http://openwalls.com

If you’re familiar with the Onion, you know it’s the print and online precursor to Jon Stewart’s Daily Show. Fake news, heavy on satire. That’s not to say that people, including high-profile people–heck, including entire governments–haven’t been taken in by Onion “reporting.” More on that in a moment, when we end up back at the Onion by way of a pig named Eddie, now deceased.

Our local, alternative weekly paper recently carried a personal essay on “Responsible Meat: A lesson from a pig called Eddie.” In it, the author told of her epiphany upon learning about factory farms when she thumbed through a book called “CAFO: The tragedy of industrial animal factories” (check out its fantastic website).  

That put the kibosh on industrially-produced meat, where the greatest amount of suffering and pollution are crammed into the least amount of space for cost efficiency, and where the circumstances of an animal’s slaughter really don’t matter for the same reason. The author opted not to forego eating meat, but to instead purchase a piglet she named Eddie. A piglet who was sweet, who liked belly scratches, treats, and affection. An intelligent pig. Eddie would provide happy meat, because Eddie would live a happy life. Eddie’s meat would be socially responsible meat, because it circumvented the suffering and pollution.

Long story short, Eddie’s “job on earth was nearly complete” when he reached 250 pounds.  Sadly, these words simply reflect the speciesist attitude that defines the status quo bottom line: treated well or treated badly, animals are nothing more than commodities for human use and consumption. Their “job”–even those with whom we develop personal relationships–is to fulfill our desires and appetites. You can read the maudlin part for yourself, wherein Eddie is thanked and shown respect and gets whacked. Some tears are shed and, one assumes, some responsible bacon is eventually fried.

The author seems earnest enough when she proudly takes responsibility for the meat on her table and credits the dead pig for helping her in her “journey as both a meat eater and an animal lover.”  In the end, it really is all about us, isn’t it. But what might Eddie have preferred? Thanks, respect, and a bullet of betrayal–or to continue living his life? Why is it so hard to understand that sentient animals–all of us–value our lives? That you’ve been thanked and never saw it coming just doesn’t seem like a square deal.

So imagine my glee at subsequently finding an article about humane meat in the Onion! The glee wasn’t long-lived, however, as I soon realized that this article was really just telling the truth. See, it’s just that the truth about so-called food animals–hidden from view as it is–is so freakin’ outrageous that it appears ironic and exaggerated when dispassionately revealed. Entitled “We Raise All Our Beef Humanely On Open Pasture And Then We Hang Them Upside Down And Slash Their Throats,” it comprises paragraph after paragraph in this, uh, vein:

As owner and president of Nature’s Acres and a lifelong rancher myself, let me assure you that our animals are treated with exceptional care using only traditional methods from the very second the calf is born on our farm, to the moment a cascade of blood showers from its gaping, half-severed neck, to the day our award-winning beef reaches the grocer’s case in the organic section.

Ha ha! I’m fond of saying, “You can’t make this stuff up” when discussing the forehead-slapping excesses of Homo sapiens’ normalized malevolence toward animals. The Onion merely shows that you don’t have to make stuff up–just tell it like it is. Do it on a satire site and it’ll even be funny!

Question is, will anyone fall for it?
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Coming to bookstores in June: The Ultimate Betrayal: Is there happy meat? Also: What’s wrong with happy meat? at Animal Blawg; and Further thoughts on happy meat

Comment on this post at animal law blog Animal Blawg.

We need to talk. You can trust me–I’m practically a native daughter. Heck, from my hometown in Indiana, we can look across Lake Michigan and see your skyline (well, on a clear day). I’m a Cubs fan, ’nuff said! But I’ve lived in Montana for going on 14 years now, and if all this doesn’t qualify me to have a frank discussion with you about those tourism ads papering the city…I’m just sayin’.

Well I remember Chicago Tribune columnist Barbara Brotman’s mock hissy fit back in 2010 when Montana’s Office of Tourism started targeting the Windy City. She wrote:

The pictures plastered all over the CTA are bad enough. Majestic mountains, green valleys frosted with white snow, a turquoise glacial lake ringed by pine trees — it’s cruel, dangling that sort of thing in front of Chicago commuters packed glumly into “L” cars.

She went so far as to challenge Chicagoans to fight back with a “Take THAT, Montana” photo campaign (view photos here) wherein Tribune readers were to match Montana’s scenic glory, photo for photo, with their own Land of Lincoln natural splendor.  

Now comes word that Ms. Brotman has conceded in the face of a tourism office surge when, on May 1st, Montana ramped up its million dollar campaign and stuck it to Chicago big time. “I have been well and truly vanquished,” she lamented.

Hey Chicago, didn’t your mama ever tell you that beauty is only skin deep? That a pretty face don’t make no pretty heart? (I learned that, buddy, from the start!) Look here, Chi-town, if your BFF fell fast and hard for a gorgeous guy but one whom you knew to be a cad, wouldn’t you say something?!?

Well, I’m sayin’ something. Some ugly traditions and politics lie beneath Montana’s gorgeous exterior. If you care about animals and abhor their suffering, listen up.

You big city folk probably aren’t too familiar with the wolverine. Montana is the only state in the lower 48 to still allow the trapping of wolverines–rare, uber-wild, elusive bundles of attitude. Trapping for pleasure and profit is alive and well in Montana, using  cruel devices that clamp onto feet, crush bodies, or snare and garrot necks. There’s no mandatory interval in which trappers must check their traps for suffering animals, though 48 hours is suggested. Fewer than 175 wolverines remain in Montana; the breeding population is far smaller. And now climate change threatens the species’ requirement for deep, persistent, springtime snow to protect babies in their dens. So much so that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed listing wolverines as threatened–a proposal the state of Montana has vowed to fight. Nope, a pretty face don’t make no pretty heart.

Wolves. Only two years off Endangered Species Act listing and Montana can’t kill them fast enough. Just this past season, 225 were slaughtered–128 in a hunt, and 97 in traps. But that wasn’t enough, so the state has proposed an upcoming 6-1/2 month season, a five-wolf bag limit, no statewide quota, no slaughter-free buffer zones around Glacier or Yellowstone, and has OKd the use of electronic calls (so much for Montana’s highly-touted “fair chase ethic”). A commonly-seen bumper sticker around these parts reads, “Wolves: smoke a pack a day.” Nothin’ pretty about that.

Dogfighting. It’s a felony in all fifty states, but in only one is it still legal to attend as a spectator. Guess which one, Chicago? In what should have been a slam-dunk against crime and animal abuse, Montana legislators in February killed a bill (never allowing it out of committee) meant to close the spectator loophole. That dangerous slippery slope is to blame: too much regulation of animal cruelty in, say, dogfighting might lead to regulation of animal cruelty in…wait for it…rodeo. I kid you not. Despite repeated testimony from law enforcement that spectators enable dogfighting by providing cover for criminal organizers, it was simply more important to ensure that calves can be snapped by the neck with impunity in rodeo events. Beauty can be shallow, indeed.

Agents haze mom & calf who later died-click for story

Bison. Entire books have been written about the complex issues surrounding the persecution of Yellowstone’s wild bison at the hands of Montana’s livestock industry. Some animals seasonally migrate out of their protected home in the park and onto the adjacent, predominantly public lands in Montana where they’re considered intruders on their own native turf. Since the year 2000, 4,250 of America’s last wild, free-roaming, and most genetically-diverse bison have been killed–rounded up and sent to slaughter on your taxpayer dime, or shot in a so-called hunting season (shooting a bison has been likened to shooting a sofa or a parked car), or hazed (sometimes to injury–video here–or death, as in the case of these newborn calves) by agents on ATVs, snowmobiles, horseback, and by air in helicopters. And you thought the buffalo wars ended in the 19th century!

Look here, Windy City, I love Montana’s drop-dead awesomeness as much as the next guy, and maybe more because I’m a hiker and backpacker. Yellowstone (mostly in Wyoming, but Montana claims three of five park entrances), Glacier, the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, the Beartooth Plateau–this is serious, knock-your-socks-off stuff and I understand how lucky I am to have it readily available. I don’t hate Montana, as some will stand ready to accuse.

But oh how it rankles that the state exploits its world-class beauty and wildlife to lure visitors’ dollars with one hand while persecuting animals for sport and private commercial interests–often in the face of public opposition–with the other. It’s only right that you see this–the seamy side–too, as you face the onslaught of breathtaking Big Sky images on your daily commutes.

I read that two Chicago commuter train cars are fully sheathed in photo wraps of bison in Yellowstone. I can certainly understand the choice of that image. Stand in the park and gaze upon such a scene and it’ll bring tears of humility and wonder to your eyes. Yellowstone is the only place on the planet where wild bison have survived continuously since prehistoric times. You’re looking at something precious.

Perhaps you can now understand the bitter irony that some of us Montanans perceive in the use of that image. Just thought you should know.

Comment on this post at animal law blog Animal Blawg.

Click image for Gulo gulo natural history

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the stinkiest, snarliest, gnarliest, wildest of them all? Why, Gulo gulo–the amazing wolverine–of course!

And the gnarly little being needs our help within the next few days (5/6/13 deadline). Unless you’re one of the lucky ones, you’ll probably never see a wolverine in your lifetime, at least not outside of a zoo–and that’s a hideous thought for any wild animal, but especially for this wide-ranging, endlessly-moving dynamo. But even so–a mere few minutes to help save the wildest of the wild? A bargain at any price! Read on…  

The First People have a long history with the wolverine on our continent:

In Native American folklore, wolverines most often play the roles of bullies or anti-social trickster characters. Among the Innu people of Labrador and Quebec, Wolverine is a more benign trickster-transformer who shapes the earth and helps the people as well as entertaining them with his socially inappropriate misadventures. The Alaskan Athabaskans admire wolverines for their strength and tenacity…in some tribes of Northern California, wolverines are considered lucky animals– they feature in legends as successful gamblers, and seeing a wolverine is a sign of good fortune to come. ~Native Languages of the Americas

Fearless, tenacious, and always on the go, the “skunk bear” is the largest land-dwelling member of the weasel family. Their extremely low population densities make them vulnerable to external pressures like trapping and habitat fragmentation, and, indeed, humans hold the top spot for wolverine predation, according to The Wolverine Foundation. You can’t do better than to watch their three-minute video, “The Need to Move“–gorgeous scenery, fantastic wolverine shots, and the lowdown from a top researcher. Watch it and you’ll be ready to go to bat for this wild one.

Wolverines were caught up in predator eradication programs and fell upon hard times in the first half of the 20th century: “To the best of our knowledge, wolverines were pushed back and pretty much extirpated in the contiguous US due to a combination of trapping and, perhaps more devastatingly, poison-baiting intended for other carnivores (primarily wolves)…” (Wolverine Blog).

The Northern Rockies continue to host small pockets of populations; Montana’s has been the subject of intense debate given that trapping continues here–the only state in the lower 48 to allow it. I’ve heard tell that trappers consider the wolverine their “Holy Grail,” and the state management agency stands firmly with trappers–a minute fraction of all Montana citizens (see “Montana will oppose protections for wolverines“).

The real game-changer for wolverines

Though a scrappy, 40-pound wolverine might challenge a grizzly bear for scavenging rights at the Carrion Cafe, there’s one thing wolverines can’t take on: Climate change. Cold temperatures and deep snow aren’t preferences–they’re species requirements. Babies (called kits) are born in birthing dens buried deep in snow–persistent, stable snow greater than five feet deep for security and insulation and lasting well into April and May (source). If Glacier National Park’s glaciers are doomed (video)–some say gone by 2020!–what’s to become of the wolverine? This is where you and I come in.

COMMENT DEADLINE: Monday, May 6, 2013 at 11:59 pm ET

Click here; you’ll find a short summary of the issue–well worth the minute it takes to read. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposes listing the wolverine as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the contiguous United States, thereby protecting the species and its diminishing habitat. Over to the right on that page, you can check the number of comments received since the 90-day comment period opened. As I write, it’s at 9518, having jumped by several hundred overnight. Add your voice by clicking the “comment now” button. If all you’ve got time for is some variation of “Please list the wolverine as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the contiguous states,” that’ll do! Click “submit” and you’re done.

Then reward yourself with this 2-1/2 minute video from the author of The Wolverine Way, featuring crazy-beautiful shots of wolverines at work and play in Glacier National Park. Can’t get enough? Here a wolverine takes on an intruding black bear. Guess who wins?!? Want more? Wolverine vs. wolf…wow, check out the headlocks! Betcha can’t guess who walks away with a bloody nose!

If, by now, you’ve been bitten by gulomania, welcome to the club! Supporting ESA listing for this bodacious brawler is the most important thing you’ll do today, and if wolverines were known to display genteel manners, maybe they’d roar their thanks your way.

Then again, maybe they’d just as soon rassle you into a headlock.
________________________________________________________________Also: The Wolverine Foundation’s kids page; map of worldwide wolverine distribution; “Whither the wolverine” at Counterpunch

Comment on this post at animal law blog Animal Blawg.

Later, relaxing with the Sunday paper, a feel-good Easter story about a “bunny rancher” left me feeling decidedly bad. “I only have three Easter bunnies left right now,” the breeder told the reporter. “This time of year, they go as fast as I can make them.”   

Rabbitron - click

They go as fast as I can make them. Look, that’s fine when you’re talking about rabbit-shaped cakes or crocheted stuffed bunnies–but living, sentient beings?!? Does she know that rabbits require a 10- year-plus commitment and regular veterinary care? That they’re the third most surrendered animal in humane shelters? That most Easter rabbits are relinquished to shelters or abandoned within the year? That “many shelters euthanize rabbits in percentages as high as 80-90% of incoming rabbits” (source)? More importantly, do the buyers know this? And does anybody care?

We also learn from this enthusiastic member of the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) that “there’s a whole world out there that cares a lot about rabbits”;  ”they’re a lot of fun to have around”; “they are incredibly smart, you know” (she goes on to inform that rabbits can be clicker trained and can run agility courses); and that “people interested in rabbits are just like those who like horses, dogs or cats. They are really passionate about them.” Then–more ominously– “they can be used for so many different things.”

Uh-oh. Could it be that serving as an oft-discarded, living toy presented in a colorful basket is not a bunny’s only worry?

The three S’s: Slippers, supper, & survival

The rabbit breeder–who credits 4-H for everything she knows about rabbits–shows the reporter an animal with velvety fur. “People like using their fur for slippers and hats,” she tells him. “some use it for fly tying, too. It is so incredibly soft.” Then there’s meat:

Pound for pound, she said, a rabbit can outproduce a beef cow for making meat and you don’t need a large pasture to raise them. “I think people are starting to look for ways to raise their own food,” she said. “I’m seeing more and more people interested in getting rabbits for that.” ~Missoulian

But wait, it goes south from there. Bunny Rancher has sold her fun, smart, passionately-cared-about animals to the U.S. Air Force, which, according to the article, “used the rabbits in survival training for pilots in Spokane”:

… one of the most antic­i­pated and dreaded tasks is procur­ing and prepar­ing food. The menu for the sup­per under the stars: fresh rab­bit and chicken that the stu­dents will take part in killing, skin­ning, gut­ting and cook­ing for the group meal.

The stu­dents receive an impromptu anatomy les­son as they peel back the rabbit’s skin like a glove from a hand, and cut open his belly. They’ll…dis­card the diges­tive organs and keep the oth­ers for their stew. ~Full Contact, Military.com

C. Murdock photo-click for credit

Just last year, a commenter at an online military forum wrote, “My brother is an A-10 pilot, he said the hardest thing he had to do at SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) was skin and prepare a rabbit. I asked him how he caught the rabbit, and he said ‘they brought them to us in the field..in cages.’” A follow-up response offered, “We got our choice, rabbit or chicken. They had a single goat to demonstrate for the whole class” (source).

Absent in these accounts is the method by which these docile, defenseless, domestic animals are killed, but an update to Project Censored’s top 25 unreported stories for the year 2000 reveals,

These exercises result in the deaths of more than 10,000 animals annually—including goats and chickens—usually by soldiers using their bare hands or primitive tools such as rocks and sticks.

The practice dates back to World War II and was designed to teach soldiers how to procure food when separated from their divisions for long periods of time. However, in the modern exercises, soldiers are given tame rabbits… Nothing about the exercises simulates combat conditions with regard to “hunting” for food, making the classes as pointless as they are cruel. ~Project Censored

Rabbits: Much like humans…nothing like humans

At the ARBA website’s frequently-asked-questions page, one question reads, “What breed is best for me and my children?” The answer begins by acknowledging that “rabbits…are much like humans, in that each has their own disposition, characteristics, and temperament.” A subsequent question in the commercial section asks, “How long will it take for fryers to reach 5 pounds?” You’ll find no mention of similarity to humans in that answer, but still, the disconnect is enough to knock you to your knees.

Then there are those for whom no disconnect exists because animals are strictly commodities. At the Instructables website (…a place that lets you explore, document, and share your creations), you can learn to make a rabbit fur hat from scratch (meaning you start with a live rabbit) from instructors who maintain that,

Raising rabbits is a valuable addition to almost any household. They are quiet, easy to breed and manage, and do not require much space or input. We raise them mainly for the lean, delicious meat, but they also provide a valuable manure and, of course, fur.  ~Make a rabbit fur hat from scratch

And, of course, fur–and for $80, these off-the-grid folks will even make a rabbit fur Kindle cover for you–but back to the hat tutorial. Within the 61 comments posted, one from the instructors notes, “Our rabbits are raised sustainably and butchered humanely. We strive to provide them an excellent life, as healthy and happy animals produce higher quality products.”

What does all this say about the human psyche? For people who identify as ethical vegans, animal rights proponents, or simply compassionate humans, there’s no question that the purposeful creation, exploitation, and intentional destruction of sentient life is wrong. (Line up here to pat the bunny!) The Instructables folks are unapologetically whack the bunny and make no bones about it: their rabbits are treated well because it benefits the bottom line. They’re honest, even if–from a rights perspective–they’re wrong. Still, one wonders how the growing body of science on animal consciousness and emotions fits into their scheme–if at all. Another commenter advises, “Don’t let the ‘moral high ground’ ding dongs bother you.” Maybe for some it’s really just that easy.

But it’s the bunny ranchers of the world whom I find most troubling in their easy accommodation of patting with one hand while whacking with the other–extolling the virtues of an animal about whom they’re passionate (they’re fun! so smart! all individuals!) while making fryers of those unique, little individuals and selling them off to the military as survival projects. There’s something so unsettling about the human animal there–something fraught with what looks like effortless betrayal.

And why not. Humans have, throughout history, willingly betrayed and persecuted our own species for money and for power over the ones deemed “other.” How easy (and convenient) it is to categorically see all nonhuman animals–sentience be damned–as the no-account “other” and trade their lives for pieces of silver.

Perhaps exactly this is what separates the moral high ground ding dongs from the whack the bunny crowd.
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Rabbit advocacy: Rabbitron; House Rabbit Society; and many wonderful others
Also: Regulating the Military’s Survival Skills Training Under the Animal Welfare Act, 2001, Animal Legal & Historical Center, Michigan State University

Comment on this post at animal law blog Animal Blawg.

GirlsHorseClub.com - click

Horses need your help and they need it now. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a “horse person”–you’re an animal person, and this domestic animal needs 10 minutes of your time, my time, our time. More on that in a moment, but first, a tale of two horses. One, a beloved Irish Draught cross thoroughbred, euthanized recently when his old body finally gave out; the other one executed in the prime of his life and butchered as a taunt to animal activists opposed to horse slaughter.   

Martin Rose / Eastnews.co.uk - click

Shayne was living the good life at Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary, near Ingatestone, Essex (Great Britain) when, at 51 years old–120 in human years–his old legs gave out and he collapsed. He was euthanized and cremated and will find his final resting place at the sanctuary where he enjoyed a comfortable retirement (video). Said the founder of the 40-acre sanctuary, “Shayne was a happy horse, a lovely old boy and we are proud to have known him…we shall miss him dearly” (source).

Contrast this–a beloved horse cared for over a very long lifetime and then grieved for–with a two-year-old horse executed in cold blood by a spiteful monster who filmed the deed, first turning toward the camera to say, “To all you animal activists, f**k you.” (Albuquerque news video here; the horse’s death is edited out. Unedited version here.)

The killer, an avowed horse-eater and now-former employee of Valley Meat Company in Roswell, NM, had this to say about the “thing” he killed:

“I killed that animal for my consumption. If I had shot that thing in the guts or the legs or beat it and left it in the pasture for the coyotes to get at, it’d be a different discussion. I shot that for my human, my personal, consumption.”   ~Bloomberg News

Valley Meat Company, a former cattle slaughter plant, is on track to be the nation’s first horse slaughter plant since the last U.S. plants closed in 2007 when an appropriations bill terminated funding for Department of Agriculture (USDA) horse meat inspections. (The prohibition against inspections was removed from the law in 2011.)

Operations at Valley Meat were suspended by the USDA a year ago owing to their “failure to meet regulatory requirements in regards to the humane handling of animals…during slaughter”:

“On February 24, 2012, an FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service) Inspector observed a beef bull being stunned with a .40 caliber pistol, which did not stun the animal. Your backup firearm, a .410 shotgun also failed to stun the animal, after which the plant employee attempted to stun the animal again using the .40 caliber pistol. The backup firearm was again used two more times before the animal was rendered unconscious. Postmortem examination revealed that none of the first four shots penetrated the skull.” Source: Notice of suspension (made available by Equine Welfare Alliance)

You can make yourself sick, crazy, or both contemplating the terror and pain endured by that bull–all for the fleeting taste of a steak or a hamburger. Next, understand that substantial differences exist between killing cattle and killing horses–while in the above incident a gun was employed, the following pertains to a captive bolt gun–but both require an accurately-placed shot: “Terrified horses have longer necks than cattle, and throw their heads around wildly, trying to avoid being struck by the captive bolt, causing workers to make hurried and repeated blows” (HorseFund.org — scroll past the thumbnail photos. Enlarge them if you dare.)

No matter the target animal or the weapon, the speciesist impulse to slaughter other beings is one of humankind’s uglier characteristics; it’s never good for animals and it’s never “humane” (see HumaneMyth.org).

Click for larger view

Anti-slaughter horse people–they don’t necessarily define themselves as animal rights proponents or vegans–offer many valid reasons to oppose horse slaughter. Among them is the fact that horses aren’t raised as food animals, hence they are given a smorgasbord of drugs, many unsafe for human consumption. Then there’s the idea that horses are more companion than livestock, that we owe them the same loyalty they’ve shown us. You can easily imagine the same thing being said about dogs were dog slaughter to be proposed.

It behooves animal rights activists, vegans, and anti-slaughter horse folks to join forces on this one. Sure, as vegans, we see little difference between the slaughter of pigs and the slaughter of horses–sentient beings, both. Does a pig think and feel less meaningfully than a horse? Love her babies less? Suffer less? But when given the opportunity to keep an entire species out of the slaughter loop, why wouldn’t we grab it?!?

Here’s where those ten minutes for horses come in.  The bi-partisan SAFE Act (Safeguarding American Food Exports Act of 2013: Senate version S. 541; House version, H.R. 1094) can shut down–with federal legislation–the states’ movement toward re-instituting slaughter.

Bipartisan legislation…has been introduced that would stop the inhumane killing of American horses for human consumption and prohibit the transport of horses across the U.S. border for slaughter in Canada and Mexico. The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act would prevent the introduction of horse slaughter operations in the U.S., end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad, and protect the public from consuming toxic horse meat.  ~Equine Advocates

On the outside chance that you need help finding your three elected federal officials, here’s a really quick and easy resource: Contacting the Congress.org. It took me less than 30 seconds to come up with message form links and phone numbers for my two senators and one representative. Call ‘em, fax ‘em, or e-mail ‘em. Tell them you oppose horse slaughter anywhere in the U.S., insert your own personal reason if you wish, and ask them to support the bi-partisan Safeguarding American Food Exports Act of 2013 that would ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption in the US and prohibit transporting them to other countries for the purpose of slaughter.

If you’d like to know if either your senators or representative have already signed on to the legislation as co-sponsors, check here for Senate co-sponsors and here for House co-sponsors. If you find their names there, lucky you! Contact them anyhow and let them know you support their effort.

Perhaps you’re familiar with the nauseating manner in which pro-slaughter people discuss this issue–referring to “unwanted horses” for whom there’s no solution but “humane harvest.” If horse breeders would take a look in a mirror, they’d see both the problem and the solution–at least a substantial part of it.

A few years ago, Rocky Mountain Rider asked, in their Horsepeople’s Forum, “What is your opinion on the proposed equine slaughter plant in Wyoming?” One Montana commenter had this to say:  ”When you run livestock such as horses you cannot keep everyone that is junk. That is loss of profits and runs you out of business….”

You cannot keep everyone that is junk. The availability of horse slaughter enables irresponsible, callous people like that commenter to continue breeding and dumping their “junk” for cash. Let’s shut them down.
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Learn more at PopVox.com from organizations endorsing the SAFE Act.
Comment on this post at animal law blog Animal Blawg.

But still, what nonviolent justice-seeker doesn’t believe that the pen is mightier than the sword? And if it’s mightier than the sword, isn’t it also mightier than the captive bolt gun?    Aren’t words (and their allies, images) stronger than the jaws of the body-gripping trap that crushes and drowns the beaver? More powerful than the bullet that slays the record book African lion? More relentless than the grinder that shreds alive the “worthless” male chick? More potent than the chemical that kills the unwanted companion animal? Wrote Joseph Conrad in Lord Jim: “My task, which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel–it is, before all, to make you see.”

Does it ever seem to you that we–and our words–aren’t achieving our task?

When I weary of words, when they seem uninspired and ineffective, when I’ve written the words “speciesism” and “exploitation” for the umpteenth, stale time–when it seems that the pen actually isn’t mightier than the almighty dollar–I have to wonder: Are we just acting out the pop definition of insanity by doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? What else can we do? Will changing our words change our world? (Text continues below screen.)

Watch this video on YouTube.

Photo: Rossella Lorenzi-click

Supposing we change the messenger? Much has been made of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s choice of the name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals. Already the new Pope has singled out a sight-impaired journalist and bestowed a blessing–unasked for–upon his guide dog. Already he has offered words about protecting creation, and in that context, “respecting each of God’s creatures.” Each one! The hog in the gestation crate. The mink in the fur farm. The warehoused, debeaked chicken. The factory farmed fish. Sentient beings all, and all worthy of respect.

Last October, in yet another post comprised of words, words, words, I wondered “Which animals would St. Francis bless today?” Would he play it safe and stick to those companion animals brought before him on his feast day? Or would he bless the invisible, suffering billions in factory farms, too? Will his namesake usher in a new era of compassion (if not justice) for animals in a world where massive exploitation is largely hidden and blissfully ignored? With an estimated 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in the world, couldn’t this be a game changer? Or is that just a pipe dream?

Except for its use of words to convey a message, a papal homily doesn’t have much in common with a hip-hop song. If the medium is the message, vegan artist IFEEL is delivering the brutal, rappin’ lowdown on why he does what he does, telling us, “I do it with a pen not a knife or a gun”:

“I do it cuz it’s so damn easy to kill / breed it, feed it, cut it, ship it, serve a happy meal / I do it cuz they steal em, beat em, breed em and bleed em / treat em like trash, throw em away when they don’t need em. …I do it cuz it’s sad to see what we’ve become / I do it cuz there is much more to be done.”  (Watch his music video; visit his website.)

Words, words, words. Your words, my words, holy words, hip-hop words. Words on protest signs and billboards; words in outreach brochures and letters to editors. Factual, revealing, compassionate, angry, gut-wrenching, persuasive, emotionally-honest words. Words that sadden, that shock, that inspire action. Words that can make a difference.

Being a long-time activist and purveyor of words, I want to–have to believe that this deluge of words will eventually reach critical mass and tip the balance. “The arc of the moral universe is long,” said Transcendentalist Theodore Parker, “but it bends toward justice.” Surely the substantial weight of our combined words advocating justice for animals will hasten the bend of that arc.

Understanding this, however, is of no use to the beaver struggling in the trap right now, nor to the cattle currently restrained in the stunning box, nor to the chick riding the conveyor to the grinder later tonight. It will mean nothing to the lion in the gunsight during tomorrow’s safari, nor to the dog who will look up and perhaps wag her tail as the needle descends to meet her vein.

This is the stuff that haunts. This is when words fail.
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Video: Captive bolt gun in use here.
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NRDC photo

In these troubled times, we’ve come to expect the steely-eyed gaze of TSA screeners and security personnel following us in every airport, everywhere. But what you might find shocking is the glassy-eyed gaze you’ll get from wild animals when you visit Missoula, Montana’s international airport. Rest assured, they won’t charge, butt, or trample if you forget to put your 3-ounce bottle of hand sanitizer in your quart Ziploc. Firmly affixed to the wall as trophies, they are present simply to say (albeit wordlessly), “Welcome to Montana, pardner.” Continue reading for further details on this eternally-mute welcoming committee–after a few words about the all-too-prevalent attitude (let’s call it speciesist) that recruited them for the job.  

Montana’s state-sanctioned wolf slaughter closed February 28th; 225 wolves will become trophy mounts, rugs, or whatever it is one does with a dead wolf. Projectiles killed 128; traps, 97. Add to this the 104 wolves killed by Wildlife Services and ranchers, and about half the previous population (some 650 at the end of 2011) has been “harvested.” Montana’s Democratic governor, after signing legislation that tossed so-called “fair chase” standards out the window, said in a bald-faced lie, ”This legislation leaves management of the gray wolf where it belongs, in the hands of scientists, not politicians.” Ha ha, “science”:

Next season could see a sharper population drop, after (Gov.) Bullock on Feb. 13 signed a law that loosened hunting and trapping rules. That came in the wake of pressure from livestock owners and hunters who have pushed for the state to be more aggressive against the animals since wolves lost their endangered species protections two years ago. Billings Gazette

The bill was rushed through the legislature with lightning speed so it could become law before another day was wasted on one license per hunter (now it’s three) and fair chase hunting–well, as fair as it gets with high-powered rifles and foothold traps. According to the MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks Missoula-region manager, hunters learned that actually hunting wolves is very hard work; trapping is easier and more gratifying:

“There were a lot of people who put a lot of time and effort into it last year and came up empty. It’s not the kind of effort that many people will sustain. The trouble with hunting is that you have to be in the same place at the same time.” With trapping, (he) said people just need to find the right place. Missoulian

Click image for more license plates

Yup, bait, set, and walk away from a loaded weapon. Even if you don’t catch a wolf, chances are good you’ll catch something! To make things extra fair, the bill also authorized the use of electronic calls and gave the heave-ho to no-hunting zones bordering Glacier and Yellowstone national parks where animals lead protected lives…until they step over that deadly, invisible boundary.

Yellowstone National Park’s wild bison aren’t faring much better; they, too, are targets of that aggressive rancher and hunter “science.” Even though these few thousand animals are America’s last truly wild and most genetically-diverse bison, and the Yellowstone area is the only place on earth where wild bison herds have survived continuously since prehistoric times, one bill before the legislature calls for year-round hunting just outside the park boundary and another tries to more narrowly redefine “wild bison.” For a 30-second public service announcement on Montana’s bad neighbor policy, click here.

Finally, if you’ve been following the play-by-play action provided on these pages, you already know that Montana is the only state in the union to allow legal attendance at illegal dogfights, thus enabling potential felons to escape by mingling with spectators when dogfights are busted. Any day now we expect the House Agriculture committee–the same legislative body that stuck it to fighting dogs in February–to stick it to puppy mill dogs (and cats) in March. Minimal humane standards for one species might create the dreaded slippery slope eventually leading to minimal humane standards for other species (think rodeo animals, or any farmed animal)–a disaster for the exploiters.

Combine attitudes like these with the ego-pumping cachet of trophy hunting, and it’s easy to see how the airport’s interior decorators would never question decking the halls with dead animals. Who cares if some vegan bunny-hugger from East Namby-Pamby doesn’t like our ruggedly Western decor?!? If you can’t fight with the big dogs, go on back home!

Now that news of Montana’s war against animals has reached your neck of the woods, it’s possible you’re thinking that war zones and vacations don’t mix. But look, I’m not organizing a boycott, nor even calling for one. Boycotts hurt honest business people trying to make a living, and Montana’s economy relies on tourism. But based on the inescapable culture of animal exploitation and death here, you sure couldn’t be faulted if you decided to forego even the passing fancy of a Big Sky adventure and opted, instead, to let our governor and tourism office know exactly why.

Since you might not be flying into Missoula’s international airport in the near future, come with me on a virtual tour. As you exit the secure, ticketed area, you’re met by the watchful glass gaze of six trophy mounts splayed across the facing wall: two massive elk, a moose, and three pronghorn antelopes. A gigantic fly fishing poster welcomes you to Glacier Country.   Proceed toward baggage claim and you’ll pass a six-foot-tall pardon our dust sign featuring a bull elk photo and text that reads, “We bet we’ll finish our remodel before you bag your elk.” (You ARE here to take a life, aren’t you?!?) Near that you’ll notice a lighted sign for the Boone and Crockett Club national headquarters in Missoula–just in case your bagged elk is of record trophy dimensions.

As you proceed toward the baggage claim area, you’ll pass a big tom turkey in all his colorful, lady-attracting splendor standing at eternal attention in a glass display case. Glance over your shoulder toward the ticketing counters and you won’t be able to miss the 8-foot-tall brown bear stretched to full height in another glass case.  Will you find any respite from dead animals at baggage claim? Silly tourist! Look for another moose, and there–just above the conveyor belt–a mountain lion pounces on a mountain goat, the moment of predator/prey struggle captured for the ages by taxidermy. Elsewhere above the conveyor, a grizzly rises to survey the luggage stampede below. As you grab your bag and turn to flee this silent zoo of slaughtered beings, one more pronghorn bids you safe travels and enjoyment in the beautiful wilds he once freely roamed.
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Video of electronic predator caller in use here.

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Enabled by the MT House Ag committee

Can you think of one animal species with whom you’d willingly trade places? Me neither. It’s a bum rap to be a nonhuman animal in a speciesist world, and here in Montana, brutality toward animals is a way of life. Just ask the bobcat thrashing in a trap, the calf viciously clotheslined by the neck in a rodeo roping event, or any coyote who’s the object of a killing contest. “We’re at your mercy,” they might tell us, “and mercy went missing a long time ago.”

On Valentine’s Day, the 200th wolf was killed in the state-sanctioned slaughter (track here), designed to reduce–by projectile and by trap–a population of 600-some animals, even along national park boundaries.   The “Dog Days of Winter Coyote Derby,” held earlier this month in Dillon, was “a fun way to spend a winter weekend and help manage the coyotes in the area,” according to organizers. Most people know by now that killing coyotes doesn’t “manage” their numbers, proving that these folks have some catching-up to do…or that it really IS all about bloodlust. Montana is responsible for shipping to slaughter thousands of America’s last wild bison in deference to the livestock industry. Kids are encouraged to kill and are sometimes celebrated when they do.

Really, though, owing to the Treasure State’s frontier heritage, abundant wildlife, and rural and agricultural nature, brutality here is more a difference of degree than kind. Montana–sadly–isn’t all that different from other places when it comes to speciesism. It’s a human thing.

But in spite of the thousands of traps scattered across our landscapes and the death sentences imposed on beloved national park wildlife species, Montana has found a way to distinguish itself even in this bloody horror show. Just last week, legislators on the House Agriculture committee tabled (killed) House Bill 279, which would have closed a loophole in state statute by making spectating at dogfights a misdemeanor. That’s right, dogfighting. It’s a felony in all 50 states, but Montana is the ONLY one where spectating is still legal–placing it dead last in a ranking of state dogfighting laws.

At the outset of the 40-minute hearing (watch it here–the hearing starts at the 14:30 minute mark) House Agriculture Committee Chair Lee Randall (R-Broadus) asked for a show of hands from proponents of the bill; when many shot up, he noted the bill’s “overwhelming support.” No hands were raised when he asked for opponents. None.

By my count, 14 supporters stood to speak. They included a representative of the Sheriffs & Peace Officers Association (it’s a public safety issue, he emphasized); a Yellowstone County prosecutor; animal control officers–including a cruelty investigator; a representative of the Montana Veterinary Medical Association; ordinary citizens–including one who has rescued a fighting dog and has committed to a grueling retraining program; a Montana representative from the Humane Society of the U.S. (see their dogfighting fact sheet); and three awesome Cadette Girl Scouts and two leaders from Lone Rock School (Stevensville, MT) Troop 3756. “We teach our Scouts to speak out and take action when they see something that needs to be changed,” said their proud leader.

Testimony frequently focused on the criminal element–the drugs, weapons, and gambling–that accompanies dogfighting. Fight organizers “hide” behind spectators when fights are raided, making prosecutions difficult. “Without spectators,” testified one officer, “there would be no sport.” Spectators bring children along, asserted another.

This was not the first attempt at closing the spectator loophole; two years ago, a similar bill attempted to make spectating a felony, but the Senate Agriculture Committee felt that penalty was too stiff and tabled the bill. In this iteration, spectating was a misdemeanor, but the bill was still tabled. Why?

Dog Fighting: The Voiceless Victims - click image

Montana legislators who serve agricultural interests will sell even “man’s best friend” down the river if they perceive the slightest slippery slope; this is why attempts to regulate puppy mills fail every time. Today it’s dogs–tomorrow it’s sheep. Today it’s dogs–tomorrow it’s rodeo stock. In fact, Rep. Mike Lang (R-Malta) questioned the prosecutor on that very point: “While I don’t support dogfighting, or any animal fighting that way…and this pertains to all animals, I want your legal opinion…if in a rodeo a Brahma bull decides to take on one of the pick-up men’s horses and that becomes an animal fight, what is gonna happen to the rodeo spectators and the rodeo event?”

Yes, he really did ask that. In the end, it was Rep. Krayton Kerns (R-Laurel), who moved to table the bill in executive action. ”This is the first step down a very slippery slope,” he instructed; “if you just try to argue uh, uh, the grey area of animals used for fighting or animals suffering, uh, let’s say in a rodeo event, uh, we’re there. Uh, we’re there. So I think this is a dangerous direction we don’t want to go and I make a substitute motion to table the bill.”

Understand this: Rep. Kerns is willing to accept a public menace for Montana citizens and criminal brutality and death for fighting dogs just to ensure that calves can be snapped by the neck in rodeo roping events. To add insult to injury, Kerns is a veterinarian.

In a 10-7 vote, with all six Democrats on the Ag Committee joined by one Republican in opposing the motion to table, spectating at criminal dogfights remains legal in Montana.

I would like to send Representatives Kerns, Lang, and the other eight Republican legislators responsible for suppressing this humane, common-sense bill a one-way ticket to the Crime Museum in Washington, D.C., where a temporary exhibit on dogfighting– “The Voiceless Victims” –is on display. I’d like our illustrious state legislators to see the tools of the violent, criminal trade they again enabled in Montana–including a ”rape stand used to immobilize female dogs for breeding purposes; (and) an electrocution device used to kill dogs who lost a fight or failed to show sufficient aggression toward other dogs.” I would like to insist they watch this 4-minute, 56-second video on dogs rescued from a huge, criminal operation in 2009. I want them to see the suffering–and if they don’t care about suffering (and I suspect they don’t)–I’d like to ask them how hard they think it is to get away with similar felony operations in Montana’s vast, empty spaces. It was easy enough–at least for awhile–in rural Missouri (2-minute video).

Most of all, I would like to see these 10 legislators held fully accountable before the Girl Scouts from Troop 3756–girls who were horrified to learn about dogfighting and the lack of consequences for spectators in Montana; young women who felt so strongly that they traveled 150 miles to Helena to advocate for exploited dogs in the halls of their state government. In what should have been a slam dunk against crime and animal abuse, I want to hear these public servants admit why they chose to accommodate felons and abandon heinously abused dogs: to ensure that business-as-usual animal cruelty continues unimpeded in Montana.
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Three additional resources (of many): “Dog fighting detailed discussion” from Michigan State University College of Law; Detroit Dog Fighting Caught on Video – Fox News broadcast video, 7 min., 21 sec.; ASPCA’s Dog Fighting FAQ

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Say "I love you" with bacon - click image

As Valentine’s Day approaches, the question on many a mind–or maybe just mine–is, Where’s the dissonance in “cognitive dissonance”?  According to About.com Psychology,

The term cognitive dissonance is used to describe the feeling of discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs. When there is a discrepancy between beliefs and behaviors, something must change in order to eliminate or reduce the dissonance.

An apt example of cognitive dissonance is the human propensity to love animals and to loathe seeing them suffer–nonetheless, to consider them tasty and edible even while suspecting (if not downright knowing) that the journey from lovable to edible requires suffering. If you’re one of those people, hang in there–we’ll talk you through it. Just relax and allow yourself to cognitively embrace the dissonance…  

Arnold, pre-bacon (click image)

What set me off on this unharmonious path was a post I stumbled across at “pork, knife & spoon,” the official blog of the National Pork Board. (My motto: I troll meat industry websites so you don’t have to.) A February 7, 2012 post entitled “Valentine’s Day Gifts for Pork Lovers” shamelessly features cute pig gifts–as if cute pigs are entirely divorced from the horrors of meat production. You’ll find Beanie Baby piglets, pig figurines, pig-shaped cookies, pig jewelry, Arnold the Snoring Pig (a plush pig who wiggles and snores!), and more–and all offered without the least hint of irony. People love pigs in all their permutations, and the pork industry–and pig paraphernalia purveyors–know it. Compartmentalization is key here, people.

But notice how quickly things take an ominous turn from the cute and cuddly to the cured and crispy. This is where the cognitive dissonance comes in–or, more’s the pity, doesn’t come in.  Here’s another plush pig that wiggles and oinks, but his name–Mr. Bacon–spells certain doom. Here’s one that enters the realm of the surreal, given that it’s at a site called Bacon Freak: The Sooo-weet Heart Plush Piggy:

Who doesn’t want a cute little plush piggy for Valentine’s Day? Certainly not anyone who doesn’t like adorable, huggable piggies, that’s for sure! These little guys come in an assortment of Valentine colors (red, pink, and white) with little embroidered hearts scattered around their piggy bodies. Think of them as little heart kisses.

Do these people really think we don’t know that the living, sentient stand-ins for the huggable, plush piggies are getting their adorable piglet tails and testicles cut off without anesthesia in factory farms this very moment? (Graphic photo: scroll down here.) Then again, given the secrecy surrounding industrial animal production, and the current surge by the industry–aided and abetted by willing state legislatures–to pass ag-gag laws criminalizing the ability to secretly record these atrocities, maybe we actually don’t know. Maybe we can have our piggies…and eat them, too.

While this doesn’t involve Valentine’s Day, it is a jaw-dropping, forehead-slapping example of cognitive dissonance at work: The Iowa Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival, held a few days ago. Yep, it’s in Iowa, the state that far outranks any other for factory farmed pig misery (according to the Factory Farm Map) with 17,938,431 suffering animals.

Got irony? Watch as children rush to get close to Bonnie, the precious piglet who served as the festival mascot. “Be gentle!” admonishes a parent (oh, if she only knew what lurks in Bonnie’s future…). Then, in an act of phony magnanimity, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad (the very same governor who signed the nation’s first ag-gag bill into law last March) “pardons” Bonnie by proudly proclaiming her “free from the sizzle of the frying pan for this year’s festival.”

Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up. If Bonnie becomes a breeding sow, she’ll have 3-5 years before the sizzle catches up with her. In the meantime, cruelly confined, she’ll endure repeated cycles of impregnation, gestation, and birth. She’ll be robbed of her piglets before they’re weaned, and the cycle will begin anew until she’s just plain worn-out. The trip to slaughter will be its own special nightmare for the pig who once served as the darling of the festival.

But Bonnie, Shmonnie…forget about Bonnie! Back to Valentine’s Day! If red roses proclaim one’s love and passion, what do bacon roses say? Considering what the 2010 Harvard meat study revealed about cured, processed meats, they might be saying, “Happy Valentine’s Day! Let’s update your life insurance policy, dear!”

Vegan Peace e-cards

Now that you’ve confronted your dissonance, cognitively-speaking, here are just a couple of suggestions for Valentine’s Day observances. I know, I know, it’s beyond the last minute, but these gifts take just a couple of mouse clicks, and one of them doesn’t even require money. First, make a donation to your local farmed animal sanctuary in honor of someone special. Small sanctuaries are almost always looking for help with feed and electricity costs, especially at this time of year. In each and every one of those sanctuaries–guaranteed–are animals with stories as compelling as Bonnie’s. Next, announce your gift with a valentine e-card from Vegan Peace. Finally–and this is simply a suggested gift to give to yourself and the animals–if you’re still eating the Bonnies of the world, consider cutting back, going vegetarian, or going whole hog (couldn’t resist) by going vegan.

And you’re done, you compassionate devil, you!

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Just say no to pigskin--unless it's on a pig. Click image.

It’s Superbowl Sunday, and even as I type, the six-hour pre-game show has commenced. We’ll tune in later, for the actual game. Yes, we’re football fans, a somewhat shocking revelation to friends who know us only for our more conscience-driven pursuits. We’ll be cheering for, well, who cares. I default to the NFC when I don’t have a dog in that fight, to use a football-related (OK, Michael Vick-related, close enough) term. Go 49ers, ho-hum. Then again, ravens are birds–and birds are good, and the Edgar Allen Poe/Baltimore connection is most compelling to a former English teacher…so…Go team!

I’ve been a Green Bay Packers fan since before it was cool–for 4-1/2 decades. I kid you not, just in the last two minutes I started thinking about the name “packers,” wondering what could it be that was getting packed in the midwest way back when??? (Upton Sinclair, get thee behind me.) With dread in my vegan heart, I confirmed my worst suspicion: meat! Meat was packed at the Indian Packing Company (slogan: “A meat market on your pantry shelf”). According to that perpetual eruption of information, Wikipedia, shipping clerk Curly Lambeau asked the company to sponsor jerseys and provide use of its athletic field in 1919, and the Green Bay Packers team was born. Ouch.  See what happens when you start looking below the surface?

We’ll soon start preparing our game-day chow, which includes roasted-garlic-and-kalamata olive hummus, tortilla chips, vegan pizza, and a growler of Missoula’s own. Maybe there will be room left for “The best chocolate cake ever…that happens to be vegan. I kid you not” (recipe here).

Like everyone else, we’ll watch for the ads. And because Americans profess to love animals, and marketers know that animals sell, we’ll probably see plenty. Oh sure, the Budweiser draft horses will make an appearance, as will the Coca-Cola polar bears, but so will the Skechers French bulldog (view 2012 ad here), who, according to greyhound advocacy group Grey2K USA, will legitimize and glamorize dog racing cruelty for 100 million viewers. Will there be cat wrangling? Chimps in business suits? Pigs crammed in gestation crates and downer cows forklifted to the slaughter floor? Oh wait–that’s part of the fantasy.

See, I’m waiting for the Super Bowl where every ad pushing a product that exploited animals HAS to be followed by one showing the exploitation. Chicken nugget ad? Chicken “broiler” ad. Got milk ad? Cow and calf cruelty ad. Steakhouse ad? CAFO ad. Egg muffin ad? The skinny on “layers.” Bacon-bacon-bacon ad? Thirty seconds of factory farmed pig cruelty. Imagine the many mindlessly masticating mouths filled with pulled pork and barbecued wings that would come to a grinding halt while the bitter, hideous truth graphically played out before their horrified eyes! The gag reflexes and the heaving! The stampede for the restroom! The next-day surge in Field Roast and Tofurky stock on Wall Street!

See what happens when you start looking below the surface?!?

The halftime reprieve would feature vegetarian and vegan entertainers who were billed as such. Prince and Sir Paul have already had their gigs, so the list might include Chrissie Hynde, Moby, k.d. lang, and Bryan Adams. Maybe animal rights rapper IFEEL. There are plenty to choose from.

But the fantasy won’t happen this year. No, this year the status quo of exploitation will continue to reign because blogs such as this haven’t yet brought the animal-industrial complex to its knees (“the animal industrial complex performs the annual repetitious killing of in excess of 56 billion farmed land animals”) though, dog knows, it’s not for lack of trying. It won’t happen this year because you and I don’t have a cool four million to spend on honest ads that show the sufferin’ behind “I’m lovin’ it.” Sadly, I don’t suppose we ever will. *sigh*

And that’s where that growler comes in. Will you be joining me in a pint?

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