The newly announced separation – not divorce – between the Humane Society of the US and United Egg Producers represents continuing evolution of the unholy family relationship that has developed between animal killers and so-called animal advocates. This unforgivable marriage of “movement” to murderer is the greatest betrayal of animals ever, and millions upon millions of chickens will forever suffer, thanks to H$U$, Farm Sanctuary, Mercy For Animals, Compassion Over Killing, ASPCA, Animal Legal Defense Fund, FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement, also the organizer of the “animal rights conference”), and In Defense of Animals (which, after personnel changes, has since reversed its previous support to opposition).
These are dark days for animals because those who are supposed to protect them have abdicated their responsibilities in favor of holding bloody hands with animal killers. Animal activists have always opposed so-called “enriched” or “furnished” battery cages.You could look at the H$U$ website, or Farm Sanctuary, etc., and they would condemn “enriched/furnished” battery cages as unacceptably cruel, unacceptably detrimental to hens physically and psychologically, and not meeting a level of acceptable animal “welfare” (and yes, that’s even for H$U$, which is saying a lot).
So then when United Egg Producers asked all of these groups to campaign FOR “enriched/furnished” battery cages, why did they all say “yes”? It’s as confounding to me – as it was to UEP CEO Gene Gregory who said in Poultrycast that egg producers were reeling and worried about individual state ballot initiatives, so he reached out to Wayne Pacelle, had him go to Europe to see the cages, and much to the egg industry’s surprise, Pacelle liked the cages. According to Gregory, H$U$ then called all the other major animal organizations to support the United Egg Producers’ proposed federal legislation mandating “enriched/furnished” battery cages as the national standard and that no state or municipality could legislate conditions improving on it. Animal-hating, vivisection-loving, pound-seizure-supporting war senator Dianne Feinstein (NSA-CA), who previously sponsored the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, was happy to introduce a law to permanently terrorize chickens on behalf of United Egg Producers and H$U$ and its groupie group of groups.
What happened from one day to the next to make that which was so horrific, suddenly the cause of the “animal rights movement”? What turned “animal activists” into egg salesmen? People I used to trust became robotic mouthpieces for egg industry talking points – “now hens will be able to engage in natural behaviors”. Even Alex Hershaft, of all people (of FARM and the “AR” Conference), someone who should not only be able to recognize concentration camp conditions when he sees them, but should be the first to shout “never again” – even he said “me too” to just following orders from H$U$. (FARM has said that what was most troubling about the protest against it at a recent conference was that it might have prevented a speaking engagement by H$U$ propagandist Paul Shapiro – nothing related to this massive betrayal.)
All of these groups put a stamp of approval on concentration-camp conditions and brutality – debeaking, grinding chicks alive, mass killings – and supporting cages that actually have decreased space because of “furnishings”, and actually cause the birds to fearfully pile on each other because of these “enrichments” – a stick for an inadequate perch, some wood shavings or sand for bathing and nesting. Shame on these groups for their deceptive advertising campaign to “ban BARREN battery cages” when we thought that we were banning BATTERY cages, but instead would just ban that battery cages be BARREN, easily rectified with a stick and some sand – and why not scratch a cloud of sand into the already toxic ammonia-drenched indoor factory of rows upon rows of stacked stuffed battery cages – where chicken are engaged in natural behaviors – sadness, despair, fear – screaming and crying for their lives, never setting one foot on earth, never feeling sunlight, while pictures of happy chickens abound in slick marketing sporting the dual logos of HSUS and UEP.
The potential offspring of this partnership, the egg bill, has succumbed to stillbirth as it was not included in the Farm Bill. Many attempts have been unsuccessful – even deviously having activists recommend it as the replacement for the King amendment.
For whatever the political reasons are – and there are many – the national egg bill is dead. Unfortunately, the stage has been set for egg producers around the country to take actions supported by the permanent animal rights seal of approval for “enriched/furnished” battery cages. This may even affect the very confused state of Prop 2 California, where something was passed – but what? I don’t understand it. At the time, I was on speaking terms with H$U$ and it was courting my support despite my deep reservations and probing questions about proposed conditions, enforcement, loopholes. He told me that birds would go from having 8 1/2 x 11 inches of space to 12 inches x 12 inches. He said nothing of cage-free. I did an arts and crafts comparison of measurements and became as outraged over this nonsense as much as I was that in the signature gathering process of 700,000 names for the “Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act”, signature gatherers were told never to mention going vegan, the only real solution to farm animal cruelty. “It’s not about going vegetarian”, I was told by a Malibu starlet hosting a cocktail party benefit for it “it’s about birds having enough room to spread their wings.” I wonder if she knew it meant one bird at a time. And I wonder who knew that it was supposed to mean cage-free, as, apparently Wayne Pacelle was touring the state, saying it did. Somehow I never heard that – not even from Paul Shapiro. I don’t think JS West, egg producers in California, knew it either, as it constructed an “enriched” battery cage facility for over 100,000 birds that it says is beyond Prop 2 compliant.
“Enriched” cages now become the reasonable compromise for chicken welfare, and now – even in California, as egg producers there can always cite approval from the well-respected Northern California organization, Farm Sanctuary, the highly-respected Southern California organization, Mercy for Animals, and others, including the #1 animal protection group in the country, and the group that organizes the national “animal rights conference. The chickens are doomed forever by the irresponsible actions of these groups. While H$U$ and UEP announced dissolution of their memorandum of understanding and the formal partnership they have in writing, they promised that the breakup would be amicable, that they would remain friends, and that they look forward to working together again in the future.
http://feedstuffsfoodlink.com/story-uep-backs-off-effort-pass-egg-bill-71-108797
