The week of September 18 – 24, 2011 marks the annual celebration of National Farm Animal Awareness Week. This event was launched by the Humane Society of the United States in 1993, as part of their ongoing effort to ensure the well-being of all animals. Since its beginning, National Farm Animal Awareness Week has become a way to shed light on the harsh conditions and growing animal welfare concerns associated with factory farming.

Factory farming refers to a type of commercial farming in which animal products are produced with the same desired efficiency as any other type of production factory. Conditions in these factories typically involve containing the livestock in as small living spaces as possible, as this allows for the maximum number of animals to be kept in a smaller space. This ultimately provides a higher profit.

During National Farm Animal Awareness Week, however, the Humane Society likes to focus on several areas that they believe are cause for concern when it comes to factory farming. These include:

1. An increased need for drugging of farm animals with antibiotics to prevent diseases from spreading.

2. Exposure to pesticides used to prevent pests from preying upon the farm animals.

3. Overcrowding in small enclosures leading to a lack of exercise required by farm animals to be healthy.

4. Continual exposure of animals to contagious diseases, which spread despite the farmers' best efforts to prevent them.

5. Poor air circulation in confined and crowded living quarters.

6. A lower life expectancy for farm animals.

7. General concerns about inhumane practices such as forced feedings, cruel killing methods and debeakings.

In addition to shedding light on these negative conditions, part of National Farm Animal Awareness Week includes the celebration of existing farm sanctuaries. A farm sanctuary is a type of animal rescue that takes in abused or neglected farm animals when their owners are legally or financially unable to care for them any longer. There are over 50 sanctuaries in the United States.

Both the farm animal sanctuaries and the Humane Society of the United States recognize the need to educate the public about the reason for National Farm Animal Awareness Week. The Humane Society promotes the week by publishing a colouring book aimed at children, while many of the farm sanctuaries are open to the public. This allows the public to see animals such as sheep, chicken and cattle, up close and provides an interaction with the farm animals that the public usually only associates with dogs and cats.

As with the Humane Society, many of the public outreach programs available through the farm sanctuaries are aimed towards children. Depending on the geographic location, some schools even arrange field trips during this time of the year in order to promote awareness of this week.

Why focus on the importance of National Farm Animal Awareness Week towards children?

1. It provides an opportunity to educate children about issues related to the environment and ecology.

2. Many of the animal welfare laws provide a valuable education resource about the lawmaking process of our country.

3. It helps to foster empathy for other living creatures.

4. Children are the producers of tomorrow's technologies. The people who will be bankers, business entrepreneurs, and producers of the next computer advancements in agriculture need to be educated on the problems the industry is currently facing in its present form.

The best ways to celebrate National Farm Animals Awareness Week are to contact your local Humane Society chapter or the nearest farm animal sanctuary to find out how you can donate or volunteer. If you are a parent or an educator, take advantage of modern technology through the Internet or television in order to show videos of campaigns for farm animal welfare to your children or students.