Most Popular Animal Rights Posts
Undercover at the Pig Farm: This Is Where "Bacon" Comes From
Published November 17, 2009 @ 07:34AM PT
Yesterday, Mercy for Animals gave Fox News the exclusive on its latest undercover investigation -- at a standard pig farm. And Fox News put it right in its Web site's top story spot, hopefully catching the attention of many people. The video is certainly disturbing, heartbreaking, horrifying; Fox wouldn't even air portions of it. Indeed, knowing what I was going to see (and hear), I couldn't make myself watch it until today, which I felt I had to do before asking readers to watch.
If you haven't seen footage from previous investigations (or, for that matter, even if you have), and you're still eating animals, you owe it to the animals and yourself to watch the video, included at the end of this post. There's no excuse for not educating yourself on what exactly it is you're involved in and paying for.
I won't repeat all that you can read about the investigation at MFA's site for it, but I will comment on one objection to how animal advocates often present these investigations and touch on something the Discerning Brute has just discussed as well in this context: people's (or at the very least, Americans') bizarre obsession with bacon in recent years.
Is Golf More Important to San Francisco Than Endangered Animals?
Published November 16, 2009 @ 01:57PM PT
Um, no. I'm guessing most residents of the San Francisco area would say no.
But the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department apparently didn't get the memo. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the department is supposed to be figuring out how to restore habitat for the San Francisco garter snake and red-legged frog in Pacifica's Sharp Park, but instead, the department is pushing for the option that least considers the animals: an 18-hole golf course, which will push habitat restoration to "the margins of existing wetlands."
Willful Slow Food Ignorance and the Pain Animals Feel
Published November 16, 2009 @ 06:59AM PT
You know what bothers me? When a person or movement purports to be presenting an argument based in honesty and logic, to be coming from an objective place, concerned with fact and evidence -- but then conveniently pretends that any evidence that doesn't support or reinforce what he selfishly feels and wants even exists.
My respect for the Slow Food organization hit a low this weekend when I read Friday's editorial in the Huffington Post by its president Josh Viertel, in response to Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals. There is much in the essay I find bizarre and self-serving -- including, for example, Viertel's seeming pride in holding back lambs from their mothers and participating in the slaughter and his ludicrous insistence that "everyone's values are different, but the truth is anyone's values will do," as long as people live their values; it seems someone needs to explain to Mr. Viertel what we would be obligated to tolerate and support if this were true. Perhaps he's familiar, for example, with the values of violent racists, sexists, and homophobes and the ways they consistently "apply" their values in their lives? But the following extract was why I felt compelled to respond:
On Oreo, Mabel, and Killing Abused Animals
Published November 14, 2009 @ 09:22AM PT
I somehow didn't know the story of Oreo, the 1-year-old pit bull or pit bull mix who was repeatedly abused before being thrown off the roof of a 6-story building this summer, until today -- when I read about what happened to her yesterday: though she survived the traumatic fall that broke her two front legs and more and was physically recovering, she was killed yesterday by the ASPCA, which insisted that she was too aggressive to be adopted. The ASPCA told reporters that as she began healing from her injuries, she simultaneously began showing aggression -- "growling, lunging and trying to bite people who came too close." To her reactions, I say, big surprise. And to how long the ASPCA gave her to recover, I say, meet Mabel.
Friday Food: Apple Entrees and Desserts, Burgundy Stew, and More
Published November 13, 2009 @ 04:35PM PT
Sorry for publishing this week's edition late, folks. My day was derailed by a lost neighborhood dog (but no worries -- he's safely at home with his family again). And Friday Food is ready to go!
(Raw) Apple Medallions with Fennel and Sage Stuffing from -- and photo at left courtesy of -- What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway?
Burgundy Stew from Vegan Dad
Cabbage Amaranth Soup from Rants & Recipes
Apple Tart from Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes
Gingerbread French Toast from Happy Herbivore
Raw Thai Veggie Wraps with Green Curry Coconut Lime Sauce from The Voracious Vegan
Judge Rejects Plea Deal for Animal Activist, Uses "Terror" Rhetoric
Published November 13, 2009 @ 06:12AM PT
Utah is full of unpleasant animal news these days, from the upcoming protest issues mentioned yesterday to the University of Utah undercover laboratory investigation (which we've yet to discuss here) to this: yesterday a U.S. district judge rejected a plea bargain made between the prosecution and a defendant animal rights activist who released several hundred minks last year -- because he believed the plea deal didn't punish the defendant enough for "terrorizing" the man who makes his money terrorizing (no quotation marks) animals.
So what did defendant William Viehl do? Did he try to kill someone? Burn down the owner's house? Hold him hostage at gunpoint? Poison his water supply? Because you'd think he would have had to do something like that for the judge to insist the fur farmer had been "terrorized." Of course, Viehl did no such things. He and his codefendant released animals and spray-painted a barn. He cost the so-called victim money.
No More Elephants in India's Circuses and Zoos
Published November 12, 2009 @ 07:51PM PT
In Defense of Animals has just sent out word of good news for elephants in India. Recognizing that zoos and circuses can't possibly, even in the best of circumstances, meet these animals' needs, the Central Zoo Authority has ordered the release of 140 captive elephants in the country. They will be moved to "semi-free ranging conditions" near national parks and on protected wildlife reserves.
Veterinarian, wildlife biologist, and IDA's executive director Dr. Anand Ramanathan makes excellent points in IDA's press release, asking how the United States can still fail to step up when India can recognize the problems inherent to captive breeding of elephants and the failure of captive programs to aid in real-world protection of species in their natural habitat.
If a country such as India, which has thousands of years' experience managing elephants in captivity, can make such a forward-thinking decision, then certainly the United States can take a stand against circuses that exploit elephants and sub-optimal zoo exhibits that cause elephants to suffer and die prematurely.
To be clear, this ban does not affect any other animals held captive in circuses and zoos. But it certainly is good news and progress for elephants. What's the holdup, America?
Read more here.
