Animal equality? Pets over Farm animals...

If you go to you local supermarket or grocery store, you'll notice it carries all the basics: Dairy, Grains, Bread, Fruits, Vegetables and meats. In the produce section, you may see the vegetables an think, Since its for sale, it probably comes from a good farm. In the meat section, you may also think the same. Most people don't think to worry about how the animal was slaughter or taken care of before slaughtering. If asked the majority will brush it off and say, "why does it matter? they're gonna end up on a plate anyways..." In an column published by the New York Times, we are forced to wonder, does it matter? should farm animals have the same rights as pets?

Written by Mark Bittman, a distinguished New York Times Writer about "food and all things related", "Some Animals Are Equal Than Others" takes a look at some of the issues and loopholes surrounding Pets and animals. According to Bittman, there is a fine line between "pet" and "animal". For instance, a 19-year-old Monique Smith slammed her sibling’s hamster on the floor, killing it out of a fit of rage. An ASPCA agent, which according to the article is one of 18 agents responsible for protecting animal rights in all five boroughs, arrested her. while the charges against her were later dropped, Ms. Smith spent a night in Jail on Rikers Island(Newman, NYT). For Bittman, something is wrong. to him that "something" is "we protect “companion animals” like hamsters while largely ignoring what amounts to the torture of chickens and cows and pigs. In short, if I keep a pig as a pet, I can’t kick it. If I keep a pig I intend to sell for food, I can pretty much torture it."

According to Bittman, State laws known as “Common Farming Exemptions” allow industry — rather than lawmakers — to make any practice legal as long as it’s common. According to an email response from his friend, Jonathan Safran Foer, the author of “Eating Animals”, “the industry has the power to define cruelty. It’s every bit as crazy as giving burglars the power to define trespassing.” In other words, there seems to be no limitations on the farm industry on terms of animal treatment. We may not want to think that our cow, that will soon be on our plate, is getting turned over with a forklift for kicks on the farm, but that just may be the reality. Not to mention, if it was, theres little to nothing you or I can do about it.

According to Bittman, we “process” (that means kill) nearly 10 billion animals annually in this country, approximately one-sixth of the world’s total, but "many if not most of these animals are raised (or not, since probably a couple of hundred million are killed at birth) industrially." Philosopher Peter Singer along with others have compared these conditions to concentration camps. this is where Bittman asks the reader, "Might we more usefully police those who keep egg-laying hens in cages so small the birds can’t open their wings, for example, than anger-management-challenged young people accused of hamstercide?"

Common Farming Exemptions allow the killing and mistreatment of millions of farm animals. According to Bittman, approximately 200 million male chicks get put through grinders, and over 65 million calves and piglets get castrated without anesthetic. In Bittman's words, all of this is legal, because we eat them. According to the exemptions, as long as farmers raise animals for food and it’s done by fellow “farmers”, its legal.

According to the column, There are laws slowly coming to fruition that will protect these animals. after investigations and exposure by PETA and other animal rights groups, people cant ignore whats going on. Most farms are beginning to raise animals more humanely, due to more and harsher farm inspections and federal regulations.

After reading this column, I've come to agree with Mark Bittman. Farm animals should have rights too, just as much as pets do. While they may only be living for a short while, I believe that their life shouldn't be all gloom and doom. I believe, as most other people who deal with animals, that a happy animal is a healthy one. Farm animal health and well being are especially important because we consume them. Sick or oppressed farm animals are more prone to getting sick or picking up a harmful bacteria. Not only have these animals made it through to the supermarkets, they've made it to people's homes, people's plate. The domino effect of negativity can be prevented if animals were humanely and properly cared for.

Pet over animals is becoming a constant debate among animal rights activists and congress. Is there a solutions to keep both parties happy? maybe, but until we figure one out, the debate will go on.

References:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/some-animals-are-more-equal-than-others/

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/19-year-old-is-charged-in-hamsters-death/?scp=1&sq=hamster&st=cse

Animal Cruelty Syndrome?

In his article, "Animal Cruelty Syndrome", Charles Siebert, a professional writer for the New York Times, argues that there is a connection between people who commit acts of animal cruelty and people who commit worse or "real" crimes. According to Siebert, there is a growing amount of evidence that show the connection between animal abuse and other criminal behaviors. Animal abuse seems to be the gateway crime to other crimes such as "Illegal firearms possession, drug trafficking, gambling, spousal and child abuse, rape and homicide"(Siebert)


Some of the most notorious criminals in recent memory have a history of animal abuse. According to Siebert, "As a boy, Jeffrey Dahmer impaled the heads of cats and dogs on sticks; Theodore Bundy, implicated in the murders of some three dozen people, told of watching his grandfather torture animals; David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam,” poisoned his mother’s parakeet." Evidence like this proves that the connection is strong. Siebert also included that "A paper published in a psychiatry journal in 2004, “A Study of Fire setting and Animal Cruelty in Children: Family Influences and Adolescent Outcomes,” found that over a 10-year period, 6-to-12-year-old children who were described as being cruel to animals were more than twice as likely as other children in the study to be reported to juvenile authorities for a violent offense." Even for people who running dog fighting rings such as Michael Vick, they also end up taking part in other criminal activities.

Due to the relevance of this link, U.S. communities now cross-train social-service and animal-control agencies in how to recognize signs of animal abuse as possible indicators of other abusive behaviors. Law enforcement agencies also are being taught about the Dog fighting Underworld. Another link  between animal cruelty and domestic violence is also being stressed to law enforcement as a way to reinforce the idea of indentifing animal abuse. According to Sgt. David Hunt, a dog-fighting expert with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Columbus, Ohio, who spoke to Siebert, “The attitude has been that we have enough stuff on our plate, let the others worry about Fluffy and Muffy. But I’m starting to see a shift in that mentality now.”. He is implying that law enforcement is also viewing the trend. Furthermore, he says, "You have to sell it to them in such a way that it’s not a Fluffy-Muffy issue...[because] It’s part of a larger nexus of crimes and the psyche behind them."

After reviewing the article, Animal Cruelty Syndrome, Ive come to agree with both Siebert and Sgt. Hunt. there is a very relevant link between the two so it would be beneficial if law enforcement could identify the crime or issue easier and earlier. From personal experience, Dog fighting rings not only endanger the animals but it also put the people in the neighborhood at risk. It brings other crimes such as drug dealing and gang activity to an area, which then begins the snowball effect of crime in  that particular neighborhood. The solution may not be as simple, but the new awareness by law enforcement should help end problems before they actually start.

Reference:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/magazine/13dogfighting-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Save a Pet's Life

When it comes to the topic of animal cruelty, most of us will readily agree that animal cruelty is wrong. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of how to stop or prevent it. Where as some are convinced that enough is being done, others maintain that there needs to be more done to protect the animals.

According to The Humane Society, Dogs, man's best friend, is the most common victims of animal cruelty. Of the 1,880 cases reported to the media, dogs were victims in over 64% of those cases. Now, while animal cruelty/abuse is a felony in many states, a very low percentage of offenders get caught because more people don't report them to the police. Many people feel that it isn't their concern to get involved, but ultimately, people who witness animal cruelty should feel obligated to report it. If you wont say something, who will? Be a voice for the voiceless, report an cruelty crime before its too late.