AnimalVoicesNews
Source/Letters: Wall Street Journal <wsj.ltrs @ wsj.com> (close spaces)
Link:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB116969807556687337-lMyQjAxMDE3NjI5NTYy
OTU4Wj.html
Note: Thanks to Karen Dawn for the link to this article. DawnWatch is
attached.
Smithfield to Phase Out Crates
Big Pork Producer Yields
To Activists, Customers
On Animal-Welfare Issue
By LAUREN ETTER <lauren.etter @ wsj.com> (close spaces)
January 25, 2007; Page A14
(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)
Smithfield Foods Inc., the nation's largest pork producer, plans to announce
today that it will phase out "gestation crates" at all of its company-owned
sow farms over the next decade.
The company has come under fire by animal-rights activists in recent years
over the crates, where some female pigs can spend most of their lives. The
issue also played a role in last year's midterm elections.
Smithfield is the first major pork producer to move to ban the crates, but
the company's efforts may not be fast enough for critics. "It's a big step,"
says Bernard Rollin, a professor of philosophy at Colorado State University
and animal-rights researcher. But "it's not quick enough."
Groups such as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, say
it is inhumane to keep the sows -- female pigs -- in the crates during their
16-week gestation period, because they can't turn around, walk or stretch
their legs. The crates are typically two feet wide by seven feet long. At
the peak of their gestation, sows can weigh as much as 600 pounds. When a
sow is ready to give birth, she is moved to a "farrowing crate" to give
birth and then reintroduced to the crate shortly later when she becomes
pregnant again by artificial insemination.
Activists also say that pigs are intelligent animals that develop compulsive
behaviors while kept in the crates, such as "chewing on cage bars and
obsessively pressing against water bottles," according to a PETA Web site.
Speaking of the crates, Mr. Rollins says: "If you see one you'll never
forget it."
Smithfield will replace the crates with "group housing," where the animals
can socialize with one another. The pens will hold between six and 55 sows,
depending on the size of the barn, according to the company. The crates at
Smithfield's farms will be phased out completely by 2017. The company also
contracts with farms. At those farms crates will have to be phased out by
2027.
The transformation to pens from crates is expected to be costly, but
Smithfield declined to estimate how much it would spend.
Smithfield says its customers, including McDonald's Corp. and Wal-Mart
Stores Inc., have been increasingly asking the company to get rid of the
crates. Customers have expressed "their desire to have a different form of
sow housing," said Dennis Treacy, vice president of environmental and
corporate affairs at Smithfield.
This is a "significant step forward for animal welfare," said Frank
Muschetto, senior vice president at McDonald's, in a statement. "Animal
welfare is an integral part of McDonald's corporate social responsibility
efforts and supply chain practices."
Sow crates became a hot-button issue during last year's midterm election.
Arizona voters passed an initiative, called the Humane Treatment of Farm
Animals Act, which requires farmers to house sows in pens larger than the
gestation crates. In 2002 Florida passed a similar regulation. The gestation
crates are banned in Europe.
This is somewhat of a risky move for Smithfield since its independent
producers could bear the cost of transforming their barns to the new pen
standard. Smithfield doesn't have any sow farms in Arizona, but other pork
producers balked at the initiative in that state. A group of pork producers
called Campaign for Arizona Farmers & Ranchers posted large yellow and black
signs stating "HOGWASH" along Arizona highways.
Smithfield has 187 sow farms -- facilities where pregnant pigs are raised --
across the country. Smithfield says the crates were originally used to
protect the pig while pregnant, and to keep the animal clean. The company
says new research shows that keeping sows in pens rather than crates doesn't
interfere with the animals' ability to give birth.
Write to Lauren Etter at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Corrections & Amplifications:
The last name of Bernard Rollin, a professor of philosophy at Colorado State
University and an animal-rights researcher, is incorrectly spelled Rollins
on second reference in this article.
Copyright © 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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--- Begin Message ---
The Thursday, January 25 Wall Street Journal includes an article by Lauren
Etter headed, "Smithfield to Phase Out Crates. Big Pork Producer Yields To
Activists, Customers, On Animal-Welfare Issue." (pg 14)
The article opens:
"Smithfield Foods Inc., the nation's largest pork producer, plans to announce
today that it will phase out "gestation crates" at all of its company-owned sow
farms over the next decade.
"The company has come under fire by animal-rights activists in recent years
over the crates, where some female pigs can spend most of their lives. The
issue also played a role in last year's midterm elections.
"Smithfield is the first major pork producer to move to ban the crates, but the
company's efforts may not be fast enough for critics. 'It's a big step,' says
Bernard Rollin, a professor of philosophy at Colorado State University and
animal-rights researcher. But 'it's not quick enough.'"
Rollins says about the crates: "If you see one you'll never forget it."
You can at least see a picture of one, and also a video, on the HSUS website
where there is a press release about the Smithfield announcement:
http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/nations_largest_pork.html
The Wall Street Journal articles tells us that in the crates, sows "can't turn
around, walk or stretch their legs." The sow goes to a farrowing crate to give
birth and then is reintroduced to the gestation crate shortly later when she
becomes pregnant again by artificial insemination.
We read:
"Smithfield will replace the crates with 'group housing,' where the animals can
socialize with one another. The pens will hold between six and 55 sows,
depending on the size of the barn, according to the company. The crates at
Smithfield's farms will be phased out completely by 2017. The company also
contracts with farms. At those farms crates will have to be phased out by 2027."
The article notes that the move comes as a result of pressure from Smithfield
customers such as McDonald's and Wal-Mart. It also notes,
"Arizona voters passed an initiative, called the Humane Treatment of Farm
Animals Act, which requires farmers to house sows in pens larger than the
gestation crates. In 2002 Florida passed a similar regulation. The gestation
crates are banned in Europe."
It is probably fair to say that Smithfield saw the writing on the wall -- the
industry fears a similar ballot initiative in California will be next -- and
volunteered some change. It is important for animal advocates to note, however,
that the Smithfield changes will not come into effect for ten or twenty years,
and also that the changes hardly make life on the factory farms -- in communal
concrete pens -- a pleasure.
If you missed the superb article about Smithfield in the December 14, 2006
edition of Rolling Stone, check it out at http://tinyurl.com/vr8vn
It surely added significantly to the pressure that has brought about this move.
You'll find the a pre-view of today's Wall Street Journal article on line at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116969807556687337.html
As a Journal subscriber I can access the full article and share the following
link at which those who do not subscribe to the Wall Street Journal should be
able to view the article until Thursday February 2: http://tinyurl.com/39f6no
The article opens the door for letters to the editor about the suffering of
animals on factory farms. Please give those animals a voice on the Journal's
editorial pages. Those enjoying plant-based diets should sing their praises.
The Wall Street Journal takes letters at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be
published. And please be sure not to use any exact comments or phrases from me
or from any other alerts in your letters. Editors are looking for original
responses from their readers.
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the
media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You
can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com.
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Date: Thu Jan 25 14:16:56 2007
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