A quick update for those interested in the issue of factory farming in Massachusetts I raised in my post Tuesday. Scott Giacoppo, Public Relations Manager for MSPCA-Angell reports that they, “have previously inquired with the state about the use of gestation and veal crates, as well as the production of foie gras, due to recent legislation that has been filed. We have been told that none of these practices currently exist in Massachusetts. (Here is a link to those bills).
The MSPCA, it turns out, also maintains a legislative scorecard on Massachusetts politicians, which can be downloaded here. If anyone has time to do a quick analysis of this scorecard and flag anything interesting in the comments, I am sure folks would be grateful for the information.
Finally, there is an organization called Humane Mass, which according to their website was, “[F]ormed for the singular purpose of electing individuals to public office in Massachusetts who care about the humane treatment of animals, and defeating those who oppose it. Founded in 1997, after the 1996 ballot question to restrict cruel traps was passed, we are the nonpartisan political arm of the animal protection movement in Massachusetts.” We’ll see what they have to say on this subject.
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And I wonder how they stand on oil drilling in Berkshire County; accessibility to earthquake insurance; or a fence between New Hampshire and Massachusetts to keep out Conservatives. They probably (should) have no stand (well, except for that last one), because frankly, it’s pretty damn irrelevant.
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Farming is not economic in Mass, principally because of the value of land and the land’s relative (relative to midwest, south, etc.) difficulty to cultivate. I’d be disgusted witha candidate who allocated any significant portion of his or her campaign to ‘factory farm’ opposition. It’d just be pandering.
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Actually I think there are veal houses in Mass, but not many at all. I’ve actually seen some within the past several years.
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Here’s the justification: they do it because their competitors do it. It’s cheaper per pound and the majority of consumers buy based on price. Economies of scale create the large poultry, hog and cattle houses.
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Sell the public on ‘Anti Pig Cruelty’ and reduce demand for the product and the factory farms will change. Otherwise, no.
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However, if, in response to Mass animal activists, the local politician passes his version of a “feel-good law” (i.e. Banning leg-hold traps, or veal houses, foie gras, or [ insert favorite animal species here that’s used for food or fur ], that politician has either (a) done nothing but scammed the electorate because the particular banned act wasn’t taking place in Mass in the first place or (b) eliminated the act in Mass and put someone in his state at an economic disadvantage to someone in a near or distant state who’ll continue business as usual.
are no joke, actually. A repeat of 1755 would be more disastrous than Katrina. Did you see this article in Sunday’s Globe magazine?
protected the beavers who dammed the streams and helped create the flooding last month. It’s very hard, legally, to get rid of them. Meanwhile their dams caused flooded main highways (Rte 28 next to where I live, among others), sent 3′ of water in basements which had been dry for more than 50 years, and overwhelmed septic systems.
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The issues are much more complex that just humane treatment of animals.