| CORRECTION: The
budget for The Humane Society of the U.S.’s
animals and religion program is $400,000, not the
$40,000 erroneously reported in the last issue of
the news digest: faw/faw7-31.htm#5
1.
THINKING ABOUT TURKEYS
An estimated 272 million turkeys will
be raised in the U.S. in 2007, up 4% from last year.
Two-thirds of the birds are raised in Arkansas, California,
North Carolina, Minnesota, Missouri, and Virginia.
As of 2005, some 144,086 turkeys were certified organic,
mostly in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Americans consume
an average of just over 13 pounds of turkey flesh
per year. (A video report on five turkeys who “escaped”
slaughter is on-line at: http://wfmz.com/view/?id=182701
)
“The idea of the comical turkey
persists in the litany of sarcasm that accompanies
the piety of Thanksgiving each year in the United
States,” with the media helping to convey this
impression by publicizing such stunts as throwing
turkeys out of airplanes and forcing them to participate
in the White House “turkey pardoning”
ceremony (see: http://tinyurl.com/3682g2
and http://tinyurl.com/yo9btr ), writes Karen Davis
of United Poultry Concerns in a San Jose Mercury News
opinion piece. The public perception of turkeys as
being silly and stupid is reinforced by the turkey
industry, she notes. Davis quotes wildlife biologist
William Healy, who argues that industry’s genetic
selection of the birds for large breasts to the point
of impairing their walking ability contributes to
this notion.
Davis also points out the inherent amiability
of ancestral turkeys, and notes that public perception
of the birds is changing with the advent of farmed
animal sanctuaries and turkey-adoption programs which
help people foster a better understanding of them
(see: http://tinyurl.com/2bwgtb
). Meanwhile, science is debunking the concept of
‘bird brain’ by revealing the complex
brains that have evolved in birds. Davis concludes:
“…the turkey highlights the growing conflict
in Western culture between the age-old presumption
that animals exist solely for humans to exploit and
the view that non-human animals are kin to humans
with value and autonomy in their own right.”
(See also “The Thanksgiving People Don’t
Want to See”: http://tinyurl.com/3x9bdy
)
FACTS FOR FEATURES
U.S. Census Bureau, October 18, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2p3awh
SCIENTISTS GAIN NEW RESPECT FOR TURKEYS
San Jose Mercury News, Karen Davis, November 22, 2007
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_7531636?nclick_check=1
2.
TOFURKY TREND
Born of vegetarian frustrations, Tofurky
has become “a cultural phenomenon” since
it came on the market in 1995. Seth Tibbott, creator
of the turkey analogue, expects to sell 270,000 of
them by the end of the holidays, with sales up 37%
from 2006. Tofurky roasts make up about 17% of Turtle
Island Foods’ revenue. The article discusses
how Tibbott came up with the concept and, in 1980,
started his soy foods company which now has annual
revenue of $11 million. A recent report by Mintel
found that 23% of non-vegetarians eat mock meats.
The industry for foods marketed for vegetarians is
a $1.2 billion business, up 44% since 2001. As for
Tofurky, “We're fine with the fact they think
[the name is] funny or they get a smile out of it,”
said Tibbott, “You remember jokes." The
staff of the News-Journal Online recently conducted
a taste test of Tofurky and Field Roast Grain Meat
Co.'s Stuffed Celebration Roast, another commercial
vegan Thanksgiving entrée. Results at: http://tinyurl.com/2p9qu9.
A 2005 poll by Harris Interactive found
that the number of teen vegetarians tripled over the
previous decade to reach 3%. The youth do so for a
variety of reasons, as vegetarian food becomes more
readily available.
VEGETARIANS, MEAT-EATERS DIG IN TO SEND
SALES OF TOFURKY SOARING
The Washington Post, Ylan Q. Mui, November 17, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/16/AR2007111601993.html
MORE YOUNG PEOPLE GO THE VEGETARIAN ROUTE
USA Today, Mary Brophy Marcus, October 15, 2007
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-10-14-veggie-kids_N.htm
3.
JUDGE HEARS ARGUMENTS ON HUMANE SLAUGHTER ACT
Two years ago, The Humane Society of
the U.S. (HSUS) sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture
to have the 10 billion birds slaughtered here annually
covered by the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA).
The half-century old law requires farmed animals be
stunned or rendered insensible before being slaughtered.
On November 19th, U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn
Hall Patel heard arguments for and against it. Lawyers
for HSUS said that the very broad terms regarding
farmed animals in the HMSA could easily be interpreted
to include birds. Attorneys for the USDA countered
that poultry are specifically mentioned in other laws
Congress passed in which they intended to include
the birds. HSUS also contended that the slaughter
process is inhumane because some birds are killed
while fully conscious (see news video at: http://tinyurl.com/34vmjm
). The organization noted that scared birds can also
defecate in the electric water bath, contaminating
themselves and other birds and increasing the risk
of human food poisoning. Richard Lobb of the National
Chicken Council asserts that the methods industry
uses are humane. "This is just the kind of campaign
[by animal activist organizations] meant to make life
difficult for people who turn animals into food,"
he said. No date has been set for Hall’s ruling.
GROUP CALLS FOR HUMANE POULTRY SLAUGHTER
IN SF FEDERAL COURT
Associated Press, Juliana Barbassa, November 19, 2007
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7507987?nclick_check=1
4.
MILLIONS MORE BIRDS KILLED DUE TO FLU
Some 68,000 birds at a poultry operation
in eastern England have been killed after they were
deemed to have had “dangerous contact”
with the site of the mid-November outbreak of H5N1
avian influenza (see: http://tinyurl.com/39rkfr
). Both facilities are operated by the same company.
The birds killed include 56,000 ducks, 9,000 turkeys
and 3,000 geese. The source of the virus is still
being investigated (see: http://tinyurl.com/2v7v2s
).
More than 3.5 million birds have been
killed or are being killed in Saudi Arabia following
the detection of avian influenza there on November
12th. Infected birds and leftover feed are being burned,
the Agriculture Ministry said. It blames migratory
birds as being the source of the virus. Some 1.7 million
birds were killed in neighboring Kuwait after the
disease was found there in April: http://tinyurl.com/39v8rn.
AUTHORITIES CULLS MORE POULTRY AFTER
NEW SUSPECTED FLU OUTBREAK
Agence France Presse, Nov. 21, 2007
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jPYDHj31_awzOquRCUBosl6L_zlg
KINGDOM CULLS 3.2M BIRDS TO STEM AVIAN
FLU
Arab News, Mohammed Rasooldeen and Galal Fakkar, November
22, 2007
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=103838&d=22&m=11&y=2007
5.
TURKEYS, DUCKS, PIGS DIE IN FIRES
Thousands of baby turkeys were killed
in a fire during the early morning hours of Nov. 21st
at New Life Farms near Frazee, Minnesota. A brooder
stove is suspected of igniting the blaze in the barn
where 20,000 newly hatched birds had been put the
previous day. The exact number of chicks killed was
unknown. “There was virtually no damage to the
barn and no one was hurt. Thank God for miracles,”
said Frazee Fire Chief Paul Thon. Fire at the same
site occurred several years ago when it was under
different ownership. Some 3,000 turkeys were killed
when a New Life Farms barn was destroyed by fire in
February 2006.
******
Fire incinerated 15,000 ducks on Halloween
eve in a three-story warehouse rented by Hudson Valley
Foie Gras, the largest producer of foie gras in the
U.S. Exhaust fans used to ventilate the building sucked
flames through it as several fire companies stood
helplessly watching until water could be trucked to
the rural Bethel, N.Y. location. The fire is believed
to have begun in a nearby garage on the site. The
cause is being investigated. “…the confinement
of so many animals within such a small space is literally
a disaster waiting to happen. Unfortunately, as horrible
as the suffering of the ducks who burned must have
been, the suffering that awaits the survivors is equally
horrific," said Farm Sanctuary President Gene
Baur in a released statement (see: http://tinyurl.com/2auwm9
). A cruelty lawsuit against the company was dismissed
in May (see: http://tinyurl.com/233k63
).
******
One thousand pigs, nearly 15% of New
Jersey’s pig population, were killed in a Nov.
19th blaze at Pig Farm Recycling Inc., the state’s
largest pig producer. Some 900 pigs died of smoke
inhalation and 100 more who were severely suffering
from smoke inhalation were euthanized, according to
officials. The wooden barn with metal roof and siding
“held everything inside and burned like an oven,"
said Fire Marshal Robert Rose. (The on-line article
includes a photo.) Inadequate water supply at the
facility slowed firefighting efforts. Pig Farm Recycling,
named for its environmental practices, has some of
“the better farm managers around," said
Mike Westendorf, a livestock specialist with the Rutgers
Cooperative Extension Service.
THOUSANDS OF TURKEYS DIE IN FRAZEE FIRE
The Daily Journal, Susan Larson, November 21, 2007
http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/news/2007/nov/21/thousands-turkeys-die-frazee-fire
WAREHOUSE FIRE KILLS 15,000 DUCKS
Times Herald-Record, Victor Whitman, October 31, 2007
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071031/NEWS/710310360
FIRE UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER WAREHOUSE BLAZE KILLS
15,000 DUCKS
Associated Press, November 1, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/3co77g
1,000 PIGS DIE IN FIRE AT BURLCO HOG FARM
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sam Wood, Nov. 21, 2007
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20071121_1_000_pigs_die_in_fire_at_Burlco_hog_farm.html
6.
ANIMALS IN ACCIDENTS
Most of the 900 to 1,000 turkeys being
transported to the Jennie-O slaughterplant in Faribault,
Minnesota were killed when the truck they were in
flipped over on a freeway ramp on November 12th. (The
on-line article includes a photo.) The 61-year-old
truck driver sustained bumps and bruises.
******
Of the 117 yearling cows in a tractor-trailer
that flipped over on I-220 in Louisiana on November
14th, 23 are believed to have been killed in the crash.
More than a dozen died in the trailer, while others
were hit by vehicles and some fell from a bridge on
the interstate. Others were found wandering several
miles away. A sharp turn is said to have caused the
animals to shift their weight, sending the truck onto
its side. Police did not plan to ticket the driver.
******
“It was God awful,'' said the
owner of Scott Golladay Stables upon seeing a huge
truck on its side filled with kicking and screaming
horses (photos at: http://tinyurl.com/387c92
). Surviving the wreck were 42 of the 59 Belgian draft
horses crammed in a trailer designed to hold cattle
or pigs. The horses were en route from Millersburg,
Indiana to Verndale, Minnesota, where they were to
be auctioned. It took rescuers more than five hours
to free all of them. The driver was ticketed for running
a red light and failing to reduce speed to avoid a
pickup truck that collided with the trailer. Additional
charges for the way the horses were being transported
may be made. The Hooved Animal Rescue and Protection
Society is screening potential adopters, who will
have to pay $50 to $100 to the company insuring the
horses.
TURKEYS KILLED, TRAFFIC BACKED UP AFTER
TRUCK ROLLS OVER IN MOUNDS VIEW
Star Tribune, Tim Harlow, November 12, 2007
http://www.startribune.com/142/story/1544597.html
I-220 REOPENS AFTER CATTLE TRUCK WRECK
KTBS, November 15, 2007
http://www.ktbs.com/news/I-220-reopens-after-cattle-truck-wreck-6529/
13 DRAFT HORSES DIE IN CRASH
The Chicago Sun-Times/The Associated Press, October
29, 2007
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/625255,horses102907.article
HORSE SURVIVORS ON MEND
Chicago Tribune, Andrew L. Wang, November 2, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/294aeu
7.
JELLYFISH KILL PENNED SALMON
Billions of jellyfish, in a dense pack
of 10 square miles 35 feet deep, attacked fish penned
about a mile off the coast north of Belfast in mid-November.
A dozen workers in three boats struggled for hours
unable to push their way through the mass of jellyfish
to the pens to prevent the 100,000 salmon from dying
of stings and stress. “The sea was red with
these jellyfish and there was nothing we could do
about it, absolutely nothing," said the managing
director of The Northern Salmon Co. Ltd., Northern
Ireland’s sole salmon farm. The company, which
exports salmon marketed as “organic,”
lost its entire fish population and claims it faces
closure unless it receives emergency aid from the
British government.
JELLYFISH KILL 100K SALMON IN N.IRELAND
Associated Press, Shawn Pogatchnik, Nov. 21, 2007
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hvpCeL6fPyQxurXJJEWrFiCCkd4QD8T281N02
8.
CYCLONE DEVASTATES BANGLADESH
Roughly 350,000 buffalo, cattle, goats,
sheep and poultry perished when tropical Cyclone Sidr,
the deadliest storm to hit flood-prone Bangladesh
in a decade, struck the country on November 15th.
Many of the fish and shrimp enclosures in major production
areas were destroyed and flushed by tidal waves. The
human death toll has reached approximately 3,200,
with thousands more injured and hundreds of thousands
left homeless. Additionally, more than 227,000 acres
(92,000 hectares) of cropland were completely destroyed,
and 1.36 million acres (551,000 hectares) were partially
damaged.
U.N. FOOD AGENCY CALLS FOR FUNDS TO HELP
CYCLONE-HIT AGRICULTURE IN BANGLADESH
The Associated Press, November 23, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/23/europe/EU-GEN-UN-Bangladesh-Aid.php
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