Cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals commonly exploited by agribusiness are sentient beings—capable of awareness, feeling, and suffering—and humans have an ethical obligation to refrain from behaviors which inflict suffering upon these animals. Sentient beings deserve an environment and conditions which allow them to fulfill their natural behaviors and achieve a state of well-being.

Animals exploited for food and fiber in the United States are considered primarily as commodities or “tools of production,” not sentient beings. This prevailing attitude has led to widespread animal suffering on industrialized factory farms in the U.S. By contrast, European law requires that animals be recognized as sentient beings, not commodities, and this has led to basic humane protections for farm animals.

Through the Sentient Beings Campaign, Farm Sanctuary hopes to improve the status of farm animals in the United States and to achieve basic legal protections.

 
Honorary Chair, Mary Tyler Moore, speaks out for farm animals.

Mary Tyler Moore reacts to recent expose of poultry slaughterhouse abuses.