Millions of Chickens, Turkeys & Ducks were Suffocated to Death (Source: Free From Harm)

Time to Spread the Joy

By Karen Davis PhD | September 17, 2015 |

Between December 2014 and June 2015, more than 33 million chickens, turkeys and ducks were suffocated to death with firefighting foam and carbon dioxide in the Midwestern states of Iowa, Minnesota and elsewhere in the United States in response to the avian influenza outbreaks that began on poultry farms in 2014.[1] Since June, the number of birds exterminated has grown by many millions more in the U.S. and globally. The concentration of billions of highly stressed, immuno-compromised birds living in filth, misery and fear across the Earth guarantees that avian influenza outbreaks and epidemics will continue to occur.[2]

In addition to using firefighting foam and carbon dioxide to exterminate poultry flocks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture supports exterminating them by shutting off the ventilation in the houses and letting the birds bake to death – a process that can take anywhere from half an hour to 3 or more hours for every bird to die. Shutting off the ventilation in the computer-controlled houses is the cheapest method of extermination. Neither gas nor foam is needed.[3]

Shooting hoses filled with carbon dioxide into the confinement houses, metal boxes and “kill carts” causes the birds to burn, freeze, and suffocate to death simultaneously – and slowly. This is the egg industry’s main method of exterminating “spent” hens, whether from battery cages or cage-free confinement operations, with or without bird flu.[4]

As for fire-fighting foam, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved in 2006, contrary to the lie that the birds are dead within a minute of being blanketed under the foam, Bruce Webster of The University of Georgia told a USDA meeting in June 2006, “You saw a lot of escape behavior for 4-6 minutes. You saw the birds’ heads sticking out of the foam.” Eventually, their movements ceased, as the birds were “worn out” with their “volitional struggle,” Webster told attendees including UPC president Karen Davis at the meeting.[5]

In a firefighting foam trial with turkeys, birds were reported flapping under the foam for up to 6 minutes. This does not mean that the turkeys were unconscious or dead when the flapping stopped or appeared to stop. And foam-covered birds cannot vocalize their suffering. They cannot be seen or heard. Necropsies showed hemorrhages in the tracheas of birds who died under the foam, and “occlusion of the trachea by the foam” was cited by Ruth Newberry of Washington State University as “a serious welfare concern.”[6]

– See more at: http://freefromharm.org/farm-animal-welfare/birds/#sthash.gBHhq7Vn.dpuf

Re-Blog: Some “Animal Advocates” Never Miss An Opportunity to Exploit Animal Exploitation

Just when I think it can’t get worse, it does.

Humane Society International is an arm of The Humane Society of the United States. Andrew Rowan is the Chief International Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of The HSUS, and President and CEO of Humane Society International.

HSI has a new campaign: rescuing dogs from South Korean farms:

(click to enlarge)

Here is a story about this campaign:

Alexandria (United States) (AFP) – A dozen dogs originally destined for dinner tables in South Korea arrived in the Washington area to be adopted as pets.

They were the first of a total of 23 dogs being imported into the United States this week as part of a campaign to combat the eating of dog meat in East Asia.

Washington-based Humane Society International (HSI) located the dogs at a farm in Ilsan, northwest of Seoul, where they were being bred specifically for human consumption.

The farmer — who acknowledged a personal fondness for dogs — agreed to give up the animals and accept an offer of compensation and grow blueberries instead, HSI director of companion animals Kelly O’Meara told AFP, as the mongrels settled into kennels Monday at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, Virginia after a long flight from Seoul.

HSI has been working with local groups in China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to raise public awareness of the dog meat trade.

“But South Korea is unusual because it actually farms dogs to supply demand,” O’Meara said, while other countries target feral dogs as food.

Every year, between 1.2 million and two million dogs are consumed in South Korea, she said, supplied by farms that number “at least in the hundreds.”

O’Meara said it was the first time that dogs from South Korea intended for human consumption had been rescued and brought into the United States, where a brisk demand for adopted dogs and cats is met by a thriving network of animal rescue groups and shelters.

All 23 South Korean dogs — the second batch is due to arrive Tuesday — will undergo veterinarian checks in Alexandria, before being distributed among five other shelters in the Mid-Atlantic states for adoption.

“By helping these 23 dogs, we’ll be helping a lot of other dogs in South Korea” by raising public awareness of the dog meat trade, said Megan Webb, executive director of the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, which finds homes for about 1,000 dogs a year.

Okay. So let’s see if I have this right:

HSUS/HSI objects to the eating of dogs. Okay. I understand that. I don’t think anyone should eat dogs either. Surely, it makes no sense to object to eating dogs if you eat other animals.

But HSUS CEO/President Wayne Pacelle sits on the Board of Directors of

Continue Reading: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/animal-advocates-never-miss-opportunity-exploit-animal-exploitation/#.VLEl8Kbqn-Z

SOURCE:  Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach

 

12 Egg Facts the Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know ~ Free From Harm

By Free From Harm Staff Writers | July 29, 2014

Consider the following 12 egg facts, most of which are common to all forms of egg farming:

1. The global egg industry destroys 6,000,000,000 healthy newborn male chicks every year. (1)

2. Male chicks born to egg-laying hens can not lay eggs, and are not the breed used for meat. Therefore, they are worthless to the egg industry.

3. Eggs sold under organic, free-range, and humane labels, and even chicks sold to backyard chicken keepers, also have their origins in these killing hatcheries. (2)

4. Newborn chicks are more intelligent, alert, and aware of their environment than human toddlers, according to recent scientific studies. (3) In fact, many traits that were previously thought to be exclusive to human / primate communication, cognition and social behavior have now been discovered in chickens.

5. Female chicks are sent to egg farms, where, due to decades of genetic manipulation and selective breeding, they produce 250 to 300 eggs per year. In nature, wild hens lay only 10 to 15 eggs annually. (4,5) Like all birds, they lay eggs only during breeding season and only for the purpose of reproducing.

6. This unnaturally high rate of egg-laying results in frequent disease and mortality.

7. 95% of all egg-laying hens in the U.S. – nearly 300 million birds – spend their lives in battery cages so small they cannot even stretch their wings. (6) Packed in at 5–10 birds per cage, they can only stand or crouch on the cages’ hard wires, which cut their feet painfully. In these maddening conditions, hens will peck one another from stress, causing injury and even death.

8. Rather than give them more room, farmers cut off a portion of their sensitive beaks without painkiller. A chicken’s beak is loaded with nerve endings, more sensitive than a human fingertip. Many birds die of shock on the spot.

9. Most hens on “cage-free” or “free range” operations are also debeaked, as these labels allow producers to confine thousands of birds inside crowded sheds. (7)

10. In a natural environment, chickens can live 10 to 15 years, but chickens bred for egg-laying are slaughtered, gassed or even thrown live onto “dead piles” at just 12 to 18 months when their egg production declines. (8)

11. During transport, chickens are roughly stuffed into crates and suffer broken legs and wings, lacerations, hemorrhage, dehydration, heat stroke, hypothermia, and heart failure; millions die before reaching the slaughterhouse. (9)

– See more at: http://freefromharm.org/eggfacts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FreeFromHarm+%28Free+from+Harm%29#sthash.J0WjN9KA.dpuf

Please Help Farm Sanctuary

 

We need your help. With spring comes the long list of critical maintenance projects that must be completed to keep Farm Sanctuary’s three shelters in good repair and ensure the safety and well-being of our more than 1,000 rescued farm animals. We’ve requested bids for the work and received estimates to keep costs low, but the numbers add up quickly. Completing these vital projects will require more than $95,000 in immediate funds. Please donate to our 2014 Farm Maintenance Fund to help us complete critical projects before summer arrives. Our animal residents depend on us to provide the safe home they deserve, which means we must: Rebuild our main chicken enclosure at our shelter in Watkins Glen, New York. The current structure was not designed to house chickens, so it must be rebuilt with the unique needs of our birds in mind. The new enclosure will have predator-proof insulation, which will help chickens like Milo Roberts, Miranda Lee, and Palmer Greening stay safe and warm during the cold New York winters. Estimated cost: $12,000 Build a hay storage barn that will allow us to keep bales away from the animal enclosures, which will help ensure the comfort and safety of our New York Shelter’s 80 sheep, 30 goats, and 46 cattle. Estimated cost: $25,000 With temperatures growing increasingly extreme, replacing the old mister fans for the sheep, goats, and cattle at our shelter in Orland, California, is a top priority. Investing in the improved technology will not only keep vulnerable animals safe in high temperatures, but it could also help us save a bit on energy costs. Estimated cost: $2,000 Construct new hutches for ducks like Atlas and his geese friends at our shelter in Orland, California. Their current structures have been repaired so many times that we have run out of options to shore them up. A complete rebuild cannot wait. Estimated cost: $25,000 Replace and repair fencing at all three shelters to protect our residents from predators and keep playful farm animals like Elizabeth and Zuri, two especially outgoing sheep, from leaving the security of our pastures. We need $10,000 for each shelter — $30,000 total — to make these vital repairs. We cannot succeed without you. Our shelters operate 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, and provide a home to more than 1,000 animals rescued from abuse and neglect. These special animals depend on us, and we must fulfill our promise to them. Please donate now to help Farm Sanctuary start work today on critical projects and other maintenance necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of the farm animals who call our shelters home. Hurry! Summer will be here soon, and we need to get this work done now. Yours for farm animals, Gene Baur President and Co-Founder

Piglet’s Miracle Rescue – Heartwarming Story – Free From Harm

Please watch this video.  It is not gory or gruesome rather it is heartwarming.  Watch and see how happy this piglet is to be rescued — be sure to watch all the way to the end as Jeremiah sure loves his bananas!

🙂

This Piglet’s Miracle Rescue Story Will Make You Cry: Must See Video

By Ashley Capps | March 11, 2014 | Categories: Animal Cruelty Investigation

2892  32  12  3046

 

On February 20, Indraloka Animal Sanctuary in Mehoopany, Pennsylvania got a call about a piglet in need of a home. A week earlier, a humane police officer had responded to a citizen complaint about a situation of extreme animal neglect: two emaciated piglets who were being raised for “backyard meat” had been languishing for months in an uninsulated, outdoor pen during one of the harshest winters in decades. Night after night for weeks on end the two piglet brothers huddled together through sub-zero temperatures, whipping winds, and blistering blizzards. With no straw or bedding in their exposed pen, they were forced to lie in ice and freezing mud.

By the time the humane police were notified of this situation, one of the piglets had already died and the other was near death’s door. The responding officer visited the residence and was able to persuade the owner to surrender the listless and critically ill piglet for urgent veterinary treatment and rehoming.

Jeremiah’s pneumonia was so severe that he was constantly spewing blood from his nose.

Jeremiah, as the young pig would come to be called, spent the next few hours being treated by a veterinarian who, despite his best efforts, did not believe the little piglet would pull through. In addition to having spent all winter in freezing temperatures without any bedding or protection against the cold, Jeremiah had been nearly starved to death. He was suffering from numerous critical conditions, including extreme anemia, and a long term case of untreated pneumonia that left his airways so severely scarred, blood spewed from his nose non-stop as he struggled to breathe. His body was covered in bruises and ulcers from being forced to constantly lie in ice, snow, mud, and his own urine and feces; his muscles had atrophied so badly that he could no longer walk.

– See more at: http://freefromharm.org/animal-cruelty-investigation/rescued-piglet-video-will-make-cry/#sthash.YlrJrFgp.dpuf

Organic Gardening Is Working My Last VEGAN Nerve!

http://www.mypetchickenhandbook.com/mypetchickenhandbook/index?keycode=243477&smartcode=NLS1621666

Organic Gardening is really pissing me off and do you want to know why?  Because they promote animal exploitation without revealing the darky seedy side to “Chicken Ownership”.

First and foremost, when you “order” baby chicks, they are shipped through the mail like a fucking book from Amazon without food or water. These chicks often come from the same exploited hens who live out their miserable lives in Factory Farms.  Also, the companies who sell baby chicks ship “extra chicks” in your package in the event some should die during transport. Sometimes the “useless” male chick is shipped as “packaging material”.

Nice, huh?

Sometimes, you the recipient could wind up with a male.  What are you going to do if that happens? Males chicks, according to the industry, are “useless” which is why they are GROUND UP ALIVE!!!!  Let’s be honest shall we,  do you honestly believe the recipient wants to go through the expense of feeding and caring for something that does not produce eggs?

Doubt it!

People who think it is cute to own chickens so they can have “fresh eggs” fail to realize one very important fact:  Chickens do not produce eggs forever. What will the owner(s) of these chickens to do when they stop producing eggs? Will the owner(s) continue to feed and care for these highly intelligent sentient creatures when they stop producing eggs?

I’ll tell you exactly what happens. The chicken(s) either wind up abandoned, surrendered to shelters or look the other way honey (and kids) while I kill this “useless” bird and toss her into the compost heap.

Animal ownership, whether a dog, cat or fucking chicken is costly and requires time. You cannot just feed them and forget about them.

Lastly, sometimes eggs become lodged in the reproductive tract of the chicken, causing them extreme pain and death if not remedied. What this means to the chicken owner is costly veterinarian bills.  Are the owners prepared to handle such a crisis if it happens? Are they willing to take on the expense or will they just tell their kids to look the other way while this beautiful sentient being meets her demise with a hatchet.

Instead of glamorizing chicken ownership by using glossy industry words like: Backyard Raised, Organic, Free-Range, why not promote VEGANISM?  Rest assured most of the population in the US could stand to lose a few pounds and dropping their consumption of animal products is the best way to do it.

Better yet,  if the arrogant ass-clowns at Organic Gardening want to promote “backyard chickens” why don’t they also promote Lipitor!

If you’d like to learn more about the exploitation of chickens along with how to care for a chicken(s) that has been abandoned by a former “back yard chicken owner” or a chicken that was rescued from the egregious conditions of factory farming, please nav on over to Free From Harm.  Robert Grillo, founder of Free From Harm has done a brilliant job of exposing the lies that the *Industry* tries to cover up.

Eggs: What are You Really Eating? 

Chicken Behavior

Esperanza: The Story of  Rescued Broiler Chicken

 

 

IDA places anti-trapping billboard in Indiana

Our Compass

OC Comment: OC adamantly opposed any type of killing, not just traps.  This is a protest against trapping, but comments can include an additional dispute against ALL trapping.


BACKGROUND SOURCE IDA

IDA is taking the fight against trapping to the trappers’ backyard. IDA has placed an anti-trapping billboard in the hometown of the largest US-based pro-trapping organization, the National Trappers’ Association in Bedford, Indiana. The billboard states, “Trappers Murder Pets,” and asks the question, “Is Your Dog Next?” The billboard features Pearl, a loving companion dog, deliberately trapped and killed in Hebron, Indiana in December 2012. IDA offered a $2500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who killed Pearl, but no arrest has yet been made.

Every year during trapping season, trappers scatter traps like land mines across both public and private property. Trapped animals endure incomprehensible psychological and physiological trauma, suffering from pain, fear…

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An Autistic Activist Responds To Temple Grandin

Our Compass

OC Comment: Temple Grandin is a welfarist who designs slaughterhouses meant to lessen the stress on animals.  Rather than maintaining that killing animals is altogether wrong, as an abolitionist does, Ms. Grandin instead attempts to diminish the stress of the killing “experience” on animals.  This is an essay written in opposition of such.

The following essay was written by autistic author, activist and co-founder of Autism Network International, Jim Sinclair. Sinclair noted that he wrote this in “response to Temple Grandin’s writing about her work in the slaughter industry, especially as described in Thinking In Pictures.”

If you love something, you don’t kill it. I didn’t need to spend time in a squeeze box to learn that. Love is not killing.

If you know what another being feels–not just how you feel when you touch it–then you know that living things want to remain alive. It doesn’t…

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You know how people from NJ are generally known for being assholes? Welp, Our Humane Society People Stepped into Rid of a Few Of em this week….

TRUE cost of the season’s must have fur-trimmed Canada Goose coat

Exposing the Big Game

‘Chilling cruelty, unspeakable suffering and corporate denial’:  the TRUE cost of the season’s must have fur-trimmed Canada Goose coat

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2544075/Revealed-Chilling-cruelty-unspeakable-suffering-corporate-denial-Is-TRUE-cost-seasons-Canada-Goose-coat.html#ixzz2rYM0Ypqk

By Laura Collins  23 January 2014

They have made America their new frontier, forging into the US clothing market to become one of the season’s most recognisable brands with sales of Canada Goose outerwear expected to top $30million this year alone.

In a high profile year in the States, Kate Upton has appeared on the front of Sports Illustrated in one of their fur trimmed, down jackets and nothing much else.

It isn’t the only firm to market such coats, yet Canada Goose has rapidly established itself as the label of choice for the well-known and the well-heeled braving the frigid weather blown in on the polar vortex.

But today MailOnline can reveal that allegations of chilling cruelty and unspeakable animal suffering have been repeatedly levelled at this family…

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Federal Agency’s New Action May Mean Release for Orca at Seaquarium

Skriv dina tankar här… (frivilligt)

Wolf Is My Soul

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Animal Legal Defense Fund

Lolita to Gain Protected Status Following PETA, ALDF Petition

For immediate release:

Contact:

Lisa Franzetta, Animal Legal Defense Fund
David Perle, PETA

Miami — Currently confined alone to a tank at the Miami Seaquarium that’s smaller than even the minimum standard required by federal law, Lolita the orca’s future could soon take a turn for the better. Following a petition by PETA, the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), Orca Network, and others, the National Marine Fisheries Service today proposed a rule to grant Lolita the same status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that covers all other Southern Resident orcas—the pod that she was seized from in 1970. PETA and the ALDF believe that the current confinement conditions that Lolita is subjected to are prohibited by the ESA. Today’s action opens the door to the prospect that she could be…

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Two quick and easy ways to kick SeaWorld while it’s down

You are what you EAT! 5 Surprising things humans feed cows

Our Compass

Source Mother Jones
By Alex Park

In addition to the old standbys of corn, soy, hay (and, uh, drugs), “there’s a lot of stuff which the general public might not think of as feeds which are actually quite common,” says Cory Parsons, a livestock nutrition expert at Oregon State University. For example:

Sawdust: Decades ago, when Bob Batey, an eastern Iowa entrepreneur, observed cows gobbling up sawdust hosed down from his paper mill, he had an idea: Why not make the stuff into a commercial cattle feed? Sawdust is made largely of cellulose, a carbohydrate, but it’s bound together with a compound called lignin, which makes it hard to digest. To strip the lignin, Batey soaked some of the stuff in nitric acid, and voilà! The cows were ready to chow down. “They like it,” he says. “It’s good for them. It’s economical. And it’s green.”

But it was only after a…

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12 Heartwarming Photos that Prove Farm Animals Love Us

Life or Lunch?

Many of us never have the privilege of getting to know a farm animal. Instead, we know them by their parts. A cow is a rib steak, a brisket, a package of ground beef. A pig is a strip of bacon, schnitzel, a loin chop. A chicken is a wing, drumstick, or a thigh.

While this categorizing may make it easier for some to pick out what they’d like from the grocery store, it’s also a way of distancing ourselves from who these individuals once were.

Thinking of a farm animal as an individual is certainly not something many feel comfortable with, but just like the domestic animals we share our households with, farm animals also have their own distinct personalities, likes, dislikes, and desires. What’s more, if we’d give them a chance, they’d show us just as much love as our beloved dogs and cats.

To prove this…

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Call OFF the “Wild”man

Exposing the Big Game

Drugs, Death, Neglect: Behind the Scenes at Animal Planet

Mother Jones’ exclusive investigation reveals how animals suffer on the network’s top reality show.

By the time three orphaned raccoons arrived for emergency care at the Kentucky Wildlife Center in April 2012, “they were emaciated,” says Karen Bailey, who runs the nonprofit rehab clinic set in the sunny thoroughbred country just outside of Georgetown, in central Kentucky. “They were almost dead.”

Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/01/animal-abuse-drugs-call-of-the-wildman-animal-planet

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The Ultimate “Oh Shit” Moment

Exposing the Big Game

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Shades of Gray

Fight for Rhinos

The Dallas Safari Club has auctioned off the life of a black rhino for $350,000.

In light of this recent atrocity, trophy hunting has come to the forefront of the social consciousness. The elitist hobby of killing for the thrill  has been going on since the 19th century, with nearly 18,000 participants a year.

Today, with the black rhino population in serious decline, each life is crucial to the species. It is a wonder that anyone could place higher value on their death, than their life. Endangered species are labeled as such to provide them extra levels of protection. Hunting them to “save” them flies in the face of logic.

Yet, some argue that hunting helps conservation. What do they mean by that?

Countries condone trophy hunting for a couple of reasons:
1. to make money – the money brought in from the hunting fee goes toward community conservation
2. to…

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Bob Barker Says Dallas Safari Club’s Black Rhino Auction Is A ‘Cheap Thrill’

Exposing the Big Game

http://keranews.org/post/bob-barker-says-dallas-safari-club-s-black-rhino-auction-cheap-thrill

By Eric Aasen

Enlarge image

Credit The Price Is Right/Facebook

Bob Barker recently returned to “The Price Is Right” to celebrate his 90th birthday.

Bob Barker, the legendary game show host, has chimed in on the Dallas Safari Club’s black rhino auction that’s taking place this weekend. He wants the club to call off the event.

The club hopes to raise as much as $1 million to protect the rare black rhino by auctioning off the right to hunt one. But the auction has kicked up international controversy. Club members have been receiving death threats, and the FBI is investigating. (Update: On Saturday, the rhino hunt permit was sold for $350,000, the Associated Press reported.)

Friday afternoon, PETA released a letter from Barker, who hosted “The Price is Right” for 35 years. He’s also an animal rights advocate. (You remember his classic sign-off, right?: “Help control the pet…

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Black Rhino Auctioned for $350K in the Name of Conservation

Exposing the Big Game

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201401/black-rhino-auctioned-350k-in-the-name-conservation

by Marc Bekoff

Should we kill in the name of conservation? Individual animals are not disposable commodities

We live in a troubled and wounded world in which humans continue to dominate and to relentlessly kill numerous nonhuman animals (animals).

A Texas hunting club recently auctioned off an endangered black rhino purportedly to save other black rhinos and their homes in Namibia. The Dallas Safari Club says, “Namibian wildlife officials will accompany the auction winner through Mangetti National Park where the hunt will occur, ‘to ensure the correct type of animal is taken.'” This is not a very comforting thought.

This sale, in which an animal is objectified and treated like a disposable commodity, raises many questions about how we try to save other species. One major question is, “Should we kill in the name of conservation?” People disagree on what is permissible and what is not. My take and…

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What if a judge handed down a verdict without viewing all the evidence?

Our Compass

Click HERE to take action

Background, Source Animals Australia

What if a judge handed down a verdict without viewing all the evidence?

Right now, many politicians are doing just that — deciding the fate of millions of animals while turning a blind eye to the cruelty that may await them in the live export trade. We urgently need your help to get this new evidence in their hands.

Live export is once again making headlines across the country for all the wrong reasons… We have uncovered harrowing footage — posted on YouTube — showing Australian animals being tortured and killed during the Festival of Sacrificein the Gaza Strip. When we alerted media, the live export industry swung back into damage control.

As an investigator, I’ve witnessed more cruelty than I care to admit — but ‘Gaza’ is the worst I have ever seen. Dozens of Australian bulls were…

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