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How the ag industry’s hate brings positive attention to HSUS, and more!  »

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

NPR had a recent important look at the vigorous efforts of the pork and beef lobbies to kill federal hen protection legislation. Amusingly, in the piece, the president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association calls HSUS “the devil.”

Speaking of what the agribusiness groups think, the always-insightful Counting Animals blog did a fascinating write-up and graphical illustration on the increasing attention the ag industry trade press is giving to our movement.

My colleague Matt Prescott’s got some sage advice on the CNN site about how folks can help reduce cruelty to farm animals. Check him out.

Expect a big fight in the Congress over Rep. Steve King’s (seriously, click through) crazy amendment that’s been added to the House ag committee version of the farm bill that would undo numerous animal protection laws.

And last but certainly far from least, since last week’s installment, even more major pork buyers have come out saying they’ll rid their supply chains of gestation crates: Sodexo, Kmart, and Heinz. And speaking of the pork industry, as if its leadership couldn’t sink to a new low, it’s now lobbying to keep pigs at greater risk of perishing in factory farm fires. Seriously.

P.S. Video of the week: Speaking of the devil, here’s some death metal for Maru the cat while he enjoys his boxes.

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

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

Wow, a lot’s happened since the last email update. Oscar Mayer, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and Baja Fresh all announced that after working with HSUS they’re going to be ending gestation crate confinement of pigs in their supply chains. The progress is so dramatic that Meatingplace magazine (a meat industry trade journal) commented, “The progression of this issue exemplifies how quickly the Humane Society of the United States can affect change.”

Even more, the Des Moines Register reported on a pork producer who wants to obtain gestation crates, but doesn’t because of “the possibility that the retailers and the Humane Society will make a crate ban stick.”

Want to know what the future holds for meat alternatives? Great guy and New Harvest founder Jason Matheny offers his insights to WorldWatch in this fascinating interview. (On a related topic, don’t miss Mark Bittman’s new NYT piece on his experience curing his illness by cutting dairy.)

And hey, there’s still hope for me to play in the NFL!

P.S. Video of the week: If I can play in the NFL, cats can play patty-cake:

Animal News You Can Use: Gestation crates are out, mini pigs are in!  »

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

Big news this week: Kroger—the nation’s largest grocery chain—announced that it wants its pork suppliers to accelerate the phase-out of gestation crates, and a Senate committee in New Jersey unanimously passed a bill to ban gestation crates. Here’s a good story about both, and the wonderful Jane Velez-Mitchell has a good op-ed on CNN.com today on why it’s time to end this cruelty.

Just yesterday, Pork Magazine (which you no doubt subscribe to) editorialized that “pork producers are fuming” at the success of our campaign against gestation crates. Boo hoo. Another industry commentator noted this week, “Sadly, the die [sic] is cast…For pork producers, it is better to switch than fight.”

Speaking of fighting, there was an important national AP story this week on the federal effort to ban barren battery cages and how a coalition of major meat/dairy trade groups are vigorously trying to kill the bill. (Have *you* called your Senators yet? If not, call 202-224-3121 and ask them to co-sponsor S 3239!)

Video of the week: Three of you independently suggested this one, so you know it’s gonna be good:

Paul Shapiro presents: Is pork the new veal?  »

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

Denny’s became the latest national food retailer to send shockwaves through the pork sector by jointly announcing with HSUS that it’s going to phase out pork from gestation crate confinement operations. Amazingly, the pork industry’s leaders still defend this archaic practice, leading to the question: Is pork becoming the new veal?

The latest HSUS gestation crate undercover investigation made headlines across the nation. While there are too many pieces to enumerate here, this Forbes story on it was particularly interesting. (And about a quarter million people have watched the video online in the first week since release.)

The NY Times’ Mark Bittman has a potent piece asserting that if you care about climate change, you really ought to be eating fewer animals. Check it out.

Video of the week: I’ve never wanted an iPad as much as now.

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

Bonus article of interest: Did you know cockroaches “form closely bonded, egalitarian societies, based on social structures and rules”? I didn’t either.

Big news: Bon Appétit is ditching gestation crates, battery cages  »

Sweet rescued egg-laying hens at Animal Place. Can’t see the video? Watch it at Vegansaurus.com!

I’ve never heard of Bon Appétit, I thought it was a magazine. But apparently it’s a cafe college food chain thing? With 400 locations. I checked out the site—it looks pretty good. But! That’s not my point! The important news is that Bon Appétit is planning to phase out suppliers that use gestation crates for pigs and battery cages for hens. Instead they want to get meat from “higher-welfare group housing systems” and eggs from cage-free farms. They are also going to ditch foie gras and veal from confined sheep.

They are pretty serious about it; From their site:

Bon Appétit will continue to work with the most responsible meat and poultry producers to pursue Animal Welfare Approved, Food Alliance, Humane Farm Animal Care or Global Animal Partnership certification of their animal welfare practices. These four programs have standards that not only prohibit such cruel practices as gestation crates and battery cages, but also require animals to be allowed to engage in their natural behaviors.

So it’s not just adding a few inches to their cages.

Fedele Bauccio, a cofounder of Bon Appétit, seems like an interesting dude:

“I have never forgotten the terrible things I saw when touring factory farms,” said Fedele Bauccio, cofounder and CEO of Bon Appétit Management Company. From 2006 to 2008 Bauccio served on the prestigious Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, which issued a landmark report calling for an end to gestation crate, battery cage, and veal crate confinement of farm animals.

“We’ve been asking the industry to do the right thing, but we can’t wait anymore,” Bauccio said. “We have to send the message that these practices are unacceptable. If the supply doesn’t catch up by our deadline, we’ll do what we have to — even if that means cutting back on bacon.”

Cutting back on bacon?! That’s un-American!

The Humane Society is on board with kudos from Wayne Pacelle himself. I know we will get some people who will call this “happy meat” and dismiss these changes; Of course ultimately, I want all the animals to be free, but in the meantime, this is going to mean a lot to that chicken who would otherwise be crushed to death on the bottom of a battery cage.

HSUS undercover investigation reveals horrifying abuse of pigs at facilities that supply WalMart  »

Big news today from HSUS: They conducted undercover investigations of two pig-breeding facilities in Oklahoma, and discovered—shockingly—some pretty egregious abuse. There’s a video I only made it 29 seconds into because it’s so graphic.

Notably, one of these two facilities, the one owned by Seaboard Foods, supplies WalMart, the country’s biggest grocer. Our old friend Temple Grandin is Seaboard’s “animal welfare advisor,” and has spoken against the use of gestation crates, but “advisor” doesn’t have the same power as “boss.”

HSUS today “filed legal complaints with the U.S. Securities and Exchange and Federal Trade Commission alleging false and misleading statements about animal care” by Seaboard, which is an interesting tactic. Attack the money, because obviously if companies cared even the tiniest bit about the animals (the people, the environment), they wouldn’t allow such abhorrent practices. But everyone cares about money!

Go send an email to Seaboard Foods and Prestage Farms asking them to stop using gestation crates and being overall disgusting human beings. Thank goodness for the Humane Society.

[I can’t handle seeing those poor abused pigs so let’s take another moment to appreciate Farm Sanctuary’s Eric]

Paul Shapiro on Smithfield, vegetarian stats, and swimming pigs!  »

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yes! And check out that amazing new graphic from Megan Rascal! Two geniuses, united in genius, saving animals, looking good, and being awesome! Now, onto Mr. Shapiro’s news!

Important breaking news today: Smithfield—the nation’s largest pig producer—is recommitting to end its gestation-crate use on company-owned factory farms by 2017. We of course always want more and faster, but considering that no other major U.S. pig producer has any commitment to stop using gestation crates at all, this is certainly welcome news. National AP story on it here.

While Florida has already banned gestation crates, one of its state senators wants to keep the public in the dark about factory farming cruelty, and has reintroduced his infamous “ag-gag” legislation that would make it a crime to photograph these facilities.

Very interesting new poll showing that 16 percent of Americans eat vegetarian more than half the time. Wow.

If you also like eating vegetarian food, and perhaps even listening to a hysterical vegetarian stand-up comedian like Dan Piraro (of Bizarro fame), I hope to be hanging out with you this Saturday night!

Video of the week: How pigs really ought to live.