My Animal Science Degree Showed Me the Oppressive Nature of the Discipline
It took me a decade to realize the field is defined by exploitation
Like most of my classmates, I chose Animal Science because of my deep love for animals and my dream of becoming a veterinarian. At the time, it seemed like a no brainer. With a pre-veterinary medicine option, I could gather all my prerequisites and gain the practical experience I needed to be a competitive vet school applicant.
It’s been 10 years since I completed the program’s hands-on practicum and other foundational coursework, and I now realize that these courses served to reproduce and normalize the inherent violence of animal agriculture.
The discipline of Animal Science is largely centered around, well, large animals. According to the American Society of Animal Science, the field is defined as the “science and business of producing domestic livestock species, including but not limited to beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, poultry, sheep, and swine.” Throughout my coursework, I became accustomed to terms like “livestock” and “production” when referring to domesticated farm animals.
In this context, animal nutrition education turns biological cycles into production phases, placing value on an animal’s body and determining feed…
