“This is my personal opinion, it should have been posted a while ago, but its taken a while to write, due to pain. If people want to eat meat & dairy, I can’t stop them. But I feel they have a duty as the consumer to demand the meat they buy, hasn’t been kicked, punched or shocked around its genitals to get it moving; so it can go to slaughter! It’s plain to see (on the video) that downer dairy cows, that simply can’t move unaided, due to illness or broken bones are moved by brute force; instead of being PTS on the spot! I want the consumers to demand CCTV around farms & slaughterhouses, at the end of the day, it’s the consumer who pays for the meat & dairy products, they should care how the animals are raised! Consumers should be assured the meat & dairy products, came from animals given the best welfare standards possible!! It has been well documented that stressed animals, like those seeing their buddies killed in front of them or those that have been beaten or abused; affects the quality of their meat! Have you ever seen a joint of beef in the supermarket fridge, that looks like the skin is bruised? well it probably is bruising; caused by the neanderthals who enjoy kicking & punching the shit out of the animals; because there is nobody to stop them!!” Please read this, regards the above:-http://www.fao.org/3/a-x6909e/x6909e04.htm
“I have seen MANY undercover farm videos showing cruelty before…I find this, the most shocking. The public have a right & need to know how the animals they eat, are actually treated before slaughter!! If there is one video to make you ditch cheese & dairy products…hopefully it’s this one! I became a vegetarian years ago, because I didn’t want to be a party to the abuse, farmed animals suffer daily; although I know not all farms allow their animals to be treated this way! Then a few years later, I saw what happened to the dairy cows, it stopped me immediately drinking milk or eating cheese; all I could see was the images of the animals suffering. I now only drink plant-based “Alpro” milk, I prefer the Hazelnut variety which is made by taking the best whole hazelnuts & blending them with pure spring water (plus a few added vitamins & calcium of course) which I feel is far better for you than milk from a dairy cow; who has been abused her whole life!”
“Many dairy cows suffer beatings or heinous bodily abuse, throughout their life, especially on the conveyor belt of large mega dairy farms, where cows will never feel the grass beneath their feet! The only thing you can be certain of, is that the poor cow (constantly kept producing milk by artificial insemination) has its babies taken away at birth!! These farmers want the last bloody drop out of these poor dairy cows; before they will let them go to slaughter. I should imagine the cows are actually grateful, for an end to their lives of appalling abuse! I am a picky eater, but have found Quorn alternatives, to make any normal meat dishes! I love Linda McCartney’s burgers & sausages, they are tastier than the quorn versions….you name the recipe & there will be some produce, able to make it; without harming any living animal; which is the diet I choose to eat!!
Is your pizza topped with horrific animal cruelty? A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation reveals shocking animal abuse at a milk producer for Leprino Foods – the world’s largest mozzarella cheese maker and major cheese supplier to Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s.
Kicked, abused, electricity shocked in gential area, TORTURED BECAUSE THEY CAN!!!!
To maximize profits, the dairy industry keeps cows in a constant cycle of pregnancy, birth, and lactation. Typically, baby calves are dragged away from their mothers within a day of birth so that all of their milk can be sold for profit.
Female calves are either sold for meat or used as replacements for the “spent” cows in the dairy herd. Male calves, since they don’t produce milk, are often chained by the neck in tiny wooden boxes until they are killed for veal.
Like dogs, cats, zebras, and all other mammals, including humans, cows only produce milk when they are pregnant or nursing — and for the same reason: to nourish their young. The dairy industry steals this milk from calves for humans.
An undercover investigator with Mercy For Animals documented horrific animal abuse at Winchester Dairy in New Mexico, a milk supplier to Leprino Foods — the world’s largest mozzarella cheese producer. Leprino Foods is a primary cheese supplier to Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s restaurants nationwide. The hidden-camera video footage shows:
Workers viciously kicking and punching cows, and stabbing them with screwdrivers, causing bloody wounds and injuries
Cows being violently whipped in their faces and bodies with chains and metal wires
Workers maliciously shocking sick and injured cows and dragging them with tractors
Sick or injured cows suffering from open wounds, infections, and injuries left to suffer without proper veterinary care
Expert Opinions
After reviewing the undercover footage, renowned animal welfare experts Drs. Bernard Rollin and Terry Engle and Mr. William Wailes from the animal science department at Colorado State Universitywrote: “Of all the atrocity videos I have examined on behalf of various animal advocacy groups, this one may well depict the most prolonged, and severest pain being inflicted on innocent, non-ambulatory dairy cattle. … It is clear that the workers enjoy this infliction of pain and suffering, and even make remarks to that effect. … Of equal concern is the overall lack of training in animal care husbandry practices as well as in the importance to the social ethic of these types of unacceptable animal abuse. We all hold the owners/managers equally responsible for this egregious behavior!”
Dairy’s Dark Side
Treated as mere milk-producing machines, cows exploited and killed for milk and cheese endure lives of near constant misery and deprivation.
In order to keep producing a steady supply of milk, the cows are repeatedly impregnated. Several times a day, dairy cows are hooked by their udders to electric milking machines that can cause them to suffer electrical shocks, painful lesions, and mastitis (an infection of the udders). Some spend their entire lives standing on concrete floors; others are crammed into massive mud lots.
Cows have a natural lifespan of nearly 25 years, but the stress caused by factory farm conditions leads to disease, lameness, and reproductive problems that render cows worthless to the dairy industry by the time they are four or five years old.
These highly intelligent and social animals suffer unimaginable abuse from the time they are born and ripped from their mothers’ sides until they are so physically worn out from repeated pregnancies and constant milk production that they are sold for slaughter.
Although unconscionable cruelty and violence are standard practice in the dairy industry, caring consumers can help end the needless suffering of cows by choosing vegan alternatives to milk, cheese, and ice cream. Please visit ChooseVeg.comto learn more.
Is your pizza topped with horrific animal cruelty? A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation reveals shocking animal abuse at a major pizza cheese supplier — Leprino Foods. Workers were caught viciously kicking, punching, and stabbing cows with screwdrivers, and violently whipping them in their faces and bodies with chains and metal wires. Take action at SliceOfCruelty.com
“The video shows workers hitting, kicking and punching cows with hands, boots and sharp objects to get them into the milking parlor. The workers are clearly abusing the cattle and causing distress for no reason.” Dr. James Reynolds
“The handling of the dairy cows and calves by workers in this facility is unacceptably rough and overtly abusive. … This facility should cease operations due to severe animal welfare deficiencies and overt animal cruelty.”Dr. Debra Teachout
“Of all the atrocity videos I have examined on behalf of various animal advocacy groups, this one may well depict the most prolonged, and severest pain being inflicted on innocent, non-ambulatory dairy cattle.” Dr. Bernard E. Rollin, William Wailes and Dr. Terry Engle of Colorado State University
“The handling of the cows in this facility is inexcusably harsh, vicious and inhumane. The cows are kicked, beaten, jabbed with electrified prods and struck with sharp objects. … This behavior is gratuitous and unnecessary, as the workers go out of their way to beat the cows…”Dr. Lee Schrader
“I recommend that charges of animal cruelty be brought against the workers and managers involved, and that the facility be shut down. Such despicable cruelty to animals is beyond sickening and must not be tolerated.”Dr. Armaiti May
“The actions of the barn staff in this video are unacceptable, willful acts of abuse. … The callous acts depicted in this video footage do not meet expectations for humane animal handling.” Dr. Sara Shields
“The use of the hip lifter to drag and hoist a cow above the ground was definitely abusive. … Management should be partially to blame for the abusive handling because they failed to provide both training and appropriate equipment for moving downer cows.”Dr. Temple Grandin
“Seriously after watching this, I just don’t understand how any humans with a heart, can contribute to this torture; by purchasing the meat or milk?? It actually breaks my heart that the public don’t know or if they do, don’t want to watch this…but these poor animals suffer from the day they are born…FOR GODS SAKE… PLEASE HELP THEM BY SIGNING THE PETITION BELOW: OPEN YOUR EYE’S!! PLEASE ONLY PURCHASE ORGANIC DAIRY PRODUCTS OR THOSE WITH THE RSPCA LOGO ON, STAND UP FOR THOSE THAT GIVE THEIR LIFE FOR YOU, TO STOP THE ABUSE…IT’S NOT A LOT TO ASK!!!
“Seriously, if you have had the balls to view this video or any other farm animal video (good for you); can you truly eat or drink animal products, knowing what happens?? Knowing they are tortured throughout their short lives?? Please just give it a go, swap your normal diet slowly, i.e milk, swap it for Alpro (probably the Almond milk is the easiest to try first) Look for enriched soymilk, too, which is also fortified with calcium and vitamin D. Then use Quorn mince to make a spaghetti Bolognese, lasagna, shepherds pie & other meat dishes. Try the Linda McCartney sausages & burgers…I’m sure you will be surprised, at how good they actually taste!!!”
“And people ask me why I don’t eat meat…its not just the abuse they suffer, animals are sentient beings with feelings much like our own! I can’t be a part of that abuse & torture so prefer not to add to it by eating animal meats or stealing milk which is meant for animal offspring; being vegan or vegetarian is so much more healthy!! How would you like to live life in an iron jail for life; barely able to turn around.”
“I just don’t get this, the less an animal has suffered through life, the better the meat is supposed to be!! So why submit these animals to such barbaric torture, don’t tell me it’s to protect the young being sat on; that’s a load of old bull!!
If pigs are allowed to breed freely, are given straw to birth on & raise piglets, more will survive because the mom doesn’t sit on them on purpose!! When allowed, a sow will bring up her piglets just as well as a dog!!” These new viruses are being created by the way the animals are brought up…if your going to eat meat, the least you can do is make sure it came from a disease free farm!!”
On the heels of the recent viral diarrhea outbreak, yet another virus is plaguing pigs on factory farms in the Midwest, this time in Ohio.
“National Hog Farmer” magazine reports, “A new coronavirus has been identified in pig fecal samples from four Ohio swine farms, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.”The article explains that although the symptoms are similar to the ongoing outbreak of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV), this is an entirely new coronavirus born of extreme confinement on today’s hog farms.
And according to “Feedstuffs,” the samples were taken from farms that “experienced outbreaks of a diarrheal disease in sows and piglets in January and early February.”The Ohio Department of Agriculture has yet to determine whether this new virus is the cause of the diarrheal outbreak.
Subjecting animals to a lifetime of confinement in crates so small they are virtually immobilized is perhaps the cruellest form of institutionalized animal abuse in existence.Combined with overuse of antibiotics, and unsanitary living conditions, these factory farm environments create a breeding ground for disease.
We can help stop the abuse of pigs and other animals on factory farms, as well as the spread of nasty superbugs, by choosing compassion at every meal. Check out ChooseVeg.com for delicious recipes and tips on transitioning to a plant-based diet.
Want the real simple truth? animals on today’s factory farms – even those raised on so-called humane farms – are treated as mere meat-producing machines, and their short lives are filled with misery and deprivation. See for yourself:
Viewer Discretion Advised -Farm to Fridge – The Truth Behind Meat Production
Mercy For Animals presents Farm to Fridge. Narrated by Oscar-nominee James Cromwell, this powerful film takes viewers on an eye-opening exploration behind the closed doors of the nation’s largest industrial farms, hatcheries, and slaughter plants — revealing the often-unseen journey that animals make from Farm to Fridge.
“OMG…This has got to be at the top of the pile when it comes to cruelty in abattoirs, This is torture for animals in a living hell; at its worst. I can’t believe this is still being allowed to happen. The only way we can help to stop this is by sharing, making the public aware of the atrocities going on. We must get people signing the Animals Australia Ban on Live Export petition! Help the Australian people understand what is happening & that some in their government are happy for it to continue.
“Voting happens in September, people need to know the truth, the full horror of the export trade; before they cast they vote. We have to rise up, voice our disgust & demand better welfare for these animals; if we don’t who will? This Torture can not be allowed to carry on..PERIOD!! So please share, cross-post etc. If you get an error message when clicking on my link, don’t worry, it’s not spam, it is an error, Facebook have been informed of it! “
“I’m describing the video so that you really are aware of what you’re about to see, should you choose to press play. The first video is horrific, the steers are put in a machine that turns them upside down, then their throats are slit. As they tumble out of the contraption, they stand, their sliced throats flap around as they look for escape! But the second video is the worst. Jacob, a lone steer is repeatedly stabbed with a knife into his eyes, his tendons are slashed repeatedly until he goes down…then his final minutes of torture end with his throat once again being repeatedly slashed. How the fuck is this possible; do their lives really mean so little, that their owners & governments are prepared to stand by; & do nothing??
Further shocking evidence has surfaced of Australiancattle being abused in an Egyptian abattoir.
Once more, this reinforces the cruel nature of un-stunned slaughter. Yet inconceivably, Labor, the Coalition and the live export industry have all rejected calls for mandatory stunning of animals in the live trade.
Just over a week ago, evidence provided by Animals Australia of cruelty to Australian cattle in Egypt sparked a government investigation. This latest evidence was brought to Animals Australia’s attention this week and immediately provided to the Department of Agriculture.
Once again, the industry’s mantra of needing to stay in a market to improve welfare has been exposed for what it is: PR spin designed to maintain producer and government support.
Sadly, farmers have again been deceived by the very industry bodies that purport to represent them. They are being told that their animals are well cared for overseas, only to consistently find out otherwise.
The sky won’t fall in if live export ends. Most Australian farmers don’t live export and those who do can be assisted to transition away from the trade — a move that would be better for them and better for animals.
Animals Australia’s latest live export investigation revealed terrified animals making desperate efforts to escape after having their throats cut open; others with eyes stabbed; leg tendons slashed; and being butchered while still alive… This is the nightmare endured by animals who were exported live from Australia to Egypt.
Shocking live export cruelty in Egypt – Ismailia Viewer Discretion Strongly Advised
Published on 6 May 2013
Shocking cruelty captured in Egypt’s Ismailia abattoir shows an injured Australian steer stabbed in the eyes, and disabled by having his leg tendons slashed.
“The following are “excerpts” from an article in the Tasmanian Times. Please read & do what is necessary to get this torture stopped.”
Iin the House of Representatives, Independent Member for Denison Andrew Wilkie courageously stood up in Parliament with this picture of ‘Jacob’ and demanded some answers from Prime Minister Gillard, who could only reiterate that the government’s system is ‘working’. Andrew’s questioning of the government can be seen here, as well as the totally predictable and fatuous response of the Prime Minister claiming that this evil, disgraceful trade in wretched animal misery and suffering has a ‘social licence’.
The Steer is named Jacob; he is the victim in the second video above
Some things are so obscene, and so depraved, that nothing can ever justify them, and the live animal export trade is absolutely one of those things.
Be careful what you wish for when you cast your vote at the September Federal election. A vote for the coalition will see even more support for the gross animal abuse seen throughout Animals Australia’s 19 investigations. Tony Abbott says ‘one of his first jobs will be to apologise to the Indonesians for the ‘catastrophic’ ban on the cattle trade’ there following the exposure of similar torture of our cattle shown on the ‘Four Corners’ program’A Bloody Business’ in May 2011. In this, the Gillard government and the Abbott coalition are as one.
Will Abbott and his sycophants also want to apologise to Egypt? Bahrain? Kuwait? Pakistan? Malaysia? And all the other countries to which Australia happily sends millions of innocent, gentle animals to be so heinously abused? Tony Abbott wants to make the all-but-meaningless ESCAS ‘more exporter friendly’, if that is indeed possible.
Jacob, the Australian bull filmed at an Egyptian slaughterhouse last month, spent his last horrific many minutes of life having his eyes stabbed and his leg tendons slashed. He had been forced into an appallingly cruel slaughter box, from which, in panic, he escaped, trying to run on three legs because one was already broken. His throat had been slashed and he ran with his head almost hanging off. Jacob was a gentle, Western Australian Brahman bull, who had done nothing wrong. He spent weeks on a Third World live export ship on his way to Egypt before facing this ultimate horror and depravity.
The evidence of the abuse first came from a courageous Egyptian veterinarian, Dr Abdelwahab, a man with seven years experience in Egyptian abattoirs. He expressed to Animals Australia that animal cruelty in Egypt is rife and that neither abattoir management nor on-site veterinarians intervene to stop cruel treatment. He said ‘this action happened yesterday, today, and it will happen tomorrow’. He described the facilities, claimed to be ‘state of the art’ by the Australian government and exporters, detailing the slaughterbox used there which turns the terrified animals upside down, often crushing their ribs and pelvises in the process.
So please demand that your current Federal MPs and Senators do whatever it takes to bring down this trade. But also take it up with coalition candidates as well, because their agenda is to EXPAND this morally bankrupt industry. Don’t be fooled by the argument that if Australia withdraws from the trade the animal abuse will be even worse, because if millions of Australian animals are nor put on the rotten old ships, that is millions of animals saved – and that many less animals subjected to this horriific and systemic torture. No other countries can supply the volume of animals Australia does.
Don’t buy the argument that the ‘cattle in the north are starving;’ either. If these people have bred thousands of animals for this trade which is going nowhere if the Australian people are heard by their government, then they are obligated to feed and care for them. If they don’t, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law as anyone else would be. Their failure to respond to market forces is their fault and no-one else’s, and there is no more subsidised and privileged sector in the community than the ever-complaining farmers.
Andrew Wilkie asked the Prime Minister to end the live export trade or give a clear personal guarantee that there would be no further animal welfare abuses in Australia’s live export industry.
“The pigs on this farm are the ones with 2 legs & voices; they just love to abuse the animals in their control. They are sadistic to the extreme, listen to how they speak to the pigs, their sickening actions & the cries of the animals, make me want to weep & puke at the same time! Unfortunately this isn’t the only farm that employs workers who treat animals, as if they are just the shit on their shoes! Many farms & slaughterhouses, employ workers to handle livestock; with no idea that they are employing animal abusers! For the sick bastards who just love kicking the crap out of animals; working on a farm is an ideal job. But how does the employer know if a potential worker is really just after the job because he enjoys hurting animals; or that they are genuine people, who want to work in the farming trade? Would the farmer employ someone, who’s name is on an Animal Abuse Register?? Not if he loves his animals he wouldn’t…point made!!
So for now, the abuse will carry on & the 2 legged pigs will carry on getting away with it; if Ag-Gag bills are brought into action. These pathetic legislative bills are only there to stop the public from knowing how a certain farm treats its animals! But the public are the ones who keep these companies afloat; so don’t they have a right to know how the animals are treated? The only way of getting to the truth is by someone going undercover! If a company knows someone is coming to inspect them, then of course the farm is spotless & the workers are at their best. But would the outcome be the same if the inspection was not known about before hand i.e under surveillance?
We have undercover shoppers, whose aim is to go into public clothes stores to see exactly how the company treats the public; so what’s the problem carrying out similar actions with livestock? Surely it is more important to know that animals in breeding plants & slaughterhouses are treated humanely; than customers in high street stores, getting a smile with each transaction!!
If I ate meat (which I don’t), I would gladly contribute or want undercover surveillance to find out if the meat I was buying in shops; was being humanely treated before it arrived!! At the moment, undercover surveillance is the only way the public will find out the truth; if Ag- Gag bills are adopted. Think about it, if the owners of said farms are approached & think they have nothing to be ashamed of, they won’t be concerned with Ag-Gag bills, & will gladly accept undercover surveillance! But if a farm or slaughterhouse don’t want undercover agents in their workplace, & they have Ag-Gag bills in place; well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out which farm to buy from!
To conclude: don’t buy meat from any supplier that has an Ag-Gag rule; they are trying to hide something!! Lets get Animal Abuse Registers introduced; so employers can check job applicants before employing them to work with their animals, knowing they will treat them with the respect they deserve! Lets not forget, many animal abusers, are often domestic abusers too! For some, abusing animals is only the beginning of a sick criminal life; who end up preying on unsuspecting humans!
Pigs Thrown in Air and Kicked like Soccer Balls at Wyoming Farm: Five Workers Convicted of Animal Cruelty
Five employees from Wheatland, Wyo.-based Wyoming Premium Farms— Patrick Ruckavina, Richard Pritekel, Edward Pritekel, Kali Oseland and David Bienz—have each been convicted on multiple counts of cruelty to animals after a Humane Society of the United Statesundercover investigation documented acts of animal abuse.
During the investigation, released last year, Wyoming Premium was supplying pigs to meat giant Tyson Foods, which severed its relationship with the farm after the investigation was released.
The investigation documented Wyoming Premium workers kicking live piglets like soccer balls, swinging sick piglets in circles by their hind legs, striking mother pigs with their fists and repeatedly and forcefully kicking them as they resisted leaving their young, among other abuses.
“All animals deserve humane treatment, including animals raised for food,” said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president for investigations at The Humane Society of the United States. “We are grateful to law enforcement officials for pursuing charges in this case, and we hope that these convictions will deter further abuse of animals on industrial factory farms.”
In addition to the individual acts of abuse which led to criminal charges, The HSUS’ investigation also found breeding pigs confined day-and-night in gestation crates, tiny cages that virtually immobilize animals for nearly their entire lives. Gestation crates, used throughout Tyson Foods’ supply chain, have come under fire by McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Costco, Safeway, Kroger, Oscar Mayer, Jimmy Dean, Sysco and other nearly 50 other leading food companies, as well as from veterinarians, farmers, animal welfare advocates, scientists, consumers and others
Warning: Contains Graphic Footage. Undercover video footage at “Wyoming Premium Farms” revealing egregious cruelty and filthy conditions at a Wyoming pig breeding facility owned by a supplier for Tyson Foods.
“More of what I was saying in an earlier post…what have they got to hide that warrants a new laws to keep customers in the dark?? If I still ate meat or dairy products…it would make me all the more suspicious about what they have to hide!!! If a company has to have an Ag-Gag rule, it’s safe to say something is going on that they don’t want the public to know about. How can you be sure the meat you have on your plate wasn’t ridiculed & abused sick MF’s wanting a bit of fun; before it was slaughtered?? By having these stupid new law‘s, they are almost admitting their guilty of something!!
There’s only one way to make these company’s pay for keeping their abuse behind closed doors; SIMPLY don’t shop at the places they supply!!
Only buy food from sources who have installed CCTV policies; at least you know they do not have anything to hide. Choose organic meat, I know it might be a tad more expensive but animals on organic farms eat organically grown feed, aren’t confined 100 percent of the time (as they sometimes are on conventional farms), and are raised without antibiotics or synthetic growth hormones. When shopping for organic foods, always look for the USDA seal on any kind of packaged food. For meat and dairy, this seal ensures you’re getting antibiotic- and hormone-free products. When buying meat or produce that isn’t packaged, look for a sign stating that it’s organic, or ask the store clerk.
Chickens raised for food spend their lives in dirty sheds with tens of thousands of other poultry. The intense crowding often leads to outbreaks of disease and unsanitary conditions.
The chickens are pumped with hormones to grow so large that their legs and organs can’t keep up, making heart attacks, organ failure, and growth deformities common.
The corporate-friendly American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)—also infamously responsible for pushing Stand Your Ground and Voter Suppression ID laws—is lobbying this and similar laws in six states. The laws will criminalize the filming of animal abuse at factory farms, as well as punish those that lie on job applications to get hired.
“This, I think, is a good example of just how much this industry has to hide,” said Paul Shapiro, spokesperson for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). “You know you’ve got a lot to hide when you want to make it a crime merely to take a photo of what you are doing.”
Bills are being considered in California, Nebraska, Tennessee, Indiana, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. Other states like Minnesota, Vermont, and North Carolina are expected to consider similar laws.
Videos exposing the suffering of slaughterhouse animals have already sparked many states to pass similar laws to what ALEC is pushing. In Iowa, for example, an “Ag-Gag” law makes it a misdemeanor to infiltrate farms, and Utah bans unauthorized photography in farms.
“Do you know, I don’t give a fxxxxxg shit if someone gets ill from eating any part of a horse…because it serves them bloody well right. We kill more than enough animals that suffer horrendous lives; just to adorn our dinner plates. I’m sick of writing about the reasons why horses shouldn’t be eaten, irrelevant of the drugs that will harm humans!! It’s just another animal that humans have realised can still be worth money in death!! Sickening…if you would eat a horse, then you would also eat your pet dog or cat, or any other animal that humans refer to as pets! And that word say’s it all…PETS…not livestock!! Remember…if it lives in a stable; it’s not meant for the table! There would be a hell of a lot more veggies or vegans if slaughter houses had glass walls; humane slaughter…ha..there’s no such bloody thing!”
Congress Introduces Safeguard American Food Exports Act to End Horse Slaughter
Dear Humanitarian,
Horses are not raised for human consumption in theUnited States and are regularly administered drugs that are expressly prohibited by federal regulations for use in food animals. While the drugs may be perfectly suitable to treat injuries in horses, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)has declared that hundreds of them—including some highly toxic to humans —are “not for use on horses intended for human consumption.” For example, a common pain reliever routinely administered to all types of horses, phenylbutazone or “bute,” is known to cause potentially fatal human diseases.
It is important not to forget the toll horse slaughter takes on families and the horses they care about. Brittany Wallace and her horse Scribbles were reunited after Omega Horse Rescue in Pennsylvania saved him from a kill pen at the New Holland Livestock Auction. Read about Scribbles’ unbelievable journey, as told by Brittany in the upcoming Spring 2013 AWI Quarterly.
There is currently no system in the United States to track medications given to horses to ensure that horse meat is safe for human consumption. A recent New York Times article highlighted the plethora of drugs used on race horses—including cobra venom and cocaine—and the resulting food safety threats. Thousands of these horses are sent to auction—and subsequently on to slaughter in Canada or Mexico—within hours or days of their last race, virtually ensuring that these toxins are in the horse meat that is sent overseas. Many substances and drugs regularly used on horses have never been tested on humans; the potential danger of ingesting these chemicals is completely unknown.
Despite opposition to horse slaughter from bipartisan leaders of New Mexico, including Governor Susana Martinez, Attorney General Gary K. King, and State Land Commissioner Ray Powell, D.V.M, theU.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced plans to process an application for inspecting horse slaughter operations at a facility in New Mexico. If the application is approved, Valley Meat Company LLC—suspended twice by the USDA in the last 1.5 years for violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act—will be the first facility in the United States to slaughter horses for human consumption since 2007.
AWI has long exposed the widespread cruelty and dishonesty of this industry—from inside the slaughterhouse to the backroom dealings of killer buyers misleading horse owners and now to the store shelves of European grocery stores. Against this backdrop, the federal government could now potentially spend its limited fiscal and staffing resources to open new horse slaughter plants at a time when forced spending cuts are already severely affecting animal welfare and food safety inspections for U.S. meat products.
In the midst of the public commotion over horse meat, a positive development is the introduction of legislation, the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, by Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) andLindsey Graham (R-SC) along with Representatives Patrick Meehan (R-PA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). This bill would ban horse slaughter in the United States, while ensuring American horses are not exported to Canada or Mexico for the same purpose.
What You Can Do (sorry this appears to be for USA Citizens only)
Please email, call or write your Representative and both Senators today and urge them to cosponsor and act immediately in support of the SAFE Act, before horse slaughter has the chance to resume on U.S. soil.
Please be sure to share our “Dear Humanitarian” eAlert with family, friends and co-workers, and encourage them to send a message also. As always, thank you very much for your help!
Sincerely,
Cathy Liss
President
P.S. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates on the action above and other important animal protection news.
“WTF…the video is at the bottom of this post. I can’t & refuse to believe that he can get away with shooting a horse dead; just to make his fxxxxxg point!! If ever I saw a cowardly piece of shit…there one stands. Just who the fxxk does he think he is? above the law obviously…talk about a fxxxxxg turd; his shit isn’t good enough to be on my boots!”
“You can bet you bottom dollar, that if that scenario was a guy that worked in a
Tim Sappington Kills Horse
kennel, who took a dog out, shot & filmed it to use for or against something…he would be in jail faster than a horse kicks! The video posted on YouTube, isTim Sappington, who is employed by the Valley Meat Company in Roswell, New Mexico!
“If he thinks he can shoot a horse in cold blood & get away with it, he is very wrong. I’m not the least bit surprised he has had to beef up his security, & is getting hate & death calls…I hope they carry on for long time yet! What he did was just sadistic & very wrong…if I was him I would be keeping a very low profile, because there are a lot of people who take great offence at people who purposefully hurt an animal then video it. That is one cold hearted MF who doesn’t give a crap about horses or any animals!!”
“We’re horrified by the video, and we are glad to hear that there’s an investigation going on,” said Keith Dane, director of equine protection for the Humane Society of the U.S. in Washington. “It appears this was made for publicity’s sake and to taunt animal lovers.”
A video posted on YouTube has sparked outrage among animal activists and left death threats against a Roswell meat company.
In the video, an employee at the Valley Meat Company out of Roswell, NM – which is working with the USDA to get a horse slaughter plant in the area – brings a horse out of its pen, swears at activists and then kills the horse with a single gunshot.
“To all you animal activists, f**k you,” Tim Sappington, a maintenance contractor with Valley Meat Company, said in the video.
He then shoots the horse point blank in the head. The horse falls to the ground and dies.
Sappington has received several death threats for the video. People who operate the plant, who contend they had nothing to do with the video, are also receiving threats.
“You know what people should be slaughtering? You f***ing s***cs, should never have been allowed in this country,” one caller said.
Rick De Los Santos, a part-owner of Valley Meat Company in Roswell, has been slammed with hate calls and death threats since a video hit the Web.
“I didn’t have anything to do with that video, that’s the honest truth, but like I said, people will make assumptions,” De Los Santos said.
De Los Santos said Sappington shot the video on his own time and at his own home. The De Los Santos’ say people have also stolen “no trespassing” signs off their property.
They’ve hired a private security firm and installed new surveillance cameras. The family says they support Sappington’s right to kill and eat horses, but not the video.
“He shot a horse, that’s what he eats, it’s not against the law to slaughter your own horse,” De Los Santos said. “Now, putting it on YouTube, I would not have done that.”
They just wish the calls would stop. “I hope you — die and your whole — family, you —in —hole,” another threat said. “This isn’t the last time you’ll hear from me —head.”
This should be considered a hate crime against all of us who have spoken out against the Roswell NM horse slaughter house. The owner of the slaughter house intends to hire 40-100 people, and Tim is the first employee of Valley Meat Co.
What do you expect from, TIM SAPPINGTON; a narcissist, self righteous, bully coward and animal murderer who makes his living from the suffering of horses?
He does this everyday; it is nothing to this piece of shit. He is as cold as they come. Obviously ARA’s are getting under his skin. Good!! Im am soooo sorry this horse had to be the pawn in the ugly. That horse would have died at his hands anyway, on camera or not.
This subhuman is a psychopath. He has no remorse for what he does. Karma is coming his way…. I feel it. He will pay…. some how, some way…..some day. I hope I am alive to witness it.
To see the edited, (no violence or foul language) visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/cylvdxpBelow you will find a list of phone numbers to call in Chavez County where the slaughter house is planning on opening. Send the link to these people, remember be polite with whom ever you speak to!Chaves County Manager – Stanton L. Riggs, Esq. – Phone: 575-624-6602 – Email: sriggs@co.chaves.nm.us
Janetta B. Hicks, District Attorney – Phone: (575)622-4121 – Email: 5thDA@da.state.nm.usNew Mexico Livestock Board: (575) 623-3031
Food Safety Inspection Service at 202-720-9113.The Office of Governor Susana Martinez – Phone (505) 476-2200 or web contact: http://tinyurl.com/4olx7lv
Contacting the news may generate interest in this story, yesterday Fox News put out a poll on horse slaughter, so they may be very interested in the story:FoxNews Hotline – Phone: 888-369-4762 – Email: foxnewstips@foxnews.com.Please make a brief, polite phone call to your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators to urge co-sponsorship of H.R. 1094 S. 541, the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act that ends the cruel slaughter of America’s horses as well as their export for slaughter abroad.
You can say something like: “I would like you to please co-sponsor and support H.R. 1094/S. 541, the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act to protect our nation’s horses and keep the food supply safe for consumers.”
The slaughter of horses for meat is not only unnecessary but it is also harmful in many ways. Sign the petition: http://tinyurl.com/bcp7unr
I was hoping to find more petitions but as yet none, I would do one if I had the time to sit at PC, do my usual work & write a petition…hopefully won’t be long before there are some then people can tell the world how disgusted they are with this pig of an inhumane dick!
The benefits of eating organic food go straight to the farm, where no pesticides and chemical fertilizers are used to grow the organic produce shipped to grocers. That means workers and farm neighbors aren’t exposed to potentially harmful chemicals, it means less fossil fuel converted into fertilizers and it means healthier soil that should sustain crops for generations to come.
For individuals, organic food also has benefits. Eating organic means avoiding the pesticide residue left on foods, and it may even mean more nutritious varietals, though research into that subject has yielded mixed results. While there are few if any proven health impacts from consuming trace quantities of pesticides on foods, a growing number of people take the precaution of avoiding exposure just in case, particularly in the cases of pregnant women (growing babies are exposed to most of the chemicals that mom consume) and the parents of young children.
But organic food can cost more, meaning many families are loathe to shell out the extra cash for organic produce on every shopping trip. That’s what makes the Environmental Working Group‘s annual list of the dirty dozen foods so useful. The group analyzes Department of Agriculture data about pesticide residue and ranks foods based on how much or little pesticide residue they have. The group estimates that individuals can reduce their exposure by 80% if they switch to organic when buying these 12 foods.
The USDA and farm and food industry representatives are quick to remind consumers that the government sets allowable pesticide residue limits it deems safe, and the produce for sale in your grocery store should meet those standards. Watchdogs like Environmental Working Group see those limits as too liberal, and see the dirty dozen list as a teaching tool to educate consumers about the benefits of organic food.
Even Environmental Working Group says that the benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetablesoutweighs the known risks of consuming pesticide residue. At TheDailyGreen.com, we always favour educating consumers so that we can make the decision for ourselves.
Note: The 2011 dirty dozen list reflects testing data from the 2010 harvest, and because some pesticide use is dependent on weather conditions that vary by farm, it may not reflect the pesticide residue on produce in your grocery store.
That’s why we include not only those fruits and vegetables on Environmental Working Group’s current list, but produce that has made the list in the past, as well as information about pesticides used to produce meat, dairy and some other favourite foods that aren’t on Environmental Working Group’s latest dirty dozen list.
In general, tree fruits, berries, leafy greens dominate the list. Since the USDA tests produce after a typical household preparation, fruits and vegetables with thick skins that are removed before eating (melons, avocado, corn, etc.) tend to have the lowest amounts of pesticide residue.
If you don’t see a favourite food here, checkWhats On My Food, a project of the Pesticide Action Network that makes the same USDA pesticide residue testing data available in an easy-to-use database.
Visit the link below, then click “NEXT” at the bottom of the page. There are 20 pages in full, starting with the worst…Apples, then Celery!!
What’s On My Food?:- This is a brilliant & easy way to find out how many pesticide residues are left on your food.
Pesticides – A Public Problem …on our food, even after washing; …in our bodies, for years; …& in our environment, travelling many miles on wind, water and dust.
This is a searchable database designed to make the public problem of pesticide exposure visible and more understandable.
How does this tool work? We link pesticide food residue data with the toxicology for each chemical, making this information easily searchable for the first time.
Use the tool, share it with others: we built it to help move the public conversation about pesticides into an arena where you don’t have to be an expert to participate.
At Pesticide Action Network (PAN), we believe that pesticides are a public health problem requiring public engagement to solve. We want you to have the information you need to take action based on a solid understanding of the issues. What’s On My Food? builds on PAN’s 28-year tradition of making pesticide science accessible
“WTF…this is simple, if slaughter houses didn’t employ thugs, who enjoy torturing the animals before they are slaughtered; there wouldn’t be any need for undercover footage. Slaughter houses are shitting their pants, because they know if the public found out what goes on behind their closed doors…they would be financially brought to their knees. INSTEAD OF TARGETING THOSE TRYING TO EXPOSE THE ABUSE…GET RID OF THOSE DOING THE ABUSE!!! MAKE CCTV MANDATORY…I could go on but I’m sure you are all well aware of what happens behind closed doors. So buy wisely, from local suppliers you trust, buy organic to avoid pesticides & antibiotics; much better for the environment too! Don’t the animals deserve some quality of life before they end up on your plate? Giving them the ability to act naturally in open spaces; well, it’s not much to ask for taking their life…is it??”
Thom Hartmannpoints the finger squarely at the infamousALECfornew laws being proposed – and some already enacted – that would make it acriminal actto document animals cruelly treated and slaughtered by the meat and poultry processing industries.
ALEC is now parading around bills in six states that would make it a crime to filmanimal abuse at factory farms, or lie on job applications in order to get a job in a factory farm with the goal of taking pictures. All of this is to stopanimal rights activistswho infiltrate slaughterhouses to expose their deplorable conditions.
The bill proposals pushed by ALEC require all evidence of animal abuse at factory farms be turned over to law enforcement authorities within 48 hours, or those who took the pictures face a financial penalty.
The proposals also make it a crime to lie on slaughterhouse job applications, which activists commonly do in order to get documentation of animal abuse.
Right now, according to the Associated Press, the bills to block animal rights activists are under consideration in California, Nebraska, Tennessee, Indiana, Arkansas and Pennsylvania.
Three other states – New Mexico, Wyoming andNew Hampshire – have already rejected similar bills this year.
And several states already have laws similar to what ALEC is currently pushing. Utah has a law that bans unauthorized photography in farms, and Iowa has a law that makes it a crime to lie to gain access to a farm’s staff.
ABC News gets down to thegrisly detailsof what goes down at some factory animal farms,
An undercover video that showed California cows struggling to stand as they were prodded to slaughter by forklifts led to the largest meat recall in U.S. history. In Vermont, a video of veal calves skinned alive and tossed like sacks of potatoes ended with the plant’s closure and criminal convictions.
Now in a pushback led by the meat and poultry industries, state legislators across the country are introducing laws making it harder for animal welfare advocates to investigate cruelty and food safety cases….
ALEC has labeled those who interfere with animal operations “terrorists,” though a spokesman said he wishes now that the organization had called its legislation the “Freedom to Farm Act“ rather than the “Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act.”
“At the end of the day it’s about personal property rights or the individual right to privacy,” said [ALEC] spokesman Bill Meierling. “You wouldn’t want me coming into your home with a hidden camera.”
But Meierling is using a logical fallacy here that is breathtaking in its deceit. If you take a photo in my home, it will not be of any brutally treated animals that are being commercially slaughtered to sell meat or chicken to consumers for profit in the marketplace. But that is the case with an untold number of meat industry titans. Their “houses” of business are abattoirs of profit – and they don’t want the public to see the wretched, inhumane conditions that the animals live in or how they are abused.
Actually, the state measures that ALEC is currently backing and trying to move through agricultural state legislatures have their origin in a federal bill that Meierling refers to: the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act (AETA). AETA is a pernicious piece of legislation, passed into law by Congress in 2006, that violates the First Amendment in order to keep the public in the dark about wanton animal cruelty on a massive scale.
According to the Center for the Constitutional Rights, the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act has already had a chilling effect. In regards to a recent case in New York challenging the law, the Center writes:
The language of the AETA is so overbroad that it criminalizes protected First Amendment speech. The law punishes anyone found to have caused the loss of property or profits to a business or other institution that uses or sells animals or animal products or to “a person or entity having a connection to, relationship with, or transactions with an animal enterprise.” Furthermore … key terms in the statute, including the definition of an “animal enterprise,” are unconstitutionally vague. The plaintiffs, who have long histories of participating in peaceful protests and animal rights advocacy, say that fear of prosecution as terrorists has led them to limit or even cease their lawful advocacy….
Critics argue it punishes peaceful protests and turns non-violent civil disobedience into “terrorism.” Moreover, though it targets animal rights activists specifically, the AETA is written so broadly, they say, it could turn a successful labor protest at Wal-Mart, which sells animal products, into an act of domestic terrorism. Non-violent protesters charged under the law face up to twenty years in prison, depending on the amount of profit loss that results from their actions.
The 2006 AETA amended the 1992Animal Enterprise Protection Act (AEPA), which punished causing a “physical disruption” to an animal enterprise. In 2006, six activists were convicted in New Jersey for conspiring to violate the AEPA, and served between one and six years in prison for publishing a website that advocated and reported on protest activity against an animal testing lab, its business affiliates, and their employees. The activists were not accused of injuring anyone or vandalizing any property. One of the defendants in that case, Lauren Gazzola, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging the AETA.
Currently, as noted above, activists for the humane treatment of animals can be prosecuted if they share with the public abusive industry practices that result in a revenue loss for the slaughterhouse company. Yes, you read that right: if an individual US citizen exposes the cruel treatment of animals, and the public is repelled from buying meat or chicken from that company as a result, the animal activists can be sued for the loss of profit and treated as, essentially, terrorists.
This nation — the United States — has clearly walked through the looking glass as far as justice. In terms of mega-slaughter house companies, Wall Street, transnational corporations, etc., the Constitution can be bought through campaign contributions.
It’s up for sale to the highest bidders, being sold off section by section.
An Animals Australia investigation has again found Australian sheep being illegally sold in a cruel livestock market in Kuwait, despite Animals Australia first notifying Australian authorities of breaches at this market some five months ago.
Under the new live export rules, exporters must ensure that animals remain within approved supply chains. New evidence from Animals Australia has revealed that months after our initial complaint, Australian sheep have continued to be sold and brutally slaughtered at the notorious Al Rai livestock market, in Kuwait. Animals at this marketplace are known to have their legs bound together, be stuffed into car boots, dragged over concrete slabs, and have their throats cut while fully conscious.
This footage taken in August 2012 sparked Animals Australia’s original complaint to the Department of Agriculture.
Warning Very Graphic Video
In January 2013, an investigator returned to the Al Rai market and found even more Australian sheep being offered for sale by at least 11 separate merchants.
Many admitted knowing that they shouldn’t have Australian sheep and ear tags had been ripped out or removed despite the fact that Australian sheep are clearly distinguishable from local sheep in the region. All of the merchants at the market offered slaughter onsite as an ‘after sales’ service.
The Al Rai market in Kuwait City is notorious for cruelty. Animals Australia has conducted a number of investigations there, each time documenting the brutal handling, transport and slaughter of Australian sheep. Preventing Australian sheep from being sold in such circumstances was a cornerstone of why the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System was implemented. Yet nearly one year after ESCAS came into effect in Kuwait, rules continue to be breached and animals continue to suffer.
Al Rai market was already the obvious place in the Middle East for exporters to monitor – the fact they have not done so, even after breaches were discovered, shows how little they care and their willingness to thumb their nose at government regulations. If exporters are not prepared to follow the rules they should have their export licence removed.
Please send an urgent message to your Federal MP to express your opposition to this cruel trade and demand that, while it continues, tough sanctions must be placed on exporters who fail to adhere to the rules.
Australian cattle are again at the centre of a shocking expose that is making international headlines.
Frightened animals being bashed, hit, shocked with an electric prod in the eyes and face before suffering a terrifying death… these are the images filmed by Israeli journalist and undercover investigator, Ronen Bar.Watch his interview…
WARNING: contains Very graphic images.
Published on 11 Dec 2012
WARNING: Graphic vision. YOU CAN HELP: 1) Like & comment. 2) Go to http://AnimalsAustralia.org/israel to sign an instant letter against live animal export.
Please email your Federal MP — express your opposition to this cruel trade and demand that while it continues, there must be independent inspection and oversight in importing countries. For Australian Citizens only:-http://animalsaustralia.org/israel
Live export cruelty continues
Sadly Australia is one of the biggest exporters of live animals for slaughter. In 2011 Australia exported around 700,000 cattle predominantly to Indonesia, and around 2.5 million sheep mainly to the Middle East.
WSPA Australia works actively on this issue of live exports, and the campaign is called ‘Humane Chain’.
During the journey animals can experience stress, heat exhaustion and extreme temperatures. Many don’t eat, are injured or suffer from disease. Despite efforts made by both the Australian Government and the live export industry to regulate the export process, tens of thousands of animals continue to die every year while being exported.
Almost half of all deaths on board sheep vessels are due to starvation because some sheep are not able to identify the unfamiliar pellets they’re given as food.
For every animal that dies, many more suffer further cruelty
Moving to the alternatives to live animal export will not only help animals, it’s also better for our economy
There are alternatives to live animal export that will benefit farmers, jobs, our economy and the animals.
According to an independent assessment (S G Heilbron, 2000) live animal export costs Australia $1.5 billion in lost GDP, $270 million in lost household income and around 10,500 lost jobs.
WSPA funded researched in 2012 that shows that northern cattle farmers could increase their income by 245% if they had access to an abattoir. It would also add $200 million to the regional economy each year and create 1300 jobs. Read the research here.
WSPA funded research in 2010 that shows a sheep processed in Australia is worth 20% more to the economy that one exported live. Read the research here.
This video shows evidence collected during WSPA’s recent investigation into the mistreatment of Australian sheep. Investigators have documented cruelty throughout the live export supply chain, from transportation on ships, through to holding yards and abattoirs in the Middle East. You can take action to help end this cruel trade by visiting http://www.humanechain.org
You can watch a short video that explains the benefits of moving away from live exports and the next steps we should takehere.
Halal certified chilled meat products from Australia are accepted both in the Middle East and in Indonesia. There’s no excuse to continue the live animal export trade.
Australians want an end to live animal export
Three quarters (74%), or 12.4 million, of Australians claim that they are more likely to vote for a political candidate who promises to end live animal export, according to a Longeran Poll from May 2012.
Those animals that survive the journey arrive on foreign soil where they are no longer under Australian protection. Few countries to which Australia sends animals for slaughter have equivalent animal welfare protection laws. Many animals will be slaughtered fully conscious.
DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS BLOG - SOME PICTURES & VIDEOS CAN & WILL BE VERY GRAPHIC - SO PLEASE, VIEW THIS BLOG AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
You can find out more about me & this blog by reading "ABOUT THIS BLOG" on the menu (when i finish it) lol
PLEASE NOTE.....
Not all of my posts will be current news, or even about animal abuse! I do like to share other animal news, uplifting stories or videos; some that are funny or just touch the heart!
If I have anything to say on any post, you will see it in bold blue writing. I try to remain a lady, but it's hard to contain my anger & emotions at the some of the stories I post; I don’t have a heart of stone, tears stain many articles I write!
Lastly, my apologies for any errors; I am learning whilst posting, so if you find anything that doesn't work or a broken link, sorry, I'm only human!!!!
ABOUT THESE POSTS
I would just like to make readers aware, that I search for stories on the internet; regards animal abuse etc. I copy stories etc. from the internet; assuming these stories are correct at time of publishing. Having said that, sometimes the press get it wrong! So I just want to add that at the time of me posting a news story, I presume all the facts seem present & correct.
Please note....all people mentioned in this blog, are presumed innocent, until proven otherwise, in a court of law.
Error: Please make sure the Twitter account is public.
Flag Counter Added May 2012
Face Book – Please Take Notice
For anyone wishing to connect to me via my Facebook page...PLEASE NOTE, ONLY PEOPLE I ADD AS ANIMAL ADVOCATES CAN SEE MY WHOLE PAGE...I do this out of respect for those friends I have who do not wish to see graphic images, videos or links of animal abuse!
As 99% of my page is animal related; anyone not in the above group of friends; will only see a limited amount of posts!!
DUE TO ANIMAL HATERS...I WILL ONLY ADD PEOPLE WHO CAN PROVE WHO THEY ARE via Facebook, Wordpress, Twitter etc. & WHO HAVE A GENUINE INTEREST IN ANIMAL WELFARE... i.e. if your Facebook page has absolutely nothing to do with animals, I see no point in joining my page. My Facebook is solely for animal welfare, I am not interested in playing games etc. I don't mean to sound rude but I am not interested in the amount of friends I have, its the quality of those friends that count.
PLEASE DO NOT SEND REQUESTS FOR YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN. I do not want anyone to be upset by graphic images etc.
My aim is to educate & raise awareness to the horrors animals face, at the hands of humans, every day, around the world!!
We can not hope to achieve better laws, to protect animals, unless we unite as one, to speak up for those who are voiceless!!
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DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS BLOG - SOME PICTURES & VIDEOS CAN & WILL BE VERY GRAPHIC - SO PLEASE, VIEW THIS BLOG AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
STOP ANIMAL ABUSE 
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