Note To My Critics:
Monday, January 24, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Korean Government Buries Pigs Alive, Refuses to Vaccinate for FMD
NOTE: How does one even respond to this horror? I can't imagine what these poor, beautiful, innocent animals suffer at the hands of these Soulless, Bastard Devils. How can one read about how humans torture & butcher other beings day after day after day and still believe there is a merciful god? I can't.
Sunday, 26 December 2010 13:39 More than 1,400,000 animals killed and counting.
(photo © 경북매일신문 & kbmaeil.com)
Pigs are ruthlessly buried alive, and this will continue to happen because the Korean government has refused to vaccinate the animals against foot-and-mouth disease.
One report says that around 90% of all animals, including cattle, have been buried alive.
More horrific images below and here.
(photo © 경인일보 kyeongin.com)
The first case of foot-and-mouth (FMD) was reported in North Gyeongsang Province on November 29, and since then it has spread. In December, it was confirmed on pig farms in Paju, Yangju and Yeoncheon. It was also confirmed on a farm northwest of Seoul.
Then it was found in Gangwon, the country’s most important province for animal farming, at cattle farms in Pyeongchang and Hwacheon, located 182 kilometers and 118 kilometers east of Seoul, respectively.
In Gyeonggi, the disease has spread to a hog farm in Yeoncheon and Gimpo, plus to two cattle farms in Pocheon.
There have been 116 cases of FMD as of January 12.
FMD affects all hoofed animals--such as cattle, pigs, goats, deer and buffalo--and any country that has it is banned from exporting meat, even though meat from infected animals does not harm humans. So tragically, once again, in what is almost a yearly ritual, mass slaughters have taken place, and this time in record numbers. Culling is comprehensive and brutal.
(photo © 경인일보 kyeongin.com)
This month, to prevent the spread of the disease, all cows, dogs and chickens at farms were also killed and buried.
Currently, there are about 610,000 cloven-hoofed animals on 16,000 farms in the province. Gangwon boasts some of Korea's best beef brands, such as Hoengseong and Daegwallyeong. Many of these animals could face slaughter.
Since the outbreak of FMD on November 29, over 1,400,000 animals have been either culled or are destined for slaughter--many have been and will be buried alive.
(photo © 경북매일신문 & kbmaeil.com)
As a consequence of FMD spiralling out of control, the Korean government considered administering vaccines to farmed animals, a common-sensed thing to do. However, it has many opponents because it will make it difficult to regain FMD-free status later on. It will also cost a lot.
At least 78 billion won ($67.8 million) is needed to secure vaccines for 3 million cows as well as for 10 million pigs. The damage so far is estimated at over 230 billion won, and that will only increase.
Regrettably, the government has begun inoculating cattle in five cities but will not vaccinate pigs.
Based on the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Guidelines (Chapter 7.6 Killing of animals for disease control purposes, Article 7.6.1., Terrestrial Animal Health Code), the welfare of the animals shall be ensured until they are dead. As a member of the OIE, Korea's burying of pigs (and other animals) alive is in violation of the international guidelines, not to mention being torturous, cruel and immoral.
KARA has strongly advocated including pigs in the vaccination program but to no avail. It is clear that the government is putting economic considerations before animal welfare as it has done in the past.
Despite KARA and other animal rights groups condemning the practice of burying animals alive and causing untold suffering and mass cruelty, this nightmarish practice is likely to continue.
(photo © 경인일보 kyeongin.com)
Update, January 4, 2011
People are now reporting "blood water" coming through taps in Paju City near where mass burials took place. More here.
Update, January 6, 2011
People assigned to cull animals are reportly suffering guilt and trauma from the terrible way everything was done. They can still hear the cries of the animlas and have called it a living nightmare. They have experienced lost of appetite, mental stress and depression, including in some cases a reduced will to live. Psychological counseling has been made available for them at the welfare center in Gyongido. Thirty one posts in Gyongido have been setup for counseling and post traumatic stress help due to the live cullings.
The government has ruled out euthansia drugs for cattle, so cattle are being buried alive as well.
The military was called in and some 68,000 soldiers and 770 pieces of military equipment have been mobilzed to help with the culling.
Total deaths so far stands at 1,000,000.
Update, January 7, 2011
An estimate 1,000,000 more animals are expected to be killed, most by the inhumane and barbaric method of being buried alive.
Government has finally begun to vaccinate pigs.
But more criticism is being leveled at it for its inadequate preventative measures and poor response. KARA had urged the government weeks ago to begin mass vaccinations. We were ignored.
Update, January 8, 2011
Here is a brief description of just one culling episode.
In it is claimed that pigs that tried to escape were killed with excavators by being crushed, hit and having heads split open by their blades.
The number of pigs was 1138. A total of 27 people participated in the culling: local government officers 18, official vet 1, engineers 7, livestock cooperative official 1. There were 3 excavators and 4 trucks.
Culling started at 5 pm and finished 11 pm.
Baby pigs were put into bags alive, 7 or 8 per bag, and buried alive. Large and strong pigs were dumped in a pit, but the toughest struggled to get out. When they attempted escaped, excavators pushed them back with their shovels with violence and would kill them. (Note the 3rd photo from the top.) It is described that their heads are split open.
Update, January 10, 2011
Reportedly, 1.2 million pigs and cattle across the country will be vaccinated over the next few weeks and the government will try to get vaccines for 6.5 million animals by the end of January.
Typical of the Korean government throughout this disaster: too little too late to save innocent lives.
Update, January 12, 2011
Cull deaths now stand at 1.41 million.
KARA's letter alerting other animal rights groups around the world.
KARA's public information release in English.
Korean English-language sources for FMD news:
Dec. 21, 2010: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2929931
Dec. 23, 2010: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2930052
Dec. 25, 2010: http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20101225000038
Dec. 28, 2010: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2010/12/123_78747.html
Jan. 3, 2011: http://www.koreaherald.com/business/Detail.jsp?newsMLId= 20110103000860
Jan. 3, 2011: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/01/117_79094.html
Jan. 6, 2011: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/01/116_79256.html
Jan. 6, 2011: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/01/06/57/0501000000AEN20110106008900320F.HTML
Jan. 12, 2011: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2930867
Jan. 12, 2011: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/01/12/15/0501000000AEN20110112005500320F.HTML
(photo © 경북매일신문 & kbmaeil.com)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Scientists Prove the Emotional Lives of Pigs
http://animals.change.org/blog/view/scientists_prove_the_emotional_lives_of_pigs
It's not news that pigs are among the most intelligent, sensitive creatures on earth. Well, unless you're the type of scientist who still needs experiments to learn that mice feel pain and suffer. But Science Daily reported that new research from Newcastle University's School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development shows "that pigs are capable of complex emotions which are directly influenced by their living conditions."
Dr. Catherine Douglas and her team set up a Pavlov's dog type of experiment where they taught a group of pigs to associate certain sounds with certain outcomes. A note on a glockenspiel meant a treat and a dog training clicker meant the unpleasant rustling of a plastic bag. Then, half the animals were put in a pig-friendly environment with toys, straw and room to roam and play. The other half were given less space, no straw and only a single boring toy to share. Regardless of what the pigs had previously learned about sound associations, when a new sound was played, the pigs living the good life responded with curiosity and excitement, expecting a treat, and the group who didn't have it so good acted fearful, expecting it to be another plastic-bag-rustling unpleasant experience.
"It's a response we see all the time in humans where how we are feeling affects our judgment of ambiguous events," said Dr. Douglas. "This 'glass half empty versus glass half full' interpretation of life reflects our complex emotional states, and our study shows that we can get the same information from pigs."
Perhaps my favorite part of this report is that Dr. Douglas referred to the reactions of the pigs as "optimistic" and "pessimistic." Those are terms usually reserved for humans, so to hear a researcher apply them to non-human animals means that at least one study has gotten past the myth that animal reactions are just shallow, physiological responses.
Dr. Douglas hopes her study can help improve the welfare of pigs and other farm animals. Factory farmers often defend their use of gestation crates — confinement systems where a sow cannot walk, turn around or move while her piglets nurse — by saying that sows kept in larger groups will become aggressive toward each other. These farmers need to consider that their pigs aren't living a glass-half-full kind of life; the conditions on these farms would put anyone in a miserable mood. And thanks to this study, they don't just have to take animal activists' word for it.
Now that researchers have proven what we've known all along about pigs, maybe it will help more people realize that there's not much difference between the pigs who are raised for food, the dogs who are our companions, and us. Pigs deserve to have their glasses more than half full.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Swine Flu Linked to Industrialized Animal Production
By ecomii.com
June 25, 2009
File under: Environmental Concerns, Public Health
On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6 in response to the ongoing global spread of the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus.
A Phase 6 designation indicates that a global pandemic is underway.¹ The WHO designation of a pandemic alert Phase 6 reflects the fact that there are now ongoing community level outbreaks in multiple parts of world. The 1918 flu epidemic was the last major global pandemic and killed 20 to 50 million people.
Modern agriculture and industrialized animal production has had a dramatic impact on society, human health and the environment.
Public interest groups like the Organic Consumers Association and the Humane Society of the United States have been warning consumers for years about how the intensive confinement in factory farms could incubate deadly viruses. The horrific conditions inherent in factory farms make the inevitability of setting off a deadly epidemic only a matter of time.²
According to the Environmental Protection Agency these concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) confine thousands of animals in a single facility and generate 300 million tons of waste annually.
The waste is funneled into massive lagoons that emit ammonia, toxic hydrogen sulfide and methane gases. These cesspools often break, leak or overflow, sending dangerous microbes, nitrate pollution and drug resistant bacteria into our water supplies. What’s more, the farms often spray the manure onto land, ostensibly as fertilizer.
About 40 percent of the world’s grain harvest is fed to animals. Cattle are ruminants uniquely suited to eat grass. Beef and dairy cattle fed on grain, have unnaturally acidic stomachs. This diet promotes rapid weight gain and creates an ideal environment for a particularly virulent, acid loving strain of bacteria, E. coli O157 to thrive.
In 2003, The Journal of Dairy Science reported that up to 80 percent of dairy cattle carry E. coli O157.³ It is the infected manure from these grain-fed cattle that contaminates the groundwater and spreads the bacteria to produce, like spinach growing on neighboring farms.4
A dangerous and rapidly spreading strain of influenza, which combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans in a way researchers have not seen before, has killed at least 167 people and been confirmed in nearly 40,000 globally.
The new strain of H1N1 flu is causing “something different” to happen in the United States this year, an extended year-round flu season that disproportionately hits young people.
The United States has been hardest hit, with upwards of 100,000 likely cases, with 44 deaths and 1,600 hospitalized. “The fact that we are seeing ongoing transmission now indicates that we are seeing something different,” the CDC’s Dr. Daniel Jernigan told a news briefing.
According to Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM),a research and advocacy group in Washington, DC, the link to animal industries is undeniable.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that one-third to one-half of pigs on modern farms have antibody evidence of the H1N1 virus. This is due to the fact that overcrowded pig farms create the perfect reservoir for this virus to replicate, creating new and more deadly strains. Once a pathogen emerges it is then spread by farm workers and the transport of livestock.
Without CAFO pig farms there would be no swine flu epidemic. According to PCRM, the typical American consumes more than 200 pounds of meat a year, including a significant amount of pork.
A collective shift away from meaty diets could help eliminate the farms that breed infectious disease. Meatless meals would also dramatically decrease obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
- Statements by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano on WHO Decision to Declare Novel H1N1 Virus Outbreak a Pandemic http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/statement061109.htm
- Livestock’s long shadow, Environmental issues and options
By H. Steinfeld, P. Gerber, T. Wassenaar, V. Castel, M. Rosales, C. de Haan - 2006, 390 pp - T. R. Callaway, R. O. Elder, J. E. Keen, R. C. Anderson, and D. J. Nisbet. Forage Feeding to Reduce Preharvest Escherichia coli Populations in Cattle, a Review J. Dairy Sci. 2003; 86:852-860
- S. A. Bradford, E. Segal, W. Zheng, Q. Wang, and S. R. Hutchins.
Reuse of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation Wastewater on Agricultural Lands
J. Environ. Qual., September 2, 2008; 37(5_Supplement): S-97 - S-115.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Civilized?
civilize |ˈsivəˌlīz|
verb [ trans. ] [usu. as adj. ] ( civilized)
bring (a place or people) to a stage of social, cultural, and moral development considered to be more advanced : a civilized society.
• [as adj. ] ( civilized) polite and well-mannered : such an affront to civilized behavior will no longer be tolerated.
DERIVATIVES
civilizable |ˈsɪvəˈlaɪzəbəl| adjective
civilizer |ˈsɪvəˈlaɪzər| noun
ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from French civiliser, from civil ‘civil.’
See images of civilization (Video Below)
CIVILIZED?
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Friday, May 1, 2009
Agri-biz at root of swine flu?
More at http://therealnews.com/t/in... Evidence points to industrial pig farm as source of outbreak, if so, Bernice Wuethrich tried to warn us
The Real News
