Wayne Pacelle: A Humane Nation

Greed vs. Good Sense

Yesterday was a big day for farm animals.

© USDA

First, Californians for Humane Farms—a statewide ballot initiative committee that The HSUS helped to create—turned in to the state of California nearly 800,000 signatures in support of a prospective November 2008 petition to phase out veal and gestation crates and battery cages. Because we eclipsed our goal of 650,000 total signatures by such a wide margin, the measure should easily qualify for the ballot. Kudos to the thousands of volunteer activists who spent so many hours gathering signatures at hundreds of locations throughout the state. We'll soon move into the persuasion phase of the campaign, urging voters to put a stop to cruel confinement practices that are so severe that calves and pigs cannot even turn around and hens can't even extend their wings in their enclosures. It's going to be a multimillion-dollar battle, and we'll need your help. Lots of it. We'll only win if we mount a massive grassroots effort to reach every voter in the state.

Second, the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture Appropriations held a hearing focused exclusively on the issues raised by The HSUS's investigation into the Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. of Chino, Calif. I testified, along with newly appointed Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer and American Meat Institute President J. Patrick Boyle (you can read the testimonies and watch the hearing here).

In his opening remarks and in the questioning of witnesses, Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) called for a "bright line" ban on downed cattle in the food supply and the establishment of surveillance cameras at all slaughter plants throughout the United States. He, Sen. Tom Harkin, and other senators expressed great concerns about the gaps in humane handling of animals at slaughter plants and said that the American people expect more. “Why don’t you have a system that uncovers this inhumane treatment of animals?" asked Sen. Kohl of Secretary Schafer. Sen. Kohl asked the right questions, and had a raft of policy recommendations that he's vowed to press. I was particularly grateful to him and nearly all of the other senators present for praising The HSUS for its role in bringing the cruelty and food safety problems to public attention.

Secretary Schafer, who was only on his second day on the job when our slaughter plant investigation broke in the press on Jan. 30, has treated the issue with the seriousness that it deserves. After all, he initiated the biggest beef recall in American history in response to our findings. He, too, thanked The HSUS for bringing the facts to light.

However, he essentially argued that the USDA's humane handling and food safety systems are not broken, and that a few refinements in protocols should correct the situation. He said that the USDA would do more random checks, would audit the companies that supply the National School Lunch Program, and would step up enforcement efforts. But these measures fall unbelievably short of the mark. He resisted Sen. Kohl's call for a ban on downer animals, and he was skeptical of the need for new criminal penalties for violators of humane handling laws or for surveillance cameras at the slaughterhouses.

© The HSUS
A downed cow at Hallmark/Westland Meat Co.

There was nothing bold or imaginative offered yesterday by the USDA. Just the mantra that you can trust the agency. And that's just not good enough. There are serious issues raised by our investigation, and reforms must follow.

I had to ask during my testimony, "How many other major crises, recalls, and public scares will this nation tolerate before we adopt an unambiguous policy banning downer cattle in the food supply?" In December 2003, the American people collectively dropped their forks and knives when a downer cow slaughtered for human consumption tested positive for mad cow disease in Washington state. Consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply was more than rattled, and more than 40 nations closed their markets to American beef.

Now, we have a second major crisis related to downed animals, and for the life of me, I cannot understand why the industry won't support a no-downer policy and wipe away the problem of animals too sick or injured to walk getting into the food supply. Unfortunately, greed appears to be trumping good sense. Players within the industry are intent on squeezing every last dime out of downed animals and subjecting them to inhumane treatment to get them to the kill box. Their tolerance for the abuse of downers is morally repugnant and economically disastrous.

Talk Back: Calls for Reform

I am heading over to Capitol Hill now to testify at a U.S. Senate Subcommittee hearing, which was called to discuss the recent HSUS investigation into cruelty to downed dairy cows at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., the subsequent beef recall, and USDA oversight issues (to watch a live broadcast of the hearing, click here). These concerns aren't only on the minds of Congress members. Readers continue to voice their outrage, and here are just some of the comments we've received over the last few days:

Why didn't the USDA catch this? Isn't this their job—not The HSUS? They should be held accountable as well. Who knows how long this has been going on. —Kathryn Dennis

I cannot agree with you more. I found the USDA spokesperson's comments deplorable. And the secretary is "dismayed"? We don't pay him for that—we pay him and all the other staff at the USDA to do their jobs. The only reason the USDA is investigating is because of your video—it is clear that their full-time inspector at this plant was grossly negligent. Those poor animals. —Vijaya Ramachandran

I am glad the two employees are being prosecuted; however, I think others in management must be guilty. I don't think the two would have tried so hard to move the "downers" if it wasn't an unwritten policy at the slaughterhouse. I suspect this behavior is common practice at Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. and at many other slaughterhouses too. —Barbara Hughes

Congratulations to the Humane Society for exposing this terrible situation! I am so saddened by this story, and I hope that the workers who are guilty of this crime get the maximum punishment allowable. I am not too pleased with Westland/Hallmark's feeble response..."shocked and horrified?" He was the president of the company and it is his JOB to know what's going on in that facility! No excuses! I think he needs to be held accountable for this outrage. —Dana

I have worked in a USDA-regulated plant before (no live animals on the premises, though) and conditions were the same as in this video. All workers are notified of upcoming inspections and to be on their best behavior. As soon as the inspector left, it was back to the usual (poor) business practices of cutting corners, not following safety and sanitary procedures, etc. It makes me sick that people have such disregard not only for necessary regulations, but also for lives that may be affected—animal or human. —Liz

In an LA Times article Feb. 20, 2008, by Victoria Kim, USDA floor inspectors claim that they are routinely outwitted by slaughterhouse workers. As one inspector puts it, "If I'm tied on the slaughter line, the company can run amok". What an excuse! We are in the 21st century. The USDA should rethink how to inspect these slaughterhouses. They should require them to install cameras that are turned on at all times to monitor all aspects of the slaughter process. Police are required to have such cameras to monitor their actions during arrests and interrogations. Why not requiring the same from slaughterhouses? This will circumvent the problem of "not enough inspectors." Please forward this suggestion to the USDA. —Moktar Salama

"For four months they [HSUS] sat on that information," he told CNN yesterday. Secretary Ed Schafer keeps saying that because the truth is, the slaughterhouse and the USDA are guilty! It is just their way to put the blame somewhere else. The blame belongs on the slaughterhouse as well as the USDA. Their regulations are not enforced and they know it. They don't care! Why can't they take responsibility? Why can't they thank The HSUS for bringing this to light? Now is the time for the USDA to make some big changes within their organization pertaining to slaughterhouses and how the facilities they regulate treat the animals. Thank you HSUS! —Dana in Chicago

What a shame the USDA went on the offensive against Wayne and The HSUS rather than looking in the mirror and realizing the problem is with themselves. —Brian

Young Voices Heard

Young advocates are a powerful force in our movement. We saw evidence of this last week, when two teenage boys testified at an Oregon Senate hearing to help toughen penalties for dogfighting. Oregon State Rep. Brian Clem said it best to the Statesman Journal: "This is the greatest thing. The advocacy from these students will make the chances of it passing in the House go up 100 percent."

© iStockphoto

When The HSUS locks arms with our rank-and-file supporters to speak out against cruelty, the voices of our young advocates give us vitality and renew our commitment to the future. We rally their support through action alerts in our online offerings just for kids, teens, and humane educators. They are essential to our success, as well as to our future.

Just consider another recent event. Untold thousands—no doubt, millions—of Americans sounded their outrage in the aftermath of The HSUS’s recent undercover investigation of slaughter plant cruelty to dairy cows. In this awful case, nobody had a bigger stake than young people. Much of the meat from these sick, injured and horribly mistreated cows was headed straight for their school cafeterias under the National School Lunch Program.

Below are just a few of the comments we received from students who spoke up. To them I say: I am so proud of you. Keep it up.

I wrote a letter to the USDA Secretary about stopping the abuse of sick and injured cows. I also asked them to stop feeding it to us at lunch. —Dade

I’m aware and concerned of the downed cows getting put in my peers’ and my own school lunch plate. And I am sending this letter because I am against this and believe this is wrong and gross. —Ariel

It is a disgusting feeling knowing that we are eating downed cows, so sick they can barely walk. —Jaycelin

While actively engaging caring kids in our work is crucial, The HSUS works just as hard to educate those young people who don’t know what it means to properly care for a pet, respect their wild neighbors, or extend compassion to animals used for food. Each month of the school year, our KIND News classroom newspaper is read in 35,000 classrooms nationwide. You can bring KIND News to your community by sponsoring the classroom of your choice through the Adopt-a-Classroom program. It’s a great way to pass on a humane ethic to tomorrow’s generation in your area while alerting them to the many ways they can make their voices heard, too.

Day to Spay

Today is Spay Day USA, and it's our biggest series of events and promotions urging people to spay and neuter pets as a means of reducing and eventually eliminating euthanasia of healthy and adoptable animals. This year's Spay Day—which is really spread over a month's time and is a product of our union with the Doris Day Animal League, which originally hatched the annual celebration and call to action—includes more than 500 gatherings, such as the “Love without Litters” discounted spay/neuter clinic in Oklahoma City, a mobile clinic in rural Texas that will provide 50 cat neuters for 50 cents each, and a number of international events, as well.

MUTTS © 2008 Patrick McDonnell
Today's MUTTS strip and spay/neuter cause
gear at Humane Domain honor Spay Day.

It is a tragedy that there are nearly 4 million dogs and cats killed in shelters each year. We can never be complacent about it, and that's what Spay Day USA is about.

I am in Los Angeles today and just appeared at a press conference with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, game show legend and renowned animal advocate Bob Barker, Los Angeles Animal Services General Manager Ed Boks, and others to announce the signing of a city ordinance promoting spaying and neutering. At the event, Los Angeles City Council members Richard Alarcón and Tony Cardenas—two outstanding leaders on humane issues—made powerful and compelling statements about the importance of Spay Day USA and the path-breaking nature of the ordinance that they shepherded through the Council and on to the Mayor's desk. They brought me back to the full meeting of the City Council, briefly interrupted the proceedings, and allowed me to address the Council and say a few words about Spay Day USA. They also presented me with a beautiful, framed proclamation endorsing Spay Day USA. It takes a wide range of strategies to combat needless euthanasia and ordinances that push people in the direction of spay and neuter as a responsible part of pet care are a component of the overall formula for success.

To join in the celebration, please do not forget about our Spay Day USA pet photo contest. The contest runs through next Friday, March 7, so you still have plenty of time to put your pet in the running for a studio session with a premier pet photographer, a custom painting, and many other great prizes. You can also donate a spay or neuter surgery to a dog or cat in need today. To do so, click here.

Condemned

The Wall Street Journal reports on its front page today that the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., with annual revenues of about $100 million, is expected to permanently shut down as a result of the fallout from The HSUS investigation into the dairy cow slaughter plant's operations. "I don't see any way we can reopen," the company's general manager told the newspaper. USDA officials announced last Thursday that they will require Hallmark/Westland to pay for the costs associated with destroying and replacing meat sold to the USDA and funneled to states through the National School Lunch Program and other federal assistance programs.

© The HSUS

It's been 26 days since The HSUS released disturbing footage of animal cruelty from a hidden camera investigation at the Chino-based company, and the statement by a high-ranking Hallmark/Westland official is just the latest thunderclap in the case. The footage of plant workers abusing animals too sick or injured to walk has caused outrage throughout the nation and spurred lawmakers and USDA officials to admit that there are dangerous deficiencies in the oversight of animal handling prior to slaughter.

In the last three weeks, the issue has drawn editorial comment from a large share of the nation's major newspapers. Today, The Arizona Republic said, "This is where animal cruelty and the threat to human health intersect." The Houston Chronicle observed yesterday, "If you can bear to watch it, the Humane Society's video shows as no words can how enmeshed the careful, humane treatment of animals is with the quality of the food they become." "The Humane Society's discovery of such appalling abuses, to which the plant's federal inspectors apparently were oblivious, is more evidence that the nation's food-safety system is in desperate need of an overhaul," wrote Ohio’s Columbus Dispatch in Sunday's paper.

The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and dozens of other papers have written about the problems exposed by the investigation, and to varying degrees have expressed their disgust with Hallmark's conduct, have excoriated the USDA for the shortcomings in its oversight, and called on Congress to offer solutions. Some papers have focused on the need for an overhaul of our food safety system, arguing that this responsibility should not be housed within the USDA, but in a separate agency that can consolidate and better manage the function and do so without a conflict, since the USDA's primary mission is to promote American agriculture.

On Tuesday, Michael Greger, M.D., director of public health and animal agriculture at The HSUS, is set to testify before a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the issue, and on Thursday, I am slated to testify before the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. We'll have a lot to say.

Smoke and Mirrors

Newly appointed Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer was just on his second day at the job when The HSUS released the results of our investigation into a southern California slaughter plant that had made its core business the slaughter of "spent" dairy cows. Obviously, any missteps from the USDA in its oversight of the Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. did not happen on his watch.

Yet, Schafer is aggressively defending his agency—and that's his right. But he's taken it a bit far. He has more than a couple of times taken aim at The HSUS on subjects related to the investigation. "For four months they [HSUS] sat on that information," he told CNN yesterday.

© The HSUS
Evidence of criminal conduct was first provided to the local DA.

I had already sent the USDA a timeline of our investigation, and I am sorry that Secretary Schafer doesn't understand that while we launched the investigation four months ago, it was completed some time later. We are pretty darn thorough here at The HSUS and when the research was completed, the results organized, and all of the hidden camera video reviewed, we turned over the information to the San Bernardino District Attorney's office. We know violations of criminal statutes when we see them, and we turned the materials over to local authorities because the laws of California were breached. We knew that the San Bernardino County District Attorney is a strong law-and-order man, that he was not compromised by any association with the meat industry, and that he in the end would do the right thing.

Frankly, we did not turn to the USDA first because the agency has a history of canoodling with the industries it regulates. In fact, today The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif. reported that our friends at the Inland Valley Humane Society and the SPCA, based in Pomona, had investigated downer cases at Hallmark more than a decade ago, and brought the information to the USDA's attention on at least three occasions. The result: no action from the USDA.

We didn't want to turn down a dead end with so much at stake.

Times change. Leaders change. We want to work with Secretary Schafer and with other leaders of the USDA and to be on good terms with them. If the USDA handles this case with the vigor it deserves, it can turn around its reputation of being too cozy with the companies it's supposed to regulate.

Talk Back: Systemic Cruelty

As reaction to The HSUS's investigation at Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. and news of the massive recall of beef from the plant continues to reverberate, readers continue to write in. Among the comments we received:

Thank you to The HSUS for all your hard work with the investigation of Hallmark. I am sickened to the very core. I don’t understand how heartless and cruel people can be. To torture an animal for our own greed is a disgrace to mankind as a whole. Thank you HSUS, I know these videos you tape must be difficult but it’s the only way to get the point across. People would not believe it unless they saw it with their own two eyes. You are awesome! All of you! Thanks for all you do! —Lisa White, Massachusetts

In a world where we often feel powerless to enact change, I am truly inspired by the Humane Society's efforts to bring the conditions at Hallmark to light. Hats off to activists everywhere!!! —Kath

I'd like to pass along a personal thank you to the brave souls doing your undercover work. What a horrible job, and how devastating for those doing it. Thank you for taking on such a huge burden for the benefit of all. Where would any of these animals be if you weren't brave enough to witness, document, and expose their terrible suffering? How else could we collectively call on the world’s better nature to acknowledge and stop the multiple forms of cruelty we carelessly inflict on other species? Bless each and every one of you for the compassionate work you do. Thank you so very, very much. —Leslie McLean (and Hank and Ol' Brown), Seattle, Wash.

I second (third, fourth, fifth) all the comments posted about the heroic nature of people who are willing to go in and document these types of abuses. SO important to put a “face” on these issues and to put it out there in the public, in the media, for all to see—the greatest path to change in my opinion. So many people I know are not even aware of these issues/abuses—once they are informed (and view), they are horrified and want to do something to create change. Heart wrenching enough to see in video and read about... in person, I can't even imagine. It is sick the way our society treats farm animals. These animals are sentient beings just as we are, and deserve respect and care. I applaud The HSUS and investigators for the work you do! Amazing! —Cari L.

I just made a contribution to Humane Society Undercover; it was a small amount but I'm a senior citizen living on a fixed income and sometimes it's very hard to stretch my dollars as far as I'd like to. I saw your investigation on the slaughterhouse and it broke my heart. As a little girl (that's many years ago) we had a cow that was so beautiful and she was like a pet to me. I cannot understand how anyone can be so mean as to treat any animal badly. Thank you so much for making this known to the public. —Wanda McMillion

Cycle of Violence

For humanitarians, the resurgence of dogfighting in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, which had suppressed such activities, was a terrible irony. Last Sunday, that irony gave way to tragedy as a suicide bomb attack took the lives of at least 80 people and an unspecified number of animals at a dogfighting event outside Kandahar. The target of the bomber was a local militia leader who opposed the Taliban.

Dogfighting has deep roots in the tradition of internecine conflict in Afghanistan. The country is a patchwork of rival tribes and ethnic groups mainly united by their distrust of central government, their hatred of foreigners, and the influence of Islam. The badal, or blood feud, is a way of life. Dogfighting fits right in.

In a country devastated by decades of war, poverty and suffering, and totalitarian religious rule, dogfighting has flourished as cheap amusement. It is of course more than that—disempowered people want a setting where they can exert control and dominance, and in this case they wield power over mighty and aggressive animals. And there is apparently some place dark in the human spirit that is titillated by the bloodletting produced by staged fights between animals. In this regard, the Afghans are hardly alone; staged fights between animals date back to the days of the Romans and Greeks, and dogfighting and cockfighting remain major worldwide industries throughout the New World and Old World, and even in the United States.

© HSI

The leaders of the Taliban banned such activities, but not because they were concerned about the dogs. Rather, like the Puritans in 17th century England and the early American colonies, they wanted to stop people from enjoying themselves by engaging in any activities not focused on glorifying God the Almighty.

The tragic incident at Kandahar raises some paradoxical issues for those of us involved in the worldwide animal protection movement. None of us would welcome the Taliban back to power, even if it were to result in the end of dogfighting and other manifestations of cruelty to animals. At the same time, we don’t feel good about the renaissance of dogfighting in Afghanistan, and we don’t want to stay quiet about it.

Humane Society International has written to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to ask that the administration press Afghanistan’s government to discourage dogfighting, especially as a broadly approved public spectacle (you can see the letter here). We have advanced our position that such events are always accompanied not simply by cruelty to animals but by social degradation. Children, in particular, are desensitized by exposure to death-as-entertainment. And the presence of these public spectacles of cruelty does nothing to inspire American confidence in the people of Afghanistan or its government, at a time when American support can hardly be taken for granted.

In our work, we actively promote the proven connection between cruelty to animals and violence to people. At its core, ours is a movement that opposes violence to all sentient beings, and those of us in animal protection must continue to condemn ritualized violence in the strongest terms. This means condemning not only the suicide bombing in Afghanistan but also the organization of a public "entertainment" that involves dogfighting.

One of the reasons that the United States has a stake in Afghanistan is that the march of democracy and economic progress carries along with it codes of moral conduct, including an enhanced respect for others, including animals. One can hope that the ongoing effort of the Afghan government to raise standards of living and education will result in more progress in the arena of animal welfare. Humane Society International has worked with several Afghan animal welfare groups in recent years, and we have real hope that pet keeping, a proven pathway to broader concern about animals, will gain a greater foothold in the country and nourish a broader ethic toward animals.

If the truth be acknowledged, there is little that Americans can do to stop dogfighting in a distant and troubled land where it remains so culturally entrenched and where there are few local countervailing forces. But it should give us all the more reason to put our own house in order by rooting out dogfighting and other cruel pursuits in our nation. America should be a beacon of moral thought and action, and when we hold ourselves to rigorous moral standards, we can convey these ideas to others with greater moral authority.

Constant Against Cruelty

Your HSUS is big enough and strong enough to carry on the fight on multiple fields of battle. 

We are still immersed in the follow-up to the hidden camera investigation that exposed appalling abuses of downed cows, the slaughter plant's gross disregard for the law, and the gaps in the regulatory program at slaughter plants. Yesterday, I participated in a press conference about the controversy with U.S. Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), chairwoman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. They announced a series of congressional hearings on the subject of animal welfare and food safety, along with an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (you can listen to the press conference here). The issue continues to be covered by press all over the nation and the world, with some of the most interesting stories in the last day or two, including pieces in the Los Angeles Times and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin that focus on what our investigator endured during his six-week undercover operation.

And while many of our staff are pushing this case forward (with legal action, congressional and state legislative responses, ongoing investigations, public exposure, and the like), we are battling on other fronts, too.

Yesterday, our animal fighting unit worked with the Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA) and the Pima County Sheriff's Department (PCSD) in southern Arizona to execute a major raid on kingpins in the dogfighting world. We gathered intelligence over the last six months and provided it to local authorities who take their charge seriously to enforce anti-cruelty laws. Raids were conducted yesterday at multiple dwellings and six people are now in custody, including Mahlon "Pat" Patrick, reputed to be one of the top dogfighting breeders in the nation. Thus far, 150 pit bulls have been seized. We offer thanks to our partners—HSSA and PCSD—on this successful series of raids.

I say with pride again that our investigators are doing stellar work. Thanks to our policy work, the law is increasingly on our side, and we aim to see the laws enforced. Animal abusers—whether they are reckless slaughterhouse workers, or dogfighters, or puppy millers—will meet an unrelenting force in The HSUS and will gain no respite from us.

Recall Recoil

It was President's Day yesterday. But from my perspective, it was also a day of false assurances.

See the undercover video that led to the recall.

Arguably the top story across the country for the last two days has been the nation's largest ever recall of beef, prompted by The HSUS’s long-term undercover investigation at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. in Chino, Calif. A hidden camera investigation at the plant exposed downed dairy cows being struck with paddles, extensively prodded with electric shocks to the eyes and other highly sensitive areas, rammed with forklifts, and abused in other deplorable ways in order to get these animals to stand. The poor cows were bellowing in response to these assaults, but their cries generated not a hint of mercy from their abusers. They wanted to squeeze every last dime out of these ailing dairy cows, and they were ruthless in subjecting these creatures to an astonishing array of tools of torment.

The HSUS has been telling the story to America, with me and several other spokespersons appearing on many of the major media outlets. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association have been offering their own perspectives and also talking to the American people. There's no denying the cruelty, and spokespersons from the federal government and the Cattlemen's Association concur that the inhumane treatment of these “spent” dairy cows was unacceptable. Good for them, and let's hope that the USDA continues with a vigorous investigation and has more news for us. We at The HSUS are particularly pleased that the new Agriculture Secretary called in the USDA's Office of Inspector General—the agency's semi-independent law enforcement arm—to investigate, since it has been a powerful and positive force on a number of animal protection issues.

But what I can't agree with are the claims by the USDA and the Cattlemen's Association that this plant represents an isolated case and all else is well with the regulation of slaughter plants in America. In an interview with PBS yesterday, the USDA's Kenneth Petersen said the incident is "an aberration," while a Cattlemen's Association representative told the Associated Press that most cattle bound for slaughter are treated humanely and the documented abuse is "something we don't condone and don't tolerate."

Now, I presume that if the Cattlemen's Association knew about the abuses at the Chino plant, it would have spoken up about it. Right? But the leaders of the group didn't speak out, so we must assume they had no knowledge of what was occurring.

If they did not know what was happening at that plant, they probably also don't know what's happening at the 900 other cattle slaughter plants in the United States. Their statement that this is an isolated case is a statement of faith, not fact.

The USDA has been trotting out the same line of argument. But let's concede two related points: First, the abuses at the Chino plant would not have come to light without the undercover operation by The HSUS. And second, these abuses occurred, as U.S. Rep. George Miller told USA Today, "right under the USDA's nose." In fact, the USDA honored this company as its 2004-05 Supplier of the Year to the National School Lunch Program.

If the USDA could not see abuses occurring at a plant where it had its full force of inspectors, how can it assure us that these terrible abuses are not happening elsewhere?

What we do know is that in the limited number of slaughter plant investigations conducted by The HSUS, PETA, Farm Sanctuary, Humane Farming Association, Compassion Over Killing, Mercy for Animals, and other animal protection groups, we see time and again that there have been gross abuses. PETA found workers slamming chickens against the walls of a slaughter plant. Other groups found animals being dismembered alive.

In 2006, the USDA’s own Office of Inspector General found that downers were getting into the food supply. In one case in Iowa, a USDA inquiry found that inspectors were sleeping and playing computer games on the job, while cows were being abused. This past week, Tyson fired several plant employees who were implicated in a chicken abuse scandal. Are these all also isolated incidents?

So let's leave the false assurances aside. We'd be grateful just to have the federal government do its job, and for the Cattlemen's Association and other industry groups to hold its colleagues to a basic standard of decency and begin to police its ranks. Their spin may make a few people dizzy, but I find it hollow and entirely unconvincing.

Precedent Set, Message Sent

I just got out of a press conference in San Bernardino with District Attorney Michael Ramos. At the press conference—which was crowded with print, radio, and television reporters—he announced his filing of charges against two individuals, including felony animal cruelty charges against one, for the appalling abuses The HSUS documented at a dairy cow slaughter plant in Chino, Calif. It's the latest positive step in the unfolding of an extraordinary hidden camera investigation that has pricked the conscience of the nation about how animals raised for food are treated.

I am so pleased that District Attorney Ramos took this action, and on behalf of the entire HSUS family, I offered my praise and thanks to him. He gave a powerful and moving statement about not tolerating animal cruelty in society, whether the act is done to "a beloved family pet or a cow at a slaughterhouse." He added, "Unnecessary cruelty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law."

Justice is being served in this case. Two individuals who did awful things to animals are likely to lose their freedom for some time. District Attorney Ramos has stated that his investigation continues. Meanwhile, the USDA and its Office of Inspector General are also continuing their investigations. The slaughter plant has been temporarily shuttered, and given the behavior exhibited, it should not reopen with the current owners in charge.

Sea Change in Animal Testing

USA Today had an important and exciting story in yesterday's paper about the move away from the use of animals in certain toxicity tests. I am truly enthused about the possibility of innovation in this arena making animal testing obsolete.

© iStockphoto

Since the 1970s The HSUS has been promoting the Three Rs to animal testing. Our aim has been the reduction, replacement, and refinement of the use of animals in specific testing procedures. However, our long-term goal has been the complete replacement of animals in chemical testing. That goal has always seemed elusive although there have been important gains along the way, including the codification of the Three Rs into the Animal Welfare Act, the establishment of the federal government’s Interagency Coordinating Committee for the Validation of Alternative Methods, and the launching of the World Congresses on Alternatives. The HSUS had, and continues to have, a major role in these and other developments.

However, the era of incremental change is coming to an end. In June, the National Research Council issued a vision and strategy for the future of toxicity testing. It calls for a massive shift away from traditional animal testing, and its eventual complete replacement with non-animal methods. We were privileged to have had staff member Dr. Martin Stephens on the committee that drafted this report. The NRC approach is being widely embraced by U.S. government agencies and progressive corporations as a way to test chemicals more rapidly, inexpensively, and effectively, as well as to address public concerns about animal testing. 

And the action has already begun, as USA Today reports, with the National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, and National Toxicology Program announcing they have formed a partnership to essentially implement the NRC vision. We will be bringing government and industry representatives together in the United States and Europe to launch an even more ambitious effort with the promise of eliminating animal testing within 10 years.

You Asked: Shopping with a Conscience

Today I would like to respond to a question from reader Claudia.

Q. Thank you so much for the work you do to help the lives of animals across the globe. As the animal lover that I am, I couldn't get the images out of my mind of the downer cows at the slaughterhouse in Chino, Calif. I've been reading up on this since then and have become aware of so many atrocities done. And while I was not surprised, I realized that I never really thought about this side of the coin... I just buy the steaks, hamburgers, etc., but never think about the conditions these animals live in. Aside from donations, what can the public do? What can I do at a local level? Your response is appreciated.

A. Agriculture has taken a harsh turn in the last few decades, and animals are often treated like meat-, milk-, and egg-producing machines—with little thought given to their well-being. It's important to note that the problems are not caused by just a few bad companies and rogue employees who are needlessly cruel to animals—even though the conduct we uncovered at the slaughter plant in Chino was extreme and appalling. There are industrial production, transport, and slaughter methods that by their very design cause deprivation and suffering—such as battery cages for laying hens or gestation crates for breeding pigs.

The greatest disinfectant to the inhumane treatment of animals raised for food is the bright light of exposure and an appeal to the conscience of the American people. Investigative work is one of The HSUS’s most powerful weapons against the mistreatment of animals and you can help equip and deploy our investigators with a contribution to our Investigations Fund.

You can also make a difference in the lives of farm animals by joining our campaign efforts and by being a caring consumer. The HSUS recommends a “Three Rs” policy: reducing total consumption of animal products, refining techniques to minimize pain and distress, and replacing animal products with non-animal products. For example, if each American simply reduced his or her animal consumption by only 10 percent, approximately 1 billion fewer animals would endure factory farms and slaughter plants. If you continue to eat animal products, refining your diet by switching to products from animals raised without intensive confinement, instead of the conventional factory farm products that fill most supermarket shelves, will also help to reduce farm animal suffering. And, replacing animal products with readily available vegetarian alternatives is a simple (and delicious) way to help farm animals. Check out our recipes and our online guide for the hows and whys of animal-friendly eating.

You can find even more ways to take action on behalf of farm animals at humanesociety.org/farm.

Prepared for Battle

When one rooster delivers a gaff or short knife thrust into his combatant's lung in an enclosed cockfighting pit, the victim suffers—no matter if the staged fight occurs in a jurisdiction that allows or outlaws the practice. If locals cheer the bloodletting, the laughter and excitement do nothing to mitigate the pain and anguish and fear the animal experiences.

© The HSUS/Guzy
Roosters at a raided cockfighting pit.

Cockfighting is a sickening, appalling, dehumanizing, indefensible spectacle wherever it occurs. Tradition and culture do not excuse cruelty.

The New York Times published a lengthy story today about cockfighting in the Dominican Republic, and reporter Katie Thomas trekked to the Caribbean island after Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez and Hall of Fame legend Juan Marichal, both natives of the country, appeared in a YouTube video pitting birds at the Coliseo de Gallos in Santo Domingo.

"We don't see anything wrong with it," the president of the country's National Commission of Cockfighting told the Times. "It is completely integrated in our laws and completely integrated in our tradition." The Times reports that there are 1,500 cockfighting arenas, or galleras, registered with the Commission.

The HSUS won't be silent on the controversy. Baseball players—especially present and future Hall of Famers—are role models. They have a major cultural impact here in the United States—a nation, it is important to point out, that is plagued with an epidemic of illegal animal fighting and all of the other illicit activity linked to this gateway crime. We don't want their behavior to invite or foster more participation in this barbaric practice. What's more, popular support in the Dominican Republic or any other nation for an immoral practice does not make the practice any less cruel; in fact, its widespread presence is a call to arms for us at The HSUS, for we have an active international program that seeks to extend the principles of humaneness throughout the world.

If the people of any nation viewed stoning women as an acceptable form of recreation, we would not hesitate to denounce it and demand its end. Even if they employed some people to collect spectator fees, and to clean up the bloody mess, that would hardly absolve us of the moral responsibility to work to stop this inhumanity. We now accept that human rights are universal.

Well, animal protection principles are universal, too. When we are talking about a recreational pursuit that causes such harsh suffering, it is not a close moral call. The conduct is demonstrably cruel, and it hardly serves some life-saving or other essential purpose. These nations, and the people participating, can do without it, just as they can do without dogfighting, bullfighting, and other spectator sports involving cruelty. The United States is none the worse—in fact, it is better—for having criminalized these practices and for the current efforts to root out this conduct in the dark corners where it thrives.

The march of civilization will eventually trample these parochial, cruel customs everywhere in the world. I am just afraid it will take longer than any of us would ever want to stomach.

Shaking Up the Food Chain

Safeway, the nation's third largest supermarket, announced yesterday a series of meaningful animal welfare reforms relating to the treatment of chickens and pigs raised for eggs and meat sold at its 1,700 or so stores. The HSUS has been in discussions with Safeway for months, and based on the company's announced commitments on animal welfare, we have withdrawn a resolution we planned to submit to shareholders for consideration at their next meeting.

© iStockphoto

Safeway is just the latest food retailer to give a nod to animal welfare. Whole Foods, Wolfgang Puck, Burger King, Compass Group, and a laundry list of others have, to varying degrees, instituted animal welfare reforms in recent years—with many of them responding to HSUS entreaties for action. It's an ascendant trend, and we hope there's much more to report to you on this front in the months and years to come.

Retailers have enormous power over producers, transporters, and slaughtering operations. If they demand new welfare standards, the producers and processors will adjust. U.S. farmers are innovators, and they just need a signal or directive from the marketplace. We've seen that time and again.

After we released the results of our investigation at Hallmark Meat Co., two major fast-food chains terminated their relationships with the company. Our investigation documented downer cows being shocked, struck with wooden paddles in the face, rammed or run over with forklifts, and blasted in the nostrils and mouth with water from a high pressure hose to simulate drowning—all done to get these sick or injured animals to stand to get them to slaughter for human consumption.

The behavior caught on tape and subsequently broadcast to millions of Americans has rightly earned widespread condemnation, even from many leaders and trade press within the animal agribusiness industry. Unfortunately, some players in industry, and even the new USDA Agriculture Secretary himself, also saw fit to criticize The HSUS, claiming that we did not release the results immediately to federal authorities. In a blog last week, I wrote about the timeline for the investigation. The HSUS is the last entity that would ever want to sit on the results; we had no incentive to do so. We were methodical in how we handled the investigation, and how we publicized it, too. The national furor that erupted once we publicly released the information shows we handled the job thoroughly and effectively.

© The HSUS
A worker pulls a downed cow at Hallmark Meat Packing.

In addition, some at the USDA continue to repeat the claim that it has not seen any evidence of downed cows going to slaughter for human consumption. But we have indeed provided incontrovertible evidence to the USDA to show that that's exactly what happened. And let's face it, the managers and employees at Hallmark would not have relied on so many means of tormenting the cows if they weren't intent on getting downers into the slaughter plant. They wanted to convert every cow into cash.

And frankly, this isn't the first time that slaughtering of downed animals for human consumption has recently come to light. The USDA's own Inspector General did a report in January 2006 revealing that USDA inspectors were allowing some downers to be slaughtered, in violation of the agency's own rules banning that practice.

It's not up to The HSUS to do the USDA's job, but it is our job to watch over the USDA if it is not handling its responsibilities properly. The USDA gets millions of dollars in taxpayer funds from Congress and the American people every year to inspect the plants and enforce the law. It's a tough job to be sure, but the USDA should focus on investigating this plant and, in a larger sense, correcting its own procedures and policies that allowed these atrocious practices to occur—on the USDA's watch, I might add.

The Cruelty Connection

Kindness and compassion are infectious. A child who embraces the ethic of compassion for animals is typically a child who is more respectful and empathetic toward other people. We've long known that inculcating a concern for animals builds character and fosters a sense of responsibility. My experience in 20 years of full-time animal protection work has shown me that kindness begets more of the same.

The converse is also true. The person who abuses an animal is more likely to do harm to people. There's abundant evidence of this propensity documented in the sociological literature, and that, too, has been validated by my experiences as president of The HSUS. Dogfighters typically don't just break laws related to animal cruelty. Very often, they are involved in violence toward people, narcotics trafficking, and other vices. Where there is domestic violence, the victims are interchangeable for the abuser; one day it's a spouse, the next a child or the family pet. There's a loss of empathy, and an attitude of license and the raw use of power.

There are normalized behaviors that are not associated with aberrant, socially destructive behavior. Someone who wears fur is not someone who is more likely to cause harm to others, even if there are moral issues raised by the killing of animals for fur. The same is true for people who eat meat. Wearing fur and eating meat are social customs, and these types of conduct are not precursors of violence toward others. We ask the consumers to think about their purchases and to consider the moral costs of their consumption habits, but we do not confuse their choices with any form of social pathology.

But there are production practices that are so harsh and severe that there is a larger moral spillover effect. I couldn't help but think about this in reading about a remarkable investigative report on the poultry industry now running in The Charlotte Observer. The series talks about the systematic exploitation of the slaughterhouse workers, at plants that are processing millions and millions of birds every week.

Plant overseers that systematically orchestrate the brutalizing of animals are generally not paragons of responsible behavior. Mistreating workers, polluting the environment, and producing unsafe food are the other by-products of their operations. And the psychological effect on people who do the killing and dismembering of animals cannot be healthy. It's a demeaning, dehumanizing process, and the people involved must be scarred by the experience.

You cannot compartmentalize kindness. Nor can you easily compartmentalize violence or abuse. It spills over time and again.

That's just one reason why the work of The Humane Society of the United States is so important.

Don't Shoot the Predator

Not all forms of predator control are equal, but there's an underlying core belief for the advocates of these killing programs that the predators are infringing upon our human prerogatives and our ordering of the world. We're the ones who want to exploit prey populations, and predators be damned if they interrupt our best-laid plans.

Aerial gunning of wolves in Alaska—done to boost populations of moose and caribou for hunters to shoot—is surely one of the most indefensible. Mass killing of coyotes by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services branch—about 90,000 coyotes a year—is done in part as a psychological salve for ranchers with a paranoia and hatred of these opportunistic and adaptable canids. The proposal to kill a limited number of sea lions in the Columbia River near Portland, as a means of saving threatened and endangered populations of salmon, has greater moral complexity than the above-mentioned examples, but is still a bad and unworthy idea.

© NOAA

My colleague John Balzar, The HSUS's senior vice president for communications and former Northwest bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, covered natural resource and environmental issues for years. He reported on many of the major social and ecological conflicts that stirred debate in all corners of the region. He's got just the right take and perspective on the proposed killing of sea lions, and I encourage you to read a column he wrote for the Seattle Times that appeared yesterday, which I've included below.

And after you are done with that, please write to the National Marine Fisheries Service by Feb. 19 and urge them to pursue exclusively non-lethal means of managing conflicts between sea lions and salmon and to look to the more serious culprits in the decline of salmon populations.

Killing sea lions will not save Columbia River salmon

By John Balzar
Special to The Times

When the government gets ready to kill predators in a desperate effort to save prey, you can be sure that something's way wrong in nature. And these days, what's wrong can usually be traced to human mistakes.

That's exactly the situation on the great Columbia River at Bonneville Dam.

Here, the federally protected sea lion swims in troubled waters with the chinook salmon, and bad news is brewing.

New Year, New Tradition

For the largest percentage of people on the planet, it's New Year's Day. More specifically, it's Chinese New Year, and it's the Year of the Rat.

Table tents in English and Chinese explain the decision to not
serve shark fin. Consumer cards and brochures are also available.

Many Chinese celebrate the New Year with a hot bowl of shark fin soup. It’s a tradition, but like other antiquated traditions centered on the exploitation of animals, it should be relegated to the history books. By now we know that sharks play an essential role in the oceans, and few oceanic creatures are in greater distress than dozens of species of sharks.

We have found that most consumers of shark fin soup—and the businesses that offer it—are simply not aware of the harm associated with the dish. Sharks are caught, the fin cut off, and then the debilitated shark dumped back into the water, unable to swim without a fin. The animal dies a lingering death. This happens to tens of millions of sharks every year in the world's oceans.

That’s why Humane Society International is reaching out to Chinese Americans—at Chinese New Year celebrations, Chinese community centers, online, and elsewhere—asking them to never consume or serve dishes containing shark fin. We’re receiving a positive response and have generated supportive articles in widely read Chinese language newspapers, convinced businesses to stop offering shark fin, and urged thousands of people to sign our No Shark Fin pledge.

If you patronize Chinese restaurants, ask the manager this New Year to find a new tradition. Let sharks keep their fins, and leave the animals be.

Talk Back: Investigation Ovations

Our comment box continues to flood as readers add their voice to the uproar surrounding our investigation into inhumane treatment of downed cows at a California slaughter plant. Among the comments we received:

To the person who had enough compassion for animals to put himself through what must have been a heartbreaking ordeal in the slaughterhouse, thank you, thank you. You are an angel. I can't say enough about my admiration for The HSUS. You make this world a better and kinder place with every moment you devote to your work. It's an honor to help you. —Lorraine

I have taken all recommended actions to get the San Bernardino county D.A. to prosecute those responsible for the torture at the Hallmark Meat Packing Co. I just wished to write because my thoughts go out to the person who witnessed and bravely documented the violent abuse occurring there. Watching the video makes us all feel ill but actually being there must have been so much worse. It was no doubt heart wrenching for him. I hope his recovery is made speedier by knowing that he is saving future lives and wellbeing of animals on a national level. Please tell him that my heart goes out to him and I will say a prayer to help ease his pain. It is shared in part by all of us. —Stacey Galvin

I'm always in complete awe of the people willing to put themselves into these situations to reveal such cruelty. I can only imagine what they go through to accomplish their goals. Truly, he has a special place in heaven waiting for him. Thank you, investigator... —Lisa J

I did not have the heart to watch the video; I did not think that I would be able to stomach it. But just looking at the cow on the screen, its immense suffering was so clear and evident. I was tossing and turning in bed all night, I was having nightmares! I still tear up just thinking about it. Why are people so inhumane and uncaring? How can they have no compassion? It is simply unconscionable and evil. EVIL!!! These acts MUST IMMEDIATELY be put to an end. Thank God for The HSUS, and hats off for a job done superbly on exposing these heinous acts, getting the USDA swiftly involved, and alerting the global public! I have been inspired to become vegetarian. —Helen Chung

Thank God! I am so glad this has finally received the recognition it deserves. I am from Minnesota and was not raised to treat animals this way! I just found out that some of this meat was sent to my area and I am outraged! Animals are not ours to torture! I want to personally thank the individual that had to witness these atrocities firsthand in order to open the eyes of so many! —Kristen Sackett

I found out about the Westland slaughter video from my daughter. We don't live that far from that slaughterhouse, so probably their beef was going to her school. The school pulled the beef out of it, and she was told about the situation by teachers, and watched the video before I knew. It made me sick and angry. I wonder why, in the paper today, it says that the two workers were fired. Why doesn't it say that they were JAILED? Isn't their sick, sadistic behavior illegal? In Houston, they'd be jailed. On Animal Planet, on one of the animal rescue shows, we'd be watching them hauled off by sheriffs. Can we see that happen here? We have friends who are cattlemen, and they do not allow these situations to occur on their ranches. For now, my daughter is off beef, and we'll try to avoid it even more than we already do. —Beth Glover

Thank you for relentlessly investigating the horrors of factory farming and for bringing this to the mainstream media and the public. Change happens slowly, but this