Ostrich Executions & Selective Outrage | Rising Anxieties

Uh, before I get to that, or just please remember to subscribe either wherever you listen to the podcast or on YouTube or any place else you can think of just subscribe.

Uh, and, and our first story today is something that you've probably heard about. There's, it's been all over the news. It's insane story. I'm not even sure whose anxieties are rising, but there's something so intensely telling about, about the passions that people bring to this story and how confusing it all is.

It's the ostrich story, the Canadian ostrich story. Canada culls hundreds of ostriches as a court and a Kennedy fail to save them. This is, I, there's a million articles about this, but I, I, this is the one from The New York Times. Uh, this is about this ostrich farm, uh, Universal Ostrich Farms in British Columbia and where apparently the, the, I don't know whether the ostrich had avian flu, but they were definitely exposed to avian flu. And, uh, it was, it's this huge big deal and there are people camping out trying to save these ostriches.

Apparently, uh, it all went all the way up to the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court refused to hear it. Um, at some point RFK Junior tried to intervene. Like, what's going on here? The, the, you know, it's con, it's a little confusing as to exactly what this place does with the, uh, the ostriches. And apparently before the pandemic, they were in the business of raising ostriches, I guess, for food and, and apparently from this oil that you get from their liver, which really all sounds charming and one wonders why everybody is worried about the ostriches.

But apparently during the pandemic they stopped that. And according to The Times since then, they've been collaborating with researchers on studying ostrich antibodies while continuing some sales of ostrich products. What? Is the, is there money in researching ostrich antibody? I, I really don't know. I mean, I'm not, I I, I'm not gonna pretend to know.

Sounds like The Times didn't know either. Some sales of ostrich, are they selling these ostriches or not? Apparently though the, the thing that's so weird about it is that people actually are devastated that these ostriches are being killed. Do they know that we kill hundreds of millions of birds because of avian influenza and nobody gives it a second thought?

And we kill them in the most horrific ways, and there's no lawsuits, and RFK Junior doesn't get involved. Dr. Oz also got involved here. He offered to relocate the birds to his ranch in Florida. Like, don't, doesn't Florida have rules about avian influenza? Like, like what is going on here? It's just the craziest story, but people...

You know, but it's really very sad. 'cause all these hostages were actually killed. They were actually shot to death. I don't think it was some kind of mad house with people like randomly shooting. It was more like some kind of controlled kill or something. I don't know. I don't know. That's not the normal way you kill them.

I don't know. I, but they said that was the best way to do it. It, it's a horrible story and I don't wanna sound like I don't care about these ostriches 'cause it's disgusting, but it's so confusing. You know? It's like, it's just, it's just confusing. The, the woman's daughter said, uh, My mom just lost everything. She lost everything in one night of gunfire.

So really a little bit more worried about the farmer than the ostriches, but, you know. Is it really... I don't wanna say that this is just about, you know, anti-government like stuff, because I think it is sort of about the animals, but the animals only enter into it when people allow them to, when it's convenient.

It's very similar to that squirrel story that was so big, um, a while back. All right, our second story, uh, it's also cheerful. Slaughterhouses harbor antibiotic resistant bacteria that give people urinary tract infections. A growing body of evidence, links antibiotic overuse in meat production to infections in humans.

And do not think that just because you don't eat meat, that this means that you are not gonna get one of these UTIs. Because apparently, though the people who work in the slaughterhouses are much more vulnerable here, it doesn't, I mean, they can also carry these, these, these bacteria to other places. And apparently this is the, um, this is a particular bacteria that is the most common cause of, of UTIs. And uh, you know, I don't know whether you've had a UTI, but it ain't no fun, that's for sure.

Alright, the first, uh, stor, the first, this was. This article is in Sentient Media, and it, it's reporting on two studies that have shown this, this link between slaughterhouses and UTIs. Um, and, uh, one is in Turkey, so of course everybody in the US in the industry in the US will say, well, that doesn't have anything to do with us. 'cause we're totally different than Turkey. Um, and it, it involves this, this, it's a type of e coli. It has a long name, which I won't even say its abbreviation is ExPEC, and it is the strain of e coli that is the leading cause of UTIs.

And, um, all right, so in this slaughterhouse, one quarter of all workers' hands tested positive for ExPEC, like holy shit. And then there was another study, and this one was in Southern California and so apparently they won't be able to claim this doesn't have anything to do with the US. And it, it found that food animals were the likely source of 18% of antimicrobial resistant UTIs in patients.

So not in slaughterhouse, not the people in the slaughterhouse, but in patients sampled in, uh, in Southern California. Uh, so yeah, if you're, if next time you get a UTI, God forbid, I hope it doesn't happen. Um, you know, you know who to, who to blame. Uh, and. Just to, to, to show that, uh, I'm, I'm apolitical here.

Not really apolitical. This is lar, well, not largely due, but one of the things that they do mention here that is a big problem was, uh, under the former administration, under Biden's administration, uh, which, and of course, you know, the Democrats aren't any better than, than the Republicans on slaughter, that's for sure. Or on the whole meat industry.

Uh, they, it was pressure from the US government, the Biden administration specifically, that weakened the global commitments to tackle antimicrobial resistance. And there was gonna be this UN political declaration and, uh, and there, there were specific goals to, uh, to reduce, cut the quantity of antimicrobials.

You know, the, which is... the antimicrobials are the reason that these drug resistant bacteria develop. Um, they were gonna try to cut them by at least 30% and they, they changed that to, they, they promised to meaningfully reduce them. God forbid we should put a number on it. All right. Let's see what else we have for you here.

Oh, this. This is the real anxieties rising article of, of, of the week, I think. Herd dynamics, do cows really have a best friend? This is by Michelle Miller, the Farm Babe on Ag Daily. And uh, she starts out by saying, you've probably noticed that when you watch a herd of cows, they all tend to stay near each other. Maybe you've thought to yourself, it looks like they're actually friends. This may have some truth to it.

And why wouldn't it? What do you mean? Like, does this surprise anybody that cows or any other animals would like know each other? Uh, alright. Understanding the social life of cows isn't just fun. I'm glad that, you know, the people who are looking at animals in agriculture are having fun. That's really great. Um, but it's an important part of animal welfare and can greatly help farmers and ranchers keep their herd healthy and low stress. Uh, and she cites this study, study from 2013, which points out among other things that younger animals had the most relationships, while older animals tended to rely less on social bonds.

Um, and the friendships between cattle tended to be short-lived, and then she goes to this whole description of how the older cows, um, might have been influenced by the fact that they have been, uh, regrouped a number of times. So all of their friends were taken away from them and then they were stuck with new cows.

And, uh, that would like, kind of discouraged me from forming friendship, close friendships if I was constantly losing, uh, the friends that I had made. So as cattle age and they experience this kind of regrouping, their friendships tend to disappear, and cattle are more likely to only have weak associations to one another.

I mean, what, like, what do they think is going on here? Does it occur to them that that's exactly how it would work in humans? No, it does not. I can assure you. Um, and, uh, regrouping increases stress and disrupts social networks. It, it disrupts their social networks if you take them from the cows that they know and put them with totally different... how could that not disrupt their... that is their social network.

Oh, and, and she, of course, she points out that, that the regrouping, uh, can cause stress, which can have negative impacts on health and production, 'cause that's what we're really talking about here. And, um, and, and she goes on about it for a while and then, then she, she realizes she might've overdone it because she says there is a fine line to be addressed here.

It might sound great to hear that cows have friends and keeping their friend groups together reduces stress, but we can't compare cows to humans. And I would ask, why not? Like, why? Like, doesn't it sound just like humans? Isn't there a possibility that there would be a... no. Cows having quote quote, friends that reduce their stress is not the same as a best friend?

Like, how the hell do you know? Like!

Realistically, cows have preferred associates. Oh, we're calling now that we're calling them preferred associates rather than friends. Those that they spend more time near eat next to and groom with. Reduced stress is not the same as quote, having close friends and loving each other Well, yeah, it is.

Why do these, like, you know, I'm asking why they think that, that animals are so different than we are, but of course because they're financially invested in believing that. Um, and, uh, she points out the cows have preferred companions, but their health and production is not directly tied to their social bonds. So don't worry too much if you're disrupting them, I guess is the point there.

At the end of the day, yes, cows have best friends, but in a way that is appropriate to cows. It is not the same as human best friends. Their associations are often stronger at a young age and among cows that are similar to them in age and life stage. That sounds pretty similar to humans to me. Wow.

The knots these people have to tie themselves into to not see that animals are real and have real lives and emotions. Unbelievable. All right. This is just, uh, this is a quick one, just, it's just gross, so I thought I would share it. This is from Watt Poultry by Meredith Dawson. Turkey shaped chicken nuggets, a poultry conundrum.

Tyson's limited, limited time holiday offering is targeted families looking for a kid friendly Thanksgiving dish. So they took ground up bodies of dead chickens and put it in, made it into turkey shapes to celebrate thanksgiving. And this is the world that you live in, and I'm sorry to tell you that. I'm sorry.

She does point out that there's something odd about this. Uh, yeah, there is. And, and, uh, gave her cognitive conflict because it, it was chicken, but it was shaped like a turkey. And it's a holiday that's supposed to be about turkey, and it creates an interesting dynamic. These people are psychotic.

All right. Oh, we have a story by Hannah Thompson-Weiman. I don't wanna dwell on this. She's talking about Zoe Rosenberg and the conviction, um, that, you know, I'm sure, I'm sure that you've already heard about, um, in the Direct Action Everywhere open rescue case. And, uh, you know, she... this is just annoying.

Um, is this on Meating Place. Last week's conviction of Direct Action Everywhere activist Zoe Rosenberg should serve as a clear reminder, passion does not place anyone above the law. I'm kind of glad she talks about passion 'cause usually they just like act like we're, we're expressing evil or something.

But she does recognize that, that it involves emotion. And, um, she points out that the jury didn't have to deliberate for very long. And, and that, that really says a lot because in spite of the emotional arguments, the juries were able to quickly cut through the rhetoric, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Laws cannot be bent or ignored because of extreme ideologies or personal moral codes. Of course, what we don't mention here, she does mention that the argument was that they were acting out of necessity to prevent animal suffering. But when individuals break into secure facilities, they endanger the very animals they claim to protect.

Well, if there had been an actual argument on necessity, which is a defense in the law, you know, basically you do something that is necessary to present an even that would be illegal only it's necessary to prevent an even greater harm. And, um, and, uh, if, if that had been an issue there, then the jury could have decided whether the harm of, um, breaking into the facility, you know, there could be evidence brought about what the facility was like and what kind of security protocols they have and what kind of cleanliness protocols they have.

And then the, the then weigh that against saving these four chickens and, and, and that would be an argument. However, that was not an argument at trial because they, they were prohibited from bringing a necessity defense, which is a defense in the law and is a defense in California law, but the judge held it can't apply if the thing that you were doing, that you were saying was necessary, is to save an animal.

Like for no reason whatsoever other than to, other than to make sure that there would be a conviction in this case. I mean, it was absolutely a reprehensible decision by the court. Of course, Hannah doesn't mention that.

Oh, alright. Finally, I, you know, I'm not gonna go into this article in any kind of, um, detail, but I had to kind of mention it. This is from Meat and Poultry. President Trump calls for DOJ investigation into meat packing plants and apparently, uh, the president, um, has made accusations that the meat companies, I guess those are the slaughterhouses, uh, are raising the beef prices.

And he wants an investigation begun for price fixing and illicit collusion. And, uh, and he also mentioned we will always protect our American ranchers. Uh, and, and so he's on the side of the ranchers. He's against the slaughterhouses and the slaughter industry. I don't know exactly where the feedlots fit into this.

And I, I mean, you know how it is, like he'll be onto some other issue tomorrow and, and I'm not, I'm not gonna figure all of this out unless it really turns into something. But I just love when they're pitted against each other. It just makes me happy. And I, you know, I mean, the price of beef from what I've heard, is really, really high, and that's a really good thing.

Um, though it doesn't seem to be stopping anybody from eating it. Uh, even though people's, they're apparently like feeling bad about the economy... I don't understand people. I think you've already figured that out. And, uh, you know, that, that I guess is why we're anxious all the time.

'Cause it's really hard to understand why anybody does what they do when it comes to animals. But I do like to hear about the, the industry being pitted against each other. So thank you President Trump. Um, all right, before I let you go, I have to mention that we're doing our annual fundraising, and this is the time of year when we raise money for, uh, the entire year.

And, you know, as you know probably, we've been doing this for 15 years and every year we have to go through this where we have to raise the money and, and it's absolutely crucial. Like we, this year we have a triple match. So any money we, we receive between now and the end of the year, we will receive triple that. So if you donate a dollar, we'll get three, which is a really, really great thing. So if you're gonna donate, donate now. And I do understand that it's a weird time and I've heard of a couple of people who have lost their jobs of late and it's, it's, it's a little scary it, so I totally understand if that's not possible.

But if you can donate anything, we appreciated. If you can join the flock, we would love that 'cause we love flock members and you just go to ourhenhouse.org/support and that would really help us out. Thank you so much.