1. LIVE CALF EXPORTS RESUME IN BRITAIN
Following the end of a decade-long European
Union (EU) ban on British cattle and beef exports
(see FAW Number 15, Volume 6),
the first shipment of calves was sent to Holland and
Belgium this week to be raised for veal. The ban,
instituted because of BSE, had halted the thriving
trade (up to 500,000 live calves were once exported
to Europe annually). Calves, mostly from the dairy
industry, have instead been shot soon after birth.
Protests have also resumed, with animal protection
advocates concerned about the suffering caused by
the journeys and by using veal crates, which are banned
in the U.K. Use of the crates is to stop in the EU
next year. While the U.K. Department for Environment,
Food and Rural affairs says it would prefer calves
be slaughtered within the country, a complete ban
on calf exports has been deemed illegal. The U.K.
is proposing new
rules for animal welfare during transport.
British Veal Calf Exports Resume
BBC News, May 5, 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4975994.stm
Protests as Exports of Veal Calves Resume
The Scotsman, Fordyce Maxwell, May 6, 2006
http://business.scotsman.com/agriculture.cfm?id=679282006
2. POLLUTION PROBLEMS AND APPROACHES
North Carolina’s 165 million chickens
and turkeys outnumber the state’s 9.5 million
pigs. Yet while the state regulates pollution by the
pig industry, the poultry industry is essentially
unregulated. This is because most poultry farms do
not use lagoons. Instead, manure is removed from the
buildings about once a year and used as fertilizer.
Neighbors have no legal recourse even if feathers,
manure or bad odors spew onto their property. And
while new pig farms have been banned there since 1997,
the chicken industry has grown steadily. Since poultry
farms do not need permits, water pollution laws pertaining
to them are largely unenforced because the state’s
Division of Water Quality does not know where most
are located. Poultry waste has been identified as
a major source of water pollution by other states
along the Chesapeake Bay, and several have permitting
systems for poultry.
State and city officials are beginning
to use the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation
and Liability Act of 1980 (the “Superfund law”)
to target farms polluting rivers and streams with
manure. Waco, Texas and the state of Oklahoma have
filed lawsuits against a group of dairy producers
and several poultry producers respectively for the
contamination caused by their facilities. Claiming
they already have enough federal and state laws and
permits to deal with, agribusiness producers are retaliating
with a House bill that seeks to shield them from the
Superfund law by exempting manure from being considered
a “hazardous substance.” Many farms have
signed up for a temporary amnesty deal while the government
studies farm emissions. Looking for a compromise,
Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) suggests allowing farmers
to protect themselves from legal action by following
manure management plans and conservation practices.
Farmers who apply fertilizer properly are already
exempted from the Superfund law. Environmentalists
argue that toxic chemicals are the same whether they
come from a farm or a factory, and that farms may
produce even greater emissions of chemicals such as
ammonia.
Fowl Smells Ruffling Feathers
The News & Observer, Kristin Collins, April 24,
2006
http://www.newsobserver.com/672/story/432176.html
Brasher: Stink Rises in Ag Circles Over Pollution
Lawsuits
The Des Moines Register, Philip Brasher, May 7, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/gm7qj
3. FOIE GRAS LAWSUIT AND BAN CONSTITUTIONALITY
Sonoma Foie Gras is taking Whole Foods
Market to court, accusing the company of “intentional
interference with contract” by demanding that
supplier Grimaud Farms end its 8-year partnership.
Sonoma says it cannot operate without Grimaud to provide
and process the Moulard ducks used to make its product.
It is seeking unstated compensatory and punitive damages.
A judge has denied Whole Food’s request to have
punitive damages removed from the suit, and has said
she will also deny its motion to dismiss the entire
complaint. Approximately 20% of Grimaud Farm's revenue
comes from its partnership with Sonoma Foie Gras.
For the past decade, Grimaud has also provided Muscovy
ducks to Whole Foods for retail sale, accounting for
15% of its revenue. Whole Foods and Grimaud both agree
that Grimaud’s association with the processing
and distribution of foie gras is incompatible with
Whole Food’s new Animal Compassionate Standards
and deny there was any ultimatum. Whole Foods has
not carried foie gras since 1997 because of the cruelty
associated with the process. Foie gras has been banned
in California and Chicago , and Philadelphia is
considering banning the product. The newly formed
North American Foie Gras Producers Association is
examining the constitutionality of such bans.
Foie Gras Company’s Fate in Hands
of Court
The Press Democrat, Mary Callahan, May 6, 2006
http://www.pressdemocrat.com//temp/business/06foiegras_e1e01_biz_e1streete.html
Organizing for an Indelicate Fight
The New York Times, Marian Burros, May 3, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/dining/03gras.html
4. AVMA: WELFARE VS. MONEY
At the annual American Veterinary Medical
Association (AVMA) convention this summer, members
will vote to determine whether money or the humane
treatment of animals is a more important priority.
The resolution, proposed by Farm Sanctuary, states
that “veterinarians have an ethical obligation
to promote animal welfare” but that sometimes
“the economic priorities of animal industries
may be in conflict with the welfare of animals.”
It concludes that veterinarians must “place
a higher priority on animal welfare when required
to choose between animal welfare and economic considerations.”
The issue qualified for formal consideration when
resolutions signed by over 200 veterinarians were
sent to the AVMA last month.
The AVMA has a mixed
record on animal welfare resolutions (and see
p.5).
In January 2005, it established an Animal Welfare
Division to “monitor the science of animal welfare
and assist the Association in proactively addressing
developing issues of animal well-being.” Animal
welfare was designated as one of the top five strategic
issues for the next 1 to 3 years. At the same time,
the Executive Board also voted to discontinue the
annual Animal Welfare Forum, citing its failure to
generate enough media attention.
American Veterinary Medical Association
Asked to Prioritize What is More Important: Animal
Welfare or Money?
Farm Sanctuary, May 3, 2006
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/media/pr_avma06.htm
AVMA Creates Animal Welfare Division
The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association,
January 15, 2005
http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jan05/050115b.asp
5.
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
New Zealand’s Parliament Regulations
Review Committee has recommended to the Government
that the Layer Hen Code be rewritten to comply with
the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and a date be set for
phasing out the use of battery cages in egg production.
The Code was written by the National Animal Welfare
Advisory Council, which claimed there was inadequate
evidence that enriched cages or alternative hen housing
systems would improve welfare conditions for the birds.
The Animal Rights Legal Advocacy Network complained
that the Code did not comply with the AWA, which recommends
animals be able to exercise normal patterns of behavior.
The Committee determined the Council had wrongly used
legal provisions concerning “exceptional circumstances”
to delay setting a time frame for phasing out the
cages and identifying an alternative. The Pigs Code
is to be similarly examined regarding
sow stalls. The Consumers’ Right to Know
(Food Information) Bill, now before Parliament, would
require eggs from caged hens be labeled as such and
food be labeled with the country of origin.
Parliamentary Call for Tighter Hen Code
Radio New Zealand, May 10, 2006
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200605102035/3c48c638
As Compassionate Consumers President
Adam Durand went on trial last week for charges by
Wegmans Food Markets (see FAW
Number 15, Volume 6 ), Animal Rights International
tried to run a full-page advertisement with the headline
“Did Your Wegmans Egg Share a Cage With a Corpse?”
in a Rochester, N.Y. newspaper. However, the publisher
deemed the ad, which featured a photo of a decomposed
hen in a cage with live hens, distasteful in light
of the fact that family patriarch Robert Wegman died
recently. The group was asked to remove the photo,
but they declined to do so and the ad did not run.
Durand says the group’s fight to stop Wegmans
from raising hens in cages will continue and he plans
to distribute a second film that includes information
about his legal battles. An extensive article
about the trial is available on-line.
Hen Activist Says the War on Cages Will Go On
The New York Times, Michelle York, May 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/nyregion/07hens.html
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