compassion and restraint

Michael Bruner, a fellow missionary kid and an evangelical pastor and professor in the Presbyterian tradition, gave the following talk at the announcement of the Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion in Washington D.C. last November ... 

California is burning, Mexico is drowning, and sub-Saharan Africa is dying of thirst. In the wider context of these disasters, how we treat animals seems to be a disproportionately small concern.  But why is California burning, and Mexico drowning, and Africa parched?  We talk about this country's addiction to oil.  It is nothing compared to our addiction to meat.  A recent U.N. report published earlier this year found that the methane produced from the flatulence of cows causes more damage to the atmosphere than all the exhaust from trains, planes, and automobiles combined (try quoting that in your headlines tomorrow).  Turns out, how we treat animals is a lynchpin to so many other pressing issues of the day, particularly when it comes to the environment.  Quite literally, animals are the environment, so their fate is our own, and if we can't muster enough character and compassion to look after their welfare, we, too, will go the way of the kiwi, and soon the polar bear, and perhaps already the honeybee.

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news and notes, Oct. 20 '08

for your information ...

- Thank you to everyone who responded to the "Clemency for Ratchet" petition ...  If you haven't heard already, the military heads that be reversed their decision, and after two thwarted trips Ratchet is finally being flown from Baghdad to the U.S. today!  Assuming Ratchet passes a vet physical, Sgt. Gwen Beberg will be reunited with him soon in Minnesota, thank God.  Over 65,000 people signed the petition by the way (CNN.com).

- I'm not sure where the two main candidates exactly stand on agricultural and animal issues (though you can find out a great deal at the Humane Society Legislative Fund), but I was grateful to come across some Ralph Nader's response to these issues at his campaign website.  He doesn't specifically take an animal advocacy stance, but he does pay a generous amount of attention to the inherent inequities and hazards of industrial and bioengineered farming on an evironmental and human level.

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animal appreciation week

Well, not technically that I'm aware of, but I did finish updating the celebration page in the causes section of the site, and wanted to post it here ...

It's often been said that children have a natural fascination with animals and the wonders of their existence.  But as many of us grow older and distracted by more "adult" interests, and often less personally involved with animals, we can lose much of the natural delight and admiration we used to have (see for instance my own story).  And our appreciation for the individual value and dignity of animal life diminishes as a result.  Rumors, even realities, of animal abuse and misuse seem more vague and distant, and not important enough for us to worry about.

Developing an appreciation for animals and the nuances of their makeup and mannerisms is ultimately a gift from God himself, just as the reality of their existence is in the first place (see creation).  Sometimes it surprises and even overwhelms us when we least expect it.  But God also wants us to open our minds and hearts to the goodness of his creatures, for their benefit and our own enjoyment, but also to understand his own goodness and love better.  The animal kingdom on the whole is one of the richest and most captivating graces available to us.

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chicken run

Thanks to my mom for reminding me about the claymation movie Chicken Run when I told her I was working on a blog series about poultry.  I'd been meaning to bring up this movie at some point, and somehow forgot about it in all the seriousness about chickens and eggs.

What strikes me most now about the film, aside from how completely innocent and enjoyable it is, is how much of an underlying animal welfare message it has.  Somehow this alluded me when I watched the film for the first time some years ago.  But having some spent some time learning about farmed animals and how badly they're treated, especially in factory farm situations, it's hard not to pick up on the animal advocacy allusions, in this case chicken advocacy.

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news and notes

I'm hoping to have a more regular "news and notes" segment on the blog, to catch up on some headlines and tibits related to animals and animal advocacy.  Some items may resurface down the road, but in case they don't, or happen to deal with more time-sensitive issues, at least they'll get some mention here.

I'm also hoping to include some regular bible passages, quotes, and photographs or artwork in the segment.  So to kick things off, here are a few recent news and notes for your review:

for your information ...

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poultry processing and workers

I mentioned at the start of this series on chickens that I wanted to spend some time on the human impact of the poultry industry as well.  A while back Tracie Russell of The Animal Healing Project forwarded me a personal account of a visit to a Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in 2005 by Carolyn Sharp, a professor at Yale Divinity School.  Needless to say it was a very insightful description, and I've been wanting to post it ever since.  Here are a few excerpts:

The plant processes Cornish game hens at a rate of something like 1.2 million birds a week ...  It takes exactly 55 minutes for them to take a live bird and process it into the nicely clean, shrink-wrapped body parts that you see in your grocery store. ...

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the original white meat

In a previous post on chickens and eggs, I mentioned briefly that an additional 9 million chickens are raised each year in the U.S. for meat.  These chickens, called "broilers," are raised in "huge, ammonia-filled, windowless sheds" which encourage them to eat more frequently by means of controlled artificial lighting.  On top of that, they're typically fed "a steady dose of growth-promoting drugs" which cause them to develop skeletal and internal organ health problems (PETA, "Poultry and Eggs").

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the dignity of chickens and the character of God

I came across this post by Joe Carter at The Evangelical Outpost last year, and was reminded of it while on the subject of chickens (see previous posts "The Chicken and the Egg" and "All Creatures Great and Small Campaign").  Reading Carter's post again, "The Dignity of Chickens and the Character of God," I'm blown away by how thoroughly doctrinal and compelling it is, coming from an author who to my knowledge isn't otherwise linked with the animal advocacy community.  I'm grateful to cross-post it here (see licensing below):

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the chicken and the egg

As promised in the previous post on the All Creatures Great and Small campaign, I thought I'd take the opportunity to take a closer look at the poultry industry.  Speaking of eggs, in the U.S. the vast majority of them do not come from cage-free or free-range chickens, but are produced through industrial farming.  In dusky warehouses rank with dust and the smell of ammonia, more than 280 million chickens are literally cooped end to end in battery cages so small they can't even spread their wings, let alone "engage in many of their natural behaviors, including nesting, dust bathing, perching, and foraging" (Humane Society of the United States' No Battery Eggs campaign).

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all creatures great and small campaign

A few weeks ago I mentioned in a post on animals and christian stewardship that the Humane Society of the United States' Animals & Religion program was launching a special campaign in October. Called All Creatures Great and Small, it hopes to encourage faith communities to look more closey at their relationship with animals raised for consumption. Karen Allanach of Animals & Religion writes:

Autumn is filled with significant dates on the religious calendar recognized by Christians, Jews, Muslims and others with The Feast of St. Francis, Yom Kippur and the end of Ramadan. ...

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