Utah’s Ag-Gag Bill Now Law
It’s official. If you take undercover video of farm animal abuse in Utah, you’re breaking the law, are guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, and could face jail time. Gov. Gary Herbert has signed H.B. 197 into law
Latest Reports on Bird Flu
happened upon a website called The Poultry Site, which describes itself as a “portal for the global poultry industry.” Its news section includes a Guide to Avian Flu, where you can “catch up with the latest bird flu news from across the globe.”
‘I Went Undercover at Factory Farms’
As an investigator for the Humane Society of the U.S., Cody Carlson got a job last year at four Iowa egg farms. Today, in the wake of the new law in Iowa that bans undercover investigations, Carlson writes about his experience in The Atlantic.
Utah Bans Undercover Farm Photos
Hard on the heels of Iowa’s ban on undercover investigations of factory farms, Utah passed a bill on Wednesday that ban photographing farm animals or operations under “false pretenses.” Both houses of the Legislature overwhelmingly voted for passage, and the bill now goes to Gov. Gary Herbert for his signature.
Factory Farm Videos Now Banned in Iowa
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has signed into law a bill that will make it an offence to capture undercover video of animal abuse by getting a job at a factory farm.
Iowa Passes Bill to Jail Factory Farm Investigators
A bill, which passed with bipartisan support in the Iowa Legislature last week, would make it a criminal offence for people to get a job at a factory farm and then start taking undercover video of what goes on there. It’s now up to the governor sign it or veto it.
Scientists ‘Cooking’ on Laboratory Meat
You care about animals but still can’t quit eating meat? Help is at hand, according to a panel of scientists at the annual AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) meeting in Vancouver.
McDonald’s to Phase Out Gestation Crates
Fast food giant McDonald’s and the Humane Society of the United States have issued a joint statement announcing the company’s intention to get out of the business of gestation crates for breeding sows in the United States.
State Watchdog in Pocket of Factory Farm
A few days before police raided the Butterball turkey factory farm in North Carolina, an official at the N.C. Department of Agriculture called the factory farm to give them advance warning that trouble was on the way.
Pigs on Dangerous Antibiotics
Discovery News explains that just two weeks of low-dose antibiotics boosted the number of E. coli in the guts of pigs and the bacteria had more drug-resistant genes.
The Week for Farm Animals
Paul Shapiro’s weekly round-up of news from the world of farm animals – January 6, 2012.
Bird Flu – "Not If But When"
The H5N1 virus (aka bird flu) is rearing its head again in Asia, where huge, dirty, inhumane chicken markets are a breeding ground for dangerous bugs and viruses that can be carried around the world by humans, by birds or by other animals.
James Cromwell: They’re Not Pets and I Don’t Own Them
Actor James Cromwell is about as passionate for animals as it gets. Ten years ago, he was even arrested during an animal rights protest in Fairfax, Virginia, at a Wendy’s and then ordered to stay out of all Wendy’s restaurants in Fairfax County Virginia unless he intends to eat there … which, one would imagine, he has no intention of doing.
Bird Flu Outbreak in Hong Kong
Just as a team of Dutch researchers are pushing to publish the details of how they created an easily-transmitted mutation of the deadly bird flu virus, H5N1 has struck yet again in Hong Kong.
How We’re Being Stuffed by the Big Food Companies
The folks at Frugal Dad have produced an infographic showing how our food supply is governed by a small handful of huge companies. They wield enormous influence.
Target Runs Out of Eggs
Along with McDonalds, grocery chains are racing to put distance between themselves and the Sparboe factory farms whose abominable treatment of egg-laying hens was caught in undercover video.
McDonalds Dumps Egg Supplier
McDonalds has announced that it is dropping the factory where its eggs are produced after an undercover investigation revealed “significant and serious violations” at one of the country’s biggest egg companies, Sparboe Farms.
Cooking Up ‘Real’ Meat Without Animals
It’s the holy grail of animal protection and one of the key ways to protect the planet: cultured meat, grown in laboratories from cultured animal cells. And it’s coming closer.
Chicken Talk
Living with chickens has made me realize how tuneful and talkative these fascinating birds are. The language of chickens is an essential part of their personalities and of their highly developed social life.
McRibs Are Made of Fibs
H.S.U.S. has filed a legal complaint against Smithfield Foods, citing an undercover operation in which it uncovered gestation crates that cause mother pigs to suffer “from open pressure sores and other ulcers and wounds” and “abscesses sometimes formed from simple scratches due to ever-present bacteria.”