Factory Farms are VULNERABLE: Water Scarcity and Activism Are Changing Animal Agriculture | Rising Anxieties

They make me, they make me sing that song. Everybody insists that I have to do it. I don't understand why. Anyway, this is the portion or the podcast of our three now three weekly, uh, Our Hen House podcasts. And this is the one where we look at what is causing the meat industry's anxieties to rise about the disaster they have created.

And all too often it all runs into the other group of people who actually know what's happening in the meat industry, which is us. And our anxieties, unfortunately, are rising as well. And then there's all those people out in the middle, and their anxieties are rising about a lot of things these days, but probably not so much about the meat industry.

We're still, uh, worried about the meat industry. And, you know, it all ties together. It all ties together as my recent, uh, interview with Will Potter emphasized, uh, animal agriculture and fascism are intimately connected. But anyway, I digress. I digress. Uh, it happens so often. Our first story that we're gonna talk about today is from Meating Place, uh, you know, the, the industry site.

Water, Water, Nowhere. This is from the Center of My Plate Column by Lisa Keefe, and she's worried about water, and God knows they should be worried about water. They probably are more worried than is being revealed because they probably don't wanna talk about it too much, but she's talking about it.

Water demands the, I'm taking a quote here, water demands primarily in the service of agriculture, and of course, we're not just talking about animal agriculture, it's all agriculture, including, she says, livestock production is draining vital underground reservoirs faster than ever. Meanwhile, livestock heavy regions of the Northern Great Plains are seeing dry to severe drought conditions.

So we're using up all the water that's underneath the ground and it's not being replenished, uh, and closer to the border with Mexico, the southern plains range between extreme and exceptional drought. This, this is like, this counts as a crisis, uh, for the industry, you know, for the, for the country, for the world, whatever.

Um, and she lists the most vital aquifers in the country, the water that's being held underneath the ground that, you know, has been building up for all these many, many, many years, and we're now using it all to make hamburgers, uh, and... to make hamburgers out of, out of tortured animals. Um, alright, so she's listing Cal, these are the states which she's listing are in a really, really bad, uh, situation.

Their aquifers are dropping at a rate of two to seven feet annually. When you think of how big these aquifers are, two to seven feet is a hell of a lot of water. California, Texas, Idaho, Oklahoma, Kansas. So what do those states have in common? Hmm. Let me think. So she does think that the industry needs to do something here, uh, and she's pretty open to whatever.

Um. She talks about the, the, the fact that the industry uses water to, um, to grow the crops to feed the animals. She doesn't talk about the water that the animals actually drink, which is, you know, a hell of a lot. She does talk about the, the, the amount of water that is needed to maintain a food safe level of sanitation in the processing plants, which is what they call the slaughterhouses.

That seems like it's probably a, i, I apologize for this in advance, drop in the bucket compared to what the animals are drinking and what the, you know, the alfalfa crops are using up, but whatever. Uh, she does say she does kind of recognize it and says every little bit helps. Well, you know, it doesn't help that much.

We really need a lot. Um, more meaningful innovations are needed. Innovations that could pull water from the air at large scale. Oh, okay. Let's do that. Do we actually know how to do that? Because if we can do that, that's a really, and you know, I mean, I hope somebody's looking into that, but so far I don't think we can do that.

So maybe we should do something else in the meantime. I mean, or create crops or process food animals that use less water. Yeah. That's what they really wanna do. They wanna breed cows that don't drink. Um, perhaps that lightning rod known as cultivated meat could be part of the answer someday. And she knows that everybody's gonna get mad at her 'cause she specifically says save the hate mail. Uh, you know, she's worried, I'm worried. Is anybody else worried? I don't know. I really don't know. Alright. You probably have heard that, um, you know, we're not gonna that, that, uh, Kennedy, the Secretary of HHS, Department of Health and Human Services hates mRNA vaccines.

He thinks they're bad, and now he has announced a coordinated wind down of federally funded mRNA vaccine development. So let's hope COVID, you know, is over and no more come back because do you know, well, I won't get into it, but geez. Like, it's the most ironic thing in the world that we now hate mRNA vaccines 'cause we'd all be dead without them, but don't, don't write to me if you hate vaccines. I don't care.

Um, alright, so uh, they, he, instead of federally funding more mRNA vaccines, he wants to do evidence-based, ethically grounded solutions like whole virus vaccines and novel disease platforms, you know, whatever.

Like, let's get rid of the stuff and, and do some other stuff. This is really worrying the industry because the most obvious, the, one of the biggest implications in the immediate, uh, sense of this is that, uh, they're canceling $776 million in funding to develop an avian flu vaccine for people. So, you know, unfortunately it's so unfortunate that we can die of avian flu just as much as everybody else.

Um, but, you know, uh, apparently that's what we're all gonna do. Um, there are other poultry diseases as well, you know, because there's a gazillion, gazillion diseases in this industry and there are other poultry diseases, not so much that affect humans at least yet, but that affect the actual chickens, uh, that are in development and I'm sure being heavily funded by the government, so they're really worried about those as well.

So, yeah. Uh, that should be interesting. Uh, you might've heard about this mink release, uh, case, I think it happened last October, but the prosecution is ongoing now, and I just thought I'd mention there's this very long story in Unicorn Riot about it if you really wanna know the details. But I'll just go over what's going on. Um, they're known as the Northumberland Two, Celeste Legere and Cara Mitrano. And they're facing, this is, uh, in Pennsylvania. I guess the name of the town is Northumberland. Um, and they, they broke into the rich... I, I think it's, I don't know whether it's acknowledged that they broke in. I don't know. Um, but they're being charged with it. Richard H Stahl and Sons Fur Farm, 683 mink were released from their pens. Breeding records were destroyed. They've been charged with like an unbelievable number of crimes.

Um, but the prosecutors just dropped the RICO charge. This is a state level RICO- Racketeer influence in corrupt organizations, which is good. They obviously didn't feel that they had any evidence, um, to go forward with that. Um, according to Chris Caraway, who is of course the staff attorney at the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, who has been on the podcast several times, or on the Animal Law Podcast. Uh, quote, we hope the court sees through the prosecution's gross overcharging of defendants accused of releasing animals who, with absolute certainty, would've suffered extreme torture and unconscionable death.

In spite of that, uh, the, the prosecution has now upped one of the charges from animal cruelty to felony animal cruelty. Um, so this is in addition to the initial charges, um, which include agricultural vandalism, criminal mischief, theft, burglary, loitering and prowling at nighttime, accidents involving damage to attended vehicle or property, recklessly endangering another person, cruelty to animals, which has now been increased to felony cruelty, agricultural trespassing on posted land and depositing waste on a highway.

Um, and some conspiracy counts related to ecoterrorism, agricultural vandalism, and burglary. So, uh, yeah, I mean, it's not like necessarily all of these sentences could run consecutively, but they're facing a hell of a lot of time, a hell of a lot of time. And as this article points out, before calling any witnesses, DA O'Donnell quietly moved to dismiss the RICO charge, one of the more serious elements in the case.

At the same time, O'Donnell's office added a new count of aggravated animal cruelty, arguing that the defendants were responsible for the deaths of some mink the Stahls say died after release. And then the article points out, uh, mink raised in fur farms are usually killed for their pelts before they turn 1-year-old.

It's so ridiculous. I mean, of all these charges, uh, to be charging them with animal cruelty because some of the mink died after their release when they were facing certain torture and death. Let's keep an eye on this case. Uh, so many heroes out there these days. Alright, I just thought this was an interesting, um.

Uh, you know, the last article about the prosecution indicates their anxieties are rising by the way that they pressure, uh, prosecutors. And prosecutors themselves are, you know, aligned with the industry that maybe don't need that much pressure to go after anybody who cares about animals in a serious way, like would rescuing them from certain death.

Um, but also there's the way their anxieties are rising. Um. The way they, I think this is an interesting article. It's from Watt Poultry and it's all about how they really do not want people to raise their own chickens and, you know, I guess they don't want the competition. Also, there are a lot of things they worry about with diseases, but in order to do that and, and explain how they really want people just to buy their eggs, uh, they have to like make clear how dangerous raising animals for food is. So that's what this article does, I think.

Backyard flocks are more than social media highlights. This is from Meredith Dawson. Uh, the picture is trend is setting consumers up for failure by romanticizing the animal husbandry commitment.

I mean, really what they're romanticizing is that this isn't a horrifically cruel enterprise to raise chickens. And you know, this article kind of ends up making that clear. Um, while the intention is good, you know, they wanna act like they're nice about it, but they really, really hate it, it appears that a portion of consumers who embark on the backyard chicken lifestyle have done little research on the amount of responsibility it takes to safely, responsibly, and she didn't finish her sentence, but she obviously meant raise these birds.

She then she talks about a big salmonella outbreak that was linked to backyard flocks, like there's no salmonella outbreaks linked to, uh, factory farm flocks. Uh, okay.

Also, while the backyard chicken lifestyle may seem attractive when you see it online, what it often does is not show how to perform proper biosecurity protocols or an understanding of poultry diseases. Additionally, many consumers don't know that chickens can live approximately eight years if cared for properly, making them a long-term commitment. Oh my God, oh my God. Like, are you serious?

Like. It would be nice if the, in, in the first place, they can live longer than eight years, frequently. It depends on the breed to some extent, but, uh, eight years is, is in the low range. Um, and the like, is the industry trying to act like they make this long-term commitment? 'Cause as we all know, they don't as many eggs as they get older.

And I think at some point they completely stopped laying eggs. Like, does the industry consider them a long-term commitment? Who, like, who are they trying a kid here? Like, oh... one of the suggestions they make, this is truly hilarious, it also wouldn't hurt to visit a local farmer to gain a better understanding of the workload and what good animal husbandry requires.

Yeah, go to your local Tyson facility, and if you get in, which of course you won't, you can see what good animal husbandry requires. Oh my God, these people are unbelievable. Unbelievable.

All right. I love this, this final story. This is, um, uh, PETA apparently heard that this woman, she's a, a rapper, her name is Trina, and she, uh, is decided to go perform at SeaWorld.

I wonder why, I guess 'cause they were paying her money. Uh, a lot of money, perhaps. PETA sets the record straight on letters sent to Trina ahead of SeaWorld concert. This is from Hot New Hip Hop, a website. And, um, all right, so Trina apparently went viral because she, uh, shared a proclaimed aggressive letter she received from PETA ahead of the Sea World Concert.

And as this article points out, um, I mean, the, the only, I, I guess the only thing I know about what she said about it was aggressive, but, and she did share the letter, I guess, but they share the letter here and like either, either she's faking it or she actually thinks it was aggressive to ask her to do anything for any reason whatsoever.

Dear Katrina, this is what PETA wrote to her from Delaney Fischer, um, at PETA. I hope you're doing well. We noticed that you're scheduled to perform at SeaWorld San Diego Summer concert series, so we wanted to inform you about the incredible impact you can make by reconsidering this collaboration.

SeaWorld is a company infamous for its cruel treatment of marine mammals, and so many artists, including blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, have been taking a stand against animal abuse by not performing there. It's not too late to join them as one of the artists who are making history in the animal welfare space. At SeaWorld, orcas and other dolphins are confined to tanks that, to them, are no bigger than bathtubs, depriving them of the vast ocean environment they're meant to roam. These highly intelligent and social animals often exhibit severe stress and frustration, gnawing at concrete walls and floating listlessly due to their unnatural conditions.

While SeaWorld stopped breeding orcas after intense public backlash, 18 orcas are still suffering in their tanks, and the company continues to forcibly breed other dolphins and whales, which involves forcibly impregnating them and often drugging them first, ensuring a cycle of suffering.

More than 40 orcas have died at SeaWorld from causes such as severe trauma, intestinal gangrene, and chronic cardiovascular failure, mostly, most far short of their natural life expectancy. We're campaigning for these animals to be moved to seaside sanctuaries where they can finally feel the ocean's currents, many for the first time in their lives.

You have the power to make a real difference. Your commitment to stay away from SeaWorld until they no longer hold animals captive would save lives. Can we count on you to cancel your performance? Thank you so much for your time and consideration. That's the, the, that's the aggressive letter. That was the whole thing.

I read the whole thing to you. Uh. Yeah, I kind of wonder whether she just, you know, was prevaricating and figured people wouldn't read the letter and would believe her that it was aggressive or whether she really thought it was aggressive because people can, you know how people get, like you say the least little thing you say, you pa you pass the plate at Thanksgiving dinner and don't take any turkey off of it without saying anything and people like tend to think you're being aggressive.

A little guilt maybe. Yeah, maybe. Oh, that's it for this week's Rising anxieties. It's great to be back. Always fun. Always fun to hear what the industry's up to. Um, thank you so much for tuning in, and you can of course subscribe on your favorite podcatcher and/or on YouTube.

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