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  • NATHAN RUNKLE: So my name is Nathan Runkle.

  • I'm the founder and executive director of Mercy For Animals.

  • And we are a national, nonprofit animal protection

  • organization.

  • And our mission is to prevent cruelty to farmed animals, and

  • promote compassionate food choices and policies.

  • So I want to talk for a few minutes about how I got

  • involved in animal protection issues.

  • This is me in St. Paris, Ohio, a town of about 2,000 people.

  • I was born on a farm, come from a long heritage of

  • farmers, four generations.

  • In this photo, my father is, I think, breaking all sorts of

  • state and federal laws, potentially--

  • child endangerment.

  • But growing up in this environment, I always had a

  • natural affinity and connection for animals.

  • I spent much of my childhood exploring the nearby creeks

  • and streams and looking at wildlife.

  • And it was our dogs and cats that were the first to teach

  • me that other creatures share our needs and our desires,

  • that they have curiosities, senses of humor.

  • And it wasn't something that I had to study in school.

  • But from a young age, I witnessed the contradictory

  • view that we hold for animals.

  • I saw that our family cared very much about the dogs and

  • cats that we had, but we did not have the same level of

  • compassion or empathy or respect for other animals.

  • So both of my uncles were hunters and

  • trappers and fishermen.

  • So from a young age, I witnessed animals being

  • skinned while they were still alive, having their heads

  • ripped off while they were still alive.

  • And most people in my social circle did not afford those

  • animals much consideration.

  • And that always felt wrong to me.

  • I thought that we could and should do much better.

  • There was a local animal abuse case when I

  • was 15, so in 1999.

  • That is what ultimately led to me founding Mercy For Animals.

  • And it was at a local high school, and there was a

  • teacher there who had an agricultural class.

  • And this teacher also ran a pig farm.

  • Now, one day he brought to school a bucket of day-old

  • piglets to be used in a dissection project.

  • Now, these were piglets that he had tried to kill that

  • morning on his farm.

  • But when he arrived to the school, one of the piglets was

  • still alive.

  • A student in the class who also did part-time work on the

  • teacher's pig farm took the piglet by her hind legs and

  • slammed her head-first into the ground to try

  • to kill this piglet.

  • Now, the piglet didn't die.

  • Her skull was broken.

  • She was bleeding out of her mouth.

  • She's in horrible distress.

  • A few of the students who were appalled by this act of abuse

  • took the dying piglet, left the classroom, and took her to

  • a teacher who was known as being a vegetarian and

  • sympathetic to animal cruelty.

  • That teacher left the school, went to a local vet office,

  • and had the piglet euthanized.

  • Now, following that case, there were two counts of

  • animal cruelty that were filed, one against the student

  • and one against the teacher.

  • Now, the case generated a lot of media attention and

  • controversy in this small farm community.

  • And the pig farming community rallied behind

  • the student and teacher.

  • And they said, we don't want animal advocates coming into

  • our town, telling us how to do our jobs.

  • The very first day of the trial, the cruelty charges

  • were dismissed, because it's considered standard

  • agricultural practice to kill piglets by slamming them

  • head-first into the ground.

  • And in Ohio, like at least 30 other states in this country,

  • if something is considered standard agricultural

  • practice, no matter how cruel it is, it's exempt from

  • cruelty prosecution.

  • So that case illustrated to me that there needed to be a

  • voice for farm animals in this community in Ohio.

  • So since then, Mercy For Animals has grown to having

  • over 100,000 members and supporters.

  • We have five offices across the country.

  • And we work to give a voice to farmed animals in four main

  • areas-- through public education campaigns, through

  • undercover cruelty investigations, through

  • corporate outreach, and legal advocacy efforts.

  • All right, so there you have it.

  • Now, I want to start out by talking a bit about animals

  • and our relationship to animals and

  • why we should care.

  • Now, Dr. Jane Goodall once said, "we have to understand

  • we are not the only beings on this planet with personalities

  • and minds." Now as I'm sure many of you are aware, Dr.

  • Goodall spent about 45 years in Africa living with and

  • studying chimpanzees.

  • She was one of the first researchers to give her

  • subjects names as opposed to numbers.

  • And she started to observe them and find out that many of

  • the traits that we once held so closely as being unique to

  • people are in fact not unique and are very widespread in the

  • animal community--

  • things like culture and empathy and compassion, things

  • like not only using tools, but creating tools.

  • So Dr. Goodall started to tear down these various boundaries.

  • And I think looking at this image really

  • illustrates it so perfectly.

  • We know that other animals feel cold, the cold of this

  • metal, the heat of the sun, that they form relationships

  • and bonds, and that they, too, deserve our consideration.

  • Now, anyone who has shared their homes with dogs or cats

  • knows this.

  • We know how excited they are when we come home, how eager

  • they are for their walks, how playful they are.

  • And this is, again, not something that we had to study

  • animal behavior to know.

  • And the scientific community is finally starting to catch

  • up to what so many of us have known all along.

  • Just this year, the University of Cambridge published the

  • Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness.

  • And essentially, this is the first time that an

  • international group of prominent scientists supported

  • the idea that animals are conscious and aware to the

  • same degree that humans are.

  • Now, this was really earth-shattering for this to

  • come out, because they found that not only do mammals have

  • consciousness and dogs and cats, but birds have the same

  • level of consciousness, and not only birds, but fish, and

  • not only fish, but octopus.

  • So this whole notion, I think, should give all of us pause to

  • really think about our treatment of animals and our

  • obligation to them, and how we can include them in our circle

  • of consideration and ethics.

  • So what we do at Mercy For Animals is help people step

  • back and think about farm animals as individuals with

  • needs, and how we can respect them and do due diligence in

  • protecting their interests.

  • So I want to talk a little bit about who

  • farmed animals are first.

  • This is an image of the wild ancestors of

  • the modern-day chicken.

  • Now, most people just think of chickens and

  • they think of barnyards.

  • And Of course, these birds once lived wild in the jungles

  • of Southeast Asia.

  • And they lived in a world that was very rich

  • with sound and color.

  • And they lived in social groups of about a dozen birds.

  • And they were very active.

  • Now, we manipulated these animals to becoming almost

  • genetic Frankensteins of what they once were.

  • And I'll talk about that a little bit later.

  • But we see that, even through hundreds or thousands of years

  • of domestication, these animals still have the same

  • behaviors, the same desires.

  • These are egg-laying hens that live their entire lives in

  • tiny cages.

  • And this is a photograph of them about a month after they

  • were rescued.

  • And we see that these birds still want to perch, roost,

  • dust-bathe.

  • They spend the night in trees.

  • Now, the more that we know about birds, the more respect

  • we should have for them.

  • We all know the term "the watchful mother hen," and this

  • is a term that these birds really have earned.

  • They will give their lives to protect their young.

  • They have a very close bond with their young.

  • They actually start to chirp and communicate with them

  • while they're still in the eggs in the last few days

  • before hatching.

  • We know that birds can recognize 100 other birds

  • based on their distinct facial features.

  • I think if most of us saw a group of 100 chickens, we'd

  • think that they all looked pretty similar.

  • But to them, they look as unique and different as each

  • of us do in this room to us.

  • We know that they have a language that

  • is unique to them.

  • We know at least 30 different calls that they have that are

  • unique for overhead predators versus ground predators.

  • They have a more intimate tone and inflection that they use

  • with birds that they consider to be their friends.

  • We know that chickens understand that recently

  • hidden objects still exist.

  • They're not rocket science, but this is beyond the ability

  • of small human children.

  • That has led Dr. Bernard Rollin to state, "contrary to

  • what one may hear from the industry, chickens are complex

  • behaviorally, do quite well in learning, show a rich social

  • organization, and have a diverse repertoire of calls.

  • Anyone who has kept barnyard chickens recognizes their

  • distinct differences in personality." And of course,

  • anyone who has spent any time with chickens knows that there

  • are some who like the attention of people, who will

  • follow you around and peck at your toes, wanting treats, and

  • others who would prefer to be on their own.

  • Now, the scientific community is starting to catch up to

  • this notion.

  • This is an illustration that appeared in "The Washington

  • Post" in 2005, where the scientific community called

  • for a remapping of the bird brain, saying that about 90%

  • of the over-2,000 terms that we use in referring to the

  • structure of a bird brain is outdated.

  • It needs to be reevaluated.

  • So what we see on the right-hand side of this

  • illustration is the traditional

  • view of a bird's brain.

  • And we see that most of it we thought was just used for

  • instinctive behaviors, that birds were going around and

  • just acting by instincts, with a very small amount being used

  • for cognitive behavior or learning.

  • But our new view, which we see in the middle here, is that

  • over 75% of the bird's brain is used for complex cognitive

  • behavior or learning.

  • Now, pigs are also

  • intelligent, sensitive creatures.

  • Some people say that they're the fourth-most intelligent

  • creatures on the face of the planet.

  • We know that these animals have strong bonds that they

  • also form with their young.

  • We know that they have a unique language.

  • We know of at least 20 different grunts or oinks that

  • they make that mean very distinct things.

  • And we know that they have long-term memories.

  • There was a study done at Penn State University.

  • They took a group of pigs and they presented

  • them with three objects.

  • One was a dumbbell, one was a Frisbee, and one was a ball.

  • And they taught the pigs to pick up the Frisbee, to sit

  • next to the dumbbell, and to jump over the ball.

  • And they took those pigs away for three years, without ever

  • seeing those objects.

  • Three years later, they brought them back, presented

  • them with the objects, and 100% of the pigs, without any

  • retraining or prompting, remembered those behaviors

  • that they were taught three years before.

  • Now, Dr. Donald Broom said, "pigs have the cognitive

  • ability to be sophisticated.

  • Even more so than dogs and certainly three-year-olds."

  • He's talking about three-year-old humans.

  • Anyone who has children or nieces or nephews knows just

  • how intelligent three-year-olds are, how they

  • have a sense of humor and curiosity.

  • To think that that same level of thinking is going on in the

  • mind of a pig should give us all pause to

  • how we treat them.

  • Now, researchers have taught pigs how to play video games

  • using remote-controlled joysticks, showing that they

  • understand cause and effect.

  • Now, I have mixed feelings about bringing an entire other

  • species into the video game revolution.

  • I think it's causing problems for our own species.

  • But nevertheless, there it is.

  • And then, of course, we have cows, I think some of the most

  • benevolent, peaceful creatures on the planet.

  • These are animals that, again, form strong

  • bonds with their young.

  • We hear story after story of mother cows who have been

  • separated from their young, not only bellowing out in

  • distress for days on end, but jumping over fences and

  • traveling miles on end to be relocated with their young.

  • We know that cows have best friends that they spend most

  • of their time with, and that they show excitement when they

  • solve problems.

  • And finally, I want to talk for just a second about fish.

  • Now, most people don't give much thought to fish.

  • And it's easy to really disregard them, because they

  • inhabit a world that is so different

  • from us, under water.

  • They don't have the same ability to express their

  • feelings through facial features.

  • They can't scream.

  • But fish are not swimming vegetables.

  • And we know that these animals suffer pain and fear and

  • distress in much the same way that we do.

  • They did a study where they took fish and they injected

  • bee venom under their scales.

  • And what they found is that the fish's heart rate

  • elevated, that they started swimming frantically back and

  • forth in the enclosure, and rubbing that area of their

  • body against the enclosure.

  • Their brains also release natural painkillers.

  • And they release oxytocin, our natural feel-good drug.

  • This is an illustration of the structure of a fish brain

  • versus a human brain.

  • What we see is that, though they may be structured

  • differently, they still have the same functions.

  • So here we see that, on the surface of the fish's

  • [INAUDIBLE] brain, there are structures that serve

  • functions similar to the limbic system of mammals.

  • In mammals, these cerebellar receptors are responsible,

  • among other things, for the emotional evaluation of

  • information, and they play a role in creating memories and

  • the learning processes.

  • And we know, too, that fish can use tools, that some of

  • them form life-long monogamous relationships with other fish.

  • And I say all this because I think we've become so

  • disconnected from these animals.

  • Few of us will ever spend much time with a cow or a pig or a

  • chicken, so it's good to know this.

  • But I really don't think it matters all that much if these

  • animals can solve mathematical equations, because these are

  • arbitrary tests that we've created for other animals

  • based on our own intelligence.

  • Jeremy Bentham said, "the question is not can they

  • reason nor can they talk, but can they suffer?" And I think

  • that we are at a time where there's really no legitimate

  • debate now whether animals can suffer.

  • They have brains, central nervous

  • systems, nerve endings.

  • Pain to them is used in the same way as it is for us, as a

  • way to move away from negative stimuli to protect them.

  • So I think the test that we have as ethical, conscious,

  • moral creatures is, how can we live on this planet and do the

  • most good and the least harm?

  • And knowing that farm animals suffer pain, how can we in

  • good conscience ignore their plight?

  • So what is the plight for these animals?

  • Well, about 60, 70, 80 years ago, most farm animals lived

  • relatively decent lives, outside in small flocks.

  • And this is an illustration showing that.

  • Many of them were even slaughtered on the farm.

  • But unfortunately, much has changed.

  • In fact, so few people are involved in agriculture now,

  • less than 2%, that they're removing it from the Census

  • Bureau occupational section.

  • So with this change, and the amount of meat that people are

  • consuming in this country, we've seen a huge increase in

  • the number of animals being killed for food.

  • Now over eight billion, with a B, farmed animals are killed

  • every year in this country.

  • This is a graph showing the slaughter rate of animals.

  • Nearly 300 chickens are killed every single second in this

  • country, over three pigs killed every second, and a cow

  • every single second.

  • Now, these numbers, none of us can really grasp.

  • As the saying goes, one death is a tragedy, but a million

  • deaths, or in this case eight billion, is just a statistic.

  • It's really difficult for us to relate to these numbers,

  • they're so mind-boggling.

  • But it's one, and then one, and then one, all the way up

  • to eight billion.

  • So gone are the days of the idyllic barnyard scenes that

  • we grew up with in movies and our children's books.

  • And this is what a modern-day farm looks like.

  • This is a factory egg farm.

  • And on this small piece of property, you can find

  • millions of animals intensively confined.

  • This is what most people know about our current agricultural

  • system, nothing.

  • They're kept completely in the dark on how

  • these animals are treated.

  • And that's because the meat, dairy, and egg industry spend

  • millions and millions of dollars every year

  • spoon-feeding us ads about happy cows and happy chickens

  • to mask the reality of this institutional and

  • industrialized farming system.

  • So what we aim to do at Mercy For Animals with our

  • undercover investigations is to pull back the curtains of

  • these facilities, and to shine a bright spotlight on these

  • animals' plights.

  • So now in industrial farming, we see that animals are being

  • treated as commodities, resources, machines, and

  • production units.

  • This is a quote that appeared in "National Hog Farmer"

  • magazine that said, "the breeding sow should be thought

  • of and treated as a valuable piece of machinery whose

  • function is to pump out baby pigs like a sausage machine."

  • And we see that these intelligent, sensitive

  • creatures have been reduced to just that, machines.

  • They live their lives in tiny crates where they can't even

  • turn around or lie down comfortably for nearly their

  • entire lives.

  • They resort to bar-biting, banging their heads against

  • the wire and steel structures of their cages, because

  • they've literally gone insane.

  • We've created genetic Frankensteins chickens.

  • On the right here, we have the modern broiler chicken, named

  • literally after the cooking method.

  • These are meat-type birds.

  • On the left, we have the modern-day egg-laying chicken.

  • So what we've done is we've taken these meat-type birds

  • and we've bred them to grow so large so fast that many of

  • them can't even withstand their own body

  • weight on their legs.

  • Now, back in the 1950s, it took almost 70 days for a

  • chicken to reach market weight.

  • Today, it takes about 47, in some cases 35.

  • They're continuing to chip time off of these animals'

  • lives, and they're reaching a much larger weight.

  • So we essentially have our baby animals

  • in obese adult bodies.

  • And what we see is that they suffer from leg disorders,

  • heart and lung failures, and they're in chronic pain.

  • Now, a study found that 90% of these broiler chickens will

  • eat feed that's laced with painkillers to self-medicate

  • themselves, they're in such chronic pain.

  • And the same is true for turkeys.

  • This is a photograph taken at a Butterball

  • facility in North Carolina.

  • And this is where the tom turkeys, or the male turkeys,

  • are used for breeding.

  • Some of these turkeys reach 90 pounds.

  • They can hardly walk by the time that they're slaughtered.

  • Now, egg-laying chickens have bred to be smaller birds, but

  • to produce an unnaturally high amount of eggs.

  • Now, before we domesticated these animals, they laid about

  • 24 eggs a year.

  • In the 1950s, they would lay about 120 eggs a year.

  • Today they lay over 200 eggs per year.

  • This takes an extreme toll on their bodies.

  • Their calcium is being used to produce the eggs, so they

  • suffer from broken bones and osteoporosis.

  • And this is how 95% of the hens in

  • this country are confined.

  • They're kept in cages the size of a file drawer cabinet, with

  • anywhere from five to seven birds.

  • They can't even spread their wings.

  • They can't walk, perch, roost, dust-bathe.

  • They can't do anything that comes natural to them.

  • And then we have cows that are used for milk production.

  • These animals are artificially inseminated time and time

  • again, because cows, like all other mammals, have to give

  • birth in order to lactate.

  • So what happens to these baby cows?

  • They're taken away.

  • Many of them go into the veal industry.

  • The mothers live like this for about five years, and then

  • they're slaughtered.

  • I think this ad poses the question rather bluntly.

  • Do we need to be drinking cow's milk at all?

  • We hear the term that milk is nature's perfect food.

  • And cow's milk is nature's perfect food, if you're a baby

  • calf who's doubling in size every few weeks.

  • But when we think about it, we're the only species to

  • drink milk past infancy.

  • We're the only species to drink the

  • milk of another species.

  • And this has led to a system of just absolute horror and

  • cruelty for these animals.

  • Now, Ruth Harrison, in her book "Animal Machines," said,

  • "if one person is unkind to an animal, it's considered to be

  • cruelty, but where a lot of people are unkind to animals,

  • especially in the name of commerce, the cruelty is

  • condoned and, once sums of money are at stake, we defend

  • it to the last by otherwise intelligent people."

  • And I think that this really puts into perspective our

  • current view and treatment of animals in this country.

  • Polls have been done by Zogby and Gallup, Ohio State

  • University, universities across the country, that find

  • that Americans oppose animal abuse.

  • 93% of Americans say animals deserve protection from

  • cruelty, neglect, and abuse.

  • 93%.

  • I challenge you to find any other issue in this country

  • where you can get 93% of people to agree.

  • But when it comes to animals, we stand

  • united in that belief.

  • But that belief does not reflect our actual treatment

  • of the majority of animals.

  • So I'm going to show a short four-minute video, and it

  • shows what happens on factory farms and slaughter houses.

  • Some of you may find it a bit disturbing, but I think to be

  • ethical consumers, it really is our obligation to take a

  • look at these systems.

  • [VIDEO PLAYBACK]

  • -In the next few minutes, you will be given an eye-opening

  • look behind the closed doors of modern farms, hatcheries,

  • and slaughter plants, revealing the journey that

  • animals make from farm to fridge.

  • Crowded by the thousands into filthy sheds, chickens and

  • turkeys are denied many of their most basic natural

  • behaviors and needs, such as fresh air and exercise.

  • Sick or injured birds often have their necks broken.

  • Others are clubbed to death.

  • At the slaughter plant, the birds are dumped from their

  • crates, then roughly snapped upside down into moving

  • shackles by their fragile legs.

  • From there, the birds are dragged through an electrified

  • vat of water which renders them paralyzed, but not

  • necessarily unconscious.

  • They are then pulled across a blade which slices their

  • throats, causing blood to pour from their necks.

  • The egg industry subjects chicks to horrors few of us

  • can even imagine.

  • Because male chicks don't lay eggs and do not grow quickly

  • enough to be raised profitably for meat, they are killed

  • within hours after hatching.

  • Male chicks are typically thrown into giant grinding

  • machines while still alive.

  • Another killing method is to drop male chicks into trash

  • bags to be smothered or suffocated.

  • The females have it even worse, destined for a life of

  • prolonged cruelty.

  • To reduce packing induced by overcrowded living conditions,

  • workers use a hot blade or laser to remove part of the

  • chick's beaks.

  • This mutilation can cause both acute and chronic pain.

  • After debeaking, the birds are moved to cages where they will

  • spend the rest of their lives.

  • Nearly 95% of egg-laying hens spend their lives confined in

  • tiny wire cages like this.

  • The majority of today's dairy cows are

  • confined on factory farms.

  • Workers subject young cows to painful mutilations and

  • amputations.

  • Here, a worker cuts off a cow's tail, slicing through

  • her sensitive skin, nerves, and bone without any

  • painkillers.

  • Injuries and illness often run rampant in filthy,

  • disease-ridden factory farm environments.

  • Cows too sick or injured to stand are called downers, and

  • are often left to slowly suffer and

  • die from their injuries.

  • Calves on dairy farms are dragged away from their

  • mothers and violently killed, all so that humans can have

  • the milk instead.

  • At a fraction of their natural lifespan, the so-called spent

  • dairy cows are prodded onto transport trucks and shipped

  • to slaughter houses.

  • -Come on!

  • -Unreliable stunning practices at the slaughterhouse condemn

  • many cattle to having their throats cut and their limbs

  • hacked off while still alive and conscious.

  • For nearly their entire four-month pregnancies, mother

  • sows are locked in narrow metal stalls barely larger

  • than their own bodies.

  • Soon after birth, piglets are castrated by workers who cut

  • into their skin and rip out their testicles.

  • Next, the workers chop off their tails.

  • Both of these painful procedures are nearly always

  • done without anesthesia.

  • The piglets who become sick or injured people or who are not

  • growing quickly enough are killed.

  • Common killing methods including being slammed

  • head-first into the ground.

  • Once pigs have reached market weight,

  • they are sent to slaughter.

  • At the slaughterhouse, pigs are knocked in the head with a

  • steel rod, hung upside down, and have their throats slit.

  • Improper stunning condemns many pigs to having their

  • throats slit while they are fully conscious and suffering.

  • If you are at all moved by this film,

  • please do your part.

  • Make a commitment today to explore a vegan diet.

  • For delicious vegan recipes, nutritional information and

  • tips on making the transition to a plant-based diet, please

  • visit chooseveg.com.

  • [END VIDEO PLAYBACK]

  • NATHAN RUNKLE: Now, in his book "Eating Animals,"

  • Jonathan Safran Foer spoke to a number of factory farmers

  • about these issues.

  • And many of them wanted to remain anonymous.

  • This is a quote from one of them.

  • "What I hate is when consumers act as if farmers want these

  • things, when it's consumers who tell farmers what to grow.

  • They've wanted cheap food.

  • We've grown it." And I think when a lot of people see this

  • video, they're angry.

  • And a lot of times, they direct that anger towards the

  • individual employees in these facilities instead of stepping

  • back and looking at the system in a broader, larger view.

  • What w found is that, in many of these factory farm and

  • slaughterhouse environments, the workers are victims of

  • this system in much the same way as the animals are.

  • Many of them are undocumented workers.

  • They take this work because it's the only

  • work they can find.

  • They work long hours.

  • And what we see is that many of them are very troubled

  • initially by what they see there.

  • And in fact, there have been studies done that find that

  • many slaughterhouse and factory farm workers suffer

  • from what's called perpetration-induced traumatic

  • stress disorder, which is essentially a form of

  • post-traumatic stress disorder that comes about when people

  • are put in situations to do things that they find morally

  • unacceptable.

  • We saw this in some situations with Nazis and executioners,

  • people that are in war environments.

  • We're seeing the same thing in factory farm workers and

  • slaughterhouse workers.

  • And as a result, we see increased levels of alcohol

  • and drug abuse.

  • We see increased numbers of domestic violence disputes.

  • So I think we have to ask ourselves, if this system is

  • so unpleasant and violent and cruel that it causes

  • psychological distress and damage to the people that have

  • to work in them, what does that say about the practice?

  • And is that something that we should be supporting in a

  • civilized society?

  • The other thing that people say is, this footage must be

  • old, this must be out of the United States, this couldn't

  • possibly be happening in the 21st century.

  • We have laws and regulations for everything, right?

  • Well, unfortunately pretty much all of this footage that

  • you saw was taken in the last five years alone

  • in the United States.

  • This is just a snapshot of the treatment

  • these animals endure.

  • So what do the laws look like in this country?

  • Well, unfortunately they don't look very

  • promising for farmed animals.

  • We have a system where agribusiness is so large and

  • powerful that they've been able to lobby so that state

  • and federal laws are written in a way that

  • exempt farmed animals.

  • So on a federal level, we see that there's not a single

  • federal law that provides protection to farmed animals

  • during their lives on factory farms.

  • There is a federal law for transport and slaughter for

  • mammals, but it totally exempts birds, which make up

  • over 95% of the animals used for food production.

  • So for the majority of these animals' lives, no protection

  • on the federal level.

  • The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act exempt birds,

  • which means that many of them have their throats slit and go

  • into the scalding tanks while they're still alive.

  • Now, all 50 states have anti-cruelty laws, varying in

  • scope and definition.

  • But most of them completely exempt or largely exempt farm

  • animals from their protection.

  • So similar to the case that I described earlier about the

  • piglet being slammed into the ground, we see that other

  • routine practices that cause extreme suffering for animals

  • are allowed to happen on a state level as well.

  • Things like inflicting third-degree burns on animals

  • that are conscious without painkillers is deemed legal

  • because of exemptions.

  • Castrating piglets, legal without painkillers because of

  • exemptions.

  • Now, to put this into context, if you had a puppy that you

  • took to your local vet and said, I'm here to have my

  • puppy neutered, and your vet took your puppy by his hind

  • legs, held him up, took out a scalpel, cut him open, ripped

  • out his testicles and hand the puppy back to you, you

  • probably wouldn't be very thrilled or excited with your

  • vet visit, and you'd probably call law enforcement, and that

  • vet would probably be shut down for malpractice and

  • charged with animal cruelty.

  • But we do this to piglets every single day.

  • And these aren't even vets that are doing this.

  • These are untrained, unskilled workers working

  • at an alarming rate.

  • And then we have things like cutting the beaks off of

  • chickens without any painkillers

  • also allowed to happen.

  • So we've handed the power to decide what is cruelty and

  • what is acceptable to the very industries that profit off of

  • using these animals themselves.

  • And it hasn't worked.

  • Now, the good news is that we're starting to see some

  • change on this issue as consumers

  • wake up to these practices.

  • In 2008, California passed Proposition 2.

  • And Proposition 2 was a modest yet meaningful initiative that

  • said that calves raised for veal, pregnant pigs, and

  • egg-laying hens had to be given enough space to stand

  • up, turn around, lie down, and extend their limbs.

  • Now, that ballot initiative passed by an

  • overwhelming majority.

  • 63% of California voters passed Proposition 2.

  • More people voted for Prop 2 in 2008 than voted for Obama

  • in California.

  • And this law really helped set a precedent.

  • Since then, we've had nine states pass laws banning these

  • tiny gestation crates for breeding pigs, a number of

  • states banning battery cages for egg-laying hens and veal

  • crates, also being outlawed.

  • But there's still much work to be done.

  • Now, I want to tell you a quick story

  • about this man here.

  • His name is Virgil Butler.

  • Virgil Butler worked for almost 10 years in a Tyson

  • slaughterhouse in Arkansas.

  • And Virgil's job was to take birds as they arrived in

  • crates and snap them into those moving conveyor belts

  • that you just saw.

  • Now, Virgil witnessed a lot of abuse, not only the standard

  • mistreatment of these animals, but he witnessed his

  • co-workers stomping on birds, ripping their heads off,

  • putting ice bombs in them and watching them explode on the

  • slaughter line.

  • And over time, Virgil started to become very disturbed by

  • what he saw.

  • He started having nightmares.

  • And he said, I can't be involved in

  • this system any longer.

  • So Virgil quit his job.

  • He had no real financial backing.

  • This is his trailer that he lived in behind him, in this

  • photograph.

  • And he went vegan, and he became an

  • animal rights activists.

  • And he started blogging about what he saw, not only to

  • expose the abuse, but as self-therapy as well.

  • And he started traveling the country, sharing his firsthand

  • experiences with others.

  • So I think that Virgil is one of many examples of someone

  • who can be so invested and involved in this system, but

  • can still be in touch with that greater good that he has,

  • that spark of humanity.

  • And he has made changes.

  • And I think that if Virgil can do this, any of us, no matter

  • where we are in our current lives, can make changes, can

  • take steps to become more compassionate.

  • Now, we live in an era where our forks and knives have

  • become, really, weapons of mass destruction.

  • We can use them for compassion and kindness for animals, or

  • cruelty and exploitation.

  • Now, I think if these were eight billion dogs or cats

  • that were being subjected to these conditions, there would

  • be such a public outcry.

  • And we should have that same level of outcry for farmed

  • animals as well.

  • Now, "The Economist" put it well, I think, when they said,

  • "few people would keep a hen in a shoe box for her entire

  • egg-laying life; but practically everyone will eat

  • smartly packaged, 'farm fresh' eggs from battery hens." Few

  • of us in good conscience would treat these animals in the way

  • that you've seen this afternoon.

  • But when we go to the supermarket and we buy these

  • products, we're essentially hiring someone to do this

  • dirty work on our behalf.

  • So we have to ask ourselves, do we feel comfortable

  • supporting this abuse financially?

  • Because that's what we're doing, is we're financing it.

  • Now, our food choices have a huge impact.

  • The average American eats about 2,700 land animals in

  • their lifetime.

  • So by making some dietary changes, by eliminating meat

  • on Mondays, or reducing our meat consumption, becoming a

  • flexitarian, or becoming a full-blown vegan, we can help

  • spare animals this suffering.

  • And this is an illustration showing

  • those number of animals.

  • And we really are at a critical juncture.

  • We're at a time when not only is animal abuse rampant in

  • this industry, but the environmental impact of animal

  • agriculture is very extreme and severe.

  • The United Nations published a report, "Livestock's Long

  • Shadow," that found that animal agriculture is

  • responsible for the release of more greenhouse gases than the

  • entire transportation sector combined.

  • 18% of greenhouse gases are associated with the livestock

  • sector, so more so than cars, trains, automobiles combined.

  • So not only are we wreaking havoc on animals and the

  • environment, but also to our own health as well.

  • And that's what's led the UN to say that we should be

  • eating less meat to curb global warming.

  • And we see that it's not just global warming, but it's a

  • waste of resources.

  • We have to use so much water, which is a scarce commodity,

  • and growing scarcer now across the globe.

  • We see that we're funneling so much grain into animals to get

  • a relatively small amount of meat in return.

  • Now, this is an article that appeared all over the country

  • recently, but this particular screenshot is from Drovers

  • CattleNetwork.

  • It's America's best business source for beef producers.

  • This is on the homepage of their website.

  • It says we will all be vegetarian by

  • 2050, scientists say.

  • And this is not because everyone chooses to be

  • vegetarian by 2050, but because we simply will not be

  • able to sustain meat production for a growing

  • population by then.

  • So we're at a juncture where we can either choose to be

  • innovative in solving this issue, or we can be dragged

  • there by necessity, by the collapse of our environment

  • and ecosystems and animal cruelty just

  • being out of control.

  • Now, thankfully there are some real pioneers that are jumping

  • on the plant-based diet bandwagon.

  • We have Biz Stone, who I'm sure all of you have heard of

  • before, who is a proud vegan, an ethical vegan.

  • We have Russell Simmons founder of Def Jam Records,

  • who has adopted a plant-based diet, former President Bill

  • Clinton, who is an outspoken advocate for plant-based

  • eating, and then we have billionaire Steve Wynn, from

  • Las Vegas, who is also jumping on the veggie bandwagon.

  • It's not just some of the brightest minds and

  • entrepreneurs, but we have sports athletes.

  • The Houston Texan Arian Foster, who is a proud vegan

  • now as well, showing that we sacrifice nothing, not our

  • strength, not our health, by eliminating meat.

  • We gain everything.

  • And we're starting to see the new generation of college

  • students embracing this idea and the need as well.

  • A recent study found that in the last three years, the

  • number of vegans on college campuses has doubled.

  • The number of vegetarians increased by 50%.

  • And there are now all-vegan dining halls in this country,

  • including one right here in Texas at Denton University.

  • And this is an image of the Denton vegan dining hall.

  • Now, "Washington Post" did a survey that said, what will

  • future generations condemn us for?

  • And they found that second only to our treatment of the

  • environment is our treatment of animals in food production.

  • So I think that this is a generational issue, like so

  • many social issues are.

  • And this is one of our time.

  • We have billions of animals that are being subjected to

  • horrors beyond belief.

  • And I think that future generations will ask us, what

  • did we do to right this wrong?

  • I think that animal protection is a social justice movement.

  • Based on the number of individuals that are suffering

  • and the degree of their suffering, I think it's one of

  • the most pressing of our time.

  • Unlike other social justice movements, where those that

  • are being oppressed had a voice in society to some

  • degree-- they could protest, they could lobby, they could

  • ask for boycotts--

  • these animals can't do that.

  • Now, you saw in this video of factory farms and

  • slaughterhouses that these animals kick and scream.

  • They struggle and fight against their oppressors to

  • the best of their ability.

  • But they do rely on each and every one of us to speak out

  • on their behalf within our society and culture.

  • We are in a situation where we hold all of the power.

  • And these animals are completely at our mercy.

  • Now, what we do with that power is totally up to us.

  • And with power comes responsibility.

  • And as Harriet Beecher Stowe said, "it's a matter of taking

  • the side of the weak against the strong, something the best

  • people have always done." And I think it's hard to imagine a

  • group of individuals that are weaker and more vulnerable

  • than farmed animals.

  • So I encourage you to take the side of the weak against the

  • strong, and make decisions and take actions that will help

  • bring compassion and justice to them.

  • Thank you so much.

  • [APPLAUSE]

  • NATHAN RUNKLE: I think we have time for some questions if

  • anyone has any.

  • Yeah, so Europe, I would say, is about 10 years ahead of the

  • US in terms of addressing farm animal protection issues.

  • They, in some cases about 10 years ago, started banning

  • veal crates, battery cages, gestation crates.

  • And some of those are now taking effect, some of them

  • last year, some of them next year.

  • So yes, they're starting to address those issues.

  • Now, we have other countries, unfortunately, more developing

  • countries like India, that for the longest time sort of held

  • as its root belief that animals deserved compassion.

  • Now we're seeing factory farm interests, McDonald's, Burger

  • King, Wendy's, coming into these countries.

  • And meat consumption is dramatically rising.

  • And with that, we see factory farming

  • coming into those countries.

  • So for example, in India, there's as many hens in

  • battery cages in India as there are in the

  • United States now.

  • So we see some countries that are leading the way and ahead

  • of us, and then we have others that are actually just sort of

  • catching up with factory farming.

  • So it's an issue that needs to be addressed globally.

  • Yeah, I don't know all the specifics of their other

  • economics there.

  • But one issue is, you can look at grids and you can see just

  • how meat consumption has dramatically increased in the

  • United States.

  • Now, the good news is, since 2007, meat consumption in the

  • US has started to decline, really for the first time.

  • We're now killing about 400 million fewer farm animals

  • than we were in 2007.

  • That's about a 12% decline.

  • In Latin America, my guess would be that they're probably

  • eating more cows than they are chickens.

  • And those are animals that you can have out in a grazing area

  • more, which costs less than these intensive factory farm

  • systems would.

  • It's a great question.

  • Sort of like the quote from the anonymous factory farmer,

  • it's not that farmers are run by a bunch of sadistic people.

  • These are people that respond to the marketplace and supply

  • and demand.

  • So we see the plant-based food market just dramatically

  • exploding as people become more aware of it.

  • Bill Gates actually--

  • this is not a joke--

  • recently said that, really, the future of food is in

  • plant-based proteins and things-- again, looking at the

  • environmental impact, the cruelty issues.

  • So I think we're going to see more of that grow.

  • In terms of these cage-free, free-range, so-called humane

  • meat products, it's a business decision.

  • But ultimately I think it's a business decision that is

  • helping animals to some extent.

  • They're getting them out of these really intensive

  • confinement systems.

  • But I don't think that the typical cage-free or

  • free-range egg facility looks like what most people think it

  • should look like, because you're absolutely right--

  • they're the same big-interest, the big factory farms that are

  • producing these eggs.

  • And we've done investigations at these places.

  • They'll have one shed on the same property that are battery

  • cages, and the next shed will be the cage-free eggs.

  • And they'll have literally tens of thousands of birds in

  • windowless sheds.

  • They're not in cages, which is an improvement.

  • Some of them have perches.

  • They can walk around, but they're not frolicking out in

  • the field like most people would imagine.

  • So I think it's progress, but it's certainly not perfection.

  • And I think, overall, we need to at least be decreasing the

  • amount of animal products that we're using.

  • It's about efficiency.

  • These are factory farms.

  • They're the model of efficiency.

  • And if they can mechanize everything and have animals in

  • a smaller area, it takes less labor to get the job done.

  • It takes less heating and electricity to

  • operate those units .

  • So it's all about efficiency.

  • I mean, certainly there's land available

  • to give these animals.

  • I don't think that the world or life is ever in

  • black-and-white terms, and we understand that.

  • Now, we certainly think that a vegan diet is, in most

  • situations, the most ethical, compassionate, environmentally

  • friendly choice that we can make.

  • So of course we hold that as the gold standard.

  • But we understand that there are gradations along the lines

  • of agriculture.

  • We have intensive factory farm systems, which is

  • unfortunately how the vast majority of food is produced.

  • It's like I said, 95% of egg-laying hens.

  • We've got pretty much all the broiler chickens.

  • About 80% of pigs are intensively confined.

  • This is the gold standard.

  • These other situations are such, really, the monopoly

  • that you have to go out of your way to find.

  • So we think people need to know what the choices are.

  • But is a cow that's lived out her entire life in pasture and

  • then was killed on the farm better than a factory farm?

  • Absolutely, it's better.

  • Do I think that we should be killing the cow rather than

  • eating carrots?

  • Probably the carrots is a better

  • choice for me, ethically.

  • If I don't have to take a life and be

  • violent, probably wouldn't.

  • But there are people that just don't share that belief.

  • And I think for them, doing, again, as little harm and as

  • much good as possible is really what we should be

  • looking at.

  • And certainly, whether you're a die-hard meat-eater or a

  • vegan, we can all probably agree that this factory farm

  • system just doesn't fall into line with what

  • is ethical for us.

  • Yeah, it's true.

  • A lot of these animals still go to the same slaughterhouse.

  • Some of them are killed on the farm.

  • But again, that's such a small percentage.

  • So yes, a lot of them go to the same slaughterhouses.

  • For egg-laying hens, most of the chicks still come from the

  • same hatcheries.

  • So all the male chicks are still ground up alive.

  • They still have their beaks cut off.

  • So there are built-in, I think, moral issues that we

  • have to look at with animal agriculture to begin with.

  • And those are things that we have to sort of come to terms

  • with what we're comfortable with.

  • There is an amount of domination and exploitation

  • that's involved in any

  • agricultural system, of course.

  • So you're absolutely right.

  • I think it does boil down to, are we OK with some amount of

  • violence to animals for food, or do we just want to remove

  • ourselves completely from that system?

  • I've chosen to remove myself from that system.

  • But to say that all farms are exactly the same I think

  • probably oversimplifies the issue a bit.

  • But those are things that we should all just be aware of as

  • conscious consumers, yeah.

  • Yeah, it's a great question.

  • And a big part of why meat, dairy, and egg products are so

  • cheap is because they're subsidized by the government.

  • If we were actually paying the true cost, those products

  • would be much higher.

  • So I think that's a whole issue that we really need to

  • take a critical look at.

  • But there's obviously a vegan diet that can be very

  • expensive, that you're eating a lot of niche

  • meat-alternative products that are made.

  • And then you can have one that is based more on beans and

  • nuts and legumes and vegetables and things that

  • can, in some situations, actually be

  • cheaper to eat that way.

  • But in terms of addressing this, there are a number of

  • companies now-- one is Beyond Meat--

  • that is looking to make meat-alternative products that

  • are cheaper than meat products are.

  • They have no fat, no cholesterol, high protein,

  • really being innovative in addressing these issues.

  • And then some of it is supply and demand.

  • And the more it's a niche market, the more it's going to

  • cost to create each unit.

  • So I think that there's sort of a number

  • of answers to that.

  • But again, I think that Americans, and just our whole

  • humanity, really, have proven time and again that we can be

  • creative in solving a lot of problems.

  • I think Google is a great example of doing things that

  • people once thought were unheard of.

  • This is an issue where I think if we put the time and

  • attention and resources, it can be solved rather quickly.

  • And I think we're starting to see, in some ways, capitalism

  • and these inventive companies starting to jump in and

  • address it as well.

  • So we have a multi-prong approach.

  • Again, these are complicated, deeply rooted issues.

  • So to say that there is a one-size-fit-all answer that's

  • going to address this in any sort of timely manner I think

  • is probably oversimplifying it a bit.

  • So that's why we have the four areas that we work in,

  • education being a large component of that.

  • Getting people to see what's really going on and

  • encouraging them to reduce or, ideally, eliminating their

  • meat, dairy, egg consumption, that's really the root cause

  • of all of this, obviously.

  • But we understand that the world is not going to go

  • vegetarian or vegan, certainly not overnight.

  • And we think that these animals that are here right

  • now, suffering as individuals with needs and interests,

  • deserve to be treated with as much care as we can give them.

  • That being said, changes happen slowly over time.

  • So we view banning some of the worst factory farm practices,

  • like these battery cages for egg-laying hens, where they

  • can't spread their wings, or gestation crates for sows,

  • where they can't turn around, or tail-docking, cutting the

  • tails off these animals without painkillers, as being

  • really unethical practices that we should be moving to

  • end right now, and that we can start to reduce the amount of

  • suffering that these animals are subjected to, because

  • these are real animals, real lives, the stakes

  • are real for them.

  • And though giving them a few more inches of space might not

  • solve all the problems-- and we certainly don't think that

  • that is the case--

  • we do think that it reduces the sum total of suffering

  • that they're subjected to, as we move towards a reduction in

  • animal products, and hopefully more people starting to

  • eliminate these products.

  • So multi-prong approach.

  • And within that, we have legislative initiatives.

  • We have corporate outreach initiatives, looking at

  • different power-holders and stakeholders in this, and how

  • we can affect change within that.

  • It's a great question.

  • A lot of the success that we've seen, like Proposition

  • 2, which I mentioned before, are citizen-driven ballot

  • initiatives.

  • A lot of the states where there is a large farming

  • community, the legislature is not voluntarily going to push

  • through any sort of restrictive measure that would

  • challenge such a big industry there.

  • So they require ballot initiatives to come in,

  • because again, consumers are really on the side of change,

  • even when big business isn't.

  • But the problem is is that only about half the states in

  • this country allow ballot initiatives.

  • And some of the states, like Iowa, that has the largest egg

  • production and the largest pork production in this

  • country, do not have ballot initiative processes.

  • And their legislature is very much controlled by big ag.

  • So the pathway to affect legislative change there

  • becomes very challenging.

  • There is a federal bill right now.

  • It's regarding egg-laying hens.

  • It's not a perfect bill by any means, but it would set the

  • first federal standards for animals on factory farms.

  • It would increase the amount of space that hens have in

  • these cages.

  • That is really the first federal bill that has found

  • its way to Congress for farm animals in over 30 years.

  • And the pork and the beef industries are fighting

  • desperately against that bill, because they don't want to see

  • any sort of precedent set on it.

  • So it's challenging, as we know legislation can be.

  • There are a number of states right now--

  • I think New Jersey is one of them-- that are considering a

  • gestation crate ban in their legislature.

  • So that's the main one that comes to mind.

  • I don't think, unfortunately, that Texas has anything

  • currently that's pending for farm animals.

  • So that's sort of the situation with

  • legislation right now.

  • Yeah, it's a good question.

  • We're not against food production.

  • Everyone has to eat.

  • And there are such thing as tofu

  • factories that create jobs.

  • There are things, soy milk factories that create jobs,

  • carrot factories that create jobs.

  • So this isn't getting rid of a bunch of jobs.

  • It's a shift in the economy, in where those jobs go.

  • AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE].

  • NATHAN RUNKLE: Exactly.

  • That's exactly right.

  • By one industry shrinking or doing away, a lot of times

  • other industries take their place that are more

  • environmentally sound, are more

  • progressive, are more ethical.

  • So that's really what we're looking at.

  • So we're just looking at a shift and a humane economy.

  • Yeah, I think we do the best that we can.

  • This isn't a competition or a purity test.

  • So we can eliminate meat, great.

  • If we can reduce it on Mondays, Tuesdays, and/or

  • Wednesdays, great, because we don't want anyone to feel

  • overwhelmed.

  • We don't want people to feel like either I'm part of the

  • vegan team or I'm part of the I'm gonna eat factory farm

  • products every meal and not care about the issue team,

  • because that doesn't solve anything either.

  • So I think that's really the take-home message--

  • do the best that you can.

  • Yeah, well, our Texas offices is in Dallas, so we do a lot

  • of work in Dallas.

  • But there are organizations here that are doing events,

  • meet-ups, all sorts of things.

  • I think Compassion Over Killing has

  • a coordinator here.

  • Last year, there was an Austin vegetarian festival.

  • I'm not sure if it's happening again this year.

  • But Google it.

  • Yeah, there's certainly stuff going on.

  • And Mercy For Animals hopefully will be doing a lot

  • more grassroots work in Austin in the very near future.

  • Thank you so much for your time.

  • I really appreciate it, guys.

NATHAN RUNKLE: So my name is Nathan Runkle.

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