Category Archives: Animal Welfare

Ontario racehorses being sold for meat as slots shuttered

Posted on by
Reply

The theory of unintended consequences underscores Kurt Vonnegut’s 1963 novel, Cat’s Cradle.

According to QMI, it’s possible thousands of Ontario broodmares have been slaughtered for meat since the Liberal government announced the cancellation of a slot-machine program that generated millions in revenue for the horse-racing industry, an equine veterinarian says.

Mark Biederman, who works just outside Windsor said while he’s not sure how many broodmares have been sold for meat, he estimates it could be hundreds, if not thousands.

He said many of his clients have sold theirs.

Broodmares are retired female racehorses used to breed the next generation. But with the horse-racing industry in dire straits — facing hundreds of millions in losses — the old girls aren’t worth much anymore.

“The broodmares are the first casualty of the industry,” Biederman said. “There isn’t any market for them other than going for meat.”

Ontario’s horse-racing industry reels in $354 million a year from the soon-to-be-dead Slots at Racetracks Program, which divvies up profits from slot machines at tracks between the industry, the track owners and the government.

The province announced in the spring its plan to axe the program and divert the money to health care and education instead. Slot machines have already been removed from some racetracks in Ontario, and they’ll all be gone by March 31, 2013.

The move was met with opposition from people in the industry, and has forced some major tracks — such as the Windsor Raceway — to shut down.

It also means many horse owners can no longer afford to keep the animals.

Biederman says business is down 50% at his veterinarian clinic. He’s had to lay off staff and reduce hours. When the program officially ends in March 2013, he said he’ll probably pack up and leave the province.

“If the slot program is ultimately cancelled, I think that’ll be the death of the industry. I don’t think there will be any way to stay in Ontario. I think you’re gonna have a mass exodus of horses.”

Or as Vonnegut wrote,

“I’m not a drug salesman. I’m a writer.”

“What makes you think a writer isn’t a drug salesman?”

What do USDA inspectors do? Undercover video shutters another dairy cull slaughterhouse in Calif.

Posted on by
1

Federal regulators shut down a Central California slaughterhouse Monday after receiving undercover video showing dairy cows — some unable to walk — being repeatedly shocked and shot before being slaughtered.

In a few hours, someone in the industry will say, this is an isolated incident and they practice the highest standards of animal welfare and safety.

It’s a tired tune.

People realize the soundbites are meaningless – especially compared to graphic video. It’s like all those food types who say they have really safe food and everyone is worthy of trust and faith, yet outbreaks manage to happen weekly. Industry and academia should be judged by the data they bring to the table, not platitudes.

According to the Associated Press, officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which inspects meat facilities, suspended operations at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford, Calif., which slaughters cows when they lose their value as milk producers.

The USDA received hours of videotape Friday from Compassion Over Killing, an animal welfare group, which said its undercover investigator was employed by the slaughterhouse and made the video over a two-week period in June.

Four minutes of excerpts the animal welfare group provided to The Associated Press showed cows being prepared for slaughter. One worker appears to be suffocating a cow by standing on its muzzle after a gun that injects a bolt into the animal’s head had failed to render it unconscious. In another clip, a cow is still conscious and flailing as a conveyor lifts it by one leg for transport to an area where the animals’ throats are slit for blood draining.

"The horror caught on camera is sickening," said Erica Meier, executive director of Compassion Over Killing, based in Washington, D.C. "It’s alarming that this is not only a USDA-inspected facility but a supplier to the USDA."

Within hours of seeing the video, the USDA’s Office of Inspector General sent investigators who found evidence of "egregious inhumane handling and treatment of livestock."

The USDA had at least two inspectors stationed at the site, and federal officials, when asked whether there was evidence the inspectors had neglected their duties, said the investigation is ongoing.

The videos show workers pulling downed cows by their tails and kicking them in an apparent attempt to get them to stand and walk to slaughter. Others shoot downed cows in the head over and over as the cows thrash on the ground. In one instance, the video shows workers trying to get cattle to back out of a chute while repeatedly spraying them with water and shocking them.

"It’s a good sign that the USDA is taking this seriously, but I want to see what comes next," said Meier, adding the video will be posted on the organization’s website Tuesday. "The footage clearly speaks for itself, but this is not an isolated incident. Investigation after investigation of these places is revealing cruelty."

In early 2008, the Humane Society of the United States released video documenting animal abuse at Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. of Chino, Calif., secretly shot by an undercover employee.

That $100-million-a-year company does not exist anymore – brought down by someone using an over-the-counter video recording device. USDA inspectors were at that plant as well and didn’t notice anything. ?In April 2009, Cargill Beef announced it had implemented a third-party video-auditing system that would operate 24 hours a day at its U.S. beef plants to enhance the company’s animal welfare protection systems. All of Cargill’s U.S. plants were expected to have the program in place by the end of 2009.

In Feb. 2010, Cargill announced it would expand its remote video auditing program to monitor food-safety procedures within processing plants.

Slaughterhouses are only as good as their worst employee and can be shuttered by the latest hire. Forget the rhetoric and take control of the issue: all slaughterhouses should have their own video documentation and walk the talk.

Would you like me better if I paid you? $1 to watch a graphic food safety video? $1 to watch graphic anti-meat video?

Posted on by
Reply

Activists of all types may suck at science but are successful when it comes to street theater, attracting attention, on-line or in the park.

The Los Angeles Times reports the folks at Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) found a way to get people to watch disturbing animal cruelty videos: pay them.

Operating on the premise that watching a four-minute video could persuade a viewer to drastically and permanently reduce the amount of animal products consumed in their diet, FARM launched a national tour in early May to show the public a graphic “Farm to Fridge” video, made with hidden-camera footage showing farm animals, including cows, chickens and pigs, living in factory farm conditions and being processed at slaughter. Participants are paid $1 to watch the video, displayed on a vehicle specially equipped to host up to 32 simultaneous viewers.

The 10-Billion Lives Tour (named after the estimated 10 billion land animals raised and killed every year for food in the United States) began in Portland, Ore., and has traveled south, stopping at colleges, universities and fairs along the way in Eugene, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.

Senator wants dog meat investigation in Philippines

Posted on by
Reply

Dog meat has entered into Philippine mainstream consciousness and has spawned a dish called asocena which is meant to be eaten as a side dish during drinking sessions.

So, according to Bikyamasr, Philippines Senator Manuel Villar Jr. is hoping to open an inquiry into the reported prevalence of the illegal dog meat trade to tighten existing animal protection laws.

However, local animal rights activists say it is not enough, arguing that the senator wants to maintain the practice “and not do the right thing by ending dog slaughter altogether.”

Dog meat eating has existed as a long-standing cultural phenomenon in the Northern provinces of the Philippines, traditionally associated with celebratory events and rituals of mourning.

Maria Pillar told Bikyamasr.com that “the use of dogs for food is wrong and backward. Just because it was traditional in the country doesn’t mean we should keep it. It was part of our culture to keep women at home, but that has changed.”

Villar said.some 500,000 dogs are slaughtered for sale every year.

Baseball superstitions are silly; don’t slaughter live chickens as a slump buster

Posted on by
1

It’s Major League Baseball opening day. One of the more nerdy things I do (at least according to Dani) is rotisserie baseball. Before fantasy sports took over the internet and spread to everything from golf to cricket, baseball stats fanatics began trying to out duel each other in a yearly prediction-off. The idea is that 10-13 friends all start with a fixed budget of imaginary money, bid against each other on real players, acquire enough to fill the standard positions on a baseball team and track their stats in multiple categories. I’ve been playing this game for the past 12 years with a group of guys I met in University.

Other baseball nerds.

Two weeks ago we held our league’s auction (referred to by one of the participants as "the best day of the year") which led to this exchange between my family members:
From Dani to Jack (our 2 year-old son): "Daddy owns a baseball team. Not a real one, a fake one. With real players who he doesn’t actually know. Isn’t that silly"
Jack:"Daddy’s silly".

I sort of am.

So are all the baseball superstitions that players subscribe to. When I played real baseball (before my rotisserie days) I tried to avoid stepping on the foul lines for a while (I think I saw that in a movie) but most of the time I forgot. My movie emulation never went as far as a couple of Texas high school players who, according to reports were kicked off of their team for sacrificing chickens in a "bid to boost performance".

The duo, who remained unnamed, were suspended from playing for the rest of the year and disciplined by the Western Hills school officials amid claims they slaughtered the baby birds on a baseball field during spring break.

The pair could face greater recriminations after police in Benbrook, Texas, began investigating the reports of animal cruelty.

Western Hills baseball coach Bobby McIntire said he did not know why the students would behave in such a way, but guessed they were influenced by similar scenes of sporting sacrifice in baseball films "Major League" and "Bull Durham," in which the bloody ritual was referenced as a way of beating a slump in form.

Sure there are lots of pathogen risks associated with handling those chicks but live animal slaughter in the name of high school baseball slump busting isn’t cool.
 

30 runaway cows killed by UK marksmen in front of horrified kids

Posted on by
Reply

It was a scene straight out of Amy’s favorite movie, Napolean Dynamite, times 30.

The Daily Mirror reports a herd of runaway were massacred in a field after being put down by vets – in front of horrified children.

The 30 cattle were rounded up by police and residents after being spotted wandering in local gardens in the early hours.

After public health and animal welfare experts inspected them, council officials ordered them to be shot dead.

Police say they were killed on “welfare grounds” – but the exact reasons remained unknown last night. However, some villagers were furious they were slaughtered in broad daylight – in full view of playing kids, who fled in tears.

And staff at a hospital overlooking the field shut curtains to stop patients seeing the cull in Chirk, near Wrexham, North Wales. One resident said: “Some of my friends who live on the estate near the field where the cows were shot were quite upset afterwards. Some have young child­ren who were out playing at the time and they found it very distressing.”

A police spokesman said: “All the animals had to be humanely slaughtered that evening. There were discussions between the council, Welsh Assembly and the animal welfare agency and it was decided the animals would have to be put down on welfare grounds. .”

The animals’ carcasses were taken away in two lorries the next morning to be incinerated.
 

‘Sedation stunning’ or ‘slow induction anesthesia’ for slaughtered chickens; why not microbiologically safer

Posted on by
Reply

Why are production standards marketed in grocery stores, but microbiological safety isn’t?

As reported by William Neuman of the New York Times, “shoppers in the supermarket today can buy chicken free of nearly everything but adjectives. It comes free-range, cage-free, antibiotic-free, raised on vegetarian feed, organic, even air-chilled.

“Coming soon: stress-free?

“Two premium chicken producers, Bell & Evans in Pennsylvania and Mary’s Chickens in California, are preparing to switch to a system of killing their birds that they consider more humane. The new system uses carbon dioxide gas to gently render the birds unconscious before they are hung by their feet to have their throats slit, sparing them the potential suffering associated with conventional slaughter methods.”

With so many options, why isn’t someone marketing microbiologically safer chicken – chicken with fewer of the bugs that make people barf?

With the slaughter system, David Pitman, whose family owns Mary’s Chickens, said,

“Most of the time, people don’t want to think about how the animal was killed.”

And retailers will say, you can’t market food safety because that would imply other foods are unsafe.

But as a shopper, I want to reward companies that pay attention to microbial food safety issues, and shun companies that are sloppy.

Americans are good at marketing, so why not get the Mad Men geniuses on the case and figure out how to brag about microbiologically safer food.

Anglia Autoflow, the company that is building the knock-out systems for the two processors, calls the process “controlled atmosphere stunning,” but Mr. Pitman said his company was considering the phrase “sedation stunning” for use on its packages. Also on the short-list: “humanely slaughtered,” “humanely processed” or “humanely handled.”

The trick, he said, is to communicate the goal of the new system, which is to ensure that the birds “not have any extra pain or discomfort in the last few minutes of their lives.”

Temple Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and a prominent livestock expert, consulted with Bell & Evans as the company worked with Anglia to design its system. She said it was better because the chickens were not aware of what was happening to them. “Birds don’t like being hung upside down,” Dr. Grandin said. “They get really stressed out by that.”

Scott Sechler, the owner of Bell & Evans, said the system was designed to put birds to sleep gently, in the same way that a person undergoes anesthesia before surgery.

To evoke that image, he wants to put the words “slow induction anesthesia” on his packages and advertising, which already tell customers that the birds are raised in roomy conditions with natural light and given feed free of antibiotics or animal byproducts. Customers who want to know more will be able to go to the company’s Web site.

Abuse is shocking and it’s all on video; Ohio dairy farm worker charged with animal cruelty

Posted on by
1

Billy Joe Gregg Jr. – a man with not two but three first names and of course, it’s Billy Joe – an Ohio dairy farm worker has been charged with 12 counts of cruelty to animals after a welfare group released a video it says shows him and others beating cows with crowbars and pitchforks.

He’s in jail, pondering his 15 minutes of fame.

Associated Press reports the County sheriff’s office says Gregg was fired from Conklin Dairy Farms in Plain City on Wednesday.

Conklin calls the mistreatment shown on the video "reprehensible." Chicago-based Mercy For Animals says the undercover video was shot between April 28 and Sunday.

The video is available at:
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DgYTkM1OHFQg

It is graphic and disturbing.

KSU Alumnus presents ‘Efficient use of Earth’s resources: Providing food for the world’s people’

Posted on by
2

Dr. Dan Upson presented ‘Efficient Use of Earth’s Resources: Providing Food for the World’s People’ last night at the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. The presentation brought the production of food back to the basics of biology, from the basics of photosynthesis and fertilization of the soil to the formation of glucose to make energy. Dr. Upson explored the properties of energy sources like starch and cellulose, pointing out that ruminants are the only ones able to utilize the energy contained in cellulose. This emphasized the importance of the ruminant animal in our growing population and the need to continue research to improve beef production.

These topics highlighted the current state of the agriculture industry, which has come under attack in recent years for utilizing technology to improve production methods.
 
“There are those that want to take away the technology from the beef cattle industry, they are intelligent people but they are totally ignorant of the real world.”
 
Upson continued by showing the nutritional aspects of animal protein, containing all of the amino acids in proper quantities essential for maintenance and growth. The evening was sponsored by the KSU Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association (SCAVMA), the Beef Cattle Institute, and a new group on campus Food For Thought.
 
From their blog:
Food For Thought (FFT) is a group of Kansas State University undergraduate, graduate and veterinary students looking to bridge the gap between agriculture and consumers. FFT strives provide consumers with answers about where their food comes from by empowering agriculturalists, informing consumers, and confronting myths about modern agriculture.
Dr. Upson attended KSU as an undergrad, a veterinary student, and also as a doctoral student in physiology. He is also a 2004 KSU Alumni Medallion Award Winner and a respected member of the KState community.

Shortage of food animal veterinarians puts our food supply at risk

Posted on by
1

As a veterinary student at Kansas State University, I hear quite a bit about the growing demand for food animal veterinarians. With the increasing cost of tuition for vet school, it’s understanding that many of my colleagues are choosing to specialize in small animal medicine to help pay off school loans. But the looming threat of agroterrorism, emerging diseases and heightened food security shows an increased demand for food animal vets.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) reports, Only about 17 percent of veterinarians work in food supply, including practicing veterinarians and veterinarians working for governmental and corporate organizations. This is in contrast to the turn of the 19th century, when virtually every veterinarian was a food supply veterinarian. Moreover, research forecasts a shortfall of 4-5 percent per year in the ranks of food supply veterinarians.
 
 
Philip Lowe, from the Centre for Rural Economy at the University of Newcastle, has said the proportion of time vets in private practice spent treating animals used for food halved between 1998 and 2006 – due in part to the fact most vets run their own businesses, and pet owners have proved a more sustainable and lucrative source of income than farmers.
 
Professor Lowe argues in the journal Veterinary Record that due to this shift there has been a failure to make use of vets’ considerable and wide ranging expertise.
 
Various programs have been proposed to encourage vet students to enter food animal practice and help alleviate the problem of an enlarging veterinary student debt to salary ratio. Two programs that have been implemented are the Student Loan Repayment Program through the USDA and the National Veterinary Medical Service Act
 
These programs and future opportunities will help veterinary students join the nation’s food safety task force, and hopefully also increase our knowledge base and preparedness for foreign animal diseases within the United States. This is a critical time in the veterinary world, in which veterinarians must take full advantage of their skill sets to protect the nation’s food supply.
To read more about the food animal vet shortage, visit the AVMA’s Food Supply Veterinary Medicine media page.