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1.
HOUSE PASSES HORSE SLAUGHTER BAN
“Few bills have stirred more
passion, pro and con, than the Horse Slaughter Prevention
Act,” states an article in Time magazine. The
bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a
263-146 vote yesterday. According to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA), some 90% of the 90,000 horses
sent to slaughter each year aren't old or sick. “‘Killer
buyers’ roam the country purchasing horses but
not telling owners they'll end up at a slaughterhouse,”
explains the article. It notes that “Hundreds
of horse industry organizations, racehorse owners,
trainers, jockeys and humane societies back the ban,”
and lists some of the fifty celebrities who publicly
oppose horse slaughter. Opposing the ban are state
cattlemen's associations, the pig and poultry industries,
and farm bureaus. They fear it will be a foot in the
door for animal rights organizations to block the
slaughter of other animals for food. The USDA is also
opposed, as is the American Veterinary Medical Association
which warns that shelters may be swamped with hundreds
of thousands of unwanted horses while others may instead
be sold to unregulated slaughterhouses overseas and
be “brutalized even more.” The Senate
is expected to take up the Horse Slaughter Prevention
Act later this autumn. (see also: http://tinyurl.com/j75hb)
HORSE SLAUGHTERING: THE NEW TERRORISM?
Time, Douglas Wallier, September 7, 2006
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1532672,00.html
2.
POULTRY SLAUGHTER LAWSUIT ADVANCES
A U.S. district court ruled on Wednesday
that members of The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS)
can sue the federal government over the way chickens
and turkeys are slaughtered. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture had put forth a motion to dismiss the
lawsuit, which seeks to include poultry under the
Humane Slaughter Act. HSUS, East Bay Animal Advocates,
and other organizations were dismissed from the lawsuit
but individual members were deemed to have standing
(eligibility) to sue. According to the article: “The
lawsuit alleged that current industry practices include
hanging live birds upside down in metal shackles,
then moving them through an electrified water bath
that paralyzes them while still conscious.”
The plaintiffs argue that the procedure is cruel and
presents consumer hazards since it increases the chance
that a bird will inhale contaminated water, resulting
in higher bacteria levels that could cause food poisoning
if the meat is not cooked enough. They also allege
that birds trying to escape can spread dirt and dust
inhaled by workers, defecate on the employees, and
cause them emotional distress after seeing the birds
suffer. An estimated 9 billion birds, about 95% of
domestic land animals raised on farms, are not covered
by the law.
COURT KEEPS POULTRY SLAUGHTER CASE ALIVE
Reuters, Christopher Doering, September 6, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/gfc3d
3.
TURKEY BATTERERS SENTENCED TO COMMUNITY SERVICE
Daniel Palmer, 27, and Neil Allan, 30,
both from Norfolk (U.K.), have been ordered to each
perform 200 hours of community service for using poles
like baseball bats to hit turkeys (see: http://tinyurl.com/s3z55
). The abuse was secretly filmed by Hillside Animal
Sanctuary at a Bernard Matthews' farm this past April.
(It can be viewed at: http://www.hillside.org.uk
(2nd item under "Latest News," right side)).
Both admitted mistreating the birds. Palmer said he
felt ashamed, Allan said he considered it a form of
anger relief. Their lawyer said they were influenced
by "peer pressure" and part of a "culture"
at the facility. He said it was ironic that the turkeys
were going to be killed anyway, and talked of how
terrible the working conditions must have been for
the men. The two had each been facing a 6-month prison
term and a fine of £5,000 ($9,545). Hillside
wants a government investigation of industry. A Bernard
Matthews spokesperson said the company is committed
to the "highest standards" of animal welfare.
TURKEY CRUELTY WORKERS SENTENCED
BBC News, September 7, 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/5323190.stm
CRUELTY CASE PROMPTS TURKEY PROBE
Manchester Evening News, September 7, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/eeghu
4.
RSPCA ANGRY ABOUT RAIDS
Bernie Murphy, the Chief executive
of the New South Wales branch of the Australian RSPCA,
says animal activists should be stopped from entering
animal facilities. He stated: "They go onto a
property, they breach the biosecurity, they may visit
great harm on the well-being of the animals plus of
course they are having an impact on people's livelihoods…No
one would tolerate someone invading someone's house
and this is similar to that in a business sense…These
people believe because they have the moral high ground
in their mind, they can go onto properties, break
the law, ignore it…Sooner or later industry
has got to push these people, has got to bring them
to court and got to say to the court, 'Give me a fair
go as well'." His statements were prompted by
a July raid on a New South Wales pig facility. Video
footage from the raid has recently been sent to police,
with allegations about cruelty regarding sow pens.
RSPCA ANGRY AT PIGGERY RAID
ABC Rural, September 7, 2006
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/2006/s1735222.htm
5.
SPECIAL REPORT: SATYA SERIES - KILLING US SOFTLY
Satya is a monthly magazine that focuses
on “vegetarianism, environmentalism, animal
advocacy, and social justice.” In the September
issue, “Killing Us Softly” is the title
of a series of essays and interviews in which prominent
activists discuss “the growing interest in ‘humane,’
‘organic’ and ‘free-range’
meat, dairy and eggs and what that means for the animals,
animal activism and meat consumption.” A number
of them, along with the magazine’s editorial,
are freely accessible on-line (the links are included
below). The editorial asks: “What does it mean
when animal protection organizations publicly endorse
and direct resources into supporting such programs?”
It goes on to state that the debate is “…not
the over-simplified animal welfare vs. abolition argument.
This is about the consistency of our messages and
actions and their consequences. It’s about the
10 billion animals killed for meat each year in this
country—humanely raised or not—and what
we’re doing to stop that.”
http://www.satyamag.com/sept06/edit.html
Hogwash
James LaVeck, producer of the documentaries “The
Witness” and “Peaceable Kingdom,”
begins the lead article by using the environmental
movement’s collaboration with industry as a
warning of what he sees happening within the animal
protection community, equating greenwashing with “‘hogwashing’—the
practice of generating the public appearance of having
compassion for animals while continuing to kill millions
of them for profit.” LaVeck explains: “A
grassroots movement morphs into something more businesslike
and professionalized, and what were once vibrant gatherings
characterized by diversity and passionate dialogue
come to resemble the meetings of a trade association
or cartel...One camp, filled with righteous indignation,
holds faithfully to the ‘old ways,’ and
battles daily with disempowerment and isolation. Another
camp resolutely does what it must to gain a place
at the table where the big decisions of society get
made, and does their best to resist the creeping temptations
of complicity.” He warns: “But the coins
weigh heavily in our pockets, and long after they
are spent, we’re haunted by the last look in
our cow’s eyes as she was led away by uncaring
strangers into the darkness.” Cautioning against
the cooption of language, LaVeck concludes: “Compassion
is the highest expression of human potential. As such,
it can never be bought or sold, only freely given
and received. Using this word as a label for the products
of suffering and exploitation is nothing short of
an act of violence.” A revised Peaceable Kingdom,
now in post-production, will include an examination
of the ethics of alternatively produced animal products.
Compassion for Sale? Doublethink Meets Doublefeel
as Happy Meat Comes of Age
http://www.satyamag.com/sept06/laveck.html
In “Sadly, Happy Meat’” Eddie
Lama considers alternatively produced meat to be “a
brilliant business move” and “the (humane)
death of animal rights.” His essay considers
the role of Temple Grandin: http://www.grandin.com
Promoting Animal Rights by Promoting Reform
In defending welfare reforms, such as increased living
space for egg-laying hens, Bruce Friedrich (PETA)
and philosopher Peter Singer argue that “Not
only is it possible to work for [animal] liberation
while supporting incremental change, such change is
inevitable as we move toward this goal.” They
assert that “the philosophical argument granting
chickens freedom from battery cages also logically
demands that we cease to exploit them for our own
ends.” They also point out: “If, as we
all believe, each individual animal deserves to have
her interests considered as an individual, then welfare
improvements are good. We can’t ignore the vast
suffering of these billions of animals for some hypothetical
future goal.” Philosopher Gary Francione has
written a rebuttal to this essay, which can be found
at: http://tinyurl.com/f4vre
The Longest Journey Begins With a Single Step
http://www.satyamag.com/sept06/singer-friedrich.html
It’s Not a Black and White Issue
Gene Bauston, co-founder and head of Farm Sanctuary,
is on the advisory board of Whole Foods’ Animal
Compassion Foundation: http://www.animalcompassionfoundation.org
In “It’s Not a Black and White Issue:
Promoting a Humane World for Farmed Animals,”
Bauston explains why he doesn’t necessarily
agree that “if animals are treated more humanely,
more people will feel comfortable eating them.”
He thinks that promoting a vegan lifestyle should
be the top priority for animal activists “because
consumer habits are what ultimately drive farming
and other businesses.” He refuses to label his
organization as being for animal welfare or animal
rights but offers instead “We work to prevent
cruelty and promote vegan living.”
The Importance of Being Honest
Australian activist Patty Mark also believes that
veganism should top farmed animal advocates’
agenda. She feels that trying to reform animal agriculture
practices is a poor use of activist resources. Renown
for pioneering “open rescues” (see: http://www.openrescue.org
), Mark tells that some of the worst conditions she
has witnessed have been in uncaged hen operations
approved by the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA, see item #4 above). “Promoting
free-range, sunshine and fresh air before a ‘stunned’
slaughter for animals sugar-coats the bits and pieces
of their bodies for the public, but it isn’t
getting our job done and it’s dishonest to the
animals depending on our help,” she states.
“The real work isn’t negotiating with
the animal industries, but with educating the public…The
last thing animal farmers want us to do is promote
veganism, so let’s make it first-up.”
She advises: “The important thing for the long-term
is to be a vegan, keep positive, read as much as you
can about strategy and history, keep an open mind
and set your eye on the battery hen in the seventh
tier, 30th cage, sixth aisle, or on the scared little
pig with the electric prod bearing down upon him at
the slaughterhouse—and don’t lose your
focus.”
http://www.satyamag.com/sept06/mark.html
A View from the Hillside
Wendy Valentine, founder of Hillside Animal Sanctuary,
in the U.K., also criticizes RSPCA-affiliated operations,
those in the “Freedom Food” animal welfare
assurance program. “We have looked at 10 of
their farms and the conditions were so bad in two
of them that the RSPCA had to initiate a prosecution
of two farms they were supposed to be monitoring!
Needless to say, the RSPCA doesn’t want a farm
they were monitoring to be found guilty” she
explains. Valentine adds that the country has some
of the best animal protection laws but that they are
rarely enforced or upheld. “The farms are protected,”
she said, “not the animals.”
Straight Talk from a Former Cattleman
Howard Lyman is a 45-year cattle rancher turned animal
advocate. Beginning with 4-H, which he says “is
designed for nothing more than instilling in young
people that economics is by far more dominant than
their love for animals,” he considers the plight
of farmers and ranchers. Lyman acknowledges that certain
methods of production are less inhumane than others,
but adds “never forget, there’s no such
thing as humane slaughter.”
He adds that “doing something that’s better
for the wrong reasons, still does not make it right.”
Lyman states: “We become part of the problem
when we put our money into the industry by buying
or support the buying of animal products produced
better than some other ways.”
In “Cradle to Grave: The Facts Behind ‘Humane’
Eating,” Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, founder
of Compassionate Cooks, also says there is no such
thing as humane slaughter. She discusses conditions
for animals on farms and ranches practicing alternative
production methods.
http://www.satyamag.com/sept06/goodreau.html
The Campaign to Ban Battery Cages
Paul Shapiro, director of the Factory Farming Campaign
of The Humane Society of the U.S. and co-founder of
Compassion Over Killing, explains the rationale behind
the campaign to ban battery cages for egg-laying hens.
“In just the last 18 months of concerted campaigning
against the battery cage, hundreds of thousands fewer
laying hens are confined in cages,” he said,
adding: “The trend is clear: battery cages are
being relegated to the dustbin of history faster than
anyone would have imagined just two years ago.”
Shapiro cautions against claiming that “cage-free”
is “cruelty-free” but explains: “While
cage-free may not mean cruelty-free, cage-free hens
have significant advantages in quality of lie than
their caged counterparts. Unlike battery hens, cage-free
hens are able to walk, spread their wings, and lay
their eggs in nests. Further, cage-free egg producers
who obtain certification under one of the more reputable
standards programs must provide perching and dustbathing
areas for the birds as well. These advantages are
important and significant to the animals involved.”
He asserts: “It’s time for us to translate
existing public support for animals into meaningful
movement victories, most notably by banning battery
cages.”
In “The Odd Logic of Welfarism,”
Bob Torres, an assistant professor of sociology, reconsiders
the value of having helped students at St. Lawrence
University get the school’s dining services
to switch to cage-free eggs. While acknowledging the
necessity of incrementalism, Torres says that rather
than refining the types of animal products one consumes
“…our incrementalism should be the reduction
of meat, eggs, dairy, honey and other products of
animal exploitation from our diets.” He agrees
with Joan Dunayer, author of the book “Speciesism,”
that animal welfare standards “…don’t
advance veganism or nonhuman emancipation. They legitimize
enslavement and slaughter.”
In “You be the Vegetarian,” Martin Rowe,
co-founder of Satya and the publisher at Lantern Books,
points out that at least six books about “what
might loosely be called food politics” have
been published in the first half of 2006 (including
“The Way We Eat,” by Jim Mason and Peter
Singer, and “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,”
by Michael Pollan.”) He considers this evidence
that “Americans are looking for guidance and
authenticity. They’re confused and they want
their food choices demystified. Their consciences
have been pricked and they want them salved.”
Rowe laments that many, however, are “not open
to persuasion, least of all on questions of morality
or diet.” He explains “…in the process
of being accepted, vegetarianism has become merely
another lifestyle, another part of the supermarket
of personal choices that all these books attempt to
guide us around—good for you but not good for
me.” He advises: “Vegetarians have to
be more sophisticated, to integrate their vegetarianism
into a politicized worldview…”
“A Vegan’s Dilemma” is a
book review by Satya’s Sangamithra Iyer of journalist
Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s
Dilemma.” Iyer suggests that Pollan’s
failure to meaningfully explore vegetarianism could
have been due to his lack of an appropriate “guru,”
such as he had with pastured animal production and
hunting. In dismissing vegetarianism, Pollan states
that the vegetarian’s “Dreams of innocence
are just that; they usually depend on a denial of
reality that can be it’s own form of hubris.”
Iyer counters: “Searching for a kinder, gentler
meat is perhaps where the real denial of reality sets
in.”
In “Engaging with the Omnivore,”
Michael Pollan admits to Iyer that his lack of exposure
to veganic farmers, animal rescuers and animal sanctuary
staffers is “a fair criticism.” He also
agrees with her that dairy production is something
he hasn’t examined in depth. Pollan expresses
appreciation for Bruce Friedrich (PETA)’s efforts
to inform him on certain issues. He states: “One
of the things you learn about the food industry, the
more you write about it, is that it’s a sensitive
industry. PETA has learned this too. Pressure applied
in the right places can bring large changes very quickly.”
He adds: “Given the political environment we
are in, where it is very hard to get anything done,
I think it is very encouraging that you could get
movement in this particular industry. I think that
is a key question. Do you engage with this industry
or do you simply boycott it? There are a lot of people
too who want to boycott Whole Foods, don’t want
to engage and think I’m wasting my time. You
always have to engage. This is how politics works,
you move the mainstream a few degrees, and you do
not ever get total victory. That is my realism. I
think it’s been a very encouraging thing for
the animal rights movement that they have been engaging.
They are going to have a lot to show for it. I could
be wrong. And maybe we are just being greenwashed.”
http://www.satyamag.com/sept06/pollan.html
The current issue of Satya also includes a guide to
welfare implications of animal-product labels, and
a photo essay entitled “Paying the Price for
‘Pampered’ Poultry.” (It is available
for $4, annual subscriptions are $20.) The series
will conclude in the next issue. An on-line discussion
is also available on the Satya site.
KILLING US SOFTLY
Satya, September 2006
http://www.satyamag.com/thismonth.html
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