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It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use!  »

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay, Paul! Yay, Animals!

Still happy about the Tennessee governor’s veto of his state’s ag-gag bill? So is the state’s largest paper, which editorialized this week that “On every level, ‘ag gag’ was a failure” and that “the legislation was built upon a lie.”

The new ag-gag battle is in North Carolina, where a bill is pending in the state legislature. You can read the HSUS state director’s op-ed on the issue.

You knew that foie gras production was terrible for the birds. Do you know how the farm workers are treated? Here’s the Financial Times’ coverage of the issue.

Ever wonder about the guy behind most of the attacks on HSUS? The Boston Globe had a major front-page exposé on meat industry frontman Rick Berman (of the so-called “Center for Consumer Freedom”) and his campaign against HSUS. Appropriately, the piece is entitled, “Washington’s robust market for attacks, half-truths.”

And on the polar opposite end of the spectrum, Peter Singer has a great new TED talk on effective altruism that’s worth your time.

P.S. Video of the week:

The most inefficient—and cutest—way a cat has ever drunk water.

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use!  »

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay, Paul! Yay, Animals!

Want some awesome news? We passed a gestation crate ban bill in New Jersey this week! It’s now on Gov. Christie’s desk awaiting signature or veto. Of course the pork industry is lobbying for the latter.

The pork (and beef) industry is also lobbying aggressively to kill federal legislation to ban barren battery cages for laying hens as well as require battery egg cartons to be labeled as “eggs from caged hens.”  And speaking of Congress, Rep. Steve King of Iowa inserted a provision into the House version of the farm bill that, if enacted into law, would wipe out numerous laws protecting farm animals. One columnist noted in response that it’s “unknown whether Rep. King is any kin to author Stephen King, but the Iowa Congressman is more horrifying.”

As you know, the Tennessee governor admirably vetoed his state’s ag-gag bill this week, leaving North Carolina as the sole state with a major ag-gag battle occurring right now. Interestingly, famous animal scientist Temple Grandin recently remarked that “ag-gag bills are the stupidest thing that ag ever did.”

P.S. Video of the week: Ebenezer the pig is no Scrooge when it comes to loving dogs!

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use!  »

Big news in Tennessee: The state attorney general ruled yesterday the ag-gag bill is “constitutionally suspect.” The bill is still awaiting the governor’s signature or veto.

Other big news: The Pennsylvania state senator who announced he was going to introduce an ag-gag bill decided yesterday that he in fact won’t introduce it at all.

Here’s a short new Food Day blog of mine on ag-gag, and a new interview of mine on the Tampa NPR affiliate about a variety of farm animal-related matters.

Politico had a big story on the beef and pork industries’ aggressive campaign to kill federal legislation to ban barren battery cages for egg-laying hens. One agribusiness spokesperson quoted in the piece says they oppose the bill so strongly that they’d fight to kill the entire farm bill (which gives them massive subsidies) if the legislation to improve laying hen welfare were included in the bill.

On a more optimistic note, meat giant Tyson Foods reported a 42 percent drop in net income this quarter…

Video of the week: Ever seen a pig and cat play cat and mouse?

Can’t see the video? Watch it on Vegansaurus.com!

Bonus article: If you’re as psyched about the cicadas as I am, enjoy!

Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use!  »

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay, Paul! Yay, Animals!

First, some good news in our campaign to eradicate gestation crates from pork production: The top eight grocers in Canada (including Walmart Canada) committed to phase out gestation crates. This led one ag reporter to editorialize, “It seems to me like you might as well stick a fork in its butt and turn it over: the gestation stall debate is done.”

Now, some more good news: The Indiana ag-gag bill was killed this week.

I had a new op-ed on CNN.com this week about ag-gag bills that you may want to check out. Also, you may be interested in another new piece of mine (this one on Huffington Post) about the pork industry’s Orwellian name game. And I was glad to do an interview on HuffPost Live this week.

In Tennessee, the ag-gag bill’s sponsor, pork producer state Rep. Andy Holt, created headlines when he sent an email to my coworker comparing HSUS’s cruelty exposés to rape and human trafficking, even calling our work “tape and rape.” There was a lot of attention on this repulsive comparison, but this one

The Tennessee governor is still deciding whether to sign or veto the ag-gag bill. In the meantime, more than 300 Tennessee clergy members sent a letter to him urging a veto.

A woman was arrested in Utah this week for taking photos of a slaughter plant from public property, though the charges were subsequently dropped, leading the Salt Lake Tribune to editorialize that it’s an “ag-gag backfire.”

A new ag-gag bill was introduced in Pennsylvania this week, and the Wayne Independent is the first paper in the state to editorialize against it, asserting that it “goes against everything this country has stood for since its inception.”

Finally, you’ve heard of schools doing Meatless Mondays, but have you heard of them going all-vegetarian? Now you have. Perhaps that’s no surprise, especially considering that a new Consumer Reports study found 90 percent of retail turkey samples contain dangerous bacteria. Whatever the reason may be, meat-free eating is catching on in a major way. As one AP article this week proclaimed: “Vegetarian cooking goes mainstream.”

P.S. Video of the week: Cat loves vacuum

P.P.S. Too fascinating not to share: With smoking declining, U.S. tobacco growers are turning to growing chick peas to supply the increasing demand for hummus. Apparently the invisible hand of the free market is working==and it likes to dip veggies in hummus.

Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use!  »

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay, Paul! Yay, Animals

Another big week: Ellen DeGeneres had Wayne Pacelle on her show to talk about the ag-gag fight, while we waged a full court press urging Tennessee’s governor to veto the ag-gag bill now on his desk that would essentially ban whistleblowing exposés of animal cruelty. You can see the new TV ad HSUS is running, along with significant other efforts we’re putting into the state, leading to coverage noting that “never has Gov. Bill Haslam received so much communication on a single issue.”

Nearly every major newspaper in Tennessee is urging Gov. Haslam to veto the bill. The Tennessean decried it as “despicable and unconstitutional.” The Daily News Journal called the bill “ridiculous, immature and idiotic.” The News-Sentinel also put it bluntly, ridiculing the legislation as a “mendacious and despicable measure.”

The ACLU is now getting more involved in the ag-gag battle, including in Tennessee. Meanwhile, in Indiana, the state’s ag-gag bill advanced further in the legislative process, leading the Indianapolis Star to editorialize against the bill, calling it “extremely misguided.”

Here’s a new interview of mine on the ag-gag issue and other farm animal protection topics.

Finally, legislation to ban barren battery cages for laying hens and require battery cage egg cartons to be labeled as “eggs from caged hens” wasre-introduced in the Congress this week, enjoying support from a wide array of animal protection groups and the egg industry’s trade association, though still opposed by nearly every national meat and dairy trade group.

P.S. Video of the week: And the lion shall lay down with the lamb …

P.P.S. New resources of the week: A new HSUS Earth Day-themed Meatless Monday infographic, and a new site by some friends of mine you may be interested in checking out!

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use!  »

I was glad to do a live debate on CNN this week against the Animal Agriculture Alliance regarding their effort to suppress animal cruelty whistleblowers. Check it out.

Speaking of the ag-gag bills, we killed California’s pending bill this week, though regrettably Tennessee’s bill advanced with literally no votes to spare, despite overwhelming opposition from the state’s press, including The Tennessean editorial board.  As well, Tennessee native Carrie Underwood is appealing to her state’s governor to veto the bill. If you have friends in the state, please send them this link!

The same folks who want to silence exposés of animal cruelty also want to keep Americans in the dark about food safety problems in the meat industry. Why? I’ll let yesterday’s Washington Post headline sum it up for you: “Shocking rates of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in supermarket meats.”

Finally, I’ve got an op-ed in several Northern California papers today about the connection between Earth Day and the need to reduce meat consumption.

Video of the week: You think your dog likes to chase bikes? Nice try.

Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use  »

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay, Paul! Yay, Animals!

Big week, so buckle up!

First, the Sunday New York Times had a cover feature about the meat industry’s efforts to ban investigations by HSUS and fellow animal protection groups. It even included a full-color HSUS photo of a crated pig on A1 of the paper. As well, the NYT editorial board condemned the industry’s effort, noting “the ag-gag laws guarantee one thing for certain: increased distrust of American farmers.”

(Another interesting NYT story)

Speaking of pigs, remember last year’s major HSUS investigation into a then-Tyson supplier gestation crate confinement facility? Well, we announced this week that several of the people caught on the video were convicted of criminal animal cruelty.

Finally, I did a half-hour segment on Miami’s NPR affiliate this week about the need to reduce per capita rates of meat consumption.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Video of the week

P.P.S. Live in Mass? Hope to see you Sunday!

Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use!  »

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay, Paul! Yay, Animals!

Ever wonder what’s going on in the heads of animal factory operators? Perhaps some rocks in there? I offer some thoughts in a new piece this week. (And so does the CEO foodservice company Bon Appetit Management Co.)

Speaking of, Tim Horton’s is the latest food industry giant to denounce gestation crates and commit to eliminating them.

Seen ag giant Perdue’s “humane” claims on their chicken packaging? So did we. The result? A judge this week denied Perdue’s motion to dismiss the subsequent false advertising lawsuit.

Voice of America has a compelling story out this week noting that “for the first time on record, U.S. per-capita meat consumption has declined for four consecutive years.” In the same vein, BBC News predicts that by 2050, all meat will be bioprinted rather than coming from live animals and has a one-minute 2050 futuristic news segment about it.

For the time being though, if you’d like to get some vegan fast food, Mark Bittman has a good tour in the NY Times of some of the finest.

P.S. Video of the week: Can your dog do the tricks these rats are doing? (Diving for peas is my favorite.)

P.P.S. Okay, it may not be strictly animal-related but let me abuse my editorial power and encourage you to vote for Radiolab, and if you aren’t yet a fan, you should be.

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use!  »

Take it away, Paul!

Newspaper editorial pages haven’t been kind this week to the meat industry’s legislative efforts to suppress animal cruelty whistleblowers. The SF Chronicle called the effort “the worst PR gaffe since New Coke.” The LA Times said “it should be put out of its misery and killed quickly in committee.” And a columnist for the Indianapolis Star notes that “an unnecessary bill like this one sends a loud and clear message to the worst of the worst in the agriculture business. And that message is this: Come to Indiana. We don’t care what you do.” Want to see HSUS’s full-page ad running in several Indiana papers on the same topic? Here you go.

The FDA just released results of retail meat sampling, finding that 12% of retail chicken contained salmonella, 74% of which were antibiotic-resistant to one or more antibiotics. More than three-quarters of turkey samples contained E. coli, 75% of it antibiotics-resistant.

Here’s some interesting commentary on NPR’s blog this week from a couple friends of mine about why animal advocates should be reasonable. Quite a notion! :- )

Finally, yet another major pork producer, Canada’s second-largest, announced it will end its gestation crate use, based on requests from its major customers.

Video of the week: Think cats are the only animals who like laser pointers? (Seriously, this is amazing.)

Cartoon of the week: Cat manicures. Too true.

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use!  »

It’s time for the amazing and wonderful Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! YES!! And HAPPY FRIDAY YOU GLORIOUS FOOLS!! Let’s take this weekend by the tits and make it something special!

Take it away, Paul!

Ready to have your mind blown? Check out Bill Gates’ new site promoting plant-based food companies like Hampton Creek Foods and Beyond Meat. Make sure to check out the videos, especially this one!

Did you miss this week’s ABC Nightline feature on how the meat industry wants to criminalize whistleblowers? Check out a video of the segment where the industry seriously makes fools of themselves. As well, Associated Press did a major national story on the same topic that’s really a must-read. Haven’t had enough? Then see what Raw Story says about it, too.

Okay, so you still want more on this topic? Well, editorial boards across the country have been slamming the animal ag industry for its attempt to suppress animal welfare whistleblowers. Just this week alone, papers in Indiana, California (and again in Calif.), and Tennessee have all taken the industry to task for supporting these bills.

You already know the pork industry supports locking pigs in tiny cages where they can’t turn around. Did you also know their main trade publication (Pork Magazine) is suppressing pro-animal viewpoints on the topic? Too bad for them that the New Jersey Assembly voted overwhelmingly yesterday to ban gestation crates. (The bill will now go to the governor.)

And to end your week on some promising news, USDA is granting HSUS’s petition to ban downed calves from the food chain. (This was based on HSUS’s undercover investigation of a calf slaughter plant.)

Video of the week: 12 seconds of pig and dog having as much fun as you wish you were right now!