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ANIMAL MEDIA ALERTS -- NOVEMBER 2003 THANKSGIVING
ARTICLES 11/03 Thanksgiving can
be a depressing holiday for those of us who care about the suffering of members
of other species. Perhaps you will find yourself sitting around a family table,
with some little dead guy in the center. It hurts. Or perhaps you are planning a
vegan feast, and will give thanks that we live in a country with bountiful food,
where we are able to make compassionate choices. As vegetarianism grows in
popularity, every year we see more articles in newspapers that support such
choices. Before I share a few really good ones, I am going to urge everybody to
take just a few minutes on Tuesday to dash off a letter to the editor of your
paper, noting the joys of a vegan holiday feast. Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.
WOOD-CHIPPED HENS IN CHICAGO TRIBUNE AND SEATTLE TIMES 11/22-11/23/03 On Saturday, 11/22/03, I sent out an alert (below on this page) on an article in the Los Angeles Times about the mass slaughter of hens, fed into a wood-chipper. I received many notes expressing disgust at the incident, particularly that it was condoned by a veterinarian on the AVMA's animal welfare committee. I missed an opportunity to ask people to express those feelings to the AVMA. There are activists pushing to get Cutler removed from the committee, and your letters could help. This is also a good opportunity to express your opinion of the AVMA's opposition to attempts at legislative bans on sow and veal crates, and its refusal to take a stand against forced molting. The AVMA can be emailed at: avmainfo@avma.org Or letters (almost always better than email when dealing with anybody outside the media) can be sent to: American Veterinary Medical Association Headquarters: 1931 North Meacham Road - Suite 100 Schaumburg, IL 60173 or faxed to: 847-925-1329 It is great that the story appeared in the Chicago Tribune since that is the AVMA's hometown paper. But unfortunately the Tribune version of it is short, and does not mention Gregg Cutler's involvement with the AVMA. Letters to the editor, making that connection, will put pressure on the group. You can read the Chicago Tribune story, headed, "Chickens chipped; vet in hot water" (Monday, November 24, pg 10) on line at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0311230449nov23,1,7622837.story The Chicago Tribune takes letters at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-lettertotheeditor.customform The Seattle Times article, from Saturday, November 22, is headed: "Complaint alleges hens dumped into wood chipper." It is on line at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001798406_ndig22.html (But you have to scroll down the page past the article on lap dancing.) That version does make the AVMA connection. The Seattle Times takes letters at: opinion@seattletimes.com Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.
LOS
ANGELES TIMES ON WOOD CHIPPED HENS
11/22/03 The Saturday,
November 22, Los Angeles Times has an interesting follow-up story on the case of
the San Diego County farmer who disposed of 30,000 live
"spent" egg-laying hens by feeding them into a wood chipper.
The article on the front page (pg B1) of the Metro section of the Saturday,
November 22, Los Angeles Times is headed, "Wood-Chipped
Chickens Fuel Outrage." (Note to Aussies -- the story is also on The
Age website -- link below.) Early this year I
sent out an alert noting that animal advocacy groups had attempted to
persuade the district attorney to prosecute the farmer under California's anti
cruelty statute, but had failed. I had mixed feelings about the story
at the time. I am always pleased when farmed animal suffering makes the news.
However, I feared that the suggestion that this farmer should be prosecuted
reinforced the misconception that there are laws that generally protect hens
from undue suffering. In fact, the U.S.
Humane Slaughter Act excludes all birds. Therefore, astoundingly, that piece of
legislation covers only 2% of the animals killed for food in the United
States. California is one of the few states that has adopted an amendment to
include poultry, but that amendment excludes "spent" hens. Though being fed
into a wood chipper is a horror movie death, the hens' other options were
not good. They might have been thrown and packed into crates, bones breaking,
and trucked to slaughter. Crammed together with no food or water, many would
arrive dead from heat and exhaustion, or in cold weather, frozen to the
truck. Most, still alive and conscious, would be hung upside down by the
feet and attached to a moving rail. They would be dipped in
electrified water which would stun them enough to immobilize them but
not knock them unconscious. A mechanical blade would slice their necks so
that they bled to death. However the mechanical blade is far from 100%
effective so many would be missed and boiled alive. Since
"spent" hens have little market value, the scenario above is becoming
less common for egg-layers. More often they are buried alive (another
common horror movie theme). They are live packed into containers and
bulldozed into the ground. Or, they are trucked (as described above) to
Canada where they can be executed more cheaply, often by gassing in their
transport trucks. The November 22 Los Angeles Times story focuses
on a factor that sets the wood chipper incident apart from other hen deaths: Though
the way in which hens are killed is legal, it is hard to imagine anybody calling
their deaths humane. (As noted, such killing methods are allowed
only because spent hens are exempt from humane slaughter laws.)
However, any hope of prosecuting the wood-chipping farmer, perhaps under
the state anti-cruelty statute, was lost when the DA learned that the
farmer had been acting under the direction of a veterinarian. That veterinarian,
who told the farmer that such a method of slaughter would be humane,
sits on the animal welfare committee of the American Veterinary Medical
Association. The Times
article, by Jia-Rui Chong, tells us: "San Diego County's Animal Services Department
has filed a complaint against a veterinarian who allegedly authorized a Valley
Center egg ranch to kill 30,000 hens by dumping them alive into a wood chipper. The complaint centers on Gregg Cutler, a veterinarian
who is also on the animal welfare committee of the American Veterinary Medical
Assn." The
article includes a strong quote from the report of County Animal Services Lt.
Mary Kay Gagliardo. Gagliardo wrote: "I then asked him if he felt it was
still humane if they were going in there bunches at a time, being plugged up in
the chute, not knowing if they were going into the shredder feet first, breast
first, if he still considered that a humane death, and he said to me, 'Yes, of
course. However they go in, it's quick, it's painless, and it's over in
seconds.' " The
owner of the farm, having received hate mail and death threats says that if he
had to do it over again, he would have gassed the chickens (a standard method of
killing) rather than sending them through the chipper. But he says,
"Still, gassing is worse than the wood chipper…. It takes slightly longer
for the chicken to die." Therefore
my mixed feelings about the wood-chipper prosecution quest. Standard methods are
no better. Still, it is shocking to think that a veterinarian on the
AVMA animal welfare committee called death by wood chipper humane, and that his
stance is given as the reason there will be no prosecution. Chong
writes, "In
April, the San Diego district attorney's office investigated whether the egg
ranch had committed animal cruelty. Elisabeth Silva, the deputy district
attorney assigned to the case, said that she could not find criminal intent on
the part of the owners, concluding that the Wilgenburgs were just following
professional advice." The article ends
with a nice quote from HSUS's Wayne Pacelle, "This is not just anybody.
This is a guy on the animal welfare committee of the most prominent animal
veterinary group in the country. That does not inspire confidence in
any declaration from such a committee." Indeed,
an upside of this story is that it puts long overdue focus on the AVMA and its
policies. That organization consistently opposes all legislative
efforts to bring the United States up to the standards of the rest of the
civilized world in the realm of farmed animal welfare. For example, it
opposes bans on sow gestation crates, and on the forced molting of hens (by
withholding food and water). The
Los Angeles Times story presents a great opportunity for letters to the editor
on the treatment of farmed animals, particularly chickens, and against
using their "products" when we have so many alternatives. The United
Poultry Concerns website is a superb source of information on this issue: http://www.upc-online.org/.
Karen Davis, head of United Poultry Concerns, has taken the lead in the battle
against the veterinarian and the farmer. You
can read the Los Angeles Times article on line at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chipper22nov22,1,7606839.story The
Los Angeles Times takes letters at: letters@latimes.com A
shortened version is also on The Age website, headed "Vet in row over hens
chipped to death" at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/22/1069027380763.html The
Age takes letters at: letters@theage.com.au
LIVE
EXPORT BACK ON AUSTRALIAN FRONT PAGES 11/21/03 There has been a
fascinating new development with regard to Australia's shameful live export
trade. For those unfamiliar with the issue: Australia exports live animals to
countries with religious slaughter laws that preclude slaughter in Australia
before export. Therefore approximately seven million animals bred in Australia
are killed each year via methods banned in Australia on grounds of cruelty.
Further, the animals, packed into poorly ventilated sweltering ships, suffer
terribly on the journey to their deaths. The controversy was brought to a head
this year when a shipload of 57,000 sheep was rejected by Saudi Arabia as
disease ridden, and remained at sea for months. Thousands of animals died
onboard, suffocating from the heat and over-crowding.
The first few lines will give you the gist:
SEATTLE
TIMES FRONT PAGE ON SUSPENSION FOR CRUELTY TO MICE
11/19/03 A groundbreaking
story has come out of Washington State this week: The front page of the
Wednesday, November 19, Seattle Times announced, "UW professor barred from
animal testing." The article, by Sharon Pian Chan, tells us that Professor
Chen Dong has been suspended for infractions centered on cruelty to mice. He may
do other research, but the ban on tests involving animals is indefinite. (Note: We still
have a long way to go, even at this university, where the pain of mice is
treated with appropriate seriousness, but the animals are still being used as
expendable objects; their lives are being forfeited for experiments that will
not save lives. Of course I am not necessarily saying that if those experiments
would save human lives, the killing of mice would be ethical, but I do feel that
is a point on which reasonable people can disagree and should argue.) But I worry that the article gives the impression that Dong is an
anomaly in the world of animal testing, and that immense animal suffering is
unusual. In truth, though UW may have guidelines for the use of mice, federal
law does not require even minimal protection for them. Rats, mice and birds are
not included as animals under the Animal Welfare Act. A page on the New England
Anti-Vivisection Society website that explores the consequences of their
omission is a must-read:
STRONG
BOSTON GLOBE ARTICLE ON VEGETARIAN KIDS The Health
Science section (pg C1) of the Tuesday, November 18, Boston Globe had a cover
story, by Ricki Morell, headed, "Pizza is not a vegetable. As more young
children choose to avoid meat, nutritionists offer advice on keeping them
healthy."
CAMBRIDGE
PRIMATE LAB IN DOUBT
There is hopeful
news from the UK today. An article in The Guardian (November 11, pg. 24) is
headed "Primate project in funding jungle: With animal rights activists
already lining up to protest, Cambridge University could use a cash shortfall as
an excuse for dropping its new animal research centre, says Anna Fazackerley." It opens:
"When the University of Cambridge announced plans to build a primate
research centre in May 2000, it sparked a bitter planning dispute that has
lasted over three years. But now, just as expectations grow that the government
is about to give the project its full support, the university may be forced to
pull out as a result of financial miscalculations." We read some
details about the funding issue, but are treated to a quote by Professor
Gillian Evans, a member of the university's governing body, the Regent House:
"My own feeling from what I've seen and heard is this is a face-saving
attempt to drop it quietly." The center is
planned to be be built on the same road as Huntingdon Life Sciences. We read that the
research community is worried that the loss of the center would be seen as
a victory by the animal rights lobby. However, Wendy Higgins, from The British
Union for the Abolition of Vivisection is quoted: "If the
building work goes ahead the university is going to see increased protests.
There is a huge amount of anger and the local protesters would not see approval
being given as a sign to give up." You can read the
whole article on line at: http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,5500,1081902,00.html The article on
Cambridge is accompanied in The Guardian with one about Huntingdon Life
Sciences. That article, by Polly Curtis, is headed, "Under the microscope:
the animal experimentation labs at Huntingdon Life Sciences." We learn, "A committee
of MPs is considering an investigation of the Home Office's animal research
watchdog after it defended its decision to allow experiments involving the
transplantation of genetically modified piglets' hearts into the necks of wild
baboons to be classed as 'moderate'." Leaked documents "showed a
quarter of the baboons died from 'technical failures'; others were left with
wounds weeping fluid and several died on the journey to Britain." http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,5500,1081922,00.html A great source of
information on the campaign against the Cambridge primate lab is the website for
SPEAC --- Stop Primate Experimentation At Cambridge: http://www.primateprison.org/ I
was pleased to see the website includes a link to Jerom's story. That piece
is perhaps the most personal and poignant argument against primate
experimentation I have ever come across. Another
highlight from that site is an article and a photo of protestors headed
"Between 1,500 and 2,000 people
gathered in Cambridge yesterday and delivered a stark warning to Cambridge
University of the consequences should they try to build the primate labs."
Such a show of support for animal rights is almost unheard of in the United
States. We have much to learn from UK activists. The
articles present a good opportunity for armchair activism -- letters to the
editor opposing vivisection, particularly from subscribers in the UK,
though those representing US groups might also be published. The Guardian takes
letters at: letters@guardian.co.uk and
notes: "We do not publish letters where only an email address is
supplied; please include a full postal address and a reference to the relevant
article. If you do not want your email address published, please say so. We may
edit letters."
VET
CLASSES AT UC DAVIS NO LONGER FATAL 11/10/03 On October 7, I was pleased to send out an alert noting that the new
Western University College of Veterinary Medicine in California was shunning
dissection in favor of useful operations on animals in need. Today, I am
delighted to point to an article in the Monday, November 10, Sacramento Bee (pg
E1) which suggests that Western's respect for life is not unique, but perhaps
symptomatic of a shift in the veterinary field.
THE
MEATRIX I heard great
things about "The Meatrix" last week but was traveling, on slow
dial-up, and unable to watch it. I was pleased to find a brief review of it, by
Bonnie Britton, in the Sunday, November 9, Indianapolis Star: ---------------- "Enter
'The Meatrix' "Parodies
of "Star Wars" movies are almost a film genre of their own. "So
it's not a stretch that "The Matrix" would become "The Meatrix." "The
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) is using "The
Matrix" as a framework for its two-minute Flash movie (http://www.themeatrix.com/
) about "the environmental and health risks of factory farming, while
encouraging support of sustainable food production." "Viewers
are invited to enter "The Meatrix," where they'll find Moopheus (is
that a commentary on the beefy Laurence Fishburne?), who offers blue and red
pills to Leo, a happy pig living on an idyllic family farm. "Once
he takes the red pill, Leo learns of agricultural businesses where animals live
on factory farms, sometimes never seeing sunlight, where they're given too many
antibiotics, and where they produce concentrated waste that endangers land,
water and air. "Entering
a ZIP code brings up an Eat Well Guide and the locations of nearby farms, stores
and restaurants where sustainable meat is available. Quite a few can be found on
the Indiana list. "You
learn something every day. "I
didn't know they made sunglasses and trench coats for cows." ---------------------------------------- You can respond
to that review with a letter to the editor at: http://www.indystar.com/help/contact/letters.html I am pleased that
you can also watch The Meatrix at Farm Sanctuary's "Ban Cruel
Farms" website: http://www.bancruelfarms.org/meatrix/ Rather than being
led to information about where you can buy more humanely farmed meat, you are
led to information on taking action against factory farming. The PETA website
version ends giving viewers an opportunity to order a free
Vegetarian Starter Kit. It is a great link to send to non veggie
friends: http://www.peta.org/feat/meatrix/ BIZARRO
ON ATTACKS BY CAPTIVE TIGERS
Dan Piraro, who
draws the syndicated daily cartoon, Bizarro, has done it again. I was
off email at the Liberation Now conference all weekend, so am late getting out this piece,
from last Thursday, November 6. But I thought it was well worth sending, even a
little late:
The
cartoon, which appeared in papers across the country on Thursday, provides
an unusual opening for letters to the editor, addressing the use of wild
animals for human entertainment. Such letters can be sent to any paper
in which Bizarro appears. Don't hesitate to ask for my help if you have any
trouble finding the email address for letters to the editor of your paper. CBS
EVENING NEWS ON ANIMAL WELFARE IN THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY On Wednesday,
November 5, as part of a series called "Food Fight," CBS Evening
News aired a piece headed, "Fast Food Embracing Animal Welfare."
It included some PETA footage of birds being "thrown around like
trash" and footage of battery cages. You can view the video or read the
print version on line at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/05/eveningnews/main582028.shtml
BETTER
HOMES AND GARDENS GREAT ARTICLE ON TEEN VEGETARIANISM Since
40 billion animals are killed every year for food, diet has to be the number one
animal rights issue. 10 billion are killed in the United States, where most of
the population are overweight and eat far more meat than even a non vegetarian
dietitians would recommend. Better
Homes and Gardens Magazine, distributed to seven million homes every month, can
have real influence on the way people eat. Parents search
through it for family dinner recipes, and information on nutrition. So I am
delighted to note an article in the "Eating Well" section of the
November issue (pg. 302) headed "Teens vegging out: a growing number of
teenagers are making the switch to meatless." The article is by Mindy
Pantiel. Pantiel's
advice to parents whose children choose to go vegetarian is, "For starters,
don't panic. Or at least, don't panic for long. Being a vegetarian is healthy if
your teenager goes about it the right way." She
notes that teens turn vegetarian for a variety of reasons, such as learning
about animal rights and environmental issues. She quotes a mother of an eighteen
your old girl in a small town in "beef country" who was the only
person in a high school of thousands who didn't eat meat: "Once I saw how
determined Tiffany was I decided to support it and now I'm even trying to eat
that way myself." Vegetarianism
has been linked to eating disorders, and Pantiel concedes that "Some teens,
especially girls, shun meat and dairy because they see it as fattening."
However she makes it clear that it can be a very healthy choice: "Along
with ethical reasons, research has shown that a heightened awareness of the
level of unhealthy saturated fats in many meats has motivated some teens to
choose a new diet. In fact, studies show that vegetarians have a lower incidence
of heart disease, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians." She
assures parents that vegetarians can get plenty of protein but suggests that
calcium can be a concern for vegans. She quotes registered dietitian Kathy
Levine: "Vegans
need to get calcium from other sources, such as nutritional yeast, fortified
cereals, and calcium-enriched orange juice." And she suggests, "New
vegans should consult a nutritionist who specializes in vegetarian diets."
Not a bad idea. She
also writes: "Levine
also recommends teens in either category take a multivitamin to make sure
they're getting the right nutrients, including ample iron. This is especially
important for girls because they lose valuable iron when they menstruate and can
become anemic." Here
I have a gripe. Sure, a multi-vitamin is probably a great idea for a teenager.
The modern diet can be low in nutrients, and girls in particular, trying to be
fashionably slender, can eat so little that it is hard to get all the nutrients
their bodies need. But the article does vegetarianism a disservice in the tacit
suggestion that vegetarians are more likely rather than less likely to need
vitamin supplements. Kids living on non-vegetarian junk food, as many do, are
not ingesting more vitamins than those living on stir-fry tofu and vegetables. (Note:
Absence of B12 in the diet is a real issue for vegans -- B12 supplements should
be taken.) The
article gives great tips for making the switch easy for the teen and family
involved: Some
other tips: "KEEP
IT SIMPLE. Teens tend not to be gourmets. They prefer vegetarian versions of old
favorites, such as pizza, chili, tacos, and stir-fries, that are relatively easy
to adapt. "LET
THEM COOK. Any person who can solve an algebra equation while listening to rap
music can certainly learn to cook a handful of vegetarian entrees. Work out a
plan that requires your child to cook dinner one night a week for the whole
family. "STOCK
UP on nutritious fast foods. Like their hamburger inhaling counterparts,
vegetarian teens often eat on the run. Stock your pantry and freezer with soups,
meatless burgers, and ready-made pizzas for quick meals. Keep a variety of fresh
and dried fruits, cut-up veggies, bagels, and other healthy snacks on hand to
encourage good eating habits." Then
she adds, "While it's true that your teen's initial decision to go meatless
may be a shock, oftentimes it has a way of working out for the best." She
quotes a mother who was pleasantly surprised: "Kristin
couldn't even boil water," she says. "But since she's become a
vegetarian, she cooks most of her own meals and has inspired all of us to eat
right and healthy." She
ends the article recommending books on teen vegetarianism and pointing people to
the Vegetarian Resource Group website. It
is a magnificently positive article. My only disappointment is that this recipe
laden magazine didn't come through with any practical support for the article --
no vegetarian main course recipes in the November issue of BHG. Unfortunately,
the article is not available on line. You can pick up the magazine to read the
whole thing. Please
thank BHG for this wonderful article on teen vegetarianism. BHG (based at 1716
Locust Street) takes letters at: Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter
to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.
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