Veg News

By Tommy Dean

Tyson Eliminates Contract After Pig Abuse Revealed
Nov 21, 2013

The largest meat producer in the US has severed ties with one of its contractors after undercover investigation footage was aired by NBC.

An undercover investigation of West Coast Farms made national news after NBC broadcasted footage of workers of the Oklahoma-based pig facility punching and kicking the animals, castrating them without anesthesia, hitting them with boards, and slamming piglets’ heads onto the ground. After the video aired, West Coast’s contractor Tyson Foods cut ties with the farm and confiscated the animals. “We’re extremely disappointed by the mistreatment shown in the video and will not tolerate this kind of animal mishandling,” says Tyson Foods spokesman Gary Mickelson. According to the investigator, abuse of this nature was a regular occurrence and despite reporting the mistreatment to the owner, no effective action was taken to curtail it.

Livestock Methane Emissions Are Dangerously High
By Tommy Dean | December 4, 2013 Vegnews.com

Data from 2008 shows that the methane emissions from the livestock industry are far worse than the federal government anticipated.

The factory farming industry’s detrimental impact on the environment is well-documented, but a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, has revealed that the US may be emitting 50 percent more methane gas than the federal government estimates. Methane, which traps heat in the atmosphere and exacerbates global warming, is in large part produced by livestock. According to the Associated Press, the research data, which was collected in 2008, shows that the United States was discharging approximately 49 million tons of methane—32 million tons more than the US Environmental Protection Administration approximated. “Something is very much off in the inventories,” says study co-author Anna Michalak, an Earth scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science, to the AP. “The total U.S. impact on the world’s energy budget is different than we thought, and it’s worse.”

Slaughterhouse Settles Multi-Million Dollar Suit
December 6, 2013

Guilty parties will pay a total of $3.1 million after an undercover investigator revealed animal cruelty at a California slaughterhouse.

A 2008 undercover investigation of a California slaughterhouse by animal-welfare group the Humane Society of the United States, which depicted “downer” cows being kicked, shocked, and moved with forklifts, resulted in the largest meat recall in US history and a multi-million dollar settlement. According to The San Diego Union Tribune, after the video was released, a $155 million lawsuit was subsequently filed against the slaughterhouse, a meatpacking facility, and two loan companies. The defendants also faced prosecution from the federal government for violating the False Claims Act, for receiving financial backing from a convicted felon. The lawsuit has put the guilty parties in financial straits and only $3.1 million will be paid.

Joaquin Phoenix Talks About Coming-Of-Age Veganism
December 4, 2013

The Hollywood star says it was a childhood fishing trip that helped him see the inhumanity of eating meat.

Movie star and ethical eater Joaquin Phoenix recently talked about his coming-of-age vegan experience in an interview with Cover Media. The Walk the Line actor said he first understood where meat came from when he and his three siblings went fishing with their parents. After the fish were caught, the animals were thrown against the side of the boat, which spurred an outcry from the children. “We literally screamed at our parents and said, ‘We are never going to eat meat again’ … it was undeniable that it was brutal, barbaric and horrible for us,” says Phoenix. Phoenix continues to be an outspoken animal-welfare activist and vegan, and has appeared in numerous public service announcements for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to raise awareness about the inhumanity of the animal agriculture industry.

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