Great news came in today! My project has been approved by the IACUC review committee. I was getting pretty skeptical since we hadn’t heard anything recently and I was starting to get worried about how long we would have to wait to hear back. Then this morning we got a query about correcting a typo and I was even more worried. Were we going to have to go through correcting every typo before the protocol was finally approved? But thankfully it finally came in this afternoon. And none too early.
Logistical issues have already caused us to need to readjust the plan a few times. Nothing ever can work out quite as planned and there is a plethora of research projects out there. Each one says something just a little bit different with slight changes in methods and results. In an effort to streamline the project and eliminate animal stress (including the humans working on this project), and to make sure that this project has real benefit and applicability to society and animals, we keep reevaluating the project details. And while the animal care protocol is approved, this is only the beginning.
The animal care protocol is only for assuring the least harm to the animal and appropriate care and contingency planning for the whole project. Although it is very important to make sure that research projects responsibly minimize impact on the lives of animals, it is also very important to make sure the project has important meaning to the furthering of science. So what still remains are all of the little details. Details that include the exact percentages of feed ingredients, the exact measurements to the inches of the pens, the exact times and camera positions for observations. And again, all of this is based on the literature and findings of all the people before me. As things go on, I will try to keep you updated on the different parts that go into a simple research project.
Showing posts with label Animal Welfare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animal Welfare. Show all posts
16 June 2011
04 June 2011
No more videos! (duplicate post)
This past week marked a great milestone in my time as a graduate student. Since I arrived last summer, I’ve been assigned to video evaluation of pigs we recorded on farm visits. The main gist of the project was to evaluate a training program’s success in helping farmers learn to limit their pigs’ stress and thus to ultimately benefit the pig by lowering their stress level and improving the interactions with humans. There’s a lot of evidence that points to increased production value of animals which have more positive interactions with humans as opposed to negative interactions with humans and sometimes people just don’t quite understand what can make up a positive or negative interaction. Some things as simple as shouting across the pens to someone else can stress out an animal whereas moving through pens at a moderate volume level and occasionally gently patting animals that are in your way, etc., can help improve their interactions with the livestock caretaker.
So a part of this project consisted of us coming on farm, walking through the pens with a video recorder, and then me going back through later and counting the number of pigs visible in the frame every five seconds. Let’s review: We visit LOTS of farms and record pigs; then I watch the video, stopping every five seconds to count pigs. Yeah, I started last summer and have never caught up. Until now.
This week I finished video number ~130, each one of which took excess of an hour if it went right the first time. The whole time the camera view is being knocked back and forth by pigs on screen that ran into the videographer (not a fun job) so it’s a short matter of time before I got motion sick. There were weeks in the fall where I spent the whole week in a state of motion sickness and headache from so much video analysis. All of this was fit in between classes and other work, and on a time crunch because we’re trying to analyze the project data now. As much fun as that was, I’m very glad to have it done and the time freed up to help on something new. Projects need to be changed up every so often and that one’s been on my plate for over a year now.
So a part of this project consisted of us coming on farm, walking through the pens with a video recorder, and then me going back through later and counting the number of pigs visible in the frame every five seconds. Let’s review: We visit LOTS of farms and record pigs; then I watch the video, stopping every five seconds to count pigs. Yeah, I started last summer and have never caught up. Until now.
This week I finished video number ~130, each one of which took excess of an hour if it went right the first time. The whole time the camera view is being knocked back and forth by pigs on screen that ran into the videographer (not a fun job) so it’s a short matter of time before I got motion sick. There were weeks in the fall where I spent the whole week in a state of motion sickness and headache from so much video analysis. All of this was fit in between classes and other work, and on a time crunch because we’re trying to analyze the project data now. As much fun as that was, I’m very glad to have it done and the time freed up to help on something new. Projects need to be changed up every so often and that one’s been on my plate for over a year now.
30 November 2010
Symposium Reflections (duplicate post)
Since I just got home not too long ago from the 2nd Annual Animal Welfare Symposium at the wonderful State 4-H Center on Ohio State's campus, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share my reflections on the afternoon in a semi-sequential format.
1) The people and the atmosphere were much less hostile than last year, given the passage of Issue 2 and the HSUS deal struck over the summer to allow for the Livestock Care Standards Board to operate as it was intended. I felt like the questions were much less heated and much more focused on actual learning. It was a nice change, even from the meeting this summer. It was also really nice to work a short standards board update into the afterlunch. Interesting to note is the discussion about how Ohio will probably not make it by the December deadline for a referendum on some current housing systems. However, we were also told that HSUS has been doing a lot of meeting with other involved organizations relative to the summer deal and that there was a good understanding of how much work had been put forth to get where we are currently.
2) The people running the symposium are great. It was well organized, in a great facility, and attended by over 300 people this year. As anticipated, the food was almost the best part of the day and Mike did a great job keeping the technology up and running so the day went off without an obvious hitch. Awesome.
3) The first speaker had some good information about opinions of Ohioans related to Animal Welfare. She just struggled severely with expressing anything clearly or in any consideration of time. She mentioned early that as an Easterner she spoke very fast. Frankly, I thought she might've spoken a bit fast, sure, but she didn't say a whole lot more than if she'd spoken more slowly and deliberately. The Q and A also helped clarify a lot more of her work, but some questions which I thought were fairly important to the research and the presentation were not answered at all and the audience was left questioning the value of the first presentation, of which I am sure there was some but it was difficult to sort through some poor representation of her hard work. It's always tough to elaborate thoughts to the satisfaction of your audience in such a short time period.
4) All the rest of the speakers did a fine job and spoke about relevant information, doing a good job of holding the audience's attention. If my chair hadn't been so uncomfortable, I could've sat there all day. There was little that wasn't worth hearing, even the information that I've already heard a few times. Hearing discussions does a good job of keeping issues current in my mind.
As the week rolls on, I'll be taking study breaks to give short synopsi of different speakers on my agriculture specific blog, the topics they discussed and my related opinions. However, in the near future the presentations will be posted. I encourage you to follow the link and watch the powerpoints yourself. It's always better to do your own thinking.
1) The people and the atmosphere were much less hostile than last year, given the passage of Issue 2 and the HSUS deal struck over the summer to allow for the Livestock Care Standards Board to operate as it was intended. I felt like the questions were much less heated and much more focused on actual learning. It was a nice change, even from the meeting this summer. It was also really nice to work a short standards board update into the afterlunch. Interesting to note is the discussion about how Ohio will probably not make it by the December deadline for a referendum on some current housing systems. However, we were also told that HSUS has been doing a lot of meeting with other involved organizations relative to the summer deal and that there was a good understanding of how much work had been put forth to get where we are currently.
2) The people running the symposium are great. It was well organized, in a great facility, and attended by over 300 people this year. As anticipated, the food was almost the best part of the day and Mike did a great job keeping the technology up and running so the day went off without an obvious hitch. Awesome.
3) The first speaker had some good information about opinions of Ohioans related to Animal Welfare. She just struggled severely with expressing anything clearly or in any consideration of time. She mentioned early that as an Easterner she spoke very fast. Frankly, I thought she might've spoken a bit fast, sure, but she didn't say a whole lot more than if she'd spoken more slowly and deliberately. The Q and A also helped clarify a lot more of her work, but some questions which I thought were fairly important to the research and the presentation were not answered at all and the audience was left questioning the value of the first presentation, of which I am sure there was some but it was difficult to sort through some poor representation of her hard work. It's always tough to elaborate thoughts to the satisfaction of your audience in such a short time period.
4) All the rest of the speakers did a fine job and spoke about relevant information, doing a good job of holding the audience's attention. If my chair hadn't been so uncomfortable, I could've sat there all day. There was little that wasn't worth hearing, even the information that I've already heard a few times. Hearing discussions does a good job of keeping issues current in my mind.
As the week rolls on, I'll be taking study breaks to give short synopsi of different speakers on my agriculture specific blog, the topics they discussed and my related opinions. However, in the near future the presentations will be posted. I encourage you to follow the link and watch the powerpoints yourself. It's always better to do your own thinking.
Professional Faux Pas
Although termed as going against the socially accepted norms, my personal favorite definition is more literal, "missteps, or false steps". Since I was at the Animal Welfare Symposium all day, I decided to keep some notes on behaviors and attitudes that are just unacceptable in a professional setting, and all of which I guarantee you happened today.
1) Spilling food on yourself. Everyone does it, but that doesn't mean you ever want to be the one. Spilling food on yourself can be embarrassing, even before you also consider the occasional super embarrassing spots you can drop food or drink. The only thing worse than spilling food on yourself is spilling it on someone else. But if you are spilled on, consider it a favor. That person severely owes you in the future and you would be wise not to let them forget it.
2) Cutting your colleagues off in the parking lot or even a few miles down the road. Just because you are out of the meeting, that doesn't mean your peers and colleagues might not be just behind you or beside you as you make your way down the road. It goes without saying that you should be courteous on the road, but ever more so when you are leaving a meeting where you are hoping that some people will favorably remember you.
3) Striking up conversation in the bathroom. Men, you better really know a guy well if you think you're going to start a conversation at the urinal. Talk about ultimate awkward... it's best just to avoid any conversation in the bathroom and save it for where normal conversations take place.
4) Taking this one step further, I would like to specifically degrade the man who caught a presenter in the bathroom to tell him how much he liked the guy's talk. Well, despite whether or not this bit of praise mattered to said presenter, any brownie points gained were lost before they had been tallied. To make matters worse, he proceeded to correct the presenter's grammar on a particular slide, criticizing him for his use of "disinterested" instead of "uninterested". Speaking of, he probably also wrote this link.
5) Pretending to care about people you don't give a hoot about is nearly as rude as blowing them off. There is a way to be both formal and unfriendly while professionally communicative to people you don't like, unless of course you are good enough at pretending to take interest in those you dislike in a convincing, falsely genuine manner.
6) Finally, never make the mistake of assuming you know something about people only to find out your error after the fact. Most people like talking about themselves, so ask questions and let them remind you of what you most likely forgot.
I leave you with the following picture, courtesy of floatingfoam.com.
1) Spilling food on yourself. Everyone does it, but that doesn't mean you ever want to be the one. Spilling food on yourself can be embarrassing, even before you also consider the occasional super embarrassing spots you can drop food or drink. The only thing worse than spilling food on yourself is spilling it on someone else. But if you are spilled on, consider it a favor. That person severely owes you in the future and you would be wise not to let them forget it.
2) Cutting your colleagues off in the parking lot or even a few miles down the road. Just because you are out of the meeting, that doesn't mean your peers and colleagues might not be just behind you or beside you as you make your way down the road. It goes without saying that you should be courteous on the road, but ever more so when you are leaving a meeting where you are hoping that some people will favorably remember you.
3) Striking up conversation in the bathroom. Men, you better really know a guy well if you think you're going to start a conversation at the urinal. Talk about ultimate awkward... it's best just to avoid any conversation in the bathroom and save it for where normal conversations take place.
4) Taking this one step further, I would like to specifically degrade the man who caught a presenter in the bathroom to tell him how much he liked the guy's talk. Well, despite whether or not this bit of praise mattered to said presenter, any brownie points gained were lost before they had been tallied. To make matters worse, he proceeded to correct the presenter's grammar on a particular slide, criticizing him for his use of "disinterested" instead of "uninterested". Speaking of, he probably also wrote this link.
5) Pretending to care about people you don't give a hoot about is nearly as rude as blowing them off. There is a way to be both formal and unfriendly while professionally communicative to people you don't like, unless of course you are good enough at pretending to take interest in those you dislike in a convincing, falsely genuine manner.
6) Finally, never make the mistake of assuming you know something about people only to find out your error after the fact. Most people like talking about themselves, so ask questions and let them remind you of what you most likely forgot.
I leave you with the following picture, courtesy of floatingfoam.com.
20 October 2010
ODA Civil Penalties for Welfare Violations (duplicate post)
The Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board met and finished the released draft of their proposed civil penalties for livestock neglect and abuse. I read through the draft and am impressed by the timeliness of this released document as well as the increased stringency of the proposed fines and punishment. Hopefully these proposed penalties will be enough to deter those farmers who potentially would give a bad name to the rest of farmers doing a good job of caring for their animals in Ohio.
29 September 2010
Possum-throwing...
I was literally speechless with incredulity when I saw this article on Danielle's facebook page today. Mind you, not because I was aghast at the treatment of the these dead animals, but excited by the awesome factor of it. Coming from an animal welfare background in my Masters study, I imagine you'd expect me to be at least mildly critical of the event. Instead, I'm pleasantly surprised by the "gala" at this New Zealand school. Let me explain.
I am against the mistreatment of dead animals and humans in the sort of disrespectful ways that some people maim dead animals and use them for photos or disfigure them. However, we kill pests and dissect animals for learning; this is ok. In my opinion, the throwing of dead possums falls somewhere in between these practices. And if you're outraged about them being thrown you've missed some of the point. They also trapped all of the possums in the first place similar to how you would rid your house of ants, spiders and mice in your own home. Obviously, if you find a dead animal somewhere on your place, you're likely to either throw it in the garbage or put it out back somewhere, but entirely less likely to bury some strange animal that you consider a varmint with the care that you would show to your pet. Possums definitely fall under the category of varmints in my book and in most countries, except for Australia apparently.
With possums as varmints (and altogether very nasty animals based on my encounters with them) then I feel no shame or guilt in killing them and little remorse in their death by any means. They are vicious and self-serving disease vectors that would as soon give you rabies as eat your pets. Thus I doubt you'll bury one when you find it, so why are people so upset about these possums being pitched? This was just a celebration of the success of the pest trapping, right? It would seem that they are offended because this is a competition and an organized event in which kids are throwing dead possums without any good cause (catching them wasn't?). Well, they're kids, and they ought to be let to have a little fun. This is like a learning experience where they get to embrace fear of a nasty animal while having a little bit of fun. Besides, they're celebrating their hard work. Frankly, from an animal welfare standpoint it's not a big deal because it's not hurting the possum at all (which doesn't have any feelings beside hunger even when it's alive); the possum's already dead. And the kids will automatically learn more about the animal with the hands-on experience than they ever would have in school iteself.
Does this mean they'll disrespect death in other cases such as treasured pets and humans? Death is all around us. It's death of something that gives us nourishment, regardless of our diet base, and death is literally a fact of life. This is the way things work and it's important for kids to learn this at an early age. Catching these possums to reduce their destructive impact on the school area in the first place is part of this "circle of life". These possums will soon be eaten by other gross scavengers and bacteria that are just waiting for the chance to multiply. I think that kids will continue to respect death in the way in which it deserves to be respected just so long as they have good parents who can help them paint the lines and appreciate the difference between primordial instinct to play with dead animals (we learn much more by play than classroom education) and the passing of "Tiger" the cat. One is loved by you, and another is not. The difference is that other people can empathize with you when you lose a dog, but there is no sympathy for the bottom-feeding, hand-biting, last marsupial in America. We need to draw lines, and the whole reason we get into such problems in the first place is that people have started failing to draw them and the gray area in between has gotten too big.
This article far outshines my original post concept about Bill Clinton changing towards a "plant-based diet". I would too if I had had a heartattack, etc., in my recent years. Then again, Bill, you could just divorce Hillary and then be free of all the stress that crazy lady adds to your life.
10 June 2010
Sticker Fingers, among other things (long blog)
Last night we biked to Sticky Fingers up in Cheshire. Interestingly enough, there is a sticky fingers website, but this is not the correct place. Anyhow, it's a decent ride, and Katherine went with me. Mapmyride.com says that I burned 577 calories on the trip. That'd be great except I biked there to get ice cream sandwiches and bring them back. Anyhow, I doubled my mileage limit since I started training, and it was quite easy, especially with the new bike.
Now on to my list of other items (I should credit Sara Long at MSU for most of these links in her excellent weekly newsletter. Let me know if you would like to receive it):
1) Apparently Australia is having a drunk parakeet problem? Who knew parakeet's could get drunk? The better question now is... who's going to figure out how to stop it? It seems that they are treating parakeets everyday for hangovers, but then I was reading what they called a hangover food and that is never what I would've eaten...
2) This BP oil spill continues to infuriate me, especially after I found pictures of some of the killed wildlife. I saw that last week before this new "increased oil collection" happened, BP had been told to spend 1 billion on fixing the environment. What about now that they have increased the amount lost per day?
3) Local humane societies voice frustration with HSUS's dishonest accounting and name stealing. Awesome, it's too bad you're not in Ohio to help with the vote.
4) For those of you who know me long-term, you will understand my interest in this new research related to BSE.
5) What is it with Zoos killing Giraffes? I feel like this happens too often. They don't belong here, why don't we send them back?
6) Check out these NatGeo pictures of their shark elevator in action.
7) Finally, at the end of a long list of links worth reading - this is a new kind of billboard which advertises through smell.
My ride for tonight looks to be 16 miles long, and my weight is back to 237. I don't know what it will take to lose it, but maybe drinking coffee will help? I apologize, I was going to add a picture of my new bike, but it will have to happen next time. I have been cut off on this blog.
Now on to my list of other items (I should credit Sara Long at MSU for most of these links in her excellent weekly newsletter. Let me know if you would like to receive it):
1) Apparently Australia is having a drunk parakeet problem? Who knew parakeet's could get drunk? The better question now is... who's going to figure out how to stop it? It seems that they are treating parakeets everyday for hangovers, but then I was reading what they called a hangover food and that is never what I would've eaten...
2) This BP oil spill continues to infuriate me, especially after I found pictures of some of the killed wildlife. I saw that last week before this new "increased oil collection" happened, BP had been told to spend 1 billion on fixing the environment. What about now that they have increased the amount lost per day?
3) Local humane societies voice frustration with HSUS's dishonest accounting and name stealing. Awesome, it's too bad you're not in Ohio to help with the vote.
4) For those of you who know me long-term, you will understand my interest in this new research related to BSE.
5) What is it with Zoos killing Giraffes? I feel like this happens too often. They don't belong here, why don't we send them back?
6) Check out these NatGeo pictures of their shark elevator in action.
7) Finally, at the end of a long list of links worth reading - this is a new kind of billboard which advertises through smell.
My ride for tonight looks to be 16 miles long, and my weight is back to 237. I don't know what it will take to lose it, but maybe drinking coffee will help? I apologize, I was going to add a picture of my new bike, but it will have to happen next time. I have been cut off on this blog.
08 June 2010
Today
Work is the same as always. The end.
I got my bike last night! Amanda says that I have now officially committed myself to the Pelotonia because I have bought the bike now. Hopefully everything is smooth sailing from here as I get registered this week and start riding. Again, pictures of the bike are to come. I posted a preliminary picture on facebook last night, but I haven't gotten out into the light yet.
Also, I found objection to Gene Baur's recent post on his blog. I have since posted a comment which I believe will never make it on their blog site, so I will post the comment here:
Gene,
If you want to go so far as to link the BP oil spill to the animal food system, then maybe you should also consider the transport energy spent moving your vegetables from where they are grown to your local store which wouldn't have them naturally in season. Livestock agriculture provides food that is relatively little different in environmental impact than the vegetable-matter which you seem to endorse. Even if fossil fuel consumption were higher with meat production compared to plant-based foods, the total environmental impact is the picture you should be looking at.
Consider the hybrid cars. Over a period of a few years, the battery waste from these far exceeds the long-term environmental damage that is caused by "gas-guzzling" SUVs.
That's all for now folks.
I got my bike last night! Amanda says that I have now officially committed myself to the Pelotonia because I have bought the bike now. Hopefully everything is smooth sailing from here as I get registered this week and start riding. Again, pictures of the bike are to come. I posted a preliminary picture on facebook last night, but I haven't gotten out into the light yet.
Also, I found objection to Gene Baur's recent post on his blog. I have since posted a comment which I believe will never make it on their blog site, so I will post the comment here:
Gene,
If you want to go so far as to link the BP oil spill to the animal food system, then maybe you should also consider the transport energy spent moving your vegetables from where they are grown to your local store which wouldn't have them naturally in season. Livestock agriculture provides food that is relatively little different in environmental impact than the vegetable-matter which you seem to endorse. Even if fossil fuel consumption were higher with meat production compared to plant-based foods, the total environmental impact is the picture you should be looking at.
Consider the hybrid cars. Over a period of a few years, the battery waste from these far exceeds the long-term environmental damage that is caused by "gas-guzzling" SUVs.
That's all for now folks.
04 June 2010
Pelotonia
I'm not really 100% sure what I'm getting into yet, or what the word "pelotonia" is supposed to mean. However, I will be riding in it, the whole 200 miles to Athens, OH, and back. The Pelotonia has a pretty cool website. Check it out, but don't sponsor directly to the site! Within a week or so I will be registered on there and ready to receive donations on my behalf. And trust me, I need help. I can't get to the money limit all by meself, that's for sure.
As far as riding a bike that far? Well, I'm figuring that I'll start by riding my fixi. If I can get my fixi up to 60 miles, then I'll be in great shape for the race. That gives me more time to find a suitable bike using the good old craigs list to find something both cheap and durable. I think I've found a couple of decent options, but time will tell if I can get one of them.
Also, my dearest Amanda has been highly complemented recently for her great blog posts. You should definitely check out her MLHR blog with OSU's Fisher. She's pretty much amazing.
Thunderstorms came through again today, and the garden remains wet. It's been a rough week for getting stuff in, but Mom found some volunteer tomatoes in the peas and beans so I transferred them over yesterday before they were choked out. Otherwise, I'm trying to stay out of the garden as much as possible. I feel bad for the farmers that I've been talking to and driving past. They have so much invested and the weather has been pretty rough this spring.
Also. Katherine mentioned finding a sheep of ours chained up about a month or two ago, even though we've never chained an animal before. Apparently we have some neighborhood non-neighborly intruders and we're going to have to do a better job of watching the place. For anyone else trying to raise livestock of any species or quantity this year, please keep an eye on them and protect them from the crazies roaming about.
Also. Weight report is at 238.2. Funny, I just don't think I'm losing any... Oh well. I'm off to ride this evening.
02 June 2010
Going Fishing?
This guy's link this week to fish feeling pain, well, that's old news or so I thought. We've talked about that for a long time. I thought testing rats was tedious, but imagine testing fish? And how did this guy go fishing at some duke's place. Crazy. Also up for question, is it more ethical to kill the fish after catching it, or would it be better to let it go. I would think letting it go would by far be the better choice. But I guess I never got asked.
Also, pretty funny to me at least, for the day. The National Park Service is talking about vaccinating the bison herd in Yellowstone via rifle injections. Awesome! I can see how Brucellosis would be a huge deal to ranchers around there, especially if there is an infected herd transmitting the disease.
Finally, I have started a new blog. Feel free to check it out, but much of my specifically agriculturally related stuff will be posted there.
Also, pretty funny to me at least, for the day. The National Park Service is talking about vaccinating the bison herd in Yellowstone via rifle injections. Awesome! I can see how Brucellosis would be a huge deal to ranchers around there, especially if there is an infected herd transmitting the disease.
Finally, I have started a new blog. Feel free to check it out, but much of my specifically agriculturally related stuff will be posted there.
Response from Edie
I checked OFBF repeatedly through the night and finally received response for my comments yesterday. For those of you who don't know, the link below is the petition being circulated by the HSUS. Please view the response and my discussion.
Edie Olson:
Thank you for your response Benjamin. I can definitely see where you are coming from and it makes sense.
https://hsus.salsalabs.com/o/17002/images/OH%202010%20language.pdf
I can see how your statement applies to #1. Ok, you want some evidence/scientific reasoning that those accommodations so-to-speak would benefit the animal. I can see that. ... See More
#2 and #3, do you really need scientific evidence to be in favor of those? One deals with not being able to hang or strangulate an animal in order to kill it. Surely farmers have some better options already available. #3 disallows downed animals for transport or human consumption. I'm in favor of that one definitely!! It's hard for me to imagine that someone wouldn't be and would need more proof for that one.
Are these truly such renegade proposals? Would there be anything wrong with farmers addressing these specific proposals and why they don't support them and/or why they feel they do not follow a rational approach as well as what more science-base they would need in order to support such proposals? I would be interested in knowing their view. For example, I definitely don't want animals being hung/strangulated in order to kill them but I would have to know what farmers are facing in regards to this. If there is an issue, I don't know what it is but would like to know.
To be fair, there are quite a few organizations that back this initiative although I am unsure if you consider them all to be "biased" or they carry a negative connotation such as HSUS seems to for a lot of people here. I am unfamiliar with HSUS and horse slaughter. I will look into it. Again, thank you for discussing this topic with me.
Me:
Edie. I appreciate your respect for my discussion.
I believe you fail to recognize that the #2 and #3 on your link are not the big ticket items to this petition. From my personal experience with the livestock industry, it is my understanding that we do not consume downer cattle anyway, nor is strangulation and acceptable means of euthanasia. Instead, this euthanasia clause is meant to gain emotional subscribers based on footage shot from a facility in Ohio which is old news now.
Your comment about #1 needing rational and scientific justification duplicates my feelings on the issue. Until this research finds suitable answers (and research in this area is very difficult, but currently ongoing) I would prefer that legislation not be forced upon a committee before we have truthful verdicts on how we can best improve animal well-being. Additionally, this wording provides no clear understanding of what is actually being required. Without defined goals on how animal welfare will be improved, it is obvious that this is idealistic and emotionally written merely to gain a momentum vote which then proceeds to leave animal considerations by the wayside after the vote is passed and HSUS and their kind proceed to the next state. No true improvements can be made in animal well-being by an out-of-state activist group who has no apparent legitimate interest in animal well-being or the state in which they are campaigning. I see that there need to be improvements in animal well-being, but I would rather that these come with deliberate actions within the State of Ohio by those appointed with authority due to their experience to make these decisions.
Edie Olson:
Thank you for your response Benjamin. I can definitely see where you are coming from and it makes sense.
https://hsus.salsalabs.com/o/17002/images/OH%202010%20language.pdf
I can see how your statement applies to #1. Ok, you want some evidence/scientific reasoning that those accommodations so-to-speak would benefit the animal. I can see that. ... See More
#2 and #3, do you really need scientific evidence to be in favor of those? One deals with not being able to hang or strangulate an animal in order to kill it. Surely farmers have some better options already available. #3 disallows downed animals for transport or human consumption. I'm in favor of that one definitely!! It's hard for me to imagine that someone wouldn't be and would need more proof for that one.
Are these truly such renegade proposals? Would there be anything wrong with farmers addressing these specific proposals and why they don't support them and/or why they feel they do not follow a rational approach as well as what more science-base they would need in order to support such proposals? I would be interested in knowing their view. For example, I definitely don't want animals being hung/strangulated in order to kill them but I would have to know what farmers are facing in regards to this. If there is an issue, I don't know what it is but would like to know.
To be fair, there are quite a few organizations that back this initiative although I am unsure if you consider them all to be "biased" or they carry a negative connotation such as HSUS seems to for a lot of people here. I am unfamiliar with HSUS and horse slaughter. I will look into it. Again, thank you for discussing this topic with me.
Me:
Edie. I appreciate your respect for my discussion.
I believe you fail to recognize that the #2 and #3 on your link are not the big ticket items to this petition. From my personal experience with the livestock industry, it is my understanding that we do not consume downer cattle anyway, nor is strangulation and acceptable means of euthanasia. Instead, this euthanasia clause is meant to gain emotional subscribers based on footage shot from a facility in Ohio which is old news now.
Your comment about #1 needing rational and scientific justification duplicates my feelings on the issue. Until this research finds suitable answers (and research in this area is very difficult, but currently ongoing) I would prefer that legislation not be forced upon a committee before we have truthful verdicts on how we can best improve animal well-being. Additionally, this wording provides no clear understanding of what is actually being required. Without defined goals on how animal welfare will be improved, it is obvious that this is idealistic and emotionally written merely to gain a momentum vote which then proceeds to leave animal considerations by the wayside after the vote is passed and HSUS and their kind proceed to the next state. No true improvements can be made in animal well-being by an out-of-state activist group who has no apparent legitimate interest in animal well-being or the state in which they are campaigning. I see that there need to be improvements in animal well-being, but I would rather that these come with deliberate actions within the State of Ohio by those appointed with authority due to their experience to make these decisions.
01 June 2010
Conklin update
For those of you who are interested in what's going on with the Conklin Farm incident.
OFBF's press release (still worth reading)
Andy Vance's recent blog (interesting)
Cincinatti News Report which helps you understand just what an idiot this kid is who did all this stuff. And about the dead unburied cows... Just a speculation but a) this is nothing in the big picture of what's happening over there right now, and b) they might've been kinda tied up with all the stuff going on?
OFBF's press release (still worth reading)
Andy Vance's recent blog (interesting)
Cincinatti News Report which helps you understand just what an idiot this kid is who did all this stuff. And about the dead unburied cows... Just a speculation but a) this is nothing in the big picture of what's happening over there right now, and b) they might've been kinda tied up with all the stuff going on?
27 May 2010
Central Ohio Dairy Cruelty Video
In other news, I think that the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation adequately expressed my personal response to the recent Conklin Farm incident publicized by Mercy for Animals. Obviously, if there are issues like this occurring then they must be stopped. The cruelty captured on film is despicable and I hope the guy filmed doing these horrible actions spends jail time. However, this is not typical of farming and we must end it and not defend them.
On the flip side of the issue, I was very happy that the OFBF directly addressed my own specific concerns and frustrations with the filming by Mercy for Animals in their press release. Why didn't they put an end to this? Did they help instigate it? I also want a full investigation to the neglect that their undercover filmer exhibited when refusing to stand up for what he/she claimed to uphold. Instead he/she filmed the cruelty and made no effort to stop it over the period of a WHOLE MONTH! Shameful. Mercy for Animals once again proves to be nothing but a media front for a political agenda that is merely remotely related to animal well-being. If they cared about the animals that they claim to be serving the interests of, then by the traditional definition of animal rights they would care about each individual and stop every act of cruelty as quickly as possible to help save that individual. Read your books people, the founders of the animal rights movement would be disgraced by you.
On the flip side of the issue, I was very happy that the OFBF directly addressed my own specific concerns and frustrations with the filming by Mercy for Animals in their press release. Why didn't they put an end to this? Did they help instigate it? I also want a full investigation to the neglect that their undercover filmer exhibited when refusing to stand up for what he/she claimed to uphold. Instead he/she filmed the cruelty and made no effort to stop it over the period of a WHOLE MONTH! Shameful. Mercy for Animals once again proves to be nothing but a media front for a political agenda that is merely remotely related to animal well-being. If they cared about the animals that they claim to be serving the interests of, then by the traditional definition of animal rights they would care about each individual and stop every act of cruelty as quickly as possible to help save that individual. Read your books people, the founders of the animal rights movement would be disgraced by you.
24 May 2010
Read this...
I just wanted to give a shout out to Trent Loos for another good commentary article which I just received from Feedstuffs online. The link is below, I hope that you can access it. Otherwise, just contact me and I will send it to you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)