Making Hay

Mysterious Diseases

By Gene

 

Animals with diseases, many of which go undetected, are commonly slaughtered for human consumption. Unfortunately, too little is currently known about how the animals’ ailments could affect human beings.

Besides experiencing psychological distress, slaughterhouse workers are subjected to various physical and biological hazards. An industry article published this week on meatingplace.com illustrates one such scenario: "The mysterious illnesses in Minnesota and Indiana pork plant workers from November 2006 to May 2008 were caused by an autoimmune response to a mist of pig brain tissue." It goes on to explain that workers, especially those stationed closest to what they call the "head table," experienced neurological ailments as a result of being exposed to the "tissue mist" when "compressed air was used to extract pig brains." Still, according to the article, scientists looking into this situation say that the exact biological mechanism of the disease might never be known.

This week yet another industry article I read on the same site reported that "USDA testing has confirmed the first case of H1N1 virus in a U.S. turkey flock." Commonly known as "swine flu," H1N1 is now confirmed as a virus that can infect turkeys, pigs, cats, dogs, ferrets, and people. Like swine flu, bird flu and mad cow disease have also been shown to cross the species barrier. While there are unknowns surrounding these particular diseases we do know that all of them can be fatal to humans.

The factory farming system, which crowds animals by the thousands in filthy, stressful environments, is not only extremely cruel, but creates a breeding ground for diseases that (despite the mysteries yet to be uncovered about them) are increasingly confirmed by science to be as harmful to people as they are to animals.

Hog Wash

By Danielle

Smithfield Foods Inc., the international behemoth of pig exploitation, announced this week that it can’t keep the commitment it made in January 2007 to phase out the use of gestation crates for pregnant pigs by 2017.

Smithfield’s pledge came after gestation crate bans were enacted in Florida and Arizona (by citizen initiative), phasing out the use of the cramped crates used to house sows during pregnancy on modern factory farms. That momentum continued with bans in Oregon, Colorado, California, and Maine. The majority of these bans will be in effect by 2017, as will a ban on gestation crates across the entire European Union. So why is Smithfield saying that, two years into the project, it won’t be able to eliminate the cruel crates from its operations within the ten year timeframe?

The world’s largest pork producer and processor cites financial losses (to the tune of $190 million in fiscal year 2009), mostly due to rising production costs. Over the last year, the company cut the number of breeding sows by 10 percent and plans to further reduce that by another 3 percent. Smithfield is calling on the industry as a whole to reduce pig production by 10 percent. And, just like the dairy industry (which is also calling for an overall reduction in production), the pork industry is sponsoring its own “retirement” program (health benefits not included) in an attempt to recover lost profits.

After the swine flu (um, I mean H1N1) outbreak, China – Smithfield’s biggest customer – closed its doors to U.S. pig parts. Smithfield thought it had dodged a bullet when Mexican officials failed to find any infected pigs at the company’s La Gloria facility, which some claim was ground zero for the pandemic. The Mexican government, however, is calling for an investigation of factory farms in relation to the virus, and the husband of the first U.S. resident to die of the H1N1 virus has filed a legal petition against Smithfield as a first step in a wrongful-death lawsuit. The scientific jury is still out regarding the origins of H1N1, but the intensive confinement of animals raised for food is surely being scrutinized.

Meanwhile, Smithfield claims it remains committed to eliminating cruel gestation crates, and will proceed as planned as soon as economic conditions improve. I’m skeptical. While the Centers for Disease Control advise washing your hands to help ward off swine flu, I say wash your hands of the entire pork industry.

The lesson here is that the elimination of cruel confinement systems like gestation crates cannot be left to the whims of vested industry: rather, it needs to be codified into law. It is not enough to take the word of mega-corporations, which at the end of the day answer only to their bottom line and cut compassion like any other line item in their budget when the balance sheet shows net loss. There has to be some accountability.

Legislation to ban the terrible three – gestation crates, veal crates and battery cages – is currently pending in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Rhode Island. Citizens in Ohio and Michigan are on the verge of losing their voices in the debate due to anti-democratic industry-backed bills being escorted through the state legislatures by political sellouts. We need your help to dismantle the bars and provide basic freedoms for these animals. Please take action today. 

Make it Viral

By Jasmin

 

As host of CNN’s Headline News show, Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell, Jane has made history herstory with her groundbreaking coverage of swine flu. In case you haven’t yet gotten one of the thousands of mass emails and Facebook posts with one of Jane’s YouTube videos, here’s one that I like:

And if you’re not tuning into her nightly show (airs Monday-Sunday at 7 p.m.), you can see videos of her swine flu stories on her website, CNN.com/jane.

Jane is one of the few journalists who is telling the full story of swine flu. Night after night, she is challenging experts (and doing her best to get industry representatives) to look further into the outbreak and consider the possibility that it’s the abysmal, filthy living conditions for pigs that is at least partially to blame for this deadly virus. As part of her coverage, Jane is showing millions of viewers the inconvenient truth inside factory farms. The b-roll footage is of pigs crammed so tightly inside gestation crates that they cannot turn around. In nature, these pigs would thrive on social interactions and energetic activity, but in the tiny crates, their only option is to obsessively chew the bars an inch beyond their snout. I’d go crazy, too. Thanks to Jane Velez-Mitchell, issues such as this one are in the public eye.

Let’s tell CNN how much we appreciate Jane’s coverage of swine flu, and reiterate that pigs and other farm animals are living in conditions that are a breeding ground for zoonotic diseases. (Feel free to check out our tips on responding to the media.)

Here’s some more information about pig production. You can also read what renowned public health expert and Farm Sanctuary Board member Dr. Allan Kornberg has to say about the issue. While you’re at it, you might as well order the Truth Behind Pork brochures and drop a few wherever you go: your local coffee shop, community center, gym, grocery store, hair salon…

Then make it viral. Share this blog entry, send around Jane’s links, tune into Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell, tweet about it, put it all over Facebook and MySpace, and start talking to your friends and colleagues about the horrors of factory farming and the healthy, delicious, compassionate alternative. Use the Swine Flu and Jane’s journalism as your platform for discussion, and spread the word like it is everybody’s business.  

Swine Flu (H1N1)

By Gene

The recent cases of swine flu have brought attention to the connection and communicability of animal and human pathogens. Filthy, overcrowded factory farm operations are a breeding ground for disease and contribute to the development of virulent pathogens and emerging health threats. 

Alarmingly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) knowingly allows diseased animals to enter the human food supply. USDA slaughterhouse records obtained by Farm Sanctuary under the Freedom of Information Act show that animals with hepatitis, pneumonia, malignant lymphoma, peritonitis and other ailments have been approved for human food. 

Unfortunately, the USDA and most agribusinesses have taken a “don’t look, don’t find” approach to diseases on factory farms. After the discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S., a slaughterhouse in Kansas wanted to test all their animals for mad cow disease. But, amazingly, the USDA went to court to prevent the testing. As Dr. Allan Kornberg, a public health expert and Farm Sanctuary board member, points out in his new article on swine flu, the Canadian pigs found to have likely contracted H1N1 from a farm worker were found because Canadian farmers must report cases of swine flu to the government. In the U.S. swine flu reporting is voluntary, which leaves the industry to self-regulate. 

Influenza and other diseases afflict animals on today’s factory farms and as disease causing microbes continue to evolve, there will likely be other stains that jump from farm animals to infect humans. It’s time to put an end to the spread of factory farming and for the USDA and agribusiness to openly acknowledge the extent to which diseases are present on today’s farms. We can only solve problems when we address them.