Deep Roots: Animal Rights Blog

Mercy for Animals has released a new undercover investigation video from inside a House of Raeford Farms slaughterhouse in North Carolina. You can click here to read more information about the investigation.

From MFA:

Largely hidden from view, every year over 9 billion chickens and 250 million turkeys are raised on factory farms and killed in our nation’s slaughterhouses. Their suffering often goes unseen and their cries unheard – until now.

A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation takes you behind the closed doors of one of the country’s largest poultry slaughterhouses – House of Raeford Farms, Inc. in Raeford, North Carolina. In January and February of 2007 an MFA investigator worked in the “live-hang” area of the plant (where live birds are snapped into shackles on the slaughter line), secretly filming egregious acts of animal cruelty with a hidden camera. Shocking abuses he witnessed include:

• Turkeys with broken wings and legs, bloody open wounds, tumors and other untreated injuries being slaughtered for human consumption
• A worker violently punching live, shackled turkeys for “fun”
• Employees forcefully shoving their hands into the cloacae (vaginal cavities) of live chickens
• Turkeys and chickens being thrown across the facility and up into the air
• Workers ripping the heads off live turkeys
• Birds being crushed to death under the wheels of trucks
• Conscious turkeys having their throats slit

After viewing the footage, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and meat-industry advisor Dr. Temple Grandin—who is generally recognized as the world’s leading scientific authority on animal welfare—said, “This is a sloppy poorly managed plant where employees are allowed to abuse animals…There are some management people that need to get fired.”

The workers responsible for the abuse cannot be charged under federal law because the USDA refuses to protect turkeys and chickens in its enforcement of the Humane Slaughter Act.

As such, MFA is seeking felony cruelty-to-animals charges against House of Raeford Farms, Inc. for violating North Carolina animal cruelty statutes. On May 18, 2007 MFA furnished the Hoke County prosecutor with a criminal complaint containing affidavits and video footage documenting slaughterhouse workers violently punching, throwing, and ripping the heads off of live animals, as well as testimony from world-renowned animal welfare scientists attesting to the pain inflicted on birds at the facility.

Though the abuses MFA’s investigator documented are egregious, it only begins to scratch the surface of the larger picture of farmed animal cruelty in the United States. The single most powerful action you can take to end such abuse is to adopt a vegetarian diet.

The blog zenhabits recently published a really good list of the “Top 20 Motivational Hacks“. I know this isn’t directly animal rights related, but as activists it is important for us to stay motivated in order to keep doing what we do (and to keep being successful). So in the name of happy and healthy activists doing great work, here’s the list in order:

#20: Chart Your Progress. Recently I posted about how I created a chart to track my progress with each of my goals. This chart is not just for information purposes, for me to look back and see how I’m doing. It’s to motivate me to keep up with my goals. If I’m diligent about checking my chart every day, and marking dots or “x”s, then I will want to make sure I fill it with dots. I will think to myself, “I better do this today if I want to mark a dot.” Well, that’s a small motivation, but it helps, trust me. Some people prefer to use gold stars. Others have a training log, which works just as well. Or try Joe’s Goals. However you do it, track your progress, and allow yourself a bit of pride each time you give yourself a good mark.

Now, you will have some bad marks on your chart. That’s OK. Don’t let a few bad marks stop you from continuing. Strive instead to get the good marks next time.

#19: Hold Yourself Back. When I start with a new exercise program, or any new goal really, I am rarin’ to go. I am full of excitement, and my enthusiasm knows no boundaries. Nor does my sense of self-limitation. I think I can do anything. It’s not long before I learn that I do have limitations, and my enthusiasm begins to wane.

Well, a great motivator that I’ve learned is that when you have so much energy at the beginning of a program, and want to go all out — HOLD BACK. Don’t let yourself do everything you want to do. Only let yourself do 50-75 percent of what you want to do. And plan out a course of action where you slowly increase over time. For example, if I want to go running, I might think I can run 3 miles at first. But instead of letting myself do that, I start by only running a mile. When I’m doing that mile, I’ll be telling myself that I can do more! But I don’t let myself. After that workout, I’ll be looking forward to the next workout, when I’ll let myself do 1.5 miles. I keep that energy reined in, harness it, so that I can ride it even further.

#18: Join an online (or off-line) group to help keep you focused and motivated. When I started to run, more than a year ago, I joined a few different forums, at different times, on different sites, such as Men’s Health (the Belly-Off Runner’s Club), Runner’s World, Cool Running, and the running group at About.com. I did the same when I was quitting smoking.

Each time I joined a forum, it helped keep me on track. Not only did I meet a bunch of other people who were either going through what I was going through or who had already been through it, I would report my progress (and failures) as I went along. They were there for great advice, for moral support, to help keep me going when I wanted to stop.

#17: Post a picture of your goal someplace visible — near your desk or on your refrigerator, for example. Visualizing your goal, exactly how you think it will be when you’ve achieved it, whether it’s financial goals like traveling to Rome or building a dream house, or physical goals like finishing a marathon or getting a flat stomach, is a great motivator and one of the best ways of actualizing your goals.

Find a magazine photo or a picture online and post it somewhere where you can see it not only daily, but hourly if possible. Put it as your desktop photo, or your home page. Use the power of your visual sense to keep you focused on your goal. Because that focus is what will keep you motivated over the long term — once you lose focus, you lose motivation, so having something to keep bringing your focus back to your goal will help keep that motivation.

#16: Get a workout partner or goal buddy. Staying motivated on your own is tough. But if you find someone with similar goals (running, dieting, finances, etc.), see if they’d like to partner with you. Or partner with your spouse, sibling or best friend on whatever goals they’re trying to achieve. You don’t have to be going after the same goals — as long as you are both pushing and encouraging each other to succeed.

#15: Just get started. There are some days when you don’t feel like heading out the door for a run, or figuring out your budget, or whatever it is you’re supposed to do that day for your goal. Well, instead of thinking about how hard it is, and how long it will take, tell yourself that you just have to start.

I have a rule (not an original one) that I just have to put on my running shoes and close the door behind me. After that, it all flows naturally. It’s when you’re sitting in your house, thinking about running and feeling tired, that it seems hard. Once you start, it is never as hard as you thought it would be. This tip works for me every time.

#14: Make it a pleasure. One reason we might put off something that will help us achieve our goal, such as exercise for example, is because it seems like hard work. Well, this might be true, but the key is to find a way to make it fun or pleasurable. If your goal activity becomes a treat, you actually look forward to it. And that’s a good thing.

#13: Give it time, be patient. I know, this is easier said than done. But the problem with many of us is that we expect quick results. When you think about your goals, think long term. If you want to lose weight, you may see some quick initial losses, but it will take a long time to lose the rest. If you want to run a marathon, you won’t be able to do it overnight. If you don’t see the results you want soon, don’t give up … give it time. In the meantime, be happy with your progress so far, and with your ability to stick with your goals. The results will come if you give it time.

#12: Break it into smaller, mini goals. Sometimes large or longer-term goals can be overwhelming. After a couple weeks, we may lose motivation, because we still have several months or a year or more left to accomplish the goal. It’s hard to maintain motivation for a single goal for such a long time. Solution: have smaller goals along the way.

#11: Reward yourself. Often. And not just for longer-term goals, either. In Hack #12, I talked about breaking larger goals into smaller, mini goals. Well, each of those mini goals should have a reward attached to it. Make a list of your goals, with mini goals, and next to each, write down an appropriate reward. By appropriate, I mean 1) it’s proportionate to the size of the goal (don’t reward going on a 1-mile run with a luxury cruise in the Bahamas); and 2) it doesn’t ruin your goal — if you are trying to lose weight, don’t reward a day of healthy eating with a dessert binge. It’s self-defeating.

#10: Find inspiration, on a daily basis. Inspiration is one of the best motivators, and it can be found everywhere. Every day, seek inspiration, and it will help sustain motivation over the long term. Sources of inspiration can include: blogs, online success stories, forums, friends and family, magazines, books, quotes, music, photos, people you meet.

#9: Get a coach or take a class. These will motivate you to at least show up, and to take action. It can be applied to any goal. This might be one of the more expensive ways of motivating yourself, but it works. And if you do some research, you might find some cheap classes in your area, or you might know a friend who will provide coaching or counseling for free.

#8: Have powerful reasons. Write them down. Know your reasons. Give them some thought … and write them down. If you have loved ones, and you are doing it for them, that is more powerful than just doing it for self-interest. Doing it for yourself is good too, but you should do it for something that you REALLY REALLY want to happen, for really good reasons.

#7: Become aware of your urges to quit, and be prepared for them. We all have urges to stop, but they are mostly unconscious. One of the most powerful things you can do is to start being more conscious of those urges. A good exercise is to go through the day with a little piece of paper and put a tally mark for each time you get an urge. It simply makes you aware of the urges. Then have a plan for when those urges hit, and plan for it beforehand, and write down your plan, because once those urges hit, you will not feel like coming up with a plan.

#6: Make it a rule never to skip two days in a row.This rule takes into account our natural tendency to miss days now and then. We are not perfect. So, you missed one day … now the second day is upon you and you are feeling lazy … tell yourself NO! You will not miss two days in a row! Zen Habits says so! And just get started. You’ll thank yourself later.

#5: Visualize your goal clearly, on a daily basis, for at least 5-10 minutes. Visualize your successful outcome in great detail. Close your eyes, and think about exactly how your successful outcome will look, will feel, will smell and taste and sound like. Where are you when you become successful? How do you look? What are you wearing? Form as clear a mental picture as possible. Now here’s the next key: do it every day. For at least a few minutes each day. This is the only way to keep that motivation going over a long period of time.

#4: Keep a daily journal of your goal. If you are consistent about keeping a journal, it can be a great motivator. A journal should have not only what you did for the day, but your thoughts about how it went, how you felt, what mistakes you made, what you could do to improve. To be consistent about keeping a journal, do it right after you do your goal task each day. Make keeping a journal a sensory pleasure.

#3: Create a friendly, mutually-supportive competition.We are all competitive in nature, at least a little. Some more than others. Take advantage of this part of our human nature by using it to fuel your goals. If you have a workout partner or goal buddy, you’ve got all you need for a friendly competition. See who can log more miles, or save more dollars, each week or month. See who can do more pushups or pullups. See who can lose the most weight or have the best abs or lose the most inches on their waist. Make sure the goals are weighted so that the competition is fairly equal. And mutually support each other in your goals.

#2: Make a big public commitment. Be fully committed. This will do the trick every time. Create a blog and announce to the world that you are going to achieve a certain goal by a certain date. Commit yourself to the hilt.

#1: Always think positive. Squash all negative thoughts. Monitor your thoughts. Be aware of your self-talk. We all talk to ourselves, a lot, but we are not always aware of these thoughts. Start listening. If you hear negative thoughts, stop them, push them out, and replace them with positive thoughts. Positive thinking can be amazingly powerful.

Those of us in the U.S. are all too familiar with the Green Scare tactics being used to define animal rights activists as terrorists in this country. Last year, we saw the SHAC 7 found guilty of thought-crimes. The website was shut down and the six defendants are now serving differing prison sentences. Well, the US is not alone in targeting animal rights activists as terrorists. In the largest raid on animal rights activists in Europe. 700 police officers in Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands cracked down on animal rights activists, also working to shut down Huntingdon Life Sciences. Thirty activists (15 women and 15 men) were arrested but have not yet been charged with any crime. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) activists throughout the world have been engaged in one of the most successful anti-vivisection campaigns for several years now. Because of their controversial tactics, such as home demos (demonstrations that take place at employee’s homes), SHAC has been labeled a terrorist organization not only by those targeting the animal rights movement, but also some within the animal rights movement, despite SHAC’s dedication to non-violence.

Source: Democracy Now!

We here at DRAS aren’t big fans of most of the big dog and cat food producers. While many, including us, have maintained that these products have been slowly contributing to illnesses such as kidney failure and cancer, it seems that millions of packages from Menu Foods are now being recalled due to reported kidney failures and deaths.

Menu Foods says the recall is for products “manufactured between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. The recall is limited to “cuts and gravy” style pet food in cans and pouches manufactured at two of the Fund’s United States facilities.” We’re including the list of dog and cat food brands that are being recalled. Below is the article from the Indianapolis Star about the recall.
Read the rest of this entry »

I just bought Hillary Rettig’s The Lifelong Activist, so you can expect a full review soon. But in the meantime, I thought I’d share the following list from Rettig highlighting ten ways to avoid activist burnout. Although a simple list, it is very insightful and one that i suggest every activist post in a visible place. As someone who has been involved in organizing for the past decade, learning each of these skills has proven to be vital to my staying active while so many around me suffered from burnout and gave up.

1. Be honest about who you are and how you want to live your life. Don’t be ashamed if there are limits to the amount and type of activism you want to do.

2. Acknowledge your physical, emotional, material and other non-activist needs.

3. Surround yourself with mentors and others who will encourage and inspire you.

4. Avoid people who abuse you or make you feel guilty or bad in any way. This includes, but is not limited to, other activists and family members.

5. Don’t abuse yourself with constant selfcriticism. Become a compassionate observer of your own flaws.

6. Celebrate every achievement, no matter how small. It’s recognizing and acknowledging the positive, not harping on the negative, that creates growth.

7. If you need therapy, get it. If you suffer from ADD, ADHD, OCD, depression, addiction, codependency or another affliction, see a specialist and follow through on his or her recommendations. These conditions are fundamental barriers to success and happiness, so it is vital to deal with them.

8. Manage your time. Time management is a primary skill that separates successful from unsuccessful people.

9. Stop worrying about your problems and start solving them. Solving involves observation, analysis, consultation with experts and deliberate behavioral change.

10. Never give up. Sometimes success seems remote—particularly if you have a habit of worrying instead of solving—but it is never as remote as it seems. Start taking small positive steps as I outline here and in The Lifelong Activist, and you will make faster progress than you ever dreamed possible.