Animal Agriculture Exposes Its Own Cruelty | Rising Anxieties

But, but our first story, this one will, this one will entertain you. Well, you know, in a, in a gruesome, horrible kind of way. Uh, this is from Ag Daily, and this is by the commentator who we, we report on quite frequently, her name is Michelle Miller, but she calls herself Farm Babe. I'm not gonna make any comments this time. I make fun of that nickname enough. She calls herself Farm Babe. Alright. Uh, and she, this, the title of this particular article is Weird, but Necessary Animal Care Practices in Agriculture.

And this is just so interesting because I think that this article in and of itself proves that animal agriculture is inherently cruelty. We have to stop animal agriculture. We can't fix it. She admits we can't fix it. She starts off, uh, well, she says, um, if you walk into a barn at the right time, you could see a cow getting a pedicure, sheep getting haircuts, or calves wearing coats.

Some of these things might seem a bit odd or unnecessary. But like so much else a farmer or rancher does, they're for the comfort, health and safety of animals. Uh, alright, so she goes through them practice by practice. Of course, she never, she never considers whether it would be better for the comfort and safety of animals to just not do any of this to them. No.

If we're gonna do this to them, then we have to basically, we have to modify them. Uh, that's the point. We have to modify them in ways because their bodies as they grow just don't fit the needs of the people who wanna kill them. Cow hooves are just like human fingernails. They grow continuously.

Uh, I can see how that's a problem for cows who don't get to move around a lot because, you know, uh, like, just like your dog's nails, like if you don't, if they don't go for enough walks, you have to get them clipped. So that's true.

Uh, she does say it depends on what terrain the cows are in, uh, and so it's possible that they'll naturally wear down. It also depends on weather... I have no idea why it would consider, depends on weather conditions. Like, like, I don't know, does the snow melt?

That doesn't make any sense. Alright, so should it, it depends what the cows are walking on. So on today's farms, cows are often in soft sand beds outside on softer dirt or pasture. Softer than what? Like are like, like isn't dirt dirt? Or walk only short distances on cement. Yeah. No shit. The cows don't get to move around.

Then they have this picture of a youth member comforting her steer who is getting his hooves trimmed, and it, they're, they have to put them in this like horrible contraption, which I guess is why she's writing about it because people think that the horrible contraption is, uh, you know, looks really uncomfortable and I can guarantee you it does.

So it's nice that this youth member is comforting her steer, who I assume she's going to proceed to kill and eat. I don't know, maybe she wouldn't want to eat him. Uh, all right. Some depending on genetics, some cattle grow horns. Yeah, the genetics, if they haven't been, you know, basically genetically modified to not grow horns, I think that they probably would all grow horns.

I'm not gonna swear to that. Um, horns can be extremely dangerous. This is actually true. It's actually true. They are, they're designed to be extremely dangerous 'cause they're the way the cows, you know, before they were incredibly modified by breeding, they, they're the way that they, they defended themselves.

Um, so they can cause injuries to the cow themselves. Their horn could get caught on something. Well, yeah, I don't think that's really the problem here. Um, or to other cows. That is true. They will fight. Uh, if a cow has horns, they will use them, she says. I don't know whether they always will, but you know, things can happen.

And of course, to people, again, those horns will be used. I bet they will. I bet those cows are pissed off. Uh, so the solution is dehorning and they, it's done early in life in a calf's life, unless of course it isn't, by a veterinarian, or often under vet guidance. So basically not by veterinarian. And they're all, they're also often given pain medications to help them recover quicker.

Also often. Obviously not required. 'cause that would be always, and I bet it's really not that often. Um, sheep shearing is another important practice. Domestic sheep can't shed their wool on their own. Because they've been bred that way. They, they wouldn't exist in nature and this wouldn't happen. They wouldn't keep growing the wool so that they became, it.

It is necessary to sheer domestic sheep. That's not how she puts it. Instead, they get a haircut. Watching a sheep being shorn could be entertaining as they're placed in some funny positions. Yeah. Yeah. Really entertaining. Oy vey.. Uh, believe it or not, chickens can be pretty mean sometimes. Oh my God. Like, why would a chicken ever be mean to a human?

I, I can't imagine. Left unchecked, she says, this leads to feathers being pulled out, injuries and even cannibalism. Yes, I said that right. One solution to this is beak trimming another solution to it might be not cramming them into spaces that are too small so that they go insane, but you know, beak trimming, okay.

Uh, and, uh, so, so it doesn't do them any harm. She says it doesn't impact their ability to eat or behave normally. And it's being done less than it used to be. Is that true? I, maybe it is. I don't know. Um, there are plenty of other unique and interesting management practices. Some are fun like calves that are born in cold weather wearing coats until it is warmer outside. Or maybe not as fun, like the clipping of needle teeth in piglets.

Yeah. Not so much fun having your tooth clipped, um, to those outside of animal agriculture, some of these practices might seem strange or maybe even cruel at first glance. Yeah, honey, they do. Even at second glance, even at 52nd glance. Uh, but you know, she doesn't think so. They're done with the health and safety of animals in mind.

Just stop doing it to them completely if you want them to be healthy. Farmers, ranchers and veterinarians don't just do these things for fun. Well, I didn't think they did it for fun. That was not my thought. If they're doing it for fun, that's a pretty serious problem. Trimming hooves is like getting proper shoes, dehorning, beak trimming and clipping needle teeth is like childproofing a home. You know, when you childproof your home and you cut their teeth out. Um, and shearing sheep is like getting a haircut. All right. That's enough of that bullshit nonsense.

Oh, all right. We have a, a article by our favorite Hannah Thompson-Weeman who writes for the Meating Place column and is the president of the Animal Agriculture Alliance.

And this doesn't have that much information in it, but I thought you would enjoy hearing about it because it's all about us. And it's all about the animal protection movement and it's all about how terrible we are and it's always nice to hear that. If it fe... and she thinks that we're very powerful, I wish we were as powerful as she seems to think we are, but maybe we're more powerful than I think we are.

She starts out by saying, if it feels like you're seeing more headlines, lawsuits, and viral campaigns urging people to give up meat, dairy, poultry, eggs, and seafood... let's hope you are... um, you're right. The animal activist movement has never been larger, better funded, or more coordinated. Yay. And it's more important than ever for the meat community... the meat community?

Like it's not an industry or a business anymore, it's a community? All right, to be aware of its attempt to influence the food system. Um, and you know, she talks about the Animal Agriculture Alliance, as I mentioned, she's the president and talking about how, how their findings show just how strategic and interconnected the movement has become. Um, how rich it is.

And she uses the figure $865 million annually. Money used to fund anti-meat, anti-dairy and anti egg campaigns. I'm not sure all of that. I think that's the whole movement, like including, you know, companion animal stuff, but I don't know. Um, and the collaboration among these movements, oh my God. Like, like the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, which was set up to, to defend legal activists is appealing a felony conviction of Wayne Hsiung.

Well, isn't that what they were set up to do? Um, okay. New additions such as the Brooks Institute, Legal Impact for Chickens, and the Simple Heart Initiative launched by Hsiung following his departure from DXE further illustrate how the activist network continues to expand its influence through legal, academic, and media channels.

She didn't mention Our Hen House. She never does. Um, as she said before, she points out, um, these, the group tactics are becoming extreme. Um. Some may appear moderate, but they're not because they're linked by one unifying mission- to eliminate animal agriculture. You're exactly right, Hannah. I, well, I'm not sure they all are linked by that, but most of them are.

Most of 'em are. And the alliance's mission is to bridge the gap between producers... producers... um, and the public by promoting accurate information. That's a good one. And highlighting the shared values of animal care, environmental stewardship, and food safety. Okay. Yeah, right. Whatever. Um, all right. From Sentient Media.

This is, uh, a great article. Highly recommend reading it. It is by, uh, Gray Moran. Police Body cams reveal pattern of deference to the meat industry. And a lot of this is based on some relatively recent work by Animal Partisan. Uh, it's headed up by Will Lowrey. Um. So the subtitle here is State Troopers cited concerns about animal rights activists as justification for blocking journalists from livestock crash sites.

So, uh, apparently what Animal Partisan has done is, is, is through FOIA requests, Freedom of Information Act requests, gotten the body cam footage that was collected when state troopers have responded to accidents where semis carrying, uh, you know, uh, pigs or other animals crash and there's animal injuries and it's all, you know, it's mayhem, suffering on an unbelievable scale and, uh, and finding some interesting stuff.

Alright, she starts off with this little story. Uh, and this is really, I, I like, I just love the way this is written, so I'm just gonna repeat it- along a cordoned off stretch of highway in Ohio, state troopers and other emergency responders work late into the night- taxpayer money... uh, wrangling hundreds of piglets that sprung loose from an overturned semi-truck.

The driver failed to negotiate a curve while holding a trailer of 1900 piglets, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol records. Most escapees were left to roam the interstate ramp, but some were flung to their deaths. The aftermath of this crash is captured in police body cam footage from November, 2023, obtained by, uh, the legal advocacy group, Animal Partisan.

It shows a livestock farmer approaching... you see, we we're not just talking about the footage of the incident. It shows a livestock farmer approaching Sergeant Jeremy Wheeland of the Ohio State Highway Patrol to ask a favor, direct the media to stop filming before the emergency crew unloads the dead piglets from the trailer.

And, uh, and there are a number of incidents just like this. And this is exactly what's happening. It's just hand in glove, uh, law enforcement and the industry. And as this article points out, it's part of this broader pattern. They, um, Sentient reviewed videos from three livestock crashes. And these are kind of some of the, um, quotes they got from, from people off of these, uh, this footage.

One favor, I'd like to ask if you can help. So we have these camera crews here. This is the farmer, uh, talking to the, um, local news crew. Is there any way we can tell them for their safety that they can't be here filming this? Because animal rights people love, he pauses mid-sentence, appearing to search for the right words. We're treating these pigs right, but they take this the wrong way.

Yeah. How do you, how exactly, how do you take a truck full of dead piglets the right way? I don't know. Um, and so, uh, the, the, the crews, uh, that are filming this are sadly all too happy to agree. Um, so ask them to step back a little bit. Uh, he, he, he responds the, the guy from the press and, and, yeah, I can do that.

Um, and so he does. And, and then, uh, another, another one, um, the same guy walks over to a different camera, um, crew and says, I have a slight request, so it's fine that you're out here, but maybe not... just generous of him, it's public property. It's a highway... so it's fine that you're out here, but maybe not zoom in so much on them actually taking the ones out.

He goes on to explain that some of the pigs they removed from the trailer will be dead, which could draw unwanted attention. It's just, well, the concern like the owner, the concern he has with like animal rights people and so forth, you know what I'm saying? Unbelievable. I can't believe Animal Partisan got this stuff.

I and I, as I mentioned those, that was one. There were two other, uh, similar accident. Well, they were accidents. I mean, they, they were, it, it. It's inevitable that in an accident these animals will be harmed, but it wasn't inevitable that they would, they would crash. That was obviously an accident that they didn't wanna have happen.

Um, alright, Sergeant Willand again. Um, just another quote here. The owner asked, Hey, just for the sake of not just the business, but the industry, you know, can they scale it back just a little bit? So that's what I asked them to do. He's telling his officers what a great job he did. Um, so there was an internal investigation at the high based on this, at the Ohio, Ohio State Patrol, um, office offices, but it didn't talk about the First Amendment.

Instead, they, they, these, these officers received coun informal counseling for using unprofessional language. Yeah, unprofessional language. Like a great, like, uh, telling people not to film, and for muting or turning off their body cameras. Uh, so we didn't even get full body camera, uh, uh, footage.

Um, one of the, one, this guy from Ohio State Highway Patrol's public affairs units, said these requests... said directly to Sentient, so they knew that they were talking to the press. These requests are made solely out of consideration for the public and those directly affected. Well, who do we mean directly affected?

Like, uh, maybe not the pigs. Not as restrictions on press freedoms, nor as directive orders to the media. Uh, yeah. Right. The public, the public doesn't wanna know, so we shouldn't tell them. Apparently, I mean, apparently. That's the point they're trying to make. Um, all right, another one. Uh, this is a different, uh, incident I think. As the emergency crew prepares to kill the injured pigs later that morning.

So, you know, there was a, the, the truck crash, some of the pigs, uh, died, but some of them were injured. So the fire chief, who was one of the responders, raised concerns about the media witnessing the process with state troopers. Quote, our guys that are gonna do the hog work. Hog work being, I guess it's the, um, it's the fire department that somehow got the great job of killing the pigs, which they call hog work.

Our guys that are gonna do the hog work would like not to not necessarily have the news media in range of them having to shoot a bunch of hogs. I already ran them off once, he says. A state trooper agrees to position their vehicle, so the media can't even see it as the emergency crew euthanizes the injured pigs.

Um, and the same incident as they prepare to pull dead pigs from the wreckage, the sheriff informs an officer about the plan to use trailers to block... this, this is the sheriff to block the view and voice his concerns about quote unquote PETA people catching wind of it. The footage also shows an officer saying the sheriff didn't want any photographs taken because quote, the animal rights people would quote, have a cow.

Yeah. Uh, I, I can't even, there's nothing to say. Great reporting, great work from Animal Partisan. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. They're just hand in glove. Alright, I, I am just gonna mention this article. It's stupid. Um, it's from the New York Post, but I really, really loved the headline. Animal rights loons are quietly winning, in caps, their wacko war on pet stores.

So this is this article about eight states now ban retail sales of dogs, cats, and rabbits. There are also many local, uh, laws like that. And, uh, this article obviously think this is terrible. The only person they seem to have, well, maybe not the only person, but the main source of information for the, this article was Alyssa Miller Hurley, who is a lobbyist for, for the pet industry. Uh, good source. Um, she, but according to Alyssa, they don't, most pet stores don't sell abused puppies. Well, there's a reliable source for you. Business owners know you can't survive if you're providing a bad product. If that were... if that were the truth, everything would be very different.

Um, and she says that this hasn't cut down on the number of, of, of puppy mills. That's probably true. And so by their own measurements, these bans aren't successful. And, you know, these bans aren't good enough on, on their own. I agree. Like, like people can still, uh, breed puppies, people can still buy puppies.

Some states you can still buy them online. Like it, it is a, maybe a first step, but hardly resolving the whole issue. And, and they point on that and, and point out that there's already laws against animal abuse and neglect. Enforce that. Don't pass new laws. Well, oh, that would be nice, wouldn't it? Yeah.

Well, why don't we do that first? Uh, or why don't I, I guess their theory is we should wait for that to happen and, and not do anything else because, you know, all we have to do is tell them, enforce the laws that protect animals from unnecessary suffering. Yeah, that would be nice. All right, finally, the unending story.

The absolutely unending story of, um, the EU and their, their, uh, the banning of terms like burger and sausage for plant-based alternatives. This is from Vegconomist and, uh, you've probably heard this, the European, but you probably don't know what it means. And if you do, you're ahead of me because I keep hearing these stories, i, I've said this before and I keep not understanding enough about EU law to, um, European Union law to understand what it means. But the, the parliament, the European Parliament, voted to prohibit the use of traditional meat related terms for plant-based products. Uh, it was 355 to 247 with 30 abstentions, and it bans like burger.

You can't even use burger. Like the term veggie burger is not established in the lexicon? Sausage, bacon, and steak, um, to label vegetarian, vegan foods. They've already done stuff on milk products so that they're not in here. And, you know, the, the, uh, the, I don't think this is it. I think there's more steps.

There are a lot of steps to passing laws in the EU and I don't understand what they all are, but this is pretty close to it. And, you know, the whole, uh, the whole theory here is that, uh, what that they like to say is that it's confusing to consumers, which it's not. We know it's not. There's been plenty of research done showing that it's not, the things are labeled adequately to make sure that it's not. They could require even more emphatic labels if they wanted to.

No, the real, um, the real point is that they think it's going to harm the plant-based industry. You know what? I don't think it's going to at all. And that's it for this week's Rising Anxieties. Thank you so much for joining me today. And don't forget to tune into our other podcasts, The Hen Report, and the Our Hen House interview.

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