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1.
FLOODING IN U.S. MIDWEST
Since mid-May, storms and severe weather
in the Midwestern U.S. have killed at least 24 people,
flooded more than 3.4 million acres of land and caused
an estimated $6 billion of damage to crops. Flooding
prompted President Bush to declare more than 103 counties
in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri disaster areas, making
them eligible for federal assistance. This includes
70 of Iowa’s 99 counties. By mid-June, 16% of
the state's 25 million acres of farmland lay underwater
(photos and info at: http://www.iowaflood.com
). Iowa leads the U.S. in the production of pigs,
eggs and corn, and ranks second in soybeans (see PDF:
http://tinyurl.com/56znnh
).
MIDWEST RAINS CAUSE HIGHER CRESTS, MAY
SPARK FLOODS
Bloomberg, Brian K. Sullivan, June 26, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aPUDCksLsfy8&refer=us
MORE RAINS HIT FLOODED US MIDWEST; CORN AT RECORD
Reuters, Ryan Schlader, June 26, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN26270699
NOW 70 IOWA COUNTIES INCLUDED IN FEDERAL DISASTER
KCRG (source: FEMA and Iowa Homeland Security), Becky
Ogann, June 23, 2008
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/20659339.html
AFTER THE DELUGE
Grist, Tom Philpott, June 16, 2008
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/6/16/161928/494
2.
PIGS ABANDONED, DROWNED, SHOT; PHOTOS
There are no readily available estimates
as to the number of farmed animals who have drowned
or been displaced by the flooding in the U.S. Midwest
(see item #1). In the 2nd week of
June, the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) asked
pig farmers to help identify empty buildings that
could possibly be used for relocating pigs, reports
the Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers. Iowa Secretary
of Agriculture Bill Northey encouraged farmers to
plan ahead: “Flood water, washed out bridges
and damaged roads may make it difficult to reach some
areas with livestock, so I encourage folks to monitor
reports so they aren’t caught off guard.”
“Iowa Farmer Makes a Sorrowful Choice”
reads a Chicago Tribune headline. During the 2nd week
of June, TriOak Foods removed 4,500 pigs it had in
the feeding sheds at Ron Lanz's farm in Oakville.
As the Iowa River rose a foot a day and estimates
of its cresting continued to rise, Lanz moved farm
equipment to higher ground yet gave no serious consideration
to moving the pigs under his care. Finally, on the
14th, he and his partner cousins decided to move them.
In six hours they loaded some 4,000 pigs on semi-trailer
trucks and moved them out. They themselves then fled,
abandoning some 850 other pigs including those on
a half-filled truck. Returning the next day, Lanz
found the pigs still alive and “opened the shed
doors, giving the animals a chance of swimming to
safety—despite the treacherous currents and
the general unfitness of swine for swimming.”
On Monday, he found the 30 or so pigs who had survived.
"They're not like pets or anything," Lanz
commented, "But they're something we're responsible
for. And this work is something we hope our boys would
want to do one day."
In Des Moines County, some dozen pigs
“escaped their flooded farm, swam through raging
floodwaters and scrambled atop a sandbag levee”
which was several miles from the nearest pig farm.
Soon after, sheriff’s officials shot and killed
them, explaining that they were afraid the pigs would
weaken the levee. "It happens every day. My gosh,
that's what slaughterhouses do — that's how
we get bacon and pork chops," said LeRoy Lippert,
chairman of the county emergency management commission.
"It's just one of the casualties of the flooding
situation." Witnesses said the animals were having
difficulty trying to find their way off of the sandbags
and that they hurried back into the water when people
approached. Lippert noted that out of some 36,000
pigs in the Oakville area, officials estimate a thousand
or so were left behind as the flood passed through.
Photos of pigs caught in the flooding are posted at:
http://tinyurl.com/5g4m7c.
See also: AMID THE FLOODING, A PIG RESCUE EFFORT:
http://tinyurl.com/5gu6oh
FLOODING, STORMS CREATE CHALLENGES FOR
LIVESTOCK FARMERS
Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers, June 12, 2008
http://www.supportiowasfarmers.org/fullarticle.aspx?artid=2100
IOWA FARMER MAKES A SORROWFUL CHOICE
Chicago Tribune, David Greising, June 18, 2008
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-hog-farmersjun18,0,806362.story
PIGS WHO SWAM THROUGH FLOODWATERS KILLED ON LEVEE
Associated Press, Allen G. Breed with Amy Lorentzen,
June 18, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080618/ap_on_re_us/midwest_floods_shot_pigs
3.
MANURE MESS; DEAD ZONE
A single animal waste lagoon can hold
up to 25 million gallons of excrement. Rainwater has
led some Iowa lagoons to leak and overflow (see item
#1). Some have caved in due to pressure from groundwater.
State officials have told farmers they can lower lagoon
levels by spraying waste on fields even though the
ground is saturated with rain, which increases the
chances of waste entering waterways. Manure from confinement
operations and open feedlots has already run into
streams, yards and crop fields.
Nitrogen in the form of fertilizer is
washing its way down the Mississippi to the Gulf of
Mexico where it will add to the “dead zone”
there (see item #8 of http://tinyurl.com/5wa9jh
and http://tinyurl.com/5zauys
). Bryan Walsh explains in Time magazine: “Just
as fertilizer speeds the growth of plants on land,
the chemicals enhance the rapid development of algae
in the water. When the algae die and decompose, the
process sucks all the oxygen out of the surrounding
waters, leading to a hypoxic event — better
known as a ‘dead zone.’ The water becomes
as barren as the surface of the moon. What sea life
that can flee the zone does so; what can't, dies.”
A 2004 United Nations report documented nearly 150
dead zones, the one in the Gulf of Mexico being the
worst.
See also the New York Times editorial:
IOWA’S DISASTERS: http://tinyurl.com/5oak4l
and see: EASTERN N.C. RESIDENTS SAY THEY'RE SICK OF
SMELLING SWINE:
http://tinyurl.com/57w259.
OFFICIALS WORRY ABOUT COLLAPSE OF ANIMAL-WASTE
LAGOONS AT FACTORY FARMS
The Kansas City Star, Karen Dillon, June 28, 2008
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/682889.html
SEWAGE, CHEMICALS, FUEL CONTAMINATE WATERWAYS
Des Moines Register, Perry Beeman, June 17, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5gt622
or
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080617/NEWS/806170377/-1/NEWS04
THE GULF'S GROWING 'DEAD ZONE'
Time, Bryan Walsh, June 17, 2008
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1815305,00.html
4.
HSUS EXPOSES MORE CATTLE ABUSE
A calf kicked repeatedly in the head,
a blind cow shocked and struck, a non-ambulatory cow
forced to crawl on her knees and repeatedly shocked,
another dragged by a chain. These are among the abuses
reported by an investigator with the Humane Society
of the U.S. (HSUS) working at the Portales Livestock
Auction in New Mexico (video at: http://tinyurl.com/55hd3h
). Workers there were trying to get the animals to
stand and walk into the auction ring.
New Mexico brand inspectors were present
at the Portales auctions and are believed to have
seen the abuse. This is the second video released
by HSUS of the facility (see: http://tinyurl.com/5rpph9
) and the sixth such facility exposed by the organization
this year, “further chipping away at the industry’s
contention that such incidents are isolated,”
states BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly. "No longer can anyone
in government or industry reasonably claim that the
abuses we documented at Hallmark [see: http://tinyurl.com/68w6lp
] were an aberration or an isolated case," said
HSUS head Wayne Pacelle. All of the cattle in the
latest video are from dairies, and Pacelle expressed
surprise that the beef industry hasn’t pressured
the dairy industry to stop its problematic practices.
Some of the cows videotaped at Hallmark
(see item #6) came from the Portales
Auction. HSUS explains: “many cows sold at Portales
are slaughtered by Caviness Beef Packers in Hereford,
Texas, and further processed at Caviness' Palo Duro
plant…Palo Duro is the top supplier of ground
beef to the National School Lunch Program.”
(See also SLEAZY ASSOCIATION: http://tinyurl.com/6rrt9w
)
HSUS has renewed its calls for the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately implement
a complete ban on the processing of non-ambulatory
cattle for food. HSUS is also calling for the USDA
to ban these cattle from other points, such as auctions,
stockyards and transport, and for it to require that
facility operators euthanize cattle immediately after
they are found to be non-ambulatory (see: http://tinyurl.com/5rpph9
). U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer met with
HSUS on June 24th and reiterated his request for the
slaughter industry to voluntarily abide by such a
ban until a federal rule is finalized (see: http://tinyurl.com/6qpj8e
). Schafer emphasized that the abused cattle could
not have entered the food supply.
See also: A MEETING OF MINDS ON THE
WELFARE OF BEEF CATTLE
http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jul08/080715a_pf.asp
THE HSUS EXPOSES MORE APPALLING ABUSES
OF DAIRY COWS AT LIVESTOCK AUCTION IN NEW UNDERCOVER
INVESTIGATION
The Humane Society of the U.S., June 25, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6242fv
or
http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/dairy_cow_abuses_new_mexico_auction_062508.html
HSUS KEEPS FOCUS ON SPENT DAIRY COWS
Feedstuffs, Sally Schuff, June 30, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5hmcu6
HSUS VIDEOS ENGENDER VARIED EMOTIONS
BEEF, Troy Marshall, June 27, 2008
http://beefmagazine.com/cowcalfweekly/hsus-videos-engender-varied-emotions/
SECRETARY SCHAFER CALLS ON BEEF INDUSTRY TO VOLUNTARILY
ADHERE TO NON-AMBULATORY CATTLE BAN WHILE FINAL RULE
IS BEING PROCESSED
United Stated Department of Agriculture Release No.
0167.08, June 25, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5e4c6j
5.
ON TOURING ANIMAL FACILITIES
Robert Martin, executive director of
the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production,
related the following about farmed animal facilities
he toured to prepare the report “Putting Meat
on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in
America” (see: http://tinyurl.com/658l4m
): “We had a pretty diverse group—some
animal agriculture specialists, ethicists, veterinarians,
public policy members. When we were shown what were
supposedly the ‘Cadillac’ operations,
people were pretty shocked. We saw a swine facility
that used both gestation crates and a pen system.
And we saw how aggressive the hogs acted in the gestation
crates—they were vocal, and charged people walking
by and gnawed on the bars. There was a liquid waste
management system flushing out under the barn, and
you could smell the ammonia. Then we saw the pen system—there
were 10 to 12 sows in each pen. They had concrete
floors, but there was straw bedding, and it was more
natural-seeming. There, the sows were almost docile.
The most appalling thing we witnessed was a broiler
facility that produces chickens for eating. We went
in and it was totally dark, just three to four dim
lightbulbs. They only vented the facility periodically
and the dust and ammonia smells were overwhelming.”
Martin added: “The agriculture industry here
has been really good at thwarting consumer information.”
He advises: “The primary thing that has to be
phased out is the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics.”
The interview appears in the July/August
issue of E, “The Environmental Magazine,”
which takes an in-depth look at animal agriculture,
including a cover story entitled THE MEAT OF THE MATTER,
an article entitled: THINK BEFORE YOU EAT: The Widespread
Effects of Factory-Farmed Meat, and the editorial:
THE COW IN THE LIVING ROOM: http://tinyurl.com/5qqmro
6.
HALLMARK SUPERVISOR PLEADS NO CONTEST TO CRUELTY CHARGES
Daniel Ugarte Navarro, the slaughterplant
supervisor accused of torturing cattle at the Hallmark
Meat Company (see: http://tinyurl.com/2l8ehy
) pled no contest to animal-cruelty charges. If convicted
of all counts against him, Navarro could have faced
up to 8 years in prison. He instead faces up to a
year in county jail but will probably be allowed to
serve the sentence at home or on a weekend work-release
program. Sentencing is scheduled for August 25th.
Navarro will also spend three years on probation and
undergo psychological counseling, and he must get
rid of chickens and rabbits he has. Navarro’s
lawyers were unsuccessful in arguing that the charges
should instead have been filed against Hallmark management.
Navarro is said to be willing to cooperate in any
investigation into the roles of Hallmark executives
in the abuse. Rafael Sanchez Herrera, the other employee
charged in the case, previously pled guilty and was
sentenced to 180 days in jail after which he will
be deported to Mexico (see: http://tinyurl.com/5v2pap
).
FORMER SLAUGHTERHOUSE SUPERVISOR ENTERS
NO-CONTEST PLEA
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Rod Leveque, June 20,
2008
http://tinyurl.com/6ocqwu
7.
WORKER CHARGED WITH ABUSING PIGS
Elio Miguel Marrero, a Smithfield worker
allegedly caught on videotape assaulting pigs at a
North Carolina company that supplies Smithfield Foods,
has been charged with six counts of animal cruelty
(see: http://tinyurl.com/2wqouy
). Murphy Family Ventures fired a number of employees
earlier this year after People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals released video footage of pigs being abused
at the company’s pig breeding facility (see:
http://tinyurl.com/5q7slb
). Marrero is scheduled to appear in court on August
12th. A second man, who fled the state, will also
face cruelty charges if he returns.
NORTH CAROLINA SLAUGHTERHOUSE WORKER
CHARGED WITH 6 COUNTS OF ANIMAL CRUELTY
Fox News, Catherine Donaldson-Evans, July 1, 2008
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,374703,00.html
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