Making Hay

Ohio Animal Abuse Demonstrates Need for Farm Animal Protection Laws

 
By Gene

This week, the animal protection group, Mercy For Animals, released a heart-wrenching undercover video from Conklin Dairy, located in Union County, Ohio, near Columbus. This disturbing footage shows workers brutally beating cows with crowbars, stabbing them with pitchforks, breaking their tails, and violently punching, throwing and kicking young calves. Workers then brag about torturing the helpless animals. In response, Farm Sanctuary issued a press statement calling for better farm animal protection laws, and we contacted local authorities to offer rehabilitative care and lifelong shelter for animals in need from Conklin’s farm.

At Farm Sanctuary, we are not strangers to confronting extreme animal abuse, and indeed, have witnessed it firsthand, and have provided rescue and refuge for thousands of abused farm animals. This utterly unconscionable behavior is a logical extension of an industry attitude which sees animals as mere units of production, rather than as feeling, sentient individuals. In the animal agriculture industry, bad has become normal. On factory farms, animals are subject to unspeakable cruelty every single day. In battery cages, gestation crates and veal crates, chickens, pigs, and calves endure confinement so extreme that they cannot stand up, turn around, stretch their limbs, or lie down comfortably. Unable to exercise their most basic natural behaviors, these animals exhibit signs of extreme psychological distress. This daily reality for millions of farm animals across the nation is rarely covered on the nightly news. There, cruelty is just a way of doing business.

This latest news about the Conklin farm is escalating by the hour as people continue to express outrage at the malicious and sadistic acts caught on video. So far, one alleged perpetrator has been arrested and charged with 12 counts of animal cruelty, but Ohio law prevents these charges from being felony counts.  Even Rocky Nelson, the Sheriff of Union County called these acts "vile and disgusting." He stated in a Columbus Dispatch story covering the arrest, "If there was a way this could be a felony charge, I would push for that," Unfortunately, Ohio has some of the weakest animal cruelty laws in the nation. Not long ago, an Ohio court acquitted a factory farmer who was captured hanging sick pigs execution-style from a tractor, a verdict that was considered a victory for agribusiness.

If you are disturbed by the sadistic violence exhibited in this video of Conklin Dairy Farm, there is something you can do. Right now, Farm Sanctuary is working with concerned citizens across the state of Ohio to collect signatures to get a sweeping farm animal welfare initiative on the November ballot. If passed, this initiative would end the most egregious farming practices and send a message to agribusiness that whether it’s considered “standard practice” or a sadistic act of abuse, cruelty  is cruelty and won’t be tolerated.  Learn how you can get involved now.

Time to Dig Deep for the Animals

 

By Gene

Across the U.S., hundreds of millions of farm animals, including calves raised for veal, sows exploited for breeding and hens used for egg production, are confined in crates and cages so tightly that they cannot walk, turn around or stretch their limbs. The animals experience both physical and psychological disorders, and their confinement is so cruel that it is being phased out across Europe. Seven U.S. states have now enacted legislation to reform inhumane factory farming systems, including California, where Farm Sanctuary worked alongside citizens in the Golden State to pass a voter initiative that won by a two to one margin in 2008, outlawing veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages. One year later, the Michigan legislature enacted a similar law. But, unlike agricultural leaders and lawmakers in other states, agribusiness officials in Ohio and their legislative cronies have vehemently opposed basic humane reforms.

Public opinion polls in Ohio demonstrate that Ohioans, like citizens in other states, believe that farm animals deserve to be treated with respect and should not be crowded into cages and crates so tightly that they cannot even turn around or stretch their limbs. Now, given the failure of Ohio’s legislature to address these issues, Farm Sanctuary and thousands of citizens across the state are mobilizing, collecting signatures to place an initiative on the statewide ballot to alleviate the suffering of 27 million farm animals who live in veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages in Ohio.

As you read this, Ohio’s animals are suffering and volunteers are in the streets, working hard to make a difference. We have collected more than 160,000 signatures, but there is still a long way to go to obtain the 600,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. If you live in Ohio, or know anybody who does, please get involved. This effort is absolutely crucial.

If we are victorious in Ohio, it will enhance our ability to create needed changes in other states, as well as in Washington, D.C. It’s time to dig deep. The animals are counting on us: www.ohiohumane.org.

Organize a Walk and Be a Hero for Farm Animals

 

by Beth

Our Walk for Farm Animals is an annual, national event that educates the public about farm animal issues and raises vital funds for Farm Sanctuary’s rescue, education and advocacy work. The Walk brings together a community of compassionate people who care deeply about farm animals and who want to make a strong statement for positive change. We’ve held these Walks for more than 20 years, and each year, there are more Walks, and more people join and walk in solidarity for farm animals.

It’s a powerful and positive movement, and it relies on dedicated volunteers in communities across the U.S. and Canada to organize local Walks.

Last year, we had a record 67 events along with our first-ever virtual Walk, and more than 3,700 people participated.

We hope that this year everyone reading this will consider organizing a Walk in their city or town, adding to our impetus for change by giving people a forum to gather in support of compassion for farm animals. The more Walks and the more people who participate, the stronger the message we send to agribusiness and legislators that the status quo is not an option.  

If you’re reading this in Boise, we need you. Tallahassee, we hope you’re inspired to join. Santa Fe, we’ve got our eye on you. And, if you’re anywhere in Ohio, we really need you because there’s a ballot initiative on the table for November and we have an historic opportunity to ensure that 27 million farm animals get some protection from cruelty and abuse.

Coordinating a Walk is a labor of love, and people who’ve volunteered before tell us it’s one of the best things they’ve ever done to express their compassion for farm animals. This might explain why some of them have been leading their Walks for a number of years, including several for more than a decade.

We don’t require quite that level of commitment; we only ask that you think about it and then follow your heart. Change is in the air, and you can help us keep up the momentum, as we press for legislation to protect farm animals, rescue animals from unspeakable conditions and bring them to safety, and educate people about the realities of factory farming and the advantages of a plant-based diet.

By coordinating a Walk, you can help us send a powerful message of hope for farm animals and breathe life and meaning into this year’s Walk theme – Compassion for All.

 

Providing Our Children with Happier Meals

 

by Dr. Allan Kornberg 

These days, childhood obesity and related health issues are receiving plenty of well-deserved attention. This year, President Barack Obama created the first ever Task Force on Childhood Obesity, and First Lady Michelle Obama founded the Let’s Move program to combat childhood obesity. Corporate Accountability International (CAI) has taken note that marketing aimed at kids doesn’t necessarily have their best health in mind, and is telling Ronald McDonald that it’s time to retire. While we encourage all Americans to make healthy and compassionate dietary choices, impressionable young children are especially vulnerable to corporate symbols that, as fun as they seem, encourage unhealthy choices and animal cruelty.

As a pediatrician, I know that there is cause for all of this concern. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 17 percent of children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 are obese. In a recent study, researchers found that almost 32 percent of American children are overweight or obese. That’s nearly one in three. And obesity poses significant health concerns for our nation’s children. Obese kids are more likely than their peers to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes — all of which are risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.

By switching to a plant-based diet, Americans can make a compassionate choice for farm animals and experience overall improved health at the same time. In a 2009 study, the American Dietetic Association reported that, in addition to tending to have a lower body mass index, “vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians.”

Increasing the accessibility of plant-based foods would be a step in the right direction for the health of our nation’s children. In March, Representative Jared Polis introduced HR 4870 to the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill, known as the Healthy School Meals Act, would offer financial incentives to public schools that provide their students with healthy plant-based alternatives and non-dairy beverages. Last month, concerned citizens joined Farm Sanctuary and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in a nationwide Citizen Lobbyist Call-In Day in support of this bill, but there’s still more work to be done. Contact your representatives and urge them to increase accessibility to these healthful and compassionate options for children nationwide.