(USA) Animal rights groups pick up momentum

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-27-animal-activists_N.htm?csp=34

 

Animal rights groups pick up momentum

 

By Larry Copeland, USA TODAY

The growing influence of animal rights activists increasingly is affecting daily

life, touching everything from the foods Americans eat to what they study in law

school, where they buy their puppies and even whether they should enjoy a

horse-drawn carriage ride in New York's Central Park.

Animal activist groups such as the Humane Society of the United States and

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) say they are seeing a spike

in membership as their campaigns spread.

 

" There's been an explosion of interest " in animal welfare issues, says David

Favre, a Michigan State University law professor and animal law specialist.

" Groups like the Humane Society of the United States and PETA have brought to

our social awareness their concerns about animals and all matter of creatures. "

 

" Animals are made of flesh and blood and bone just like humans, " says Bruce

Friedrich, PETA's vice president for campaigns. " They feel pain just like we do.

Recognition of that grows year by year. The animal rights movement is a social

justice movement (similar to) suffrage and civil rights. "

 

Among other initiatives, PETA supports a measure introduced last month by a New

York City councilman that would ban carriage horses that haul tourists around

Manhattan. Many other cities feature such businesses.

 

" I think it's clear that animal issues are part of the public domain like never

before, " says Michael Markarian, executive vice president of the Humane Society,

the largest animal welfare organization. " People have started thinking more and

more about how we treat animals in our society. "

Food producers say the activists aren't just concerned about animal welfare but

are trying to win them the same rights as human beings.

 

" Ultimately, their goal is to eliminate animals being used as food, " says Kay

Johnson-Smith of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, an industry-supported

organization that seeks to educate the public about agriculture. " There's a real

danger when we allow a very small minority of activists to dictate procedures

that should be used to raise animals for food. "

 

Animal rights campaigns are moving on several fronts:

 

•The Humane Society says it expects 28 state legislatures this year to consider

strengthening existing bans on dogfighting and cockfighting; 13 states are

considering bills regulating " puppy mills, " mass dog-breeding operations that

keep puppies in small crates.

 

•Massachusetts activists are collecting signatures to get a statewide initiative

on the November ballot that would ban commercial greyhound racing by 2010. The

Committee to Protect Dogs says state records show that since 2002, 728

greyhounds have been injured racing at the state's two tracks.

 

•Over the past three years, 330 colleges have stopped or dramatically reduced

the use of eggs from hens in cramped wire crates called battery cages; retailers

including Burger King, Hardee's, Carl's Jr. and Ben & Jerry's now use eggs

produced by cage-free hens, Markarian says.

 

•More than 90 American Bar Association-approved law schools now offer courses in

animal law, compared with only a handful 10 years ago. Favre compares the

growing interest in animal law among incoming law students to an explosion of

interest in environmental law in the 1970s.

 

Monastery under fire

 

When it comes to food production and animal rights activists, even monks don't

get a pass. After months of protests by PETA, the monks at Mepkin Abbey, a

Trappist monastery in Moncks Corner, S.C., announced last month that they were

giving up the egg production business that had sustained them for nearly 50

years.

 

The monks were targeted because their chickens were kept in battery cages, the

nation's most common method of egg-farming but a practice many animal rights

advocates consider cruel.

 

Father Stan Gumula, abbot of Mepkin Abbey, said the monks were reluctant to give

up the egg business. " The pressure from PETA has made it difficult for (the

monks) to live their quiet life of prayer, work and sacred reading, " he said.

 

David Martosko, director of research for the Center for Consumer Freedom, an

organization supported by restaurants and food companies, says most Americans

oppose cruelty to animals. But he says that activists who say animals shouldn't

be eaten or used for medical research or any other purpose won't find much

mainstream support.

 

" That is a position that very few Americans agree with, " he says.

 

Martosko also says abandoning some current agricultural practices will drive up

food prices. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, a dozen regular

eggs cost $1.56 in mid-2007, compared with $2.89 for cage-free eggs.

 

Pivotal events unfolded

 

Animal welfare organizations are riding a wave of popularity. The Humane Society

says it has 10.5 million members or supporters, up from 7.4 million five years

ago; during the same period, PETA says its rolls have doubled to 1.8 million.

The groups attribute intensified public interest partly to three recent events

that highlighted the vulnerability of animals:

 

•New Orleans residents forced to leave pets to die in 2005 when they were

evacuated during Hurricane Katrina.

 

•The recall last year of 60 million containers of pet food after an unknown

number of cats and dogs were poisoned, raising questions about pet-food safety.

 

•The conviction last year of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for

dogfighting.

 

" Those were major events that made people realize we have so much power over

animals, " says Markarian of the Humane Society. " We can use that power to be

cruel and indifferent, or to be kind and careful stewards. "

 

Johnson-Smith of the Animal Agriculture Alliance says current farming practices

have " a scientific basis " and " have been supported by the animal science,

research and veterinarian communities. "

 

Janet Riley, senior vice president of public affairs for the American Meat

Institute, whose members produce about 95% of the beef, pork, lamb, veal and

turkey consumed in the USA, says the industry is diligent in handling animals

humanely. But, she adds, " people have different opinions about what constitutes

humane handling. "