Written by Michelle Kretzer
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today vetoed the state's "ag-gag" bill, an attempt by the agriculture industry to prevent American consumers from learning about the cruelty inherent in factory farming. The governor agreed with animal advocates and legal scholars who loudly criticized the bill, acknowledging concerns that it was "constitutionally suspect" and that it "actually makes it more difficult to prosecute animal cruelty cases."
Even when it appeared certain that Haslam would sign the bill into law, animal advocates in Tennessee and across the country refused to back down. Tens of thousands of kind people like you reposted PETA's action alert, spoke out against the bill, and flooded Haslam's e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter accounts with messages urging him to veto it. A long list of celebrities also voiced their opposition, including Emmylou Harris, Carrie Underwood, Wynonna Judd, Miley Cyrus, Tish Cyrus, Ellen DeGeneres, Tony Kanal, CMT President Brian Philips, and Republican strategist Mary Matalin—who also sent lawmakers a video in which she highlights the importance of PETA's undercover work in prosecuting animal abusers.
And we won.
Please take a moment to tweet @BillHaslam and thank him for showing some mercy to animals on factory farms.
Written by Jeff Mackey
Will farmed animals forced into a life they didn't choose lose their protections in the Volunteer State? Not if PETA and music legend Emmylou Harris have anything to say about it!
weeklydig | cc by 2.0
With your help, PETA has been able to kill off six state "ag-gag" bills, designed to prevent undercover investigations on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, this year alone. In fact, one such proposal (which had already been gutted and declared unconstitutional) just died in Indiana—despite attempts to revive it in the final hours of the session—after Mary Matalin, Bob Barker, Tony Kanal, and many more concerned folks pressed legislators to oppose the bill.
But an "ag-gag" bill in Tennessee has passed both houses and now sits on the governor's desk, so we asked PETA pal Emmylou Harris to raise her (unforgettable) voice in behalf of farmed animals. In response, Emmylou sent the governor an urgent letter calling on him to veto the measure, Senate Bill 1248, explaining:
Instead of protecting animals on farms from abuse, Senate Bill 1248 is a thinly veiled attempt by the agriculture industry to paralyze the efforts of those concerned about the treatment of animals to collect evidence of a pattern of routine cruelty, which has helped officials win convictions against animal abusers around the country, by forcing them to turn over evidence of single instances of abuse almost immediately. … Because there is no government inspection of farms for cruelty violations and because workers who report abuse are frequently ignored, investigations are often the only way to hold farm workers and managers accountable to existing laws.
Although this is a state bill, meat from slaughtered animals crosses state lines, so it becomes a national issue. Even if you don't live in Tennessee, you can help stop this bill. The governor needs to hear that concerned people everywhere are watching. Please join Emmylou Harris, Miley Cyrus, Carrie Underwood, Wynonna Judd, Tish Cyrus, and many others by speaking up against Tennessee's "ag-gag" bill today.
We do get a little ticked off that some people are still eating animals, but we are not alone: Apparently, so does at least one breed of ticks. Scientists have discovered that the bite of the Lone Star tick causes people to develop an allergy to meat. Once a person has been bitten, if he or she eats meat, things can get a little uncomfortable and a hives-like rash can break out within hours. That gave PETA the germ of an idea, and we'd like your input.
Currently, the ticks are predominantly found in the southeastern United States. But PETA has hatched a plan to release Lone Star ticks in parks in the Northeast, hoping that warming weather and moist conditions will help the ticks thrive. PETA's Don Beleav, a biologist who is investigating the feasibility of the project, explained how the resulting meat allergies will greatly benefit human beings who come into contact with the ticks:
Just as leeches purify the blood, these tiny insects can help people kick a habit that sucks for animals, human health, and the environment," says Beleav. "Obviously, PETA's main goal is to prevent animal suffering, but going vegetarian or vegan helps people lose weight, boosts their immune systems, and lowers their risk of three of our nation's biggest killers—heart disease, cancer, and strokes." Beleav continues, "Really the only pushback we anticipate will be from fast-food companies. Maybe McDonald's will start handing out free flea and tick collars with its value meals!
PETA is also considering offering the bugs by mail for anyone itching to go vegetarian but lacking the willpower to do so.
Update: Well, that was fast! Shortly after Mary Matalin sent a personal appeal on PETA's behalf urging lawmakers to shelve bills intended to prevent undercover investigations of factory farms, legislators in Arkansas have scrapped their proposed "ag-gag" measures.
Now, let's keep the momentum going—if you live in California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Vermont, please tell your state legislators to drop "ag-gag" bills and protect animals, consumers, and free speech.
The following was originally posted on March 28, 2013:
Republican strategist Mary Matalin and her husband, Democratic consultant James Carville, differ on most political issues—but when it comes to legislative attempts to block undercover investigators from PETA and other organizations from revealing how animals suffer on factory farms, the couple stands united in opposition to "ag-gag" bills.
To that end, Matalin filmed a PETA appeal and sent it to Republican legislators—the primary sponsors of these measures—in Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Vermont, highlighting the importance of PETA's undercover work in prosecuting abusers and stopping institutionalized cruelty. After she introduces a video clip about a case that revealed routine beatings and even the sexual abuse of pigs on a Midwestern factory farm and which led to criminal convictions, Matalin states, "A meat-trade magazine called the case a 'wake-up call' for the industry. Unfortunately, factory farms keep hitting the snooze button, and instead of fixing the problems, they're trying to blame the messenger."
What You Can Do
Thanks to the support of concerned citizens, "ag-gag" bills have already been killed in several states, but we can't rest until all lawmakers stop trying to shield lawbreakers. Please join PETA, Mary Matalin, James Carville, Bob Barker, Cloris Leachman, Katherine Heigl, and many other figures from both sides of the aisle in urging legislators to protect consumers' right to know the truth about factory farms. If you live in Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Vermont, please take action.
Update: The New Mexico legislature adjourned without voting on the proposed "ag-gag" bill, effectively killing it for this year. Four other states are still considering making it a crime to record video on farms, so residents of Nebraska, Arkansas, Indiana, and Pennsylvania should let their legislators know that they oppose these unconstitutional bills.
The following was originally published on March 14, 2013:
Not content to stop after his successful campaign to get Wyoming's "ag gag" bill thrown out, Bob Barker has set his sights on the other proposed "ag gag" bills in New Mexico, Nebraska, Arkansas, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.
© StarMaxInc.com
As a longtime animal advocate and vegetarian, Bob knows that by making it illegal to record video on factory farms, such measures would threaten efforts to document workers' abuse of animals and to provide evidence that authorities need to win cruelty convictions. The lifelong Republican has written to fellow members of the GOP to let them know why the Grand Old Party needs to give these bills the old heave-ho. In a letter to state legislators, Bob wrote:
Since there is no government inspection of factory farms for cruelty violations and workers who report abuse to supervisors are routinely ignored, evidence from undercover investigations is critical to exposing abuse and helping officials prosecute abusers. … Americans today want better treatment of animals killed for food, not for their legislators to hide illegal cruelty on farms behind locked doors.
Bob's name certainly carries a lot of weight, but animals who are suffering on factory farms need all the help they can get. People who live in states where "ag gag" bills are currently on the floor should let their legislators know that they support the constitutional rights of whistleblowers to expose abuse.
After all, animal abusers—not whistleblowers—are the ones who should be treated like criminals.
Update: You asked for it—you got it. Because of the overwhelming response to this piece, we are publishing it once more to give our supporters a chance to share it on Twitter and Facebook and spread the message about the cruelty of factory farms far and wide.
The following was originally posted on November 9, 2012:
Paul McCartney famously said, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian." So an intrepid group of animal advocates found a way to bring the slaughterhouse to the sidewalk. Every Saturday night, volunteers Jennifer Mennuti and Boyd Weidman screen PETA's "Factory Farming in 60 Seconds Flat" for passersby on Miami's busy Lincoln Road.
For many people, it's the first time they are staring into the faces of the animals they call "steak," "ham," or "nugget." There in front of them is the irrefutable evidence that their "entrée" was a cow who coughed and choked as the blood spilling from her slit throat ran down her face and covered the floor below, a pig who screamed and cried as he was burned to death in scalding-hot water, a chicken whose desperate squawks went unheeded as her broken legs were slammed into shackles and she stared past the long line of her comrades to the whirring blades that would end her life. A photographer caught some of the people's reactions, and it seems Paul was right.
PETA supporter Andrew Kirschner, who hosts a radio talk show about animal rights, published the photos on his blog, Kirschner's Corner, accompanied by the real-life experiences of slaughterhouse workers, taken from Gail A. Eisnitz's book Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry.
© Serg Alexander/Eyeworks Production
"I could tell you horror stories… about cattle getting their heads stuck under the gate guards and the only way you can get it out is to cut their heads off while they're still alive."
"One time I took my knife – it's sharp enough – and I sliced off the end of a hog's nose, just like a piece of bologna. The hog went crazy for a few seconds. Then it just sat there looking kind of stupid. So I took a handful of salt brine and ground it into his nose. Now that hog really went nuts, pushing its nose all over the place. I still had a bunch of salt in my hand – I was wearing a rubber glove – and I stuck the salt right up the hog's ass. The poor hog didn't know whether to **** or go blind."
"I've seen live animals shackled, hoisted, stuck, and skinned. Too many to count, too many to remember. It's just a process that's continually there. I've seen shackled beef looking around before they've been stuck. I've seen hogs [that are supposed to be lying down] on the bleeding conveyor get up after they've been stuck. I've seen hogs in the scalding tub trying to swim."
"These hogs get up to the scalding tank, hit the water and start screaming and kicking. Sometimes they thrash so much they kick water out of the tank… Sooner or later they drown. There's a rotating arm that pushes them under, no chance for them to get out. I'm not sure if they burn to death before they drown, but it takes them a couple of minutes to stop thrashing."
"Hogs get stressed out pretty easy. If you prod them too much they have heart attacks. If you get a hog in a chute that's had the **** prodded out of him and has a heart attack or refuses to move, you take a meat hook and hook it into his bunghole [anus]. You're dragging these hogs alive, and a lot of times the meat hook rips out of the bunghole. I've seen hams – thighs – completely ripped open. I've also seen intestines come out. If the hog collapses near the front of the chute, you shove the meat hook into his cheek and drag him forward."
"Sometimes I grab it [a hog] by the ear and stick it right through the eye. I'm not just taking its eye out, I'll go all the way to the hilt, right up through the brain, and wiggle the knife."
"Pigs on the kill floor have come up and nuzzled me like a puppy. Two minutes later I had to kill them – beat them to death with a pipe."
"Only you don't just kill it, you go in hard, push hard, blow the windpipe, make it drown in its own blood. Split its nose. A live hog would be running around the pit. It would just be looking up at me and I'd be sticking, and I would just take my knife and – cut its eye out while it was just standing there. And this hog would just scream."
"I seen guys take broomsticks and stick it up the cow's behind, screwing them with a broom."
"He'll kick them [hogs], fork them, use anything he can get his hands on. He's already broken three pitchforks so far this year, just jabbing them. He doesn't care if he hits its eyes, head, butt. He jabs them so hard he busts the wooden handles. And he clubs them over the back."
"I've drug cows till their bones start breaking, while they were still alive. Bringing them around the corner and they get stuck up in the doorway, just pull them till their hide be ripped, till the blood just drip on the steel and concrete. Breaking their legs… And the cow be crying with its tongue stuck out. They pull him till his neck just pop."
Do people ask why you're vegan? Maybe it's time to share this video with them:
Then perhaps it's time to ask them the real question: "Why aren't you vegan?"
Update: Bob Barker has also written to Indiana legislators urging them to vote no on S.B. 373. The measure already has a strong Democratic opponent in Sen. Mark Stoops, so Barker, a lifelong Republican, hopes to unite lawmakers on both sides of the aisle against this unconstitutional bill.
The following was originally published on March 4, 2013:
Indiana's proposed "ag gag" bill made it through the Senate and has landed in the House. But multiplatinum musician Tony Kanal is calling on the state, where he spent time as a child, to do the right thing and squash this very wrong bill. Indiana Sen. Mark Stoops is joining Tony in speaking out against the bill, having likened it to his trip to Communist-era Romania, in which he was prohibited from taking photos. Says Sen. Stoops, "This is an attack on our 1st Amendment rights and another example of Big Government protecting industry at the expense of the public's welfare."
Like other "ag gag" bills, Indiana's version, Senate Bill (S.B.) 373, would make it illegal for people to film on factory farms. S.B. 373 would allow whistleblowers some protection if they handed over their video to authorities within 48 hours of capturing it. But this is a thinly veiled attempt to garner more support for the bill.
As PETA has witnessed time and again in our undercover investigations, it is crucial that investigators be able to prove that the abuse they documented was pervasive and systematic, rather than an isolated incident, in order to get the abusers convicted. In both our West Virginia Aviagen turkeys and Iowa Hormel supplier pig factory farm cases, investigators reported abuse to their supervisors, who failed to stop the abuse and, in some cases, took part in it themselves. Only with extensive video evidence was PETA able to get the abusers charged and convicted (and the abuse stopped), a point that Tony made in his letter to Speaker of the House Brian Bosma.
If you live in Indiana, please urge your representative to vote "No" on S.B. 373.
Because if factory farms have nothing to hide, why are they pushing so hard to make videotaping illegal?
Whether the new month is coming in like a lion or a lamb, March 1 is National Pig Day, which, according to its cofounder, has been set aside "to accord the pig its rightful, though generally unrecognized, place" as a smart and social animal. George Clooney and his dear departed companion pig would agree.
And while there are plenty of great ways to celebrate our curly-tailed pals, none of them involves eating pork. Pigs raised and killed for meat spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy warehouses under the constant stress of intense confinement and are denied everything that is natural and important to them before being violently slaughtered.
Now, some folks would like you to believe that you can have your (nonfakin') bacon and a clear conscience, too—but that's a bigger load of, um, manure than even a factory farm generates. Long story short: There is no such thing as "humane meat."
But here's PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk to explain that (and read a cute poem):
The good news is that March is also the month for the annual observance of Meatout, so there's no better time than right now to kick the cruelty habit in favor of healthy and humane vegan foods—and PETA can help you get started!
In a rousing victory for animals, a county planning commission in the U.K. has denied a notorious chicken factory farm a spot within its borders.
Harrison Farms had asked the Shropshire Council for permission to build an intensive factory farm in which 330,000 chickens at a time would be tightly crammed into dark sheds until the time came to slaughter them. But after hearing from PETA U.K. and almost 5,000 of PETA U.K.'s members and supporters, the council denied the application.
The animal advocates explained to the council how factory farms dose chickens with massive amounts of antibiotics to keep them alive in the cramped, filthy conditions and to make them grow so large so fast that many of them become crippled under their own weight or experience organ failure. They also relayed how the farms cut off the ends of chickens' sensitive beaks with a searing-hot blade to stop the frustrated birds from pecking at each other and how the only time the chickens see grass or feel the warmth of the sun is when they are being shipped to the slaughterhouse to have their throats slashed and be dunked in tanks of scalding-hot water. They also gave the council information on how factory farms are among the main contributors to climate change.
Congratulations to everyone who wrote in!
O, Canada! We're always busy, busy, busy during this festive season, but we haven't forgotten our pals in the Great White North—y compris nos amis francophones. Yanks and Canucks have so much in common, and yet there are distinctive differences. For example, while the yuletide finds a disturbing number of friendly, intelligent pigs on this side of the 49th parallel killed for ham, it's the saddest day of the year for abused factory-farmed turkeys in Canada. So PETA is encouraging Canadian kids (since kids haven't yet been taught to suppress their natural compassion for animals) to consider what—and who—they're eating. PETA has placed the attention-grabbing holiday billboard seen below on a highway leading into Victoria, British Columbia.
PETA's also giving U.S. kids something to chew on other than cruelly produced ham with this billboard, just outside Reno, Nevada.
Of course, companion animals need our help, too—and it's not just children who need to reconsider their attitudes. So PETA is also looking to put up a brand-new billboard—promoting spaying and neutering to effectively curb animal overpopulation—in the hope of reaching those kind people for whom this season is more about revering Mary than reveling merrily.
We'd like to thank all the donors whose support of PETA makes it possible to place these billboards, which foster awareness of animal rights.
To give a holiday gift that keeps on giving to animals year-round, become a PETA member. And please remember to shop PETA for everyone on your list—each purchase funds vital efforts to improve and save animals' lives!
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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