Animal Rights Group Allowed Abuse to Continue

Games over Indonesian animal cruelty videos cost animals' lives

EXCLUSIVE by Simon Benson

From: The Daily Telegraph

June 17, 2011

ANIMAL rights groups withheld film evidence of shocking animal cruelty in Indonesian slaughterhouses from the government for three months - before launching a major publicity campaign.

The RSPCA said it had considered the "ethical" dilemma of refusing the government access to the footage until the ABC's Four Corners highlighted the abuse two weeks ago, and admitted its actions meant thousands of animals would continue to be slaughtered between the time it discovered the brutal killings and when the footage was finally made public.

But the RSPCA said it feared the government would have done nothing had it been shown the footage earlier.    Read More

As has been the case with so many undercover videos filmed by animal rights activists, their political motivations were more important than actually stopping the abuse.  For months they were aware of this cruelty yet refused to inform authorities about it.  And now their solution is to end live exports, not how to improve facilities that handle the cattle or better training for those that work in them.  This is like ending the production of cars to prevent traffic accidents.  Their true motivation is to eliminate animal agriculture which explains their actions.  -TH

Dairy Cow Abuser Gets Jail

Dairy farm worker pleads guilty to gut-wrenching abuse of cows, calves


Posted: Sep 24, 2010 9:50 AM CDT Updated: Sep 24, 2010 2:58 PM CDT
Fox19.com


MARYSVILLE MUNI COURT, OH (WOIO) - A guilty plea from the man accused of abusing cows at a dairy farm in Plain City.

Undercover video taken by animal rights activists at the Conklin Dairy Farm show Billy Joe Gregg, Jr. hitting, stabbing and even dropping the cows.

Friday morning, Billy Joe Gregg, Jr. pleaded guilty to six counts of animal cruelty and six additional counts of animal cruelty were dismissed.

The judge sentenced him to 8 months in jail and ruled he can't have any contact with any animal and must enroll in counseling on how to treat animals. Gregg has already served about half of his sentence.

19 Action News is told that the Minerva Cheese Factory has stopped using Conklin Dairy.   Link

Why this guy took pleasure in abusing these cows is beyond me.  What we do know is that this isn’t normal behavior.  In order for our food animals to be productive they need to be as healthy and stress-free as possible.  That can’t be achieved with abuse like we saw in that video.  As a fifth generation rancher and someone who takes animal husbandry very seriously, I’m relived to know that this guy is getting some help.

Ag Student's Livestock Abused, Tortured

Jun 9, 2010 10:26 pm US/Pacific
Dozens Of Animals Brutally Attacked At High School

WINTERS, Calif. (CBS13) ― An unknown number of suspects savagely hurt and killed dozens of animals in an attack on a high school agriculture department, stunning students and staff and sparking a search for the people responsible.

Officials said students at Winters High School discovered the horrific scene Wednesday morning after vandals opened up all the pens and began killing and torturing many of the animals.

All of the department's steers were let out into the field and all the other corrals were opened up, said high school junior Prestlie Pearce.

At least 25 chickens were killed, many with their necks snapped and wings broken, and five pigs were shoved into a sewage pit. The pigs were forced to stand on their hind legs to keep their snouts above the sewage and fought each other all night while trying to get out.

"I don't know how you could shove five pigs into a three-by-three sewer hole that's five feet deep," Pearce said.

Staff member Eliott Hererra helped rescue the pigs and said he was surprised to see they survived the ordeal."They were stacked on top of each other," Hererra said. "The gut feeling of seeing those pigs struggle made me want to throw up." Read More

This was a horrible event that happened last week. While there are some of the fringe in our society that think feeding livestock in a pen or using them for a food source is abuse, I think most everyone could agree that the people who did this are the ones that we should truly be concerned with.

Animals Getting More Attention Than Abused Kids

Spotlight on animal abuse doesn't sit right with some
Adrian Humphreys, National Post, With Files From Trevor Wilhelm, Windsor Star Published: Friday, May 21, 2010

A mob of 200 gathered outside a Windsor, Ont., courthouse this week, showering vitriol and threats of torture and death on a man accused of sexually mutilating his dog. The crowd sought "Justice for Tyson," the wounded black lab mix.

A few days earlier, more than 100 protesters in Newmarket, Ont., held a mock funeral for animals euthanized during a ringworm outbreak at an animal shelter. Despite the pretend gravestones, real tears were shed.

Such public anguish and mass mobilization over animals has social advocates wondering why the streets often fall silent when such unfortunate fates befall fellow humans. One academic plans to launch a study of the phenomenon. "I look forward to the day when 200 people are speaking out about sexual abuse of children," said sex abuse survivor John Swales, a Windsor-based victim's advocate and support services advisor.

"There's no public display; it's just business as usual.... It is a dismal reflection of society when an animal receives more concern than a child." Read More

It doesn’t make sense to me how these animal rights activists can become zealots for animals while barely acknowledging the fact that many humans, especially children, go unnoticed. It’s hard to believe but some people, including upper-level personnel at groups like PETA and HSUS, truly feel that the lives of their own children don’t deserve any more consideration than that of the smallest insect. Obviously this is a pretty radical viewpoint they have taken and I feel sorry for their kids. The vast majority of people would never feel that way about their children but these radical viewpoints continue to permeate our society. ~Troy

MO Moves Closer to Harvesting Horses

Mo. House endorses legislation seeking to bypass federal ban on horse slaughter inspections
By Associated Press
6:08 PM CDT, March 29, 2010

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House has endorsed legislation designed to allow the slaughter of horses for human consumption.

The legislation is intended to get around a federal ban on meat inspectors working in horse slaughtering plants.

The House bill would levy fees on slaughterhouses that the state would then transfer to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It was approved by voice vote Monday and needs another vote before moving to the Senate.

Congress has barred federal funds from being spent by USDA to inspect horse slaughtering plants.The horse meat bill also includes a provision aimed at blocking initiative petitions restricting agriculture. Link

As the horse market continues to reside in the cellar and unwanted horses burden so many individuals and government entities there are efforts still moving forward to re-instate the harvesting of horses. Since the practice ended in the United States, the number of horses that are suffering has skyrocketed. It’s a classic example of what happens when emotional decisions meet the real world.

AR Groups Says Majority of Farmers Abuse Livestock

Animal rights group says a majority of farmers treat animals poorly
By Debra J. Groom / The Post-Standard
January 27, 2010, 8:50PM

Syracuse, NY -- An official with animal rights group Mercy for Animals said Wednesday morning the dairy industry is known for treating cattle cruelly and abuse scenes shown in an undercover video shot by a group member are scenes that exist at farms across the country.

Matt Rice, the New York campaign coordinator for Mercy for Animals, showed a video the group says was shot at Willet Dairy in Genoa, Cayuga County, to bolster its claims that cows are routinely abused at dairy farms. The video was shown during a news conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Syracuse.

The video shows cows with open sores, calves and heifers getting their horns burned off and tails docked (cut short) without painkillers, calves being dragged away from their mothers shortly after birth and cows being beaten, kicked and hit by employees.

Rice said the goal of the Willet Dairy video campaign is to "expose the public to abuses at a modern dairy" and push for laws to protect the animals. He said once people see what is happening at dairy farms, they will see "the best thing anyone can do is remove dairy from their diets."

Jessica Ziehm, speaking for the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, said it is outrageous to say a majority of dairy farmers treat their cows poorly.

"Cows are their livelihood and they do all they can to make their cows comfortable, happy and healthy," she said. Read More

To claim that a majority of farmers abuse their livestock shows a complete lack of understanding about animal welfare and performance. I have previously heard claims by uneducated people that claim abuse and poor management can be covered up with modern production methods. The fact of the matter is that the laws of nature can’t be superseded. If the comfort and care needs for an animal aren’t being met, they will not be productive. Year after year, we see our ability to produce food increase while using fewer natural resources. The real story here is that no matter how many livestock live on a farm, they have to be properly cared for so the farm can continue to be profitable.

USDA Closes Vermont Processor

USDA closes plant after HSUS undercover investigation
By Drovers news source Friday, October 30, 2009

The Humane Society of the United States released the results of an undercover investigation documenting animal abuse at a Vermont slaughter plant. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture took decisive action and immediately suspended operations at the plant, pending a continuing investigation. The HSUS is cooperating with agencies, and provided undercover footage and some preliminary findings to them earlier this week.

According to HSUS, videotape from the investigation reveals that veal calves only a few days old—many with their umbilical cords still hanging from their bodies—were unable to stand or walk on their own. The tape shows that the animals were kicked, slapped and repeatedly shocked with electric prods and subjected to other mistreatment. After reviewing the undercover footage obtained by the HSUS investigator in August and September 2009, animal scientists Dr. Temple Grandin and Kurt Vogel pronounced that, “the handling practices and attention to insensibility at this plant are unacceptable and must improve.” Link

There is no excuse for the mishandling of livestock. In our industry, we have spent millions of dollars on educational programming for all different segments of the livestock business so that there are no excuses for mistreatment. I am proud to be in the beef business, but there are members of our team that don’t always do things the right way. Because of that, we will continue to devote as many resources as we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. The HSUS will use this to claim that we shouldn’t eat meat at all. But, we don’t stop going to the doctor when someone is convicted of malpractice and we don’t stop driving cars because someone used it to commit a crime. If these allegations are true, I am glad that it was brought to the attention of proper authorities and that it will get corrected.