Stop growth of animal farms: Activists

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) After a WHO report highlighted that use of antibiotics in animal farms poses a danger to the health of humans, an animal rights group launched a campaign to stop the proliferation of animal farms.

The campaign was launched by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) Friday due to the way poultry, sheep, goats, pigs and other animals are reared for commercial purposes, such as churning out meat products. The animals are fed antibiotics regularly which creates health problems for them as well as the humans who consume these food products.

Puja Mitra, campaign manager, said: "WHO's report highlights that antibiotic resistance in both animals and people leads to increased vulnerability to diseases and bacterial infections.

"The risk of developing antibiotic resistance is greater in commercial production of animals raised for food."

FIAPO said that such occurrences are high in poultry farms where poultry is reared in the thousands in confinement and fed antibiotics to control the outbreak of any disease.

The continuous non-therapeutic use of antibiotics leads to a build up of resistance in the birds and that eventually passes into humans when they consume the meat/eggs.

"Further, these factory farms treat animals as inanimate products denying them the freedoms essential to their mental and physical well being.

"FIAPO has launched a national campaign to combat the increase in (animal) factory farms across the country and to protect human health as consumption of food from commercial products is harmful," Mitra added.