Factory farming in Canada: Addressing imprudent antibiotic usage and the conditions experienced by non-human animals to enhance global health

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance has emerged as a significant global threat affecting humans, non-human animals, and the environment. The phenomenon is largely attributed to intensive animal agriculture, with disregard for the health and well-being of non-human animals including extreme confinement or overcrowding inducing immune stress and thus necessitating the prophylactic administration of antibiotics in food production. With both antimicrobial application and fatal multidrug-resistant infections projected to rise drastically over the next quarter century, a cohesive One Health approach is urgently required to promote global health and well-being. Using Guelph, Ontario as a point of focus, an internationally applicable strategy is proposed to overcome anthropocentrism, reduce factory farming and imprudent antibiotic usage, and apply alternatives to antibiotic-based therapies including bacteriophages on a larger scale, mitigating existing effects of resistance genes and sustainably preventing further emergence, an approach expected to positively impact the health of humans, non-human animals, and the environment.