On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 02:03:52 GMT, fullerNOT@law.com (fuller) wrote:

>July 6, 2003
>Activists Seek Changes at Slaughterhouses
>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
>LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The owners of a Southern California egg farm
>insist they did nothing wrong when they slaughtered 30,000 chickens,
>quarantined because of a virus, by throwing them into wood chippers.
>
>State authorities agreed and decided not to file animal cruelty
>charges.
>
>That decision has incensed animals rights advocates -- and even some
>producers -- who say it's an example of the need for stricter national
>laws and enforcement to stop what they consider inhumane slaughter of
>livestock.
>
>``It's not what we do,'' said Paul Bahan, owner of AAA Egg Farms in
>Riverside County, who chairs an industry committee targeting treatment
>of poultry.
>
>Amid a growing national push for better treatment of livestock, the
>industry is enacting new guidelines for slaughterhouses and farms that
>will take into account everything from the size of cages to the ways
>animals are killed. Restaurant and grocery store chains are urging
>independent audits of the nation's 900 slaughterhouses, and the
>federal government is moving to hire more inspectors.
>
>Critics say the changes aren't happening fast enough.
>
>During a hearing in May on agriculture appropriations, Sen. Robert
>Byrd, D-W.Va., called on the Agriculture Department to speed up the
>hiring of inspectors.
>
>``Despite the laws on the books, chronically weak enforcement and
>intense pressure to speed up slaughterhouse assembly lines reportedly
>have resulted in animals being skinned, dismembered, and boiled while
>they are still alive and conscious,'' Byrd said.
>
>Members of Congress also have received a video from Sen. Jim Moran,
>D-Va., actor Alec Baldwin and People for the Ethical Treatment of
>Animals. The tape, titled ``Meet Your Meat,'' contains graphic images
>of cruelty at farms.
>
>``Enforcement is the issue,'' Baldwin, a longtime PETA activist, told
>The Associated Press. ``You live in a society where the USDA is the
>only barrier between producers and your food.''
>
>The American Meat Institute denied that enforcement at slaughterhouses
>is weak and that animals are routinely abused. Officials also pointed
>out that the plants can't operate unless an inspector is on the
>premises.
>
>In the past decade, the $133 billion processing and packing industry
>has taken a number of steps to improve animals' final moments, such as
>redesigning pens to accommodate natural movements and minimizing use
>of electric prods, American Meat Institute spokeswoman Janet Riley
>said. Such treatment is not only ethical, it's good business, she
>said.
>
>``If an animal is stressed when it goes to slaughter ... it will emit
>hormones that create quality defects in meat that then has to be
>trimmed away,'' she said.
>
>Each year, 8 billion chickens and turkeys, 97 million hogs, 35 million
>cattle, 3 million sheep and lambs, and 1 million calves are
>slaughtered in the United States.
>
>Larger animals are usually killed with a gun that shoots a rod
>directly into the brain. Chickens are typically stunned in an
>electrified bath before their heads are cut off with a rotating blade.
>Others are suffocated with carbon dioxide or their necks are broken.
>
>The 45-year-old federal Humane Slaughter Act offers guidelines on
>slaughter methods but only requires that animals be rendered
>``insensible to pain'' before being killed. It excludes poultry from
>that requirement. State laws vary.
>
>In the wood chipper case, the USDA did not approve the slaughter
>method, said Ed Lloyd, a department spokesman. The decision on filing
>charges was up to the San Diego County district attorney's office,
>which declined in May after determining there was no criminal intent
>by the owners of the farm, Arie and Bill Wilgenburg.
>
>``I've done nothing wrong and I stick by that, and I won't say
>anything else about it,'' Bill Wilgenburg said.
>
>Officials have said the brothers acted on the advice of a
>veterinarian. The birds could not be sent to a slaughterhouse because
>they had been quarantined after an outbreak of a bird virus, Exotic
>Newcastle Disease.
>
>While the case is unusual, animal welfare advocates say it shows that
>farmers are seldom held responsible when animals are subjected to
>unnecessary pain and suffering.
>
>The USDA reported that from January 1998 to January 2003, 21 of the
>nation's slaughterhouses were cited for violations related to
>mistreatment.
>
>It says the relatively low number of citations shows enforcement
>methods are working.
>
>``We make our living by selling cows. We don't make our living by
>abusing them,'' said Arthur Green, whose Benton Packing Co. in
>Springdale, Ark., was cited last year for having too many cows in one
>pen.
>
>^------
>
>On the Net:
>
>Animal Welfare Audit Program: http://www.awaudit.org/
>
>Humane Farm Animal Care: http://www.certifiedhumane.com/
>
>National Chicken Council: http://www.eatchicken.com
>
>Department of Agriculture: http://www.usda.gov
>
>
>

Animals deserve the same rights afforded to niggers and jews. Death
should not come sadistically, A quick jolt of a hangman's noose. or a
guillotine will make the process quick and painless

This article is fucked up and has an agenda that is misplaced.
It's confusing egg farms with slaughter houses.

Throwing live chickens into a wood-chipper might be fun at a
carnival or company Christmas party for first 500 or so. But
after 10,000 or so, it gets REALLY messy. They don't exactly
evaporate just because of the wood chipper. Let alone after
30,000.

A wood chipper would need some serious maintenance every 2,000
bloody, fatty-skinned chickens. Those blades and motors like dry
wood. Not wet, fatty chickens. They're 10X harder to get rid
after a wood chipper than 30,000 gassed, dead whole chickens
thrown into a local furnace. And a wood chipper atomizes the
virus they were trying to get rid of, infecting all the other
soil, buildings, nearby farms, cattle, humans, and wildlife.

I smell 20 year-old sensationalist bullshit.

-sw

.. n Mon, 03 Oct 22 20:13:49 UTC, Ed Debevic wrote:

> On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 02:03:52 GMT, fullerNOT@law.com (fuller) wrote:
>
>>July 6, 2003
>>Activists Seek Changes at Slaughterhouses
>>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>>
>>LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The owners of a Southern California egg farm
>>insist they did nothing wrong when they slaughtered 30,000 chickens,
>>quarantined because of a virus, by throwing them into wood chippers.
>>
>>State authorities agreed and decided not to file animal cruelty
>>charges.
>>
>>That decision has incensed animals rights advocates -- and even some
>>producers -- who say it's an example of the need for stricter national
>>laws and enforcement to stop what they consider inhumane slaughter of
>>livestock.
>>
>>``It's not what we do,'' said Paul Bahan, owner of AAA Egg Farms in
>>Riverside County, who chairs an industry committee targeting treatment
>>of poultry.
>>
>>Amid a growing national push for better treatment of livestock, the
>>industry is enacting new guidelines for slaughterhouses and farms that
>>will take into account everything from the size of cages to the ways
>>animals are killed. Restaurant and grocery store chains are urging
>>independent audits of the nation's 900 slaughterhouses, and the
>>federal government is moving to hire more inspectors.
>>
>>Critics say the changes aren't happening fast enough.
>>
>>During a hearing in May on agriculture appropriations, Sen. Robert
>>Byrd, D-W.Va., called on the Agriculture Department to speed up the
>>hiring of inspectors.
>>
>>``Despite the laws on the books, chronically weak enforcement and
>>intense pressure to speed up slaughterhouse assembly lines reportedly
>>have resulted in animals being skinned, dismembered, and boiled while
>>they are still alive and conscious,'' Byrd said.
>>
>>Members of Congress also have received a video from Sen. Jim Moran,
>>D-Va., actor Alec Baldwin and People for the Ethical Treatment of
>>Animals. The tape, titled ``Meet Your Meat,'' contains graphic images
>>of cruelty at farms.
>>
>>``Enforcement is the issue,'' Baldwin, a longtime PETA activist, told
>>The Associated Press. ``You live in a society where the USDA is the
>>only barrier between producers and your food.''
>>
>>The American Meat Institute denied that enforcement at slaughterhouses
>>is weak and that animals are routinely abused. Officials also pointed
>>out that the plants can't operate unless an inspector is on the
>>premises.
>>
>>In the past decade, the $133 billion processing and packing industry
>>has taken a number of steps to improve animals' final moments, such as
>>redesigning pens to accommodate natural movements and minimizing use
>>of electric prods, American Meat Institute spokeswoman Janet Riley
>>said. Such treatment is not only ethical, it's good business, she
>>said.
>>
>>``If an animal is stressed when it goes to slaughter ... it will emit
>>hormones that create quality defects in meat that then has to be
>>trimmed away,'' she said.
>>
>>Each year, 8 billion chickens and turkeys, 97 million hogs, 35 million
>>cattle, 3 million sheep and lambs, and 1 million calves are
>>slaughtered in the United States.
>>
>>Larger animals are usually killed with a gun that shoots a rod
>>directly into the brain. Chickens are typically stunned in an
>>electrified bath before their heads are cut off with a rotating blade.
>>Others are suffocated with carbon dioxide or their necks are broken.
>>
>>The 45-year-old federal Humane Slaughter Act offers guidelines on
>>slaughter methods but only requires that animals be rendered
>>``insensible to pain'' before being killed. It excludes poultry from
>>that requirement. State laws vary.
>>
>>In the wood chipper case, the USDA did not approve the slaughter
>>method, said Ed Lloyd, a department spokesman. The decision on filing
>>charges was up to the San Diego County district attorney's office,
>>which declined in May after determining there was no criminal intent
>>by the owners of the farm, Arie and Bill Wilgenburg.
>>
>>``I've done nothing wrong and I stick by that, and I won't say
>>anything else about it,'' Bill Wilgenburg said.
>>
>>Officials have said the brothers acted on the advice of a
>>veterinarian. The birds could not be sent to a slaughterhouse because
>>they had been quarantined after an outbreak of a bird virus, Exotic
>>Newcastle Disease.
>>
>>While the case is unusual, animal welfare advocates say it shows that
>>farmers are seldom held responsible when animals are subjected to
>>unnecessary pain and suffering.
>>
>>The USDA reported that from January 1998 to January 2003, 21 of the
>>nation's slaughterhouses were cited for violations related to
>>mistreatment.
>>
>>It says the relatively low number of citations shows enforcement
>>methods are working.
>>
>>``We make our living by selling cows. We don't make our living by
>>abusing them,'' said Arthur Green, whose Benton Packing Co. in
>>Springdale, Ark., was cited last year for having too many cows in one
>>pen.
>>
>>^------
>>
>>On the Net:
>>
>>Animal Welfare Audit Program: http://www.awaudit.org/
>>
>>Humane Farm Animal Care: http://www.certifiedhumane.com/
>>
>>National Chicken Council: http://www.eatchicken.com
>>
>>Department of Agriculture: http://www.usda.gov
>>
>>
>>
>
> Animals deserve the same rights afforded to niggers and jews. Death
> should not come sadistically, A quick jolt of a hangman's noose. or a
> guillotine will make the process quick and painless