The new book, 'Out of Sight: An Undercover Investigator's Fight for Animal Rights and Her Own Survival' by Gail Eisnitz, covers her unending courageous journey and offers a deep dive into the meat industry’s treatment of farm animals that truly is a story of resilience and, ultimately, professional and personal triumph. Gail Eisnitz has been indefatigable in her efforts on behalf of the powerless and voiceless and Out of Sight is a testament to her unwavering empathy and strength in the face of profound obstacles.
MARC BEKOFF: Years ago, investigative reporter Gail Eisnitz published a landmark book titled Slaughterhouse about what farm animals endure from birth to forks and knives and what needed to be done to right the innumerable wrongs to which these deeply emotional and sentient beings were interminably exposed. And now, her new book called ‘Out of Sight: An Undercover Investigator’s Fight for Animal Rights and Her Own Survival’, covers her unending courageous journey and offers a deep dive into the meat industry’s treatment of farm animals that truly is “a story of resilience and, ultimately, professional and personal triumph.” Gail has been indefatigable in her efforts on behalf of the powerless and voiceless and Out of Sight is a testament to her unwavering empathy and strength in the face of profound obstacles. Here’s what she had to say about her long-awaited memoir about her mission for justice…
Marc Bekoff (MB): Who do you hope to reach in your interesting and important work?
Gail Eisnitz (GE): While my first book, Slaughterhouse, garnered wide support from thousands of animal lovers internationally, Out of Sight was written as a memoir to reach a broader audience, not just individuals concerned with animal issues. It’s my sincerest hope that this book will be of interest to a more general readership, the public at large…
MB: What are some of the topics you consider and what are some of your major messages?
GE: People have a right to know what goes on behind the guard shacks and locked gates of America’s meat packers and factory farms, that which is “out of sight.” Many of the abuses I’ve documented — i.e., mother hogs immobilized for years in cages so small they can never turn around; chickens suffocated by the millions by farmers attempting to control disease spread; runt piglets killed by having their heads smashed on concrete floors—would never be tolerated if they were perpetrated against companion animals like dogs and cats. Yet, by conveniently exempting “standard agricultural practices” from state laws, the livestock industry excuses this brutal behavior and hides it from public consciousness.2
In Out of Sight, I use six actual animal abuse cases which build upon each other to demonstrate what happens every day in slaughterhouses and factory farms. Readers join me as I document violations and then fight with network television producers to expose them, individuals who invariably conclude that the evidence I had secretly obtained is too disturbing to air on TV. Readers accompany me as I uncover elaborate cover-ups by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and a state governor, and as I clash with state attorneys general in my struggle to obtain prosecutions of animal abusers. They share in my success as a newspaper story I prompt results in an annual multimillion dollar appropriation by Congress for enforcement of the Humane Slaughter Act—the first funding ever allocated for a law that had been on the books for more than forty years. These and many other incidents occur while I contend with my mysterious medical condition and my seemingly endless quest to get to the bottom of it. SOURCE…
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