Putting on my critical thinking hat I’d have to say that the poll does not represent the average person’s feelings. The average person might boycott eggs as a result of the recent Salmonella outbreak, but it seems unlikely they’d suggest that the best thing to do is to go vegan (even if going vegan is, in fact, the best response!).

Either way, the results certainly are intriguing!

A man driving along an Illinois interstate watched in horror as a tiny piglet fell from a transport truck driving in front of him and hit the pavement. He immediately stopped his car and retrieved the frightened animal, who was covered in road rash. He took the piglet home and cared for him until the realization set in that his apartment would not be an adequate home for an animal who could grow as large as 500 pounds. He then turned to Chicago Animal Care and Control for help, but not being able to find an appropriate home for the piglet in the city, they contacted Monica Frenden, executive director of Illinois Valley Cat Taxi, a cat shelter and low-cost spay/neuter program for cats in rural Illinois. Frenden’s weekly trips to Chicago to transport cats to a low-cost spay/neuter clinic in the city had led to her working with the Chicago ACC, which has since come to rely on her for finding homes for the city’s most difficult-to-place animals.

“While working with the Chicago Animal Care and Control to find homes for cats, I began noticing that somehow, all manner of barnyard animals were also finding their way to the Chicago pound,” said Frenden. “Sadly, due to the difficulty of finding suitable homes, most were being destroyed.” Frenden knew they had to extend their compassion to these animals, too, and before long, they were finding homes for chickens, turkeys, goats, pigs and all other farm animals who were found wandering the streets of Chicago. “These animals are just as friendly and intelligent as cats and dogs, and when provided with a safe, appropriate, caring forever home, they make excellent companions. Over the past year, I’m happy to say that no farm animals have been euthanized at the Chicago ACC because we’ve been able to place them all.”

Most farm animals found in major metropolitan areas are either slaughterhouse or live market escapees or transport rescues, like Bob Harper.

“There are a shocking number of farm animals who die during transport every year,” said Farm Sanctuary National Shelter Director Susie Coston.

“Some are overcome by the heat and stress of the overcrowded conditions, others are victims in truck accidents and some of the smallest animals fall off these trucks on their way to finishing facilities.  What most people don’t realize is that farm animals endure months of suffering and abuse long before they ever reach the slaughterhouse. Having cared for so many pigs over the years, and knowing how intelligent and sensitive they are, it is so hard to imagine them packed inside hot, overcrowded transport trucks on their way to finishing facilities and slaughterhouses across the country. Pigs are incredible animals with distinct personalities who love and enjoy life when given the opportunity. We wanted to name this piglet after Bob Harper because, as our national 2010 Walk for Farm Animals spokesperson, Bob is using his voice to bring much needed awareness to the hidden suffering of farm animals.”

Bob Harper piglet will not be the only piglet with a bold-faced name wallowing around in the mud at Farm Sanctuary’s New York Shelter. He joins Kim Gordon piglet, another piglet who fell off a transport truck in July and was rescued by a rock band on a cross-country tour who found her wandering along a backcountry road in the middle of prairieland South Dakota. Jay the bull was the third transport rescue this summer. He survived a fiery truck crash in Indiana to make his home at the New York Shelter.

Bob Harper, the celebrity trainer, was so honored to have the little piglet named after him, he immediately posted a photo to his Facebook page to show off his adorable namesake. And if the number of comments declaring “I can never eat bacon again!” are any indication, this little guy, just like his namesake, has a way of motivating people.

To learn more about the 2010 Walk for Farm Animals and find the Walk nearest you, please visit walkforfarmanimals.org.

More information about the pork industry and rampant problems in transport can be found at http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/pork/.

A second media win today for the battery egg industry. I already blogged about this morning’s Washington Post article. This even more damaging USA Today article almost entirely sidesteps the issue of animal cruelty associated with battery cages, and quotes almost nobody except people with financial ties to the industry.

The piece even concludes with this quote from a large scale battery egg producer:

At Pearl Valley, Dave Thompson says happy hens, safe eggs and making a profit are possible, but it takes a lot of attention to detail and spending 12 hours a day, seven days a week in the barns. "I take good care of my birds and my wife, and I put every penny back into the farm."

Yes, Thompson really did compare the way he treats battery hens to the way he treats his wife. Assuming his wife is not currently locked in a tiny cage, and due to be sent to slaughter within the next year I believe this is the most outrageous comparison I’ve yet heard from an egg farmer.

Over the past year or so, USA Today has published some of America’s finest food safety reporting. But at this critical moment, they’ve published something that’s barely a hairsbreadth away in tone from a battery egg advertorial. Link.

Photo Credit: ilovememphis

If you’ve spent any time in Asian markets, you know those green-capped rooster-emblazoned bottles of Sriracha hot sauce are ubiquitous. Check out this five-ingredient recipe to make your own from scratch. The photos alone make the page worth visiting. (Via Boing Boing.) Link.

When you’re in the supermarket, the soda aisle is filled with what appears to be limitless choice. Yet pretty much everything there is made by just three companies. Great infographic showing the absolute dominance of Coke, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper/Snapple.

Too bad you can’t make a similar infographic documenting how little these companies care about your health. (Via Kottke.) Link.

Detailed but mediocre Washington Post article on the growing effort to ban battery cages. It quotes industry people more than animal advocates, and lets the usual industry talking points go unchallenged.

The piece brings nothing new or worthwhile to the table; a missed opportunity at a critical time. (Via Williams.) Link.

David Letterman should do this  as a top 10 list: here’s an article recounting Wright County Egg owner Jack Decoster’s top 10 acts of sliminess over the years. And there’s plenty more dirt on Decoster elsewhere; check out this roundup [PDF] prepared a couple years ago by Mercy For Animals.

It appears at least two employees tried to blow the whistle on Wright County Egg by voicing their concerns to USDA inspectors. But, naturally, their complaints were disregarded:

It didn’t matter which USDA officer was working, if we reported something they would just turn their heads. They didn’t care.

How could anyone who follows the USDA’s oversight of factory farms be the least bit surprised?

There are plenty of new and disturbing details in this article, which together make clear that the USDA’s standards for grading eggs are profoundly negligent. Link.

Step your mind into a crowded elevator, an elevator so crowded you cannot turn around without bumping into (and aggravating) your neighbor. The elevator is so crowded you are often held aloft. This is a kind of blessing, as the slanted floor is made of wire, which cuts into your feet.

After some time, those in the elevator will lose their ability to work in the interest of the group. Some will become violent; others will go mad. A few, deprived of food and hope, will become cannibalistic.

There is no respite, no relief. No elevator repairman is coming. The doors will open once, at the end of your life, for your journey to the only place worse.

Whose life did you just imagine?

It was the life of an average layer hen in a battery cage.

• 97% Of US Eggs Are From Battery Cages
• Eggs are the #1 outbreak vehicle for Salmonella and Salmonella is the leading cause of food-poisoning related death
• 142,000 Americans suffering Salmonella infections from eggs every year.
• Male Chicks Are Ground-up Alive

Here is her life, in video:



“You can’t walk a mile in the shoes of a battery chicken, because battery chickens can’t walk a foot, much less a mile.”

The late Donald Watson, the man who coined the word “vegan,” was born 100 years ago today. We all owe him a great debt. (Via Carrie.) Link.