I stand by my statement in a recent newsletter that, in terms of influence on the industry, animal welfare reforms are among the most important victories in animal rights history. This is partly because I think the enforcement problem in animal welfare is being fixed. The truth is that, in a broken system, all efforts at change are difficult. The animal welfare campaigns aren’t perfect. No campaign is. But over the long term, the things we learn from them will be their most important success.
WAYNE HSIUNG: The latest open rescue by Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) was at a Certified Humane supplier of goat milk to Whole Foods, Vera Dairy in Stratford, California. The rescue, which found dead baby goats illegally piled up by the dozens at the farm, revealed disturbing gaps in accountability to the industry’s own welfare standards. Mother goats at the farm had udders so infected that they had swollen up to the size of a football, likely due to a disease called mastitis. The mothers’ milk production stopped, and babies were found emaciated and starved to death at the farm.
When activists presented evidence of these abuses to the industry and government officials responsible for animal welfare, the officials’ response was to arrest five activists for rescuing two sick baby goats from the farm — and do nothing about the animal abuse… For those who are concerned about cruelty to farm animals — which includes 80% of Americans — this should be infuriating… . The Animal Welfare Institute submitted public records requests to state governments across the nation to check on enforcement of animal welfare laws. They found that, out of 44 state laws protecting farm animal welfare in the US, only 12 had any level of enforcement at all. And, in many cases, this “enforcement” was pitiful…
In light of these facts, you can probably understand why PETA and Animal Rising have chosen to protest animal welfare certification programs. In the worst case, animal welfare programs are worse than ineffective. They actively cover up the cruelty.
And yet I stand by my statement in a recent newsletter that, in terms of influence on the industry, animal welfare reforms are among the most important victories in animal rights history. This is partly because I think the enforcement problem in animal welfare is being fixed… Even more important than enforcement, however, is long-term strategy. I have spoken to many leaders in animal welfare across the globe, and they’re all telling me the same story: it has been hard to make progress in animal welfare beyond cage-free…
What I am hearing from the animal welfare camp, including some of the brilliant leaders at Anima International, is that winning cage-free isn’t enough if we don’t have a strategy for what’s next. The solution to this strategic problem — which I’ve previously called the Day 2 Problem — is being vigorously debated and discussed. That, even more than any specific improvement in enforcement, is probably the most important sign of progress…
The truth is that, in a broken system, all efforts at change are difficult. It’s like trying to build a sand castle on a beach where waves crash and destroy everything you’ve made. The key to steady progress, in a context like this, is to have a deeper understanding of the system. How far up the beach do the waves crash into the sand? What materials or methods can we use to resist their destructive power? To achieve enduring results, general learning and experimentation are far more important than building a specific castle… The animal welfare campaigns aren’t perfect. No campaign is. But over the long term, the things we learn from them — as long as that knowledge is shared and refined — will be their most important success. SOURCE…
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