What The Meat Industry Does Not Want You To See **Graphic Video

WATCH THE HOLOCAUST OF MANY DIFFERENT ANIMALS THAT THE GOVERNMENT AND THE LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SEE.

No Such Thing As A 'Dumb Animal'

I thought I'd post something light hearted here. I love this video.

Scientists say chickens have empathy and can still 'feel' each other's pain | Mail Online

Scientists say chickens have empathy and can still 'feel' each other's pain | Mail Online

Chickens may be birdbrained - but they can still 'feel' each other's pain
By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 3:19 PM on 9th March 2011



Pecking order: Female chickens have shown signs of anxiety when their young were in distress

Pecking order: Female chickens have shown signs of anxiety when their young were in distress

You might think chickens are way down the pecking order in the animal kingdom when it comes to emotional intelligence.

But it turns out that mother hens are such attentive, caring parents that they ‘feel’ their chicks’ pain.

In experiments, female chickens showed clear signs of anxiety and upset when their young were in distress.

It's the first time that scientists have shown hints of empathy - the ability to feel someone's pain or see their point of view - in a bird.

The discovery doesn't just shed lights on bird brains, it has important implications for the welfare of chickens in battery farms and science laboratories.

Empathy was once thought to be a uniquely human trait.

However, recent studies suggest animals may also be able to feel another creature's suffering, or even see the world through another animal's eyes.

The British researchers chose hens and chicks for the study because empathy is assumed to have evolved to help parents look after their young.

Jo Edgar, a Phd student at Bristol University, who led the study, said: 'The extent to which animals are affected by the distress of others is of high relevance to the welfare of farm and laboratory animals.

'Our research has addressed the fundamental question of whether birds have the capacity to show empathic responses.

'We found that adult female birds possess at least one of the essential underpinning attributes of empathy - the ability to be affected by, and share, the emotional state of another.'

The researchers tested the mother hens' reactions when their chicks' feathers were ruffled with a puff of air.

When the chicks were exposed to air puffs, they showed signs of distress that were mirrored by their mothers.

The hens' heart rates increased, their eye temperature lowered - a recognised sign of stress - and they became increasingly alert.

Levels of preening were reduced and the mothers made more clucking noises towards the chicks.

The findings were reported online today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Under commercial conditions, chickens regularly encounter other birds showing signs of pain and distress 'owing to routine husbandry practices or because of the high prevalence of conditions such as bone fractures or leg disorders', said the researchers.

Past studies have shown that mice injected with a chemical that gives them mild stomach ache feel more discomfort if they can see cage mates suffering from the discomfort.

Other experiments have shown that great apes - such as chimps and gorillas, probably feel empathy, as do dolphins, elephants and dogs.

Precious Lives

New Video Uncovers Lethal Use of Pigs for Medical School Training

New Video Uncovers Lethal Use of Pigs for Medical School Training | PCRM.org




A scalpel slices through a live pig. The chest is cracked open. An instructor shocks and manipulates the heart. The pig is killed. This is how pigs are unlawfully used to teach medical students at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

A training video PCRM obtained through the Freedom of Information Act reveals this unlawful use of live pigs to teach first-year medical students at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHU) also unlawfully uses live pigs in its medical student curriculum. Watch graphic video of the lethal use of pigs for medical school training >

Last month, Maryland physicians, including two JHU graduates, joined PCRM in filing criminal complaints with two state’s attorney’s offices to halt both medical schools’ animal labs, which violate the Maryland animal cruelty law.

Fifty-three pigs are used and killed in USUHS’ training each year. In JHU’s third-year surgery rotation, students make incisions and insert endoscopes (long tubes with cameras) into the pig. The procedures cause severe injuries, and the animals are killed at the end of each session.

“Training on live animals offers an inferior educational experience. A pig’s anatomy is different from a person’s, and medical students can get a better education using state-of-the-art, human-centered technology,” says John Pippin, M.D., F.A.C.C., PCRM senior medical and research adviser.

Both USUHS and JHU have access to numerous simulators and partial task trainers via their state-of-the-art simulation centers. If these simulation centers were fully utilized, the universities could immediately replace the use of animals.

Nonanimal training methods are used by more than 95 percent of U.S. and Canadian medical schools, including the Georgetown University School of Medicine, the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

To help save animals at medical schools that continue to use and kill animals, visit PCRM.org/Research.