Farm Animals
Protest the National Chicken Council Conference
Published September 29, 2009 @ 04:08PM PT
If you live or work in Washington, D.C., there's a protest planned by FARM and United Poultry Concerns this Thursday you may want to participate in over your lunch hour: "The National Chicken Council's 55th annual conference is taking place in DC Thursday, October 1st -- which also happens to be on the eve of World Farm Animals Day (Gandhi’s Birthday)." Get more info on the event here.
If you need a little inspiration -- a reminder of how unique and wonderful and full of personality the animals for whom you'll be standing up and speaking out are -- check out this sweet and wonderful recent post from Marji at Animal Place: "A Hen Profile in Black and White." This quick glimpse into the personalities of some of the sanctuary residents is well worth reading -- and sharing.
And back briefly to World Farm Animals Day: As you may recall, a couple weeks ago, Michael Weber of FARM shared a thoughtful post about WFAD, coming up this Friday. If you haven't checked the event directory yet to see if there's something planned near you, on or around WFAD, you can still do that here. If you hurry, you may still be able to get some free materials for what you have planned too.
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Photo by Flickr user monkeysnaps
Summer and Freedom, from Dairy to Sanctuary
Published September 24, 2009 @ 07:34AM PT
You've seen (and will continue to see) Marji's wonderful posts at the Animal Place Sanctuary blog included often in the Animals in the Blogs roundups lately (and hopefully, you've been following those links to check out her posts; if not, now's the time). Please welcome her for her first guest post here. -S. Ernst
On a cool spring day, Summer and Freedom were born at separate dairy farms. Like almost all calves in the dairy industry, they were taken from their mom mere seconds after birth. The most powerful bond between mother cow and her calf was immediately denied. Since these two calves were male, they were of no monetary value to the farmer. Male dairy calves are sold when they are only a couple days old –- purchasers raise them for veal or “cheap” beef. At auction, the calves are sold for $3-20. Dairy farmers make no money off of male dairy calves.
Summer and Freedom did not even sell -- Summer was so malnourished that every rib was painfully visible; Freedom lacked a tail, a congenital defect that may cause lifelong digestive problems. Because of their poor start, Summer and Freedom required intensive care. They spent their first four days at a veterinary hospital receiving IV fluids and other medications to keep them healthy.
Wolves Are Not the Dangerous Predators; Humans Are
Published September 22, 2009 @ 06:39AM PT
If you want an example of essentially all that's wrong with the way humans think of, talk about, and interact with their fellow animals, do I ever have an editorial for you. The publisher, editorial board, or some unnamed journalist from an Oregon newspaper (the byline is vague) yesterday published this doozy: "Give Ranchers Right to Kill Problem Wolves."
Early on in the editorial, the authors set up wolves as the indisputable bad guys. First we learn that wolves in one general area killed twenty-something sheep total in April and August incidents, and thus those wolves were deemed "rogue" and were tracked and killed by the trusty U.S. Wildlife Services. This, it is argued, was justifiable because the wolves clearly intended to cause the ranchers trouble: "Since the wolves were bent on mayhem, and since efforts to relocate them did not work, it’s right that they were killed."
Bent on mayhem? Seriously? I mean, seriously? It gets better:
Animals, Nonviolence, and the International Day of Peace
Published September 21, 2009 @ 02:40PM PT
Today is the International Day of Peace, calling for nonviolence and ceasefire, as I learned last night from Kelly of easyVegan.info. And although my plans to post on a related topic this afternoon have been derailed along with the rest of my day, I'm lucky that Kelly (also a periodic contributor to this blog) wrote her thoughtful post on the topic last night, including this:
The day’s “ceasefire” most certainly does not include the millions of cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, horses, dogs, rats, seals, foxes and other domestic and wild-living nonhuman animals who will be slaughtered for food, clothing, vivisection, entertainment and the like. Quite the contrary: humans’ exploitation of nonhumans will continue, unabated, throughout the day and across the globe.
Watching Herbie the Rescued Calf Have a Ball
Published September 21, 2009 @ 06:33AM PT
Edit: It came to my attention just tonight that I accidentally included video #2 twice; video #3 is now included at the bottom, where it was intended to be.
What do you say to kicking off this week on a happy note? Last night, I saw a great video and knew immediately that it would be the subject of this morning's post (along with a couple follow-up videos). It's too wonderful not to share, despite the fact that I'm late to the party (all the videos are a couple years old). Here's the backstory: there's a sanctuary in New Jersey about which I just learned yesterday. For the Animals Sanctuary is a small, family-run operation, with roughly 30 animals currently -- a community of goats, chickens, pigs, cats, dogs, and one cow and one steer, a fairly famous young steer.
Cow Collapses on Man -- Guess Whose Condition Is Unknown?
Published September 19, 2009 @ 06:45AM PT
I just saw this news piece from the AP, out of Florida:
The St. Lucie County Fire District reports that a man in his early 30s, who was not identified, was milking cows early Friday morning when one of the animals fell on him. . . .
His injuries were not considered life-threatening, and he was released from the hospital later in the day.
It's not clear if the cow was injured.
The human is fine, but his experience warrants a news release. The cow whose collapse led to the man's injuries? We don't know what happened to her or why she collapsed or fell in the first place. Because no one really cares. Because she was just a milk machine.
Make the Connection on World Farm Animals Day, October 2
Published September 18, 2009 @ 05:29AM PT
Guest contributor Michael Weber coordinates events for World Farm Animals Day and FARM.
Each year, more than 55 billion cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens, and other sentient land animals are abused and killed in the world's animal farms and slaughterhouses. Since 1983, World Farm Animals Day has been dedicated to exposing, mourning, and memorializing their needless suffering and slaughter. It is a day for all to speak out against the atrocities and brutalization inflicted on animals raised for meat, eggs, and dairy.
October 2, 2009, will mark the 27th annual observance, and events will be taking place from late September until the start of November. Coordinated by Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), and drawing support from In Defense of Animals, Compassion Over Killing, Mercy for Animals, and over a dozen other leading animal rights organizations, this year’s WFAD is gearing up to be especially eye-opening.
