Election 2006: Animals Win

From: Dr Andrew Jones
Author: Veterinary Secrets Revealed
Website: https://shop.veterinarysecrets.com

Re: Election 2006: Animals Win

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Good morning to you all.

I have a passionate interest in animal welfare- in fact I wrote a term paper in undergrad on the factory farming and why it needs to be stopped.

It didn’t go well with most of the cowboys in my class.

This is info that you should know.

Voters in Arizona and Michigan gave a voice to animals this year by speaking out on ballot initiatives in landslide votes that will protect farm animals and mourning doves.

Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed a historic initiative to improve the lives of farm animals?????the Humane Treatment of Farm Animals Act.

The passage of this proposition by 62 percent of the vote, makes Arizona the first state in the nation to prohibit the confinement of calves in veal crates and the second state to prohibit the confinement of breeding pigs in gestation crates.

These two factory farming practices are infamous for their inherent cruelty and are both already banned throughout the European Union.

Click here to see the campaign video..

http://stream.luxmedia501.com/?file=/clients/hsus/e-community/yes_on_prop_204.wmv&type=wmv

Here are answers to some FAQ’S

What are gestation crates?

During their four-month pregnancies, the majority of female pigs, known as sows, are kept in barren ???œgestation crates,???? individual metal stalls only two feet wide2?????enclosures so small the animals cannot even turn around. Barely able to move or even extend their limbs, the pigs become weak from the forced immobility that leads to crippling joint disorders3 and lameness,4,5 sore from rubbing against the bars of their enclosures, and pained from standing and trying to lie down without any bedding materials.6 Frustrated, scared, and bored, they routinely exhibit neurotic, repetitive coping behaviors, such as bar biting, sham (air) chewing, and head waving.7

Doesn?????t the gestation crate protect the mother pig from rolling or stepping on her piglets?

Gestation crates are not farrowing crates. Immediately after impregnation, a sow is locked in a gestation crate for nearly her whole four-month pregnancy.8 Right before giving birth, she is moved from the gestation crate into a farrowing crate, a metal stall designed to separate the mother pig from her nursing piglets. After the piglets are weaned prematurely,9 the sow is re-impregnated and confined once again in a gestation crate.10 The farrowing crate is exempted from this amendment.

Why do farmers use gestation crates?

Gestation crates are used to maximize profitability and efficiency in pork production. Factory farms endeavor to keep the maximum number of animals in the least amount of space, so by intensively confining farm animals, producers can maximize output, at the expense of animal welfare. Such intensive confinement methods as gestation crates for breeding pigs treat the animals more as unfeeling commodities than as living, feeling animals.

How will pigs be raised if the gestation crate is illegal?

Many farmers already raise pigs without using gestation crates, so those currently using gestation crates here in Arizona could do the same. In European countries where similar legislation has been enacted, pig producers have generally opted for a group housing system where the sows are kept together in more spacious conditions, where they have room to turn around and extend their limbs.

What are veal crates?

In order to produce veal, calves who would normally still be nursing are taken from their mothers and intensively confined and tethered by the neck.11 For the four months before they?????re slaughtered, the calves are kept in crates purposefully too narrow for them to turn around, lie down comfortably, or even extend their limbs.12 Prevented from engaging in their natural behaviors or from satisfying basic psychological needs, calves raised for veal suffer immensely, both physically and emotionally. Crated calves experience leg and joint disorders,13 never able to exercise their muscles in the restrictive enclosures,(14) and their bodies are sore from rubbing against the sides of their crates and lying on hard flooring without any bedding materials.15 Frustrated, bored, and scared, the young animals routinely exhibit abnormal, neurotic coping behaviors, including head tossing, head shaking, and sham (air) chewing.16 Veal crates are widely known for their inherent cruelty, yet their use is still customary within
U.S. factory farms, with an estimated 1 million calves raised and killed for veal each year in this country.

Why do farmers use veal crates?

Veal is known for its tenderness, so veal producers purposely keep the young calves severely restricted so their muscles cannot be exercised, thereby keeping their flesh ???œtender.????

How will calves be raised if the veal crate is illegal?

Arizona is not known to have any major veal producers using these cruel crates yet. This initiative, if successful, would prevent their use in the state. However, there are a growing number of farmers who are raising calves without veal crates, choosing instead to allow the animals the ability to socialize normally with other calves.

Why focus on gestation crates and veal crates?

Gestation crates for pregnant pigs and veal crates for calves are among the cruelest confinement techniques used on factory farms?????both in terms of the intensity and duration of confinement. Keeping animals so restrictively crated that they cannot even turn around for nearly four months straight is patently inhumane. And, with the industrialization of pork production, gestation crates are becoming more and more prevalent in the United States, although they, like veal crates, have been banned throughout Europe for their inherent cruelty.

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It’s Your Pet- Heal Them At Home!

Best Wishes

Dr Andrew Jones

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