“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!!!”
“Please sign this petition, We have to keep the public updated on animal welfare issues. But with the AG- Gag Laws trying to be introduced to protect those who are blatantly flaunting the law; it’s hard to know what or where to turn to next. Please sign the petition here or further down.”
“We have to be the voice of the voiceless & ensure laws put in place to protect them; are in use!”
“YOU The PUBLIC have a voice, if you eat meat, don’t you want it to come from healthy farms, where the animals are cared for as they should be.? There are no excuses as you can see in the second video…but farmers cut corners to produce meat cheaply…would you honestly want to eat the meat that came from ill, diseased or filthy animals fed with slop??”
“Every time you open the door to one of these farms, you tell yourself: ‘it will be better than the last. They can’t all be ignoring the law, they can’t all be inflicting such misery.’ But then you see the pigs, and realise the scale of the suffering. It breaks your heart.”
Compassion’s Head of Investigations.
We have created a short video to summarise the findings of our investigation. Please help us to protect the pigs by watching it and sharing it as widely as possible.
The biggest scandal in modern pig farming?
Published on 23 Oct 2013
Much of the EU pig industry is completely ignoring basic welfare laws — leading to the suffering of millions of pigs. Compassion in World Farming has pulled together evidence from across Europe — join us in standing up for pig welfare by signing the petition: http://www.ciwf.org/EUpigvideo
Last year Compassion visited 45 pig farms across the EU. We went south to Italy and Spain; south-east to Cyprus; west to Ireland; and east to Poland and the Czech Republic. On every single farm we found the laws put in place to protect pig welfare were being flouted – the suffering was hard to witness.
And it doesn’t stop there.
We believe aspects of the Pigs Directive are being blatantly ignored all across the EU, inflicting illegal cruelty on millions of intelligent and sensitive animals. There are over 140 million pigs in the EU at any one time. Sometimes the scale of the challenge we are facing seems overwhelming.
But we have good news. The response to our petition has been amazing. It is the fastest growing petition in Compassion’s history; please help us keep up the momentum.
Humane, sustainable dairy farming can and does exist in California! In this film, Philip visits Strauss dairy whose organic dairy herd graze on pasture and are treated as much more than just units of production.
Over a three-year period Philip Lymbery (CEO of Compassion in World Farming) has travelled the world bearing witness to the hidden cost of cheap meat and the devastating impact of factory farming — on people, animals and our planet.
The findings of this journey are brought together for the very first time in Farmageddon (published by Bloomsbury).
“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.
“Finally some good news, received via email, not over yet; but proves petitions do work!!!”
Dear Jules
We have good news to share with you.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals’ (WSPA) petition calling on the Welsh Government to stop factory dairy farms in Waleshas successfully passed its Petition Committee hearing.
You might remember that we wrote to you back in December, following news that Welsh Planning Minister Carl Sargeant had approved plans to build a 1000-cow intensive dairy farm, asking you to join us in urging the Welsh Assembly to update relevant planning documents to better support decision-makers faced with factory dairy applications.
The petition received 9246 signatories, including Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd, who came with WSPA campaigners to hand it in to the Welsh politicians.
The concerns laid out in the petition were heard by the Committee on 18 February, who have decided to take the issue further.
Thank you for helping make this one of the most-signed petitions to the Welsh Government.
The fight to stop factory dairy farms in the UK is far from over, but we wanted to celebrate this positive decision with you.
The next steps will see the Committee write to both Carl Sargeant, Minister for Housing and Regeneration, and Alun Davies, Minister for Natural Resources and Food, for more information.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated on progress, and you can read more about this on our website.
“Please sign the petition below; no animal should be treated in this horrific way, then sold to the public!”
20th February – Posted By Matt Rice
Today, The Humane Society of the United Statesreleased horrifying hidden-camera video footage of pigs being fed diarrhea and the ground up intestines of their own piglets at a factory farm in Kentucky – Iron Maiden Hog Farm.
Although the practice of feeding pig guts and shit to other pigs is common on industrial farms across the country, it is illegal under state law.
The video, which was profiled by The New York Times, also shows mother pigs crammed into filthy metal cages so small they can’t even turn around or lie down comfortably for nearly their entire lives. Seemingly without irony, the facility is named after a medieval torture device by which human victims were confined in a metal box barely larger than their own bodies.
Watch the graphic undercover video here:
Viewer Discretion – Pigs Suffer at IRON MAIDEN
Published on 20 Feb 2014
Click to Help: http://bit.ly/1e8oElA An undercover exposé of Iron Maiden Farms in Owensboro, Kentucky revealed that sows confined in cramped cages known as gestation crates were fed intestines from ground up piglets who had recently succumbed to a highly contagious diarrhoeal disease.
Like a medieval torture device, the use of gestation crates by the pork industry is perhaps the cruellest form institutionalized animal abuse in existence.
In fact, these crates are so cruel they have been banned in nine states and the entire European Union. In the last couple years, more than 60 major food providers, including Costco, Target, Safeway, Kroger, and others, have committed to phasing gestation crates out of their supply chains. Even major pork producers like Smithfield and Hormel have recognized the need to do away with cruel crates.
Unfortunately, Walmart, the largest pork retailer in the world, continues to support factory farms that keep pigs in gestation crates. Multiple undercover investigations by Mercy For Animals at Walmart pork suppliershave revealed thousands of pigs crammed inside these metal torture boxes. As the largest retailer in the world, Walmart has the power and the responsibility to put an end to this horror once and for all.
While grocery retailers can help put an end to some of the most egregiously cruel factory farming practices, consumers can also help prevent needless cruelty to animals every time they sit down to eat by adopting a healthy and humane, vegan diet.
“WTF…why are animals like Abbey treated with such abuse & disgust? They breath, they hurt, they bleed & they feel pain just like we do! These poor sentient beings suffer & die agonising deaths; to feed the human population! But just because they are brought up to be slaughtered does not mean they should not be respected in life & treated with compassion & dignity in death!!”
“It’s just so fxxxxxg wrong & I wish my parents had been vegetarian, perhaps then I wouldn’t feel so guilty having eaten meat as young child; before I realised the atrocities farm animals endure!! But everybody should know how farmed animals suffer a life of abuse & horrific death; just to be a burger on your plate!! If I were a farmed animal, I would probably welcome slaughter; for then I would be put out of my misery!!”
“Please Donate what you can to help this cause before midnight. I’ve donated only $10, it’s all I can afford; but every penny helps! Without those who risk their own lives, to capture the abhorrent abuse & bring it to the attention of the public, farm animals will carry on being abused in the most horrific ways possible & the public will continue to be hood winked…i.e none the wiser! Why do you think suppliers & buyers of meat products are trying to introduce Ag-Gag laws? Once the abuse is captured, their business’s are over!!
Meet Abby, a downed cow who was kicked, whipped, and beaten on a dairy factory farm. Hear her story from “Scott,” the undercover Mercy For Animals investigator who is fighting to protect Abby and the countless others like her suffering on factory farms across America.
“Scroll to the end of this post, to see a gallery of some of the worlds most beautiful horses…how could anyone even think, about killing one; let alone eating one??”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given the green light for the grisly practice of horse slaughter to resume on U.S. soil.The agency approved an application for horse slaughter inspections under federal law at a plant in New Mexico.
This news comes on the heels of the U.S. House and Senate appropriations committees’ votes to halt all funding for horse slaughter in FY 2014. The decision means that the federal government could potentially spend millions of taxpayer dollars to start up inspections at horse slaughter plants, only to have Congress terminate the process in the coming months.
In response to the USDA’s decision, TheHumane Society of the United Statesand Front Range Equine Rescue plan to file suit immediately against the USDA to put a stop to this agency decision. The two groups previously informed USDA that they would take aggressive legal action against the agency, in light of the serious unresolved environmental and food safety issues surrounding horse slaughter.
Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president and chief counsel for animal protection litigation at The HSUS, said: “The USDA’s decision to start up domestic horse slaughter, while at the same time asking Congress to defund it, is bizarre and unwarranted. Slaughter plants have a history of polluting their communities and producing horsemeat that is tainted with a dangerous cocktail of banned drugs.
“We intend to hold the Obama administration accountable in federal court for this inhumane, wasteful and illegal decision.”
Hilary Wood, president of Front Range Equine Rescue, said: “America’s horses are not raised as food animals, and they receive numerous substances during their lives making them unfit and illegal for human consumption. Adding insult to injury, the suffering of the horses in the slaughter pipeline and the danger to humans makes this action more than inhumane. Horses bound for slaughter have many alternatives open to them including re-training, re-homing, and humane euthanasia. We remain committed to stopping this insult to justice and our sense of justice.”
The USDA’s approval is particularly surprising, considering the recent scandal in the European Union, where horsemeat was discovered in food products labeled as beef. The operation of horse slaughter plants in the U.S. will make it more difficult to prevent the commingling between horsemeat and beef products that occurred in Europe.
Horses are raised as pets and for use in show, sport, work and recreation in the U.S. and are regularly administered drugs that are expressly prohibited by current federal regulations for use in animals intended for human consumption. For example, a common pain reliever routinely administered to all types of horses, Phenylbutazone, is known to cause potentially fatal human diseases, and if the animal has taken the drug, the meat is adulterated and should not be eaten. There is also no system in the U.S. to track medications and veterinary treatments given to horses to ensure that their meat is safe.
Any facility slaughtering thousands of horses will necessarily be processing the blood, organs and remains of animals whose tissues and blood may contain significant amounts of dangerous substances, which are either known to be dangerous, or which have never been tested on humans and therefore present completely unknown dangers. At least six applications for horse slaughter inspections have been filed with the USDA.
Background:
This month, the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations committees voted to block funding for inspections of horse slaughter plants. President Obama’s proposed FY 2014 budget also included a request for Congress to prevent tax dollars from supporting horse slaughter.
According to a national poll conducted last year, 80 percent of Americans disapprove of horse slaughter.
“Kill buyers” gather up horses from random sources and profit by selling healthy horses for slaughter that bring the best price per pound for their meat. USDA reports show that approximately 92 percent of American horses going to slaughter are healthy and would otherwise be able to go on to lead productive lives.
The methods used to kill horses rarely result in quick, painless deaths, as horses often endure repeated blows to render them unconscious and sometimes remain conscious during the slaughtering process. When horse slaughter plants previously operated in the U.S., the USDA documented severe injuries to horses in the slaughter pipeline, including broken bones and eyeballs hanging from a thread of skin.
The Safeguard American Food Exports Act, H.R. 1094 / S. 541, introduced this year by U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Reps. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., is a bipartisan measure that would outlaw horse slaughter operations in the U.S., end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad, and protect the public from consuming toxic horsemeat.
The women were ultimately exposed after several people staying at the Snellville hotel reported smelling an overpowering stench emanating from the room the Waller sisters shared.
Police identified the disabled man as Leah Waller’s 19-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy. He was found trapped in the filthy room, confined to his wheelchair amid massive amounts of animal feces, urine saturation, and garbage, reportsWSBTV.
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term denoting a group of non-progressive conditions that cause physical disability in human development.
The felineswere found, many of them suffering withupper respiratory infections, open soars, and missing hair. Only two were deemed fit enough to survive. The rest, 29 in total, were euthanized.
According to local animal control, there was no other option than to humanelyeuthanizethem due to their unhealthy condition.
This is the sisters’ second abuse-related arrest in less than two months.
Hoarding is a compulsive behavior to pathologically collect to excess, obsessively acquiring objects or even animals. However, hoarders are incapable or unwilling to discard the aforementioned acquisitions, regardless of the clutter, filth, danger or disease that can result, as doing so can cause significant distress or impairment.
Compulsive hoarding has been associated with health risks, impaired functioning, economic burden, and can result in adverse effects on friends and family members – creating frustration-fueled rifts between loved ones. Parents have had children taken away and couples have divorced over hoarding.
The troubling condition often stems from some type of psychologically engrained trauma. For one reason or another, a hoarder developed an unhealthy attachment, clinging to the otherwise innocuous, valueless item others would throw away.
The act of hoarding is dangerous as it puts the individual or others at risk from fire, falling, poor sanitation, and other health concerns.
BRUSSELS—Europe-wide tests of “beef” products conducted after the region’s horse-meat scandal found that nearly 5% were contaminated with horse meat, and the percentage was sharply higher in a few countries, especially France and Greece.
The European Union, Switzerland and Norway organized the tests in February after horse-meat DNA was found in products labeled as beef in a number of countries, prompting a public outcry, criminal investigations and pledges from authorities to discover whether the presence of horse meat in Europe’s beef supply is widespread. The authorities found 200 positive samples out of 4,497 tested, or 4.4%.
Nearly a quarter of all positive tests in the 27 EU nations occurred in France, home to a food processor, Spanghero, that shipped large amounts of horse meat found in frozen lasagna, spaghetti Bolognese and other beef dishes in the U.K. and elsewhere. Greek samples accounted for nearly 20% of all EU positive tests. Around 13% of samples were positive in both countries, the highest rate in Europe.
In a separate round of tests, less than 1% of all horse-meat samples tested positive for
A worker handles animal carcasses at an abattoir in northern Romania, in this file photo dated Feb. 12, 2013.
phenylbutazone, known as “bute,” a painkiller used on animals that is a health risk for humans.
“Today’s findings have confirmed that this is a matter of food fraud and not of food safety,” said Tonio Borg, the EU health commissioner. “In the coming months, the commission will propose to strengthen the controls along the food chain in line with lessons learned.”
The commission, the EU’s executive arm, could seek new legal authority that would give it the power to require action from member states to fight fraud in the food chain, commission spokesman Frédéric Vincent said.
The horse-meat scandal offered a window into the complex supply chains that move food ingredients from farms across Europe, through trading firms, processing plants and ultimately to packaged food products on supermarket shelves. The horse meat that found its way to U.K. supermarkets originated from slaughterhouses in Romania; at various points, it moved through a warehouse in the Netherlands owned by a Cypriot firm called Draap Trading, Spanghero’s facility in southwestern France, the French food-processing firm Comigel SAS and finally to the frozen-food company Findus Group.
Comigel and Findus have pointed the finger at their suppliers for mislabeling horse meat as beef, while Draap and Spanghero have said the meat they shipped was labeled as horse meat. Authorities in several countries are conducting criminal investigations. The U.K. has arrested three men in a separate horse-meat investigation who worked at processing plants in Wales and West Yorkshire.
The French government said its positive tests were particularly high because it focused on suppliers and products that were already suspected of mislabeling horse meat.The government said it would propose EU-wide rules that will strengthen penalties for food-chain fraud to a maximum of five years in prison and 10% of a company’s annual revenue.
The animal-protection group Humane Society International said European governments should have also tested for other common medications administered to horses that pose a health risk to humans.
“Testing for just one of the many drugs banned for use in animals that enter the food chain falls short of a precautionary and thorough approach to addressing fraud and ensuring food safety standards are met,” said Joanna Swabe, Humane Society International’s EU director.
“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.
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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