Factory farming in NY Times and Vox. Pets and poverty. Letters. More! 8/18/24

After a short dearth, as everybody focused on the upcoming elections, we have had an explosion of animal news over the last few days! Both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times look, today, at the inequity making it harder for people of lower economic means to keep beloved pets. Today’s New York Times also includes an article about persuading people to eat more beans, as part of its “What to Eat on a Burning Planet,” series, and yesterday the New Times International Edition covered the transformation of a pig farm into a mushroom farm. Numerous Canadian papers have covered fines levied on Marineland related to its treatment of bears. Meanwhile Vox has released an extraordinary series on ending factory farming and moving to plant-based eating. And starting tonight on HBO we have a new and beautifully reviewed docuseries from the folks who brought us Tiger King, this one titled, Chimp Crazy.

Before I discuss all of that, I wish to thank all of you who responded to Nick Kristof’s extraordinary NY Times column on our treatment of dogs vs pigs, helping Jim Corcoran’s strong letter get published. And I feel compelled to share some thoughts about it and letters in general.

Jim’s letter was significantly longer than most that get published, and read like a summary of Kristof’s original piece, making some of the same points, with a similar question at the end. Thus the New York Times ran Kristof’s wonderful piece one day, and Jim’s wonderful summary of it on another, for a new audience!

I was both pleased and surprised. My surprise was because shorter letters are generally more likely to be published, and because letters editors say they look for a new perspective, and indeed a pithy line or two that makes a new point is often what is published.

I was also surprised because quite a few women were kind enough to let me know they had written, and the papers says it is actively trying to publish women. But then I know Jim to be a superb activist who writes often, and far from getting sick of hearing from the same folks, if you write often with something to say, a letters editor will generally publish you as often as their guidelines allow.

So please write regularly!

If you are wondering what to write, well, we have just learned that restating the main point made in an article can be successful tack! So, if you don’t have anything new to add, don’t hesitate to say again what has been said, for more people to read.

Another thought is to check out the comments section for inspiration. Though of course you don’t want to copy somebody else’s comment verbatim, you may find a point made with which you agree and can easily state slightly differently.

I have personally found that the best way to get published is to start with appreciation for the article – a study in Brill’s content some years back revealed that the ratio of laudatory to critical letters was close to ten to one! Then whatever I was screaming at the piece in my head as I read it is what I write, but phrased politely. I therefore suggest that “How could these idiots have published this drivel and not even mention….” might become:

“Thank you for your focus on ….  What I would add is …..”

Or “It was great to see the article on… As I read it I thought of the animals who….”

Or “Such and such is such an important topic – thank you for addressing it! Another important aspect …. animals….”

Those of you who have written to the paper and had your letter considered for publication have received questions from the editor, one of them being whether anybody else asked you to write. Please know this is the sole reason I generally do not ask you, point blank, to respond to articles I send out from the New York Times. Though you might happily white lie to help animals, I prefer not to put you in the position of having to, so please know that if I have gone to the trouble of sending you something from the New York Times, I will be extraordinarily happy I will be if you respond with a quick letter sent to letters@nytimes.com .

Please know how important those responses are.  Jim was published because many of you responded. The New York Times tips  on getting published make that clear.

Legislators and other decision makers look to letters pages as barometers of public opinion. Your letters matter!

Finally, fellow women, the paper has published a piece begging us to write! Please check it out and comply!

Now, to today’s New York Times:

In the Sunday Review section, page 8, we find an essay by Bee Wilson titled, “Seriously, You Should Eat More Beans” which “is part of What to Eat on a Burning Planet, a series exploring bold ideas to secure our food supply.”

Hallelujah!

Wilson reminds us that the planet’s problems ” won’t be fixed by a few meatless Mondays” and wonders how we can help “millions of people divert some of their love for meat toward beans.” DawnWatch can provide this gift link to the article which I hope you will read and share and… you know …

Animals need our voices.

The article compliments a piece that appeared in the New York edition of the New York Times on Thursday and international edition yesterday under the heading, “A Struggling Iowa Family Trades Its Hogs for Mushrooms,” which discusses an example of the Mercy for Animals “Transfarmation Project” in action. I will share this gift link and note that the excellent article doesn’t say much about animal suffering. Hmmm. Thoughts?

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Really with something for everybody, with every animal passion, today’s Sunday New York Times also has a touching article in the Real Estate Section (page 7) titled, “Forced to Choose Between Housing and a Pet.” Here’s a gift link to that one, of which I hope you make excellent use!

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Today’s, Sunday August 18 Los Angeles Times has a piece that’s complimentary to that one, written by Carol Mithers, who has authored a book titled, “Rethinking Rescue.”  Her piece, titled, “A ‘rescue’? Or surrendered by a family priced out of pet ownership?” (which is also available on the Cordova without a paywall) , includes:

“The animals that fill shelters are less likely to have belonged to humans who abused or didn’t love them than to those who lacked education, information and, most of all, money.

“The conventional rescue narrative, repeated by activists who are largely middle-class or affluent, renders these humans invisible — way stations on a pet’s road to a “better” home. Or it lumps them with the true bad guys, whose animals are better off elsewhere. It feeds the contempt that too many Americans already feel for the less fortunate. It’s easy to say something like ‘I’d sleep on the street before I gave up my dog’ when you don’t face that choice.”

It’s beautiful and important and deserves letters, sent to a letters editor who has proven himself pleased to give animals and our movement a voice in the Los Angeles Times, as evidenced by today’s letters in response to an article discussing Usha Vance’s vegetarianism.

Today’s Los Angeles Times also includes a lead article, page B1, on the mess of the Los Angeles Shelter System, titled, “L.A. Animal Services manager goes on leave.” It’s a mess that is getting some attention thanks to the ongoing efforts of reporter Dakota Smith at the Los Angeles Times. The coverage, buoyed by our responses to it, is having an impact. Yahoo has brought that article out from behind the LA Times paywall.

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VOX, always so great on animals, has outdone itself over the last week. We read:

“This week, Future Perfect is publishing How Factory Farming Ends, a package of stories on the past and future of the movement against factory farming; its struggle to change our culture, politics, and palates; and how it might yet make real progress. This series is supported by Animal Charity Evaluators, which received a grant from Builders Initiative.

“Some stories delve into the animal rights movement’s fraught relationship with the climate and public health communities, and the prospects for building meaningful coalitions. Others scrutinize the animal rights movement from its 19th-century glory days, when vegetarianism was popular among utopian social reformers, to its present-day alienation from other progressive causes, to the messy, often maddening but essential legacy of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

“Our hope is that these stories will challenge policy leaders and the broader public to imagine a kinder, saner, truly sustainable food system.”

There are ten of them! Please check them out and share them widely! A great pleasure of the series is that it is peppered with illustrations by the brilliant artist Sue Coe.

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Tonight on HBO a new docuseries launches, from the creators of Tiger King. Titled, “Chimp Crazy,” it’s in four parts, airing on Sundays through September 8th. You can watch the trailer and read reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes site, which give the impression that the series will be strong, with a good message, though surely somewhat disturbing.

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Canadians received an alert about a story that received coverage in the Toronto Sun, with another version making numerous front pages in the Niagara Falls region, about the paltry enclosure sizes at Canada’s infamous Marineland.

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And in other major media animal news, posted to the DawnWatch Facebook page:

Margaret Renkl of the New York Times brought us one of her beautiful animal-themed pieces, this one on spiders. It includes:

“Crows play in the snow. Honeybees exhibit empathy, even to bees that belong to a different colony. Elephants call one another by name. (So do dolphins and bats and who knows how many others.) More than 1,500 different species of animals engage in same-sex sexuality. Cows enjoy music. A dog that I know of watches musicals on television.

“In this context, it shouldn’t be particularly surprising that there’s an orb-weaver spider in Tennessee who prefers to rest in a dried-flower house of her own making.”

Here’s a gift link.

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir ran a heartwarming “America Strong” segment on a successful effort to entirely empty a local shelter into foster homes during Hurricane Debby. (Thanks to Teresa D’Amico for sending that one.)

Australian ABC covered the ten year sentence given to crocodile expert Adam for bestiality and animal cruelty crimes.

Boing Boing shone a light on Indianapolis Animal Care Services workers being fired for offenses including checking whether adopters had cruelty convictions.

Mutts kept up its animal friendly messages with a strip about a “sea monster” – which spilled oil.

The Los Angeles Times covered, “How China bought its way into national fishing grounds around the world,” including:

“Trade records show that much of what is caught by these vessels is sent back to China, but some of the seafood is also exported to countries including the United States, Canada, Italy and Spain. ‘It’s a net transfer from poorer states who don’t have the capacity to protect their fisheries, to richer states who just want cheaper food products,’ said Isaac B. Kardon, senior fellow for China studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.”

That paper also covered an outbreak of neurotoxins killing an unprecedented number of sea lions.

The Times covered protests in the UK demanding that orcas be sent to sanctuary, not Japan:

“The death of Wikie’s brother Inouk, a 25-year-old orca, at Marineland in March prompted an outcry. Five months earlier Moana, a male aged 12, was found dead at the bottom of his pool.

Reports that Inouk had suffered severe dental problems after wearing his teeth down by gnawing on his concrete tank raised concern about the welfare of the park’s remaining orcas.

Many activists want Wikie and Keijo to be sent to Canada, where animal welfare groups are planning to create a marine sanctuary in Nova Scotia.”

Barron’s has covered Paul Watson’s arrest, including:

“Veteran anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson, detained in Greenland pending an extradition request from Japan, has spent decades battling harpoonists and seal hunters in spectacular high seas confrontations…

Watson was arrested on July 21 in Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.

“The 73-year-old American-Canadian was arrested under an Interpol ‘red notice’ issued by Japan. On Thursday a Greenland court holds a hearing to decide whether to extend his detention pending the request.”

Wisconsin Public Radio ran a story on of the beautiful work at Primates Incorporated, noting that the sanctuary is running out of space.

WBSM has brought us the fantastic news that Massachusetts has banned wild animals in circuses, with Governor Healy saying, “For years, circuses have harmed the welfare of animals for the sake of entertainment, allowing animals to suffer in poor living conditions and stressful environments. I’m thankful to the Legislature for taking the steps needed to prevent this kind of animal mistreatment in Massachusetts.”

Time Magazine has included Jordan Sucato on its Time’s Kids of the Year list, telling us:

“Through Laws for Paws AZ LLC, the nonprofit Jordan founded in January, the teen has raised more than $7,000 for her mission, enough to provide protective boots for 515 dogs…

“Jordan also speaks up for legislative change. Last year, she advocated for a statewide bill that would ban the sale of cosmetics tested on animals. That bill is expected to be reintroduced at the next legislative session by state senator John Kavanagh, who has met with Jordan to discuss the issue.”

Euronews ran a lovely segment letting us know that Brussels swapped out its horse-drawn carriages for electric!

And today, numerous papers have run an Associated Press story on the growing popularity of “miniature farm animals.”

Finally, some weeks ago I shared a review of Brandom Keim’s new book, “Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-human World” and mentioned I had started reading it. I finished it — listened to it via Audible actually. What an absolute joy! It has stayed with me and inspired me, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Yours and all animals’,
Karen Dawn of DawnWatch