There’s a term they use for a chicken who has aged and no longer produces very many eggs, or has stopped laying eggs altogether. She’s said to be ‘spent,’ a grim way of referring to a living thing, a term suggesting that she has value as a cash commodity until, of course, she stops producing. […]
Category Archives: animals
Animals are Not Disposable
In a society that largely treats animals as commodities, it should come as no surprise to learn that animal abuse is rife at every level, from industrial agriculture to hobby farming to keeping animals as pets, but it never ceases to make me boil with fury. Animals are living beings capable of experiencing pain and […]
Little Movement on Carriage Horse Reform
Last year, I wrote about the plight of carriage horses in New York, highlighting the fact that horses are being abused to provide people with quaint, romantic, nostalgic rides in and around Central Park. Cities across the US have similar carriage horse programmes, but New York’s horses have become iconic, not just in pop culture […]
Play With Shelter Cats. It’s Good For Them. (And Maybe You.)
Six to eight million cats and dogs enter shelters in the United States every year, and approximately half of them are euthanised. Many are not spayed or neutered, and some lack basic socialisation, which makes them even more unadoptable. Animals with unknown temperaments are harder to adopt out, as are those who are shy, hesitant, […]
Industrial Agriculture: Now Creating Superviruses With Excessive Vaccination!
If there’s one thing I’m a huge fan of, it’s vaccines. I love cost effective methods of preventing disease through the development of herd immunity, particularly in the case of extremely dangerous diseases like whooping cough and polio. The thought that these conditions were once fatal and much more common and now are not because […]
We’re Eating Less Meat…and Building More Factory Farms
People in the United States are eating a lot less meat, with consumption dropping to a level not seen in fifty years. All sorts of explanations are being posited, each with their own spin, ranging from claims of a ‘War on Meat’ to arguments that ethical consumers are being more careful about what they eat. […]
Legislating Compassion
California’s foie gras ban has attracted considerable news coverage and generated reams of discussion, both pro and con, across the state. Chefs and foie gras fans act like victims of those horrible animal welfare activists, complaining that their lives will be ruined now. Animal welfare activists are excited about what the ban means and the […]
Mainstreaming Humane Farming?
One of the biggest recent gains for the animal welfare movement has been increasing pressure on the agriculture industry to make farming more humane, for animals from dairy cattle to chickens. Advocates have used a variety of tactics to accomplish their goals, including shareholder activism at major corporations, legislative lobbying, and individual advocacy with specific […]
Mr. Bell, One Year Later
A lifetime ago, my father and I went to the Humane Society, back when it was still in crowded, dark conditions right off Highway One. I wanted a cat, an official house cat, and we went back and forth through the cages for hours, my father demonstrating remarkable patience as we met all the cats […]
Animal Welfare Is About More Than Potty Softies With Too Many Cats
One of the most enduring stereotypes about people interested in animal welfare is that they are giant softies who may have gone a bit batty, living in houses filled with cats and rescued guinea pigs and other unwanted and discarded animals. There’s a certain level of vicious contempt in the way society views people who […]
