The Call to Mercy
"If a path to the better there be, it begins with a full look at the worst."
--Thomas Hardy
It's a spectacularly beautiful day here in Ojai. Everything looks so fresh and clean after last night's rain. I just had to abandon my desk work to soak up the sight of golden raindrops sparkling on all the leaves. A friend and I took a good brisk walk up Foothill and let the dogs run free in a wide open field. All the while we enjoyed that invigorating feeling that comes after the rain, when the world feels infused with the force of life.
As a yoga teacher I know how good it feels to stretch my limbs. All human beings can understand the pain of being confined in a small space. We know that being out in nature, under the clear blue sky, lifts our spirit.
When I came home I opened my e-mail. The first message I read was from the director of Humane California. It contained an article published in The Reporter,
http://www.thereporter.com/forum/ci_7617469
by Mark Hawthorne, author of the forthcoming book "Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism"
http://www.strikingattheroots.com/
(O Books, January, 2008).
Mark's article, copied below, tells more about the measure I described in my previous Post, " Say YES! for Humane Treatment of Animals." It is so intelligently written, I hope it gets published in every newspaper in the country!
Compassion for farm animals
Proposed measure would outlaw callous agricultural practices
By Mark Hawthorne
Few issues in this state are as contentious, or as critical, as agriculture. California is the largest agricultural state in the country, generating nearly $32 billion annually, about a quarter of which comes from animal agribusiness. We got there in large part through corporate expansion and an industrial model that streamlines the production of food from farm to fork.
While this process helps lower the retail price of meat, egg and dairy products, such cheap food comes at a high cost: the suffering of millions of animals every year intensively confined in massive warehouses that may contain hundreds of thousands of animals.
But a proposed statewide ballot measure could help improve the situation. Humane advocates, veterinarians and public health officials throughout California are now volunteering their time to gather the signatures needed to place the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act on the ballot for next November's general election.
The improvements this measure will ask for could not be more moderate: It will simply give egg-laying hens, pregnant sows and calves raised for veal enough room to stand up, turn around, lie comfortably and extend their limbs. That's it.
Perhaps the animal-confinement device readers are most familiar with is the notoriously cruel veal crate: a barren structure just 2 feet wide in which a newly born male calf is tethered by his neck to restrict his movement and atrophy his muscles. The isolated calf lives inside this crate, devoid of even the barest comfort, for four months. The close confinement causes chronic stress as the baby calf's powerful desire to move and exercise - even to turn around - is constantly thwarted.
Although animal advocates have been decrying the horrors of veal crates for decades, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs endure lives of similar frustration and suffering as well.
Inside the egg-producing factory farms that have gradually taken over small family farms in the United States, hens are crammed together into wire "battery cages" that restrict their ability to spread their wings. At this moment in California, nearly 19 million hens are packed together like this, often eight to a cage, with each animal denied her natural instinct to nest, roost or even walk. Each hen confined in a battery cage has less space than a letter-sized sheet of paper on which to live for more than a year before she's slaughtered. It is difficult to imagine a crueler fate.
Pigs used for breeding, meanwhile, are confined to "gestation crates" in which the sows' movements are essentially limited to head-waving, vacuum-chewing (chewing nothing), bar-biting and other neurotic coping behaviors caused by the chronic stress of being imprisoned in a metal enclosure merely 2 feet wide. No soft bedding comforts these mothers-to-be, only cold concrete. If this weren't bad enough, standing in crates barely larger than their bodies causes pigs to develop crippling joint disorders and lameness. Like cows and chickens, pigs are intelligent, social beings; forcing them to live isolated in crates needlessly fills their lives with misery.
Opposition to these industrial farming practices, once associated only with animal advocates, includes the entire European Union, which has legislated against the cruelest confinement systems for farmed animals. Voters in Florida banned gestation crates, as have voters in Arizona, which also banned veal crates in a landslide vote last year. Oregon's governor recently signed a bill banning gestation crates as well. And some businesses and agribusiness corporations are responding to their customers' wishes by switching to cage-free eggs or phasing out gestation crates.
Our turn to speak out is approaching. California prides itself on being among the most progressive states in the country, as well as the most abundant. Let's show the rest of the nation, and the world, that we are leaders not just in the production of food, but in maintaining the most basic standards of humanity by supporting the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act.
For more on this ballot initiative, please visit www.HumaneCalifornia.org. http://www.humanecalifornia.org/
To read my previous article on the Humane Farming Initiative see:
http://www.ojaipost.com/2007/12/say_yes_for_humane_treatment_o.shtml
Notes:
Here are links to past Ojai Post articles on how factory farms are among the most serious causes of resource depletion, pollution, and global warming.
October 19, 2007 - Vegetarianism and the Environment http://www.ojaipost.com/2007/10/vegetarianism_and_the_environm.shtml
October 19, 2007 - The greening of Ojai--a chicken coop in every backyard? http://www.ojaipost.com/2007/10/the_greening_of_ojaia_chicken.shtml
And here's a link to a film that shows why this Humane Farming Initiative is so important:
Earthlings http://isawearthlings.com/7minutes.html
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Comments (19)
There is a legend about why God chose Moses to be leader of his people and to receive revelation. It was because of the way Moses cared for animals. In the legend, Moses goes searching for a lost lamb. When he finds it, he doesn't just lead it home, he carries the lamb in his arms. Moral of the story: our greatness can be measured in no small part by the way we treat the most vulnerable of creatures.
Alas,now fast forward to the shocking mis-treatment of farm animals by big business. It is being done solely for financial profit, away from the eyes of the public. Until now. The documentary EARTHLINGS reveals what the process of meat production is all about. The degree of inhumaneness is staggering.
At least there is light in the darkness. Hats off to all those who have taken to heart the plight of the animals. And all registered voters can help by signing the petitions to get the Prevention of Cuelty to Farm Animals Act on the ballot. Beyond that, how about thinking twice, food shoppers, before you pick up those mass produced steaks, chickens and bacon? The power of the purse is still the most persuasive tool for change we have.
Comment #1 Posted by: Sholom Joshua | December 8, 2007 01:55 PM
Suza:
I wasn't able to sign the petition at Dale's place of work this week. Will it be back at the Farmer's Market this weekend?
Comment #2 Posted by: phalarope | December 8, 2007 02:12 PM
There should be a signature gatherer at Farmer's Market tomorrow but I'm still checking on it.
We are not allowed to leave petitions unattended. Petitions will be at Dale's office, Ojai Valley Real Estate, 221 E. Matilija Street (right across from Farmer's Market) during the week, till February.
The deadline is 75 days away. We must collect 650,000 signatures and submit them for verification by the end of February 2008.
Comment #3 Posted by: Suza | December 8, 2007 02:46 PM
I am not going to sign an initiative that ONLY lets a calf turn around. Better to not turn around at all than to be given just enough room to see the full extent of your confinement.
Why didn't the drafters of this initiative require at least enough room to run around a little?
Comment #4 Posted by: Anonymous | December 8, 2007 11:13 PM
Dear Anonymous,
I understand how you feel. I wondered the same thing until I realized what we are up against. This Initiative is a HUGE step in the right direction. Please go to the Humane California web site and investigate it further. Already those who oppose giving animals even the most basic rights have introduced what is described as the "Animals-as-Property Initiative, Recognition of Animals as Property Constitutional Amendment." Powerful agricultural interests are already spreading lies about this initiative.
If you still are not sure about signing this petition after researching on your own, ask yourself this question: Are you able and willing to form your own organization and do the work required to put forth an Initiative that would give animals even more freedom?
You would not believe the amount of work that has gone into getting this Initiative, that we believe has a good chance of passing November,2008, to the stage it is now. Getting this Initiative on the ballot has been years in the making.
We really need the signatures of people who care about the suffering of animals. Truly this is a clarion call for mercy. There are many who will not sign because they are
more concerned about the cost of food than the humane care of the animal who produces the food.
Comment #5 Posted by: Suza | December 8, 2007 11:59 PM
The video on the link below shows the cruel confinement systems that the initiative will prevent:
http://www.humanecalifornia.org/crates/index.php
Comment #6 Posted by: Suza | December 9, 2007 12:22 AM
Well, I don't see the point of cluttering up the ballot with such a weak half-measure. You've already acknowledged the fact that the agribusiness interests have been alerted and are planning their own nefarious initiative. Too bad they've been awakened with all their money by this weak initiative.
Comment #7 Posted by: Anonymous | December 9, 2007 10:44 AM
Oh, I get it! You don't really care about animals, you are just trying to get my goat! ha! ha!
So I ask again, did you watch the videos on the Humane Farming web site?
Have you seen the film EARTHLINGS, the most comprehensive documentary ever produced on the correlation between nature, animals and human economics?
http://www.isawearthlings.com/
I would be more than happy to lend you a copy of the DVD. We will be showing the film at Sacred Space Studio and other locations in 2008.
If you prefer to remain anonymous on the Ojai Post, you can contact me at sfrancina@aol.com.
I would be interested to know if you still think this Initiative is weak after you watch Earthlings from beginning to end.
Someone may have to secure you upright to a chair, tape your eye lids open (so you can't shut them) and tie your hands together (so that you can't plug your ears).
I can also lend you a copy of the book "Dominion, The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy," by Matthew Scully, if you promise to read it.
Comment #8 Posted by: Suza | December 9, 2007 11:42 AM
Comment # 7,
I frankly sympathize with your point of view. But I think if you were that poor confined creature you would rather have a little relief than none at all. Multiply that by 10 or 20 million poor confined creatures and maybe this is worth the trouble after all.
Comment #9 Posted by: david | December 9, 2007 03:23 PM
Does anyone understand what anonymous #7 means by this: "Too bad they've been awakened with all their money by this weak initiative."
It doesn't make any sense to me. I signed the petition and I'm urging my friends and neigbors to do the same.
Comment #10 Posted by: Sholom Joshua | December 9, 2007 04:05 PM
"Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
-Elie Wiesel
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead
Comment #11 Posted by: Lizza | December 10, 2007 02:46 AM
There were two volunteers, Lisa and Elizabeth at Farmers Market on Sunday and they had a great response.
They are planning to work in and around the Arcade this coming Saturday around midday.
If anyone else wants to volunteer, we could actually use 2 groups of volunteers at Farmers
Market-one in front and one in back.
To sign up to volunteer to gather signatures go to
http://www.humanecalifornia.org/
Dale Hanson also has extra petitions at her office. (See comment #3 for address.) Even signing up the registered voters in your immediate family and circle of friends helps!
Comment #12 Posted by: Suza | December 10, 2007 04:42 PM
In response to the person(Comment #4)who doesn't want to sign the petition because it "ONLY lets a calf turn around," this initiative will effectively outlaw veal crates, along with battery cages and gestation crates. So, the measure will do a lot more than its wording implies.
Comment #13 Posted by: Mark Hawthorne | December 12, 2007 10:55 AM
I think this quote fits well here:
True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect humankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.
--Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Comment #14 Posted by: Sharon | December 12, 2007 11:30 AM
I was happy to see your article in the OVN's today, Suza.
I was at Oak Grove School this morning for less than an hour and got 32 signatures! I love that school. One person said, "Oh, I was just reading about this in the paper this morning."
I'm sure that's going to help.
Comment #15 Posted by: Sharon | December 14, 2007 03:50 PM
Thank you, Sharon, for getting signatures at Oak Grove school. It would be great if we could get signature gatherers at all the schools and churches in the Ojai Valley. I have been getting signatures from yoga students at Sacred Space Studio and in January hope to go to some of the other centers in Ojai and rest of Ventura County.
Comment #16 Posted by: Suza | December 14, 2007 03:56 PM
Oak Grove is a school that serves vegetarian lunches and meat is not allowed on campus.
Comment #17 Posted by: Krishnamurti | December 14, 2007 05:46 PM
God designed animals with needs, desires and the full range of emotions.
A pig is designed to root in the soil, a chicken is designed to build a nest. So keeping those animals -- and others raised as commodities -- in cramped cages, away from sunlight, dirt, grass and, often, companionship, is a "denial of God's will."
Comment #18 Posted by: Bruce Friedrich | December 15, 2007 06:46 AM
Lisa Adair is planning to gather signatures for the Humane Farming Petition from 11:30-1:30 today (Thurs. Jan. 10) at Rainbow Bridge.
She is also planning to be at Farmers Market on Sunday from 10'ish to noonish.
Petitions are also still on Dale Hanson's desk, Ojai Valley Real Estate, 221 E. Matilija Street, located just a short walk past Rainbow Bridge.
Comment #19 Posted by: Suza | January 10, 2008 04:26 AM