The Plight of Poultry
“For The Birds”
click here to read response from USDA
Issues often go ignored because they are subjects that are too complicated to discuss. The humane treatment of poultry is one of them. We often use the cliché for the birds to mean something that is “worthless.” However, Americans went from eating 27.4 pounds of poultry per person to 59.2 pounds between 1970 and 2004.
Let me say in advance that I am not an animal rights activist out to spoil your dinner. I just want to tell you something you may not know.
We were all farmers once. What arrived on our table and how it got there could not be compartmentalized. Now, our meals are mass merchandised and the truth is often obscured from view. We have legislation that provides for the humane slaughter of livestock, yet it does not include poultry.
Ah, but birds are not animals you might argue. No, birds are animals.
I raise birds, so I know how they form lifelong partnerships and demonstrate behaviors like other animals. Anyone who studies molecular biology will be struck by the idea that the evolution of viruses and bacteria show a level of intelligence that mirrors our own. How much more for these descendants of dinosaurs?
I am not arguing that eating animals is wrong. Even vegetarians must concede that plants are also living things. Plants may one day teach us about harvesting solar energy more productively. I am only advocating the humane treatment of all living things while they are alive.
During Thanksgiving, we celebrate a time when pilgrims feasted with their Indian hosts. It is a ceremony that comes from the founding of our country. We disregard, however, how these hosts always gave thanks for the life they were about to take. Because an animal will wind up on our dinner table, is this a reason to deny it our humanity? The fear we see on Fido’s face is recognizable on each and every creature given a heart and a will to survive.
Lost in the illogical argument of animal rights activists who might demand that we all become vegetarians is the idea that if we knew the truth we might do things just a little differently.
Like California, Ohio and Michigan are exploring legislation to prevent cruelty to livestock. For these arguments to be heard however, requires proof that it might lead to the spread of human disease. Fair enough.
In 2005, the Humane Society of the United States filed a lawsuit to force the US Agriculture Department to include poultry under the protections afforded by the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958, which stipulated that livestock be rendered insensible to pain prior to slaughter.
“The court finds the legislative history strongly demonstrates unambiguous congressional intent that livestock, as used in the HMSA, does not include poultry,” US District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel wrote in her opinion. She granted summary judgment in USDA’s favor and dismissed the lawsuit. She only sought to interpret the law from the standpoint of those who wrote it.
HSUS argued that the 1958 dictionary definition was a word that described any "useful animals" on a farm. The USDA held that the term had always meant to exclude poultry. “The plain language of these bills indicates that Congress intended to exclude poultry from the definition of livestock when it enacted H.R. 8308, the bill that eventually became the HMSA,” Patel wrote.
While poultry may have lost that battle due to the lobbying of Agribusiness, Proposition 2 was passed on November 4, 2008 by 63% of Californians. Called the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, it prohibits the confinement of certain farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, or fully extend their limbs
This measure will eliminate the confinement of veal crates where non-milking male calves are kept from moving during their short lives. It will eliminate the crowded pens and sloped wire floors that allow eggs to roll from battery cages, yet prevent a hen from perching or stretching her wings. It will also eliminate gestation crates where a mother pig is confined on her side in a 2ft x 7ft metal enclosure.
Since 1997, cage-free and organic eggs have shown a seven-fold increase in sales. Linda Braun, consumer services director at the American Egg Board calls them “specialty eggs,” which “amount to about five percent of the total U.S. egg market.” The consumer’s conscience has enabled smaller family farms to compete again. People have made their will known in supermarkets and are willing to pay up to twice as much for “free range” chickens or for eggs that are produced by hens that are not caged.
Animal welfare in the European Union dwarfs the US which is either stuck in the dark ages of ignorance or held prisoner to the enormous Agribusiness blink in consciousness. The commitment of Europe in recognizing that all animals are sentient beings ensures that they do not endure avoidable pain or suffering, and obliges the owner/keeper of animals to respect minimum welfare requirements. On March 30, 2006, the first Animal Welfare Conference was held in Brussels to establish an action plan that can be implemented by member states. What this means is that European farmers will not have to pay for air time to convince the public that their cows are happy.
Thanksgiving is a time when we celebrate the bounty we have been given. When you buy your bird, ask your grocer how it was farmed. Make your voice heard to the USDA that poultry should be afforded the same humane treatment as other animals. Shop only for birds that have been treated fairly while they are alive, and ask your grocer to use organic and local farms that can be held accountable.
Until we are willing to be ethical in our actions collectively, it is what we do individually that will make a difference.
Update 11/18/09
click here to read response from USDA
