indoors. In the United States, Britain, and Australia,
permanent indoor confinement is considered economically
unjustified.Itprotectsanimalsfromtheweather,butalways
atthecostofmuchmorecrowding,sincethecattleproducer
wantsthegreatest possiblereturnonthecapitalinvestedin
thebuilding. Intensively confined beef cattleare generally
kepttogetheringroups,inpensratherthaninsinglestalls.
Slatted floorsareoftenused foreaseofcleaning,although
beefcattle,likepigsandvealcalves,areuncomfortableon
slats and can become lame.
No aspect of animal raising is safe from the inroads of
technology and the pressure to intensify production. Baby
lambs, those joyous symbols of springtime, have already
entered the dark interiors
of confinement houses.^116 At the Oregon State University
RabbitResearchCenter,researchershavedevelopeda cage
system for rearing rabbits and are experimenting with
stocking densities of two rabbits per square foot.^117 In
Australia,selectedsheepproducingsuperfinewoolhavenow
beenbroughtindoorsinindividualandgrouppens—theaim
beingto keepthe fleececlean and long. Woolfrom these
sheepsellsforfiveorsixtimestheusualprice.^118 Although
the fur trade likes to emphasize its “ranch-raised” furs to
minimizethebadpublicityitgetsfromthetrappingofwild
animals,fur“ranches”arehighlyintensive.Mink,raccoons,
ferrets,andotherfur-bearinganimalsarekeptinsmallwire
cages.Thebeautifularcticfox,forinstance,normallyranges
overthousandsofacresoftundra:onafurfarmithasawire
cage measuring forty-two by forty-five inches.
Wehavenowsurveyedthemaintrendsinanimalraisingin
whichtraditionalmethodshavebeentransformedintofactory