Livestock auction sadism, pet sick leave, bear hunts + more 10/27/24

A Vox online article about “livestock auctions”, which came out today, is not to missed. And it relates to a New York Times front page story on Friday, about a couple of extremely rare horses who were found at a livestock auction. That paper also covered a new bill, in New York, that would let people take their sick leave days to care for ill pets. Plus, coverage of the Maryland bear hunt needs attention.

Before I look at those, let thank Pennsylvanian subscribers who responded to an alert I sent them about a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial (the paper’s opinion) bemoaning that “a provision was sneaked into the state budget allowing large-scale, nationally operated rodeo companies to select up to 12 days per calendar year to host” rodeos, “even if local rules ban or constrain the events.”

Reader support makes it easier for editors to continue on the same tack, and surely helped the wonderful Peggy Larson’s superb letter get published under the headline, “Rodeos aren’t entertaining; they’re cruel.” Check it out for inspiration!

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The Vox article, by Jessica Scott-Reid, is titled, “A special investigation reveals the places where farm animals endure ‘sadistic’ abuse” with the subheading, “These marketplaces are the backbone of the meat industry, where cruelty to animals is the norm.”

It reports on investigations done by “Pete Paxton” who has worked in this field for decades and whose work many DawnWatch subscribes will know. We read:

“Between late 2022 and early 2024, Paxton said he investigated 17 auctions and markets, working undercover as an employee at 15, and attending two others as a member of the public. The auctions took place in 10 states: California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas. He found he could get hired by auctions with minimal effort. He would work for a day — during which he said he would witness multiple instances of abuse — before moving on to the next market.

“According to Paxton, these markets are dark places where confused animals are kicked, shocked, and thrown. His findings also expose a stark lack of legal protections for animals at auctions, which are dominated by an industry culture that ignores animal suffering. Paxton, who for decades has investigated animal cruelty at factory farms and puppy mills, says he wanted to expose these hidden venues where corporate slaughterhouses and family farms meet — and where rampant abuses are usually shielded from public view.”

If you scroll about halfway down the article, you will see Pete’s sunglassed face and capped head, on a video which I hope you will share with anybody who wonders why you might not eat animals or the products of their suffering. It’s hard to watch, but my mentor Gretchen Wyler used to say, “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” In this case it is also a matter of being willing to hear the screams of a goat being tortured by a laughing auction worker.

The best way to thank Vox is to share the piece. I have it on the DawnWatch X and Facebook pages with both Vox and Jessia Scott-Reid tagged.

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The article on the front page of the Friday, October 25, New York Times, by Sarah Maslin Nir was titled, “The Mule Was a Menace. But He Wasn’t a Mule.”

It opens:

“The animal that arrived at Hannah Huckabay’s barn this past summer had been advertised as a mule, but it didn’t look like any mule she’d ever seen. She had bought it cheaply online from a livestock auction with thoughts of reselling it or putting it up for adoption, as she does with many last-chance equines at her stables in Aurora, Colo.”

It turns out the odd-looking animal was a rare Przewalski, a horse of a kind that once numbered twelve total in the world.  and we read:

“Soon after, Ms. Huckabay’s daughters found a TikTok post by a woman from Utah named Kelsey Bjorklund. She had taken in an identical animal after it was given up by an auction buyer.

“Why had these endangered creatures been passed around and sold as cheap horseflesh?”

This article hit me harder once I had seen the video I mention above of livestock auctions. I share this gift link so that you can read or listen to the article online, and respond if you are so moved.

I thank Lew Regenstein for making sure we saw it.

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That same New York Times, Friday October 27 (to which it is not too late to respond) included an article, page A20, by Lola Fadulu, titled, “New York Bill Seeks Time Off To Care for Pets.” It covers a beautiful proposal from City Council Member Shaun Abreu. We read:

“Mr. Abreu said the bill was intended to help address the city’s mental health crisis…

“He pointed to research that shows that owning a pet can reduce cortisol, a stress-related hormone. Having a dog, for example, can also force people to engage in physical activity, which can in turn have positive effects on depression and social isolation, he said.”

And the article notes that “…the bill could also be a small way to make it easier for people to keep their pets in their homes, which could help ease overcrowding in the city’s animal shelters.”

Here is a gift link from DawnWatch to that one.

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Saturday’s, October 26, Baltimore Sun covered Maryland’s bear hunt under the unfortunate headline, “Bear hunters do it for family and community: 6-day hunting season part of Maryland DNR management plan.”

At least animals got one line:

“The Humane Society of the U.S. believes there are better ways to control the growing bear population.”

I urge folks in the Maryland area, or who are disgusted by bear hunts, to respond to that article. And please remember that we are most effective and most likely to be published when we speak for animals rather than against the paper we are writing to.

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In other major media animal news, which I have posted over the last week to the DawnWatch Facebook page and DawnWatch X/Twitter page:

The New York Post brought us “NJ hunter who set state record by killing 770-pound bear clawed with backlash: ‘They hope the next bear kills me’.”

From the Isthmus in Madison we have a story by Bill Lueders titled, “Ridglan Farms accused of the wholesale abuse of dogs: Hearing held to weigh the possible pursuit of criminal charges against Dane County breeding and research facility.” It’s another one that is hard to read but important and appreciated.

The Guardian published “The wild boars of the Costa del Sol: do these sun-loving pigs really need to be culled?”

Time Magazine ran a piece titled, “Animals’ Understanding of Death Can Teach Us About Our Own,” which I love because it repeatedly uses one of my favorite words, anthropocentrism.

(Thanks to Teresa D’Amico for making sure we saw that.)

And finally, importantly, the Press Democrat ran a superb letter by the sponsor of Sonoma County’s Measure J, which would ban factory farms in that area. I urge you to share it with anybody you know in Sonoma California. Because California is so safely blue, a lot of people there don’t bother voting, but it is vital that they get to the polls, or get their ballots mailed, for this one.

Yours and all animals’,
Karen Dawn of DawnWatch