Farmed
Animal Watch
A Project of Animal Place
September 12, 2002
(To Search This Page Press Ctrl F)
Issue #84
CONTENTS
1. No Criminal Charges in Chicken Starvation Case
2. Scientists Surprised by Farmed Animal Intelligence
3. Senate Approves $6 Billion in Drought Aid
4. USDA Purchases Millions More Pounds of Meat
5. Country-of-Origin Labeling
6. A National Animal Identification System
7. Atkins Diet Scrutinized
1. NO CRIMINAL CHARGES IN CHICKEN STARVATION CASE
James Biggers, CEO of Cypress Foods, will not face prosecution for the two
hundred thousand chickens who died last March at the company's Florida
operation. More than 1 million birds in Florida and Georgia starved or were
killed after the company went bankrupt (see issue
#57). In Florida, an estimated
30,000 chickens starved after going 10-15 days without food. Another 170,000
were gassed and buried. Animal rights activists "stormed" the facility
and removed hundreds of birds before being stopped from doing so (see issues #58
& 60). Biggers faced cruelty charges with a possible sentence of 5 years in
prison. On September 11th, the State Attorney's office announced there was no
evidence of criminal wrongdoing, noting that the company fell on hard times
after the price of eggs dropped. Gene Bauston of Farm Sanctuary countered that
Biggers made decisions that caused the birds' deaths, explaining: "They
were [Biggers'] birds; they were his responsibility." An attorney with the
Humane Society of the United States plans to push for legislation requiring
large farms to post bonds that could be tapped to pay for feed when facilities
go out of business.
"Farm owner won't be charged in deaths of chickens," St. Petersburg
Times, Chas Squires, September 11, 2002.
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/11/news_pf/Pasco/Farm_owner_won_t_be_c.shtml
"Chicken Farm Owner Won't Be Prosecuted in Starvation Episode," Tampa
Bay Online, Andy Reid, September 12, 2002.
http://news.tbo.com/news/MGA998T606D.html
2. SCIENTISTS SURPRISED BY FARMED ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE
Pigs can outwit each other in ways similar to those employed by humans and
chimpanzees. Researchers at the University of Bristol observed social
competitive behavior in pigs, such as following another to food and then
stealing it away. The losers in such encounters subsequently behaved in ways
that decreased their chances of being followed. Researcher Mike Mendl noted,
"Our results suggest that pigs can develop quite sophisticated social
competitive behavior, similar to that seen in some primate species."
Chickens, too, are more intelligent than most people realize. Studies show they
can learn from each other and are encouraged by example. Mother hens teach their
chicks lessons on life, showing them what to eat, how to drink, where to roost,
and how to avoid enemies. They also learn to navigate.
Sheep are known to be able to recognize other sheep by their facial features.
Recently, it has been determined that they can remember at least 50 other sheep
and 10 people for more than 2 years. They may be able to imagine the faces of
absent friends, and a picture of a friendly face appears to reduce the stress of
their being alone. Sheep have shown they can remember new faces very quickly.
Notes U.K. researcher Keith Kendrick, "We may have underestimated the
importance and complexity of a sheep's social environment and their
intelligence."
The 10th annual National Farm Animals Awareness Week is being celebrated the 3rd
week of September: http://www.hsus.org/ace/15181
"Pigs 'Share Brain Skills' with Humans and Primates," Ananova,
September 11, 2002.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_668272.html
"Pigs and Chickens are Smarter than You Think," Reuters, September 11,
2002.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=570&ncid=753&e=1&u=/nm/20020911/sc_nm/science_animals_dc
"Sheep Can Remember 10 Human Faces for Two Years," Ananova, September
11, 2002.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_668723.html?menu=news.quirkies
3. SENATE APPROVES $6 BILLION IN DROUGHT AID
On Tuesday, a bipartisan majority of the Senate voted to provide nearly $6
billion in emergency drought relief to farmers and ranchers. The aid comes on
top of the record-high Farm Bill passed earlier this year which is projected to
dole out $180 billion in subsidies over the next decade. The Bush administration
opposes the additional aid and wants the money to instead come from the Farm
Bill. The vote margin was greater than the two-thirds majority needed to
override a threatened presidential veto. Many of the states with the greatest
losses are those with the closest Senate races this fall. The Republican-led
House is expected to balk at the costly aid.
Last month, the Administration announced $150 million in drought aid to cow-calf
operations and pointed out other assistance measures it was taking. This
includes the USDA making available existing stocks of non-fat dry milk to be
used in the production of supplemental feed. The agency has over 1.4 billion
pounds of non fat dry milk in storage, of which a third is 2 years old or older.
Stocks older than 3 years are unusable for human consumption.
The September 16th issue of Time Magazine contains an article on the drought: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101020916-349100,00.html The
print edition contains a number of informative color graphs, noting that about
38% of U.S. cattle are within the drought zone.
"Senate Defies Bush on Drought Aid," The Washington Post, Helen Dewar,
September 11, 2002.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64290-2002Sep10.html
"USDA Announces $150 Million in Drought Aid," AgWeb News, August 12,
2002.
http://www.agweb.com/news_show_news_article.asp?articleID=90591&newscat=GN
4. USDA PURCHASES MILLIONS MORE POUNDS OF MEAT
The USDA announced on September 9th that it will purchase up to 30 million more
pounds of pork for use in school meals and other feeding programs. Secretary of
Agriculture Ann Veneman explained that the purchases would also "provide a
boost to pork producers who are experiencing tough economic conditions this
year." Last week, the National Farmers Organization sent Veneman a letter
asking the agency "to help alleviate a portion of the economic pain
America's pork producers currently face."
The USDA had already purchased 13.8 million pounds of pork this school year,
bringing the total to 66 million (compared to 30 million for the 2001-2002 year,
and 23 million pounds in 2000-2001). Last month, the USDA purchased 8.15 million
pounds of beef, bringing the total amount of beef purchased since June 20th to
38.5 million pounds. The drought in the U.S. (see item
#3) has caused pigs and
cattle to be taken to slaughter earlier than intended, while the Russian ban on
U.S. poultry imports has created a glut of protein in the domestic market. In
2001, the USDA purchased 1.7 billion pounds of food worth over $1 billion for
federal feeding programs, including 192 million pounds of meat and 229 million
pounds of eggs and poultry meat.
The American Meat Institute is urging its members to ask their Senators to
support the CARE Act (S. 1924), which would enhance tax incentives for food
donations. Since 1989, industry has donated over 40 million pounds of surplus
meat to food banks through the Meating the Need Program: http://www.meatami.com/SubscriptionRedir.cfm?News=1&ID=1230
"Food Aid and Pork Aid," Farm Progress, John Otte, September 10, 2002.
http://www.directag.com/directag/news/article.jhtml?article_id=1008107
"Pork Purchase," UPI Farming Today, Gregory Tejeda, September 9, 2002.
http://upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020906-030718-7499r
"USDA buys 3 mln lbs beef for gov't food programs," Reuters, August
21, 2002.
http://www.agriculture.com/worldwide/IDS/2002-08-21T214235Z_01_N21357257_RTRIDST_0_FOOD-MEAT-USDA.html
"USDA buys 5 mln lbs beef for gov't food programs," Reuters, Aug 14
2002.
http://industryclick.com/microsites/Newsarticle.asp?newsarticleid=528064&srid=5&instanceid=1768&pageid=306&magazineid=9999&siteid=5
"Veneman Announced $30 Million Pork Purchase for School Lunch
Programs," American Meat Institute press release, September 9, 2002.
http://www.meatami.com/SubscriptionRedir.cfm?News=1&ID=1237
5. COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN LABELING
Country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for meat, fish and produce become mandatory in
2004, with final regulations due at the end of next month. The law prohibits
meat from being labeled as "U.S." unless the animal it is from was
born, raised, fed, slaughtered and processed here. The American Farm Bureau
Federation and the National Farmers Union successfully lobbied Congress for the
program. However, many animals (including some 1.9 million cattle, 700,000 pigs
and 28 million birds) are imported into the U.S. each year, and large numbers of
U.S. animals are exported for slaughter, primarily to Canada and Mexico.
"In fact, our meat is often derived from well-traveled livestock,"
notes the National Meat Association. The meat industry is disappointed with the
mandate. The American Meat Institute wants the government to fund the mandate,
which is estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually. It is also
requesting, among other things, a grandfather clause for dairy cows since they
are often sent to slaughter at age 6-8 and may not have adequate records when
labeling becomes mandatory in 2004. Comments which the USDA has received in
regard to the pre-mandatory phase of the COOL guidelines can be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/cool/comments.htm
"Country-of-Origin Labeling," Herd on the Hill, NMA, Jeremy Russell,
August 26, 2002.
"COOL" Gets Cool Reception," Herd on the Hill, NMA, Jeremy
Russell, August 26, 2002.
http://www.nmaonline.org/files/lt02/lt8.26.02.htm
"Logistics, Financial Burden to Industry and Government Linger as Top
Concerns Over Country of Origin Labeling Mandate," American Meat Institute
press release, August 12, 2002.
http://www.meatami.com/Template.cfm?Section=Current&NavMenuID=274&template=PressReleaseDisplay.cfm&PressReleaseID=1204
6. A NATIONAL ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM
The need for a standardized national animal identification system, particularly
for disease monitoring, is recognized by all, including industry. The ability to
trace animal products back to the animal source ("traceback") is
increasingly being demanded for foreign trade. The National Cattlemen's Beef
Association accepts mandatory ID for health monitoring purposes but wants any ID
system incorporating production information to be voluntary [primarily due to
food-safety liability concerns]. The proceedings of the National Institute for
Animal Agriculture's ID/Info Expo 2002 can be viewed at: http://www.animalagriculture.org/id/id.asp.
Branding as a means of identification, primarily to prevent theft, is being
challenged by an expanding variety of critics, including veterinarians. (See
issue #72.) DNA testing is among the possible alternatives to branding if it can
be made economical.
In a rash of rare thefts, a dozen female calves have been stolen from dairies in
western New York. The calves are believed to be intended for auctions or private
sales, where they may sell for about $300 each.
"The ID Puzzle," Beef, Wes Ishmael, September 1, 2002.
http://beef-mag.com/ar/beef_id_puzzle/index.htm
"Cattle branding is chapping more than just PETA's hide," The Dallas
Morning News, Diane Jennings, September 9, 2002.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/090902dntexbranding.9ac8c.html
"'Calf-nappings' make tough season worse," Buffalo News, Elmer Ploetz,
September 6, 2002.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20020906/1000132.asp
7. ATKINS DIET SCRUTINIZED
New York Times health columnist Jane Brody takes a skeptical look at the
high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate Atkins Diet. (See also issue #82.) She
points out that part of the reason people may lose weight on it is due to the
production of ketones caused by a lack of carbohydrates, which induce a mild
nausea. Brody tells of a recent report by the Institute of Medicine of the
National Academies which emphasizes the dietary importance of balanced nutrients
and urges saturated fat consumption be kept as low as possible. Both
recommendations are problematic with the Atkins diet due to its carbohydrate
restrictions (which includes most fruits and many vegetables) and unlimited
allowance of animal products. Brody suggests that the reason the government has
yet to test the diet may be due to the unlikelihood of it being approved by any
review committee given the known negative effects of cholesterol and animal fats
on human health, and the benefits of fruits and vegetables. She concludes by
giving possible explanations of why Americans are increasingly having trouble
keeping excess weight off.
Dr. Atkins was hospitalized from cardiac arrest in April. He released a
statement declaring, ""I have had cardiomyopathy, which is a
non-coronary condition and is in no way related to diet."
"High-Fat Diet: Count Calories and Think Twice," The New York Times,
Jane E. Brody, 9/10/02
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/health/nutrition/10BROD.html
"Atkins Diet Author Home After Cardiac Arrest,"CNN Health, Rhonda
Rowland, April 25, 2002
http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/diet.fitness/04/25/atkins.diet/
The Atkins Diet
http://atkinscenter.com/
Atkins Diet Alert
http://www.AtkinsDietAlert.org