Factory Farms Want to Make Helping Animals Illegal

I have started this post out with about 5 different sentences and deleted them all. Why? Because I'm so frustrated with the topic I want to introduce and am trying to frame this situation so that everyone will see how utterly ridiculous it is.

What is getting me so worked up?

That Iowa wants to pass a law which states that "undercover investigators who take agricultural jobs to gain access to animals and record their mistreatment, will face penalties, up to a $7500 fine, and five years in prison."

This is in the wake of animal-rights activists gaining employment at a factory farm, and filming horrific abuses, such as:

• Cows on their knees being shocked and beaten 
• Pigs hit and dragged across the floor
• Chicks ground up alive or left to suffocate in a disposal bin.

Via Farm Sactuary

Basically, the agricultural industry, in plain language, is saying "if you try to protect the animals we are abusing and exploiting, we will put you in jail".

Ok, since when did "recording mistreatment" for those who don't have a voice become illegal? Would these same lawmakers have a problem if I were to record and publicize the mistreatment of child slaves in Bangladesh? Probably not. Actually, I would probably receive a pat on the back if I fought for those who couldn't fight for themselves.

So what makes this any different?

Maybe the fact that the agricultural industry is responsible for $24.7 billion in sales. Yet again, money trumps morals, but is that really the kind of society we want to live in?

You decide.

We may not all be high powered lawyers, but we can still contribute positively to this issue.
I offer the same advice I did for stopping dead zones: (weird how everything is connected, isn't it!)

Buy local and organic, and eat less meat.

{Update: The bill was passed Thursday morning. } 

Animal Testing at the University of Texas

Last month, I posted about animal testing and the despicable practices the industry employs. This month, the University of Texas has shown itself to be a part of that inhumane industry.

A whistleblower recently called PETA to share some rather disturbing methods the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) has been using. The insider reported that dogs, cats, monkeys, sheep, goats, ferrets and mice are all being used in painful experiments. These animals have been burned, mutilated, and cut open, while at the same time are surrounded by untrained staff, careless handling and severe neglect.

Experimenter Daniel Traber has allegedly subjected these animals to third degree burns on 40% of their bodies, while forcing them to inhale smoke.

"Scientists" and experimenters also intentionally:

• Caused spinal cord injuries in sheep.
• Operated painful surgical procedures on animals and offered no anesthetic either during or after the surgery.
• Imprisoned highly social animals to tiny stainless steel cages.

And more!

Click here for more information, and to send a letter to the UTMB President urging him to take action.

The Disturbing World of Animal Testing

You probably know a little bit about animal testing. Its a pretty straight forward concept - testing new products or ideas on animals. But the realities are much crueler than they seem, let me share some dirty facts about the industry with you.

• Every year over 100 million animals are used for testing, most of them are rats and mice, but they also use dogs, cats, rabbits and chimpanzees.
• Animals are usually kept in dark, sad spaces, in isolation and in tiny cages. They suffer greatly from loneliness, boredom and lack of love.
• Animals like chimpanzees are injected with HIV, or various other human diseases, and then given various potentially painful treatments.
• Oftentimes corporations are testing cosmetics and household products on the animals. NOT life saving drugs! Humans force them to eat the toxic products, spray them in their eyes and put them on their skin. For example, dogs are force fed pesticides and rabbits have corrosive chemicals rubbed into their skin and eyes.
• Dogs are set on fire for the purpose of 3rd degree burn product research.
• The results are misleading. Most of these animals aren’t even genetically close to us! Products that work great on a chimpanzee can still be, and have proven to be, dangerous for humans.
• Companies like Johnson & Johnson, who own Band-Aid and Aveeno, and Procter & Gamble test on animals.

Ok, I hear some of your thoughts right now. Better us than them right? Some people are under the impression that human life is more important than animal life, a belief I do not share. But there ARE ways to test that do not involve animals. So even if you do value human life over all others, we can find advances that don’t involve torturing innocent creatures.

What Can I DO?

Make sure the products you buy are not tested on animals. Buy natural products - No chemicals that trash the environment and no animal testing. Double win.

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Want to learn more?

Cruelty-Free Company search
PETA - Animals Used for Experimentation