In 1997, a veteran U.S. meat inspector described some long secret truths regarding his profession:

“Cattle dragged and choked… knocking ‘em four, five, ten times. Every now and then, when they’re stunned, they come back to life, and they’re agonizing. They’re supposed to be re-stunned, but sometimes they aren’t, and they’ll go through the skinning process alive.

“I’ve worked in four large [slaughterhouses] and a bunch of small ones. They’re all the same. If people were to see this, they’d probably feel really bad about it. But in a packing house, everybody gets so used to it that it doesn’t mean anything.”

What if you, like Oprah Winfrey did in 1996, had the opportunity to reveal these truths publicly? Would you do it? Could you do it? Of course you could, right? This is America, isn’t it?

Well, remarkably, the answer is no. On November 27, 2006, Congress passed legislation called the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). Basically, this Act protects animal-related companies from losing profits by prosecuting civil disobedience and speech as “domestic terrorism.”

Charlotte Laws gave the following examples:

“Let’s assume a high school senior enters a national science fair, and his project involves decapitating live mice. His mother objects to the experiment as cruel and immoral, but the son ignores her. She takes matters into her own hands by stealing the mice and placing them in a loving home, then smashing the remainder of the project and shoving it in the trash. Science fair projects are specifically protected under AETA, as are vivisection labs, factory farms, slaughterhouses, zoos, furriers, and rodeos. The mother has intentionally damaged her son’s animal-related property, which means the U.S. government may arrest her as a terrorist and throw her in jail.

“Let’s take another case. A small boy is murdered, and his oldest sister is devastated. Because low enforcement officers fail to read the killer his rights, and bungle other aspects of the case, he goes free. A year later, the sister discovers that the killer owns a horse boarding facility in a neighboring state. She drives to the location and paints his fence with the words, “He murdered my little brother. Don’t board your horses here” in an attempt to ruin his business and warn customers about the danger. The girl has intentionally caused damage to an animal enterprise. Under the AETA, her graffiti can be prosecuted as a terrorist act.

“A final example, a journalist writes an article about combating AETA. He suggests peppering the country with signs that read ‘ALF’. ALF is an acronym for the Animal Liberation Front, a group that has vandalized companies that use and kill animals. When ‘ALF’ is scribbled on a fence, building, or sign, the FBI is automatically called to investigate. This is routine, because the bureau considers the group the number on domestic terrorist threat, even though the ALF has never injured a human or animal.”

Can you believe it? They are calling compassionate human beings “terrorists” in the name of a dollar. This has been the most interesting (though maybe not the latest), in vegan news.
Until next time,