> Their treatment is generally poor, but again their purpose is to be food.

That smells like a non-sequitar to me: their purpose is indeed to be food, but that neither justifies poor treatment or cruelty, nor does poor treatment necessarily follow simply because animals are bred as food.

I am not overly familiar with the subject but I do know that there are rules and regulations both at the national and EU level to protect animals from mistreatment.