The images
in the following program
are very sensitive
and may be
as disturbing to viewers
as they were to us.
However,
we have to show the truth
about cruelty to animals.
Today
on Stop Animal Cruelty,
we bring you
undercover footage
taken by
Mercy For Animals
that exposes the absolutely
horrific conditions
hidden behind the walls
of factory farms.
Mercy For Animals
is a US-based non-profit
animal advocacy
organization
that was founded in 1999
by Mr. Nathan Runkle.
Since then, the group
has grown tremendously
and now has over 35,000
members and supporters.
As one of the leading
organizations of its kind
in the United States,
Mercy For Animals
focuses on research,
undercover investigations,
rescue missions,
and community outreach
and advertising campaigns
to raise public awareness
of animal suffering
and the need
to immediately end it.
The first
Mercy For Animals video
we will present
excerpts from is entitled
“Hatchery Horrors.”
Some may not associate
egg production
with violence, abuse
and killing, but
that is the reality of this
unconscionable industry.
Hatchery Horrors
The footage
you are about to see
was recorded
with a hidden camera
at the world’s
largest hatchery for
egg-laying breed chicks.
For two weeks
our Mercy For Animals
investigator
covertly documented
the systematic cruelty
chicks at this hatchery
are subjected to.
These workers
called “sexers,” roughly
separate the male chicks
from the females.
These male chicks are
worthless to the industry,
because
they will not lay eggs
and will not grow large
or fast enough to be raised
profitably for meat.
These male chicks
are killed by being dropped
into a grinding machine
while still alive.
Such killing methods
are standard
within the industry.
Nearly 150,000
male chicks meet
their deaths this way
each day at the facility.
This machine uses a laser
to remove part of
the chicks’ beaks.
Chicks are placed
head first into
this rotating machine.
Birds’ beaks are filled
with nerve endings;
this procedure can cause
both acute and chronic pain.
This industrial machine
separates
newly hatched chicks
from their egg shells.
Chicks are
roughly dumped onto
moving conveyer belts,
which haul them off
to be sorted, de-beaked,
and for the males, killed.
Many chicks
are injured and killed
by the sorting machine.
This chick fell through
the sorting machine,
and was left to die
in a heap of egg shells
on the factory floor.
Still alive,
this chick fell through
the sorting machine,
and was sent through
a scalding wash cycle.
Some of them
get caught in there. (Yes)
Some of them get on
the floor and get wet
and then they’re no good.
That end of the machine
is for washing trays.
And so if they’re
stuck in there,
they get washed out
and that’s how come
they’re in there.
Workers roughly
handle the animals
with little regard
for their welfare.
These workers
roughly sort the chicks,
searching for sick, injured
and deformed birds.
The cruelty
you have witnessed
is not isolated
but rather inherent
and widespread
within the entire industry.
Please remember
these chicks the next time
you sit down to a meal.
You can help end
this needless cruelty
by adopting
a compassionate
vegan diet.
The next
Mercy For Animals video
we present excerpts from
is entitled
“Dairy’s Dark Side.”
The treatment
of the gentle cows
at this dairy operation
is extremely heartless
and deeply distressing.
Dairy’s Dark Side
A new Mercy For Animals
undercover
investigation takes you
behind the closed doors
of New York’s largest
dairy factory farm,
exposing cows too sick
or injured to stand,
calves having their horns
burned off
and tails cut off
without pain killers.
Cows suffering from
untreated infections
and open wounds,
new born calves
being dragged away
from their mothers,
and cows subjected
to overcrowded and
filthy living conditions.
Here a worker uses
a hot cautery device
to painfully burn off
the calf’s horns,
a common
dairy industry practice
known as disbudding.
No anesthesia was used
to reduce the calf’s pain
during this harsh
and invasive mutilation.
The worker forcefully
shoves his finger
into her eye
in a cruel attempt to
restrain and control her.
This calf’s suffering
is evident
by her vocal bellowing,
labored breathing, and
frantic attempts to escape.
Tail docking involves
cutting through
the calf’s sensitive skin
and tail bones.
The American Veterinarian
Medical Association
has condemned
tail docking as
unnecessary and painful.
Cows with
bloody open wounds,
puss filled infections,
swollen joints
and other injuries
were a common sight
on this factory farm.
This cow suffers from
a prolapsed uterus.
MFA’s
(Mercy For Animals)
investigator brought this
cow’s painful condition
to the attention
of co-workers.
Yet she was left to suffer
for over two weeks.
Many wounds were caked
with feces.
No veterinary care
was apparently provided
to most of
these injured animals
as evident by
the advanced stages
of their injuries.
Puss drips
from this infected wound.
Cows too sick or injured
to walk
are called “downers.”
At this factory farm
many downed cows
were left to suffer
for days or weeks.
Tracks can be seen
in the straw surrounding
this downed cow, evidence
of her prolonged struggle
to stand.
This exhausted cow
stumbles to the ground
on her way
to the milking area.
Workers kick and hit her
as they force her to stand.
We’ll return
after this brief message
with more excerpts from
“Dairy’s Dark Side,”
an undercover investigation
of the barbaric
dairy industry.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
This is the
Stop Animal Cruelty series
on Supreme Master
Television.
Our program today
presents footage from
undercover investigations
conducted by
Mercy For Animals.
We focus on protecting
farmed animals
because this is the area
of animal abuse
in our society where
the largest number
of animals are killed
and exploited.
Over nine billion cows,
pigs and chickens
in the United States are
killed for food every year.
If we look at the global level
we’re talking about
over 50 billion
farmed animals!
And each one of
these animals are
unique individuals with
their own personalities
and needs and interests.
So Mercy For Animals
sets out
to expose the cruelty
that’s taking place
in factory farms
and in slaughterhouses
and inspire consumers
to adopt a healthy
and compassionate
plant based diet.
Recently
a Mercy For Animals
investigator documented
the operations
of the largest
dairy factory farm
in the state
of New York, USA
which imprisons
over 7,000 cows.
Some of his findings
included workers
violently beating cows
and calves and the use
of electric shock devices.
The innocent bovines
rarely, if ever, saw the sun
or breathed fresh air.
We now continue with
further excerpts from
“Dairy’s Dark Side” that
shows the inside of this
utterly inhumane facility.
Dairy’s Dark Side
Cows are extremely gentle
and affectionate animals,
forming strong bonds,
particularly between
mother and child.
Like all mammals,
cows produce milk
for their young,
yet calves born
in the dairy industry
are dragged away
from their mothers
within days of birth.
Here workers separate
new born calves
from their mothers,
dragging the babies
into isolated pens.
This is the last time
these young calves
will see their mothers.
Many mother cows
bellow in distress after
their calves are taken.
Workers
in the dairy industry
acknowledge
the psychological trauma
such separation causes.
Do they (cows)
ever get mad when
you take their kids? (Yes.)
Some cows yes, (Yes)
become crazy
What? They?
Some cows become crazy
when I take their babies.
This dying calf
bellows out in distress
as he slowly dies.
Male calves unwanted
by the dairy industry
because
they do not produce milk
are often confined
and then killed for veal.
Frightened and panicked
animals are often loaded
onto transport trucks
by workers who hit, kick,
and electrically shock them.
On the left
a worker can be seen
abusively shocking the cows
with electric prods.
These panicked cows slip
on the concrete floors
as they jump off
the transport trucks.
Such dangerous unloading
can injure the animals.
Abusive handling
of animals is common
on factory farms.
So while he was down
and cold,
I walked around behind him
and I started kicking him
in the balls.
That’s the fifth time.
You’re going to
get the fist the next time.
That’s probably why
I got arthritis big time
in this hand.
From punching cows?
Probably.
Approximately
nine million cows
are used for
milk production annually
in the United States,
the vast majority
of living conditions
similar to this.
Day in and day out
cows at this factory farm
are forced to
stand on concrete flooring,
covered with a mixture
of feces and urine.
Unable to
access open pasture,
nearly all of the cow’s
natural behaviors
are denied or frustrated
on industrial factory farms.
Filthy living conditions
are an industry norm.
Manure coats the floor
surrounding
the milking area.
The majority
of today’s dairy cows
endure milking
several times a day
in an area like this.
Rows of small stalls
confine cows.
A worker moves down
the line attaching
the milking devices
to the cows’ udders.
Suffering from leg injuries,
caked in manure,
these cows are forced to
stand on hard concrete
during the milking process.
The average cow
at this factory farm
produces over 80 pounds
of milk a day,
an unnaturally
high quantity induced by
genetic manipulation
and hormone injections.
Cows were routinely
injected with posilac,
a growth hormone used to
increase milk production.
Studies suggest
that the use of
such growth hormones
increases lameness
in cows and
cancer risks in humans.
The bodies
of dead cows and calves
were a common sight
at this factory farm.
For these cows conditions
on the factory farms
were simply too much.
At around five years of age,
a mere fraction
of their natural life span,
the worn out cows
are shipped
to the slaughterhouse.
The lifeless bodies
of these dairy cows
illustrate the cruel
and exploitive nature of
modern dairy production.
Cows are curious,
intelligent, and playful
animals who are fully
capable of experiencing
joy, fear and pain
in the same way
as dogs and cats.
Consumers hold
enormous power
in ending this abuse.
If you are at all disturbed
by what you have seen,
please choose kindness
over cruelty
at your next meal
by adopting a vegan diet.
For more information,
please visit
ChooseVeg.com.
Our deep gratitude,
Mercy For Animals
investigators,
Nathan Runkle,
and all other staff
and volunteers
for your selfless, brave
and determined work
to reveal the horrors
of the egg, dairy,
and meat industries.
Next Tuesday
on Stop Animal Cruelty
will be part two
of our program
which will focus on other
Mercy For Animals
investigations.
May humanity
be awakened and blessed
with unconditional love
and compassion
for all beings so that
the types of facilities
we have seen today
soon close permanently.
Please adopt
the wholesome and loving
organic vegan diet today
and be a true champion
of life!
For more details
on investigations by
Mercy For Animals,
please visit
www.MercyForAnimals.org/Investigations.aspx
Information
on the vegan diet
is available at
ChooseVeg.com
Thoughtful viewers,
thank you for joining us
for today’s program.
Enlightening Entertainment
is next after
Noteworthy News.
May all animals be
forever blessed by Heaven.
Chantal
Cooke co-founded
"Passion for the Planet"
a UK-based radio station
that uses engaging
programming
to encourage listeners
to live sustainable lives
and to be the leaders
of a greener tomorrow.
The absolute best thing
you can do is, to quote
(Mahatma) Gandhi,
“Be the change
you want to see.”
Take those actions,
inspire somebody else.
If somebody else sees you
doing some composting
or some recycling,
they’ll go,
“What are you doing?
Why are you doing that?”
Well, that’s
an opportunity to talk.
Hear more from
the vibrant Ms. Cooke
on part two of
a two-part series,
“Chantal Cooke's Passion
for the Planet,”
Sunday, July 18, on
Good People, Good Works.