Animal rights groups, including the Humane Farming Association, Friends of Animals, and SAFE, are opposing the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2013 sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein. Referred to as the "Rotten Egg Bill" by opponents, the measure would make a deal between the United Egg Producers and the Humane Society of the United States the law of the land. Bradley Miller, National Director of the Humane Farming Association (HFA) said, "the egg industry wants to establish egg factory cages as a national standard that could never be challenged or changed by state law or public vote. The American public overwhelmingly supports the banning of egg factory cages, not measures such as this which would ban the outlawing of cages. This bill would be disastrous for laying hens … [Read more...]
Ag Gag Bill Fails in Indiana
The Indiana legislature failed to pass S.B. 373, a bill which would have criminalized whistleblowers who expose animal abuse. These so-called "ag gag" laws have been introduced and passed in several states in the past year, after exposes by groups such as the Humane Society have informed the public about animal cruelty and unsafe working conditions. The bill passed in the Senate on Friday, April 26, 2013, but when the measure was sent to the House, Democrats said that the Senate version was a "gag all" bill. Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma pulled the bill from the calendar and did not allow another vote. That evening, Senator David Long said that the Senate would not vote on "ag gag" in 2013, killing the bill. The Senate version also made it a crime for someone to text damaging … [Read more...]
Egg Products Inspection Act Introduced to Congress
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2013, a bill that would establish a national standard for humane treatment of egg-laying hens and the labeling of eggs. Cosponsors include Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), and in the House, Congressman Kurt Schrader (D-OR). Senator Feinstein said, "this bill is the product of an agreement between the Humane Society of the United States and the United Egg Producers, which represent 88 percent of the nation's egg industry. It addresses a patchwork of divergent state laws by establishing a national standard for the humane treatment of egg-laying hens." In 2010, the Humane Society took undercover videos of the Cal-Maine egg factory in Waelder, Texas and found rampant … [Read more...]
Humane Society Urges Tennessee Governor to Veto Ag Gag Bill
The Humane Society of the United States is urging Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to veto that state's ag gag bill. SB 1248 would make it a crime for reputable non-profit organizations and journalists to document and expose unethical and illegal activity at horse stables and industrial agriculture facilities. The bill narrowly passed the Tennessee House. Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president and CEO, sent a letter to the governor stating that "the bill appears to be an attempt to enact a policy of covering up abuses, and keeping the public from learning of them. If it is signed into law, it may indeed backfire, and result in more public mistrust and skepticism about the workings of the Tennessee walking horse industry at a time when it is already suffering a drastic decline in popularity due to … [Read more...]
California’s Ag Gag Bill Pulled by Author
The Humane Society of the United States is announcing that the California anti-whistleblower "ag gag" legislation, AB 343, that was backed by the California Cattlemen's Association, was pulled by the bill's author. Assembly member Jim Patterson (R-Fresno) pulled the bill after widespread opposition by food safety, environmental, and animal rights organizations. Labor unions and first amendment organizations also opposed the bill. Jennifer Fearing, California state director for the HSUS said, "We are pleased to see the bill shelved. The problem isn't the rate at which animal cruelty is disclosed to authorities - but with the rampant cruelty itself. Industrial farming operations should be run so well that videos could never capture anything they wouldn't want their customers to … [Read more...]
White House Budget Has No Funding for Horse Slaughter Inspection
The White House 2014 budget does not have any funding for horse slaughter inspection. There is no money available to inspect horse meat under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act, or the Code of Federal Regulations. This will prevent the slaughter of horses for human consumption in this country. There has been a ban on horse slaughter in this country since 2006, but a rider that prevented the USDA from financing the inspection of horse meat was let expire in 2011. Horse meat has been in the news since a European scandal this winter which revealed that horse DNA was found in some products labeled beef that were sold in the UK and other countries. The problem with horse meat is that the animals can be drugged with hormones and other … [Read more...]
Five Workers at Wyoming Premium Farms Convicted of Animal Cruelty
The Humane Society has released a press statement about the five employees from the Wheatland, Wyoming Premium Farms facility that have been convicted on multiple counts of cruelty to animals after that agency conducted an undercover investigation. Tyson Foods severed its relationship with that farm after the videos documenting cruelty and abuse were released. The videos show Wyoming Premium workers "kicking live piglets like soccer balls, swinging sick piglets in circles by their hind legs, striking mother pigs with their fists and repeatedly and forcefully kicking them as they resisted leaving their young, among other abuses." The HSUS investigation also found breeding pigs confined day and night in gestation creates, which are tiny cages that immobilize animals for their entire … [Read more...]
Center for Food Integrity Launches Ag Gag Whistleblower Initiative
The Center for Food Integrity (CFI) has launched a new initiative called See it? Stop it! It gives farm workers the tools to take action to stop animal abuse, neglect, mistreatment, and harm. The initiative is in response to so-called ag gag laws that have been passed in many agricultural-heavy states, making it a crime to video animal abuse on farms. Just this year, the Wyoming House passed an ag gag bill, and a bill was introduced in Illinois, New Hampshire, and Nebraska. These bills are opposed by animal rights groups such as the Humane Society. The Illinois bill, in fact, imposes criminal charges against anyone who complains about inhumane treatment that the Department of Agriculture finds is "false or unfounded." The bills are in response to uproars triggered by undercover videos … [Read more...]
Judge Denies Dismissal of HSUS Case Against Perdue
A federal judge has denied Perdue Farms' attempt to dismiss a lawsuit by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) alleging that the company misleads consumers about their treatment of chickens. The class action lawsuit was filed in November 2010 in New Jersey on behalf of "all consumers duped" by Perdue. HSUS claims that Perdue is illegally marketing its Harvestland and Perdue products with "Humanely Raised" labels. U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp said the plaintiffs "have sufficiently pled that a reasonable consumer may have interpreted the Humanely Raised label to include the processes to which the chicken is exposed throughout its life, including slaughter." The standards upon which Perdue has based its claimed are the "Animal Welfare Guidelines" of the National Chicken … [Read more...]
USDA Approves HSUS Petition on Downer Calves
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has approved the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) petition about the treatment of downer veal calves at slaughter. The petition, submitted in 2009, would close a loophole in regulations that allowed downer calves to be kept alive indefinitely. That leaves them prone to abuse. About 700,000 veal calves are slaughtered every year in this country. About 15% of those calves are under the age of three weeks. No date for implementing the change has been announced. The petition was filed after an undercover HSUS investigation showed employees at a slaughterhouse in Vermont kicking and shocking downer calves to force them off trucks and into holding pens. This abuse occurred in front of an FSIS inspector, who failed to stop it. Jonathan … [Read more...]
