Factory Farm Fallout: Ridglan, Rotten Litter, and Flies Bred By Your Tax Dollars | Rising Anxieties

I'm gonna turn this light on. Is that better? I don't know.

Uh, so don't forget, we're a podcast, we're on YouTube. Please subscribe and hit like wherever you listen. And, uh, I'm gonna start out by talking about something that I think is worrying all of us, and that's Ridglan. And of course, the big Ridglan rescue was this past weekend and it turned out not to be a rescue.

It turned out to be a very, very upsetting incident between many, many activists who went to Wisconsin to participate and hopefully rescue at least some of the 2000 dogs being held by this, uh, by this outfit. And, uh, they were met with really a very, a very overwhelming and violent response and, and a lot of people are really upset about it.

I don't have any inside information, so I'm not gonna talk about it in any kind of detail. Uh, I know what anybody else knows. I will say that the New York Times article was good. Uh, the reporting so far, I mean the, the USA Today article, I thought was, eh. They, they, they mostly talked about, uh, the only thing wrong being done wrong to these dogs with cherry eye surgeries that didn't explain what that was. It's absolutely, those are horrifying and there's plenty else wrong.

But still, from what I hear, the press has been really on the side of the animals, which is. Which that's a good thing. Um, and I think most of this is still to play out. People have been arrested. That was inevitable. I think. Uh, and people are being charged.

There's some talk of the FBI being involved. The huge part of open rescues happens after the rescue. It's the legal stuff and whether that is going to be a positive development or a disaster, we just don't know yet. So that's where I am. Like I said, I don't have any inside information, so I'm not gonna like just sit here and opine about it.

Um, but I didn't wanna, I didn't wanna let the moment go by without at least talking about it. I did get, um, one article that I wanted to talk about in Rising Anxieties. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the article 'cause I would've had to pay for it and I didn't wanna, it was from the Boston Globe, which has a paywall.

I couldn't get the article otherwise, but I think the headline tells the whole thing. This is from, um, listener Eric Robinson. She was Timeout Market's only vegan vendor, now she's leaving after being asked to serve dairy. Like, come on. Apparently Timeout Market is this, you know, one of these places, um, that has like a lot of different vendors and they've been a little, they, they recently got a new owner.

They were a little on the rocks financially, I think. So, uh, and so they req this is this place, um, Lulu's, same name as my dog, um, Lulu Green. And, uh, their new management asked her to serve dairy milk. Like, come on. You know, this is, it's a problem when we try to be flexible in our communication, so we, so we create the big tent that we're all talking about and, and invite people in and don't act really rigid, but they don't understand that that doesn't mean that we're gonna serve animal milk.

Like I'm really, I feel really sorry for this woman. Apparently it was a great stand. I would've gone to it if I had been in Boston. And, um, as Eric said, this really raised his blood pressure. It does... hope it doesn't mine 'cause mine is pretty high to start off with. Uh, but yeah. God, it sucks.

All right then. But I have a few good things to talk about. Um, one is, uh, this is an article from Sentient Media. This is so interesting, I think. Um, this is by their writer, Seth Milstein. Um, Picture This Pig diners shift from selecting meat on the menu. And this is about a study done at Yale. Um, and, they went around to, uh, these, uh... or they did a, they, they did a, a study, I'm sorry, I, I lost my notes for a second, but they did this study of university students, staff, and visitors. So they're at cafeterias and they give them exact same information about the food and, um, and, uh, they just, the only difference is that there's a meat dish and, um, next to the meat dish they put a picture of the animal.

And from what I can tell from this article, it wasn't a, you know, a horrible picture of the animal, like the animal suffering. It was just a picture of the animal and the, the number of, um, people ordering the vegetarian dishes went 22% higher. That's like unbelievable. Like if we could just come up with ways, and this is one way, to remind people that meat is made out of animals 'cause apparently people can't keep that in their head.

So like it's, apparently this is very hard information to absorb and they, you know, if we can just do that, uh, we could drop their meat consumption by 22%. Wow. So this is, you know, a nudge, um, effect. Uh, and we'll be hearing more, we're hearing more and more of those. And, you know, just kind of, you know, things like Greener By Default, uh, are, are like coming up with ways to like ease people, not mandate people, not, um, force people, but ease people into, uh, into eating fewer animals. 22%. It's crazy.

Um, all right. Cancer rates are higher near factory farms. This is also from Sentient Media. And this is something that should be raising people's anxieties. I don't know whether it is, but this is pretty overwhelming evidence In California, Texas, and Iowa, cancer rates are four to 8% higher in areas with more industrial animal agriculture. I know you're not surprised, but still to have that kind of firm number, and that's a lot.

I mean up to 8% just because, uh, they're in these areas. Iowa, of course, is, you know, the queen of factory farming. And, um, a recent report from the Iowa Environmental Council and Harkin Institute found that high levels of environmental contaminants, including nitrates, are linked to cancer risk and are ubiquitous across Iowa.

What a shocker. Uh, and the state has the second highest and fastest rising cancer rate in the United States. This is such a disgrace. It's really such a disgrace. Like these people, even the vegans are getting cancer, I'm sure, because there's no way to escape this.

It's especially tricky in rural counties. Um, says this, uh, this one of the directors of the Environmental Working Group. Um, it's especially tricky in rural counties to si tie something specific to increased rates of cancer because we know rural counties oftentimes have less preventative healthcare, lower incomes, higher age, but still they could compare them to other, uh, rural counties.

And, um, so, so, I mean, this is the kinda information that I really think does, does, does get through to people, so I hope it does. I'll just close with this quote from Dr. Naman Shah, who's an epidemiologist in LA at the Department of Public Health. The more and more we learn about the health impacts of these businesses, we need a change in regulatory code that really centers the public health responsibility, which is about protecting the population in nearby communities. Compared to where it's traditionally been with the Department of Agriculture, which has just a very different mandate, including promotion of the industry. I think that says it all. The, like the, the regulation of these industries has to be at least partly within the departments of public health. Because they're public health hazards. Um, alright.

Spring births. You'll be glad to hear there's all these births going on, on factory farms. Uh, or no, you wouldn't. I just, I really, um, it's just one of these stupid articles from Hoards, uh, Hoards Dairy, whatever they're called. Um, and this is mostly about how all the cute animals are on the, the farm. It's a dairy farm mostly, but they have other animals as well. And then talking about how dairy cows have, have calves all year round. So the article doesn't really have anything to do with the spring births, but this is by Molly Indie Schmidt.

Regardless, she says, of when they're born or how many come at a given day, farmers of all kinds are dedicated to nurturing young livestock and getting them the care they need from the moment they arrive... which is when they take them away from their mothers. She doesn't say that part.

Being caretakers for such vulnerable beings is both challenging and rewarding with its own set of highs and lows. And then there's this picture of this just... I like, I mean, baby animals are pretty cute. This little calf, he has a big ugly tag in his ear. He's number 2604, and he is with, um, he's in a, a very nice place. It's got a lot of hay with some other calves and not with his mother.

And you know, the thing we have to advocate. Is that they believe their own nonsense, most of them. Some of... you know this is a lot of things of what we're, we're finding out so much more about human nature in our current political crisis. And, um, one of the things is, is that people believe themselves. You know, when we're, I think that's a really important thing when we're communicating.

Alright, let's talk about disease. 'cause it's always one of my favorite topics. Um, border remains closed. Sterile fly production facility groundbreaking next step in screw worm fight. This is from Drovers. Um, this is about your tax money, $750 million worth of it, um, that built a, a facility in Texas to breed flies that are sterile. Aren't you glad about your tax money at work? Well, at least nobody's stealing it. Oh, I guess that's sort of stealing it. Um, so that's what they're, that's what they're doing.

They're still completely panicked about, um, New World Screwworm, which is in Mexico within 200 miles of the border and getting closer all the time. And they think that these sterile flies, that this is the answer that, um, you know, when they breed that because they're sterile, when they breed, they, there won't be more flies being produced and that's gonna stop everything.

God knows the things you have to learn about when you start caring about animals is really just disturbing, deeply disturbing. So, uh, they're not open. There was a lot of rumors that they were gonna open the border to Mexican cattle, they're not. Apparently not that relaxed about it, but they think this is gonna fix everything.

Hundreds of millions of dollars to breed sterile flies. That's, that's how, that's the world you live in. All right. Another disease case. Another disease article. This is by Jennifer Shiek from, um, uh, Pork Business. Foot and Mouth Disease, or Seneca Virus A? Why Swine Producers Can't Afford a Mixup.

Apparently, this is a new, this is a new one on me, Seneca Virus A. And it doesn't say exactly, it's like, kind of says what the symptoms are, but it doesn't say how serious it is. But apparently it's not nearly as serious as foot and mouth disease, which, you know, you have to, it is just really, really dire. Um, so, but apparently there's now a Seneca virus A spreading around the US gaining momentum, possibly going endemic.

And you can't tell the difference between it and foot and mouth disease. And that's their big problem because they have to really respond more vigorously to foot and mouth disease. Both viruses, they, both viruses, these are the symptoms, cause vesicular lesions on the snout, mouth, and coronary bands often resulting in sudden lameness.

Fuck you, just fuck you. Like, like these are living creatures that are suffering this and you don't care at all, except that it might be confused with foot and mouth disease, which would mean you would have to kill them all.

Um, with new foot and mouth disease serotypes emerging globally, that current vaccines cannot stop, the stakes for US biosecurity have never been higher. Like this whole industry is just sickness. It's like there's one disease after another, and all they managed to do is get taxpayers to pay enormous amounts of money to kill the animals and replace them. That's how this whole business works. You know that. I'm sorry. Um, alright.

The dangers of complacency, uh, this is what she says. While the US remains foot and mouth disease free, that's what they think, the global landscape is shifting. There is a need for more standardized surveillance of SVA that's this, uh, Seneca virus, and improved serological tests to accurately identify previously exposed or carrier animals in a population where the virus is now endemic.

All right. It's just, I don't, I won't go on. It's just one more thing and, you know, guess whose taxpayers money? It doesn't say anything about taxpayer money here, but let's face it, this is the kind of thing the USDA loves to jump in on. Um, from lawsuits to screw worms, policy uncertainty rolls downhill to producers.

This is from Drovers. All right. They're talking about screwworms, but I already talked about that. The thing I wanted to talk about here is this, 'cause this is from, um, Drovers, which is basically cattle. They, they, they talk about the cattle industry. And the thing they're really upset about is this Oklahoma's lawsuit that's been going on apparently for 20 years, has to do with poultry litter.

You know, when they talk about litter, they, you know how you buy cat litter and then after the cats, after you use it, it's disgusting. Well, when they're talking about poultry litter, they're talking about whatever they put underneath the, the chickens. But they're talking you about it after the chickens have been pooping and peeing on it like for really a long time. Much worse than your cat litter, I'm sure, unless you're very irresponsible.

Um, alright. Whether it's a 20 year lawsuit over poultry litter in Oklahoma, the National Cattleman's Beef Association's Ethan Lane sees the same pattern as he does with Screwworm. The burden eventually falls on cattle producers.

These people are the ultimate victims. They really do always see themselves as victims, like cattle producers aren't making any money. Um, all right, so this lawsuit, as I said, has been going on for 20 years. And there was a settlement, um, not too long ago a negotiated set, a proposed settlement, but the courts have to oversee settlements.

And so the state of Oklahoma tried to settle with, um, Tyson Foods about this, uh, the application of chicken litter, which means dumping chicken feces and, and urine into, uh, The Illinois River Watershed. Um, and they got in trouble for it, and, um, they, they've been litigating it for, for 20 years. I don't know what's gone on for all those 20 years, I'm sure it's been back and forth a number of times.

And, uh, and, uh, these are cattle producers who were really upset because the court when asked to oversee the settlement said, uh, uh, that is not good enough. Good for the court. The state of Oklahoma was willing to go along with it, but the court said, no, we have to do a better job here. And this is not in accordance with the law.

And it has to do a lot with these nutrient management plans, which, you know, is one of the major ways that, um, factory farm pollution is, uh, regulated. And, and, um, so according to this, uh, article, If a state can settle in a way that undermines nmps, nutrient management plans, it sends a message that even when producers quote, check all the boxes, they can still have the rug pulled out from underneath them in federal court.

Yeah, I bet they're checking all the boxes. Uh, yeah, they're. Uh, and I think it's really interesting that, um, it's the cattle producers who are worried about this lawsuit because, you know, one of the things that all of these industries have to deal with is shit and really, really a lot of it. And it's getting more and more and more dangerous for everybody.

So, uh, yeah, they're anxious about it. I'm glad. Um, and, uh, I mean, I'm glad they're anxious, not glad for all the reasons they're anxious. And I guess that's it for this week's Rising Anxieties. And, uh, thanks for tuning in, that's what I'm supposed to say. Don't forget to subscribe, like, and comment on your favorite pod catcher or on YouTube and tune into The Hen Report and The Our Hen House interview. Last Friday's interview was really wonderful. I really suggest you listen to it. Uh, it was with Jordi Casamitjana, he's an activist in the UK. This coming Friday will be an Animal Law Podcast about some new developments with the Endangered Species Act, with Noah Greenwalt of the Center for Biological Diversity.

So this was a really good conversation. So, thanks for tuning in. Don't forget to tune into everything else.