Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Humane Society Public Health Director supports Prop 2 because it improves health of people who eat animals

Dr. Michael Gerger, Director of Public Health and Agriculture for the Humane Society, wrote an op-ed piece in support of Prop 2 for the Santa Barbara New-Press bursting with righteous indignation.  Agribusiness should be hanging its head in shame, he says, because they're propagating false claims that put peoples' health at risk.  A meat plant in Chino was "routinely risking the health of children by torturing potentially ill downed cows to try to get animals who couldn't even stand or walk on their own in the National School Lunch Program."  Apparently, torturing downed cows is a bad thing to do if it affects human health.  He goes on to say "people who ate eggs from caged hens were 250 percent more likely to be poisoned by salmonella."  It seems to me if there's any health being put at risk, it's the health of animals packed into suffocating train cars then stuck in a tiny cage until it's time to get bolt stunned and hoisted upside-down so they can have their necks sliced open or, in the case of hens, ground up in machines while they're still alive.  Does the Humane Society public health director have any righteous indignation left over for them?  Yes, he does.  He believes they should have some extra room to stretch their legs before they're slaughtered.  So while we're on the subject of people hanging their heads in shame, how about the people whose desire for meat created agri-business in the first place?