perception: there is the pain itself (the quality and intensity) and there is the emotion that goes along with the pain (the unpleasant feeling associated with the pain). So, the animals can feel pain without… getting upset about it. Apparently morphine works this way.

And of course, to study all of this, they had to torture animals in the lab, which is yet another controversial issue. “Neuroscientists have found that by damaging a laboratory rat’s anterior cingulate cortex, or by injecting the rat with morphine, they can likewise block its affective perception of pain. The rat reacts to a heated cage floor by withdrawing its paws, but it doesn’t bother avoiding the places in its cage where it has learned the floor is likely to be heated up.”

The goal is to “genetically engineer” factory farm animals in such a way that their anterior cingulate cortex no longer operates properly. Thus, they will not “feel” the pain they are experiencing.

I understand the good intentions that are coming into play here, but honestly the whole thing makes me sick. I can just see the slaughterhouse workers using this as the perfect excuse to mutilate and torture the animals even more. Like a sadistic science experiment. I’d rather continue to promote cutting meat out of people’s diets, and free range and humane treatment of farm animals. But I know that’s no quick fix and millions of animals continue to suffer. What do you think? I’m also curious to know where PETA stands on this. I encourage you to read the short article, and share your opinion.