Antibiotics have been used in farm animals for decades for the same reason they’re used in humans – to treat or prevent or control diseases that cause pain and suffering. When an animal is sick with a bacterial infection, treating it with antibiotics is the ethical thing to do. The American Veterinary Medical Association, the nation’s largest veterinarian organization, testified before Congress that antibiotics are one of the most important tools that veterinarians use to protect both human health and animal health.