Animal Rights

Happiness is cuteoverload

2012-02-10T17:32:00.003-06:00

http://cuteoverload.com/

Scroll down to the two videos, the one of the wolf and cat, followed by the one of the dog on his or her back in the sudsy bathtub! Guaranteed laughs and smiles!!!

Vegan Bake Sale for Wilbur: So much fun, so successful! Overwhelmed by people's generosity and compassion.

2012-02-09T15:05:00.001-06:00

Getting set up in a Faculty of Arts building!

Of course we needed a pink table cloth and vegan-pig-themed cookies! My 5-year-old helped with the noses and my friend Catherine baked them.

Another friend made the rainbow-themed vegan cupcakes, which people snapped up. Someone dropped a 20$ bill in the box and asked for 4 cupcakes, exclaiming, "I love vegan baking!"

Of course Penelope was there. Thank you to the Winnipeg Humane Society for allowing Penelope to accompany the Help-Feed-Wilbur-Bake-Sale!

This was the first time the Quit-Stalling display was set up in the Faculty of Arts building. People gasped. We've been to campus many times, but not here. It was unbelievable to see the rubber-necking and reactions to the display.

The campus center, which is near the Faculty of Agriculture building, is usually the site of our advocacy. That is where you will find yourself in long conversations about the Benefits of Keeping Animals in Cages for Life, both from the students and their instructors.

Things were different at the Faculty of Arts. SO, if one Faculty wants to promulgate one thing, we will promulgate another.

Penelope, our papier mache pig, by the way, is small for a sow. No compression wounds from the bars that press upon the sows' skin their whole lives.

The end of the day, the last of the baking (and fruit, by an animal-rights student who can't bake!). The dregs, above, were rapidly dispatched by my husband and daughter upon my return home.

The bake sale raised money to help our friends at the farm feed Wilbur. It raised awareness of the lives of pigs in gestation warehouses and in transport. It welcomed people who were vegan and introduced the joys of vegan baking to others (dudes, just use maple syrup instead of eggs, we'd say!).

It also gathered information: such learning about the injecting of pig manure into the soil at night and with no oversight.... One guy supported us, saying he didn't want to be a vegetarian but that he was gathering info on the manure disposal around here and so was on our team.

There's a lot of information to be had out there, and a lot of people who want other animals to be o.k., and a world of hope for our porcine fellows.

2012-02-07T13:34:00.001-06:00

Ag-Gag law dropped in Florida; Justice for Animals group in Finland

2012-02-07T11:29:00.001-06:00

Florida's Legislature has decided to drop a provision which would have made it a crime to photograph or videotape agricultural facilities without the owner's consent.

The decision to kill the "ag gag" proposal represents a small victory for animal welfare activists, who are battling not only legislation of a similar nature in other states such as Iowa, Minnesota, and New York, but also increased pressure from the federal government. Documents issued by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in 2003 and obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by activist Shapiro show the FBI advising that activists who video tape at farms and/or rescue animals are in violation of terrorism statutes via the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

"Some of these investigations don't even break state laws," says Rachel Meerpol, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. "It's possible to gain undercover footage lawfully. The way the FBI is interpreting this law would allow for prosecution of completely lawful, valuable advocacy efforts as an act of terrorism. It's an issue of public safety as well as animal cruelty. It's such a waste of time and resources for the FBI to be spending money investigating folks involved in this work."

Internationally, legislative action against animal welfare activists has also become more widespread. In 2011, Justice for Animals made public the results of a two-year undercover investigation of 30 different farms in Finland. Though their footage revealed horrifying images and video footage of pigs with open sores crammed into confined dirty spaces, no action was taken against the farmers; instead, the investigators were charged with ten cases of disturbing the peace, and 12 cases of aggravated defamation (the charges were eventually dropped). During the same year, the European Union's criminal intelligence agency, EUROPOL, released their annual "2011 EU Terrorism and Situation Trend Report" (PDF). In it, the authors express concern that "some members of animal rights, anarchist and environmental extremist groups are moving towards a shared ideology." The report accuses animal welfare activists of "using disinformation methods to discredit their targets and weaken their public acceptance" through "images of sick and abused animals" which are "embedded in video footage and made public."

Undercover footage has been utilized dozens of times in the past to raise public awareness about ongoing animal abuse or unsanitary conditions (sometimes both), making it a vital tool for those seeking changes in the meat industry, and conversely, a prime target for destruction by those valuing the status quo. If legislators are able to label those who expose institutionalized animal cruelty as "terrorists," which social movements might be targeted next? Such a dangerous precedent must be stopped before it is allowed to potentially spiral out of control.

Reincarnation

2012-02-07T09:59:00.000-06:00

Oh, I hope there's reincarnation (note the word "carn" in there; to be returned to meat, to the body), so that I can back and keep fighting for animal rights. ... and so that everyone who endorses gestation crates comes back as a sow in a CAFO.

Agri 007: Poultry veil of secrecy

2012-02-06T14:35:00.000-06:00

Agri 007: Poultry veil of secrecy: Ontario's main poultry marketing boards have adopted a policy of secrecy for the most interesting portions of their annual meetings. The c...

Spent Hens, or Issues in Animal Agriculture

2012-02-06T12:14:00.001-06:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cetfa/6763782661/in/photostream

Stuffed and Starved

2012-02-05T19:25:00.001-06:00

http://rajpatel.org/2009/10/27/stuffed-and-starved/

Have to get this book. Will link up my ideas for Pig Book, Canadian animal agriculture, and this concept (that the world is stuffed and starved because of corporate agriculture), I'm sure....

Biosecurity, factory farms, the end of times....

2012-02-05T19:13:00.001-06:00

Let's discuss exactly why the government might respond in such a way? Because

a. Powerful industries, such as animal agriculture and fossil-fuel based oil, pay scientists to research for them

b. The scientists come up with data framed in the language of economic sustainability for those industries

c. The industries and the government share the same officials and pass them back and forth across each other

d. The scientists apply to the government for funding of projects that give the impression of giving a flying shit, when in reality they find the notion of markets for meat and oil exciting (because based on a sense of their own superior methods of production) and thus twist that excitement into "feeding the world" and "ethical oil"

and

e. They receive that funding

while

f. The rest of us, who stand apart from it all and who offer genuine solutions to the problems they make (but that they mask as ameliorating) are redefined as terrorists by those same governments who love stupid words like biosecurity.

Pigs on Cows and Human Creativity: The Vermont Seal, as painted by prison inmates on cop cars!

2012-02-04T16:33:00.004-06:00

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/03/prank-by-inmates-sneaks-a-pig-into-police-car-decals/

PROVOKED: Eating Our Future: The Cost of Meat Demand in Glob...

2012-02-04T09:43:00.000-06:00

PROVOKED: Eating Our Future: The Cost of Meat Demand in Glob...: I hesitate to call flesh consumption a "demand"... There's so many factors involving complex (and corrupt) economics , twisted trade deals, ...

Speciesism? Or anti-muslim reporting?

2012-02-03T16:18:00.000-06:00

http://www.stonegateinstitute.org/2796/muslims-ban-dogs-europe

One of my students forwarded me this article, disgusted at the speciesism and worried for people with guide dogs.
He was very interested in and dismayed by the idea of certain animals being "ritually unclean." I wanted to post this because I'm interested in religious ideas about other animals and where the roots of the sacred and profane lie or intersect in relation to dogs, pigs, vultures, etc.

But, I also think there's some serious hate-mongering going on in the article too: xenophobia or racism cascading over speciesism....

We live in one F.CKed Up world, that's a fact.

Flying Squirrel Friday

2012-02-03T12:24:00.001-06:00

Cattle Transport: Careless, criminal-affiliated Canada. Who are most of your truckers, we once asked an Ag representive. "Guys from juvie," she answered. Got nothing against them, but the paper trail is a path of criminal records and Canada is a third-world meat industry/nation state.

2012-02-03T11:38:00.000-06:00

CN train strikes loaded cattle truck in SW Manitoba

Posted Feb. 1st, 2012

Thick fog is blamed for the deaths of an unknown number of cattle when the semi-trailer carrying them was hit by a freight train Tuesday night in southwestern Manitoba.

According to RCMP at Carberry, Man., a semi-trailer carrying 82 cattle was southbound on Highway 5 north of the town around 11 p.m. when the trailer was hit by a westbound Canadian National Railway (CN) train at a controlled crossing.

Of the 82 animals, 11 are confirmed to have survived the crash, while others were killed or had to be destroyed due to their injuries and "some remain at large," RCMP said.

The driver and lone occupant of the truck was taken to hospital in Winnipeg with non-life-threatening injuries and was still in hospital Wednesday, according to Manitoba RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Line Karpish.

RCMP and local volunteers were still trying to account for any missing cattle, she said Wednesday.

Two flatdeck carts were derailed from the train and struck a storage shed at Viterra’s facility nearby, RCMP said.

No environmental damage resulted from the derailment or crash, RCMP said, other than a small amount of diesel from the truck which has since been cleaned up.

Crews were still on the scene to handle repairs, while RCMP and CN Police are still investigating the crash, the Mounties said.

Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine and Industrialized Agriculture

2012-02-01T14:34:00.003-06:00

What I want to do is apply this idea of disaster and trauma to what we're doing--what we (our societies) are letting be done-- to farm animals. That is, the rhetoric of Starvation that animal agriculture uses to justify intensive confinement: that People are Starving and We are Not, so we have faith in our system, which (false compassion, sniff, sniff) isn't perfect --the animals only get 4 out of 5 "freedoms"--but which we must support so that we Don't Starve. The other disasters (of their own making): diseases among farm animals that "necessitate" biosecurity --which is also warped into "agro-terrorism" and thus justifies "biosecurity." All fear- and crisis- disaster-related capitalist enterprises. I recently read a CAFO-owner's blog and she talks about how happy she is to have food (looking at her pork) because her grandfather almost starved in the Great Depression. She also photographs the CAFO in the minus-30 weather, noting that the "animals are happy to be indoors in this weather." The Great Depression, free-market capitalism--all are traumas, the symptoms of which are evident on the confined-animals' bodies. Unliveable lives: both the animals' and the migrant workers' --and the real crisis: Environmental Degradation. Eutrophic lakes. Obesity. But, nice try....

From her Website:

"The Shock Doctrine

In THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, Naomi Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Exposing the thinking, the money trail and the puppet strings behind the world-changing crises and wars of the last four decades, The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America’s “free market” policies have come to dominate the world-- through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.

At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq’s civil war, a new law is unveiled that would allow Shell and BP to claim the country’s vast oil reserves…. Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly out-sources the running of the “War on Terror” to Halliburton and Blackwater…. After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts.... New Orleans’s residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be reopened…. These events are examples of “the shock doctrine”: using the public’s disorientation following massive collective shocks – wars, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters -- to achieve control by imposing economic shock therapy. Sometimes, when the first two shocks don’t succeed in wiping out resistance, a third shock is employed: the electrode in the prison cell or the Taser gun on the streets.

Based on breakthrough historical research and four years of on-the-ground reporting in disaster zones, The Shock Doctrine vividly shows how disaster capitalism – the rapid-fire corporate reengineering of societies still reeling from shock – did not begin with September 11, 2001. The book traces its origins back fifty years, to the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman, which produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today. New, surprising connections are drawn between economic policy, “shock and awe” warfare and covert CIA-funded experiments in electroshock and sensory deprivation in the 1950s, research that helped write the torture manuals used today in Guantanamo Bay.

The Shock Doctrine follows the application of these ideas through our contemporary history, showing in riveting detail how well-known events of the recent past have been deliberate, active theatres for the shock doctrine, among them: Pinochet’s coup in Chile in 1973, the Falklands War in 1982, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Asian Financial crisis in 1997 and Hurricane Mitch in 1998."

The Daily Coyote. I don't know if I've blogged about this site, but it's pretty amazing--about a rescued coyote named Charlie and how wonderful he is (and so difficult too)

2012-02-01T12:12:00.000-06:00

http://www.dailycoyote.net/?page_id=282

HSUS, undercover investigators, and Walmart's Pork Supplier exposed for the filthy, abusive conditions at its factory farms

2012-02-01T09:00:00.002-06:00

http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2012/01/pig_gestation_investigation_013112.html

The industry itself should be filming and monitoring its own operations. But, because it's criminal and has so much to hide, it most certainly does not. The biggest tragedy, apart from the lives the animals themselves? The fact that generations of university students are taught to endorse this system and to fight us as irrational in our opposition.

2012-01-30T11:58:00.001-06:00

More Rob McInnis photographs. Revel!

2012-01-30T09:34:00.002-06:00

This one is called Opening Night

veganelder: Sometimes I presume that "everybody" has....

2012-01-29T17:20:00.000-06:00

veganelder: Sometimes I presume that "everybody" has....: read or seen or heard or thought something way too often. I apologize. Several years ago I ran across this video/song by Madison Park called...

Farm Families by Rob Macinnis

2012-01-27T16:53:00.000-06:00

http://www.katharinemulherin.com/dynamic/exhibit_artist.asp?ExhibitID=93

Go to this site!!! Look at his portraits of farm animals. Oh, yes, I know: they don't represent the real world of farmed animals, but these creatures are so lovingly photographed, so filled with singularity and life.

The above is Lamb 2. The photo goes for over 1,000$ Oh, but I'd love it. And the one of the pig. And the family group shot of all the animals.

Agri 007: Manure spill draws $345,000 fine

2012-01-27T16:21:00.000-06:00

Agri 007: Manure spill draws $345,000 fine: Van Boekel Hogs Farms Inc. of Woodstock, Van Boekel Holdings Inc. and Eric Van Boekel have been fined a total of $345,000 for a manure spi...

Piglets learning to sit. So fun.

2012-01-27T13:20:00.002-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QGtB6kL_tZE

Little Red Riding Hood

2012-01-27T10:06:00.000-06:00

Swiped from http://www.cuteoverload.com/ There's also a wonderful video there now, of a group of cows sniffing a boxer puppy. Beautiful, curious, respectful creatures....

2012-01-27T09:42:00.002-06:00

Get Cracking Cruelty --Canada's Egg Industry exposed for the despicable thing it is

2012-01-26T21:20:00.002-06:00

http://www.getcrackingcruelty.ca/

Battery Cage Operation Investigated in Canada: Hens in Horrific Condition.

2012-01-26T21:18:00.003-06:00

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/756297/75b5c3634f/1470571775/c83b444685/

These poor animals. Always the female animals: they have it the worst. The lactating, gestating, egg-laying, birthing females. Hateful world toward them.

So, the next time we put our battery-hen display with our caged-sow display, I don't want to hear ANYONE from the Faculty of Agriculture tell me we don't have the facts and that battery cages are fine. Or that pigs are free in their trapped and caged lives.

This investigation took place over the past few months. It's recent and it's Canadian. And it involves over 20,000 hens.

Agri 007: Hog board secrets

2012-01-26T20:13:00.000-06:00

Agri 007: Hog board secrets: Now that it has lost its sole marketing authority, the directors and staff of Ontario Pork are becoming quite secretive. For example, farm...

God's Grandeur. Substitute Hopkins' big ole man god with something like Creator or Mother Earth..... and the beauty is yours to hold.

2012-01-25T21:41:00.000-06:00

God's Grandeur

BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Stop Eating Pork

2012-01-25T21:32:00.000-06:00

Genesus also on my campus. Below is a photo they proudly feature on their website, of their "Terminator Boar." Note the trapped sows, lined up in rows.

2012-01-25T21:14:00.000-06:00

http://www.genesus.com/genetic-improvement-2/genesus-terminal-boars

Veganelder asks me how I feel as I ride the bus past Genesus and Monsanto on the way to the Faculty of Arts....
Like hell. I feel like hell. Like blood is all over my hands. Don't look out the window, one of my friends tells me. Just don't look.

I teach my students beautiful literature and ideas and concepts; I try to tell them that the world is worth fighting for and thinking about; I look out at lovely, young faces and read "God's Grandeur" to them (not that I believe in Hopkins' god but in the solace he takes in the dawn). And what is going on around us?

This horrific shit.

(This Horrific Shit --it will be the title of the next poem I write....)

I taught Toni Morrison's A Mercy in my graduate class this year. In this novel, a freed black man makes the wrought-iron gate for a slave owner's plantation. The black man is an artisan; he designs flowers and snakes for the gate. He loves his work. He needs money for his own child, too. He's also taking money from someone connected to the most brutal sugar and rum plantations in the Caribbean; his money comes from the exploitation of other people--other black people-- who are literally worked to death.

He shouldn't take the job, one of my student says to me. What is Morrison saying?
I answer: what about me? Look what I'm connected to working here, alongside Monsanto and Genesus.

God.

Old posters: food and messages and politics....

2012-01-25T21:01:00.003-06:00

We're going to need these posters --we do need these posters -- with words that say, "Eat More Vegetables. Save the Planet." The government needs to throw itself behind the message and stop being run by meat production.

On Human-Nonhuman Relations: Bullies, Ads, and Being Vegan.

2012-01-24T11:27:00.000-06:00

On Human-Nonhuman Relations: Bullies, Ads, and Being Vegan.: I tend to say – and this is common of many long-time vegans such as ARZone podcast or “chat” guests Ronnie Lee, Kim Stallwood, Lynne Yates,...

Monsanto website shut down. I have to see their building on my campus every day.

2012-01-24T08:43:00.001-06:00

http://www.care2.com/causes/anonymous-activists-shut-down-monsanto-website-video.html

Biosecurity would be best addressed by outlawing factory farms

2012-01-23T16:26:00.000-06:00

Biosecurity experts looking to suppress information from flu experiments are focusing on the wrong conclusion

By Wendy Orent, Los Angeles Times January 20, 2012

Illustration of boy fighting of the H1Ni swine flu "bug."Photograph by: Ware, MCTIf you were paying attention to the flap over two recent flu experiments involving ferrets, you may have come away with the impression that scientists all but waved a red flag in front of terrorists and said, “Here’s a perfect biological weapon — help yourselves.”

But there’s really not much cause for alarm.

Here’s the background. In December, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity asked the premier science journals Science and Nature to redact key information from two papers scheduled for publication, one by University of Wisconsin virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka and the other by a team at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, led by Ron Fouchier.

Both groups used strains of highly virulent H5N1 avian flu that had been engineered to make them communicable to ferrets, though not in a way that ferrets could easily pass the virus among one another. Researchers used nasal swabs to infect a ferret, and once it was infected, they took a nasal swab from it and infected the next ferret. By the end of a chain of 10 or so ferrets, the virus had mutated to become transmissible through respiratory droplets alone, meaning it could be far more easily passed from one animal to another, even when they were in separate cages.

Now, the biosecurity board has asked the journals not to publish the exact nature of the mutations, so that terrorists couldn’t use the “recipe” to produce a deadly, transmissible human flu that could, in the words of a New York Times editorial, “kill tens or hundreds of millions of people if it escaped confinement or was stolen by terrorists.”

The fallacy in all this is that it’s not the exact “recipe” — the molecular changes — needed to turn a non-transmissible mammalian virus into a transmissible one that’s so important here. It’s the method by which the mutations were accomplished. And that method — passing the virus from ferret nose to nose — has been known for quite a while. Daniel Perez at the University of Maryland, for example, published a paper in 2009 describing the same technique using a low-pathogenic virus.

It might be hard to perform the initial molecular tweaks that made the flu something to which ferrets were susceptible, but the crucial step of causing the virus to evolve so that it was more easily transmitted was simple. These scientists created a disease factory for ferrets — essentially what farmers in Asia do by cramming five million chickens together.

“It’s not rocket science,” says Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, an influenza researcher from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

The justification for creating a ferret disease factory was to study how such mutations could evolve in nature and trigger a pandemic. The experiments, said Perez, help scientists to know what to look for.

But the idea that these laboratory-created mutations could now pop up together in some Asian chicken and launch a lethal pandemic is implausible. That’s not how evolution works. Evolutionary biologist Paul Ewald of the University of Louisville predicted in 1993 that packing chickens in factory farms would allow the evolution of lethal chicken viruses. And that’s exactly what happened: Chicken viruses evolved that killed chickens. Even H5N1, which eventually evolved so it could transmit to humans, remained a far better chicken virus than a human one. Though it certainly infected — and killed — many humans around the globe, it never developed into an effective human virus, which is why it has never caused the kind of global pandemic initially feared.

None of this is to say, however, that the ferret experiments weren’t important. What they showed is how quickly natural selection can transform a virus.

“You put selection pressure on the system for increased transmissibility, and you quickly get the outcome that you expect to get,” says Ewald. Influenza has a high mutation rate, and natural selection then picks the most transmissible of the viral strains that mutations generate, pushing the virus toward ever-greater transmissibility. This is what makes the ferret experiments with highly virulent H5N1 so alarming to contemplate.

But to become a world-destroying pandemic, a virus would need a so-called human disease factory in which to refine its mutations.

Virologist Vincent Racaniello of Columbia University considers the entire ferret flu frenzy a massive overreaction. As he points out: “Ferrets are a good model for influenza, but they are a model — they don’t duplicate every aspect of influenza as it occurs in humans.”

The 1918 flu, which killed 50 million people worldwide, was formed in the massive disease factory of the western front of the First World War. Why was it a disease factory? Because soldiers were crowded into close quarters that were the perfect environment for the flu to mutate into something highly virulent. When a soldier got deathly ill, there was no place to move him, and he remained packed tightly in among the other soldiers.

The 1918 flu virus eventually lost its virulence as the conditions that gave rise to it abated. When a virus depends on a mobile host to transmit it, as normal human flu viruses do, there’s a limit to its virulence. Once humans aren’t crowded so tightly together, it’s the milder strains of viruses that natural selection favours, because transmission is more easily accomplished if the infected person feels well enough to be out in public sneezing and coughing instead of taking straight to a sickbed where few other people are likely to be infected.

Ewald also argues that an accidental or deliberate release of H5N1 ferret flu could not have anything like the same impact as the 1918 pandemic. That flu was carried all over the world by perhaps a million people who had just left “virus factories” and were now harbouring a virulent, transmissible virus. That wouldn’t be the case now. “It might be a nasty event, but it would be small,” says Ewald.

The ferret experiments were important but hardly a revelation. And they certainly didn’t create world-threatening virus strains. Evolution — with help from disease factories — had already demonstrated how to create transmissible and lethal diseases. Rather than trying to suppress scientific information, government biosecurity experts might do better to focus their efforts on putting an end to factory farming.

Los Angeles Times

Wendy Orent is the author of Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World’s Most Dangerous Disease.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/When+fear+goes+viral/6029543/story.html#ixzz1kK571akA

Pig --a new Reaktion book

2012-01-23T11:43:00.002-06:00

http://www.amazon.com/Pig-Reaktion-Books-Brett-Mizelle/dp/1861898053/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316579573&sr=1-1

2012-01-23T09:05:00.002-06:00

From the Agri007 blog on cracked eggs and harmful bacteria.

2012-01-21T11:22:00.002-06:00

We have a whistleblower's account, detailed in documents filed in court, claiming that about five per cent of the Grade A eggs sold by one of the largest egg-grading companies in Canada are cracked.

Those cracked eggs go through manure-polluted wash water, so there is a very real possibility that thousands of cracked eggs are carrying harmful bacteria right through the system into kitchens, including the kitchens of hospitals, nursing homes and day-care centres where some of the most vulnerable Canadians have their meals prepared.

I have yet to see so much as a single statement - even a single sentence - from the federal government about its response to the court documents and the food risks involved.

Just pulling one powerful section from Bitman's article (copied in the blog post earlier) for closer reading:

2012-01-21T11:13:00.002-06:00

What meat production, so-called university experts, lobbied FDA b.s. have all resulted in:

a history of subsidies for the corn and soy that’s fed to livestock
a nearly free pass on environmental degradation and animal abuse
an unwillingness to meaningfully limit the use of antibiotics in animal feed
a failure to curb the stifling power that corporate meatpackers wield over smaller ranchers
and what amounts to a refusal — despite the advice of real, disinterested experts, true scientists in fact — to unequivocally tell American consumers that they should be eating less meat

Eating Less Meat, despite Faculties of Agriculture telling us we should be eating more of it.

2012-01-21T11:10:00.001-06:00

We’re Eating Less Meat. Why?

By MARK BITTMAN

Mark Bittman on food and all things related.

TAGS:

MEAT CONSUMPTION, THE AMERICAN DIET

Americans eat more meat than any other population in the world; about one-sixth of the total, though we’re less than one-twentieth of the population.

But that’s changing.

Until recently, almost everyone considered their dinner plate naked without a big old hunk of meat on it. (You remember “Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner,” of course. How could you forget?) And we could afford it: our production methods and the denial of their true costs have kept meat cheap beyond all credibility. (American hamburger is arguably the cheapest convenience food there is.) This, in part, is why we spend a smaller percentage of our money on food than any other country, and much of that goes toward the roughly half-pound of meat each of us eats, on average, every day.

But that’s changing, and considering the fairly steady climb in meat consumption over the last half-century, you might say the numbers are plummeting. The department of agriculture projects that our meat and poultry consumption will fall again this year, to about 12.2 percent less in 2012 than it was in 2007. Beef consumption has been in decline for about 20 years; the drop in chicken is even more dramatic, over the last five years or so; pork also has been steadily slipping for about five years.

The report treats consumers as victims of government bias against the meat industry. We’re eating less meat because we want to eat less meat.

Holy cow. What’s up?

It’s easy enough to round up the usual suspects, which is what a story in the Daily Livestock Report did last month. It blames the decline on growing exports, which make less meat available for Americans to buy. It blames it on ethanol, which has caused feed costs to rise, production to drop and prices to go up so producers can cover their increasing costs. It blames drought. It doesn’t blame recession, which is surprising, because that’s a factor also.

All of which makes some sense. The report then goes on to blame the federal government for “wag[ing] war on meat protein consumption” over the last 30-40 years.

Is this like the war on drugs? The war in Afghanistan? The war against cancer? Because what I see here is:

a history of subsidies for the corn and soy that’s fed to livestock
a nearly free pass on environmental degradation and animal abuse
an unwillingness to meaningfully limit the use of antibiotics in animal feed
a failure to curb the stifling power that corporate meatpackers wield over smaller ranchers
and what amounts to a refusal — despite the advice of real, disinterested experts, true scientists in fact — to unequivocally tell American consumers that they should be eating less meat

Or is the occasional environmental protection regulation and whisper that unlimited meat at every meal might not be ideal the equivalent of war? Is the U.S.D.A. buying $40 million worth of chicken productsto reduce the surplus and raise retail prices the equivalent of war?

No. It’s not the non-existent federal War on Meat that’s making a difference. And even if availability is down, it’s not as if we’re going to the supermarket and finding empty meat cases and deli counters filled with coleslaw. The flaw in the report is that it treats American consumers as passive actors who are victims of diminishing supplies, rising costs and government bias against the meat industry. Nowheredoes it mention that we’re eating less meat because we want to eat less meat.

Yet conscious decisions are being made by consumers. Even buying less meat because prices are high and times are tough is a choice; other “sacrifices” could be made. We could cut back on junk food, or shirts or iPhones, which have a very high meat-equivalent, to coin a term. Yet even though excess supply kept chicken prices lower than the year before, demand dropped.

Some are choosing to eat less meat for all the right reasons. The Values Institute at DGWB Advertising and Communications just named the rise of “flexitarianism” — an eating style that reduces the amount of meat without “going vegetarian” — as one of its top five consumer health trends for 2012. In an Allrecipes.com survey of 1,400 members, more than one-third of home cooks said they ate less meat in 2011 than in 2010. Back in June, a survey found that 50 percent of American adults said they were aware of the Meatless Monday campaign, with 27 percent of those aware reporting that they were actively reducing their meat consumption.

I can add, anecdotally, that when I ask audiences I speak to, “How many of you are eating less meat than you were 10 years ago?” at least two-thirds raise their hands. A self-selecting group to be sure, but nevertheless one that exists.

In fact, let’s ask this: is anyone in this country eating more meat than they used to?

We still eat way more meat than is good for us or the environment, not to mention the animals. But a 12 percent reduction in just five years is significant, and if that decline were to continue for the next five years — well, that’s something few would have imagined five years ago. It’s something only the industry could get upset about. The rest of us should celebrate. Rice and beans, anyone?

Please visit my blog and join me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

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770 Comments

Switching to "Enriched" Cages. There should be NO cages. Corrupt producers are just going to cram the "enriched" cages.

2012-01-19T18:50:00.000-06:00

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/01/european-union-bans-battery-cages-for-egg-laying-hens/

I know that if I come back to this god-forsaken planet as a chicken in an "enriched" cage, then I will be serving hard and cruel time for some evil in a past life.

Watch out for the word Agro-Terrorism. They say it as if it's an archetype, an assault on their "way of life" and "welfare" practices. Watch out for their neologisms. They are always spinning fear, for a frightened populace is a compliant one. If "farmers" tell the people that "agro-terrorism" threatens them, then they can continue to keep animals in confined warehouses.

2012-01-19T12:21:00.001-06:00

Posted: Thursday, January 19, 2012 9:54 am

Groups compare recent activist activity to agro-terrorism attacks

BY JEFFREY HOFFELT, LIVESTOCK EDITOR Agri-View

Words turned into action Jan. 8 as an estimated 14 trucks and cattle-transporting trailers were intentionally set on fire at the largest feed yard in California. An animal rights extremist group quickly took credit for the arson attack in the San Joaquin Valley.

Though the cause of the fire was still under investigation at the time of publication, an anonymous statement released by spokeswoman Nicoal Sheen of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) Press Office said the attack was aimed at "the horrors of factory farming." Sheen later said that the office distributes releases from people involved in illegal actions but that the office was not directly involved in the attack.

The release indicated that "containers of accelerant were placed beneath a row of 14 trucks (by unnamed animal activists) with four digital timers used to light four of the containers and kerosene-soaked rope carrying the fire to the other 10."

The group reported they "were extremely pleased" to see that all 14 trucks "were a total loss" with some being "completely melted to the ground." The message ended with a call for others to commit additional acts of violence against agriculture producers.

John Harris, CEO of Harris Ranch, used the opportunity to tell the people how the operation cares for their livestock in a national spotlight. His statement also mentioned those behind the crime.

"We must live in a society that is safe for all and no one can tolerate violence such as this," he said. "ALF and similar terrorist groups pose a real threat and I am confident that the many law enforcement agencies working on this case will bring them to justice soon."

Though ALF indicated that they were only the go-between in the case, the Animal Agriculture Alliance replied with a release saying that "it is unacceptable for any group to praise this direct assault on American agriculture."

The Alliance warned producers that ALF, which is listed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a domestic terrorist organization, has been responsible for other targets of violence in the livestock industry.

"For example, scientists using animals for life-saving medical research at UCLA have frequently been threatened with bomb scares and intimidation," the group stated. "In the U.S. and abroad, ALF and other extremist groups have issued death threats, committed vandalism and hacked websites, all in the name of their distorted ideology. There is no place for such violent acts of intimidation."

The Animal Liberation Front, whose website is dark in color and illustrated with black-masked activists rescuing animals, says that they are working to protect animals from the "real terrorists," pointing at livestock producers and animal testing facilities as the problem. Such propaganda has helped the organization to secure a loyal following.

"ALF is not a group per se," says one piece of promotional material handed out by the group. "There are no membership lists and no leaders. Because their activity is illegal, ALF activists keep their involvement secret - from the public, their families, their friends, everyone - in order to remain free and continue carrying out actions."

The same flier discredits the terrorist theory, saying that "since its first action in 1976, not one human or animal has ever been harmed by the ALF" and that "many businesses that inflict immense suffering on non-human animals have closed due to ALF actions."

The Animal Agriculture Alliance reads this as a goal to eliminate animal agriculture entirely. The objective, said the Alliance, is shared by multiple activist groups. To send a message to the collective group, the Alliance is working to bring justice to the perpetrators of the Jan. 8 incident.

"It is imperative that activists be held accountable for their attempts to undermine farmers, ranchers and meat processors," the Alliance wrote.

Bill Donald, current National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) president, shared a similar viewpoint after discovering news of the attack, saying that the arson is "an example of extremists showing a disregard for property and lives."

"This is not only an attack on a family-owned and operated business; this is a domestic terrorist attack on our nation's providers of food and fiber," Donald said. "This extremist behavior goes above mere activism and the freedom of speech: these criminals are threatening lives and causing substantial economic harm."

Though no people or animals were reported injured during the attack, Donald said those responsible do not have the livestock's best interest in mind.

"Anyone concerned about the welfare of animals would not orchestrate attacks on individuals who are experts at caring for these creatures," said Donald. "Cattlemen and women implement the highest animal handling and food safety standards designed by veterinarians, animal behavioral experts and researchers."

The Alliance encouraged producers to remain vigilant for possible activist activity.

"This incident shines light on the need for the agricultural community to be able to protect itself from these senseless bullying tactics by those who seek to destroy the industry by any means," the group said.

ADVICE FROM THE OHIO LIVESTOCK COALITION

The Ohio Livestock Coalition released advice for Midwest livestock producers following the release of undercover dairy abuse footage released in 2010. Though the situation differed in scope and action, the group indicates the advice from Hinda Mitchell, crisis communication specialist for CMA in Iowa, is still applicable today.

"Before an undercover activist strikes: be smart and do the right thing," Mitchell said. "The best public relations are to be responsible and to not let it happen in the first place."

If unsatisfactory actions are filmed or viewed by the public, the messages sent often paint a picture of the entire industry.

"It perpetuates the challenge we face each day - ensuring our consumer believes in how we farm, in how we produce food, and that we are firmly committed to responsible care of our animals," Mitchell continued. "It doesn't matter who put the video out, what matters is the visual image our consumers are left with at the end of the video tape. The best we can hope for is to manage and mitigate the worst of it and work hard to maintain consumer trust in today's farming practices."

Mitchell's advice revolves around making sure that animal activists do not have ammunition against the operation by managing livestock properly. Her recommendations are as follows:

1. Do the right thing. Make sure your farm is exceeding all expectations for animal care, cleanliness and environmental responsibility. Let's not be our own worst enemy.

2. Watch your back and your neighbor's back. Pay attention to strange vehicles, and try and get license numbers off any suspicious vehicles. Engage local law enforcement if needed.

3. Hire the right people. Do background checks, reference checks and ask for actual Social Security cards and other hiring documentation. Seek counsel from an employment lawyer if needed. Put new hires on probation and watch them closely. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. And if a potential hire is suspicious, share that information with other farmers.

4. Empower your farm workers. Let them know of their importance as a team member in protecting your farm. Ask your workers how new people are performing. And let them know you expect them to immediately report any strange behaviors or if they suspect any undercover activity.

5. Set codes of conduct for animal care. If you don't have them, establish animal care standards and train your employees on those standards. Require ANY farm worker that handles animals to sign a written Code of Conduct. This is important both for animal care protocol and to verify all employees understand their shared obligation.

6. Stay active and in touch with your industry leadership. There is so much happening in livestock and poultry farming right now, you can't afford to NOT be engaged. Likewise, share any information you gather in your local community about any of these activities.

7. Maintain strict security procedures on your farms. Now more than ever, keep your doors locked and be mindful of what's happening inside and outside your operations. Don't let your absence or a false sense of security be your downfall.

8. Alert your local law enforcement. Let them know there have been a number of issues on farms across the country, and ask them to do a few extra "drive-bys" at your farm. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

.

Agri 007: Get cracking

2012-01-19T11:35:00.000-06:00

Agri 007: Get cracking: Given the allegation in court documents that L.H. Gray and Sons Ltd. routinely added cracked eggs to its Grade A cartons, it's ironic that...

Mercy For Animals Infiltrators: Heroic. If the "animal welfare" agencies overseeing these operations are corrupt and self-regulating, then infiltration is the only thing farm animals have in these disgraceful warehouse-factories.

2012-01-18T14:52:00.001-06:00

http://www.wbobradio.com/2012/01/11/da-butterball-tipped-off-about-turkey-farm-raid-2/

So, there must be a dip in turkey profits... Another big turkey barn fire. There should be jail time for these repeated "accidents." Negligence warrants jail time. Failure to protect animals from horrific death by fire, whether or not "accidental." Then, they'd have security guards on the premises or let the animals outside, wouldn't they?

2012-01-18T11:53:00.003-06:00

38,000 turkeys burn alive in Minnesota barn fire

www.marshallindependent.com

Antibiotics in pig and chicken feed: a new study about its dangers.

2012-01-18T09:25:00.002-06:00

Study provides new insights into antibiotics and pig feeds

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Antibiotics in pig feed increased the number of antibiotic resistant genes in gastrointestinal microbes in pigs, according to a study conducted by Michigan State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.

Published in the current edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the comprehensive study focused on understanding the effects of conventional, in-feed antibiotics in U.S. farms.

For decades, many producers of pigs, chickens and other farm animals have used antibiotics not only to protect their livestock from disease, but also to boost growth rates and enhance feed efficiency, a measure of how well animals convert feed into weight gains. [Not just to prevent disease, but because the animals have no sunlight, no ability to move, that antibiotics are necessary to ward off death long enough to turn the animals into meat.]

Scientists don't know precisely how antibiotics enhance growth rates and feed efficiency, but they are concerned that on-farm use of these medications may contribute to the development of strains of microbes resistant to conventional antibiotics, which are potentially harmful to humans and animals, said James Tiedje, MSU University Distinguished Professor of microbiology and molecular genetics and of crop and soil sciences.

"The growth of antibiotic resistance in pathogens is a huge challenge for society around the world," said Tiedje, an MSU AgBioResearch scientist. "Studies to understand what contributes to the spread and what interventions can help control the problem are vital."

Additional findings include:

Both diversity and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes increased in the intestinal microbial communities of the pigs treated with antibiotics. Longer term studies are needed. Some of the genes found in the treated pigs were unexpected and usually linked to antibiotics not used in the study. Microbial genes associated with production and use of energy by microbes increased in abundance in the antibiotic-fed pigs, which may shed light on how antibiotics increase livestock growth and feed efficiency. E. coli populations increased in the intestines of the treated pigs. Further study is needed to clarify this observation.

"To our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to look at the collateral impacts of in-feed antibiotic use in farm animals, using a comprehensive approach to detect shifts in the function and the makeup or membership of the microbial community in the model animal's gastrointestinal tract," said Torey Looft, USDA researcher.

###

Additional MSU researchers included Tim Johnson, doctoral student; Robert Stedtfeld, civil and environmental engineering research associate; Woo Jun Sul, doctoral student; Tiffany Stedtfeld, civil and environmental engineering technical aide; Benli Chai, information technologist, Center for Microbial Ecology; James Cole, assistant professor at the Center for Microbial Ecology; and Syed Hashsham, civil and environmental engineering professor.

Funding was provided by MSU's Environmental Science and Policy Program initiative on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, ARS and the National Institutes of Health and through the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics program on Reservoirs of Antibiotic Resistance.

Michigan State University has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

National Farmers Union to petition government to end the use of sow stalls (or pig traps, as Lisa Kemmerer brilliantly calls them)

2012-01-18T09:21:00.001-06:00

http://www.betterfarming.com/online-news/ban-sow-stalls-says-nfu-4939

It would have been nice to see more universities on board with this, more chief vets, etc. But still, a small victory.

Toronto Protest Pig Slaughter

2012-01-17T11:18:00.001-06:00

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/01/15/activists-protest-pig-slaughter

The back/forth on the comments is very interesting. It shows the contempt that the producers have toward their animals here: "they're stupid; the transport is fine; they're violent."

And the activists write back: "they're smart when raised properly; the transport is substandard and unregulated; they are frightened."

Of course, the morons pipe in, too, with their "mmm bacon"--which is so predictable and stupid, that it makes you realize why we have a PM like Harper and a planet going down the tubes.

So, here's the picture: people with contempt for pigs "raise" them in gestation crates and barren pens; morons give them the thumbs-up so they can eat bacon; and the trucks roar into the publically funded slaughterhouses.

Manitoba Pork at the Winnipeg Wellness Expo. Their PR machinery is hard at work.

2012-01-16T12:24:00.001-06:00

From their Twitter Account:
"MBPork Manitoba Pork

Did you see us at the #Winnipeg Wellness Expo this weekend? http://yfrog.com/ki56yohj"

The above is a Wellness Wheel. In order to be considered healthy and grounded in wellness, we must heed all the spokes on this wheel.
Now, let's see which ones we allow pigs in intensive confinement: none of the above. Oh, I know, they don't think about financial wellness, etc, and maybe they don't worship, but what we have in common with them lies in the other 5 spokes. We have more in common with other animals than we acknowledge. We are also being offered food from unwell animals; animals held in barren pens or crates, fed substances illegal in other countries. Let's look at the wellness wheel for pigs in a state outside of a cage: they would care for their environment, by crapping away from where they sleep and eat; they would work out social organization; they would run and play; they would seek and think; they would sing and snort when emotionally well....

So, wellness and manitoba pork? how do they go together?

More bizarre language that we are "against agriculture." We ask for the end of intensive confinement and we're "against agriculture." And then they set up these happy exhibits which are filled with half-truths and clean operations. Please.

2012-01-15T11:17:00.001-06:00

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/news/ci_19735874

La Bamba! A Mexican restaurant in Winnipeg with a whole page of vegan options! Almost fell of my chair.

2012-01-14T14:18:00.002-06:00

For any Winnipeggers happening to be reading this blog ;) La Bamba's address is 22-222 Osborne St. You have to go down the little alley that takes you behind the building facing Osborne, and then down some stairs and around a corner.

It's like a secret cave, and it's filled with people. Probably should make a reservation.

Partner and kid met me there last night, after I took the 60 to Confusion Corner. Delish!! A whole page has a vegetarian and vegan-options menu. Also: vegan ice cream for dessert.

So fun. Giant Glasses of Wine to be had, too.

Lisa Kemmerer's new book, the one I have an essay in! Just thought I'd put the word out there again.

2012-01-14T14:12:00.000-06:00

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2011

Speaking Up for Animals highlights eighteen courageous members of a vibrant and growing international animal advocacy movement that is overwhelmingly powered by women. These remarkable activists take us with them as they lift factory farmed chickens and cows from quagmires of unconscionable filth, free gigantic sea lions caught in the death-grip of fishing gear, and secure undercover footage of dogs crying for mercy on stainless steel vivisection tables. In the process, these dedicated women expose the many ways that most of us are complicit in the suffering and exploitation of nonhuman animals, and creatively suggest a variety of ways that we might help bring change.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Hearing a group of people talk about their lives and life's work sparks ideas that can rejuvenate, inspire, and make you think, wonderingly, of course! Here is that group and what inspiring souls they are! A beautiful collection. --Ingrid E. Newkirk, President and Co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Women have always been at the forefront of animal protection work, often comprising a significant majority of the movement. Whether it's rescuing and sheltering individual animals or campaigning for broader social change on their behalf (or both), women have been and continue to be disproportionately represented. This anthology allows readers to hear from some of the women pioneering advances for animals today, and gives unique insights into some of the connections between and among a variety of social justice struggles. ----Paul Shapiro, Senior Director of the Humane Society of the United States' factory farming campaign

In these pages, we find diverse experiences united in one anthology; diverse activisms represented together; women's activism for animals, all together now. And the incredible thing is that after all they have seen, they still believe in you, the reader. When it comes to nonhumans, there are no bystanders. When it comes to the fate of nonhumans, it truly is in your hands. --Carol J. Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat, from the Foreword

About the Author

Lisa Kemmerer, PhD, is a philosopher-activist, artist, and lover of wild places, who has hiked, biked, kayaked, backpacked, and travelled widely. She is the author of In Search of Consistency: Ethics and Animals (Brill 2006) and Religion and Animals: Rightful Relations (Oxford 2011), and has edited several other anthologies, including Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice (U. of Illinois Press, 2011). Kemmerer is currently associate professor of philosophy and religions at Montana State University Billings.

veganelder: Playing in the snow...

2012-01-14T12:16:00.000-06:00

veganelder: Playing in the snow...: is an activity that various animals enjoy...including crows. Here's a crow in Russia snowboarding by using what is apparently the lid of a j...

Paula Deen, Smithfield Pork Endorser, diagnosed with Type-Two Diabetes

2012-01-14T11:53:00.000-06:00

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2012/01/13/paula-deen-has-diabetes-report.html

Dead pigs, diabetes, obesity epidemic = Western civilization's relationship to food and to other animals. I'm sorry you're sick, Paula, but have you ever toured a Smithfield operation? Don't you think that your sickness is tied in with some larger failure to acknowledge the sources of all your recipes?

Mercy for Chickens

2012-01-13T16:45:00.001-06:00

A Canadian group! http://mercyforchickens.com/

They have a facebook page too. Like them, like them!

Portrait of Prime Minister Harper

2012-01-13T12:09:00.001-06:00

That about sums it up.

Agri 007: Russian farm sacrifices 30,736 pigs

2012-01-13T12:05:00.000-06:00

Agri 007: Russian farm sacrifices 30,736 pigs: An outbreak of African Swine Fever has prompted the slaughter of all 30,736 pigs at a farm in Southern Russia. A typical new ho...

2012-01-13T12:04:00.000-06:00

My kid has just started to read! She picked up a book last night and made her way through it. And the only word she didn't stumble over? Kittens. She'd hit the word "kittens" and just read it smoothly.

The book was called Biscuit and the Kittens. Biscuit is a dog who finds a group of little, hidden cats. The end. So adorable.

Of course, and sorry for the negative spin here, but my mind turned to the betrayal of children in the system of animal cruelty our world endorses. People say, "Why do you care about animals when humans have it rough?" Because the evils are linked; because I don't want to tell my kid that it is possible for Biscuit to have come from a puppy mill.

How about a kid's book titled, "See the piggy? Now see the gestation crate?" And if I asked her, "do you think it's o.k to keep a piggy in a cage like that?" She would answer, "No." You have to train people to say "yes," don't you. You have to distort what they see. You have to betray them.

Compassion over Killing suing Hatchery. More and more lawyers are coming on board with us, so your crappy "recommended codes" are soon going to be "enforced codes" for animal protection.

2012-01-12T09:47:00.001-06:00

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19723656

Seal meets woman and falls in love

2012-01-12T09:19:00.001-06:00

http://vimeo.com/18479035

So lovely.

Making "farmers" look bad--that's what we do, apparently, when "farmers" don't regulate the vast cruelties of their industries. Oh, and "they want to eliminate us" is how they counteract our findings of their cruelty. Unreal.

2012-01-11T16:42:00.001-06:00

January 11, 2012

Producer wonders whether federal charges against Brampton, Ontario poultry producer will be used to undermine public’s confidence in farming [WHY SHOULD WE HAVE "CONFIDENCE" IN "FARMING," WHEN IT'S OUT OF SIGHT AND IN BIG WAREHOUSES, PRODUCING DEAD AND INJURED ANIMALS BEFORE THEY'RE EVEN SLAUGHTERED? DISGRACEFUL].

by SUSAN MANN

Chicken farmer John Maaskant is concerned the publicity surrounding charges against Maple Lodge Farms Ltd. under the federal animal welfare legislation will give animal rights groups more opportunities to criticize the industry and make it look bad. [DON'T WORRY; YOU GUYS MAKE YOUR OWN SELVES LOOK BAD. WE JUST PUT THE NEWS OUT THERE].

“They will criticize whatever is a sensitive area,” says Maaskant, who farms in Huron County. The groups might talk about animal welfare, but what they’re really trying to do is restrict animal agriculture and, if possible, eliminate it, he claims.

Maaskant is also a director on Chicken Farmers of Ontario, a provincial organization that represents farmers, and was chair of the former Ontario Farm Animal Council, which has been rolled into Food & Farm Care Ontario. He notes his views are personal and do not represent any organization.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) charged the company with causing “undue suffering to chicken during transport by reason of undue exposure to inclement weather” under a section of the federal Health of Animals Act regulations, writes Carol Gardin-Frazer, Maple Lodge Farms Ltd. corporate communications officer in an email. Sixty charges have been laid.

Two are being heard at a Brampton courthouse. Hearings began in September and continue into May. CFIA spokesperson Lisa Gauthier says by email they can’t discuss any details because the matter is before the courts. She did not provide information about the status of the other 58 counts.

One of the counts being heard relates to 711 birds arriving dead in a load of about 10,000 at the company’s processing plant on Dec. 30, 2008. The other relates to 1,181 birds in a load of 11,000 arriving dead on Feb. 23, 2009.

Gardin-Frazer says they can’t comment on the specific matters before the courts while the proceedings are going on “but be assured that Maple Lodge Farms is committed to the respectful, humane treatment of chickens.”

The company is “distressed and concerned that these incidents occurred first and foremost for moral and ethical considerations, but also because we rely on the good health of birds in order to ensure the continued success of our company,” Gardin-Frazer says.

The company claims compliance with industry guidelines and “took all reasonable measures within our capacity to protect the chickens in question from inappropriate exposure to inclement weather and attendant suffering,” she explains. She adds that the company is also working with others in the industry to improve transportation equipment, facilities and processes and has invested more than $35 million in the past three years for this work.

Gardin-Frazer says that customers of the Brampton-based chicken processor are aware of the company’s “high standards of quality” and claims they “remain supportive of us.”

She did not respond to emailed questions regarding how much it costs the company each year for birds perishing during transportation, how many birds it transports each year and how many of them die.

Maple Lodge is Canada’s largest chicken processor and the largest buyer of spent hens in North America.

Crystal Mackay, executive director for Food & Farm Care Ontario, which represents a number of farm groups and businesses couldn’t be reached for comment. The organization addresses animal welfare issues for the provincial industry.

University of Guelph Prof. Tina Widowski, Egg Farmers of Canada chair in poultry welfare, says the dead arrival numbers in these two cases are over twice as high as what would be considered acceptable.

The thermal conditions on trucks put animals at risk because the vehicles lack proper heating and ventilation systems, she explains. “All of the airflow that occurs within transport vehicles has to depend on the truck moving.”

In the summer, animals are at risk for heat stress particularly when trucks have to slow down or stop. In the winter, tarps are put on the outside of trucks to retain heat but the birds are producing heat resulting in hot and cold pockets on the vehicles. “Maintaining an acceptable temperature throughout the truck, particularly in poultry transportation, is an extreme challenge,” she says.

It’s expensive to install proper heating and ventilation on trucks and people haven’t put a lot of thought or research energy into it in North America, Widowski explains. She says improving vehicle design would be the best solution to reducing thermal stress.

Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers’ Association of Canada, says incidents of this kind are upsetting to Canadians and to the marketplace. “It wouldn’t surprise me if incidents such as this did turn people away from using chicken.” The association is happy the CFIA identified the problem and laid charges.

Spokespeople for animal welfare groups say the industry needs to do better.

Liz White, director of Animal Alliance of Canada, an animal welfare organization,

calls the volume of birds the company handles “unbelievable.”

“We're talking about 15 to 20 broiler trucks a day, five days a week, Monday to Friday, and it goes for 16 hours a day and I think it goes 52 weeks a year,” she says, referring to company statistics presented in court documents. “The number of spent hen trucks (per day) is 15 to 20. We're talking between 30 and 50 trucks carrying an average of 10,000 chickens (each). That 's what goes through the plant every day.”

White says the industry needs to stop processing such large volumes because it’s problematic. “The bottom line has to be the consideration of the birds.”

Stephanie Brown, director of the Canadian Coalition of Farm Animals, a group made up of animal protection organizations, says bad weather is a fact of life in Canada in both the summer and winter. “When that happens there needs to be a way to compensate for that by either not shipping chickens or shipping them by different methods,” she says.

Farmers also have certain responsibilities to ensure birds are shipped properly. “At the very least it’s something they should care about that the bird are going to get decent transportation,” she notes.

Maaskant says farmers do care. “When there are birds dying and suffering from extreme conditions, that’s a concern to us as farmers. I want my chickens to be safe and comfortable as much as possible.”

Gwen Zellen, Chicken Farmers of Ontario vice president food quality, operations and risk management, says, “we work together with all of industry to maximize the care of poultry.”

According to the CFIA’s website, Maple Lodge Farms has had other infractions related to federal animal transportation regulations racking up $120,600 in fines from January to June 2011. BF

Let's stop using the "Feeding the World" b.s. until after all these careless, never "suspicious" (no never) hog and chicken barns stop burning down, with the animals inside them... shall we?

2012-01-11T12:16:00.002-06:00

CTV Southwestern Ontario

Date: Wednesday Jan. 11, 2012 10:42 AM ET

A Tuesday afternoon fire in Elgin County destroyed a barn and the animals inside it.

Approximately 500 pigs were lost in Tuesday's barn fire on Wilson line, north of Aylmer in the Township of Malahide. Both Malahide Fire and Central Elgin Fire responded to the fire that was reported just after noon.

Services were on scene battling the blaze until the late afternoon and Wilson Line remained closed until approximately 5:30 p.m.

Investigation has determined that the fire is not suspicious in nature and was caused by electrical issues. The Ontario Fire Marshal's Office did not attend. Damages are estimated at over $750,000.

Air Canada on refusing to transport monkeys for lab experiments! There's just so much movement of animals around this globe, isn't there? Nefarious, otherwise invisible moving across borders and into all manner of torture chambers....

2012-01-11T09:31:00.000-06:00

Air Canada hopes to ban transportation of monkeys for laboratory use

By David Graham

Air Canada won’t be allowed to get out of the monkey business quite yet.

The airline, under pressure from animal rights groups, recently told the Canadian Transportation Agency that it no longer wants to accept monkeys as cargo when they are intended for use in laboratory experiments.

But the CTA says the airline needs to await a hearing before stopping the shipments.

Worldwide outrage was ignited last January when it was confirmed Air Canada had flown 48 monkeys from breeding farms in China to Quebec. They were transported as cargo in cramped wooden crates. Animal welfare organizations said they had received a tip from a Pearson airport employee.

The controversy, however, started in 1998 when the CTA ruled that Air Canada could not refuse the shipment of live monkeys destined for experimental use. At the time the CTA sided with The Primate Research Center and Wildlife Reserve of Barbados, which had complained when Air Canada refused the live cargo.

In November 2011, Air Canada filed an amended tariff with the CTA “that would enable it to discontinue transportation of non-human primates intended for research and/or experimental purposes,” Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said in an e-mail. “It was a decision taken both to align our policies with those of many other major international carriers and in response to widespread public concern.”

On Tuesday, the CTA notified Air Canada that it would hold a hearing into the matter because the agency had received another complaint about the proposed new policy.

“Air Canada will abide by the CTA’s decision but believes all interested parties should have an opportunity to express their views before the CTA in order to achieve the best solution for all concerned,” Fitzpatrick said.

According to the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), a British-based animal protection organization, Air Canada is one of the few airlines still transporting such animals for research.

Many major carriers refuse primate shipments including British Airways, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Qantas Airways, Delta Air Lines and China Airlines, the group says.

But Air France, Air Canada and China Southern continue.

Animal welfare organization including the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection initiated letter-writing campaigns to pressure airlines to stop such activities. They also secured endorsements from celebrities including comedian Ricky Gervais, who commented on the Cargo Cruelty campaign: “I was shocked to learn that some airlines transport monkeys to laboratories around the world. I support the BUAV’s Cargo Cruelty campaign and urge these airlines to take a compassionate stance and say no to monkey shipments.”

The organization says thousands of monkeys are trapped each year and many more are factory farmed for laboratory use. Many of them suffer during the gruelling trips and often succumb to such ailments as pneumonia, enteritis, dehydration and infection.

The full moon was astonishingly beautiful last night.

2012-01-10T18:50:00.003-06:00

Live Cattle Export promoted by Canadian Prime Minister. Cruelty abounds in that business. Shipping meat and cattle: that's what our stupid, environmentally destructive world is all about.

2012-01-10T18:24:00.000-06:00

Harper Government Announces New Market Access for Live Cattle to the United Arab Emirates

For the first time since 2003, Canadian producers can export live cattle to a market worth up to $40 million
Ottawa, Ontario, December 20, 2011 - The Honourable Gerry Ritz, Agriculture Minister, and the Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced that the Government of Canada has reached a new agreement on an export certificate with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Canadian exporters of live cattle will benefit from access to the UAE market. Industry estimates that the market could provide up to $40 million in sales.
"This announcement instantly provides new export opportunities for Canadian producers, and is a significant step toward regaining access to other key markets in the region," said Minister Ritz. "Our Government's top priority remains the economy, and this new market access is good news for our hard working farmers across the country."

"This is great news for Canadian cattle exporters, and yet another example of how our government's commitment to opening new markets for Canadian businesses and workers is getting results," said the Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway. "The UAE's announcement advances our bilateral commercial relations, and will help our overall efforts to build on our economic and trade ties with the Gulf Cooperation Council region as a whole."

"We are pleased to have regained access to the UAE market," said Rick McRonald, Executive Director of the Canadian Livestock Genetics Association. "This is good news for exporters who have been waiting to pursue this opportunity."

The UAE is part of a regional trading block called the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The GCC is a priority market under Canada's Global Commerce Strategy.

Today's announcement is symbolic of Canada's efforts to regain access to the entire GCC, which represents the fifth largest export destination for Canadian agri-food products. Canadian agri-food exports to the GCC surpassed $835 million in 2010.
For more information, media may contact:
Media Relations
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Ottawa, Ontario

Another fire in Canada, 21,000 chickens burn up

2012-01-10T18:19:00.003-06:00

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012/01/07/calgary-barn-fire-chickens.html

What a third-world stink hole we are when it comes to animals.

Maple Leaf and Taxpayers' Money

2012-01-10T18:17:00.000-06:00

http://www.thespec.com/news/business/article/652037--new-plant-looking-at-glanbrook-business-park

Agri 007: Meat packer suspensions

2012-01-09T11:57:00.000-06:00

Agri 007: Meat packer suspensions: Nine Canadian meat packers had their federal licences suspended in the third quarter of last year. Licence suspension is t...

Maple Lodge Farms. Doesn't that sound so homey and all Canadian? Well, they're also criminal, having been laid with 60 charges for the hideous conditions of the chickens in transport.

2012-01-09T11:54:00.004-06:00

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has laid 60 criminal charges against Brampton-based Maple Lodge Farms, Canada’s largest independent chicken processor, alleging violations of federal animal health regulations.

The CFIA alleges that between December 2008 and February 2009, and then December 2009 and April 2010, thousands of chickens died from exposure to cold conditions during transportation from farm to slaughterhouse, often because of proximity to a truck trailer’s floor or walls.

Two of the counts have been heard in a series of six hearings at the Ontario Court of Justice, in Brampton, which began in September. The hearings continue on Monday.

In one count, dated “on or about” Dec. 30 and Dec.31, 2008, the Crown alleges that 711 chickens, of nearly 10,000 in shipment, were “found dead on arrival” at Maple Lodge’s slaughterhouse. In the other, “on or about” Feb. 23, 2009, 1,181 chickens, of nearly 11,000, were discovered dead upon unloading at the slaughterhouse.

The first count concerns a haul of broiler chickens, which are raised solely for meat production; their breasts and thighs appear on grocery store shelves. The second refers to a load of spent hens, a term for poultry no longer capable of laying eggs, whose meat is often used in ground chicken products.

Maple Lodge, which also has a processing plant in New Brunswick, sells frozen chicken, sliced meats, chicken wieners and chicken bacon, as well as a line of halal products.

Frail and fragile after de-feathering and a lifetime laying eggs, spent hens are especially susceptible to cold exposure.

Maple Lodge called the deaths unfortunate, but emphasized the company does everything it can to ensure humane transportation of its poultry.

“We have very stringent protocols in place regarding the transportation of animals,” spokesperson Carol Gardin said. “At the end of the day, it’s not only moral and ethical considerations regarding the humane handling of the birds, there’s a financial incentive to keep the birds in the best health.”

The charges raise the question of how cold is too cold when it comes to transporting poultry. According to court transcripts, on the day the spent hens travelled, it was between -9 and -16 degrees.

In the broiler chickens’ trailer, a CFIA inspector noted “the visible presence of snow and ice in the bottom crates.” The chickens arrived at the slaughterhouse at 3:20 a.m., when the temperature was -7.

Ian Duncan, chair of animal welfare in the University of Guelph’s Department of Animal and Poultry Science, suggested that the CFIA regulate the times when chickens can be transported. In other words, if it’s too cold, keep the chickens cooped.

“There might be some temperatures below which it just might not be possible to transport chickens humanely,” Duncan said.

CFIA’s charges are a departure from its usual enforcement measure for transportation violations: levying what’s called an administrative monetary penalty. Depending on the scope of the violation, an AMP can reach $15,000.

From January to June 2011, Maple Lodge accrued 26 AMPs and paid $120,600 in fines, according to CFIA data. Between April and June, the company chalked up 22 violations, the most in Canada.

Stephanie Brown, of the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals, believes the outcome of the hearings could set a precedent for how meat processing companies transport their animals.

“The CFIA is conceding that AMPs don’t work,” she said.

But Liz White, director of Animal Alliance, a Toronto animal welfare coalition, said the chicken processing system — with its focus on the bottom line — is inherently inhumane.

“In order for the system to work, it has to ignore the humane aspects,” she said. “At the end of the day, the brunt is borne by the very birds we bring to our tables.”

The CFIA could not comment because the case is before the courts.

2012-01-08T15:50:00.001-06:00

Beautiful hands and hair and sparkling eyes!

Biowitchcraft. An apt term for scientific experimentation on animals.

2012-01-08T15:47:00.001-06:00

http://www.thedailyactivist.com/animal-rights-scientists-make-monkeys-with-six-parents/

Ingesting dioxin along with chicken meat and eggs

2012-01-06T21:38:00.002-06:00

http://nutritionfacts.org/blog/2012/01/05/epa-dioxin-limit-has-national-chicken-council-worried-products-could-be-declared-“unfit-for-consumption”/

Dioxin = agent-orange type of chemical; deadly, deadly, deadly stuff and children are getting exposed to it in meat.

And the chicken council doesn't want us talking about it....

Paul Shapiro on CNN, talking about Ag Gag Law

2012-01-06T19:15:00.001-06:00

http://www.cnn.com/video/standard.html?/video/bestoftv/2012/01/06/jvm-ag-gag-bill-hsus-paul-shapiro.hln

Pigs in abandoned Japanese city.

2012-01-06T10:09:00.001-06:00

http://pigofknowledge.blogspot.com/2012/01/pigs-in-japans-radiation-exclusion-zone.html

Harvard Study on Dairy.

2012-01-06T09:42:00.000-06:00

Harvard Declares Dairy NOT Part of Healthy Diet

Michelle Schoffro Cook

December 30, 2011

.The Harvard School of Public Health sent a strong message to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and nutrition experts everywhere with the recent release of its “Healthy Eating Plate” food guide. The university was responding to the USDA’s new MyPlate guide for healthy eating, which replaced the outdated and misguided food pyramid.

Harvard’s nutrition experts did not pull punches, declaring that the university’s food guide was based on sound nutrition research and more importantly, not influenced by food industry lobbyists.

The greatest evidence of its research focus is the absence of dairy products from the “Healthy Eating Plate” based on Harvard’s assessment that “…high intake can increase the risk of prostate cancer and possibly ovarian cancer.” The Harvard experts also referred to the high levels of saturated fat in most dairy products and suggested that collards, bok choy, fortified soy milk, and baked beans are safer choices than dairy for obtaining calcium, as are high quality supplements.

Kudos to Harvard for promoting greater consumption of vegetables and fruits, as well as healthier protein options such as fish, beans or nuts. And kudos to Harvard for ignoring the lobbyists and showing the USDA what healthy eating is all about.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/harvard-declares-dairy-not-part-of-healthy-diet.html#ixzz1ih2SuUTW

From an article in the Globe and Mail the other day

2012-01-06T09:26:00.002-06:00

“My hope for 2012 is that people embrace a kind of cuisine that doesn’t rely quite so heavily on protein products, and are willing to pay money for that.”

---Paul DeCampo, food educator, Toronto

DeCampo's prediction: "We’re going to see resistance to genetically modified foods finally hit the mainstream. As soon as genetic engineering crosses over from plants to animals in our food system, people’s emotional reaction will be really strong. And there are a couple of triggers coming: What do you think of genetically modified salmon hitting the market? That’s coming down the pipe. It’s before the Food and Drug Administration. And of course we have the “Enviropig” here in Canada as well, out in Guelph, solving a problem created by industrial agriculture, so that we can retain the system of having 5,000 hogs on one site over a cesspool. There are many simpler solutions – ones that don’t hand the power over our food system to a couple of corporations."

Brilliant and concise.

Define cesspool: an underground reservoir for liquid waste (as household sewage). 2. : a filthy, evil, or corrupt place or state .

Speaking Up for Animals

2012-01-05T10:36:00.001-06:00

It is here! And Carol Adams calls me brave in the Foreword. Oh my. You can see the book on amazon.com --and the soft cover is cheap :)It's weird: bravery never occurs to me. Caging a pregnant pig so tightly for life is so wrong that I don't see the bravery in pointing that out.Oh sure, a pork producer has printed off this blog, trying to force the university to shut me up.... It was rattling, but it also revealed how many people would stand with me. This producer says she works 24/7: it must have been while the sows were being mechanically fed when she had the time to try to shame me.Maybe the shame lies with the horrific sight of the sow stalls, or "traps", as the editor of Speaking Up calls them. Or "the worst thing that ever happened to pigs," as Temple Grandin calls them. I would like to work in a hog barn for a while. That would be brave. And turn the footage over to Mercy for Animals, anonymously ... No recognition. Because nobody should eat something hidden from sight. Making that world visible would be worth it. As it stands, I can't get a guided tour from Manitoba Pork, despite asking. Why is that?

Family Farmers oppose Gestation Crates or Sow Stalls or Should-be-Illegal Evil Contraptions!

2012-01-04T17:03:00.001-06:00

http://www.cetfa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=530%3Afamily-farmers-seek-ban-on-sow-stalls&catid=1%3Alatest&Itemid=107

Open link, read, sign petish!

Samuel Beckett and Animals, a posting for C.A.M.

2012-01-04T11:48:00.001-06:00

“I don’t like animals. It’s a strange thing, I don’t like men and I don’t like animals. As for God, he is beginning to disgust me” (as uttered by a Beckett character in Molloy).

Last night, I said, "I'd take a course on Beckett with Lord Voldemort if I had to, if I had the opportunity to just read Beckett." David agreed.

I doubt your scar will throb, btw.

Lots of animals in Beckett. Well, maybe not lots, but they are significant when they appear. There's a little white dog in Krapp's Last Tape --the only creature who elicits generosity and genuine joy from Krapp.

Beckett was onto the absurdity and cruelty of the world --could see it and laugh, despite of it or because of it. If only he worked here with me, as the corporations take over my university and whatever god might have been is left behind in slogans and patented genetic material.

Foaming Manure Pits: A Serious Problem, with unknown causes and "recommended" ways of dealing with. Highly flammable too. Not too many hog barn fires lately, though, because things have been looking up for them.

2012-01-03T16:27:00.001-06:00

http://www.minnesotafarmguide.com/news/livestock/use-caution-while-pumping-barn-manure-pits/article_354b150c-3569-11e1-8584-001871e3ce6c.html

Golden Retriever enjoying some guitar playing. No word of a lie.

2012-01-03T15:02:00.000-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBluUZ4NnZg&feature=player_embedded#!

2012-01-02T17:35:00.000-06:00

A comment on Sea Shepherd posting, below

2012-01-02T14:42:00.002-06:00

...by some anonymous troll:

Tan said...

the japanese shouldn't be intimiated by bullying tactics by the animal rights terrorists

December 29, 2011 7:08 AM

I just discovered this comment on my posting, of about a week or so ago.

Eye-ball roll heavenward. Cliches are so tiring. How is that the people trying to stop the killing of whales in a whale SANCTUARY are the "bullies"? that the people trying to enforce un-enforced treaties are the bullies?

This is our world: filled with treaties and laws for animals that are never enforced; filled with people trained in the language of cliche and patriotism. It's sickening.

Government-diverted money from tsunami relief to kill whales a zillion miles from the eyes of any oversight--and we're the terrorists? Honestly, what a joke.

What a weird-ass world we live in. As planes fly manitoba-pork products over the ocean, ships set out to kill whales. As "farmers" cage pigs with the blessings of people with doctorates, "scientists" harpoon whales for "research." We have all this technology, but these "farmers" won't let us see the animals. They've become invisible, until the operations are busted by undercover agents. That is what it has come to. It honestly makes a person wretch.

There's this Faulkner novel where a young boy is being indoctrinated into the cruelty of the antebellum slave system--and he vomits instead. He can't swallow the bullshit. That's how it feels to be alive today: on the verge of vomiting, all the time.

Happy New Year to those in the Struggle, from the AR Blogger's Dog!

2012-01-02T14:10:00.000-06:00

Faulkner's As I Lay Dying (a clarification for veganelder)

2012-01-02T10:28:00.000-06:00

It's a tour-de-force novel, about a family who carts their dead mother's body across Mississippi during August in the 1920s, to bury her with her people, who may or may not be Native American. This last point matters because white people and their agriculture and their logging are stripping the land clean. She's going to join the dead.

En route, she rots.
Vultures swoop and circle.
Every single page of the novel twines humans and non-human animals together. Sometimes it's hard to know if a pronoun refers to human or animal. Animals rot, too. We just try to pretend that we don't. We want funerals and tombstones to deny our animal selves, even in death.

Cows, horses, mules, vultures, are all part of Faulkner's living landscape. They are loud with sounds and scents. Living, dying. That's it.

At about midway, Addie, the dead mother, has her own monologue. She thinks words are empty, that "living was terrible and that this was the answer to it."

Addie means that the answer is birth or motherhood, maybe, but it's hard to know what the "it" and the "that" refer to. Or even "the answer," given that there's no question. That motherhood is as terrible as living? Don't know. Maybe she means rotting. Maybe filling the world with the scent that is a kind of composting.... it's terrible; it's the response to the question that life asks. I don't know. Maybe.

So, I like to take the quote and use it for my own thinking. That we've created something so terrible, a hell on earth for so many creatures...with our words and our twisted metal contraptions. And the answer to it? Pressing forward, despite the terror and terribleness.
_________

ADDIE

So I took Anse. And when I knew that I had Cash, I knew that living was terrible and that this was the answer to it. That was when I learned that words are not good; that words dont ever fit even what they are trying to say at. When he was born I knew that motherhood was invented by someone who had to have a word for it because the ones that had the children didn’t care whether there was a word for it or not. I knew that fear was invented by someone that had never had the fear; pride, who never had the pride. I knew that it had been, not that they had dirty noses, but that we had had to use one another by words like spiders dangling by their mouths from a beam, swinging and twisting and never touching, and that only through the blows of the switch could my blood and their blood flow as one stream. I knew that it had been , not that my aloneness had to be violated over and over each day, but that it had never been violated until Cash came. Not even by Anse in the nights.

He had a word, too. Love, he called it. But I had been used to words for a long time. I knew that that word was like the others: just a shape to fill a lack; that when the right time came, you wouldn’t need a word for that anymore than for pride or fear. Cash did not need to say it to me nor I to him, and I would say, Let Anse use it, if he wants to. So that it was Anse or love; love or Anse: it didn’t matter.

I would think that even while I lay with him in the dark and Cash asleep in the cradle within the swing of my hand. I would think that if he were to wake and cry, I would suckle him, too. Anse or love: it didn’t matter. My aloneness had been violated and then made whole again by the violation: time, Anse, love, what you will, outside the circle.

Then I found that I had Darl. At first I would not believe it. Then I believed that I would kill Anse. It was as though he had tricked me, hidden within a word like within a paper screen and struck me in the back through it. But then I realised that I had been tricked by words older than Anse or love, and that the same word had tricked Anse too, and that my revenge would be that he would never know I was taking revenge. And when Darl was born I asked Anse to promise to take me back to Jefferson when I died, because I knew that father had been right, even when he couldn’t have known he was right anymore than I could have known I was wrong.

“Nonsense,” Anse said; “you and me aint nigh done chapping yet, with just two.”

He did not know that he was dead, then. Sometimes I would lie by him in the dark, hearing the land that was now of my blood and flesh, and I would think: Anse. Why Anse. Why are you Anse. I would think about his name until after a while I could see the word as a shape, a vessel, and I would watch him liquify and flow into it like cold molasses flowing out of the darkness into the vessel, until the jar stood full and motionless: a significant shape profoundly without life like an empty door frame; and then I would find that I had forgotten the name of the jar. I would think: The shape of my body where I used to be a virgin is in the shape of a _________ and I couldn’t think Anse, couldn’t remember Anse. It was not that I could think of myself as no longer unvirgin, because I was three now. And I would think Cash and Darl that way until their names would die and solidify into a shape and then fade away, I would say, All right. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what they call them.

And so when Cora Tull would tell me I was not a true mother, I would think how words go straight up in a thin line, quick and harmless, and how terribly doing goes along the earth, clinging to it, so that after a while the two lines are too far apart for the same person to straddle from one to the other; and that sin and love and fear are just sounds that people who never sinned nor loved nor feared have for what they never had and cannot have until they forget the words. (Addie 163-166)

2012-01-02T10:06:00.001-06:00

Hello to Poncho's fan club!

Without a spider named Charlotte to spread word of the "Some Pig" he is, the artist formerly known as Poncho has turned to painting as a form of expression. Attached is a photo of his work (his second; the first piece was destroyed in what we'll call a "breakdown in communication"...Poncho thought it would be funny to eat the paper. And then part of the paintbrush handle. And then smear his paint-covered schnozzle all over me.)

The other photo showcases 'The Ponch' (as he is affectionately called) with his masterpiece. He incorporated the use of both the brush and his hairy little muzzle in this most recent work. Quite the visionary.

I had to wait until he was asleep, since getting a pig to pose for a photo is like herding cats...

It's unlikely that more art will be created today. Poncho has already done has super-hyper-running-laps-around-the-house-at-top-speed-while-barking-and-wiping-out exercise, and has retired to the comfort of his thick and cushy bed.

Hugs n' piggy grunts,

Poncho and his foster momma Kristi

New Year's Resolutions for Animal Rights

2011-12-31T12:42:00.001-06:00

First, Happy New Year to everyone involved in the struggle for the rights of animals to live cage-free lives, able to feel sunlight on their skin, fur, feathers, scales, shells, tusks--permitted by the day to find clean water. Permitted by the gods to stretch into their own minds and thoughts and bodies. Understood as other animals and not as meat, bush meat, dry or wet sows, downers, etc.

New Year's Resolutions: Too Many to List Here. But here are a few:

1. Work with AnimalsCanada to push the rights of animals into the consciousness of the campus. (First up: a bake-sale for Wilbur, which will feature Penelope our papier-mache pig, caged and visible to all passersby on campus. This time: a hallway in the Faculty of Arts. A different venue, one that might not attract the hostility of those who endorse caging animals for life.)

2. Come up with title for Pig Book, other than Pig Book (!)

3. Get to an Animal Rights conference somewhere in the world.

4. Post more vegan recipes on blog ;)

5. Refuse to succumb to sorrow that the Ideological State Apparatus that is my University actively promotes caging animals for life. Try to figure out how to make sense of this without succumbing to the darkness.

6. Try to get Meatless Mondays on the program for certain institutions....

7. Try try try....

8. and

9. Try

10. oh, and yes: because Animal Magnetism ;)

(Because, as Faulkner's Addie says, living is terrible and this is the answer to it).

We would have memorials for pigs all over Canada if we paid their highway deaths some respect!

2011-12-31T12:14:00.002-06:00

PETA Cow Memorial: Animal Rights Group Wants Highway Signs For Dead Cows

12/30/11 05:04 PM ET

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CHICAGO — An animal rights group wants Illinois to install highway signs in memory of cattle killed when trucks hauling them flipped in two separate wrecks.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked for permission to buy the markers, one in suburban Chicago and one northwest of Peoria. The group says the signs would pay tribute to the more than 20 cattle killed as a result of negligent driving this year.

Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Josh Kauffman says the request will likely be denied because the state's Roadside Memorial Act specifies that only relatives who lost loved ones in highway crashes may request memorials.

In 2006, Virginia rejected PETA's request for highway markers to memorialize hogs killed in crashes on their way to slaughter at Smithfield Foods.

Mercy for Animals uncovers abuse at Butterball Turkey "Farm".

2011-12-30T17:38:00.001-06:00

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/30/us/north-carolina-turkey-farm-search/

Keep busting these disgraceful operations and maybe people will wake up and stop eating animals they can't see, don't know their histories.... nothing. It's a nightmare for these animals. The world ended long ago for farm animals.

Sea Shepherd update: Drones to track Nisshin Maru

2011-12-27T13:02:00.000-06:00

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112446142/animal-rights-group-uses-drones-to-track-down-japanese-whalers/

...and then we win.

Just remember who signed the AETA (Animal Enterprise Terrorist Act) into Law six years ago:

2011-12-27T11:29:00.001-06:00

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

Maybe, just maybe, we could stop killing so many animals and call it Food.
Maybe, just maybe, we could stop killing so many men, women and children and call it War.

Food and War: two words that hide what they really mean.

2011-12-27T11:19:00.003-06:00

http://motherjones.com/environment/2011/12/are-animal-rights-activists-terrorists

Just gathering stuff together

2011-12-27T11:10:00.002-06:00

This is an article on animal-rights "terrorists" by a dairy dude.

http://www.dairyherd.com/dairy-news/The-ultimate-activist-irony-136257818.html?ref=818

I am gathering these so-called intellectual ruminations in order to critique them for my own book --which will most likely address the language of this criminal industry, mostly the pig-flesh industry.

In this article, the writer speaks of the "irony" that animal-rights terrorists don't want to be treated as terrorists. It's interesting how smug and self-satisfied the whole thing sounds. He has a definition, which serves him well, and he plugs anybody who questions him into that definition. There is, in his little mind, a neatly divided world.

Anyone who protests that world, with all its criminal activity, is always already a terrorist. There's the stability of meat-eating, mass production of meat, cruelty that goes undetected (because they're only animals). And there's the instability of people who ask "Who Gives You the Right to Treat Other Animals Like That?" Any kind of protest, inquiry, push against the giant apparatus that is the meat industry constitutes Terrorism.

It's not possible that his world is the unstable one, causing massive environmental degradation, is it? It's not possible that his world is built on the right to protest, is it? That the very right for him to write his smug article exists in the same sphere of rights we have to protest his smug little world?

Their ability to access the press, to write on the web, to send out their messages--this ability must also come under our critical eyes, because their language presents the facade of logic and reason. It presents the facade of knowledge and clarity. But, look again: It is narrow, undemocratic at its core, aggressive in its cultural alignment with carnivorous entitlement. It is as dangerous as the killing machine it profits from.

We need smart people to see through this smoke screen, educated and not brainwashed by their fear-mongering that the world divides itself three ways: Those who Feed the World (corporations, Monsanto, Manitoba Pork, etc); the World who is Clamoring to be Fed by them (countries overrun by the kind of corruption these meat producers profit from); and the Terrorists (anybody who asks, "what the fuck is going on?")

2011-12-26T13:39:00.001-06:00

On the ninth day of Cutemas

2011-12-24T16:48:00.005-06:00

Nine pups a'pondering....
(Swiped from cuteoverload.com and the 12 days of cutemas)

The Japanese Government is fighting back hard at the Sea Shepherd

2011-12-23T11:27:00.003-06:00

First they ignore us; then they ridicule us; then they fight. Then we win.

But, in the meantime, a lot of whales are going to die. A lot of beautiful, peaceful sea creatures are going to be killed in what is supposed to be a sanctuary.

Japanese police raid Sea Shepherd base

Japan whaling operator sues Sea Shepherd

By Miwa Suzuki (AFP) – Dec 8, 2011

TOKYO — Japan's whaling authorities said Friday they are suing militant environmentalist group Sea Shepherd and its head in the United States in a bid to stop them interfering in the annual whale hunt.

It is the first time that Japan has attempted legal action abroad against anti-whaling campaigners, who have sometimes used extreme methods against ships involved in the hunt, carried out under rules that allow research whaling.

"Today, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha and the Institute of Cetacean Research along with research vessels' masters filed a lawsuit against the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) and Paul Watson," they said in a statement.

"The Institute of Cetacean Research and Kyodo Senpaku are seeking a court order in the US District Court in Seattle, Washington that prevents SSCS and its founder Paul Watson from engaging in activities at sea that could cause injuries to the crews and damage to the vessels."

Kyodo Senpaku owns ships, while the cetacean institute operates the whaling programme under the authority of the Japanese government.

Sea Shepherd, based in Washington state, regularly sends vessels to harass the whalers. In previous years it has thrown stink bombs onto the decks of the Japanese fleet, while vessels from both sides have repeatedly clashed.

The Japanese statement said the whaling programme was "greatly contributing to the advancement of scientific knowledge of whale resources in the Antarctic".

Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 International Whaling Commission agreement. "Lethal research" is allowed, but other nations and environmental groups like Sea Shepherd condemn it as disguised commercial whaling.

Tokyo says the whale hunts are needed to substantiate its view that there is a robust whale population in the world. However, it makes no secret of the fact that whale meat from this research ends up on dinner tables and in restaurants.

The statement condemned Sea Shepherd's actions as "life-threatening".

"Sabotage activities against the research fleet by SSCS and Paul Watson have been escalating over several years," it said.

"The activities perpetrated by SSCS and Paul Watson not only put at risk the safety of the research vessels at sea but are also affecting the scientific achievement" of the programme, it said.

In February, Japan cut short its hunt for the 2010-2011 season by one month after bagging only one fifth of its planned catch, blaming interference from Sea Shepherd.

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said he was not worried about the lawsuit, claiming the activists were not aggressive and did not break any laws.

"We are not down there protesting whaling, we are down there intervening against criminal activities," he told Australian news agency AAP from onboard Sea Shepherd's ship the Steve Irwin off Fremantle, Western Australia.

"We defend ourselves from being rammed, hit with water cannons, shot at, have concussion grenades and bamboo spears thrown at us, so yes, we defend ourselves."

Watson -- who travels to Australia each year to lead activists in their efforts against the whale hunt -- said that the ships his organisation used were not owned by Sea Shepherd USA, nor were they US-flagged vessels.

"The United States government and courts have no authority over these ships so I don't know what they are hoping to achieve," he said.

The Japanese legal action came after the whaling fleet left port Tuesday for this season's annual hunt.

The coast guard has deployed an unspecified number of guards to protect the ships from anti-whaling activists, and the Japanese government has confirmed it will use some of the public funds earmarked for reconstruction after the massive March earthquake and tsunami to boost security for the hunt.

Three ships from the Sea Shepherd fleet are due to set sail over the coming days to once again confront the Japanese whalers, the organisation said.

The Steve Irwin and the Brigitte Bardot will leave from Albany in Western Australia and the Bob Barker will depart from Hobart in Tasmania.

:15 PM Tuesday Dec 20, 2011

EXPAND

Paul Watson. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Japanese police have raided property belonging to Sea Shepherd volunteers.

Police raided the Charmant Hotel where Sea Shepherd's Cove Guardians have been staying near Taiji in Japan.

Armed with a warrant the police seized computers, phones, hard drives, photos, cameras and other items that the police deemed suspicious.

The cell phones and cameras minus their SD cards were later returned.

Sea Shepherd's president Captain Paul Watson says protesters won't be intimidated by bullying tactics.

ugh

2011-12-23T11:10:00.002-06:00

2011-12-23T11:09:00.002-06:00

Meat Industry suppressing Dioxin Data. Just like Tobacco.

2011-12-23T11:08:00.000-06:00

http://m.desmoinesregister.com/business/article?a=2011312210066&f=1200

Boycott! and eat more vegetables....

Dog and Pig play-wrestling (and I thought love was only in fairy tales... or was that fairy tails?)

2011-12-21T15:52:00.000-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SLXPKxJdps&feature=share

Forwarded by Paul Shapiro and by those of us who wish to counter the assertion, said publicly and in an Animal Science publication, that "pigs don't have a strong behavioral need to turn around."