Farmed Animal Watch: Objective Information for the Thinking Advocate
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May 31 , 2007 -- Number 17, Volume 7

1. THINKING OF EATING

“It seems undeniable that, over the past two decades, the ethical arguments of the animal rights movement have caught on with a broader public,” states a Chicago Tribune feature article, subtitled Once Viewed as Crazies, Animal Rights Activists Say their Message is Starting to Get Through. Among the various examples reporter Mick Dumke cites in support of his statement are a number of ones regarding farmed animals. Dumke interviewed activists working on fur, circus and vegetarian campaigns, and attended demonstrations. He writes: “Surveys have found that few Americans are comfortable with the idea of animals being abused or neglected, yet they also struggle with the implications…shouldn't cows be allowed to graze?…Is it right to eat veal? Wear leather?”

Omnia Ibrahim, the Chicago-area events coordinator for Mercy for Animals (MFA), concurs: “I think people are really defensive about their food…I think it's hard to think something is wrong that you've done your whole life." Hal Herzog, a psychology professor who has studied animal rights activism for more than 20 years, points out that although Americans are eating less “red meat,” they are eating more chicken [and fish, though the opposite seems to be happening in Japan: http://tinyurl.com/39jjsk ]. Noting that people are less likely to empathize with chickens [or fish] than with cows and pigs, he comments, "Chicken has become a kind of vegetable." Daniel Haugh, also with MFA, asserts: "The most compassionate way people can make a difference immediately is by taking on a vegetarian diet. Every vegetarian saves 95 to 100 lives a year" (see also: http://www.timetogoveggie.com ).


RUFFLING FEATHERS
Chicago Tribune, Mick Dumke, May 27, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2fp8b5

 

2. GOURMET ON CHICKENS' PLIGHT

Noting recent progress made for farmed animal welfare, reporter Daniel Zwerdling (see: http://tinyurl.com/32c5by ) states: "These are astonishing developments -- especially when you consider that only ten years ago industry leaders shrugged off the animal-welfare movement as the province of kooks." Writing in the June issue of Gourmet magazine (see: http://tinyurl.com/2swp29 ) Zwerdling asserts that the “entire food industry is being kicked and shoved towards transforming the way it treats animals [i.e., less inhumanely] -- and chicken executives are making a last ditch effort to resist." He tells that he was denied entry to chicken production facilities and slaughterplants to research “A View to Kill,” his article about chicken catching and killing. Nonetheless, he offers detailed descriptions of the catching, shackling, shocking and killing procedures.

The National Chicken Council's Animal Welfare Guidelines consider it acceptable if no more than 0.6% of the birds (up to 54 million annually) die enroute to slaughterplants, which, according to Zwerdling, is “usually from being jammed together and heated to death in summer or frozen to death in winter.” The Guidelines also note that by the time the birds are shackled, up to 10% (900 million per year) may have had a wing dislocated, fractured, or broken from mishandling. Additionally, the Council permits up to 2% of the birds (180 million per year) to suffer botched slaughter (but see: http://tinyurl.com/2wvz3c ).

Zwerdling tells of his trip to a slaughterplant in Demark: "A forklift unloaded crates of chickens and set them gently on a conveyor….no shackles, no squawking and flapping.” The birds are killed using Controlled Atmosphere Killing: "when you suck oxygen out of the air and replace it with other gasses like argon and nitrogen, the chickens go unconscious, painlessly -- and then expire," veterinary scientists are said to have learned. Switching to this less inhumane method could be done almost immediately and might not add to the cost of chicken. While Burger King is favoring suppliers that use it, KFC is resisting efforts by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal and “well respected” animal scientists to get KFC to require its suppliers use it.

Zwerdling also considers the life of the 9 billion chickens killed in the U.S. for meat each year: “…the chickens balloon in weight so fast that their baby skeletons can't support it well: among other problems their tendons slip and their leg bones twist, making a large proportion of commercial broilers partially or completely lame." An experiment conducted in the 1990s indicates that the lame birds do indeed suffer pain as a result.


GOURMET MAGAZINE ON CHICKEN SLAUGHTER METHODS
DawnWatch, Karen Dawn, June 2007
http://tinyurl.com/26bccn

 

3. PIGS IN SIGHT

Pigs in Sight, a campaign by members of the Dutch pig industry, has been deemed misleading by an advertisement monitoring committee. The campaign promotes unscheduled public visits to production facilities where pigs can be viewed from a window: http://www.varkensinzicht.nl. The facilities are equipped in accordance with future European Union standards, such as without gestation stalls. The committee said the campaign website suggested that all pig production facilities in the Netherlands are like those featured on the site. The challenge was initiated by the Dutch “Party for the Animals,” which holds two seats in Parliament.


ACTIVISTS NUISANCE FOR PIG SYMPATHY CAMPAIGN
Pig Progress, May 25, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/3xdw6c

 

4. DEFRA ON VEGANISM FOR ENVIRONMENT

An official with the United Kingdom’s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has expressed support for the environmental benefits of a vegan diet. The “leaked” comment was elicited in response to an e-mail inquiry the agency received from Vegetarians International Voice for Animals (Viva!) which had asked why DEFRA wasn’t promoting veganism as part of it’s World Environment Day campaign.

The DEFRA response stated: "You will be interested to hear that [DEFRA] is working on a set of key environmental behaviour changes to mitigate climate change. Consumption of animal protein has been highlighted within that work. As a result the issue may start to figure in climate change communications in the future. It will be a case of introducing this gently as there is a risk of alienating the public majority….Future Environment Agency communications are unlikely to ever suggest adopting a fully vegan lifestyle, but certainly encouraging people to examine their consumption of animal protein could be a key message."

The National Farmers' Union immediately responded: “Hopefully Ministers will have more sense than to suggest simplistic and, quite possibly, counter productive responses to what is a highly complex equation.” DEFRA subsequently stated: “The Environment Agency believes this is a matter of personal choice, but it would be wrong of us to dismiss the already very public research showing the benefits that reducing the consumption of animal protein, and therefore methane emissions from farm animals, can have on tackling emissions.” The Soil Association also responded, welcoming “Defra’s acknowledgement that eating less meat is better for the environment.” In February, the government launched a website with recommendations for “Greener Living,” with a “What you eat” section that states: “Production of meat and dairy has a much bigger effect on climate change and other environmental impacts than that of most grains, pulses and outdoor fruit and vegetables”: http://tinyurl.com/2u78vk

GO VEGAN TO HELP CLIMATE, SAYS GOVERNMENT
Telegraph, Charles Clover, May 30, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/05/30/eavegan30.xml

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY DENIES TRYING TO CONVERT THE PUBLIC TO SWITCH TO VEGETARIAN DIET
Farmers Guardian, Tom Levitt, May 31, 2007
http://www.farmersguardian.com:80/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=10114

 

5. $3 BILLION IN AGRICULTURAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE; VEAL AID

Farmers and ranchers who incurred farmed animal or crop losses from weather-related disasters during 2005, 2006, or 2007 will be eligible for $3 billion in financial compensation after President Bush signed legislation on May 29th which included emergency agricultural disaster assistance (see: http://tinyurl.com/334dc5 ). The fiscal year 2007 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill had been approved by a large, bipartisan majority of Congress on May 24th. The bill also extends the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program for one month, through September 2007. This ensures that it will be included in the budget baseline for the 2007 Farm Bill. The program helps keep dairies in business when milk prices bottom out.

During a markup of the Farm Bill, the House Agriculture Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee (see: http://tinyurl.com/27grqk ) approved an amendment that would authorize $12 million in compensation to producers raising calves for veal who experienced market losses during 2005. An amendment to lift the prohibition on the interstate shipment of state-inspected meat and poultry products was offered and withdrawn. Such an amendment could be offered again when the full Agriculture committee markup occurs, which is expected in the upcoming weeks.

FAMILY FARMERS, RANCHERS TO RECEIVE DISASTER ASSISTANCE
The Poultry Site, May 29, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2xsal5

HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES LIVESTOCK, DAIRY, AND POULTRY TITLES OF 2007 FARM BILL
American Meat Institute, May 24, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/35zwdr

 

6. GLOBAL DAIRY PLATFORM

Weeks after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission agreed that research didn’t support weight-loss claims by the dairy industry (see: http://tinyurl.com/2snpkw ), the Global Dairy Platform (GDP), a worldwide dairy lobbying group, is engaging in a public relations campaign promoting weight-loss claims. GDP was formed in 2004 to protect the financial interests of its member companies, which includes Dairy Farmers of America, Fonterra, Kraft, Nestle and others, by increasing dairy consumption in developing countries and defending against market encroachment by non-dairy alternatives. Its members have a combined turnover exceeding $70 billion, with a target of $100 billion by Christmas. The Chicago-based entity also seeks to promote messages touting benefits of dairy products on hypertension, teeth, and bone strength. In an attempt to safeguard terms used by the dairy industry it is conducting a worldwide regulatory review. "When was the last time you saw a soya bean being milked?” asked GDP executive director Kevin Ballamy, “How dare these people?"

FONTERRA DECLARES PR WAR OVER DAIRY
The New Zealand Herald, Malcolm Burgess, May 29, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/34mlrl

 





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Compiled and edited by Cat Carroll and Mary Finelli, Farmed Animal Watch is a free weekly electronic news digest of information concerning farmed animal issues gleaned from an array of academic, industry, advocacy and mainstream media sources.