Calif. Judge Gives the OK to Keep Dragging Downed Pigs to Slaughter
Published February 20, 2009 @ 05:39AM PT
Two months ago, on December 26, I wrote a post titled "Industry Sues to Re-Allow Slaughter & Sale of Ill, Injured Animals." The judge in that lawsuit just ruled in favor of the National Meat Association and American Meat Institute--apparently the ruling will become permanent if the state doesn't appeal. A federal judge has essentially said, "Sure! Drag those injured, broken, lame pigs into the slaughterhouse screaming if you have to! That's good meat!"
-Read on after the jump-
First, for background, let's look back at part of the December post (emphasis newly added):
In keeping with the holiday spirit, animal agribusiness groups went to court on Christmas Eve demanding to be allowed to push, shove, drag, and kick even the most ill and injured pigs, goats, and sheep to their death in California--federal law applies only to cattle, and slaughterers think that what is good for the U.S. government should be good enough for California's state government too. Industry publication Feedstuffs reported on December 25 that "the National Meat Assn. (NMA) has filed a lawsuit in a federal court in California seeking to overturn part of a California law passed this summer that bans the slaughter of non-ambulatory livestock for meat for human consumption, and the American Meat Institute (AMI) has moved to intervene in and broaden the action."
Feedstuffs further explains, "NMA and AMI maintain that federal law permitting the slaughter of non-ambulatory hogs, goats and sheep takes precedent over the California law and that animals are often non-ambulatory due to injuries, not disease." Oh, that makes it so much better! These animals are lame and dying because of abuse, neglect, and horrendous transport that have caused just injuries, not illnesses. Unbelievable.
Now from an article on the ruling:
Pigs that can't stand up on their own may still be butchered and their meat sold for human consumption despite a state law designed to prevent that, a federal judge ruled Thursday in Fresno.
The law, which took effect Jan. 1, made it illegal for anyone to butcher and sell animals too sick to stand. But slaughterhouses argued that the law was too broad and caused meat from healthy animals to go to waste. . . .
In his 21-page ruling, O'Neill stopped the state from enforcing the law against swine slaughterhouses. . . .
American Meat Association spokeswoman Janet Riley praised the decision. . . . [I'm shocked]
Riley said pigs can become stressed and fatigued, especially after being moved. When they arrive at a processing plant, they might not want to walk, but are not necessarily sick. If given a chance to rest, they often walk, she said.
You notice anything different between what was being said back in December on an industry Web site and what's being said now publicly? Back in December there was clear acknowledgment that some pigs are badly injured by the time they arrive at the slaughterhouse (both from farm conditions and from horrendous transport), so badly injured and weak that they can't stand and walk into the slaughterhouse--and given the way that was casually presented, it's obvious that the industry finds that perfectly acceptable: they should be able to drag those suffering pigs into the slaughterhouse because they're only injured and not ill. In other words, the industry has made it crystal clear that from their perspective, all these rules are solely about human health, profit, and food-supply safety and not at all about animal well-being.
But now all of a sudden, all those pigs whom the industry wants to drag inside are neither ill nor injured, and mostly, they just don't want to walk. Mm-hmm.
And "given a chance to rest"? Are we really supposed to take that seriously? We--we who have seen how the pigs are crammed into the transport trucks, who know there's no place or way for the pigs to truly "rest" anywhere during this process, who know that the pigs are denied any food or even water both during and after days-long transport, who know that the pigs are just money-makers and time is money, who have seen the pigs "encouraged" to walk via brutal beatings, kicking, and electric prodding--we are supposed to believe that upon arriving at the slaughterhouses, the pigs are given the opportunity, time, and comforting surroundings and nourishment necessary to "rest" before being forced to the kill floor? How stupid does the industry think we are?
No, that's not the right question. They don't think we're stupid. They're just betting on the fact that most of us don't care, that most of us will ignore facts and evidence and believe whatever they say--because we want to believe what they say. People don't want to envision a pig being dragged out of a truck or hear in their heads the scream of a pig being kicked and dragged into the slaughterhouse as they're chewing on their bacon (and yes, a scream--a pig's scream while being abused is an awful sound; if you don't believe me, see if you can get through this video and this one), so the industry is betting that many will choose to believe whatever they're told, whatever is designed to make them feel better.
In seeking to overturn this law, the industry is boldly betting that people are selfish and stubborn enough that they'll shrug their shoulders at this so-very-obvious proof that animal cruelty is par for the course, that suffering is inherent in animal agriculture and slaughter, and that the industry doesn't much care. They're betting that they can come right out and file a lawsuit in which they admit many animals can't get off the truck and into the slaughterhouse because they've been so badly injured, in which they admit to (and ask for approval for!) dragging them in, and you'll say "I don't want to think about it," hand them your money, and eat that ham sandwich anyway.
Prove them wrong if you're not proving them wrong already. There are vegan sausage patties out there with your name on them.
Quoting myself again:
We know that animal rights is an utterly foreign concept to the animal ag industry, but this move proves, once again, that despite all the pretty words and public relations posturing about its "humane" standards and good care, the industry doesn't give a damn about welfare either; the animals it kills en masse every day are just products, products from which the exploiters are determined to squeeze every last dime--even if they have to drag the tortured beings to their violent deaths.
---
Following is a video from a COK transport investigation (upsetting but not graphic; includes pigs on their 2,000-mile trip to California slaughterhouse). Go here for the detailed, disturbing Investigation Log Notes.
And while we're talking pigs, see also the following compelling video of a recent pig farm investigation by Igualdad Animal (Animal Equality), originally shared on this blog here.
Share this Post
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
EmailRelated Posts
-
Religious Discrimination and the Killing of Egypt's Pigs (Part 2)
-
Industry Sues to Re-Allow Slaughter & Sale of Ill, Injured Animals
-
Palin and the Fun of Turkey Slaughter
Comments (22)
Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.
Author
-
Stephanie is an independent animal rights advocate, a vegan, a tree-hugging environmentalist, and a freelance editor and writer. She lives in St. Louis with an aging corgi-lab and an adolescent rescued pit bull.
Until human has an awakining both animal and environment will continue to suffer until the point of no turning back. There will be a large scale world epidemic to the meat food supply because of the lack of humane treatments. It has already occurred with bird flu and hoof-n-mouth. But agri business is supplying the needs of the public. Till people go veg abuse to animal will always continue. We need not stop in our efforts to get these horrific pictures to the public to encourage human to make a change. But until people take the efforts of PETA seriously (the making of meat without the animal) then suffering will most always be there.
Posted by R R on 02/20/2009 @ 10:26AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I can't even deal with this. I'm at the point where I don't UNDERSTAND how people even eat meat without thinking about where it's coming from and, if they know where it comes from, how they eat it anyway. If that doesn't make sense it's because I'm numb from this article. Stephanie, you have an endless supply of material, unfortunately.... There's so much work to do to change things. Thanks for what you do. Your work is excellent.
By the way, I just read today that in 2000, 70% of pigs were entering the slaughterhouses with pneumonia. They're injured AND sick. And they happen to be beautiful and intelligent beings.
Posted by Haley O on 02/20/2009 @ 12:26PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I adore pigs and find it extremely depressing, sometimes you just don't wan't to live in this horrible world.I hope everyday factory farming will end.
Posted by Samantha Pulsford on 10/20/2009 @ 03:24AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I adore pigs and find it extremely depressing, sometimes you just don't wan't to live in this horrible world.I hope everyday factory farming will end.
Posted by Samantha Pulsford on 10/20/2009 @ 03:24AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I adore pigs and find it extremely depressing, sometimes you just don't wan't to live in this horrible world.I hope everyday factory farming will end.
Posted by Samantha Pulsford on 10/20/2009 @ 03:24AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
It's so sad because they never get any love or care,they are just treated with hate and contempt their whole lives, they are never shown any mercy...can you imagine 'living' like that??
Posted by Samantha Pulsford on 10/20/2009 @ 03:28AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
It's so sad because they never get any love or care,they are just treated with hate and contempt their whole lives, they are never shown any mercy...can you imagine 'living' like that??
Posted by Samantha Pulsford on 10/20/2009 @ 03:28AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I just spent the last three days on a spiritual forum giving links and information on the effect of meat consumption on health and the environment, as well as hinting at the cruelty that goes on. And out of perhaps 20 other posters, only 2(not including me) were on the same side as I, one woman stated that perhaps she needed to consider whether or not she should continue to eat meat and the rest defended strenuously, their right to eat meat, just because! One woman said it makes no difference because they will die anyway, another said she offers a prayer up of thanksgiving to each animal for "giving up" its life for her benefit. How sweet. These are people who think that they are in tune with God, the universe, the Creator power, etc. I am dumbfounded. There is no hope!
Posted by Debby McCabe on 02/20/2009 @ 02:46PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
You're not the only one. My brothers and I don't eat meat, all vegetarians in Argentina -The Meat Eating Country, trust me...-, we wear vegan shoes and clothing, we're just fine... we don't need to abuse animals to have a good life. Keep up the good work you're sure doing by trying to talk people into vegetarianism... it's frustrating sometimes, but if you manage convince just one person, you'll have made a huge difference... how many cows, chickens, pigs, goats, fish will not die thanks to your deed? Don't despair
Posted by Natalia Ruiz on 02/21/2009 @ 05:33PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
"They don't think we're stupid. They're just betting on the fact that most of us don't care, that most of us will ignore facts and evidence and believe whatever they say"
Thank you. This is exactly the problem.
The thing is, we as humans don't want to see the bigger picture - we can only see as far as our wallet. I've heard too many times that "veg*n food costs too much." I'm not sure what this is based on considering I buy all the same foods at the grocery store except the ones containing animal products. And judging by the general health of the country, people are already eating the un-healthy vegan foods (many cookies, chips & junk food are vegan afterall) which do cost more.
If you believe in something strong enough, if you can't erase the thought of animals being kicked, dragged & slaughtered, then it is a small sacrifice to add an extra servings of veggies in place of your pork chop.
Posted by Lisa Smolen on 02/20/2009 @ 03:46PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Haley O mentioned pneumonia in pigs... and there's also an alarming concern over MRSA in the factories themselves... and the trichinosis regarding pigs too. Yet... they do keep eating their little sausages - don't they?
Stephanie... thanks for the info - we could have seen it coming though. The pig producers claim that their stock sometimes must "rest" because of fatique... and there's all the issues with swine heart attacks if they get too excited.
And soon, I have no doubt the "downed cow" issue will be revisited - with some animal vet's professional opinion that these sick, dying animal are somehow still suitable to "pass".
It's disgusting.
I'm with Ricky - it just may take a large scale world epidemic to get people to realize - their pieces of flesh just can't be had as "conveniently" as they'd like them to be... It's only a matter of time.
Posted by Bea Elliott on 02/20/2009 @ 07:26PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
My heart is breaking ..............
But it is not over yet. Read this article:
http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2009/02/is-it-the-economy-or-do-lawyers-love-animals-pro-bono-work-for-animal-rights-skyrockets.html
Animal law has become one of the fastest-growing areas of study in the U.S., with nearly 100 courses available to law school students (just nine schools offered such courses in 2000) and more high-profile litigation than ever.
Statistics from 2008 show that Am Law firms contributed a record number of pro bono hours to the Humane Society of the United States and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, two of the country's leading animal rights organizations--and those that pursue litigation most aggressively.
There ARE people out there who care and who CAN do something about all of this but they need to hear from others who care. Public outcry is a formidable tool when used strategically to push others to do the right thing.
I am encouraging everyone to please send emails to the Animal Legal Defense/Farm Sanctuary and Humane Farming begging them to continue to help stop this insanity.
Write from your heart so they can hear and feel and see how many people are out here supporting their work. Its not just idle work, your intention fused with your hearts vibrational force will work more miracles than you know!
info@aldf.org / Animal Legal Defense / http://www.aldf.org/index.php
info@farmsanctuary.org / Farm Sanctuary - farmsanctuary.org
hfa@hfa.org / The Humane Farming Association - hfa.org
info@aldf.org / The Animal Legal Defense Fund / Bruce Wagman
SEND YOUR EMAILS TODAY!
Posted by amber lopez on 02/20/2009 @ 08:21PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Thank you Amber!!!
Posted by Lisa Smolen on 02/21/2009 @ 08:04AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I think the judges should be more emphatetic toward the animal no wonder people is getting sick we are eating animal that are depress and suffrage. this is OUTRAGE! animals even before they are slather have rights! The authority should enforce a better treatment of this poor animals God don't like ugly use but don't abuse Please!! love Fran.
Posted by Frances Smith on 02/23/2009 @ 01:25PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Thank you for the post, dear. It's absolutely ridiculous that someone could ever make such a statement as the judge made. However, it seems to be the thought of our society. A lot of people just ignore what happens around them. It's terrible.
Posted by M N on 02/24/2009 @ 05:45AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
"The law, which took effect Jan. 1, made it illegal for anyone to butcher and sell animals too sick to stand."
Okay I completly understand the you can't sell them part, but what I don't understand I the slaughtering part. If they are too sick or injured to stand, put them out of their misery. I mean it's not like they are going to take them to a vet and make them all better. If they are that careless to let the pig get that way to begin with then they are just going to wait till the pig suffers to death. I think if there is one or the other to chose I would slaughter the pig, it's better than having them suffer to death.
Well first of all there needs to be a law that prevents the pigs from ever getting that way to begin with.
Also Miranda, the judge didn't actually say those words, Stephanie was just summing up what he "essentially said".
I don't understand why people can buy their meat from places like that. Honestly it's not healthy, good meat. I can't eat meat from these places and I refuse to support this crap.
Posted by Connor D. on 03/02/2009 @ 10:40AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I think, Connor, it's not the putting "out of their misery" that's the problem, because that would be much kinder than letting them languish. It's just that slaughter, the way it's carried out in the places these animals are dying, is not humane. I'm sure I don't speak for everyone, but shooting the poor thing in the head would be more humane than sending them through the slaughter-line.
As for eating it, I obviously don't eat meat, but I don't want to worry that my family or friends are eating sick animals.
Posted by Lisa Smolen on 03/02/2009 @ 11:03AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
"But shooting the poor thing in the head would be more humane than sending them through the slaughter-line."
I absolutely agree, in fact a lot of slaughter houses are doing it that way now. The way I get my cows from the farmers I know they walk into a small pen. There's like these things that squeeze the cows, not enough that it hurts at all but it's like a hug almost and the pressure calms the cows down, just to make sure they aren't scared and then there's a machine that shoots them in the head with a bullet.
I think they need to do the same with pigs.
That seems A LOT more humane than a lot of things I have heard.
Posted by Connor D. on 03/02/2009 @ 03:58PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Do you honestly think that the animal "getting the soothing hug" doesn't realize that it is in danger. They smell the blood, they are in unfamiliar territory, they hear the cries of the other animals there who are also afraid. And the bolt gun that they use, doesn't always hit the mark, because these animals are not standing around peacefully chewing their cud. They wave their heads around, trying to watch out for the danger they know is coming and far too often that bolt gun is off just a bit and they are not killed but only stunned at which point their body is dragged out, hung up and dismmembering begins. Sometimes, they come too as this process is beginning and the assembly line doesn't stop just for their sake. Your post attempts to make the whole process seem sympathetic and it is not. Do some research on slaughterhouses, look at some videos and you will see that it is anything but a "calming" process.
Posted by Debby McCabe on 03/14/2009 @ 06:04AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Here is a story for all you meat eaters that think you are getting healthy meat. I have an uncle, very nice man, who raises beef. A few years ago, several of his most recent crop of young calves (prob. 6 months old) got some illness. He called the vet, they did tests, but couldn't determine the exact cause of the illness. In the meantime, the calves died. During this process, a couple more started to exhibit the same initial symptoms and they too died. Rather than loose his whole crop for that year, he shipped the whole bunch. They were to all appearances, healthy, but how many of them were carrying the virus that killed the first bunches. And you guys, or people like you, ate them! My uncle is only one small farmer out of thousands and without a doubt, the most important thing to every businessman, be he farmer, or banker, or store owner, the bottom line is King. How many other farmers do exactly what my uncle did. Not out of malice, but because he needed income to carry him through the next year. Enjoy your burgers folks!
Posted by Debby McCabe on 03/14/2009 @ 06:10AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Good point Debbie - I'm very certain that all animal farmers, once an illness is detected send their "stock" off for early slaughter so as not to loose any profits. The whole idea of eating cancerous or other infected animal tissue is pretty disgusting. Compound that with the animal having been tortured to meet his death is just unimaginable.
Posted by Bea Elliott on 03/14/2009 @ 03:09PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
This picture is just heartbreaking.....I mean, come on people, WHERE is the compassion? God Help these animals...
Posted by Kathy Jackson on 09/23/2009 @ 09:47AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.