1. TRANSPORT TRAUMAS
Animals at auction suffering from broken
legs, infected eyes, foaming mouths and sores, forced
to travel more than 30 hours in hot, overcrowded conditions
without food, water or rest. These were among the
findings of a just-released investigation by the Animal
Protection Institute (API) and Compassion in World
Farming that documents the transport of cows in the
U.S. and pigs from the U.S. to slaughterhouses in
Mexico. Dead and dying animals were also filmed at
the auctions. API Chief Executive Michelle Thew said:
“Farmed animals are typically moved several
times during their lives…. Our investigation
demonstrates that government action is urgently needed
to regulate the transport of farmed animals and set
a maximum journey time of eight hours.” The
organizations are also calling on consumers and retailers
to help. The report, entitled “Driving Pain,”
along with video and photos, can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/lekep
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency may amend the
section of the Health of Animals Act that covers the
transport of farmed animals in order to reflect changes
that have occurred since the law’s introduction
30 years ago. The Albert Farm Animal Care Association
is urging the Agency to be flexible in regards to
evolving industry practices and standards.
In the U.S., PETA is seeking legal action
against Smithfield Foods for failing to promptly treat
and/or euthanize pigs suffering from accidents involving
the company’s trucks. Smithfield counters that
it has a policy of responding as quickly as possible
and euthanizing pigs as soon as they are identified
as severely injured.
AFAC Calls for Flexible Animal Transport
Regulations
Farmscape, Susan Church Bruce Cochrane, June 1, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/ldz28
Actor from 'Babe' Supports PETA'S Cruelty Concerns
Daily Press, Patrick Lynch, June 6, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/l6l59
2. NONAMBULATORY PIG PROBLEM INCREASING
The incidence of nonambulatory pigs
has worsened in the U.S., according to Temple Grandin,
an animal scientist and industry consultant. She suspects
it is due to the overuse and abuse of Paylean, a drug
used to increase muscle mass (see item #2: http://tinyurl.com/jbgvh
) in heavier pigs. In some plants it is a case of
bad becoming normal, Grandin says. She blames financial
premiums paid for heavy, weak pigs who have a lot
of muscle, and recommends rewarding producers who
present few nonambulatory animals as the most effective
remedy. “If producers had to pay for them, the
downer problem would disappear overnight,” she
comments.
Fixing the Downer Pig Problem
Meat & Poultry, Temple Grandin, May 1, 2006
http://www.meatpoultry.com/feature_stories.asp?ArticleID=79351
3. ADVERTISING, ETHICS AND AUDITS
Following a complaint by East Bay Animal
Advocates, the National Advertising Division (NAD)
of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has notified
the Federal Trade Commission of Foster Poultry Farms’
refusal to participate in the NAD process. At issue
are several of Foster Farms’s advertising claims
regarding animal care. (Foster Farms is the largest
poultry company in the western U.S.) In 2005, United
Egg Producers changed its “Animal Care Certified”
logo after a similar case initiated by Compassion
Over Killing (see: http://www.cok.net/camp/acc/
).
Regarding matters of social responsibility, the balance
of power is shifting in favor of small, single-issue
groups that use the Internet to their advantage, as
public faith in government and business has declined,
reports strategic management consulting firm McKinsey
and Company in a recent article. In the meat and poultry
industries, animal welfare is the most obvious point
of vulnerability, attorney Robert Hibbert notes in
his column in Meat Processing magazine. He advises
that it may be time for the industry to consider establishing
a non-governmental umbrella organization to develop
standards for audits.
NAD Refers Foster Poultry Farms to the
Federal Trade Commission
NAD News, June 1, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/qzfw3
Is it Time for You to Look at the Big Picture on
Social Responsibility?
Meat Processing, Robert Hibbert, May 2006
http://www.meatnews.com/mp2/NorthAmerican/index.cfm?fuseaction=nawnes
See also:
How We Raise Foster Farms Poultry
http://www.fosterfarms.com/about/raise.asp
Fostering Cruelty in Chicken Production
http://www.fosterfacts.net
4. AVIAN INFLUENZA: CONTROLLING, KILLING & FIGHTING
Wild birds have and will continue to
play a role in the transmission of highly pathogenic
avian influenza over long distances. This was concluded
at a recent 2-day international scientific conference
called by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization
and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE),
which was attended by over 300 scientists from more
than 100 countries. It was also recognized, however,
that the H5N1 virus is mostly spread by the legal
and illegal poultry trade. It was determined that
the disease’s management must be based on better
biosecurity and production level hygiene, and that
contact between domestic and wild birds should be
minimized. However, culling wild birds in an attempt
to stop the disease’s spread was rejected, with
one of the conference recommendations stating: “Destruction
of wild bird habitats or indiscriminate hunting of
wildlife is scientifically and ethically unjustified
as a response.”
Approximately 200 million birds have
been killed in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle
East over the past 3 years in an attempt to halt the
spread of bird flu. Alarmed by reports of birds in
Asia being burned or buried alive, and with emergency
killing and disposal training programs are already
being carried out in the U.S., animal advocates here
are encouraging the use of “controlled atmosphere
killing” if emergency slaughter is conducted.
Smothering birds with fire-fighting foam is another
killing method being considered. While a preventative
vaccination has been used in some countries, the National
Chicken Council says it is impractical for the U.S.
due to the structure of poultry production here. Animal
Place’s Kim Sturla said: “If avian influenza
comes and they are killing millions of birds, gassing
them or foaming them or whatever they are going to
do is no worse than what's done every single day to
birds who are grabbed out of barns, taken to the slaughter
line, shackled upside down and have their throats
slit.” Both industry and advocacy are addressing
the subject through billboard
campaigns.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has
drafted a summary of its avian flu response plan,
which addresses emergency killing, quarantine and
vaccination. Although there is no formal public comment
period, the agency says it will consider comments
in making future revisions. The document can be viewed
at: http://tinyurl.com/n5zgw and comments can be submitted
to: NAHEMS.Guidelines.Comments@aphis.usda.gov
On a related note, a bill to ban cockfighting
in Louisiana was defeated last week. Opponents argued
that the practice is “an integral part of the
state’s heritage and important to the economy
in rural areas where the birds are raised and fought.”
Senator Art Lentini, the bill’s sponsor, responded
that economics does not justify the “morally
repugnant” practice. An article detailing the
politics involved can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rt4ke
Wild Birds’ Role in HPAI Crisis
Confirmed: But Scientific Conference Fingers Poultry
Business
Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), June 1,
2006
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000312/index.html
Amid Bird Flu, Activists Plead for Humane U.S. Culling
Reuters, Jill Serjeant, June 5, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/mmz79
House Committee Kills Cockfighting Ban
The Times, Mike Hasten, June 1, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/h6ouh
5.
THE FUTURE OF MEAT
After World War II, the U.S. began confining
cattle in feedlots of tens of thousands and fattening
them with grain. Previously, cattle had grazed on
grass throughout their lives, as is still common in
Europe, South America, New Zealand and elsewhere.
The new system was possible due to vast surpluses
of government-subsidized corn and soybeans produced
with petroleum-based fertilizers. Where steers had
taken 3-4 years to fatten on pasture, they now grow
to slaughter size in less than 2 years: “an
efficient industrial process that has transformed
beef from a luxury meal into a cheap fast food.”
In the past five years, over 1,000 U.S. ranchers have
switched herds back to an all-grass diet. Although
this still represents less than 1% of the nation’s
beef supply, last year’s sales reached some
$120 million and are expected to increase more than
20% a year over the next decade. Grass-fed cattle
may be more resistant to E.coli and lessen concerns
over “mad cow” disease.
University of Maryland scientists say they could grow
huge quantities of meat in a laboratory by extracting
muscle cells from animal biopsies, isolating the cells
that are precursors to muscle, and then allowing them
to multiply. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
President Ingrid Newkirk says this could provide “an
end to the misery” suffered by the billions
of farmed animals killed every year for human consumption.
She explains how it could also help end world hunger
and benefit the environment.
The Grass-Fed Revolution: Beef Raised
Wholly on Pasture, Rather than Grain-Fed in Feedlots,
May be Better for your Health – and for the
Planet
Time, Margot Roosevelt, June 4, 2006
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1200759,00.html
Will We See Meat Even Vegetarians Can
Love?
American Chronicle, Ingrid E. Newkirk, June 1, 2006
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=10570
6.
NOTES & CORRECTION
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has vetoed part of a bill that
would have designated dogs from licensed facilities
as farm products, as we previously
reported. Vilsack vetoed a similar bill in 2004.
Vilsack Veto Hounds Dog Breeders
The Des Moines Register, Jenna Johnson, June 2, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/klo5o
An article on the Vegetarian Resource
Group website elaborates on the vegetarian statistics
mentioned in last week’s issue of the news digest.
See: http://tinyurl.com/f585t
Correction: The grant made by New York Gov. George
Pataki to Hudson Valley Foie Gras is $420,000 rather
than the $42,000 reported in last week’s digest.
We regret the error.
The Humane Society of the United States has notified
Hudson Valley Foie Gras of its intent to sue the company
for more than 900 documented violations of the federal
Clean Water Act. See: http://tinyurl.com/k2z6g
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