Wow!
Filed Under (Ramblings... and sometimes rants) by maida on 12-08-2010
My title says it all. I can’t believe this story, but then again, I don’t know why I’m shocked…
On August 6, Attorney General of Vermont, William H. Sorrell, announced that Frank Perretta, a fugitive from justice in connection with an animal cruelty charge, was arrested in New York on an extradition warrant seeking his return to Vermont.
The cruelty charge stems from a 2009 undercover investigation into Bushway Packing, Inc., a Vermont veal processing plant that is no longer in operation. Video footage obtained by an undercover operative of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), revealed extreme cruelty to young calves, including one worker attempting to skin a calf alive, and Perretta excessively electric-shocking multiple calves.
Following a complaint filed by HSUS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of the Inspector General and Food Safety Inspection Service conducted its own investigation, which resulted in the filing of criminal charges against Perretta and the other worker. The USDA also permanently shut down the slaughterhouse.
Each cruelty charge is a misdemeanor, carrying a possible sentence of not more than one year’s imprisonment and not more than $2,000 in fines. That brutalizing calves with an electric prod and even skinning a calf alive only constitute misdemeanors in Vermont illustrates the need for stronger state and federal legislation to protect farmed animals from abuse.
Sadly, the cruelty perpetrated against the calves at Bushway Packing is not isolated. Recent investigations into two U.S. dairy factory farms – Willet Dairy and Conklin Dairy Farms – exposed unimaginable cruelty, including the standard dairy industry practices of burning out the horns and cutting off the tails of young calves without anesthesia.
Click here to read the full story.
I can’t believe these charges are only misdemeanors! If it were a dog that someone was trying to skin alive or was repeatedly shocking with an electric prod, would they have been felonies? The only good things to come out of it is that the USDA filed charges and shut down the slaughterhouse, but seriously… misdemeanors?!
I’m sure this outrages every person who reads about it and I’m sure there are lots of petitions or whatever you can sign. But do you honestly think those petitions do any good to protect animals? It might make you feel like you’re doing something to help these animals, but I really don’t think they make any substantial improvements in how animals are treated. Cruelty like this is the norm for this industry.
It goes way beyond saying “well, I just won’t eat veal” because veal is a byproduct of the dairy industry. Like humans, cows have to have given birth to produce milk and the male offspring usually end up as veal. You can see that the chain just keeps getting longer and longer and longer. If you oppose animal cruelty and really want to do something meaningful to stop it, don’t eat them or their byproducts, don’t wear them, and don’t go to the circus or other events that feature animals as entertainment. It’s really that simple.











I love watching Top Chef, even though the food doesn’t appeal to me. I think I’m just a TV junkie and I’ll watch pretty much anything. After seeing the previews for last night’s episode, I was super excited because I know that Natalie Portman is a vegetarian and I was pretty sure the challenge was a vegetarian one. Yippee!! I’ve been waiting for them to do a vegetarian challenge.














