I
had not planned on writing today. I have so many other things needing to
be done, but when I read Wayne Pacelle's "USDA REPORT MISSES THE MARC," I knew I had to share this revealing article with those of you who do not get
the US Humane Society's posts. To tell you the truth, reading it made me sick to
my stomach.
Per Pacelle -re the USDA's report on the federally-funded Nebraska-based
U.S. MEAT ANIMAL RESEARCH CENTER (USMARC) --"Today's USDA report misses a larger
point: why is our government using taxpayer money to fund productivity experiments
for the factory farming industry?" That sentence alone irks me no end, and if you
are a discerning taxpayer, it should do the same to you.
And if you consider yourself even the least bit compassionate -- tell me
what you think of what OUR GOVERNMENT was sanctioning at this Nebraska research
center per the Michael Moss investigative piece which was published a month ago
in the New York Times:
1. pigs were locked in steam chambers until they died
2. breeding calves were born with 'deformed vaginas' and tangled
legs
3. newborn lambs were left to starve, freeze, or, get battered to
death by hail.
Is this really happening in America? It sounds more like something the
Nazis would do. And per the brave whistleblower, Dr. Jim Keen- there were additional
abuses that didn't make it in the article. And Dr. Keen's allegations of abusive
research were also corroborated by others at the center.
And Pacelle notes that today the USDA issued a report acknowledging a "few"
of their failings while sidestepping a serious look at past abuses -- neither
affirming or denying them.
Though the HSUS welcomes the new USDA recommendations, they stop short of
including the animals under the Animal Welfare Act which excludes farm animals used
for agricultural research. Congress needs to pass a bill including farm animals under the
Animal Welfare Act. Shameful that it has not been done to date.
But the searing question for me is Pacelle's perceptive query which needs
addressing- "Why is our government using taxpayer money to fund productivity
experiments for the factory farming industry?" In my opinion. this is shameful,
indefensible, and inexcusable. Many of us are ethical vegans, and we don't want farm animals
suffering in this cruel research center. In fact, we also find it reprehensible that
we still use cruel
factory farms to raise our farm animals. And now this cruel research which
I hope even disgusts meat eaters.
I am disappointed in President Obama for his obvious lack of concern re a
USDA which is anything but compassionate and caring for our animals. Ditto- Secretary
of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. They are both getting copies of this e-mail. Chances of them
reading it? pretty low. However, it is better to do SOMETHING then nothing. And
wouldn't it be great if a lot of you would do the same?
Pacelle's post is 3 pages long. I am sure I missed other salient points,
but for me there was only one which matters --the need to not fix this horrible farm animal
research center, but to have it completely dismantled.
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