McDonalds Rejects HSUS

McDonald's shareholders vote down 'cage free' proposal

AVMA.org

Aug 4, 2010

Shareholders for McDonald's voted against a proposal this spring to buy at least 5 percent of the restaurant chain's eggs from cage-free facilities.

The Humane Society of the United States, which owns 101 shares in the company and sponsored the resolution, similarly proposed at the 2009 annual shareholders meeting that McDonald's start transitioning to purchasing eggs produced in cage-free facilities.

In the recent proposal, the HSUS argued that cages provide for inadequate animal welfare and that McDonald's Corp.'s U.S. operations had fallen behind competitors and the company's own European operations in transitioning toward purchases of eggs from cage-free hens.

McDonald's board of directors recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal. The board argued that there is no agreement in the scientific community on how to balance advantages and disadvantages of hen housing systems and noted that the company is part of a coalition involved in an ongoing study of hen housing.     Link


This has to be really infuriating for the HSUS. They are used to marching in to the meet with heads of restaurants and having their demands met, regardless of whether or not it actually makes sense. McDonalds has decided to actually investigate this issue and use science to determine the best methods. Of course this becomes a problem for the HSUS because they rely on emotion rather than science to force their agenda’s on people.

HSUS Says No Cages Are Acceptable

HSUS issues statement on cages for hens
(7/21/2010)
Rod Smith

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and other activist groups in the U.S. and Europe that are focused on the treatment of farm animals issued a statement today that they are opposed to any form of cage housing, including colony-type enriched, or furnished, cages, for egg-laying hens.

Despite modifications that colony housing provides over traditional cage housing, modified cages still fail to meet the hens' behavioral and physical needs, according to the statement.

They have "unacceptably restrictive" space for the birds, which restricts the hens' ability for "running, flying and wing flapping, as well as dust bathing and perching," the statement argues. Such a "severe restriction" of their ability to exercise "is likely to lead to frustration, bone weakness and osteoporosis -- clear indicators of poor welfare," the statement says.

The statement calls for egg producers, food companies and others within the food industry to "do the right thing and end the use of cages to confine" egg-laying hens.    Read More

Just in case you were still in denial about what HSUS is trying to accomplish here, they have made it very clear that any livestock kept in any type of pen is unacceptable in their mind. The reason for this is that they have a stated goal to get everyone to become vegan. Piece by piece they must keep making it increasingly difficult for people to afford food produced by livestock. ~Troy

Prop 2 Forces Cage-Free Only Eggs in CA

California cage law will apply to out-of-state eggs
Associated Press
Posted: 07/08/2010 04:31:12 AM PDT

SACRAMENTO — California's two-year-old law to protect egg-laying hens has been extended to out-of-state egg suppliers who hope to sell their products in the state's grocery stores.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed AB1437 into law, calling it a positive step for California egg producers and animal welfare.

The measure requires that all eggs imported to California come from farms complying with Proposition 2, which was approved by voters in 2008. Violators could face up to 180 days in jail or a $1,000 fine.

Proposition 2 says cages for egg-laying hens must be large enough for the animals to stand up, lie down and extend their wings.

Both laws will take effect in 2015. Link

Let's look at what has happended here. Because of HSUS getting Prop 2 passed, consumers have less choices available to them at the grocery store in California. The choices that are left will be more expensive. This is exactly what their mission is, to force people to eat the food they decide is best. So the next time you hear Wayne and Co. claiming that they don't have a vegan agenda just remember what has now happened in California. This should be an incredible wake-up call for anyone who thinks HSUS is just a humane society.

Pacelle Calls Ag People "Disruptions"

Slamming the door on openness
Dirck Steimel

As a reporter, I only grow more curious when someone shuts a door in my face and tells me to go away. I start to wonder what they are hiding and start looking harder for the truth.

That’s the situation I found myself in recently when the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) held a news conference in Des Moines. The animal rights group showed off a batch of dimly-lit undercover videos that they claim proves there is systematic abuse of hens at Iowa’s modern egg farms.

I’ve covered agriculture and food trends for years and thought I might be able to bring a little of that experience and expertise into the press conference. But it wasn’t possible. Because I work for an agriculture-affiliated organization, I was barred from the press conference. It didn’t matter that I was editor of the Spokesman, the most widely circulated newspaper in Iowa. My ties to agriculture made me unwelcome.

I wasn’t alone. People with a lot more expertise than me were also stuck out in the hallway. That included representatives from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and others affiliated with agriculture.

Why were we kept out? HSUS leader Wayne Pacelle told the Des Moines Register that he shut out ag affiliated folks because he didn’t want “disruptions.” Read More

Pacelle has continually said that the HSUS wants to have conversations with agriculture. Well, Wayne can say whatever he wants, but his actions give us more insight into their true feelings. Representatives from ag organizations weren’t allowed at his press conference in Des Moines last week because he didn’t want any “disruptions”. I think that is really how the world’s wealthiest animal rights organization classifies farmers and ranchers, as a disruption of their main goal to eliminate animal agriculture in this country.

Activists Threaten National Health

Hard-boiled animal activists could threaten vaccine supply
By: David Martosko
Newspaper: Cleveland Plain Dealer

In the post-9/11 world, the phrase "national security" conjures up images of dirty bombs, jihadists, white powder and biohazard labels. It should also bring to mind another picture: an egg.

As we enter flu season, scientists and public health officials are ramping up efforts to combat the expected rise in cases of H1N1 flu. Hospitals, doctors' offices and clinics started receiving the vaccine earlier this month, but so far it's only available in limited quantities and will have to be allocated piecemeal across the country. And some experts predict that the H1N1 epidemic will peak before the majority of vaccine doses can be produced.

The most common method of making flu vaccines requires chicken eggs to incubate viral strains. It takes three eggs to produce a single dose of H1N1 flu vaccine. Vaccination of every American would require more than 920 million eggs.

If that sounds like a big number to you, try asking a chicken farmer. Thankfully, America's modern agriculture system makes production on that scale possible. For now.

If the latest fad of animal-rights activism continues, however, our capacity to produce eggs -- and vaccines -- may be threatened.

What do animal rights activists have to do with the flu? Lobbying by these groups has the potential to diminish our domestic "egg security" by driving egg farmers out of business -- or at least out of the United States. Read More

It’s amazing to that so many people don’t realize how agriculture affects their lives. Once again, with the threat of H1N1 sweeping across the country, agriculture has supplied the materials needed to protect ourselves. As a society, if we were to abolish animal agriculture as some groups like the Humane Society of the United States are trying to accomplish, we would suffer greatly on a variety of fronts. The resources that animal agriculture provides are irreplaceable.

All Family Farms Have Evolved

October 5, 2009
Family farm evolves into an egg behemoth

PUGLISI FARMS: Second-largest egg producer in New Jersey

By MICHELLE GLADDEN
FREEHOLD BUREAU

Way back when, at his very bottom, Emanuel Puglisi sold the last prized possession from his egg farm, a half-ton 1950s blue Chevy pickup truck.

The hens had been sold already, so this was the next step toward abandoning his farm. The loss of the pickup is still etched in family lore.

"I can remember the man coming to pick it up on Christmas morning,'' said Puglisi's eldest son John, 53, who was then just 5 years old. "My dad just wasn't making any money, and that helped to make some ends meet.''

But more than 50 years later, no one is abandoning anything at Puglisi Egg Farms, the state's second-largest egg producer. The farm, a complex of steel warehouses and hangar-like hen houses called "clear span'' buildings off Easy Street, is capable of packaging 101,000 eggs per hour. Meanwhile, the family owns other farms in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The metamorphosis of the Puglisi farm, from American Gothic-like outpost that began with 30 hens to family corporation, is a story of survival and change wrought by an industry meltdown.

Read More

Most of what the anti-agriculture crowd likes to characterize as a “factory farm”, have very similar stories to the Puglisi family. They started from very meager beginnings, worked hard and had a desire to grow their farm. Several decades later their family is still working just as hard and at no point have they quit caring about their hens. So many people today think they can determine the level of care by the size of the operation. As you run a successful livestock operation and you are able to grow it, never to you get to the point that you quit caring for the livestock. This article is a good example of that.

HSUS Says New Henhouse Not Compliant

J.S. West to build henhouse compliant with Proposition 2
By John Holland - jholland@modbee.com

J.S. West and Cos., an egg producer based in Modesto, announced today that it will build a henhouse aimed at complying with Proposition 2.

This will be the first commercial project that meets the standards for hen enclosures approved by state voters last year, company president Eric Benson said.

The Humane Society of the United States, a leading backer of the proposition, disagreed. It said the new housing, increasing the floor space per hen to 116 square inches, would leave the birds too cramped.

Benson said he was not surprised by the reaction and plans to move forward with the $3.2 million project. It will house about 150,000 hens — 8 percent of the company’s flock — at one of its operations near Livingston.

“No matter what the Humane Society thinks, we believe at J.S. West that this housing is Proposition 2-compliant,” Benson said.

Jennifer Fearing, senior state director for the Humane Society, said both sides in the battle over Proposition 2 agreed last year that it would not allow the enclosures planned by J.S. West.

“The amount of space proposed here is clearly not enough space for ‘fully extending all limbs without touching the side of an enclosure or another bird’ as defined under Proposition 2,” she said in an e-mail. Read More

As was to be expected, the HSUS is quite upset that anyone is going to continue egg production in California. Their goal was to eliminate the industry in that state, but now there are some that are going to attempt to comply with Prop 2. The HSUS wrote the proposition with vague language so that they could twist the interpretation any way they wanted. In doing so, they figured everyone would be to scared to even try complying. Eventually a judge will have to determine what is and isn’t legal. Until then, expect to hear the HSUS claim any proposal as being in violation of Prop 2.

Egg Council Responds

Iowa Egg Council CEO says methods used are humane
Thursday, September 3, 2009, 12:45 PM
by Jerry Oster, KNAX, Yankton

The C.E.O. of the Iowa Egg Council says producers in the state are not using inhumane production practices, despite what was shown in an undercover video shot by the group Mercy for Animals at the Hy-Line plant in Spencer. The video showed male chicks being separated out and being thrown into a grinder.

Kevin Vinchattle says the methods used to destroy male baby chicks as part of the egg production process are approved and standard operating procedure in the industry. He says there is no market for the male chicks.

"We're in egg production, and boys don't lay eggs and girls do, and so if you could tell in the shell which was going to be a male and which was going to be a female, you'd never even incubate the male eggs and they would get diverted to different use. Right now we don't have the ability to do that," Vinchattle says.

He says the male chicks don't have enough meat on them to be economical as a meat bird, and the euthanasia process is designed to be instantaneous and that is accepted by the industry in the U.S. and Europe. Read More

It seems that many animal rights activists are just finding out that male chickens do not lay eggs. Since the video has come out, they have consistently been emphasizing this fact. This is a non-story in that respect but apparently it’s been a revelation for them. No form of euthanasia is pretty, but I can’t imagine a quicker way to do it. It’s a method that’s been approved here and in Europe, which is where many animal rights groups point to as being the example we should follow. Besides, if Mercy for Animals was really concerned about animal welfare, they would have brought this issue forward right away. This is nothing more than a staged publicity stunt.

Here's the main thing to remember. Mercy for Animals will not be happy about any form of euthanasia or use of livestock for human benefit. So this really makes the video footage a moot point. They could video tape cows standing in a pasture and they are still going to advocate that people be vegans.