See the horrible consequences of cramming large numbersof hapless animals into enclosed spaces.Who we are:Need help?What is a CAFO?A Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) is a type of Animal Feeding Operation (AFO)—a facility that congregates large numbers of animals and their waste on a relatively small land area for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period. [EPA] CAFOs are often referred to as “factory farms.”A large CAFO, by regulatory definition, confines at least 1,000 beef cattle, 700 dairy cows, 2,500 swine weighing over 55 pounds, 125,000 broiler chickens, or 82,000 laying hens.The animals do not graze or forage. Feed—typically corn or soy—is delivered to them. They are confined in open feedlots or enclosed structures in stalls, pens, or cages. They live, sleep, and eat where they urinate and defecate. Vast quantities of manure are collected and stored until eventually applied to farm fields.Why are CAFOs cause for our concern?CAFOs are responsible for multiple and significant well-documented public health and environmental harms. They threaten the air we breathe, the water we drink and recreate in, soil health, and biodiversity.Rural communities suffer socioeconomic losses and environmental injustice.Current regulations and laws do not adequately protect the environment and public health.CAFOs receive substantial taxpayer support.Generally, there are no CAFO size or density restrictions within communities, even those located within watersheds already impaired by agricultural pollution. CAFO expansions and new constructions amplify the associated harms. "Right to Farm" laws leave CAFO neighbors and their communities with little to no say.States may also set their own animal unit values. For example, Kansas recently assigned a lower value of 0.003 animal units per broiler chicken to encourage production in the state. This meant a new producer could permit some 330,000 chickens at a single location without qualifying as a CAFO, thereby enjoying much weaker standards for its separation from neighbors., A Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) is a type of Animal Feeding Operation (AFO)—a facility that congregates large numbers of animals and their waste on a relatively small land area for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period. [EPA] CAFOs are often referred to as “factory farms.”, An ESA can be any animal that can reasonably live with you (for instance, you can’t keep a cow in a studio apartment). Emotional support animals are granted more housing rights than companion animals, including the right to live with you in almost any rental housing and exemption from breed, weight, or size restrictions..