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Plato and Aristotle made clear that there was a distinction between humans and animals. Plato believed that humans and animals both had mortal souls located in the chest and stomach. However, humans had a second soul which was immortal due to the human ability to reason. This immortal soul, which Plato believed animals did not have, had a connection with the divine.
Aristotle was more severe in his thinking as to the separation of humans and animals.
In Aristotle's hierarchy of being, male humans occupied a place just next to the top, below angels but above female humans, slaves, and children. Animals, total existence was indicative to the service of humans. He also believed animals were aware of pleasure and pain, but did not have the ability to reason and lacked emotion.
French philosopher, Rene Descartes believed that humans were only able to think. Therefore animals did not have thinking minds and should be treated as machines. He believed than an animal's range of action was restricted to species-specific behavior, the animals response to stimuli was strictly a physiological reflex, devoid of feeling, thought, or choice. (Schoen 19).
In modern day, the abuse of food animals or farm animals has recently become an issue not only with animal rights activists, but also with modern society. Many farm animals used in the production of food, and factory food products go through horrendous and inhumane treatment. They treat these animals harshly and often these animals live in tightly packed living conditions and given antibiotics and hormones to fatten them up. This system .
of "factory farming" has led to no-good sides from the vantage point of food animals and thus is open to debate based on the "sacredness of life." (Shepard 1996).
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From about two years of age the modern dairy cow spends nine months of every year pregnant. Her calf is stripped away from her between one and 3-days-old causing distress in both mother and calf.