Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter of Idaho signs bill that will force consumers to
eat dead stock downers and whatever else the industry decides
Governor Otter Signs Idaho's 'Ag-Gag' Bill
Print By Associated Press
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed a bill threatening people who secretly film
animal abuse at Idaho's agricultural facilities with jail and fines.
Otter inked the new law Friday, two days after it cleared its final hurdle
in the House.
Otter, a rancher, said the measure promoted by the dairy industry "is about
agriculture producers being secure in their property and their
livelihood."
The bill came in response to videos released by Los Angeles-based
vegetarian and animal rights group Mercy for Animals showing workers at
Bettencourt Dairy beating, stomping and sexually abusing cows in 2012.
Idaho's $2.5 billion dairy industry complained the group used its videos
not to curb abuse, but to unfairly hurt Bettencourt's business.
Those caught surreptitiously filming agricultural operations face a year in
jail and a $5,000 fine.
BY signing this bill, Gov. C.L. Butch Otter signed, every consumer out
there will loose. the industry is laughing all the way to the bank.
I ASSURE ALL CONSUMERS, THE INDUSTRY FLAT OUT DOES NOT CARE WHAT THEY FEED
YOU, AS LONG AS IT MAKES MONEY.
IF not for these undercover videos, we would have never know that for 4
years, our children all across the nation, from state to state, county to
county, and school to school, the NSLP via USDA inc, fed or children the most
high risk cattle for mad cow type disease, and other deadly pathogens, they fed
them dead stock downer cows, and then hid this 50 year nightmare (incubation for
cjd up to 50 years), under the guise of a recall for animal abuse, one of the
largest meat recalls in USA history was ordered. I ask again, what about child
abuse ?
OR, recently again, by another secret video, cattle with cancer, sick and
diseases cattle, from a more recent recall. cattle with cancer of the eyes,
heads chopped off, no problem, no cancer no more, put them in commerce, and feed
them out.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
BEEF, CANCER, PRIONS, AND OTHER DANGEROUS AND DEADLY PATHOGENS, APPARENTLY,
IT'S WHAT'S FOR DINNER
snip...
Marin Sun Farms buying tainted Petaluma slaughterhouse Petaluma meat
processor recalling 8.7 million pounds
(02-26) 10:44 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Rancho Feeding Corp., the Petaluma
slaughterhouse that recently recalled 8.7 million pounds of beef, is under
criminal investigation by the federal government for killing and selling meat
from dairy cows with cancer, according to sources who would speak only on the
condition of anonymity.
Rancho was allegedly buying up cows with eye cancer, chopping off their
heads so inspectors couldn't detect the disease and illegally selling the meat,
the sources said.
snip...
Thursday, February 27, 2014
BEEF, CANCER, PRIONS, AND OTHER DANGEROUS AND DEADLY PATHOGENS, APPARENTLY,
IT'S WHAT'S FOR DINNER
please remember, for 4 years, dead stock downer cows, the most high risk
for BSE mad cow disease, and other dangerous and deadly pathogens, went to the
NSLP via the USDA et al, and fed out to our children from state to state, county
to county, school to school, all across our Nation, under the cover of at the
time one of the largest beef recalls in USA history, under the cover of a recall
related to 'animal abuse'. what about child abuse, and who will watch our
children for the next 50 YEARS FOR CJD TYPE TSE PRION DISEASE ???
Subject: nslp deadstock downers recall school by school, state by state
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Westland/Hallmark: 2008 Beef Recall A Case Study by The Food Industry
Center January 2010 THE FLIM-FLAM REPORT
There Are Too Few Eyes Looking At Too Many Animals Going to Slaughter
Thursday, February 13, 2014
HSUS VS USDA ET AL BAN DOWNER CALVES FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION (*veal) and
potential BSE risk factor there from
*** FDA PART 589 -- SUBSTANCES PROHIBITED FROM USE IN ANIMAL FOOD OR FEED
VIOLATIONS OFFICIAL ACTION INDICATED OIA UPDATE DECEMBER 2013 UPDATE ***
OAI 2012-2013
OAI (Official Action Indicated) when inspectors find significant
objectionable conditions or practices and believe that regulatory sanctions are
warranted to address the establishment’s lack of compliance with the regulation.
*** An example of an OAI classification would be findings of manufacturing
procedures insufficient to ensure that ruminant feed is not contaminated with
prohibited material.
Inspectors will promptly re-inspect facilities classified OAI after
regulatory sanctions have been applied to determine whether the corrective
actions are adequate to address the objectionable conditions.
ATL-DO 1035703 Newberry Feed & Farm Ctr, Inc. 2431 Vincent St. Newberry
SC 29108-0714 OPR DR, FL, FR, TH HP 9/9/2013 OAI Y
DET-DO 1824979 Hubbard Feeds, Inc. 135 Main, P.O. Box 156 Shipshewana IN
46565-0156 OPR DR, FL, OF DP 8/29/2013 OAI Y
ATL-DO 3001460882 Talley Farms Feed Mill Inc 6309 Talley Rd Stanfield NC
28163-7617 OPR FL, TH NP 7/17/2013 OAI N
NYK-DO 3010260624 Sherry Sammons 612 Stoner Trail Rd Fonda NY 12068-5007
OPR FR, OF NP 7/16/2013 OAI Y
DEN-DO 3008575486 Rocky Ford Pet Foods 21693 Highway 50 East Rocky Ford CO
81067 OPR RE, TH HP 2/27/2013 OAI N
CHI-DO 3007091297 Rancho Cantera 2866 N Sunnyside Rd Kent IL 61044-9605 OPR
FR, OF HP 11/26/2012 OAI Y
DEN-DO 1713202 Weld County Bi Products, Inc. 1138 N 11th Ave Greeley CO
80631-9501 OPR RE, TH HP 10/12/2012 OAI N
Ruminant Feed Inspections Firms Inventory (excel format)
PLEASE NOTE, the VAI violations were so numerous, and unorganized in dates
posted, as in numerical order, you will have to sift through them for
yourselves. ...tss
snip...see full text ;
Sunday, December 15, 2013
FDA PART 589 -- SUBSTANCES PROHIBITED FROM USE IN ANIMAL FOOD OR FEED
VIOLATIONS OFFICIAL ACTION INDICATED OIA UPDATE DECEMBER 2013 UPDATE
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Final Feed Investigation Summary - California BSE Case - July 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy: the effect of oral exposure dose on
attack rate and incubation period in cattle -- an update 5 December 2012
Sunday, February 2, 2014
The Presence of Disease-Associated Prion Protein in Skeletal Muscle of
Cattle Infected with Classical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
NOTE Pathology
Thursday, February 20, 2014
*** Unnecessary precautions BSE MAD COW DISEASE Dr. William James FSIS VS
Dr. Linda Detwiler 2014
BSE prions propagate as either variant CJD-like or sporadic CJD-like prion
strains in transgenic mice expressing human prion protein
Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) has been recognized to date only
in individuals homozygous for methionine at PRNP codon 129. Here we show that
transgenic mice expressing human PrP methionine 129, inoculated with either
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or variant CJD prions, may develop the
neuropathological and molecular phenotype of vCJD, consistent with these
diseases being caused by the same prion strain. Surprisingly, however, BSE
transmission to these transgenic mice, in addition to producing a vCJD-like
phenotype, can also result in a distinct molecular phenotype that is
indistinguishable from that of sporadic CJD with PrPSc type 2. These data
suggest that more than one BSE-derived prion strain might infect humans; it is
therefore possible that some patients with a phenotype consistent with sporadic
CJD may have a disease arising from BSE exposure.
Monday, October 10, 2011
EFSA Journal 2011 The European Response to BSE: A Success Story
snip...
EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
recently delivered a scientific opinion on any possible epidemiological or
molecular association between TSEs in animals and humans (EFSA Panel on
Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) and ECDC, 2011). This opinion confirmed Classical
BSE prions as the only TSE agents demonstrated to be zoonotic so far but the
possibility that ***a small proportion of human cases so far classified as
"sporadic" CJD are of zoonotic origin could not be excluded. Moreover,
transmission experiments to non-human primates suggest that some TSE agents in
addition to Classical BSE prions in cattle (namely L-type Atypical BSE,
Classical BSE in sheep, transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) and chronic
wasting disease (CWD) agents) might have zoonotic potential.
snip...
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Seven main threats for the future linked to prions First threat The TSE
road map defining the evolution of European policy for protection against prion
diseases is based on a certain numbers of hypotheses some of which may turn out
to be erroneous. In particular, a form of BSE (called atypical Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy), recently identified by systematic testing in aged cattle
without clinical signs, may be the origin of classical BSE and thus potentially
constitute a reservoir, which may be impossible to eradicate if a sporadic
origin is confirmed. ***Also, a link is suspected between atypical BSE and some
apparently sporadic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. These atypical
BSE cases constitute an unforeseen first threat that could sharply modify the
European approach to prion diseases.
Second threat
snip...
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sporadic Fatal Insomnia in an Adolescent
Friday, January 10, 2014
vpspr, sgss, sffi, TSE, an iatrogenic by-product of gss, ffi, familial type
prion disease, what it ???
Conclusions. Preliminary results from transmission studies in bank voles
strongly support the notion that VPSPr is a transmissible prion disease.
Interestingly, VPSPr undergoes divergent evolution in the two genetic lines of
voles, with sCJD-like features in BvM109 and GSS-like properties in BvI109. ***
The discovery of previously unrecognized prion diseases in both humans and
animals (i.e., Nor98 in small ruminants) demonstrates that the range of prion
diseases might be wider than expected and raises crucial questions about the
epidemiology and strain properties of these new forms. We are investigating this
latter issue by molecular and biological comparison of VPSPr, GSS and Nor98.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
atypical Nor-98 Scrapie has spread from coast to coast in the USA 2012 NIAA
Annual Conference April 11-14, 2011San Antonio, Texas
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Atypical Scrapie Prions from Sheep and Lack of Disease in Transgenic Mice
Overexpressing Human Prion Protein
Our findings suggest that CWD prions have the capability to infect humans,
and that this ability depends on CWD strain adaptation, implying that the risk
for human health progressively increases with the spread of CWD among cervids.
PPo2-7:
Sunday, August 25, 2013
***Chronic Wasting Disease CWD risk factors, humans, domestic cats, blood,
and mother to offspring transmission
Sunday, July 21, 2013
*** As Chronic Wasting Disease CWD rises in deer herd, what about risk for
humans?
*** PRICE OF CWD TSE PRION POKER GOES UP 2014 ***
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE PRION update
January 2, 2014
*** chronic wasting disease, there was no absolute barrier to conversion of
the human prion protein. ***
Furthermore, the form of human PrPres produced in this in vitro assay when
seeded with CWD, resembles that found in the most common human prion disease,
namely sCJD of the MM1 subtype. Wednesday, January 01, 2014 Molecular Barriers
to Zoonotic Transmission of Prions *** chronic wasting disease, there was no
absolute barrier to conversion of the human prion protein.
*** Furthermore, the form of human PrPres produced in this in vitro assay
when seeded with CWD, resembles that found in the most common human prion
disease, namely sCJD of the MM1 subtype.
WHAT about the sporadic CJD TSE proteins ? WE now know that some cases of
sporadic CJD are linked to atypical BSE and atypical Scrapie, so why are not
MORE concerned about the sporadic CJD, and all it’s sub-types $$$
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America updated report August
2013
*** Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America with Canada
seeing an extreme increase of 48% between 2008 and 2010 ***
Sunday, October 13, 2013
*** CJD TSE Prion Disease Cases in Texas by Year, 2003-2012
Friday, February 14, 2014
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) biannual update (February 2014), with
briefing on novel human prion disease National CJD Research and Surveillance
Unit NCJDRSU
Thursday, January 2, 2014
*** CWD TSE Prion in cervids to hTGmice, Heidenhain Variant
Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease MM1 genotype, and iatrogenic CJD ??? ***
http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473309903007151.pdf?id=baa1CkXPkhI3Ih_Vlh6ru
http://cjdusa.blogspot.com/
Friday, January 10, 2014
vpspr, sgss, sffi, TSE, an iatrogenic by-product of gss, ffi, familial type
prion disease, what it ???
CJD...Straight talk with...James Ironside...and...Terry Singeltary... 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
BSE-The Untold Story - joe gibbs and singeltary 1999 – 2009
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
*** Detection of Infectivity in Blood of Persons with Variant and Sporadic
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease ***
These ag gag laws should be challenged in the highest court of the land.
for the industry to be protected, and allowed to knowingly put diseased
animals into the food production system, should be a crime, and if the
government cannot, will not, stop it, but undercover videos can, so be it, and
thank God for it.
for the Government to ban this, says a lot. it says that the Government
will protect big ag at all cost, including public health, from a disease that is
100% fatal, once clinical.
However, Governor C.L. Butch Otter just made it legal by signing in the Ag
Gag law.
eat up! enjoy, those prion TSE disease and other dangerous and deadly
pathogens. some will make you sick instantly, but the TSE prion is a silent
killer, takes years to incubate. once you become exposed, it may be 5 or 10
years before you go clinical. but once clinical, you did, not questions asked.
problem solved $$$
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
*** factory farming and the banning of investigative type video reporting
is just plain stupid
Friday, April 26, 2013
*** INDIANA Republican State Sen. Travis Holdman Senate Bill 373 ag-gag
WILL PUT HUMANS AT RISK
Monday, April 22, 2013
*** North Carolina Senate bill S.B. 648 could be health risk and risk your
children again to mad cow type disease BSE TSE prion disease
Letter: Senate bill could be health risk
Saturday, March 3, 2012
*** Iowa Legislature gives the green light for more dead stock downer cows
to be fed to your children i.e. mad cow CJD
*** Idaho Stan Boyd BILL H0431 will reduce CWD testing on Elk Ranches
?
Bill would impact Idaho’s elk ranches
Comments Print Sean Ellis Published: February 05. 2014 9:40AM 0 0
A bill that would increase an annual fee on domestic elk in Idaho but lower
testing and inspection requirements for elk ranches has been introduced in the
Idaho Legislature.
BOISE — A bill that would increase an annual inventory fee for domestic elk
in Idaho but lower state testing and inspection regulations for chronic wasting
disease has made it to the House floor.
The bill would double the current elk inventory fee that is levied on all
domestic elk from $5 to $10 per head annually.
It would also implement three new fees: $10 per head for every domestic elk
exported out of Idaho, $10 for every elk imported into the state and $10 for
every elk transferred from one Idaho elk ranch to another.
But it reduces the percentage of elk that must be tested for CWD and would
require elk ranches and farms to be inspected less often.
“The majority of the elk industry is in favor of this,” said Stan Boyd, who
introduced the bill Feb. 4 on behalf of the Idaho Elk Breeders
Association.
There are an estimated 3,500 domestic elk on 68 ranches in Idaho.An Idaho
State Department of Agriculture testing program that ensures domestic elk and
other domestic cervidae are free of CWD has run a total of $157,000 in the red
the past four years.
The program has been subsidized by siphoning money from the state’s
livestock disease control fund and the ISDA halted the program after seven
months this fiscal year because costs were again outpacing revenue.
Industry representatives and ISDA officials came up with the current plan
to adequately fund the program by increasing fees and reducing testing and
inspection requirements.
“The program simply hasn’t carried itself,” Boyd said. “With this bill, it
will carry itself now.”
Idaho rules currently require 100 percent of elk 16 months of age or older
that die or are harvested on an elk farm to have their brain tissue tested for
CWD.
They also require elk ranches to be inspected every year.
The bill would require no less than 10 percent of elk that die on an elk
ranch to be tested and it would only require facility inspections every five
years.
During a public hearing Feb. 4, some sportsmen and conservation groups
opposed the bill, saying it would expose Idaho’s wild elk population to CWD, a
neurological disease that affects domestic cervidae.
While they agreed with the increased fees, they opposed lowering
regulations.Bob Minter of Cascade said his local sportsmen’s club is concerned
“about any change that would reduce the testing on these domestic game farms.
We do not have (CWD) in this state and we do not want it.
”Some lawmakers questioned why domestic elk producers should be required to
test 100 percent of their elk if 100 percent of wild elk aren’t tested.Boyd said
that in the 20 years since the current rules were implemented, he has never seen
a bill proposed that would mandate a specific percentage of wild elk be
tested.“
I think that speaks for itself,” he said shortly before members of the
House Agricultural Affairs Committee voted to send the bill to the House floor -
See more at:
February 5, 2014 – ISCAC Meeting
Posted @ 2:21 PM by Sportsmen's Connection
Please contact your Representative immediately and urge them to vote “NO”
on H0431.
H0431 – Domestic Cervidae Inspection passed the House Resources and
Conservation Committee with a do-pass recommendation and is now heading to the
House. This bill reduces brain tissue testing in domestic cervidae from 100% to
a 10% minimum, changes facility inspection from every year to every five years,
and increases inventory fees and adds export fees.
This bill is not supported by sportsmen, the Idaho Conservation League, or
the Idaho Wildlife Federation because it increases the risk of CWD coming to
Idaho and spreading to wild herds. Instead, testing should stay at a 100%
because if CWD escapes into wild herds it would have a huge negative impact on
Idaho’s hunting industry.
To contact your Representative, please visit our Take Action section and
select your representative from the drop-down menu in the Action Alert. If you
do not know who your Representative is, please click here. Take Action - Click
here now.
February 5, 2014 – ISCAC Meeting
Posted @ 2:21 PM by Sportsmen's Connection
Next was a discussion about CWD. It was clarified that H0431 is not
lowering testing for CWD, but rather testing for brucellosis and other disease.
All domestic cervidae that are shot still have to be tested for CWD. Mr. John
Caywood and Mr. Bob Minter (Ada County Fish and Game Leauge) voiced their
concerns about H0431, saying sportsmen should continue to stand against lowering
testing and inspection regulations. A big concern with the change in testing was
that the rancher could only test elk that looked healthy and ignore the ones
that looked ill. The long incubation period of CWD was also a concern since an
animal could appear fine but have the disease and they could only assume the
animal is not infected because there are no reported cases nearby. In response
to the discussion concerning testing wild elk for CWD, Mr. James Unsworth
(Department of Fish and Game) stated that he believes wild game is still being
tested for CWD, but would have to double check to get accurate information. The
chairman, Mr. Jay Stark (Idaho Hunter Education Association) asked where
cattlemen stand on this because if the state were to lose its brucellosis free
status, the economic impact would be overwhelming. There are plan underway to
make an honest effort to find out the cattle industry’s thoughts on the
bill.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Test results provide current snapshot of CWD in south-central Wisconsin
Dane and Eastern Iowa counties Prevalence has increased in all categories
*** Prevalence of clinical or subclinical CWD infection as detected by
immunohistochemistry (IHC) of lymphoid tissue or brain in captive herds varies
considerably from ,1% in some farmed herds with recent introduction of the
disease to essentially 100% in CWD endemic research facilities.111,117,157
Likewise, prevalence varies widely in free-ranging populations from ,1% in deer
and elk to ;30% in some local populations of deer103 (W. Cook, personal
communication; Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Colorado Division of
Wildlife, unpublished data). Prevalence of CWD in elk is lower than in sympatric
deer.101
snip...
*** In summary, the results reported here reconfirm that blood and saliva
are sources of infectious CWD prions, consistent with previous findings [27],
and further support a mechanism for efficient CWD transmission in nature. We
also show that infectious prions shed into the environment by CWD+ deer are
sufficient to transmit the disease to naïve deer in the absence of direct
animal-to-animal contact. These observations reinforce the exposure risk
associated with body fluids, excreta, and all tissues from CWD+ cervids and
suggest that similar dynamics may exist in other prion infections.
snip...
Sunday, March 02, 2014
***BIG WIN FOR SHOOTING PENS FROM BRAKKE BLUNDER THANKS TO JUDGE, BIG LOSS
FOR WILD CERVIDS AND POSSIBLE HUMANS FROM CWD
OLD HISTORY ON CWD AND GAME FARMS IN USA
Saturday, February 22, 2014
*** New chronic wasting disease rules enhance risks professor John Fischer
of the University of Georgia told the 37th meeting of the Southeast Deer Study
Group ***
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
*** Emergency Conservation Program Restores Idaho Deer Farm ?
THESE CONGRESSMEN WANT YOU TO EAT SICK ANIMALS, AND LIKE IT.
THERE ARE MORE CONGRESSMEN THAT WANT YOU TO EAT SICK AND DISEASES ANIMALS,
BY BANNING THESE UNDERCOVER VIDEO.
UNTIL THE PEOPLE STAND UP, AND JUST SAY NO TO THESE PEOPLE, YOU WILL
CONTINUE TO BE FORCED TO EAT PRIONS AND CANCER BEEF, apparently, it’s what’s for
dinner now. ...
U.S. Representatives Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy, and Jeff Denham
August 28, 2012 at 15:22:55
U.S. Congressmen Compare Undercover Investigators to Arsonists and
By Will Potter (about the author)
Three members of the U.S. Congress have sent a letter to the USDA urging
the department to take action against "the onslaught of attacks" by animal
welfare groups who have conducted undercover investigations of factory
farms.
In a blog post about the letter, one member of Congress equated the recent
investigation of Central Valley Meat Co. in California to arson, and called it
"economic terrorism."
A nonprofit animal protection group called Compassion Over Killing released
undercover video footage that documented shocking cruelty at that California
slaughterhouse. The footage shows workers unsuccessfully shooting cows in the
head and then walking away as they in pain, and workers suffocating cows by
standing on their faces.
Central Valley Meat Co. had not only been inspected by the USDA, it was one
of the USDA's suppliers; last year, the USDA bought more than 21 million pounds
of beef worth more than $50 million from the company. After seeing the footage,
McDonald's, Costco, and In-N-Out Burger cut ties. The USDA shut down the
facility pending investigation.
"Onslaught of attacks" That didn't sit well with ag industry groups or
their allies, who have been on the defensive as one investigation after another
has rattled industrial agriculture. In 2008, an investigation by the Humane
Society at another California dairy cow slaughterhouse led to the largest meat
recall in U.S. history. Dozens of investigations into all aspects of the
industry have exposed the reality of our food choices, and they have completely
changed the national discussion.
Bad PR and recalls are one thing, though; the USDA shutting down Central
Valley Meat Co. represented another threat entirely.
Undercover video from Central Valley Meat Co.
A few days after the plant was shut down, three U.S. Representatives from
California stepped in, and sent a letter to the USDA calling for its immediate
reopening. U.S. Representatives Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy, and Jeff Denham
said that its closure was hurting the economy, and the USDA needed "to intervene
against the onslaught of attacks that are occurring at the behest of radical
groups."
Who are these "radical groups"?
Nunes spells this out in a blog post about the investigation titled
"Eco-extremists Strike Again."
"The video was posted by extremists who are actively working to undermine
production agriculture in the United States," he says. "In recent years, these
kinds of "activists' have increased their attacks on animal agriculture, and
have even carried out acts of domestic terrorism." He points to an arson by the
underground activists of tractors and trailers at Harris Ranch, California's
biggest beef processor. "Now," Nunes said, "area residents are confronted with
economic terrorism."
Undercover video from Central Valley Meat Co.
No one -- not the USDA, not FBI -- have alleged that the undercover
investigation of Central Valley Meat Co. has anything to do with the fires nine
months earlier.
So where did this idea come from? Why are members of the U.S. Congress
conflating undercover investigations by nationally-respected animal welfare
groups with arson and "terrorism"?
This is the rhetoric Big Ag has been pushing for years.
Big Ag's Enemy #1: Undercover Investigators For decades, such talk of
"eco-terrorism" was mainly reserved for saboteurs and, at worst, arsonists. But
the animal rights and environmental movements have changed. Now, the biggest
threat facing Big Ag isn't that activists are breaking windows -- it's that
they're creating them. The transparency ushered in through undercover
investigations is seen as on par with, or even more dangerous than, more extreme
tactics.
"Now, the biggest threat facing Big Ag isn't that activists are breaking
windows -- it's that they're creating them." For example, just days after that
January arson in California, the Animal Agriculture Alliance -- the leading
industry-wide agriculture group -- sent an email blast to its supporters
equating the fire with undercover video: "The individuals responsible for
Sunday's attack must be brought to justice and report for their destructive
actions. It is also imperative that activists be held accountable for their
attempts to undermine farmers, ranchers and meat processors through use of
videos depicting alleged mistreatment of animals""
When corporate groups call undercover investigators terrorists, and members
of Congress urge federal agencies to treat them as such, it's not just chest
puffing. It could have dangerous consequences for investigators, and for the
rest of us.
AETA and Ag Gag green is the new red book cover Learn more about the
history fo the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, and how corporations
manufactured "eco-terrorism."
This week, the Center for Constitutional Rights is in court arguing that a
2006 law called the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act is so broad that it wraps up
a wide range of conduct as terrorism, including investigations, if they hurt the
profits of animal industries. Opponents of the law say that this has had a
chilling effect on lawful, non-violent activism. The government has dismissed
the concerns, and said the fears are overblown.
Yet according to FBI files I have published on GreenIsTheNewRed.com, the
FBI has explicitly considered prosecuting undercover investigators as terrorists
as far back as 2003. The documents show FBI agents were considering the charges
because activists allegedly "illegally entered buildings owned by [redacted]
Farm" and videotaped conditions of animals."
Meanwhile, 10 states have considered their own legislation targeting
investigators with harsh criminal penalties. These "Ag Gag" bills in some cases
propose criminalizing any video or audio recording of animal abuse. Not
surprisingly, the sponsors have close ties to the ag industry, and are liberal
in their use of terrorism rhetoric as well.
The Most Damning Exposé As Mark Bittman wrote in opposition to these Ag
Gag bills last year: "Videotaping at factory farms wouldn't be necessary if the
industry were properly regulated. But it isn't."
The media smear campaigns by Big Ag groups and politicians are intended to
sidetrack the public from that key point: the industry is not regulated. It has
insituttionalized practices that most consumers, when educated, find appalling.
The multi-billion dollar industry that is animal agriculture is dependent on
secrecy, and dependent on politicians bending to its interests.
Perhaps this is the most damning exposé to result from these
investigations. The documentation of animal welfare abuses has unintentionally
shined a spotlight on politicians so beholden to corporate interests, so stuffed
full of their talking points, that they believe "extremists" are not those who
engage in unspeakable animal abuse, but those who non-violently expose it.
Crossposted at Green Is the New Red, videos crossposted at Compassion over
Killing
Will Potter is an award-winning reporter who focuses on how lawmakers and
corporations have labeled animal rights and environmental activists as
"eco-terrorists." Will has written for publications including The Chicago
Tribune, The Dallas Morning (more...)
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the
author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its
editors.
THE ONLY FOLKS COMMITTING AN ACT OF TERRORISM, ARE THE POLITICIANS IN BED
WITH THE LOBBYIST, SUPPORT LEGISLATION THAT BANS THE VIDEO TAPPING OF THESE
ATROCITIES.
SEE IF ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN WILL HAVE TO WAIT 50 YEARS TO SEE IF THEY
CONSUMED A PRION DISEASE AKA MAD COW DISEASE.
IF THEY DO, AND GOD I HOPE THEY DON’T, BUT IF THEY DO, YOU CAN THANK THE
LIKES OF POLITICIANS LIKE U.S. Representatives Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy, and
Jeff Denham.
Subject: nslp deadstock downers recall school by school, state by state
TSS
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