Whether we raise the animals in an open range or factory, the goal of their life is to be killed. Gain as much mass as possible, then die.
It's really forgeted up. They should at least have a good life before they are killed :(
It's animal cruelty, really.
There is no way they could live a happy life while still maintaining that goal. Though you could always trick the animals. Befriend them, like you would a cat or dog. Name a few. Spend time with them. But at the end of the day, you'd still kill them. If the "cruelty" is an issue, then which would you rather have on your plate, your friend or meat.
I think the argument that open range animals taste better is false. There not enough of a difference to the average consumer for it to even count. Why waste money trying to provide something most don't notice?
If you don't like it, go vegan. I have quite a few friends who are. You might be saying, "Thorax, that won't stop factory farming unless everyone is a vegan and we don't need the farms anymore, which will never happen." You'd be right. The whole planet will not all become vegans. I love meat too much. However, if a large chunk of society became vegan, then the demand for meat would decrease, meaning that we'd need less factories.
And as a final thought, factory farms do a better job of not "wasting" animal parts. So if anything, their treating the animals better in death than a lot of regular farms by using the whole animal.
