Farm Animals
Torture on Tape
In 2007, the term "waterboarding" entered into the American lexicon. I never thought that knowledge of the practice would inspire animal abusers, but that's exactly what's happened. An HSUS investigation we revealed today—as reported in The Washington Post—focused on the abuse of downed cows, unable . . .
Meaterial Excess
"Americans are downing close to 200 pounds of meat, poultry and fish per capita per year (dairy and eggs are separate, and hardly insignificant), an increase of 50 pounds per person from 50 years ago," wrote Mark Bittman yesterday, in a major piece in The . . .
Talk Back: Progressive Nations, Veterinarians and Laws
Readers celebrated the European Union’s decision to eliminate battery cages for egg-laying hens and the prospect of a European ban on seal products: Absolutely incredible. When I read the Canadian news article I realized that the efforts of animal protection societies (of which the HSUS . . .
Gaining Ground for Sows
At The Humane Society of the United States, we’ve concentrated much of our anti-factory farming activity on three of the cruelest confinement practices—veal crates, battery cages, and gestation crates. We are seeing major changes in all three areas, and especially so on gestation crates. When . . .
FDA Says: Let Them Eat Clones
Clogged arteries. Global warming. Animal cruelty. Mad cow disease. Salmonella. Manure lagoons. Overgrazing. These are just some of the public relations problems faced by the meat, dairy, and egg industries. Now add animal cloning to the brew. Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration—defying the wishes . . .
Winning the Fight for Animals in ’07
Last week, I wrote a letter to some HSUS supporters about some of our accomplishments for the year. In many respects, it’s been a remarkable year, and we’ve achieved many of our programmatic goals for the year. For those of you who relish the details, . . .
Compass Charts A New Course
The movement to ban battery cages had its single biggest moment yesterday as Compass Group—the world’s largest food service provider, which services hospitals, corporations, universities, even the U.S. House of Representatives and Microsoft—announced that it would in time sell eggs only from cage-free sources. In . . .
Critical Reforms Move Forward
Congress has been in gridlock most of the year, with the Republicans and Democrats quarreling over the Iraq war, judicial nominations, spending bills, and just about everything else. But one issue that they can often agree upon is animal welfare. On Friday, the Senate approved . . .
Bleatings from the Ag Lobby
Before The Humane Society of the United States helped to pass laws in Arizona, Florida and Oregon to ban some of the most inhumane confinement methods on factory farms, there were virtually no legal standards to provide even the most minimal protections for animals raised . . .
Evidence Against Science’s Scare Tactics
One of the most frustrating industries to deal with in all animal protection is the animal research community. Although there are many scientists who care about animal welfare, demagogues abound within this fraternity, and they are the masters of Chicken Little scare tactics, as if . . .
Starved for Space
I have been thinking a lot about space—not the virtually limitless area beyond our atmosphere where distance is measured in light years, but the very definite and measurable space in which we spend our lives on planet Earth. I spend a great deal of time . . .
Race to Replace
Change for animals will come about with an evolution in consciousness about animals and a recognition that we must respect their interests. But change will also come about with innovation—as we discard old ways that involved the exploitation of animals in favor of activities that . . .
