State of Farmed Animals—2003
Commentary by Jim Mason

Bi-polar—that’s the word for the state of farmed animals today. The upside is that we’re having an explosion of farmed animal advocacy; the downside is that we’re having an explosion of animal agribusiness around the world.

There was no farmed animal advocacy in the United States when Animal Factories came out in 1980. While Peter Singer had vividly exposed factory farming’s cruelties to American audiences in his 1975 landmark book Animal Liberation, the U.S. animal movement was slow to respond. Then in the early ’80s, new organizations sprang into being: In July 1981, Farm Animal Task Force, which became, a year later, Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM); in February 1982, Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT); and in the next few years, Farm Sanctuary and Humane Farming Association.

PETA kicked up farmed animal advocacy a few notches during its explosive growth in the early ’80s by pushing Singer’s Animal Liberation, Animal Factories, and a vegan lifestyle.

These upstarts prodded some old guard organizations into action: The Humane Society of the United States hired Dr. Michael Fox to head a farmed animal section, Animal Welfare Institute did the same with Diane Halverson, and, under the leadership of John Kullberg, the ASPCA—America’s first humane organization—took on farmed animal advocacy. By the early 1990s, most of the big national groups were addressing farmed animal issues.

Advocacy went big time in the late ’80s when New York activist Henry Spira took on two giants: chicken factory farmer Frank Perdue and the world’s largest fast-food chain, McDonald’s. Spira placed huge ads in major newspapers that detailed factory farming practices and discredited Perdue’s ad claims in his major markets. Spira took that leverage into negotiations with McDonald’s and persuaded its executives to consider the cruelties of factory systems. Spira’s successes took on greater dimensions when PETA joined the fray in the ’90s with bold, high-profile campaigns against Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC, Safeway, Kroger, and other giant food retailers.

U.S. advocacy was boosted further when United Poultry Concerns began specializing in birds with rigorous research and high-profile campaigns. Another leap came with the innovative campaigns of Compassion Over Killing, Vegan Outreach, Mercy for Animals, and many lesser-known grassroots groups. COK’s open rescues of battery-caged laying hens have generated unprecedented positive coverage in the major media and brought factory farming’s cruelties into serious discussion.

Lastly, in April 2001, Animal Place launched Farmed Animal Watch (FarmedAnimal.net), an online newsletter summarizing animal agribusiness developments … and a must-read.

Back to the downside: When Animal Factories was released in 1980, U.S. agribusiness killed nearly 6 billion animals annually; last year, it killed 10 billion. Along the way, agribusiness corporations extended their cruel systems to China, India, Latin America, the Middle East, and many developing nations. So, do the math.

The living world cannot bear the costs. Nor can humanity, for we cannot be human and civilized while living off of industrial-strength cruelty and killing. Humanity aside (which it seems to be these days), we can’t live much longer on a dying planet.

About Jim Mason. One of the modern U.S. animal movement’s earliest advocates, attorney Jim Mason has tirelessly brought us together with his writings and activism. The founder of The Animals’ Agenda in 1979, Jim co-authored with Peter Singer the landmark Animal Factories and later released An Unnatural Order to much acclaim. Presently, he is working once again with Singer on a book taking an unforgiving look at current animal agricultural practices.

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