Written by PETA
What some insects are capable of is enough to make the horror film The Fly seem cuddly by comparison. In a study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, researchers collected flies and cockroaches from manure on pig farms and found that the insects carried the same antibiotic-resistant bacteria as the pigs who were fed the drugs. The bacteria samples were resistant to erythromycin, streptomycin, and kanamycin and were highly resistant to tetracycline.
According to researcher Dr. Ludek Zurek, the insects can travel from farms to nearby residences and spread the antibiotic-resistant bacteria to people through contact with food. If the bacterial strains multiply in large numbers, they have the potential to leave patients immune to the healing effects of antibiotic medications, which could make treatment for infections difficult. The new research mirrors what previous studies have shown about the danger that antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose to people. To quote The Fly, "Be afraid. Be very afraid."
Written by Michelle Sherrow
Major food service company Sodexo is joining the growing Meatless Monday campaign. The company plans to start delivering plant-based entrées to the 900 hospitals that it serves. And soon after that, it will begin offering meatless options at 2,000 corporations, 175 government offices, 650 college campuses, 500 school districts, and 150 private schools. If all of Sodexo's 10 million customers participate in Meatless Mondays, 520 million fewer meat-based meals will be eaten every year!
"This fits in so well with our Better Tomorrow Plan, which is all about promoting health and wellness, protecting and restoring the environment, and supporting local community development," says Nitu Gupta, vice president of brand management for Sodexo health care. "Meatless Monday is a simple thing we can all do …. Little changes in our behavior can have a profound effect."
Considering that runoff from factory farms pollutes our waterways more than all other industries combined, that half of all the water consumed in the U.S. is used to raise farmed animals, and that 16 pounds of grain are used to produce 1 pound of meat, the environmental impact of Sodexo's decision is profound indeed.
Thanks, Sodexo, for celebrating Earth Day every week!
An organic beef producer is recalling more than 34,000 pounds of ground beef after finding E. coli bacteria in its facilities. E. coli can cause dehydration, anemia, kidney failure, and even death.
Many consumers don't realize that animals on organic farms may be forced to endure the same crowded, filthy conditions as animals on typical factory farms. Because of these conditions and the fact that organic farmers avoid using antibiotics, organically raised animals can harbor even more bacteria than animals who are drugged. See PETA's factsheet for more on the myths surrounding organic and free-range farms.
Why I don't eat chicken—let me count the reasons: There's cruelty and callousness, blood and pus, pain and suffering, and sickness and death, not to mention feces, vomit, parasites, pollution, plaque build-up, and other disturbing and disgusting things that I just can't stomach. PETA has created a compelling 30-second clip called "Why I Don't Eat Chicken" that features some of the most unappetizing footage from our chicken factory farm investigations. Check it out, and share it with everyone you know. If they can't stomach the video, then they shouldn't stomach chicken flesh.
Written by Heather Moore
I'm such a map geek that I study the road atlas for fun. But I was equal parts intrigued and disturbed by the latest map that I laid eyes on: Food & Water Watch's Factory Farm Map. This interactive online map shows which areas of the U.S. have the most animal factories, and it also allows you to filter the results by the types of animals who are raised and killed for their flesh, milk, or eggs.
Wherever they are, factory farms lead to animal suffering, environmental destruction, and a lower quality of life for everyone. We can help keep factory farms out of our communities by showing our friends and families the many benefits of going vegan and why everyone would be vegetarian if slaughterhouses had glass walls.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
During our investigations, undercover workers document some seriously sick and disturbing events—including the sexual abuse of animals, from pigs to turkeys. Unfortunately, sexual violence against farmed animals is not an unusual occurrence.
I have to warn you—what you're about to see and read is not for the faint of heart.
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Our undercover investigation at an Iowa pig factory farm revealed that a supervisor rammed a cane into a pig's vagina. That same supervisor said that he thrust gate rods into the anuses of pigs who frustrated him.
At a Butterball slaughterhouse, a PETA investigator saw—in addition to other horrific cruelty—a worker insert his finger into a turkey's cloaca (vagina). Another worker mimed raping a bird whose legs and head he'd shackled.
At Aviagen Turkeys, Inc., in West Virginia, the "world's leading poultry breeding company," a worker was indicted for cruelty to animals after being caught on video pinning a female turkey to the ground and mimicking raping her. When interviewed by police, he reportedly admitted to having done this to dozens of other turkeys.
When writer Jim Mason worked for a day as a turkey breeder, he discovered that since turkeys have been genetically manipulated to grow so large that they can no longer breed naturally, workers must manually extract semen from males and manually inseminate females. On dairy farms, a female cow will often be forcibly restrained so that she can't get away when an insemination instrument is shoved into her vagina. Pig factory farm workers confine boars to tiny "carts" and parade them in front of sows so that other workers can look at and touch sows' genitals in order to determine the best time to insert a tube of pig semen into them.
Cruel, twisted, perverted, and sadistic—and this kind of sexual violence happens every day on factory farms. The meat and dairy industries even consider some of it "standard practice." This is why we're hoping to have this billboard placed very soon, but until then, we're continuing to urge everyone to go vegan. Help end the horrific abuse of animals on factory farms forever!
Written by Shawna Flavell
More than a quarter of a billion eggs—a quarter of a billion!—have reportedly been recalled because of an outbreak of salmonella that has sickened hundreds of people in at least three states. A nationwide recall of 13 brands sold by an Iowa egg factory farm has launched a multi-agency investigation that is only expected to grow in scope and scale.It's heartbreaking to imagine how many hens lived and died in misery to lay and lose their now rejected eggs, when you consider that a hen has to endure 22 hours of confinement in a crowded battery cage to produce just one egg. Our friends at Mercy for Animals recently released undercover video footage from a California egg factory farm exposing row after multi-stacked row of chickens who live in filthy cages in which they can barely move, injured and sick birds who never see a veterinarian, and birds who are violently grabbed and thrown by their wings, necks, and legs:
The easiest way to steer clear of diarrhea, cramps, and a possible trip to the emergency room is to avoid eggs altogether. There are loads of ways to avoid eating chicken embryos—check out all these alternatives.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
"Super Freak." Super Target. Superbad. I'd say the wedding reception classic, shopper's wonderland, and hit flick are all worth cheering. But "superbugs," a la swine flu, salmonella, and E. coli? Not so much.
These drug-resistant infections contaminate not only our air and waterways but also America's meat supply, which is also greatly responsible for creating them. The practice of feeding antibiotics to crowded factory farmed pigs, chickens, and cows started in the '90s and has since skyrocketed—70 percent of the antibiotics in the U.S. last year were used on factory farms. Old killers like malaria, tuberculosis, and staph are making comebacks, stronger than ever. And thanks to the overuse of antibiotics, more than 65,000 people died last year from drug-resistant infections.
Health and government officials everywhere, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the White House to the World Health Organization, are worried. This alarming article by the Associate Press, which I urge you to read and forward, had so many mind-boggling stats and quotes that I was tempted to cut and paste it in its entirety. Instead, I lifted the following quotes:
"This is a living breathing problem, it's the big bad wolf and it's knocking at our door."—Dr. Vance Fowler, Infectious disease specialist, Duke University
"If we're not careful with antibiotics and the programs to administer them, we're going to be in a post antibiotic era." —Dr. Thomas Frieden, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
"If you mixed an antibiotic in your child's cereal, people would think you're crazy." —Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, Democrat from New York
How can you keep superbugs at bay? Start by going vegan. There's no doubt that you'll save animal lives—and better protect your own.
Written by Karin Bennett
Actually, to be precise, Jerry's a steer. A PETA investigator found him hobbling around a field and scrounging for weeds at the appallingly filthy Pennsylvania dairy farm we told you about last month. This is how the investigator described the 5-month-old calf in her log:
[I] found a steer at the entrance to the barn (outside of the fence) who looked [to be] in a pitiful condition. He is thin, pot-bellied, buckled over at the front knees and pasterns … and when he looks at you he has a tilt to his head. Flies were covering both of his eyes, which appeared cloudy.
In addition to being crippled, the young calf was crawling with lice and was nearly blind because of pinkeye, a bacterial infection that spreads like wildfire in the disgusting conditions on factory farms. PETA's investigator bought Jerry and whisked him away to a "safe house" until he could be driven to his new home at a sanctuary.
Although he was initially (and understandably) terrified of humans, we're told that Jerry became mysteriously calm during the ride to the sanctuary. It was as if he considered the journey to be an adventure and knew that it would end at a safe and loving place.
Jerry has now almost fully recovered and regained most of his sight. He loves to wait outside the back door every evening at dinner time, and he's become the adopted "big brother" of another calf who was rescued from the same farm. If the younger calf strays too far, Jerry will go off in search of his adopted sibling.
Unfortunately, not all calves are as lucky as Jerry. Most male calves who are born on dairy farms are sent to slaughter, usually after they've been confined for up to 23 weeks to cramped veal crates that are intended to prevent the calves from moving so that their flesh will stay unnaturally pale. Making sure that you don't contribute to their suffering is as easy as giving up dairy foods.
To read a more about Jerry, you can head over to Facebook, where he is featured on our "causes" page.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Today is Gandhi's birthday, and it's also the second day of Vegetarian Awareness Month. I can't think of a better way to celebrate both than by giving a vegetarian diet a try.
Gandhi ardently advocated nonviolence and campaigned to end poverty, expand women's rights, encourage self-reliance, and promote peace and respect for all living beings. He believed that "the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
If you think about the billions of animals who suffer in America's filthy, crowded factory farms and who are cruelly killed in slaughterhouses every year, it's clear that this nation has a long way to go to become "great" and "moral."
So if PETA's sexy babes haven't yet inspired you to go vegetarian, check your pulse. Then read Gandhi's book The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism and PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's The PETA Practical Guide to Animals Rights.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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