Program Term Archive
Farmed Animals
OIG Report: Skimping on Suspensions for Scofflaw Slaughter Plants
Farmed AnimalsThe USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released an audit of inspection and enforcement activities at pig slaughter plants. The May 2013 audit found that inspectors for the Food...
School Lunch Suppliers to Get Better Education in Humane Handling
Farmed AnimalsThe Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), a USDA agency, is amending its Animal Handling and Welfare (AHW) requirements for companies that supply meat from cattle, pigs, and sheep to the national...
Smithfield Sale Raises Concerns
Farmed AnimalsShuanghui International, a Chinese meat processing company, has agreed to purchase US-based Smithfield Foods, a development that raises numerous concerns. Sale of the world’s largest pork producer to a company...
Enhancing Animal Fighting Enforcement
Companion Animals, Farmed Animals, Terrestrial WildlifeAttending animal fights and bringing children to such spectacles would become federal offenses under the Animal Welfare Act as a result of provisions in the farm bills of both chambers...
Fishy Food: FDA May Approve Genetically Engineered Salmon
Farmed Animals, Marine WildlifeDespite strong public opposition, and no documented demand, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appears to be drawing closer to approving the first food product from a genetically engineered (GE)...
New Certifications Recognize Farmers and Ranchers Who Make Peace with Predators and Other Wildlife
Farmed AnimalsResearchers are only just starting to understand the critical role of native US predator species in the functioning of ecosystems. A recent study by Oregon State University, for example, found that...
Antibiotics: for Us or for Animal Abuse?
Farmed AnimalsU.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) has reintroduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (“PAMTA,” or H.R. 1150) into the House of Representatives. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) intends to...
Bans on Inhumane Farming Practices: Some States Step Up While Others Stonewall
Farmed AnimalsEven as some state legislatures seek to cover up abuse via ag-gag bills, a few are in pursuit of higher ground: last year, Rhode Island joined a growing list of...
See No Evil: Efforts Continue to Pull Blinds on Farm Animal Abuse
Farmed AnimalsIndustrial agriculture is continuing the tactic of introducing anti-whistleblower legislation to prevent the investigation and exposure of cruel conditions endured by farm animals on factory farms. These bills, referred to...
Animal Wise
Companion Animals, Equines, Farmed AnimalsRats enjoy being tickled. They also have an innate wariness of cats—such that an extraneous variable could be introduced to research from the scent of domestic cats, however innocently carried...