New Jersey Activists Want Farm Practices Declared ‘Inhumane’

[nosmokes]

May they be blessed by FSM's noodly appendage. this should be interesting to follow because i personally don't see how any jury can view the conditions at a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) and not find them inhumane. further, i'll betcha dollars to donuts that the shopping and eating habits of everyone involved with this trial except the plaintiffs changes.- nosmokes
--###--

original:new standard news

New Jersey Activists Want Farm Practices Declared ‘Inhumane’

by Megan Tady

Dec. 15 – A coalition of environmentalist and animal-rights groups went to court this week, accusing a New Jersey agency of illegally authorizing inhumane treatment of farm animals.


The lawsuit, filed in 2005 against the state Department of Agriculture, seeks a judicial declaration that many common factory farming practices used to raise animals for meat, eggs and milk are inhumane under state law. The New Jersey appellate court heard oral arguments in the case Wednesday.

The plaintiffs include Farm Sanctuary, the US Humane Society, the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Center for Food Safety, as well as several others.

They argued that the Department of Agriculture (NJDA) violated a 1996 legislative order to establish standards for the "humane raising, keeping, care, treatment, marketing and sale of domestic livestock."

Rather, the coalition alleges, the NJDA sanctioned factory-farming practices that "cause severe hunger, pain, stress disease."
~snip~
.
.
.


complete article here

[twilight_sailing]

1. .

"holding cattle in vehicles for up to 28 consecutive hours without food or water"

I doubt this happens often. No one trying to make money on cattle would do such a thing. If they were trying to lose money for some reason, that would be a dandy way to go about it.

[Mend]

2. I think they do this on the way to the slaughterhouse...it wouldn't

cost them money to be cruel. It would cost them money to be humane. We don't eat meat because of the cruelty.

[twilight_sailing]

3. Please read again the words I wrote.

[Xithras]

6. I would think it's pretty rare anyway.

Very, very few cattle ranches are located 28 hours from a slaughterhouse. In my area it's a 15 minute ride. And yes, it WOULD cost them money to be cruel. Cattle confined for 28 hours without food or water are likely to die from stress, overheating, and dehydration. Federal law prohibits any animal from being used for food if it has died before reaching processing, so there's a real danger in abusing them. The average steer, for instance, sells for $800-$1000 to the slaughterhouse (depending on grade), yeilding a profit to the rancher of about $100-$150 per head. If that steer dies before reaching the slaughterhouse, the rancher will get maybe $50 for the carcass, taking a loss of well over $700 (the money spent to purchase the calf, apply needed vaccinations, and feed the animal would be lost). Furthermore, when animals are sold for slaughter they are graded to determine their value. Cattle with sickly coats and hardened, sore muscles (as you would see after a 28 hour truck ride) would be worth far less than a healthy, well kept animal.

Yes, there are some real assholes out there, but generally they don't stay in business that long. Most cattlemen see their herds as an investment and treat them accordingly.

[mzteris]

10. funny - this reminds me

of the argument I used to use when I was a (southern) kid and tried to explain that Southerners treated their slaves well; that it didn't make good economic sense to mistreat them.

Boy was I an idiot back then.

[Xithras]

12. The difference is..

Most cattlemen are more than willing to open their ranches and show people how they operate. My DAD owns land in Oregon and runs cattle on it. I KNOW how the cattle are treated. I KNOW how others treat cattle. Where I live here in central California, there are cattlemen all around me. They operate their businesses in the open where anyone can see what they're doing.

A stressed out steer in poor physical shape is worth hundreds less than a fit, healthy steer. You'd have to be a real moron to give up thousands of dollars in profits per truck when $50 worth of feed will tie them over. Yes, I admit that there ARE morons out there, but it's not all that widespread.

Oh, and nice non-sequitur there with the slave comment. The fact that you once held racist beliefs has absolutely no bearing on the quality of care cattlemen give their herds.

[nosmokes]

13. if the cattle are treated so peachy in an industrial setting, why do need

all the growth hormones to reach size when cattle raised naturally don't, and why do they need all the anti-biotitics to keep them almost healthy when cattle raised organically don't?

believe me, there ain't nothing good about the life of a steer in an industrial production setting. and that's where your beef comes from if you're buying it in a supermarket or at a chain restaraunt. buy local. buy organic. buy fair trade.

[Mend]

4. you said you doubted that they would often hold cattle without

food or water. I have heard that this is a common practice, not only on trucks but to crowd them in corrals without water. The timing is such that they are slaughtered before they die of thirst. The company saves money on food and space and care.

[twilight_sailing]

5. that's not what I said

I said what I said, no more and no less.

[nosmokes]

8. actually the transport of cattle is one of the worst things about factory

farming. but this lawsuit is more about the conditions in feedlots, where animals are crowded into pens so tight they can barely move and must stand for weeks in a pool of manure and urine while they are essentially force fed grain- not their typical diet- that has been doped with anything and everything from growth hormones to full spectrum anti-biotics to combat the the inevitable diseases inherent of living(?) under such conditions. so if you eat meat, buy it from a local producer that free ranges and grass feeds their animals, has them slaughtered close to home and uses sustainable and bio-intensive methods. you might pay more, but you get a quality product and you get the added benefit of knowing where you food comes from and who produces it.

industrial agriculture is killing us and it's killing the planet

[kestrel91316]

9. Feedlots are terrible, inhumane places. I know. I've been IN

a few, caring for animals in them.

Knee-deep manure.

[nam78_two]

7. K&R.nt

[xchrom]

11. woo-hoo! i'm kickin and recommendin!

i'm a meat eater whose meat bill has gone up a lot lately because of my choosing to buy from small producers -- oh yeah and that organic thing too.

but with food -- any food -- mega producers are bad.

[GoneOffShore]

14. You hit all the right points

I thank the FSM that Mrs GoS and I only have to worry about ourselves when buying food. (No kids) So, we're buying fresh, local, grass feed, free range, small producers, organic. If we could grow our own, we would.

It's more expensive, but it tastes better, is healthier and is better for the economy.