According to the makers of the new documentary film Cowspiracy, one industry is destroying the planet more than any other. It is the leading cause of global warming, water depletion, deforestation, species extinction and ocean dead zones. If you haven’t figured it out already, it is factory farming. So why do the world’s leading environmental groups — the very organizations who should be fighting factory farming — refuse to acknowledge it? I don’t know the answer, and I won’t find out on Thursday at the NYC premiere of Cowspiracy because it is sold out. Those bastards!  At least we have the trailer and the Cowspiracy website to keep us apprised of screenings.

Even though I haven’t seen Cowspiracy, I am already praying to the plant-based gods that it is nominated for best documentary film, a virtual assurance that it will hit mainstream theaters and knock some sense into the American public. Share the trailer on social media. Let’s help make this ground-breaking film blow the lid off of factory farming and the organizations who should be using our donations to fight it.

Owners of a California slaughterhouse that distributed beef from cows with cancer were charged in federal court on August 18th. In court filings, the USDA said that owners of Rancho Feeding Corp. “schemed with employees to slaughter about 79 cows with skin cancer of the eye while federal inspectors took lunch breaks” and that “plant workers swapped the heads of diseased cattle with heads of healthy cows to hide them from inspectors.” The discovery of the diseased carcasses triggered several recalls, including 8.7 million pounds of beef sold at Walmart and other national chains. The slaughterhouse owners and two employees were charged with distribution of “adulterated, misbranded and uninspected meat.”

Photo: REUTERS/Alex Gallardo

If the abuse inherent in modern-day factory farming doesn’t stop people from eating animals, then perhaps the health risks will. Here’s our challenge: People have been eating animals for centuries and surviving, so why would they stop now — at a time when they assume that the government is keeping our food supply safe? When talking to omnivores, I point out that mad cow, bird flu and swine flu originated in the factory farms that produce 99% of the animal products we eat. Now I can say that cows with cancer are in the food supply. And then there are the antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, cholesterol and saturated fat that fill the meat, fish and dairy products we consume. So, if humane issues don’t resonate, then talk about the many reasons why animal products are simply unsafe and unhealthy to eat.

Are you sitting down? SeaWorld’s proposal for larger orca tanks has received a stamp of approval from the American Humane Association (AHA). The AHA, which describes itself as having “been at the forefront of virtually every major advance in protecting children, pets and farm animals from abuse and neglect” will “oversee the building of the facilities,” according to SeaWorld.

Photo: SeaWorld Entertainment

If the AHA were being true to its mission, then it would block the construction of the tanks, not oversee it. It would also join the fight to release the captive orcas into ocean sanctuaries. This is not the first time the AHA has betrayed the animals it claims to protect. In a lengthy Hollywood Reporter article, the organization was exposed for covering up abuse on movie sets. Please contact the AHA, which had $12.8 million in revenues in 2013, to let them how you feel about their tacit endorsement of SeaWorld.

Animal rights activists have taken out full page ads in the Aspen Times asking people to boycott the Aspen Art Museum until it removes the “exhibit” of tortoises wandering around an enclosure with iPads affixed to their shells. The iPads are displaying images of nearby ghost towns. Local activists say that the exhibit not only exploits the animals but also sends a message to people that affixing objects to animals is acceptable. For more background about the exhibit, please see Aspen Art Museum Under Fire for iPad-toting Tortoise Exhibit.

Ad in the Aspen Times

I don’t know if this ad asking for a boycott will reduce attendance or trigger interest in the exhibit. I can’t help but think, however, that many people will see the words “Take the iPads off of the tortoises” and ask themselves, “Why the hell are they gluing iPads to tortoises? That seems wrong.” As I mentioned in a previous post, African turtles belong in Africa, not in Aspen — serving as mobile TV stands. According to the museum, these turtles were “rescued” from a breeder where they were living in an over-crowded pen. Is the artist going to take care of these turtles for life when the exhibit ends?  Doubtful!  This museum should place these tortoises in a sanctuary and then produce a photo exhibit entitled “From Museum Captivity to Freedom.” Here’s an online petition to shut down his exploitive exhibit. Please share.

After recent undercover investigations cast a negative light on Australia’s wool and pork industries, a Senator is introducing a bill that would criminalize the taking of photos and video of “a legally operating animal enterprise.” But instead of calling it what it is – “ag gag” – the Senator is attempting to disguise the proposed law as one that would “strengthen genuine animal welfare protections.” Of course, eliminating transparency by keeping out the cameras will make conditions worse for the animals, as agribusiness will have no incentive to minimize abuse. The law would also require animal rights activists to turn over their video evidence of animal abuse to the proper authorities within 24 or 48 hours. In other words, if you do manage to get footage of animal abuse, you have to both incriminate yourself for trespassing AND turn over the footage to people who are not going to publicize it, as the activists would.

Photo: Animals Australia

In light of public support for transparency and whistle-blowing, ag-gag proponents are attempting to hide their true intent — keeping the public in the dark — behind not only “animal protections” but also “biosecurity,” as if the mere presence of an activist with a camera is going to spread disease in a shed with thousands of animals living in their own excrement. The cameras don’t pose a risk to anyone but the abusers. Please see how you can support the effort to block ag gag bills.