|
1.
SAFEWAY ANNOUNCES WELFARE INITIATIVES
Safeway, the third largest North American
grocery retailer, has announced new animal-welfare
policies. They include:
- a purchasing preference for cage-free eggs,
for pig meat from operations that do not use
gestation crates, and for birds slaughtered
via Controlled Atmosphere Killing (CAK, see:
http://tinyurl.com/33k7m4);
- doubling the percentage of cage-free eggs
it carries to over 6% of its total egg sales
within two years;
- increasing the percentage of pig meat from
systems that don’t use gestation crates
by 5% each of the next three years to reach
15% in 2010.
|
The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS)
and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
have been using the potential of stockholder resolutions
to pressure Safeway into addressing animal welfare
(and see: http://tinyurl.com/2od6th
and http://tinyurl.com/2uc5aw). Both organizations have praised the company’s
announcement. Safeway asserts that it is responding
to consumer demand, explaining: “These new policies
are also an evolution in our own thinking and approach
to animal welfare." (See also: http://tinyurl.com/2vped6
)
Regarding Safeway’s CAK initiative,
the National Chicken Council said it is unaware of
any major poultry producer using the system. According
to PETA’s Matt Prescott, there are five companies
in the U.S. now using it (http://tinyurl.com/2c8pp3). Safeway has said that the new policies generally
won’t raise prices for consumers.
SAFEWAY LEADING THE WAY ON ANIMAL WELFARE
HSUS press release, February 11, 2008
http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/safeway021108.html
SAFEWAY EMBRACES ANIMAL WELFARE
Wall Street Journal, Lauren Etter, February 12, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/2k2fso
or
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120278612709361227.html
SAFEWAY EVOLVES ANIMAL WELFARE POLICIES
Meat & Poultry, Bryan Salvage, February 12, 2008
http://www.meatpoultry.com/news/daily_enews.asp?ArticleID=91266
2.
SHACKLE-AND-HOIST SLAUGHTER OPPOSED
The majority of Israel’s beef,
and a large portion of America’s kosher meat,
comes from South America (S.A.). In recent years,
every major American kosher meat company has set up
a S.A. operation. The majority of the S.A. slaughterplants
that produce kosher meat “shackle and hoist”
(s&h) cattle: lifting them off of the ground by
one hind leg prior to slitting their throat. The method
is generally illegal in the U.S. but remains popular
with kosher slaughterplants elsewhere. Most kosher
meat imported into the U.S. from S.A. is produced
using s&h. The method causes the animal to be
upside down when slaughtered, which, according to
Forward, a Jewish publication, “is required
by Israel’s chief rabbis, the final authorities
on kosher meat entering the Jewish state.” Israelis
are the primary market force in S.A. As such, they
dictate the standards of meat production there. Eliminating
s&h will require the support of Israeli companies,
which will require pressure from Israel’s chief
rabbis.
In late October of 2007, an investigator
for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
obtained footage of kosher slaughter in Uruguay (http://tinyurl.com/2oe2hx).
Forward relates: “In it, the animals can be
seen hanging from a single leg, struggling in the
air and bellowing. Once the animal is put on the ground,
it is shown writhing and being restrained by multiple
workers who step on it and prod it before the cut.”
Having viewed it, Temple Grandin (http://www.grandin.com), who has advised many kosher meat companies, remarked:
“It is in a category by itself for badness.”
Grandin contends that s& h is cruel to animals
and dangerous for employees.
In 2000, the Rabbinical Assembly of
Conservative Judaism deemed s&h a “violation
of Jewish law.” For the past year, Orthodox
Union, America’s largest kosher supervision
agency, has quietly campaigned to have Israeli rabbinical
authorities change s&h. Despite its concerns,
the Orthodox Union continues to certify S.A. plants
that use s&h. Attempts by PETA and Concern for
Helping Animals in Israel, another animal protection
organization, to contact the Israeli chief rabbinate
have so far been unsuccessful.
WIDESPREAD SLAUGHTER METHOD UNDER SCRUTINY
FOR CRUELTY
Forward, Nathaniel Popper, February 13, 2008
http://www.forward.com/articles/12666
3.
HANDLE WITH CARE CAMPAIGN
Every week, hundreds of millions of
farmed animals are subjected to journeys, some lasting
weeks or even months (http://tinyurl.com/2mbt3o), often in “overcrowded and filthy” conditions.
Thousands die en route from disease, injury, deprivation,
exposure and stress. Many others survive only to be
immediately killed –often savagely- upon arrival
at their destination. In some cases, animals are subjected
to long-distance journeys in order for higher prices
to be charged for the meat from them by claiming it
is from locally obtained animals. Handle With Care
(HWC), an international coalition, is using footage
obtained during a two-year investigation to campaign
for a world-wide ban on the trade.
The campaign is focusing on four routes said to be particularly egregious:
- horses sent crowded together on “a
sweltering 46-hour journey” from Spain
to Italy (see: http://tinyurl.com/2rfmbe);
- hundreds of pigs “crammed together
in the dark, exposed to extreme temperature
changes, suffer[ing] from motion sickness
and forced to lie in their own filth”
for a 7-day, 4,500-mile trip from Canada to
Hawaii;
- wild cattle shipped for three weeks from
Brazil to Lebanon, the live living virtually
on top of the dead;
- and the four million sheep shipped from
Australia to the Middle East each year “in
such cramped conditions that many die of suffocation
on the way” (see item #3 and http://tinyurl.com/35ew8c).
|
The coalition warns that human health
is also put at risk by live transport from the potential
spread of zoonotic diseases. HWC contends that the
transport is cruel, dangerous and unnecessary. It
argues that the animals should be killed and the meat
from them refrigerated or frozen and shipped instead.
The hope is that consumers will be so appalled by
the footage that governments will be embarrassed into
banning the trade. In addition to the videos, a petition
has been posted at: http://www.handlewithcare.tv.
New Zealand, which last year put a limited ban on
the export of live animals for slaughter, is being
held up as a model (see: http://tinyurl.com/2yyjaq).
Canada’s federal agriculture department is proposing
changes that would ban the export of live animals
if transportation conditions anywhere on the route
do not meet Canadian standards. See also: http://tinyurl.com/2u2z52
'CRUEL' ANIMAL TRANSPORT TARGETED
BBC News, February 12, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7239456.stm
EXPOSED: THE LONG, CRUEL ROAD TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE
The Independent, Emily Dugan, February 13, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/2eo9mk
'STOP LIVE ANIMALS EXPORTS FOR SLAUGHTER'
Telegraph, Paul Eccleston, February 12, 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/02/12/eaanim112.xml
ALBERTA-HAWAII PIG ROUTE SLAMMED AS GROUPS CAMPAIGN
AGAINST ANIMAL SHIPMENTS
The Canadian Press, Colin Perkel, February 11, 2008
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iINPe_DePQ7L3bDmKVl1T4zC2mLA
ANIMAL CRUELTY INVESTIGATION INTO TRANSPORTED PIGS
TO HAWAII
KHON, Brianne Randle, February 12, 2008
http://www.khon2.com/news/local/15572412.html
4.
RULING ON SHIPPING DISASTER
Cruelty charges against Emanuel Exports,
Western Australia’s largest sheep exporter,
have been dismissed. The charges, initiated by Animals
Australia, were in relation to the death of more than
1300 sheep who died during a 16-day trip to the Middle
East during 2003 (see item #2 and http://tinyurl.com/35ew8c).
The company and two of its directors were charged
with transporting animals in a way likely to cause
unnecessary harm, and with neglecting to provide proper
food. Although the first charge had been proven under
the State’s Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the magistrate
was obliged to dismiss it due to a conflict with federal
law governing live animal exports. The other charges
were then dismissed due to their subsequent lack of
relevance. Industry expressed relief since a conviction
could have threatened the future of the trade. Animals
Australia said the finding shows that every export
of live sheep breaches the AWA. The RSPCA is calling
for tougher federal laws. The state government may
appeal the ruling: http://tinyurl.com/yqjqe5.
More than 30,000 sheep are said to die
annually while being transported from Australia to
the Middle East. Industry insiders reportedly claim
that 1% (about 40,000) of exported sheep die en route
each year. An investigation is not required unless
more than 2% of a load die in transit (see: http://tinyurl.com/2eo9mk).
Following a recent trade development mission to the
Middle East, Australia’s Agriculture and Food
Minister anticipates exports of meat and live animals
to the region to grow significantly over the next
five years (see: http://tinyurl.com/2fgto5). He announced the successful resumption of cattle
and sheep exports to Libya, which was once the major
destination for live cattle exported from West Australia.
MAGISTRATE RULES THAT LIVE EXPORT IS
CRUEL
Animals Australia, Glenys Oogjes (Executive Director),
February 8, 2008
http://www.animalsaustralia.org/media/in_the_news.php?article=82
DIRECTORS CLEARED OF ANIMAL CRUELTY
News Limited, February 8, 2008
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23180706-29277,00.html#
EXPORTER ACQUITTED OF ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGES
WA News, Jodie Thompson, February 8, 2008
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=57788
5.
COMPETENCE CERTIFICATE REQUIRED FOR EU ANIMAL TRANSPORT
In accordance with new regulations,
anyone in the European Union who conducts round-trip
transport of animals in conjunction with an economic
activity must now pass a written test to show their
competence in seeing to the welfare of the animals.
A Certificate of Competence is required for taking
farmed animals, including poultry and horses, on a
return trip consisting of 65 km (about 40 miles) or
eight hours. The regulations provide for veterinary
exclusions. Those undertaking journeys in excess of
said amounts must meet additional requirements to
obtain a Transporter Authorization.
NEW ANIMAL TRANSPORT TEST IS NOW COMPULSORY
Farmers Guardian, Simon Wragg, February 1, 2008
http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=24&storycode=16072
|
![[missing header image]](images/faw_collage1.jpg)
![[missing header image]](images/newsletter_ico.jpg)