Public Trusts HSUS & PETA More than Farmers

The Center for Food Integrity is an agribusiness-sponsored non-profit corporation, and their list of supporters include Foster Farms and Monsanto, corporations not well-known for their animal welfare or environmental stewardship.

According to their website, the Center for Food Integrity was formed to "serve as a resource where consumers and other stakeholders can find accurate, balanced information about the food system and engage in constructive dialogue" and yet I cannot seem to find any information on results from one of their most recent surveys. 

CFI conducted an opinion survey posing a variety of attitudinal statements, requesting respondents to rank them according to importance. You can see a summary of their presentation at their Food Safety Summit here, minus some important information.

I am guessing presenting this information to your stakeholders might...ruffle some feathers. Oh yeah, bad pun intended.

The survey showed that when it comes to who the public trusts about farmed animal welfare, it isn't Foster Farms - it's the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). And People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (P.E.T.A.) It wasn't even close - HSUS was the most trusted source twice as much for information on farmed animal welfare. Farmers, like Foster Farms, ended up pretty much dead last.

I'm biased. I'm vegan, so I am probably more receptive to what an animal welfare or animal rights organization has to say over a multi-billion dollar corporation that kills animals. 

I guess I don't know why people wouldn't trust the companies they buy their meat, dairy and eggs from...after all, they're endorsing what they do by purchasing their products. But humans are interesting, sometimes contradictory creatures. I know I am, so that isn't me being judgy.

PETA hates women

I don't know how else to explain their behavior when it comes to women.

Their most recent misogyny can be found on their website. I won't link to it, but it's their "State of the Union Undress" in which a woman undresses herself while supposedly advertising all the great things PETA has done in 2009.

And this year, they specifically asked for an African American or "mixed race" woman. 

Being proud of your body is wonderful. Being comfortable with your skin and nudity is also great. I am not a prude. Sex can be a wonderful expression of connection between people.

But selling sex in order to stop the exploitation of other species' seems disingenuous, at best.


You cannot pursue the cessation of animal exploitation when you, as an organization, perpetuate the self-objectification and commodification of human females. It just cannot be done. And I'm tired of it. Women are not body parts. They are not breasts and butts and exposed skin. They certainly cannot be effective advocates for horribly exploited female farmed animals. When you see PETA's ads or shock tactics, you know nothing about the woman, do you? Do you know her interests? Why she cares about nonhumans? Where she comes from and where she's going? What makes her care about other exploited species? All you get is flesh, body parts, comparmentalization of a unique individual. That the women participate in their own self-exploitation is heart-breakingly sad.

I want people to care, for example, about farmed animals because I know them to be fascinating, engaging, emotional, intelligent individuals with different personalities. I want people to care for dairy cows because they are denied motherhood and green pastures. I want people to care for egg-laying hens because they are de-beaked, housed in cages so small they can't turn around, and killed at an unreasonably young age. I want people to care about nonhuman animals because we know they can suffer, just like us. And I just find it difficult to convince people to care when an organization purporting to help animals is exploiting women and engaging in sexist ad campaigns. It isn't just.

Tom Skeldon resigns!!

Oh, happy days!

The Great News: Tom "Dog Killer" Skeldon of "We kill 77% of incoming shelter dogs" Lucas County is resigning December 31, 2009!! I had wondered why he hadn't made any public comments since the Toledo Blade started their campaign against him. It's apparently because he needed a few weeks to draft a letter of resignation. Yes! You can read more at KC Dog Blog.

The Bad News: Pit bulls, regardless of temperament, will still be killed. This may still occur under new leadership. As I write this, no doubt several dogs and puppies have been killed by Lucas County officials. Pit bulls comprise the majority of dead dogs at the shelter, so even if they adopt out every single non pit bull dog who enters their shelter, more than 50% of incoming dogs will exit in body bags. I will be cautiously optimistic that whoever replaces Skeldon will stop the murder of puppies, regardless of breed, and consider placing pit bulls with rescue agencies.

The Annoying News: If you read the comments over at KC Dog Blog's entry, you'll notice an editorial that was originally published in the Toledo Blade by a PeTA representative. It is not surprising, PeTA has a vendetta against dogs who look like pit bulls. They too have a high kill-rate. Objectively, though, Skeldon has not done his job - he has not improved public safety, has not eliminated pit bulls, has not significantly reduced the euthanasia rate, and has not even done the minimum work to reunite owners with their dogs.

A small portion of the letter:
We thank Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon and his staff for putting animals' best interests first by not haphazardly adopting out dogs just to make the pound's euthanasia statistics look better.

Jennifer Brown
Animal Sheltering Adviser
People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals
Norfolk, Va.

There's more to the letter, but I have no interest in republishing all of the tripe it includes.