MFA - Report Animal Cruelty ASAP not ASACP

ASACP meaning - as soon as conveniently possible.

Yet another animal cruelty video has been released by Mercy For Animals (MFA). Again, I am outraged at the treatment of the pigs in this video and there is absolutely no excuse for this type of treatment. I feel the need to draw attention to some key points that need to be made.

1 - This is NOT how all farm animals are treated. Unfortunately, one bad apple provides a horrible example for the rest of the industry. Videographers don't focus on well run farms - they prey on farms such as the one featured in the video.
2 - Farmers and ranchers have a vested interest in the health and wellbeing of their animals. Producing a safe, healthy product in a humane fashion with low-stress practices is the number one priority.
3 - I find it extrememly frustrating that this footage has been sitting around for at least three weeks before being released this week. How do I know this? A 'Note' that was posted on Facebook about three weeks ago clued me in that something was going to be released soon (the note has since been taken down and I will not reveal it's source/author).

If videographers find animal cruelty - they should report it immediately. Not when it is convenient to their timeline or fundraising efforts. How many animals continued to be abused between the time the footage was collected and the day the video was released? The animal cruelty is abominable but standing by and doing nothing, and allowing that type of treatment to continue is just as abominable.

What are your thoughts on the issue? Again - I in no way condone animal cruelty and I am appalled at the images in the video, however, I feel that the videographers, undercover or not, should have reported the cruelty much more quickly than seen in this case.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

image from here

E6 Ranch Suffers the Consequences

Whether you care to admit it or not, we're all probably at least a little bit happy about this news update. Regardless of who committed the cruel acts at E6 Ranch, someone needed to be charged and punished for the inexecusable acts.

About two weeks ago (yes, I am this far behind on my blogging) Dairy Herd Network's email newsletter informed me that seven people, including ranch owner Kirt Espenson, had been charged in the E6 Ranch case. Bravo. Espenson was charged with Class A Misdemeanor animal cruelty (he wasn't engaged in the acts on video) and the six employees charged with felony animal cruelty. If found guilty, which in all actuality should and probably will happen, the felony charge carries a two year jail sentence and the misdemeanor charge is a one year jail stint.

Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy For Animals, said "We hope that this case and the action by law enforcement sends a strong message to the dairy industry that animal cruelty will not be tolerated." Espenson told officials that he had fired four employees over the horrible acts and hired a professional trainer to lead training programs in humane handling and proper euthanasia.

Thus far, I've been unsuccessful at finding out a court date, as dockets weren't available for most of July and August. But I'll be sure to keep the blogging world updated on the goings on of this case. It's essential that the world knows that farmers and ranchers don't tolerate or condone this type of behavior and that it is not the norm in our industry.

What are your thoughts? Do you think justice is being served appropriately? I'm anxious to hear feedback on this one.

Until next time (I promise it won't be another 8 days before my next post),
~ Buzzard ~

Move Over Lassie, Bessie's Moving In

Photo courtesy: www.dudelol.com

The abhorrent acts at the E6 Ranch have caused a tremendous uproar among the animal agriculture and animal rights crowds. Squabbling about whom should be punished, the timeliness of the video’s release and legislation that would forbid undercover videography have been rampant across the World Wide Web. I’ve been relatively active in the ‘comments’ section of many articles and have also been fielding comment traffic on this blog. One topic that seems to be resurfacing time and time again is the supposition by anti-agriculturalists that farm animals should be treated like dogs, cats and other household pets. Below are some comments highlighting these thoughts (commenter’s names have been omitted):

We gain much more by being responsible stewards of the lands and raising beautiful legumes and vegetables. Farm animals should be kept as pets only. This would create a better world for all of us.
- ‘Who Will Protect the Animals’, Mark Bittman

I imagine a large percentage of your readership, if they look deep in their own hearts, have at various times questioned the standard industry practices which cause physical and mental pain to creatures that have done nothing to deserve it. Many of you have at sometime in your life made the connection that a cow, pig, lamb, or even a chicken, have the same primal desires as the pets you relate to as family. It must be very difficult to find yourself in a livelihood that over time has accepted practices that are more and more cruel in order to improve the bottom line. I wish each of you strength to rediscover your innate kindness, and offer it to those most at your mercy.
- Five minutes with Nathan Runkle Executive Director of Mercy for Animals, Chuck Jolley

While I’ll ignore the blatant accusation that agriculturalists, particularly livestock farmers, have lost our ‘innate kindness’, I would like to broach the subject of ‘farm animals are pets.’ That just isn’t true.

I showed livestock in 4-H from the age of seven to twenty and while I’ll admit forming a bond with my animals, I fully understood that pigs are for pork, cattle are for beef and chickens end up on the Easter Sunday dinner table. Am I a black hearted person? NO. I’m an agriculturalist and future producer who knows firsthand the importance of meat in any diet. Ninety-seven percent of the U.S. population eats meat and that meat comes from American farmers and ranchers.

Hyatt and I were recently Skyping with my sisters-in-law, who show cattle and hogs in Ohio, and asked how the hogs were doing and of course we asked if any names had been chosen. The youngest daughter said, “Breakfast, lunch and dinner.” These girls take care of their animals by exercising, grooming, cleaning their pens and feeding them daily. They practice exemplary animal care and do, in fact, very much love their livestock. I know this because I’ve witnessed their tears as they say ‘goodbye’ at the state fair. However, they know that livestock are for meat consumption. If not for meat consumption, then why are they here?

Before I go on, and further anger a few readers, I want to reiterate that farmers and ranchers provide the utmost care for their livestock because it's the right thing to do. The incident at E6, while extremely unfortunate and horrible, is a rare incident and should NOT be considered a standard for the rest of the animal agriculture industry. There is no room in the industry for inconsiderate care as seen in the MFA video and it should be very clear that farmers and ranchers are just as outraged as consumers at the blatant disregard for animal well-being.

Let’s imagine that farm animals are indeed intended to be domesticated pets. What exactly are we to do with them when their lives end? Where do we house them – in the backyard? One must wonder if the individuals advocating for cattle as pets understand how expensive it is to raise and feed a single bovine. The economics of raising livestock as pets simply don't add up.

Furthermore, while I completely agree that we all should include fruits, veggies and whole grains in their diets, I know that meat is a more efficient way to obtain the daily requirements of protein and certain vitamins and minerals.

For example:
- Half the daily protein you need in your diet comes from only 3 oz of beef. If it’s 3 oz of lean beef, only 130 calories
- It would take 6 times as much peanut butter to get the same amount of protein as you would from one 3 oz piece of beef.
- Beef is a good source of essential vitamins and nutrients.
     o  Zinc - brain and immune function
     o Iron
     o Protein – builds muscle; helps fuel active lifestyle   
     o B6 – energy
     o B12 – energy
- You'd have to eat 8 stalks of celery to get the same amount of iron from 1 - 3 oz portion of brown sugar cured ham.
- Beef and chicken have almost no carbohydrates. Of the few cuts of pork that do contain carbs, each cut has less than 3 grams of carbohydrates per serving.
- There are 5 cuts of chicken that have fewer calories from fat than 1 ear of sweet corn.
- One sweet potato contains more calories than one 3 oz serving of roasted pork tenderloin.

Calorie comparisons for 25 grams of protein in different foods:
Peanut Butter - 7 tbsp – 670 calories
Black Beans 3- ½ cup servings – 374 calories
Raw Soy Tofu – 1 ¼ cups – 236 calories
Cubes Lean Beef – 3 ounces – 180 calories

I hope that these nutritional facts have provided some insight into the importance of meat in our diets.

In closing, I’m sharing a quote from a VERY reliable source that will be the subject of a later post. For now, I think it sufficiently sums up the purpose of livestock on Earth.

Genesis 9:3 - The Bible
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.

Get ready for some controversy on Buzzard’s Beat, folks.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~