Oprah Oct 14th on treatment of meat animals

[Cuban Longtails]

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Ummm... you do know it's "Oprah" right?

Ever heard of intentional misspelling?

 

[meriruka]

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You know, I read the whole rant and all I could think was "You remember the Pinto?"

Seriously though, the media usually makes a fuss over things that are not a big deal (Y2K comes to mind) sometimes they stir things up that matter and people who were previously unaware of a bad situation get up and do something about it.

Yes, they will probably show the worst of the worst. But if you want to shock someone out of complacency, you are not going to show a beautifully cared for chicken in a spacious pen with a buffet of nutritious food in front of it.

It's amazing to me that a large number of people don't really know where their food comes from.
I remember a little girl walked by my house (in the city), pointed to my chickens and asked her Mom what they were. Her mom told her that's where McNuggets come from-- chickens. The girl said, "Mom, chicken comes from the grocery store".

( The above explains why I now live out here in the middle of nowhere)

Let's hope Oprah sheds some light and makes something happen. (ok, it's a distant hope, but I'm optimistic today)

 

[DawnSuiter]

I'm watching and here's my review

First, this is some kind of companion piece to California's Proposition 2 apparently, which wants to mandate cage sizes to allow animals for consumption a little leg & wing room in their confined lives.

About the chickens... we visit 2 farms, 1 Free Range & 1 Cage

FreeRanged - Tractored chickens, one GIANT tractor, pretty cool really. Farmer lets them out each afternoon at 1pm and they put themselves to bed at night. No spin, just the facts

Caged facility - it's not horrid, but dirty and apparently smells pretty bad. They put on plastic suits & booties to avoid "bringing anything in or out" . There were 6 birds to a cage, a small cage (big enough to stand side by side really) and the place wasn't the worst for sure. Lisa Ling noticed the birds were poopy dirty, but no spin put on it at all IMO. It is what it is.

Then we hear from one of the propenents, a lawyer, of the new Proposition 2 and how horrid the conditions are in most places and how these animals at the very least have a god given right to move their limbs.

Next we hear from some folks AGAINST the proposition
First guy up, a 3rd generation egg farmer, says this will impact even his free range chickens and put his whole family out of business in California
Next a lady agrees that the California egg business will be "wiped out" since there is no veal or sow farming, this proposition is all about the chickens & their housing. Basically she also complained about the added cost & space of this new proposition. She doesn't believe caging 6 hens together is cruel.
Then the lawyer guy defends the propositions validity on sows & veal because it's an up & coming industry and the proposition should prevent future issues.

Then we see the 3rd gen egg farmers facility briefly, 3 to a cage, cleaner for sure. And then he & the lawyer proceed to argue about which, battery or freerange are the biggest source of salmonella.

Then they settle on the real problem being that the cost of eggs will go up
And an audience member stands up to say that it IS difficult to buy cage free due to price, but that with increased purchases the price should go down.

Farmer guy argues that he will also start to have large losses due to freeranging having potential dangers, like coyotes. And the lawyer thinks thats ridiculous... basically life is dangerous but we dont' lock ourselves up in tiny padded rooms or cages

Next... we're off to a pig farm in IL. Rows & rows of clean pigs, not much noise, but they are in stalls that preven them from turning around. The farmer/manager? describes the living situation, shows us "gestation stalls" and claims they provide a safe situation, free from tormenting of eachother, they have clean food & they are calm, cool & happy, and the stalls are a foot longer than the sow. And he talks about how the proposition would put him out of business, since he couldn't then provide for them with the new rules.

The pig farm owner then speaks up a bit, dispousing the myth that they are some sort of pig factory. That pigs left in a group situation will have pack order issues causing injury & stress issues that he feels are unnecessary & cruel. Also clinging to the idea that they couldn't afford to upgrade to keep up to new standards like Prop 2

Next, off to a Freerange pig farm in Iowa
Happy pigs, focus on the sows. Each with their own little houses big enough for 20 sows each... they raise their babies there and they graze on old crops. each have their own feeders preventing compeition for food. There are a few thousand pigs & piglets living on these 30 something acres. He thinks price isn't an issue because it can be done affordably.

Lawyer repeats "can't we at least allow these animals to move"

then a short debate ensues, that the basic premise here is that it's cost here as well as space that prevents this from being reasonable.

the freerange pig guy suggests that there is perhaps a middle ground between his extreme & these other caged animals...

47 minutes in we get to some ugly footage for a couple of minutes... old footage of some veal calves chained to wooden crates in deplorable conditions. Then the veal association guy gives the arguement that there is always a few bad apples AND that there is a plan in place to switch over by 2017 to group living for veal.

Then we meet a husband wife veal farm in WI who free range. Strauss brand veal... they drive around checking on all the stock and don't mess with them unless they are ill or need it. They also claim its less expensive to raise them this way. That while the land is more expensive, they dont' have housing, formula, medical costs & feed is less as well. Not to mention its less work on a daily basis.

Then we end up with a summary.
Prop 2 won't be in effect until 2015 and Oprah hopes we will make better decisions based on having more information.

I think it was a good show.

 

[Jessika]

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I had the funniest vision of Oprah and Martha at a bar having a drink...drowning their sorrows.....crying in there extra dry virgin martini.

I am glad the media in general still cares ....... at least once in a while ...or is it for ratings?

 

[Cuban Longtails]

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Thats WHY people need to see it--people don't realize what is going on. I am AGAINST puppy mills----we see alot of abuse in our dog rescue. More people need to be educated on these facts-don't say it doesn't happen because it does. Please help spread the word!

http://www.petshoppuppies.org/index.htm
www.stoppuppymills.org
www.aspca.org
www.ararebreedoflove.com
www.network.bestfriends.org/truth/news/
www.hua.org
www.prisonersofgreed.org.

Don't forget protection of American Gamefowl rescued during raids on illegal opperations.

http://www.secondchanceforchickens.org/index.htm

 

[babychickfarmer]

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OH NO! Thats too much!

How dumb.

 

[vfem]

I'm going to put this here because it was a sad conversation.

I talked on the phone with a friend of mine (who hates oprah) and told her about the show. She knows I have chickens and she knows how I feel on those things, and she came right out and said "I don't Care!" I'll buy what ever is cheapest. They can throw another chicken in the cage for all I care. Why waste the money on feeding something properly anyways. Its going to DIE anyways, and I'm going to eat it.

Its a dumb animal!

I was like, you've got to be kidding me.

She really doesn't like animals, and she really doesn't care. They aren't cute, they're food and it was basically born dead to start with.

It broke my heart, but the truth is a LOT of people think and feel that way. I know that this isn't going to be a high ratings show for her. I don't think a whole lot will be accomplished by running it.

 

[speckledhen]

I would have a hard time staying friends with someone who shows no empathy for helpless animals-they also are not people-friendly. A person who cares nothing about animals also cares nothing about people.

 

[DawnSuiter]

vfem.. my mom thinks I'm cruel & cold for raising my own chickens for meat & eggs

she however has no problem knowing her chicken dinner was raised in less than free happy conditions, so long as she didn't have to see it first, she could care less how it was raised

unbelievable... and in general my mom is an animal person and loves chickens... had her own pet rooster when she was a little girl that lived in the house with her

but that's ok with me... after all different strokes for different folks.

 

[cmcgoun]

Personally in regard to your friends ideas, vfem, she is a little off pure and simple. Everything is going to die nothing is born to die you are born and have some purpose those chickens will be our food, and you should respect them for that and at least provide them with decent living conditions. I believe those chickens have a lot more purpose than A LOT of the human beings on this planet and I'm not trying to be cruel or anything, but a lot of people just don't care. But anyway I hope I didnt offend you vfem!

Your friends moral compass is messed up!