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1.
ILLINOIS UPHOLDS LAW AGAINST HORSE SLAUGHTER
On September 21st, a 3-judge U.S. Court
of Appeals panel unanimously upheld the constitutionality
of an Illinois law against the slaughter of horses
for human consumption (see: http://tinyurl.com/35ub2n
). Cavel International Inc., owner of the last operating
horse slaughterplant in the U.S., had sought reversal
of the statute which also bans the possession, import
or export of horse meat for human consumption. Cavel
argued that the state law discriminated against foreign
commerce. While expressing some reluctance, the panel
cited bans on animal fighting in support of its decision.
The 15-page decision stated: “…a state
is permitted, within reason, to express disgust at
what people do with the dead, whether dead human beings
or dead animals. There would be an uproar if restaurants
in Chicago started serving cat and dog steaks, even
though millions of stray cats and dogs are euthanized
in animal shelters” (see: http://tinyurl.com/2tcuj5
). The court also said the import/export ban was aimed
at middlemen rather than the slaughterplant (see:
http://tinyurl.com/3cemsz
). Cavel can permanently close, it can request the
full court reconsider the decision, or it can appeal
to the U.S. Supreme Court, which earlier refused such
a request about a similar Texas law.
Texas state Representative Warren Chisum,
chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has
asked the attorney general if horse meat intended
for human consumption can be stored and transported
in Texas without being taxed. A representative of
the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals (ASPCA) counters that the law is clear,
stating: "We would not be pleased with the transport
of any horse part for human consumption anywhere."
An opinion from the attorney general could take months.
Video of horse transport and slaughter
is on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/2ovopn
LAW BANNING HORSE SLAUGHTER UPHELD
Associated Press, Tara Burghart, Sept. 21, 2007
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5irKCD4wPC-ev1_YmY6p_WuwRpscw
U.S. COURT BACKS STATE BAN ON HORSE-SLAUGHTERING
FOR HUMAN FOOD
The Chicago Tribune, Joseph Sjostrom, September 23,
2007
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-horseslaughter_22_bothsep23,1,5671020.story
LAWMAKER TO AG: IS IT LEGAL TO TRANSPORT
HORSE MEAT?
The Dallas Morning News, September 27, 2007
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/092707dntexhorsemeat.3383cf5.html
2.
HARDEE'S, CARL'S JR. AGREE TO WELFARE MEASURES
CKE Restaurants, owner of the Hardee's
and Carl's Jr. fast-food restaurant chains, has announced
it will institute a number of animal-welfare practices.
The company has agreed to immediately:
Obtain 15% of the pig meat it buys from suppliers
that don’t use gestation crates, increasing
the amount to 25% by 2009;
have 2% of the eggs it uses be from hens that are
not housed in battery cages, by July 1, 2008;
and inform poultry suppliers that it will give consideration
to those who actively explore and test controlled-animal
stunning systems. CKE will also use a 3rd party auditor
to ensure the changes have occurred.
"We take the animal welfare concerns
very seriously," a Hardee’s spokesperson
said, "When you meet with PETA they make a pretty
good case. We want to stay consistent with where the
industry is at now and where it's heading." People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) initially
approached CKE in 2004 and renewed discussions last
year. Burger King agreed to similar policies last
March after negotiations with PETA (see: http://tinyurl.com/yto9j4
). There is increasing pressure on Wendy’s to
do the same. Hardee’s has 1,905 restaurants
and Carl’s Jr. has 1,101.
HARDEE'S, CARL'S JR. AND PETA REACH DEAL
Associated Press, Jim Salter, Sept. 26, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_bi_ge/hardee_s_no_cages
CKE TO ADOPT ANIMAL FRIENDLY POLICIES
Meat & Poultry, September 26, 2007
http://www.meatpoultry.com/news/daily_enews.asp?ArticleID=88379
3.
DEFINING TERMS, CONTROLLING THE DEBATE
Instead of “debeaking” call
it “beak conditioning,” rather than “backup
killer” say “knife operator,” and
rather than being “bled” to death say
a bird has been “exsanguinated.” This
is the advice given by Timothy Cummings to attendees
of a turkey industry meeting sponsored by the Arkansas
Poultry Federation. “Whoever defines the issue
controls the debate,” contends Cummings, a clinical
professor and poultry veterinarian at Mississippi
State University. He warned that People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA) and other powerful animal-welfare
organizations seek the elimination of the poultry
industry. Cummings also addressed the concept of sentience,
concluding: “The bottom line is that legal rights
should only be afforded to species that can comprehend
that concept.” Bruce Friedrich of PETA cautions
that such logic is dangerous: “If you extend
that a little farther, it is acceptable to do whatever
we want to infants and people below a certain IQ level.”
Friedrich acknowledges that PETA is an abolitionist
organization in favor of an end to an industry that
employs millions to raise and slaughter some 9 billion
birds annually.
The potential benefits to industry of
social pressure on it is discussed in an article in
the September 24th issue of Feedstuffs, a trade newspaper
for the animal agricultural industries: http://tinyurl.com/387do7.
CONTROL DEBATE, GROWERS ADVISED
NWA News, David Irvin, Sept. 22, 2007
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/202171/
4.
NEW ZEALAND'S 1ST HEN FACILITY PROSECUTION
"I just cannot understand how you
or your staff could have passed by these birds with
their heads stuck in the cage unable to feed or to
drink, and done this on a day after day basis"
said Judge Gregory Ross, on September 26th. He was
sentencing Trevor Chin, owner and manager of the Wellington
Egg Company, who pled guilty to ten counts of violating
the minimum code of standards under New Zealand’s
Animal Welfare Act, in the nation’s first prosecution
of a battery egg facility. The standards allow for
chickens to be raised in cages with almost no room
to move, according to an SPCA senior animal welfare
inspector who described the Wellington conditions
as “hellish” (video at: http://tinyurl.com/29ks7v
and: http://tinyurl.com/2z8bag
). He testified that Chin had been given three warnings
to remove rotting birds from cages, remove manure
piled so high the birds were standing in it, and supply
adequate water. Ross said he was close to imposing
a prison sentence but instead ordered Chin to pay
the SPCA $23,000 (U.S.), sentenced him to 400 hours
of community service, and prohibited him from keeping
any birds for a decade. He has been given two months
to “humanely dispose” of the surviving
28,000 birds. Ross said the sentence was intended
to send a warning to companies that treat chickens
like machines.
BATTERY FARM OWNER PROSECUTED
TV3, September 26, 2007
http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/Batteryfarmownerprosecuted/tabid/209/articleID/35599/Default.aspx
EGG FARM LET HENS FEED ON CARCASSES
Stuff, September 27, 2007
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4215975a11.html
'HOPELESS' CHICKEN FARM OWNER'S FIRM FINED $20,000
New Zealand Herald, September 27, 2007
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10466131
5.
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT OFFERS $1M TO CONVERT EGG FARM
The Australian Capital Territory (see:
http://tinyurl.com/35urma
) has offered the owners of a battery-cage egg farm
$1 million (Australian) to convert the facility to
a “barn-laid” (i.e., cageless) one. The
managing director of Parkwood Eggs called the offer
inadequate, noting that last year 73% of the eggs
sold were from caged hens, 22% were free range, and
only 5% barn laid. He asked: "So why should any
person, any government any entity try and persuade
businesses to go into a production system where there
is reducing demand?"
ACT GOVT OFFERS $1M TO CONVERT EGG FARM
ABC Rural, Sept. 27, 2007
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/2007/s2045321.htm
6.
BATTERY SHEEP
"It is a barren existence without
proper social or physical environment, with no behavioural
freedoms at all. All those things are the same as
what we would say about [chickens] that are crammed
into cages," said Glenys Oogjes of Animals Australia
(A.A.). She was referring to the “battery sheep”
who are kept individually confined (photo at source
below) for up to five years to produce micron wool.
The premium wool can sell for 100 times the price
of regular wool. A.A. and the Royal Society for the
Protection of Animals (RSPCA) are calling for the
practice to be banned. A.A. has filmed sheep at one
such facility who were swaying and chewing on their
wood and wire enclosures, purportedly out of stress
and boredom. The RSPCA charges that the industry has
refused to co-operate with the government’s
Animal Welfare Advisory Committee for over a year
and has blocked attempts by independent scientists
to study the matter. The Agriculture Minister and
WoolProducers Australia say a new code of practice
applicable to the ultra-fine wool industry is being
developed. The latter disputes the RSPCA’s estimate
that 260,000 sheep are involved.
RSPCA FURY AT 'BATTERY SHEEP' FOR FINE
WOOL
The Age, Lorna Edwards, September 27, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2d59nd
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