Animal News

By unanimous vote, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution earlier this month opposing factory farms. The resolution mentioned all three of the main problems with animal agriculture, calling it “a climate and public health threat, as well as an abuse of animals’ rights.” So this story might have fit easily on our Health News or Earth News pages. But the action taken by the Board clearly had an animal rights emphasis, as you can see by reading the brief article in One Green Planet, which is linked below. The article also embeds a video of the members of Direct Action Everywhere staging a civil disobedience action at a Foster Farms site to protest and disrupt the killing and mistreatment of chickens by the company.

The Faunalytics website is a great place to find summaries of articles about animal welfare that are scientifically rigorous. For a subject that evokes such emotional depth, it’s great to have a resource that can be counted on to provide rational data and logical arguments in support of the cause. Earlier this year, Faunalytics began posting short videos on their YouTube channel, which help bring that message across even more personally. They manage to do so without heartstring-tugging soundtracks or non-stop images of animal abuse and suffering; these are videos you can learn from and confidently share with those you want to enlighten. Below is a link to the most recent of these videos, dealing with beef industry strategy. You will find others to explore on their YouTube channel, where you can subscribe to always know when new ones are posted.

October 2nd is World Farm Animals Day! Maybe you’ve never heard of it, so here’s what happens on this special date each year:
  • Farmers all over the globe give their livestock their favorite food and let them romp and play in open pasture to their hearts’ content;
  • Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and every other meat packing company in the U.S., China, and 200 other countries shut down their operations for 24 hours; and
  • Every farm animal born is adopted by an animal rescue organization and allowed to live out its natural life in peace and comfort, along with its mother.

Or actually, none of the above. But it would be nice, wouldn’t it? Instead, World Farm Animals Day is about the animals, but it’s for us. It’s a day to remind us of the unnecessary death and suffering that our animal cousins endure and to help us commit to ending those atrocities. Not a farmer? No problem. If you breathe, and especially if you eat, you can help. Follow the link below for some ideas on how you can make a difference to a cow, pig, or chicken staring at a bleak future on World Farm Animal Day, and every day.


Photo by Mercy for Animals/Shawn Bannon

The photo above of a chicken farm converted to growing hemp is just one example of the rapidly accelerating shift from eating animals. And that is certainly good news to our four-legged friends—and long overdue. But this month we want to feature an article about an animal who is not in danger of being slaughtered for food but whose livelihood is still a major factor in this transition. We’re talking about the human animal who works on the farms or in the factories that process all those animal products and may be facing an uncertain future. To those of us who respect and defend all sentient life, these fellow human beings are every bit as worthy of our concern. And the Vox article linked below does a comprehensive and compassionate job of describing the challenges and options they face. The more we know about how we can help our fellow humans survive and prosper in a plant-based world, the sooner we may see that world become a reality. Start here:
 

Yes, unfortunately “humanewashing” is a thing. And the insidious practice is perfectly illustrated by this brief, but powerful video from the dedicated crusaders at Animal Outlook. It’s perfect for social media sharing, and needs to be seen at least as many times as the Big Meat commercials that it parodies. “Don’t eat deceit.” Indeed.
 

Animal Outlook is a relatively new name for one of the longest-running and most highly effective animal advocacy nonprofits. Its identity traces back over 25 years as Compassion Over Killing, with additional roots that extend back to the pioneers of the animal right movement. The AnimalOutlook.org website is itself an excellent source of news and activism. But we recently discovered that this organization also hosts the GoVeg.com website. For anyone curious about the plant-based lifestyle, especially its effect on animal welfare, this site is an excellent place to start. And for those already committed but finding it challenging to convince family and friends, we can certainly recommend sharing the resources there. In particular, check out the two excellent guides to going vegan: Vegan Starter Guide and African American Vegan Starter Guide. The latter, by the way, is not simply a reprint of the former with different photos: at twice the length, it includes specialized content and interviews with some truly inspiring African Americans physicians, athletes, chefs, and others.
 


Photo by Sam Carter on Unsplash

The question of animal welfare seems to be growing in importance every day, and for good reason. In the opinion piece linked below, from The Guardian, Jonathan Birch describes some of the laws and actions being proposed in the United Kingdom that are tackling the difficult subject of what is ethical when it comes to our relationship with other animals. Is sentience the red line that determines which of our fellow beings can be legally used or abused? What about the ability to experience pain? The answers are not easy, but Birch believes that scientific study can reveal them if we look carefully and conscientiously.
 


Photo by Zoe Schaeffer on Unsplash

If you participated in Veganuary this year, you may already be getting the emails this outstanding group sends out year-round. But we wanted to be sure you saw their current one, which promotes “Chicken-Free Week.” It contains simple but effective graphics describing the lives of chickens raised on a farm or free-range, as well as a link to a video of British actor Evanna Lynch observing the sad conditions on a typical chicken farm.
 

In the 1970’s, Chrysler sold a lot of Cordobas with TV commercials of a tuxedoed Ricardo Montalban extoling the car’s “fine Corinthian leather” interior. The truth was, however, that there was no such thing as Corinthian leather: Chrysler’s ad agency had made it up to sound luxurious. Apparently even the word leather, which was itself a euphemism, had to be positioned even farther from its reality to make it more desirable. Well, that was then, and this is now. As car makers are now quickly transitioning to more environmentally friendly models, they are realizing that appealing to the green customer demographic can win them cruelty-free customers as well. Of course, from the cows’ point of view, it’s all good. Pictured here is BMW’s MINI, which the brand’s head of design now says will be going leather-free. It’s just the latest in a series of such announcements by auto manufacturers, a couple of which are even comfortable using the word vegan. Whether they are jumping off the slaughter wagon for ethical reasons or because their customers are demanding they do so, it’s good news for the cows.
 

The LIVEKINDLY website is helping to celebrate Black History Month with some stories featuring African-Americans celebrities. Among them is Genesis Butler, an unbelievably remarkable 14-year old young lady who much better deserves to be featured during Black Future month, if there were one. We first were inspired by Genesis when her amazing activism was featured, as a 9-year old, in the documentary “Vegan: Everyday Stories.” But we had no idea how far she has continued to spread her influence in the five years since. So rather than recount her many accomplishments on behalf of animals, we highly recommend that you read about them yourself in the article linked below, which also embeds her TED talk and quotes several of her wise-beyond-her-years observations about animals. We’re going to keep tabs on Genesis more closely from now on, so we won’t be surprised when she’s nominated for Director of the Department of Agriculture in a future President Amanda Gorman administration.
 

Ed Winters is a London-based vegan educator and public speaker—one of the most passionate and engaging spokespeople of the animal rights movement. In a recent article for Euronews, “Earthling Ed,” as he’s known to his ever expanding circle of followers, methodically debunks the arguments for killing animals. You can read the full article at the link below. And for more, check out Surge, the animal rights organization he co-founded and co-directs, at surgeactivism.org.
 

Are you ready to get your zoom from a ‘shroom? The folks at Adidas have apparently stepped up to the challenge of producing and marketing a foot fungus: shoes made from mycelium. And our response is “Cremini! Tell us morel!” So far, all we know is what we heard from the folks at Plant Based News (article link below). They caught the press release that Adidas has developed a biological leather substitute from mycelium, which they plan to use in their shoes. We like Adidas already for rolling out vegan versions of some of their most popular sneaker models last summer and for other animal-friendly positions they’ve taken on fur bans and increasing use of recycled polyester in place of leather. But now, instead of polyester, it looks like they’re going to be making shoes from plant-based material. If they can make them dirt cheap, we may never go barefoot again!
 
Full article: https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/fashion/adidas-developing-plant-based-leather-from-fungus/


Photo by Stephen Llevares from Pexels

Even though 2020 has been a very tough year all around, there are still some optimistic developments to crow about. And no class of beings could use some optimism more than farm animals. So it’s encouraging to read of some significant gains being made in the fight to reduce their unnecessary death and suffering. The Open Philanthropy Newsletter just published a summary of seven big wins in this fight. They include a surge in plant-based meat sales, cage-free reforms, cultivated meat developments, and fish welfare reforms. Read all about them at the link below, as well as an analysis of where the funding is coming from to support advocacy for this progress.
 
Full article: https://us14.campaign-archive.com/?u=66df320da8400b581cbc1b539&id=a9ce5c198b

animal, mouse, experiment

Our desire to prevent unnecessary suffering and death of animals is not limited only to those raised for food. But when it comes to animals used for testing in laboratories, we are often conflicted by our desire to support research that can potentially save many human lives. But this ethical dilemma may soon be eliminated, or at least greatly reduced. A recent article in the scientific journal Advanced Science describes the development of an entirely plant-based gel for producing organoids, or tiny versions of human organs. Where scientists currently have to harvest organs from animals for certain types of experimentation, they may soon be able to use this new material instead, not only sparing the life of an animal but also allowing for the test to be conducted on tissue that matches the human organ specifically. And the new technique promises to be orders of magnitude less expensive as well, so let’s just say it’s a no-brainer! Read a summary of this research in ScienceDaily at the link below.

Full article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201125091525.htm

As more and more people adopt plant-based diets and the demand for animal products drops, the ranchers and farmers who raise those animals may find themselves out of business. As animal lovers, we are people lovers too, of course, and care about the livelihoods of these hard-working folks, especially the ones who, like the Barretts pictured here, have already been struggling with the ethical dilemma of animal farming. Fortunately, there is help for the Barretts and others like them to transition their farms to animal-friendly purposes. The Ranchers Advocacy Program was founded by Sedona VegFest 2017 speaker Renee King-Sonnen to help those who want to transition from raising animals for food, just as she did with her Rowdy Girl Sanctuary. Watch the 10-minute heartwarming video of the Barrett Family Farm at the link below, and be sure to explore other pages on the R.A.P. website to learn more about the amazing work they are doing, meet the dedicated Rancher Alliance Coalition members, read other inspiring stories, and hear about vegan lobbying efforts in D.C. There’s a donation page also, where you can join a wide range of sponsors in supporting the R.A.P. mission.

Full article: https://rancheradvocacy.org/videos/

Animal welfare is one of the three main reasons—and often the primary reason—people choose to adopt a whole food, plant-based diet. But caring about our animal cousins is not limited just to refusing to eat them, of course. From cosmetics to cleaners to couches, animals find their way into our homes as ingredients in, or as test subjects for, the products we purchase. It is often much easier to keep animal death and suffering off of our plates than out of our homes. One of our readers, Carlos Trejo, is very much aware of this problem, as he works for Porch, a company that specializes in connecting homeowners with professionals to accomplish a wide range of home improvement products. So he wrote a guide called, “Easy Ways to Create a Vegan and Cruelty-Free Home,” which is featured on porch.com. We’re very glad Carlos brought this to our attention, and we hope you’ll find some good tips there to help you with your vegan lifestyle beyond the fork and spoon. Thanks, Carlos!

Full article: https://porch.com/advice/create-a-vegan-and-cruelty-free-home

Farm Sanctuary, one of the oldest and best known in the country, is not only a refuge for hundreds of farm animals, it also serves as visitor destination, offering guided tours at both the Watkins Glen, NY (pictured) and Los Angeles, CA locations. The tours are part of a wide-ranging public education program that Farm Sanctuary runs to change people’s attitudes about animals farmed for food, and they recently conducted a study to determine how effectively the tours achieve this goal. The answer: very. As summarized at faunalytics.org, people who took the tours reported reducing their consumption of animal products when surveyed two months later. What seems to make the most difference is the direct experience with the rescued animals and learning about the cruelty they would have been exposed to, especially when that information is presented in a softly persuasive manner. For a map and list of U.S. farm sanctuaries, many of which also offer tours, see the Compassionate Farming Education Initiative website.

Full article: https://faunalytics.org/farm-sanctuary/


Photo by Kameron Kincade on Unsplash

Still looking for the best argument to convince your omnnivore friends to go plant-based for the sake of the animals? According to the scientific literature, it may be as simple as reminding them (or making sure they even know) that what they are eating was once, in fact, an animal. An article in the professional journal Appetite on 01Apr20 undertook a comprehensive synthesis of 33 academic research studies across the fields of nutritional science, sociology, marketing, and psychology to identify how and why people claim to enjoy meat from an animal they would otherwise not wish to harm. The authors found that meat-eaters often suffer from this “meat paradox” and rely on a variety of techniques to deal with their cognitive dissonance, the main one being dissociation of the meat from the animal. Gently reinforcing that association may be the best way to help them resolve that dissonance in favor of animal welfare. The Appetite article is very thorough and scientific, as would be expected, but Erika Peter has written an excellent summary of the article for Faunalytics. Links to both are provided below.

Faunalytics summary: https://faunalytics.org/can-we-love-animals-and-eat-them-too/
Appetite article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566631930724X

embryo, chicks, egg

As the old motivational saying about commitment goes, “in a ham and egg breakfast, the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed.” But it turns out that the chicken is every bit as committed as the pig, and we have the data to prove it. The good, brave people at Faunalytics recently undertook the depressing but highly enlightening task of counting how many days of animal suffering are caused by consuming various animal products. This may the first time we’ve been able to say with any scientific confidence which items on the standard American menu are responsible for the most suffering. Because about 20 chickens are confined and slaughtered for food in the U.S. each year for every cow, sheep, pig, and turkey combined, it should come as no shock that egg and chicken dishes dominate the list. And fish are among the most victimized as well. The study report presents the data in several ways to provide easy to read charts on six different scales, and it also details the methodology used to produce the data.

Full article: https://faunalytics.org/animal-product-impact-scales

This TEDx presentation is from 2016, so it isn’t exactly news. But some news never gets old, and Carl Safina’s 16-minute talk certainly qualifies. Dr. Safina is an ecologist focused on humanity’s relationship with the natural world, author of ten books, founding President of the Safina Center, host of the PBS series “Saving the Ocean,” and the first Endowed Professor of Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University–not to mention one of the best friends an animal could ever have. His gentle presentation style is the perfect accompaniment for exploring the consciousness of animals. 

Full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wkdH_wluhw

The ASPCA is reporting on data direct from the Small Business Administration (SBA) that factory farms are getting most of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds earmarked for farmers. This is occurring despite the fact that the PPP was designed to support small businesses, which industrial agriculture is most definitely not. Just one more reason, according to the ASPCA, to support the Farm System Reform Act (see the 08Jul20 news item, below).

Full article: https://www.aspca.org/news/alarmingly-covid-19-relief-funds-prop-factory-farming

OK, this is just plain fun. Meet Esther, the pig. Through a devious but effective ruse, she made her way into the home and hearts of two guys, convincing them to go plant based and open an animal sanctuary. And she’s become a popular social media star as well, so who knows how many other humans she’s converted and how many other animal lives have been spared. You go, girl!

Full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlHV_GGR0RM&feature=youtu.be

The animal advocacy folks at faunalytics.org just reported on a detailed classroom study that was done by the Educated Choices Program (ECP) earlier this year. Over 95,000 students at different grade levels were given one of four presentations (plus a fifth control group) to see if attitudes about consuming animals would change. The presentations focused on either environmental impacts, animal suffering, human health, or ethical aspects of eating animal products. The results? “Nearly 70% of those who had seen an ECP presentation expressed intent to reduce their consumption of meat and other animal products, compared to roughly 40% in the control group.” See the full article for a further breakdown of the comparative results and a link to the actual study data.

Full article: https://faunalytics.org/can-classroom-presentations-lead-to-lower-animal-consumption/

cows, livestock, cattle feed

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), a vegan and recent candidate for President, introduced a bill in December 2019 that would help the country move away from factory farming. It mandates an immediate halt to any new Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and phases out the largest existing CAFOs by 2040. The bill also introduces protections for small farmers, including transferring their legal liability for environmental damage to the large conglomerates that they are forced to contract with. Finally, it authorizes a $100 billion fund to help farmers transition from CAFOs to other agricultural operations. Even though Senator Booker’s race for the White House ended the following month, the bill continues to gain co-sponsors, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). And a companion bill was recently introduced in the House by Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign co-sponsor, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).
      While the growing support for this legislation is welcome news to animal rights advocates, many will understandably question whether it goes far enough, fast enough. The full article, written by Ezra Klein and published by Vox, gives a perspective on the tradeoffs and political realities faced by those working to reform and eliminate a barbaric and oppressive industry and to replace it with something better, not only for the animals but for all of us as well.

Full article: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/7/8/21311327/farmers-factory-farms-cafos-animal-rights-booker-warren-khanna

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