Animals in the News: Meat-Loving Vegheads, Barker, Berman, SHAC

by Stephanie Ernst

categories: Activism and Actions, Animals in the Blogs roundups

Published January 22, 2009 @ 07:14AM PT

There will be a couple of these Animals in the News/Blogs posts between today and tomorrow because I haven't kept up with them like I meant to.

First, we have these stories: The UK SHAC activists have been sentenced in court and in the media for crimes they didn't really commit, explains Will Potter of GreenIsTheNewRed.com. The Audubon Society's magazine this month is featuring an article from a writer who is serious about his love of meat (you can almost envision him drooling as you read the descriptions of his enjoyment), but not more serious about it than about concern for his son's future. After all these years, Bob Barker is still using his fame and money to help animals, this time by helping an animal law program. And Rick Berman of the Center for Consumer Freedom is finally being called out on a Web site dedicated to revealing his and the CCF's duplicity. Continue after the jump for details on these stories.

I was hoping that by the time I was ready to post this, Will Potter of GreenIsTheNewRed.com would have a post up on the sentencing yesterday of UK SHAC (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty) activists. He did not disappoint. Even if you've read a dozen articles on the trial and sentencing, you still need to read Will's account and analysis, which points out, among other things, all the false information provided in such news articles: "Activism Labeled 'Blackmail,' UK Animal Activists Sentenced to 4-11 Years in Prison."

Everybody is talking about the article that appeared in the Audubon Society's magazine this month--and for good reason. It's one of the best recent articles calling for a plant-based diet for environmental reasons. The author is a serious meat-lover--he makes that clear (e.g., "My carnivore’s lust goes beyond the DNA level. It’s in my soul")--but he shares the compelling reasons he nevertheless doesn't eat animal flesh anymore. I must admit that when I saw the article a couple weeks ago, I was surprised to see it featured so prominently by Audubon--surprised but glad. "The Low-Carbon Diet: Change your lightbulbs? Or your car? If you want to fight global warming, it’s time to consider a different diet."

Is there any animal rights advocate who doesn't adore Bob Barker? In his eighties now, the former Price Is Right host is still dedicating invaluable energy, time, and--yes--money to advocating for animals. His latest endeavor? A $1 million donation to the University of Virginia, for creation of an animal law program. And what's really incredible about this gift is that it's not nearly the first of such donations from Barker. He's donated additional millions to half a dozen other programs in recent years. For example, less than a year ago, another $1 million went to his alma mater for establishment of an undergraduate animal ethics program. Love...this...man.

I can't tell you how tickled I was to learn this past week that Rick Berman and the Center for Consumer Freedom are finally being called out on a Web site dedicated just to that cause (big thanks to Tracy of Digging through the Dirt for posting on this last Wednesday; check out her great post). This front group for the food industry is one of the most biased, misleading organizations out there, yet it paints itself as--and is far too often assumed to be--some kind of consumer watchdog group. In reality, Bergman and the CCF aren't concerned about the consumer; they are driven by the grotesque amounts of money that the food industry and animal agribusiness throw at them to spin and twist facts, news, and intentions. Animal advocacy groups aren't the only ones Bergman and the CCF go after--they go after unions, after Mothers Against Drunk Driving, after health groups that acknowledge and work toward solving the nation's obesity problem. Essentially, any watchdog groups whose educational campaigns in the public interest threaten client corporations' or industries' profits are a potential target. From the main page of the new site: "Richard Berman is a Washington, D.C.-based hired gun who uses front groups to defend his corporate clients against the public interest. Using his lobbying and consulting firm, Berman and Company, as a revenue vehicle for his activities, Berman runs at least 15 industry-funded projects . . . and holds 16 'positions' within these various entities."

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Photo by Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY