Animal Abuse: Beauty and the beast
Despite years of campaigning, worldwide animal abuse continues to make headlines. Why are these problems so hard to stamp out? Giles Crosse investigates.
No matter which continent you look at, stories of animal abuse aren’t hard to find. Whaling in the oceans or seal hunting, bear baiting, primate research, or the standards applied in farming to the animals that billions eat daily. The stories are complex, and there are plenty of them.
As recently as April 2010, issues with experimentation taking place in Western countries have been reported. Marshall BioResources provides purpose bred animals for use in medical research.
Charles River Laboratories is among many global corporations using animals in its research. Whilst we may seek to protect animals from harm, few of us would be willing to use experimental drugs, or give treatments to our children, which weren’t sufficiently tested. So maybe the issue isn’t necessarily about whether animal testing takes place, but the conditions and regulations governing its quality.
This, according to international organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation (PETA), is where the problem lies. ‘CRL is one of the world’s largest breeders and users of animals for experiments, and the company has a long history of violating animal protection laws,’ claims the PETA website.
‘The company was recently fined $14,000 by the US Department of Agriculture after 32 monkeys were cooked to death when a room at the company’s facility in Nevada overheated and employees ignored an alarm alerting them to the malfunction. Another monkey was scalded to death after he was left in his cage while it was sent through a high-temperature cage washer.’
‘Since 2007, the company has been cited for more than two dozen violations of the US Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Because of UK secrecy law, laboratories or researchers who breach UK animal testing regulations cannot be named, and so the Lothian facility’s record is not known.’
PETA continues to explain that ‘Marshall Farms is a major breeder of dogs, pigs and ferrets for use in experiments. The company has been cited for more than 20 violations of the AWA since 2007, including for failing to provide adequate veterinary care to animals.’
PETA is also criticising the poor conditions under which animals for experimentation are transported and treated. “These dogs faced a long and terrifying journey and, at the end of it, were used in cruel and crude toxicity tests that almost certainly ended in their deaths”, says PETA’s Policy Advisor, Alistair Currie.
“By transporting animals for Charles River Laboratories, Lufthansa is helping a business that condemns tens of millions of animals to confinement, mutilation, poisoning and death in laboratories.”
PETA says Air Canada, Cathay Pacific and Qantas refuse to transport animals to laboratories.
Respect for life
There are other issues surrounding humans and animals, namely how we treat animals destined for the dinner table. “We would be concerned about plans to bring about more ‘efficient’ farm animal production systems as it could result in more intensification and therefore pose problems for animal welfare.” suggests Jude Clay from the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), which works for animal wellbeing in England and Wales.
“However, sales data shows that UK consumers have put animal welfare high up on their agenda. Even in the face of the recession, consumers are buying more and more Freedom Food labelled products.” she continues.
Julia Wrathall, Head of the RSPCA Farm Animals Department, points out that answering the global food shortage need not necessarily involve higher volumes of animals slaughtered. “Reports indicate the UK population throws away a third of the food it buys. So, we may not need to increase agricultural production as populations rise, just keep hold of and eat more of what we produce now.”
“Business and trade agreements are barriers to proper distribution of food to where it’s needed, such as in developing countries. If this was addressed, it would minimise the need to press for more food production, which could have a negative impact on animal welfare.”
The statistics seem to suggest that animal welfare’s star is in the ascendancy. According to the RSPCA, spend on Freedom Food indoor reared chicken is far outstripping ‘standard’, with a £55.2 million increase in consumer spending on Freedom Food labelled chicken (from 16.4 million to 71.6 million) since March last year in major UK supermarkets.
This compares to a drop of more than 26 million pounds for ‘standard’ chicken. The growth in the amount of Freedom Food chicken sold in supermarkets has also overtaken ‘standard,’ up more than 15 million kilos, from 5.6 to 20.7 million, compared to a decrease of 11 million for ‘standard’.
Perhaps this is ultimately the best way individuals can get across their concerns, by voting in the supermarket or in their choice of air carrier. But there remains much work to be done.
Halting the suffering
“Each year, billions of animals all around the world suffer maddening isolation, starvation, terror and violent death at the hands of people in uncaring industries,” continues PETA’s Alistair Currie.
“PETA focuses its attention on areas in which the largest number of animals suffer the most, and the meat industry is at the top of the list. The factory farming system of modern agriculture strives to produce as much meat, milk and eggs as it can as quickly and cheaply as possible.”
“Farmed animals face horrific abuses that would be illegal if they were inflicted on dogs or cats: neglect, mutilations and severe confinement that cause chronic pain and crippling; transport through all weather extremes; and inhumane slaughter. Yet farmed animals are no less sensitive, intelligent or capable of feeling pain than are the dogs or cats whom we cherish as companions.”
“Consumer driven efforts can force companies that sell animal derived products to be accountable for the welfare of the animals raised and killed for them, and companies that raise and kill animals should likewise be compelled to follow the guidelines of their customers.”
“The best thing anyone can do to save the largest amount of animals is to stop consuming products derived from animals; a vegetarian saves more than 100 animals a year from abuse.”
Short of making the switch to vegetarianism, there are plenty of other empowering steps concerned individuals can take. “In today’s world of virtually unlimited choices, our continued exploitation of animals is simply unacceptable” continues Currie.
“We can eat better, educate ourselves better, clothe ourselves better and entertain ourselves better without torturing and killing animals. We have the power to spare animals excruciating pain by making informed choices about the food we eat, the things we buy and the activities we support.”
“Progress is being made: the EU plans to effectively forbid experiments on great apes, there are bans on animals in circuses in countries like Bolivia, Austria and India and veal crates are banned in the UK.”
“In order to convince governments to continue introducing meaningful, much needed animal protection laws, the general public must continue to send a strong message to lawmakers. There are a number of things that people can do to help animals: go vegan, shun zoos and animal-based circuses, don't wear fur or leather, buy only products that are not tested on animals and contact government officials in order to urge them to put animal issues on their agendas.”
“The first step in helping animals is to realise that we, as consumers, have the ability to choose kindness over cruelty each time we sit down for a meal, seek entertainment, go grocery shopping or buy a personal care product.”
What are your views? Not sure? Read the resources below for more information. Add your comment below. We welcome your thoughts and proposals. Not a Planetary Citizen? Sign up to Our Future Planet today!
Read more articles on Animals and Wildlife here
Animal Welfare Resources:
International Fund for Animal Welfare:
Saving the World’s Elephants
Protecting the World’s Whales
Enriching Life for Animals and People on Cape Cod
Whaling: defying international commitments to animal welfare?
Saving Moon Bears from Lives of Torture
The veterinarian’s role in Animal Welfare
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Congratulations. If you are a vegetarian or vegan you contribute to the carbon footprint in an awesome way. Either the animals stay alive and therefore increase greenhouse gases, quite literally I might add, or they are slaughtered then thrown out. Either way you have changed nothing, but you have created waste. I am proud of your intentions, since I don't partake of store bought meat, but I do not agree with a no meat diet, so I am torn. The one thing I cannot praise PETA for is their direct support of terrorism in the United States. You can call them Freedom Fighters if you want, but the Taliban has the same claim. You need to learn to do things within the law, and cut ties with those that discredit your cause.
