Turkey

	Turkey is a very popular meat product and often the centerpiece at Thanksgiving celebrations. What happens before the turkeys reach the stores and dinner tables however, is absolutely horrifying. Happy Thanksgiving? Not for turkeys! about 40 million turkeys are killed each year for Thanksgiving. If you would like to find out more about turkeys, you are welcome to visit my Animal Facts Turkeys page.
Factory Farms Most turkeys are raised on factory farms. They are packed together in very overcrowded sheds, where each bird has only 3 square feet of space.	Factory farmed turkeys live in crowded warehouses.
"Debeaked" Turkey	"Debeaking" and Toe Cutting Living in overcrowded conditions creates an enormous amount of stress for the turkeys, which causes excessive pecking and fighting. To keep them from hurting or killing each other, farmers cut off the ends of their beaks and toes. No anesthetics are used. For some turkeys it is so painful to eat with their mutilated beaks that they will starve to death.
Antibiotics and Genetic Engineering Antibiotics and genetic engineering have been used to make a lot of changes in commercial turkeys. On my Animal Facts Turkeys page you can see what wild turkeys look like. Wild turkeys are even able to fly short distances and often sleep in trees. Commercial turkeys have been altered to grow twice as fast, become twice as large, have white feathers and abnormally large breasts. All these changes have caused serious health problems like collapsed lungs, swollen joints, crippled feet and heart attacks. Commercial turkeys are also unable to reproduce naturally and are artificially inseminated instead.	Factory farm turkeys no longer look like wild turkeys.
Turkey Transportation	Transportation When the turkeys are 14-18 weeks old they are ready for slaughter. Workers will usually grab them by their legs and throw them into crates. The crates are then stacked on the back of trucks. In the winter some turkeys freeze to death and in the summer some die of heat stress. It is legal to transport farm animals for up to 36 hours without food, water or rest.
The Slaughterhouse In the slaughterhouse, the turkeys are hung by their feet on a moving rail while fully conscious. First, their heads are submerged in an electrified "stunning tank". This tank immobilizes them, but doesn't render most of them unconscious. After this their throats are slashed by a mechanical blade. Some birds are missed and continue on still conscious. The next step on the assembly line is the scalding tank. The turkeys are submerged in boiling water to remove their feathers. This is nothing to be thankful for. Don't buy turkey and definitely don't include it in a family celebration. If you would like more information, you can visit the following links: Adopt-A-Turkey Project by Farm Sanctuary The Turkey by all-creatures.org Turkey Slaughterhouse Investigation by Mercy for Animals Turkey Farm Cruelty by PETA	Hanging upside down and shackled by their feet, turkeys enter the slaughterhouse.

http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/turkey.htm

Animal Cruelty

I really don't understand humans! They have pets! They love their dogs, their cats to extremes! They know these loved ones have emotions, that they are not so different from themselves! Yet when it comes to the animals they eat — and the food that they feed their cats and dogs — they don't want to know that these animals that are now churned up into bags once did also convey love! Humans turn away! They cannot face they eat something that has emotion, that these valued life that they place in their mouth once did feel, that they once did convey earnestness, sympathy, passion, blush, cordiality, ardor, fervency, shock, fear, palpitation. For most of those eaten by humans, soft and gentle are their emotions! Humans turn away from the great cruelty that forced feeding intensive growing pens bring to the clouded pain-ridden lives of beings who are placed in such situations! They turn away from the great cruelty that takes place in the killing of their meat! I love the animals. I walk amongst the European farmlands and experience the soft and gentle emotions these beings give forth! Many farm animals in Europe, much more so than in America, are treated to decent lives before they are killed for food. But Europe now also has turned to cruelty to produce its meat! Meat: chicken and pork and livestock from the cruelty intensive farms of Asia! Meat: chicken pork livestock from the cruelty intensive farms of Europe and America! There is a lack of compassion, a lack of anything to do with the higher values we attribute to 'humans' in forced feeding intensive growing! Something only done for money! To make someone that much richer! Is it a stupidity one has to wonder that makes humans not face their deeds! Yes, humans would pay more if animals were treated with the respect they demand! But this is surely better than eating pain-grown meat! Meat can now be grown from cells! Another option to stop the awful life now being experienced in these enclosed pens A lack of compassion, a lack of anything to do with the higher values we attribute to 'humans' exist in forced feeding intensive growing!

Kewe

Kept confined in small space with no place to move Pigs go insane Pigs are known for their intelligence Humans on small farms that have pigs running free note the intelligence and compassion that pigs have

Torturing animals

Many will find excuses for this They will say it is necessary They will say it will help humankind to be more free of misery There are no excuses — it is a crime against life It is a crime taking place throughout the world

Saturday, 6 September 2008 By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Livestock production has a bigger climate impact than transport, the UN believes Shun meat, says UN climate chief People should consider eating less meat as a way of combating global warming, says the UN's top climate scientist. Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will make the call at a speech in London on Monday evening. UN figures suggest that meat production puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than transport. But a spokeswoman for the UK's National Farmers' Union (NFU) said methane emissions from farms were declining.

People may not realise that changing what's on their plate could have an even bigger effect Joyce D'Silva Compassion in World Farming Dr Pachauri has just been re-appointed for a second six-year term as chairman of the Nobel Prize-winning IPCC, the body that collates and evaluates climate data for the world's governments. "The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that direct emissions from meat production account for about 18% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions," he told BBC News. "So I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider." Climate of persuasion The FAO figure of 18% includes greenhouse gases released in every part of the meat production cycle — clearing forested land, making and transporting fertiliser, burning fossil fuels in farm vehicles, and the front and rear end emissions of cattle and sheep. The contributions of the three main greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — are roughly equivalent, the FAO calculates. Transport, by contrast, accounts for just 13% of humankind's greenhouse gas footprint, according to the IPCC. Dr Pachauri will be speaking at a meeting organised by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), whose main reason for suggesting people lower their consumption of meat is to reduce the number of animals in factory farms.

Dr Pachauri has chaired the Nobel Prize-winning body since 2002 CIWF's ambassador Joyce D'Silva said that thinking about climate change could spur people to change their habits. "The climate change angle could be quite persuasive," she said. "Surveys show people are anxious about their personal carbon footprints and cutting back on car journeys and so on; but they may not realise that changing what's on their plate could have an even bigger effect." Side benefits There are various possibilities for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with farming animals. They range from scientific approaches, such as genetically engineering strains of cattle that produce less methane flatus, to reducing the amount of transport involved through eating locally reared animals. "The NFU is committed to ensuring farming is part of the solution to climate change, rather than being part of the problem," an NFU spokeswoman told BBC News. "We strongly support research aimed at reducing methane emissions from livestock farming by, for example, changing diets and using anaerobic digestion." Methane emissions from UK farms have fallen by 13% since 1990. But the biggest source globally of carbon dioxide from meat production is land clearance, particularly of tropical forest, which is set to continue as long as demand for meat rises. Ms D'Silva believes that governments negotiating a successor to the Kyoto Protocol ought to take these factors into account. "I would like governments to set targets for reduction in meat production and consumption," she said.

Unnatural roots of the food crisis Snared in a homemade 'NitroNet' "That's something that should probably happen at a global level as part of a negotiated climate change treaty, and it would be done fairly, so that people with little meat at the moment such as in sub-Saharan Africa would be able to eat more, and we in the west would eat less." Dr Pachauri, however, sees it more as an issue of personal choice. "I'm not in favour of mandating things like this, but if there were a (global) price on carbon perhaps the price of meat would go up and people would eat less," he said. "But if we're honest, less meat is also good for the health, and would also at the same time reduce emissions of greenhouse gases." MMVIII

Advocating fair trade Sustainable farming practices Celebrating traditional foods

Healthy food and agriculture

Do your soul a favor, make today the last time you eat meat! There is nothing that indicts human beings more than the way other species are treated by the species that does know better!

Pay No Attention to That Turkey Being Slaughtered By MARTHA ROSENBERG Posing for photographers with her felled caribou, her child inches from its bleeding mouth, Sarah Life-Is-Precious Palin is not confused about where meat comes from. So the turkey being slaughtered in full view of the camera as she conducted an interview at Triple D Farms in Wasilla this week probably doesn't phase her. But most Americans don't want to see the transformations their turkey went through to get to their Thanksgiving dinner table. How it lived, how it was shipped, who hung the struggling bird upside down on the conveyer to transport it to the awaiting blade, et cetera — are not thoughts that improve the taste of the cranberry sauce. Nor will the economy get so bad people will have to take jobs as 'live hangers' like Sam, not his real name, last year. "Today I saw about 50 dead turkeys on the trucks, and about 80 live birds fell onto the floor," he writes in a diary he kept while working at House of Raeford Farms in Raeford, NC, the seventh largest turkey producer in the US. "A worker tried to throw a turkey up to the double-sided dock from its rail side. The bird was about to hit the rail when another worker kneed the bird and then kicked it, knocking it back down to the floor. The worker threw the turkey a second time, but it hit the underside of the dock and dropped straight down to the cement floor for its third time that day. The bird lay in watery feces for about two hours before being picked up and hung on the line — the turkey could keep its head up and blink; it was otherwise motionless." Mom or Grandma may put hours of care into roasting, basting, stuffing and perfecting their butter brown bird. But care is not the operant word at the slaughter house as workers throw, swing and 'box' at the birds as they unload trucks in video Sam shot. One worker holds a turkey to be crushed under a truck's moving tires just for the heck of it; others pull heads and legs off turkeys for fun. Workers insert their fingers into birds' cloacae (vaginal cavities), remove eggs and throw them at each other in a depraved game. Because turkeys are drugged and bred to grow so quickly, their legs can't support their own weight and many arrive with broken and dislocated limbs says Sam. When you try to remove them from their crates, their legs twist completely around, offering no resistance — useless and limp. The turkeys must be in a lot of pain but they don't cry out, observes Sam. In fact the only sound you hear as you hang them, he says, is the "trucks being washed out to go back and get a new load." Most people admit they don’t want to watch laws or 40 pound Thanksgiving turkey carcasses made. Nor do they want to watch a helpless turkey unceremoniously fed into a wood chipper behind Sarah Palin's head as KTUU TV broadcast. But will they eat the same bird when it is passed to them on a plate next to mashed potatoes on Thursday? You betcha.

There is nothing that indicts human beings more than the way other species are treated by the species that does know better! Do your soul a favor, make today the last time you eat meat! Kewe

Pig sprayed with paint for fun

Pig sow confined with open sore

Baby pigs heads slammed against floor

Click here to watch or download Disturbing PETA video of providing pig meat to Hormel Workers slamming piglets on floors and leaving them still wriggling to die Workers beating animals to death with metal rods Workers inserting rods into sows' hindquarters

Roots of the food crisis

November 21, 2007 The Thanksgiving People Don't Want to See Undercover at a Turkey Slaughtering Plant By MARTHA ROSENBERG

The alarms rings at 3:45 AM. I reach for the ibuprofen. Without it my hands are too sore and swollen to even close....much less hold a turkey's legs. Wearing a pair of rubber gloves, cotton gloves and taping them doesn't help when you're banging into shackles all day. The flesh is still raw and exposed. I dress with the video cam that's become part of my daily outfit carefully hidden and fortify myself with enough food to get through the work day. When we arrive at House of Raeford the trucks full of live turkeys are already waiting to be unloaded; it's not even 5:30 AM. N o begins the diary of "Sam" — not his real name — who worked as an undercover investigator for Mercy For Animals (MFA), a national, not for profit animal advocacy organization, earlier this year while employed as a "live hanger" at House of Raeford's turkey slaughterhouse in Raeford, North Carolina. House of Raeford Farms Inc., (HORF) headquartered in Raeford is the seventh largest turkey producer in the U.S. with seven facilities in North and South Carolina and Louisiana where it breeds, slaughters and processes chickens and turkeys. While slaughtering turkeys is no one's first choice of work, House of Raeford has an especially checkered past. In 2003 a chlorine gas leak at HORF's Rose Hill chicken plant killed worker Bruce Glover, 39.

The following year an ammonia spill at the same plant forced the evacuation of two towns. And last year HORF employee Pedro P. Amaya, 42, was found shot to death in the mobile home he shared with three other poultry workers; the apparent motive robbery, including theft of $60 of pain pills. No recognition of a turkey or chicken being alive or capable of pain A "live hanger" culture exists in slaughter plants says Sam in which there is no recognition of a turkey or chicken being alive or capable of pain. As they unloaded trucks, workers routinely threw birds from one tier to another, letting them fall 20 feet, swung them around by their feet, "boxed" them as they hung upside down and held them under truck wheels to be crushed. Workers pulled heads and legs off turkeys when they were stuck in crates and when they weren't — just for the hell of it. Workers even sexually abused the birds — inserting their fingers into their cloacae (vaginal cavities) and removing eggs they would throw at each other. Current turkey farming methods, birds that arrived already injured Thanks to current turkey farming methods, the birds that arrived were already injured. "There were 100 turkeys and chickens dead upon arrival today, many missing feathers with open wounds and with large sores on their feet" writes Sam in his investigator's diary on January 12, 2007. "I saw a chicken with an abscess on her left leg about the size of a tennis ball and another chicken whose right leg was mashed to the point of bloody pulp and [she was still] hanged by both legs to go down the line." Modern turkeys are drugged and bred to grow so quickly that their legs can't support their own weight and many arrived with legs and knees broken or dislocated says Sam. Their legs would twist completely around, offering no resistance, limp When you tried to remove them from their crates, their legs would twist completely around, offering no resistance, limp. The turkeys must have been in a lot of pain reflects Sam, though they don't cry out. In fact the only sound you hear as you hang them is the "trucks being washed out to go back and get a new load."

The same day Mercy For Animals released its undercover video, Denny's, the US' largest full service restaurant chain and a HORF turkey customer, announced it was suspending its supplier. House of Raeford also condemned the videotaped acts and promised an investigation. Inherently cruel, exposing animals to great pain and regularly boiling them alive But there is no record that Hoke County prosecutor Kristy Newton launched an investigation or brought cruelty-to-animal charges. Nor did HORF customer Arby's ever acknowledge the videotaped atrocities. As exposes at Pilgrim's Pride, KFC's supplier, Tyson Foods, Perdue and Butterball have revealed, the system of live hanging and conveying birds through a stunner, blade and scalder is inherently cruel, exposing animals to great pain and regularly boiling them alive. Controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK) — a system in which birds are left in their transport crates while oxygen is replaced with nitrogen or argon — is considered more humane and in use in Europe. Am I really that hungry? But another humane alternative is for people to look at the struggling and terrified turkeys hanging upside down and ask themselves: am I really that hungry? Martha Rosenberg is staff cartoonist on the Evanston Roundtable. She can be reached at mrosenberg [at] evmark .org

slide cursor here Brazilian government is sponsoring construction of a 1,100-mile roadway into dying Amazon for Mulitnational Corporations. Much of the world's soya production goes to feed animals living in unspeakable horror in intensive farming compounds. Animals tortured for eating by humans. Soybean production for intensive farmed animal eating is also destroying the remaining large rainforest of Earth, the Sumatra Indonesia rainforest.

They do not allow their citizens to accustom themselves to the butchering of animals, by the practice of which they think that mercy, the finest feeling of our human nature, is gradually killed off. See below after photographs of abused animals

Published on Friday, August 19, 2005 by CommonDreams.org The idea that a chicken might be of value to the chicken is an idea that must not be thought. by Andrew Christie Leaving its trademark trail of outrage, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has been touring a national exhibit asking "Are Animals the New Slaves?"

slide cursor here The outdoor display, in the words of the New Haven Register, consists of "photographs of people, mostly black Americans, being tortured, sold and killed, next to photographs of animals, including cattle and sheep, being tortured, sold and killed." Pictures of Jews in concentration camps with numbers tattooed on their arms are juxtaposed with monkeys subjected to medical experiments, tattooed likewise. Children working their lives away in 19th-century factories are seen next to pigs and chickens exploited in present-day factory farms. So, naturally, outrage ensues. When the exhibit came to a Connecticut street corner one day in early August, the New Haven Register editorialized: "If you care about animals more than people, the comparison may seem apt.... There is little common ground for agreement if PETA sees the slaughter of livestock for food as the same as the lynching of blacks or the extermination of millions of people in Europe." Passers-by apparently agreed. The head of the state chapter of the NAACP showed up on the scene, said "black people are being pimped," and told organizers to take down the exhibit. A brother shouted in the face of a PETA volunteer: "You can't compare me to a freaking cow!"

Two years ago, the Anti-Defamation League was likewise livid when a PETA display drew parallels between mass animal slaughter and the Holocaust (including the uncomfortable fact that the design of Auschwitz was based on the Chicago slaughterhouse system), though Isaac Bashevis Singer had long ago made the same observation with no fear of inappropriate equivalencies. The exhibit has now been pulled and PETA is "evaluating feedback." Is PETA right? Before pondering that, let us turn to the entity that is currently crafting the most incisive, devastating media critique of our cultural moment currently on view, one almost too painful to watch. I refer, of course, to Carl's Jr. — or, more precisely, to Carl's Jr.'s ad agency, Mendelsohn Zien. Last July, the Santa Barbara News-Press asked Carl's Jr. CEO Andrew Puzder about complaints concerning his company's "edgy" ads — including "soft-porn images of a sexy babe gyrating on a mechanical bull or Paris Hilton washing a Bentley while barely dressed" — and his company's current campaign encouraging viewers to think of animals as too dumb to live ("There's only one thing chickens are good for"). Puzder's reply, that the ads are "not intended to insult or demean anybody," would not seem to merit response, but it's worth noting that these ads are all of a piece and in fact insult and demean one more group beyond the obvious: The 18-to-34-year-old male demographic they're aimed at. They all send an unmistakable message: We know what level to reach you on. Women and animals are here for your pleasure. Use them. New Slaves PETA got it wrong in New Haven in only one respect: Animals are not "the new slaves." They're the first ones. They're the ones who got the worst a dominator culture had to offer, and the worst has lately gotten much worse, as a quick tour through a Confined Animal Feeding Operation will demonstrate to anyone in possession of two or three of his senses and lacking a vested interest in the company's quarterly profit statement.

The larger lesson of Darwin (there are no superior species, only differently adapted ones) has not yet sunk in. Instead, we are still ruled in every way that matters by the medieval Great Chain of Being, on which we placed ourselves one rung below the angels and far above all other manner of beaste, most low, foule and uncleane. When a black man in New Haven sees images of his ancestors and a cow side by side, equally mistreated and commodified, he is conditioned to see only the comparative sullying of his godliness. Not the cruelty that is the lot of sentient beings who have no rights. He fears he will be cast down by the implication that the lot of the oppressed should be raised up. Historically, he is not alone. That was the deepest fear of his ancestors' owners in the ante-bellum South. It was the fear of men confronted by women's suffrage. It was the fear of our founding fathers, the white male land owners who, in drafting the Constitution, struggled to find a way to exclude the rabble from too much participation in the democratic experiment. The better to keep the levers in the hands of the right sort of people while giving the others just enough by way of social rewards to keep them controllable. Changing those paradigms were (and are) hard fights. But the animal rights movement is fighting 10,000 years of cultural conditioning. (Memo to the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic: it's like The Matrix, dudes.) And the tendency of the disenfranchised, in the words of Howard Zinn, to fall upon each other "with such vehemence and violence as to obscure their common position as sharers of leftovers in a very wealthy country." Safe, predictable outrage Thus the good people of New Haven recoil, the NAACP shouts at PETA, and the pundits trot out safe, predictable outrage, using generations of conditioning to studiously miss the point.

It's a fight amongst ourselves on a deeper level than usual. It misses not only the fact of our increasing disenfranchisement but the dysfunctional ways in which the disproportionately distributed wealth is produced by a system that is impoverishing the Earth and our ethical sense alike. One of that system's most fundamental control measures persuades people that in their visceral rejection of the truth PETA is laying down, they are standing up for their dignity and humanity. When, in reality, they are defending a system in which commonality of suffering is not on the agenda. The members of only a single species have any right to life, liberty and freedom from harm. A chicken is of value only as a sandwich. And the idea that a chicken might be of value to the chicken is an idea that must not be thought. Andrew Christie is an environmental activist in San Luis Obispo, CA Common Dreams © 1997-2006

Oxford UniversityTorture factory for animals The story so far: At the beginning of 2004, Oxford University claimed that the site on South Parks Rd was to be an 'Animal Hotel'. They said that "no experiments would be carried out there and there would be no primates". These statements were to mark the start of a series of lies and misinformation that has proven to be the norm for Oxford University. Oxford University later issued a statement which contradicted their initial claims, finally admitting that "the facility will be used to experiment on animals".

Oxford University believes it has no reason to inform the outside world about the nature of animal experiments carried out within its facilities. A closer look at their research on animals at the university reveals exactly why they are so desperate to keep the lid on the new lab. An experiment published in Nature in 2002 described how ten week old kittens had one eye sewn together and had a part of their skull removed to expose the brain. In 2003 another published paper highlights the long-term nature of animal suffering inside Oxford University. artificially produced brain damage. Artificially produced brain damage Three Rhesus Macaque monkeys with artificially produced brain damage were subjected to a variety of tests. Two of the monkeys involved in this experiement had part of their brains removed ten years previously whey they were five years old. A leading Oxford Professor claimed that the monkeys experimented on lived "the life of Riley" and that "there was no pain or stress." These words are from a researcher who has routinely inflicted brain damage on highly intelligent and sensitive creatures and who's own published papers describe how after on experiment the monkeys required 'intensive nursing' to keep them alive. Oxford University has sought to impose a draconian injunction on those involved in a legal and peaceful campaign against the new animal lab on South Park Rd in order to stop them highlighting the lies told by the University.

slide cursor here 'Asset' The London Times newspaper reported that police had investigated a case of cruelty against a leading professor at Oxford University. The article stated that the professor had refused to have a monkey that was suffering put out of its misery because he described it as an 'asset'. This intransigence persisted despite please from the university's own vet to end the animal's suffering. It was only after a direct intervention by the Home Office that this poor creature's torment was ended.

Help us to stop the animal cruelty at Oxford University "The animal testing regime...is utterly futile" Professor Sir Michael Rawlins Chairman, National Institute of Clinical Excellence, 2003 SPEAK The Voice for the Animals

WELCOME TO ABUSE Animal Abuse Investigating and preventing animal rights extremism and eco-terrorism is one of the FBI's highest priorities

Give turkeys something to be thankful for this year ...end the tradition of cruelty

killing turkeys with an iron pole http://portland.indymedia.org/ November 25, 2004 author: macaque Over 300 million turkeys are killed every year in the United States, 40 million of them specifically for Thanksgiving. The majority of these are raised in factory farms where they are stacked in cages in windowless sheds where they can't live naturally (or happily) in any sense of the word. Often they cannot move, and many die in the conditions before they are fully grown. They are debeaked and declawed without anesthesia, making it difficult or even impossible for them to eat, and research shows that they feel the pain of this for the rest of their lives. Those who survive are fed until they are grotesquely obese and cannot stand because their skeletons are too weak from confinement. Over-burdened in this way, and trapped in close quarters with too little oxygen, many turkeys die when their hearts explode from the physical stress. The birds are unable to reproduce naturally in these conditions, and the males are "milked" for their semen, which is then shot into the females with a syringe or tube. Turkeys do not receive even the scant protection given to pigs and cows by the Humane Slaughter Act and many are tied upside down still alive and conveyed to the part of the factory where they are knifed. Not all die right away and suffer unspeakably by bleeding slowly to death. Have a conversation with the "Chimpanzee Lady": Jane Goodall on Animals, the Environment and her Life http://www.idausa.org/

Turkeys tortured while being beaten to death A still accepted way of killing tukeys

Broiler Chickens The broiler chicken industry produces 6 billion chickens a year for slaughter. This industry is ruled by only 60 companies which have created an oligopoly. Broiler chickens are selectively bred and genetically altered to produce bigger thighs and breasts, the parts in most demand. This breeding creates birds so heavy that their bones cannot support their weight, making it difficult for them to stand. The birds are bred to grow at an astonishing rate, reaching their market weight of 3 1/2 pounds in seven weeks. Broilers are raised in overcrowded broiler houses instead of cages to prevent the occurrence of bruised flesh which would make their meat undesirable. Their beaks and toes are cut off and the broiler houses are usually unlit to prevent fighting among the birds.

Pigs in slaughterhouse The pigs you see on the floor are still alive. You can download the actual movie this picture was taken from, link at bottom of page. Factory Farming Our society is showered with images of happy animals living on farms where the cows graze in lush green fields and the chickens have the run of the barnyard. This vision of free-roaming animals living out their days in sunny fields is very far from the reality. A majority of the animals that are raised for food live miserable lives in intensive confinement in dark, overcrowded facilities, commonly called "factory farms." The Evolution of Factory Farms Factory farming began in the 1920s soon after the discovery of vitamins A and D. When these vitamins are added to feed, animals no longer require exercise and sunlight for growth. This allowed large numbers of animals to be raised indoors year-round. The greatest problem that was faced in raising these animals indoors was the spread of disease, which was combated in the 1940s with the development of antibiotics. Farmers found they could increase productivity and reduce the operating costs by using mechanization and assembly-line techniques. Malformed turkeys are not an uncommon site in U.S. farming today. Incredible pain and suffering for the animals Unfortunately, this trend of mass production has resulted in incredible pain and suffering for the animals. Animals today raised on factory farms have had their genes manipulated and pumped full of antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals to encourage high productivity. In the food industry, animals are not considered animals at all; they are food producing machines. They are confined to small cages with metal bars, ammonia-filled air and artificial lighting or no lighting at all. They are subjected to horrible mutilations: beak searing, tail docking, ear cutting and castration. Even the most minimum humane standards proposed are thwarted by the powerful food conglomerates.

Beating a turkey to death with a crowbar is an acceptable practice in U.S. farming of animals Still not illegal

98% of turkeys in Britain, Europe, and the US are factory farmed. In the wild, Turkeys can live as long as 10 years. They spend their lives roosting in trees and flying at up to fifty miles per hour. These valued lives that humans breed, are killed when just a few weeks old. Their short lives are filled with pain and misery. All turkeys get for Thanksgiving and Christmas is a terrifying, violent, death. Factory-farmed turkeys are fattened up so quickly that often their legs cannot support them. They collapse and try to drag themselves along on their wings. Tens of thousands die because they cannot get to food and water points. They are often so fat their hearts can actually explode. Most birds are fed a cocktail of antibiotics to keep them alive yet diseases run rife in the filthy conditions. Male turkeys are bred to be so big they are unable to mate naturally. They have to be clamped upside down and their seed taken by a farm-worker, collected and forcibly injected into the females. To stop them cannibalising each other in the cramped, unnatural conditions, turkeys have their beaks sliced off, which can leave them in permanent pain. At the slaughterhouse, most are hung upside down and dragged through an electrified waterbath to stun them. It often does not work and many birds are fully conscious when their throats are cut. Some are even alive when they are plunged into boiling water to loosen their feathers. Others may be killed by gassing; often birds gasp and flap violently for several minutes.

Around 10 billion farm animals are killed every year by US meat, egg, and dairy industries. The estimated number of animals killed for research every year is 20 million to 30 million, a mere 0.3 of that number. In the United States, there is no federal law governing the welfare of animals on the farm. Federal law begins only at the slaughterhouse. Most states with major animal industries have written into their anticruelty laws exemptions for ''common farming practices." If something is a common farming practice, it is, according to these states, not cruel, and you can't prosecute anyone for doing it. Together these last two points mean that any common farming practice is legal. If you hear farm industry lobbyists trying to tell you that there is no problem in the United States because unhappy animals would not be productive, ask them how it can be good for a hen to be kept with four or five other hens in a cage so small she couldn't stretch her wings even if she had the whole cage to herself. Peter Singer August 20, 2005 Boston Globe

Have a conversation with the "Chimpanzee Lady": Jane Goodall
on Animals, the Environment and her Life

BBC — July 22, 2004 Stamping on chickens — throwing them about the slaughterhouse An investigator for Peta, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, secretly recorded workers at the plant between October and May. The group said footage showed staff stamping on the chickens, kicking them and throwing them about the slaughterhouse. Its investigator also saw workers "ripping birds' beaks off, spray painting their faces, twisting their heads off, spitting tobacco into their mouths and eyes, tying their legs together for 'laughs'," Peta added. The group is calling on state prosecutors to charge the workers and managers with animal cruelty. Peta said it selected the plant because it is a major supplier to KFC, a long-time target of the group. Exhausted abused turkey on floor www.news24.com November 23 2004 'KFC' tortures chickens Hanoi — An American animal rights activist has been detained in Vietnam after holding a protest outside the Ho Chi Minh City branch of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. Jason Baker, 32, Asia Director of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), and Australian Noah Mark sat in a cage outside a KFC restaurant holding signs in Vietnamese and English that read "KFC Tortures Chickens", according to Mark, who was not detained. Following the 20 minute protest the two men say they were physically harassed by KFC employees. Police then intervened seizing Baker, two KFC employees and two Vietnamese nationals who were friends of the protestors but not directly involved in the event. Baker, speaking by mobile phone from the local police station, said he had not yet been charged or telephoned his consulate. Communist Vietnam requires prior permission be granted for all protests. 'I knew it was a risk' "I've done similar things in Beijing and Singapore. I knew it was a risk but I thought it was a risk worth taking." Mark said the protest was one of a series in Asia in Peta's Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign. He said KFC raises and slaughters 750 million chickens worldwide each year. He said the fast food giant employed cruel methods including treating the chickens with growth promoting hormones that leave them so oversized that if they attempt to stand they will break their legs. The method of animal slaughter was to basically boil them alive, he said. Baker said the protest campaign was launched after KFC's senior management continued to stall negotiations over introducing more humane practices. The campaign follows victories over McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's — all of which bowed to Peta pressure to reduce cruel treatment of animals raised and slaughtered for food, the group said in a statement released before the protest. "This is just to show them that KFC can't hide. Wherever they are Peta will be there to protest," Baker said. He said the next protest was likely to be in the Philippines.

Factory Farms Blamed for Spread of Bird Flu A vet inspects a duck farm in southwestern France. Factory farming and the international poultry trade are largely responsible for the spread of bird flu, and wild birds are being unfairly blamed for the disease, a new report says. The report says the deadly H5N1 virus developed inside intensive poultry units in Asia and has proliferated through exports of live birds and the use of chicken droppings as fertilizer. Its publication by Grain, an agricultural pressure group, follows an announcement that the virus has been found in a turkey farm in eastern France. Though the farm was close to where two infected wild ducks were found, all its 11,000 turkeys were kept indoors with no contact with wild birds. Dissident scientists accept that the flu began in wild birds, but say it developed in the cramped conditions of Asian factory farms. Research published in the official journal of the US National Academy of Sciences blames the poultry trade for the virus spreading from China to Vietnam. BirdLife, a charity, says the virus's spread across Russia last summer — widely attributed to migrating birds — took place when birds were molting and unable to fly. It adds that an outbreak in Nigeria took place on a factory farm far from migratory routes. By Geoffrey Lean 26 February 2006 The Independent UK

Free Vegetarian Starter Kit Meet Your Meat Popular Features SeaVegetariano.com Chickens are inquisitive and interesting animals and are thought to be as intelligent as mammals like cats and dogs and even primates. When in natural surroundings, not on factory farms, they form friendships and social hierarchies, recognize one another, love their young, and enjoy a full life, dust-bathing, making nests, roosting in trees, and more. Up until a few years ago, few scientists had spent any time learning about chickens’ intelligence, but people who run farmed animal sanctuaries have had plenty to say about the subtleties of the chicken world. It may seem odd, since we don’t know chickens very well, but it’s true that some chickens like classic rock, while others like classical music; some chickens enjoy human company, while others are standoffish, shy, or even a bit aggressive. Just like dogs, cats, and humans, each chicken is an individual with a distinct personality. Now, scientists are beginning to learn a bit more about chickens, and here’s what a few of them have to say: • Chickens are as smart as mammals, including some primates, according to animal behaviorist Dr. Chris Evans, who runs the animal behavior lab at Macquarie University in Australia and lectures on his work with chickens. He explains that, for example, chickens are able to understand that recently hidden objects still exist, which is actually beyond the capacity of small children. Discussing chickens’ various capacities, he says, "As a trick at conferences I sometimes list these attributes, without mentioning chickens, and people think I'm talking about monkeys." • Dr. Joy Mench, professor and director of the Center for Animal Welfare at the University of California at Davis explains, “Chickens show sophisticated social behavior. … That’s what a pecking order is all about. They can recognize more than a hundred other chickens and remember them. They have more than thirty types of vocalizations.” • In her bookThe Development of Brain and Behaviour in the Chicken, Dr. Lesley Rogers, a professor of neuroscience and animal behavior, concludes that chickens have cognitive capabilities equivalent to mammals. • Dr. Christine Nicol of the University of Bristol explains, “Chickens have shown us they can do things people didn’t think they could do. There are hidden depths to chickens, definitely.” A Few Examples of Chicken Capabilities • The video “Let’s Ask the Animals,” produced by the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour in the United Kingdom, shows chickens learning which bowls contain food by watching television, learning to peck a button three times in order to obtain food, and learning how to navigate a complex obstacle course in order to get to a nesting box. • In 2002, the PBS documentary The Natural History of the Chicken revealed that “[c]hickens love to watch television and have vision similar to humans. They also seem to enjoy all forms of music, especially classical.” • Chickens are able to learn by watching the mistakes of others and are very adept at teaching and learning. • Chickens also can learn to use switches and levers to change the temperature in their surroundings and to open doors to feeding areas. • Chickens have more than 30 distinct cries to communicate to one another, including separate alarm calls depending on whether a predator is traveling by land or sea. • A mother hen will turn her eggs as many as five times an hour and cluck to her unborn chicks, who will chirp back to her and to one another from within their shells! • Chickens navigate by the sun. • A hen will often go without food and water, if necessary, just to have a private nest in which to lay her eggs. • Like us, chickens form strong family ties and mourn when they lose a loved one. • Kim Sturla, who runs Animal Place, a sanctuary for abused and discarded farmed animals, has seen chickens empathize and show affection for one another.

She recalls an endearing story about two elderly chickens who had been rescued from a city dump. “Mary” and “Notorious Boy” bonded and would roost on a picnic table together. One stormy night when the rain was really pelting down, Sturla went to put Mary and Notorious Boy in the barn and saw that “the rooster had his wing extended over the hen protecting her.” Save the Chickens Chickens raised for food in the U.S. are denied all their natural behaviors and desires. They are crammed by the tens of thousands into sheds that stink of ammonia fumes from accumulated waste; they are given barely enough room even to move (each bird lives in the amount of space equivalent to a standard sheet of paper). They routinely suffer broken bones from being bred to be top heavy, from callous handling (workers roughly grab birds by their legs and stuff them into crates), and from being shackled upside-down at slaughterhouses. Chickens are often still fully conscious when their throats are slit or when they are dumped into tanks of scalding hot water to remove their feathers. When they’re killed, chickens are still babies, not yet 2 months old, out of a natural life span of 10 to 15 years. The average American meat-eater is responsible for the abuse and deaths of approximately 2,500 chickens. Refuse to support cruelty to animals. click here for a free vegetarian starter kit.

Animal rights dude in shed of confined chickens cooped in cages in New Zealand

Hens not able to walkconfined in cagesNotice the lack of feathers

'ALF' freeing a lucky chicken

A.L.F. activists are not interested in self-aggrandizement or martyrdom — they are interested in being effective. Unlike many other direct action activists, the A.L.F. does not engage in symbolic actions designed to increase public awareness, but calculated attacks of sabotage meant to cripple, disrupt and eventually eradicate industries of exploitation. The A.L.F. does not disagree with the symbolic direct action activists, but they do recognize that different tactics are needed for different movements and in order for the A.L.F. to carry on their campaigns of compassion, they must remain free. Furthermore, A.L.F. activists know they risk their freedom, and possibly their lives, on every mission they take — yet they accept those risks and are prepared to make those sacrifices if it will help save innocent animals from the hands of their tormentors. To liberate animals from places of abuse, ie laboratories, factory farms, fur farms, etc, and place them in good homes where they may live out their natural lives, free from suffering. To inflict economic damage to those who profit from the misery and exploitation of animals. To reveal the horror and atrocities committed against animals behind locked doors, by performing non-violent direct actions and liberations. To take all necessary precautions against harming any animal, human and non-human. Any group of people who are vegetarians or vegans and who carry out actions according to A.L.F. guidelines have the right to regard themselves as part of the A.L.F. The Animal Liberation Front consists of small autonomous groups of people all over the world who carry out direct action according to the A.L.F. guidelines. Our cell puts out a call to action; the efforts of the government and industry shall not frustrate our efforts for total liberation. When Government fails we shall be their to rescue animals lives and make abusers lives hell. The hens that were liberated are now living free and happy lives.

Auckland Animal Action (AAA) have been informed that early yesterday morning, animal rights activists liberated 21 hens from Somerdale Poultry Lodge, a battery egg farm located at 4 Logan Road, Buckland, south of Auckland. Activists took video footage and photographs of the farm, detailing the horrendous conditions that 2.8 million hens are forced to endure in New Zealand every year. Documents taken from a shed on the farm, show that this is a Golden Harvest Poultry farm, owned by Gerade Van Den Bogart, who has previous convictions for animal cruelty. “They were in plastic battery cages where their feet hung through the gaps. Consequently their claws had grown excessively long to enable them to grip the cage bottom. It is obvious that this caused them extreme discomfort. “We are pleased that 21 hens have been removed from the farm and placed in homes where they will live their lives free from suffering. Unlike the thousands left behind, these hens will be able to do normal things like walk and stretch their wings. “They will get to see the sun and perform natural behaviours such as pecking, scratching in the ground, making nests, foraging for food and even having dust baths.” http://www.aucklandanimalaction.org.nz/ http://www.indymedia.org.nz/ Vegi Vegi Thinking of becoming a vegetarian? This witty site on all things vegetarian provides lots of food-supply and nutrition information

http://www.viva.org.uk

http://www.viva.org.uk/christmas

Monday, 26 January 2004 Parrot's oratory stuns scientists By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to communicate with people has brought scientists up short. The bird, a captive African grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of 950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour.

N'kisi on chairback Feathered prodigy: N'kisi leads the field Picture: Grace Roselli He invents his own words and phrases if he is confronted with novel ideas with which his existing repertoire cannot cope - just as a human child would do. N'kisi's remarkable abilities feature in the latest BBC Wildlife Magazine. N'kisi is believed to be one of the most advanced users of human language in the animal world. About 100 words are needed for half of all reading in English, so if N'kisi could read he would be able to cope with a wide range of material. Polished wordsmith He uses words in context, with past, present and future tenses, and is often inventive. One N'kisi-ism was "flied" for "flew", and another "pretty smell medicine" to describe the aromatherapy oils used by his owner, an artist based in New York. When he first met Dr Jane Goodall, the renowned chimpanzee expert, after seeing her in a picture with apes, N'kisi said: "Got a chimp?"

N'kisi with picture card and teacher School's in: He is a willing learner Picture: Grace Roselli He appears to fancy himself as a humourist. When another parrot hung upside down from its perch, he commented: "You got to put this bird on the camera." Dr Goodall says N'kisi's verbal fireworks are an "outstanding example of interspecies communication". In an experiment, the bird and his owner were put in separate rooms and filmed as the artist opened random envelopes containing picture cards. Analysis showed the parrot had used appropriate keywords three times more often than would be likely by chance. Captives' frustrations This was despite the researchers discounting responses like "What ya doing on the phone?" when N'kisi saw a card of a man with a telephone, and "Can I give you a hug?" with one of a couple embracing. Professor Donald Broom, of the University of Cambridge's School of Veterinary Medicine, said: "The more we look at the cognitive abilities of animals, the more advanced they appear, and the biggest leap of all has been with parrots." Alison Hales, of the World Parrot Trust, told BBC News Online: "N'kisi's amazing vocabulary and sense of humour should make everyone who has a pet parrot consider whether they are meeting its needs. "They may not be able to ask directly, but parrots are long-lived, and a bit of research now could mean an improved quality of life for years." All images courtesy and copyright of Grace Roselli. MMVII

Have a conversation with the "Chimpanzee Lady": Jane Goodall
on Animals, the Environment and her Life

Hens are routinely packed into small cages as they are being transported, many only half alive.

Layer Chickens There are about 250 million hens in U.S. egg factories that supply 95% of the eggs in the country. In these facilities the birds are held in battery cages that are very small with slanted wire floors which cause severe discomfort and foot deformation. Between five and eight birds are crammed in cages only 14 square inches in size. Since the birds have no room to act naturally, they become very aggressive and attack the other birds in their cage. To help combat this behavior, the birds have their beaks seared off at a young age. The chicks are sorted at birth and newborn males are separated and suffocated in trash bags. The layer hens are subjected to constant light to encourage greater egg production. At the end of their laying cycle they are either slaughtered or forced to molt by water and food deprivation, which shocks them into another layer cycle. Many birds become depleted of minerals because of this excessive egg production and either die from fatigue or can no longer produce eggs and are sent to the slaughterhouse.

Hen, beaks cut, caged in the smallest of space.Unable to move except for the constant shifting of their body — to try to relieve the stress. lcheryl: Help — four of my 24 hens are practically naked on their backs. They are only ten months old too young for molting. Now the other hens won't leave them alone! As soon as they start to grow new feathers the others pluck them out! Is my only answer to isolate them until they regrow their feathers? How long should that take? Are my other hens bored or do they need protein? By Mr. Red Chickenhawk Dear lcheryl: A good question. There are several factors that need to be considered here. Is there adequate space for each bird? Are they unnecessarily cramped? Are you feeding them a well balanced ration where they will get all the nutrients thay may need? Are the hens all the same variety and approximately the same age? Has this been going on since they were young or just started? Do you have a rooster? Are you located in an area that would have grass or green material available at this time? Do they get enough light and ventilation? All of these things can contribute to the problem. Correcting any of these may help. Giving the hens something new to eat will sometimes get them unbored, such as scratch grain given as a treat or lots of lawn clippings or lettuce leaves or other free greens from the local produce market might help. www.the-coop.org

Calf trapped, about to have horns savagely cut

http://www.idausa.org/ Veal Calves The veal industry is notorious for the cruel confinement of calves. Calves are kept in small crates which prevent movement inhibit muscle growth so their flesh will be tender. They are also fed a diet deficient of iron to keep their flesh pale and appealing to the consumer. Veal calves spend each day confined alone with no companionship and are deprived of light for a large portion of their four-month lives.

The American animal movement has shifted toward targeting corporations rather than the legislatures. For example, in 2001, the organization Viva! launched a campaign accusing Whole Foods of selling inhumanely raised duck meat. Whole Foods responded by exploring the issue and setting new companywide standards for raising ducks. Other sets of standards will follow by 2008, Whole Foods plans to have in place a set of standards for all the species of farm animals it sells. By addressing an individual corporation, animal rights activists are hoping that other retailers will follow suit and this pressure will influence legislation changes in the United States. Judged by the standards of other developed countries, over recent decades the United States has done little to improve the protection of the vast majority of animals. We should direct our energies to reducing the suffering of farm animals and put pressure on our corporations and our legislatures, both state and federal, to bring the United States at least up to the standards of the European Union in our treatment of animals. Peter Singer August 20, 2005 Boston Globe

Young steer calf about to be savagely branded

Still alive, while hanging. Dairy Cows Dairy cows are bred today for high milk production. For cows who are injected with Bovine Growth Hormone, their already high rate of milk production is doubled. Half of the cows in the national dairy herd are raised in intensive confinement, where they suffer emotionally from being socially deprived and being prohibited from natural behavior. Dairy cows produce milk for about 10 months after giving birth so they are impregnated continuously to keep up the milk flow. Female calves are kept to replenish the herd and male calves are usually sent to veal crates where they live a miserable existence until their slaughter. When cows become unable to produce adequate amounts of milk they are sent to slaughter so money can be made from their flesh. The cows are kept in a holding facility where they are fed, watered and have their waste removed mechanically and are allowed out only twice a day to be milked by machines.

March 22, 2007 That Steak and the Hole in Your Head This is Your Brain on Meat By MICKEY Z

The March 21, 2007 edition of the New York Times featured an article called "Prevalence of Alzheimer's Rises 10% in 5 Years." It began: "More than five million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, a 10 percent increase from the last official tally five years ago, and a number expected to more than triple by 2050." Alzheimer's disease, it seems, now afflicts 13% of people 65 and over, and 42% of those past 85. The piece also reported "the startling finding that 200,000 to 500,000 people younger than 65 have some form of early onset form of dementia, including a rare form of Alzheimer's disease that strikes people in their 30s and 40s." The Times adds: "Apart from early onset cases, the primary risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is age."

Watering the lettuce But, dear reader, there's a cow-shaped risk factor sitting in the corner-ignored by the newspaper of record (and essentially all major media outlets). And it's a very mad cow. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has earned the pithy nickname "mad cow disease" thanks to the invidious symptoms presented in affected cattle, i.e. staggering, tremors, involuntary muscle spasms, bewilderment, hypersensitivity to auditory and tactile stimuli, and other examples of seemingly "mad" behavior. Like BSE, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is also a transmissible, invariably fatal spongiform encephalopathy with a prolonged incubation period that leaves sponge-like holes in a victim's brain. CJD, however, is the human version and this includes a newly identified variant of CJD, linked to BSE in British cattle. "In humans," says author and environmentalist, Peter Montague, "the BSE-like disease is called 'new variant Creutzfeld-Jacob disease,' or nvCJD for short. CJD has been recognized for a long time as a rare disease of the elderly-very similar to Alzheimer's disease-but nvCJD is different. It has somewhat different symptoms, a different pattern of disintegration in the brain, and it strikes young people, even teenagers. Between 1995 and early 1998, at least 23 people died of nvCJD in Britain and at least one in France, the oldest of them age 42 and the youngest 15." (Yet the Times is "startled" by the rise in dementia in younger and younger people.)

All animals have the same parts "CJD robs victims of lucidity, control and life over a period ranging from six months to three years from the onset of symptoms, which can take from 10 to 40 years to manifest," writes journalist Gabe Kirchheimer. According to Nobel Prize winner Stanley B. Prusiner, fatal neurodegenerative diseases of animals and humans (like BSE and CJD) are thought to be caused by infectious proteins called "prions." Perhaps what is most disquieting about this hypothesis is that, unlike viruses and bacteria, prions remain infectious even after being baked at 680° F for on hour (enough to melt lead), bombarded with radiation, and/or soaked in formaldehyde, bleach, and boiling water. "CJD is 100 percent fatal," adds Kirchheimer. "There is no treatment or cure. As no blood test for the living is available, CJD has been definitively diagnosed only through brain biopsy." Studies cited by Kirchheimer indicate it is likely that "tens or even hundreds of thousands of people are dying right now of undiagnosed or misdiagnosed CJD." Government figures estimate approximately 200 to 300 cases of CJD have been diagnosed in the U.S. Before you take comfort in that modest figure, bear in mind the findings of John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton. The authors of Mad Cow USA learned that while some four million Americans (at the time) had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, autopsies revealed roughly 25% of alleged Alzheimer's deaths were caused instead by other forms of dementia. One percent of these misdiagnosed deaths have been ultimately attributed to CJD. If this trend is extrapolated and one percent of the now five million Americans with Alzheimer's actually have CJD (or nvCJD), the nationwide estimate rises dramatically from 200 to 50,000 cases.

Rump You do the math "It would be rather straightforward to design and execute significant studies to answer the urgent questions of which dementia diseases people have, and in what numbers, but to my knowledge no one in the scientific, medical or public health communities are even proposing this," says Stauber. "Especially now that we have found mad cow disease in the U.S., along with mad deer, mad elk, and mad sheep disease, we should be launching ongoing studies nation-wide to aggressively search for cases of CJD in the human population. We should be testing our human population for CJD; CJD should be made a carefully reported disease nationwide." How safe are Americans from being exposed to the human variant of mad cow disease? In France, a nation with only 5.7 million cows, 20,000 are tested each week with 153 found infected in the year 2000. Out of the nearly 40 million U.S. cattle slaughtered annually, only about 1000 are tested. You do the math. Kirchheimer concludes: "The growing number of British victims of 'new variant' CJD, mostly young people in their prime who contracted the brain sickness from tainted meat, is a grim precursor to an uncertain future." Mickey Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net/

Chemicals and Factory Farms Animals raised in confinement create an ideal setting for bacteria and disease to spread rapidly. Antibiotics were developed around the time of World War II and were soon adapted into the farming system. In the U.S., almost 50% of all antibiotics are administered to farm animals. These drugs form a toxic residue in animal tissue. It is much of this same tissue that is sold to consumers as food products. Each year, we see an increase in the number of salmonella poisoning cases from contaminated eggs, meat and milk. These strains of salmonella are difficult to treat because they are antibiotic resistant. Antibiotics are not the only chemicals administered to factory farm animals. Many animals are fed growth-promoting hormones, appetite stimulants and pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides and aflatoxins that collect in the animals' tissues and milk.

Falling crippled

Forced cowering onto floor

Newsday December 29, 2003 Brutal handling of down cattle By Wayne Pacelle Wayne Pacelle is a senior vice president of The Humane Society of the United States. The threat that mad cow disease poses to public health and the economic health of the agriculture industry is very real because of one primary fact: Congress, the Department of Agriculture and the American beef and dairy industry have knowingly allowed the slaughter of diseased cattle for human consumption. In particular, animal welfare and food consumer groups have long warned about the threat posed by “downer” animals — cattle too sick to stand or walk. Most downers are spent dairy cattle like the Holstein in Washington State that tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and are the most likely carriers of mad cow disease. The Agriculture Department itself has warned that downers “represent a significant pathway for spread of disease if they are not handled or disposed of with appropriate safeguards.” Despite this known threat, an average of only 10-15 percent of downers are tested for BSE in this country. Further, even the department’s chief veterinarian, Ron DeHaven, conceded on Friday that the United States does not have an adequate tracking system for cattle. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and beef industry representatives have blithely assured the public that our food supply is safe. But the claim is hollow. The department and Congress must share the blame — and face the fact — that the threat of mad cow disease can be strongly mitigated by not processing the meat of animals most likely to be carrying BSE. Each year, about 200,000 downer cattle are shipped to slaughter, a tiny fraction of the roughly 35 million butchered annually. To prevent a future BSE catastrophe and at the same time ensure more humane treatment, a law should be passed requiring all downed animals to be euthanized on the farm or feedlot instead of being sold and shipped to slaughter. Such a measure, pressed by Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Jamaica Estates), was approved last year in the House and Senate, but was killed in conference committee after the dairy industry lobbied against it. The Senate passed an even stronger measure this year but a conference committee again dominated by members obedient to the dairy and cattle industries defeated it once more. Brutal handling of downers The brutal handling of downers is one of the cruelest aspects of industrial agriculture. When sick animals collapse in the livestock trucks or the holding pens en route to slaughter, they are routinely beaten, shocked, dragged with chains or pushed with bulldozers. The 27 percent that don’t pass federal health inspection become living garbage, condemned to expire slowly and painfully, alone or on the death pile. Those that do pass enter the food supply. Upon discovering a single, aged dairy cow in Canada stricken with mad cow disease, veterinary authorities there called for banning the slaughter of downed cattle. That’s exactly the preventative action Veneman should have ordered months ago when the discovery of BSE in Canada signaled its virtually certain appearance here. Veneman needs to take immediate action. Euthanizing broken-down cattle instead of cruelly squeezing a few more dollars out of them is a small cost to bear for protecting our health, the animals and the nation’s economy.

Still alive.

Still alive http://www.meat.org/ Meat is Murder — by Dave Gifford A Visit to a Slaughterhouse When the suggestion was made that I visit a slaughterhouse to observe first-hand blatant infractions upon the rights of animals, I was very skeptical. The reason for my skepticism was that I felt a slaughterhouse did not present an example of cruelty far enough removed from everyday life to be poignant or relevant in a discussion of animal rights. I felt that I should be writing on something a little more esoteric or something considered cruel or immoral, such as the clubbing to death of baby seals. I was gravely mistaken. And the fact that what goes on inside a slaughterhouse is done because of the demand the vast majority of the American public has for the flesh of other living beings makes it all the more poignant and relevant. There is no convenient escape from guilt by association for what goes on inside a slaughterhouse as there is from the case of the baby seals in the Arctic. While it is easy for most of us to refrain from purchasing the goods for which seals were slain — thus incurring no guilt for their deaths — most people willingly (and thoughtlessly) eat the flesh of one type of animal or another whose life has been terminated within the walls of a slaughterhouse.

Calf resisting, pulling at restraint.

Calf completly frustrated, resisting, pulling at restraint. Suffering same symptoms of terror As I stepped from my car in the parking lot of the packing plant, the combination of sounds and smells emanating from the corrugated metal structure made me question whether or not this was something I really wanted to go through with. The first thing to hit my senses was the sound of cattle — not the pleasant bucolic mooing one might hear on a stroll down a country lane next to a small farm, but a rapid, frantic mooing. It was the kind of mooing I heard during a weekend stay at my uncle's dairy farm when one of the cows was attacked by stray dogs. Aside from the noise, the release of adrenaline in her body made the cow drool, and caused her nose to run so profusely that she briefly had difficulty breathing. At that moment in the parking lot, I could only sense discomfort in the sound of the cows, but later I discovered that each one awaiting slaughter in the chute leading to the "killing stall" was suffering the same symptoms of terror I witnessed at my uncle's farm.

Cattle are fully aware of what lies ahead, and are determined not to enter the killing stall The second thing I noticed was also a sound. As I walked toward the building, I heard the strange muffled whine that can only come from a saw cutting bone still encased in flesh. At this point I realized that I was not prepared for what I was about to experience. That feeling was intensified to the point of nausea when, as I walked closer, I caught my first whiff of the combination of smells that I would have to endure for the next few hours: the oddly sickening odor of newly slaughtered flesh still so warm from the life so recently removed that steam rises from it; the not so oddly nauseating stench of the sausage and hot dog meat boilers; and the quiet, cold reeking of flesh hanging, carcass after carcass, row upon row, in the freezer storage area. My imagination had prepared me a little bit for the visual experience, but I was entirely unprepared for the almost unbearable smell that permeated the entire plant. After brief "pleasantries" with Jerry, the production manager of the plant, I was allowed to procede through the building unguided and at my own pace. I began the tour "where it all starts", as Jerry put it, in the "kill shed". I entered the kill shed through a short, tunnel-like hall through which I could see what I soon learned was the third butchering station. The kill shed consisted of one room in which a number of operations are performed by one or two of six butchers at four stations along the length of the room. In the kill shed there is also a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspector who examines parts of every animal who goes through the kill shed. The first station is the killing station. It is worked by one man whose job is to herd the animal into the killing stall, slaughter him or her, and begin the butchering process. This stage of the process takes about ten minutes for each animal, and begins with the opening of a heavy steel door that separates the killing stall from the waiting chute. The man working this station must then go into a corridor adjacent to the waiting chute, and prod his next victim into the killing stall with a high-voltage electric cattle prod. Physical symptoms of terror were painfully evident on the faces of each and every animal This is the most time-consuming part of the operation because the cattle are fully aware of what lies ahead, and are determined not to enter the killing stall. The physical symptoms of terror were painfully evident on the faces of each and every animal I saw either in the actual killing stall or in the waiting chute. During the 40 seconds to a minute that each animal had to wait in the killing stall before losing consciousness, the terror became visibly more intense. The animal could smell the blood, and see his or her former companions in various stages of dismemberment. During the last few seconds of life, the animal thrashes about the stall as much as its confines allow. All four of the cows whose deaths I witnessed strained frantically, futilely, and pathetically towards the ceiling — the only direction that was not blocked by a steel door. Death came in the form of a pneumatic nail gun that was placed against their heads and fired.

Still alive? Depends on procedure The letting of blood is an acceptable human procedure while an animal the human is killing is still alive The gun is designed so that the nail never completely leaves the gun, but simply is blown into the animal's head and then pulled out by the butcher as the animal collapses. Three of the four times I saw it used, it did the job on the first try, but one cow struggled a good deal after collapsing. After the animal has collapsed, the side of the killing stall is raised, and a chain is secured to the right hind leg. The cow is then hoisted by that one leg to a hanging position. At this point, the butcher drains the body of blood by slitting the cow's throat. When the blood vessels are severed, there is an amazing torrent of blood so profuse that the butcher is unable to step aside fast enough to avoid being covered with it. This steaming torrent of blood lasts only about 15 seconds, after which the only task left to the man at the first station is to skin and remove the animal's head. At the second station in the kill shed, the headless animal is dropped to the floor. The body is propped up on the back and relieved of hooves and, if female, milk sack and udders. At this time, any urine and feces that didn't drain from the body during the first few seconds of death now pour freely onto the floor. The body is then slit down the middle, and the hide is peeled partially away. A yoke is then hooked to the stumps of the hind legs, the body is lifted upwards, and the rest of the hide is pulled past a roller secured to the floor and peeled off. The animal's body is now at the third station of the kill shed where it is gutted and then sawed in half — becoming two "sides of beef".

Has to be better way to feed ourselves The sides of beef are sprayed down and weighed at the fourth and final station of the kill station. They are then placed in the cooling locker where the residual warmth of life steams away slowly in preparation for the deep-freeze storage locker. From the cooling locker, the meat goes into a main storage area where it is kept for as long as a week. This locker exits to a butchering area where the sides of beef are reduced to parts for the supermarket which end up on dining room tables. The final stop on my tour was the sausage and hot dog production facilities. It is often said that if you could see what goes into a hot dog, you'd never eat one eat one again. Well that adage applies tenfold to the production of sausage. The most violently nauseating smell that I have ever experienced was the odor wafting up from the sausage meat boiling vats. As I left the complex, I was embarrassed about my previous skepticism, and I encourage anyone who has any of the doubts that I once possessed to make a visit to a slaughterhouse or spend a day at a factory farm. I think it would become clear that there has to be better way to feed ourselves, and that it is our duty as moral beings to pursue the alternatives. Dave Gifford is a student at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. This comment was reprinted from "The Forum", the school's student newspaper.

Pigs — many pigs become crazy with boredom It is estimated that 90% of all pigs raised for food are confined at some point in their lives. Pigs are highly social, affectionate and intelligent creatures, and suffer both physically and emotionally when they are confined in narrow cages where they cannot even turn around. Many pigs become crazy with boredom and develop vices like mouthing, and nervous ticks; others are driven to fighting and cannibalism because of their frustration. Pigs are born and raised inside buildings that have automated water, feed and waste removal. They don't see daylight until they are shipped for slaughter. Dust, dirt and toxic gases from the pigs' waste create an unsanitary environment that encourages the onset of a number of diseases and illnesses, including pneumonia, cholera, dysentery and trichinosis.

DELIVERING NEWS AND OPINION SINCE MAY 9, 2005 KATHY FRESTON01.18.2007

Vegetarian is the New Prius President Herbert Hoover promised "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage." With warnings about global warming reaching feverish levels, many are having second thoughts about all those cars. It seems they should instead be worrying about the chickens.

Last month, the United Nations published a report on livestock and the environment with a stunning conclusion: Most serious environmental problems "The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." It turns out that raising animals for food is a primary cause of land degradation, air pollution, water shortage, water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and not least of all, global warming. That's right, global warming. You've probably heard the story: emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are changing our climate, and scientists warn of more extreme weather, coastal flooding, spreading disease, and mass extinctions. It seems that when you step outside and wonder what happened to winter, you might want to think about what you had for dinner last night. Fifth of global warming emissions from livestock The U.N. report says almost a fifth of global warming emissions come from livestock (i.e., those chickens Hoover was talking about, plus pigs, cattle, and others) — that's more emissions than from all of the world's transportation combined.

For a decade now, the image of Leonardo DiCaprio cruising in his hybrid Toyota Prius has defined the gold standard for environmentalism. These gas-sipping vehicles became a veritable symbol of the consumers' power to strike a blow against global warming. Just think: a car that could cut your vehicle emissions in half — in a country responsible for 25% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions. Federal fuel economy standards languished in Congress, and average vehicle mileage dropped to its lowest level in decades, but the Prius showed people that another way is possible. Toyota could not import the cars fast enough to meet demand. Last year researchers at the University of Chicago took the Prius down a peg when they turned their attention to another gas guzzling consumer purchase. They noted that feeding animals for meat, dairy, and egg production requires growing some ten times as much crops as we'd need if we just ate pasta primavera, faux chicken nuggets, and other plant foods. On top of that, we have to transport the animals to slaughterhouses, slaughter them, refrigerate their carcasses, and distribute their flesh all across the country. Heat-trapping carbon dioxide Producing a calorie of meat protein means burning more than ten times as much fossil fuels — and spewing more than ten times as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide — as does a calorie of plant protein. The researchers found that, when it's all added up, the average American does more to reduce global warming emissions by going vegetarian than by switching to a Prius. According to the UN report, it gets even worse when we include the vast quantities of land needed to give us our steak and pork chops. Animal agriculture takes up an incredible 70% of all agricultural land, and 30% of the total land surface of the planet.

Slashing and burning the world's forests As a result, farmed animals are probably the biggest cause of slashing and burning the world's forests. Today, 70% of former Amazon rainforest is used for pastureland, and feed crops cover much of the remainder. These forests serve as "sinks," absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, and burning these forests releases all the stored carbon dioxide, quantities that exceed by far the fossil fuel emission of animal agriculture. As if that wasn't bad enough, the real kicker comes when looking at gases besides carbon dioxide — gases like methane and nitrous oxide, enormously effective greenhouse gases with 23 and 296 times the warming power of carbon dioxide, respectively. If carbon dioxide is responsible for about one-half of human-related greenhouse gas warming since the industrial revolution, methane and nitrous oxide are responsible for another one-third. These super-strong gases come primarily from farmed animals' digestive processes, and from their manure. 37% methane, 65% nitrous oxide In fact, while animal agriculture accounts for 9% of our carbon dioxide emissions, it emits 37% of our methane, and a whopping 65% of our nitrous oxide. It's a little hard to take in when thinking of a small chick hatching from her fragile egg. How can an animal, so seemingly insignificant against the vastness of the earth, give off so much greenhouse gas as to change the global climate? The answer is in their sheer numbers. The United States alone slaughters more than 10 billion land animals every year, all to sustain a meat-ravenous culture that can barely conceive of a time not long ago when "a chicken in every pot" was considered a luxury. Land animals raised for food make up a staggering 20% of the entire land animal biomass of the earth. We are eating our planet to death. What we're seeing is just the beginning, too. Meat consumption has increased five-fold in the past fifty years, and is expected to double again in the next fifty.

It sounds like a lot of bad news, but in fact it's quite the opposite. It means we have a powerful new weapon to use in addressing the most serious environmental crisis ever to face humanity. The Prius was an important step forward, but how often are people in the market for a new car? Now that we know a greener diet is even more effective than a greener car, we can make a difference at every single meal, simply by leaving the animals off of our plates. Good for our health — good for health of planet Who would have thought: what's good for our health is also good for the health of the planet! Going veg provides more bang for your buck than driving a Prius. Plus, that bang comes a lot faster. The Prius cuts emissions of carbon dioxide, which spreads its warming effect slowly over a century. A big chunk of the problem with farmed animals, on the other hand, is methane, a gas which cycles out of the atmosphere in just a decade. That means less meat consumption quickly translates into a cooler planet. Not just a cooler planet, also a cleaner one. Killing entire river and marine ecosystems Animal agriculture accounts for most of the water consumed in this country, emits two-thirds of the world's acid-rain-causing ammonia, and it the world's largest source of water pollution — killing entire river and marine ecosystems, destroying coral reefs, and of course, making people sick. Try to imagine the prodigious volumes of manure churned out by modern American farms: 5 million tons a day, more than a hundred times that of the human population, and far more than our land can possibly absorb. The acres and acres of cesspools stretching over much of our countryside, polluting the air and contaminating our water, make the Exxon Valdez oil spill look minor in comparison. All of which we can fix surprisingly easily, just by putting down our chicken wings and reaching for a veggie burger.

Doing so has never been easier. Recent years have seen an explosion of environmentally-friendly vegetarian foods. Even chains like Ruby Tuesday, Johnny Rockets, and Burger King offer delicious veggie burgers and supermarket refrigerators are lined with heart-healthy creamy soymilk and tasty veggie deli slices. Vegetarian foods have become staples at environmental gatherings, and garnered celebrity advocates like Bill Maher, Alec Baldwin, Paul McCartney, and of course Leonardo DiCaprio. Just as the Prius showed us that we each have in our hands the power to make a difference against a problem that endangers the future of humanity, going vegetarian gives us a new way to dramatically reduce our dangerous emissions that is even more effective, easier to do, more accessible to everyone and certainly goes better with french fries. Ever-rising temperatures, melting ice caps, spreading tropical diseases, stronger hurricanes... So, what are you do doing for dinner tonight? Check out www.VegCooking.com for great ideas, free recipes, meal plans, and more! Check out the environmental section of www.GoVeg.com for a lot more information about the harmful effect of meat-eating on the environment. Copyright 2007 © HuffingtonPost.com, Inc

Torture of animals for market and eating is gross abuse by us humanity, as caretakers of life on this planet www.guardian.co.uk October 19, 2003 Revealed: horror at Tesco pig farm By Antony Barnett and Andrew Wasley of The Observer The animals are in a pitiful condition. Many are confined to tiny pens, struggling to move; some look terrified, others have ulcerated lesions or cuts on their flesh. The corpse of a piglet rots alongside live sows. Maggots swarm over its decomposing flesh. A number of the animals are suffering from infections. Video footage taken inside the premises of one of the largest pork suppliers to Tesco, the supermarket giant, has revealed conditions described as 'appalling' by animal rights campaigners. No evidence of company breaking any legal welfare guidelines The scenes were uncovered at Cherry Tree Farm in Attlesborough, which is part of the giant Bowes of Norfolk group. Bowes supplies thousands of kilograms of pork, bacon and processed meat to Tesco each year. The video was shot in secret by animal rights group Vegetarians International Voice for Animals, Viva, as part of its long-running investigation into pig farming. Pigs are forced insane by this torture Although there is no evidence of the company breaking any legal welfare guidelines, the scenes show the brutal reality of intensive pig farming. Forced for weeks at a time Pregnant sows are held for weeks at a time in small farrowing crates — narrow metal cages only inches wider than the animal. The sows are unable to turn and can only stand up, lie down or suckle their piglets once they are born. Designed to maximise productivity, and ultimately drive down the cost of meat. The crates are designed to maximise productivity, and ultimately drive down the cost of meat. Campaigners, who say their use leads to severe stress and abnormal behaviour in pigs, are calling for them to be outlawed. Pressure groups argue the conditions show that Tesco's claims that its pork products come from animals enjoying a high standard of welfare are a 'deception'. Alistair Currie, campaigns officer at Viva, said: 'The scenes inside Bowes pig farm are bad even by the low standards of intensive pig farms and provided clear evidence of animals suffering appallingly. 'Bowes are leading suppliers of pork to one of Britain's top supermarket chains and claim to place emphasis on animal welfare. 'They should not therefore be rearing pigs in conditions like this for sale to the public.' No anesthetic given for cutting and castration This is your government not doing its work The findings will prove embarrassing to both Bowes and Tesco. On its website, Bowes boasts about holding RSPCA Freedom Food animal welfare accreditation, which is supposed to ensure that animals are reared free from discomfort, pain, injury and disease and have the freedom to express normal behaviour free of distress. Where is the RSPCA (Royal — as in Queen — Society for the Protection of 'cruelly' to Animals) protest? It turns out that only some Bowes facilities are backed by the RSPCA and Cherry Tree Farm has not won accreditation. Trevor Jarvis, chief executive of Bowes, who has examined the video, defended the standards of animal welfare at his farm. He said: 'We care immensely about the pigs at our farm ... The sores on the pigs were because the animals were ill, but they were being treated with medication. 'Sadly the pigs did not recover and were shot the next day.' Bowes supplies thousands of kilograms of pork, bacon and processed meat to Tesco each year This is the country that supposedly is up-in-arms about the cruelty of culling foxes by having dogs rip them apart Jarvis said the film was made in August on one of the hottest days of the year and therefore the pigs had been wallowing in mud to get cool, as they do in the wild. He said the animals were startled by the intruder at night shining lights into their eyes. Jarvis said the dead animals were stillborn. He said the sows had given birth at night, and the farmhands had not had a chance to remove the carcasses. He did accept that the farm was 'out of order' for allowing maggots to eat the flesh of one carcass. He said the farmhand responsible had been given a verbal warning. Tesco was also shown the evidence and launched an inquiry. A spokesman said: 'We expect the highest standards from our suppliers and they are audited regularly to ensure these are met. 'We take allegations of this type extremely seriously and fully investigated them, as did the RSPCA. 'Neither Tesco nor the RSPCA found any animal welfare problems, and we will continue to monitor them to ensure high standards are maintained.' RSPCA — (Royal — as in Queen — Society for the Protection of 'cruelly' to Animals) satisfied the problems have been dealt with. The RSPCA confirmed they had since visited the farm and are satisfied the problems have been dealt with. 95 per cent of the 16 million pigs reared each year for meat are factory-farmed According to campaigners, up to 95 per cent of the 16 million pigs reared each year for meat are factory-farmed, with many kept in confined farrowing crates. Bowes, which has been involved in meat production for over 40 years, is one of Britain's largest suppliers of pork, selling meat for use in pies, sausages and processed meat. The company, which employs more than 600 people and has an annual turnover of over £30 million, is Tesco's major UK-based pork supplier. Providing pork cuts for all of the chain's 'Finest' range, processing 50 per cent of its 'Organic' and 'Tender Select' ranges and a substantial part of its 'Standard' range, as well as providing meat for sale at the chain's over-the-counter service.

Undercover PETA activists work on US pig farm
source:http://thewe.cc/weplanet/valued_life/humans_and_animals.htm