According to Montreal’s SPCA, which discovered horrific conditions during a fur farm inspection, the Quebec government is “not doing enough to protect dozens of foxes and hundreds of mink kept in inhumane conditions.” A wildlife veterinarian who accompanied the SPCA said, “Dehydration was evident in all 91 foxes. Emaciation or starvation was present in many of the animals. There were a variety of injuries from broken toes, to a broken leg, to a missing eye, lesions on the tails.” The Forest Ministry did seize 16 arctic foxes due to lack of paperwork and did euthanize four foxes and one mink because they were too sick to survive. However, they left the remaining animals in their cages “to give the owner a chance to correct the situation.”

Being held captive for life in a small wire cage is torture in and of itself. But to be deprived of food, water and medical care on top of that? If the Forest Ministry found dogs and cats in these conditions, the perpetrators would be undoubtedly be charged with animal cruelty. The laws must be strengthened to protect all animals, not just the companion animals who bring us pleasure. Fur is among the most egregious forms of animal cruelty. And for what? A coat? We must put ourselves in the skin of these animals and imagine stress, frustration, pain and suffering they endure every day of their lives leading up to that fateful moment when they are anally electrocuted, gassed or skinned alive. And we must be their voice.

In an a op ed about the importance of humanities in education, NY Times writer Nicholas Kristof says that one of the three philosophers who has “shaped the world” is Princeton Professor Peter Singer, who “pioneered the public discussion of our moral obligations to animals” with his 1975 book “Animal Liberation.” Kristof points out that, in his book, Singer argues that “it’s wrong to inflict cruelty on cows, hogs or chickens just so that we can enjoy a tasty lunch.” That is an extraordinarily important message for NY Times readers to see.

Kristof has written extensively about the cruelty of factory farms, but, oddly, he still eats meat. In a beautifully written 2008 op ed in which he describes how thoughtful, intelligent and aware the animals were on his childhood farm, he says “Perhaps it seems like soggy sentimentality as well as hypocrisy to stand up for animal rights, particularly when I enjoy dining on these same animals.”  In today’s op ed, he says, “I’m not a vegetarian, although I’m sometimes tempted.” Mr. Kristof: If you know about the horrors of modern-day animal agriculture and are tempted to go veg, then just do it – for the animals, for your health and for the environment.

Peter Singer (Photo: Joel Travis Sage)

SeaWorld justifies keeping killer whales in captivity by claiming their research studies, which cannot be conducted on wild populations, benefit the species. However, according to an article in Slate, an investigation of SeaWorld’s 52 research papers by Ingrid Visser, a marine biologist with New Zealand’s Orca Research Trust, shows that “SeaWorld may have systematically misrepresented the research resulting from work with captive orcas.” The article lists many examples of SeaWorld’s duplicity, but what stands out the most is their inclusion vitamin supplement and artificial insemination studies, which are “unlikely to be useful to wild populations.”

Photo: CTV News

Companies like SeaWorld and Ringling Bros not only confine and abuse the earth’s largest and most intelligent mammals (whales & elephants), they also portray themselves as advocates and conservationists for the same animals. Their duplicity is maddening. Thankfully, undercover investigations and documentaries like Blackfish are blowing their cover. To see how you can help orcas kept in tanks, please visit Blackfish’ Take Action page.

Seven activists stripped and climbed into oversized meat trays to jolt the public into considering the plight of farm animals. The Association Against Animal Factories, which organized the event in Vienna, said, “According to the Austrian law, animals are classed as things. This means that their value is only measured by how much profit can be squeezed from their carcasses.”

Photo: APA/Neubauer

How many consumers think about the fact that the styrofoam package of “boneless” and “skinless” chicken breasts they buy at the grocery store once had a face and a family? Not many. If pork chops were packaged with the pig’s head, then fewer people would buy them. And that is probably why grocery stores go to great lengths to disconnect the meat they sell from the animal to whom it belongs.  With the help of organizations like Vegan Outreach, we can help people connect the dots without taking off our clothes. That said, getting naked attracts attention, and I’m grateful to the activists who put themselves in a compromising position – personally and legally – to draw attention to the plight of farm animals.

With shares of SeaWorld crashing as a result of the documentary film Blackfish, will the movie’s producer, CNN, be charged with terrorism? Under the 2006 Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), anyone who causes the loss of property or profits to institutions that use or sell animals can be prosecuted and face up to 20 years in prison, depending on the amount of profit loss.  This overly broad law has not only compromised our constitutional right to free speech and free assembly but has also changed the public discourse, giving people permission to describe animal advocates as “terrorists.”  The irony is that the real terrorists here are the companies (or institutions) that the activists are targeting.  These companies employ terror when they kidnap, deprive, mutilate, confine, neglect, torture, slaughter and skin animals alive in factory and fur farms, behind circus tents, in laboratories and, of course, in the tanks of Sea World. Of course, the federal government would never file terrorism charges against CNN because it would be a PR disaster, but I wish they would because a spotlight on AETA would force Congress to change or eliminate the law. In early August, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review AETA, claiming it violates the First Amendment.

Photo: NBC News