Saturday September 27, 2008, 12:43 pm
Oh puurlese!!! Come on, who are they trying to kid??? These abuses are happening in most farms everywhere, DO NOT BELIEVE THEY CARE FOR THE ANIMALS, they DO NOT, and even though I am not a huge fan of Peta, they do a good job at undercover matters. But to now start shifting the balance by blaming Peta for not reporting it before they did is a propaganda tactic and complete bull!!!!
These workers got caught and so HAVE to pay the pricem this is animal abuse it is as simple as that, if they were caught doing the same to a dog they would be prosecuted!!!

Saturday September 27, 2008, 1:08 pm
PETA has proved the point and sealed the case. It's air tight.
There is no other way to PROVE systematic abuse.
If PETA had gone straight to the authorities after 1 incident, it could have been brushed off as isolated...but now PETA has proven it is how Hormel does business. The problem is systemic!
Those opposing PETA do not have a chance to win in court!

Saturday September 27, 2008, 1:22 pm
Hi Ron--

I heard your report.

I'm not sure who listeners should write to about our feelings about this disgusting case.

My family owned a farm in OK and we had neighbors down the street who ran a factory farm and believe me
the abuse is real and it is systemic on many farms, especially factory farms. The things I was asked to
do as a kid (one time I had to work with my parents to take care of a chicken factory farm of 240,000 birds)
was so grotesque....what can I say? I don't eat chicken at all now--not at all. It was pure insanity, having those birds crammed together like that, not able to spread their wings and the smell of that farm alone would make you gag.
Who in their right mind would want to be part of systematic torture of other living creatures? Farming?--That went out the window
along time ago. These factory farms should not be called farms. Most of them are like prisons.

The pig farm industry is full of it and cannot "pretend" to care about animals.
If they did, they would go after Hormel, not PETA!

PETA has proven the point and sealed the case. It's air tight.
There is no other way to PROVE systematic abuse.
If PETA had gone straight to the authorities after 1 incident, it could have been brushed off as isolated...but now PETA has proven it is how Hormel does business. The problem is systemic!
Those opposing PETA do not have a chance to win in court!

Hormel is a disgrace.

Thanks for letting the public know.

Saturday September 27, 2008, 1:54 pm
Coming from a farm publication the denial doesn't surprise me. Notice the picture of the three little pigs? Quite a stark difference how they are really treated!

Saturday September 27, 2008, 2:15 pm
The National Pork Producers Council appears to be just shifting the blame onto PETA, as they are probably more concerned that the consumers will stop buying their pork products!

The people responsible for this horrendous abuse to the pigs have lost their humanity, as have all those who condone and support it. They should be charged, jailed and banned from working with animals for life.

Any animal raised in a factory farm environment suffers a life of cruelty, pain and deprivation. Daily they endure housing conditions and acts of cruelty that would be illegal if it instead involved a companion animal. In Australia where I live Animal Protection laws do not effectively protect animals from suffering - they effectively protect the industries that profit through animal suffering.

More than 90% of Australian pigs are bred and kept in intensive sheds (factory farms). The mother pigs are treated as breeding machines enduring lives of pain, suffering and deprivation. They are severely confined in cold, hard sow stalls and farrowing crates not even large enough for them to turn around. Many suffer injuries, lameness and weakened bones and muscles from lack of exercise. Pigs are naturally intelligent and curious animals and this environment they exist in is devoid of any stimulation or enrichment. The mother pig is denied her natural instinct to build a nest to give birth; instead it’s cold, hard concrete or a barren slatted floor. Her ability to nurture her piglets is restricted by a metal frame that surrounds her body. Her babies are taken from her at 3-4 weeks, she’s once again impregnated and the cycle of misery begins again.

I stopped eating all meat after becoming aware of the cruelty involved quite some time ago and I have been campaigning with Animals Australia to end this cruelty ever since.

The misery of the pig’s lives is surely transferred to those who ingest their flesh…Karma.

Saturday September 27, 2008, 2:25 pm
http://www.animalsaustralia.org/lucy_speaks/
thats a great site on the subjekt

Saturday September 27, 2008, 2:31 pm
These guys are just spinning their lies that they are so good at!
There is more cruelty in the farm animal industry than any one of us could imagine!
When will this madness come to an end! Most humans, I will never understand them!
Do you remember when that poor old sow was hung by a forklift and those human monsters were jabbing her with sticks and hanging off of her and laughing? When that didn't kill her these monsters threw her down 30 or 40 feet on concrete! When he went to court on cruelty charges the AVMA morons defended what he did and he was let off! PETA does have an air tight case, but this is in Iowa, and anything can happen there! Not a good place for farm animals! We really need to keep on them and not let this die! This picture drives me out of my mind! My heart aches for this mama! Thank you, Saving O

Saturday September 27, 2008, 3:10 pm
so what do we do other than commet and bitch about this to do somethng to be sure that that Iowa farm is made to pay for the cruelty. I have signed a petition about the farm but what else can be done? And yes it would be a great victory if the ones commiting abuse at this farm are found quilty but will that stop someone else from taking over that abusers job and than continuing the abuse? Also how can ALL factory farming be stopped? Than once they leave the farm and go to the slaughter houses another horror awaits them as they are severly abused before inhumanely killing them. what can be done? I am so frustrated with talking about all this and not being able to STOP THE ABUSE. not everyone is going to become vegetarian so how do we stop the abuse and the eating of animals?

Saturday September 27, 2008, 3:12 pm
Care2 Activists-- I put this email together for you and will post it on ASPCA, ALF, PRRA, and cross post. This is a sample letter. Please embellish it to your hearts' content and email these people to support PETA and bring justice! If you catch any typo's please correct them.
Thanks for fighting the good fight. Love to all of you activists.

Copy paste these into the "to" field:

dierksn@nppc.org; mcgonegp@nppc.org; wrigleyj@nppc.org; boellingc@nppc.org; hockmand@nppc.org; irlbecka@nppc.org ; ferrellk@nppc.org; giordann@nppc.org; greinerj@nppc.org; watsone@nppc.org; binghamg@nppc.org; fricked@nppc.org; baumanj@nppc.org; houskap@nppc.org; murrayb@nppc.org; merrittm@nppc.org; oharaa@nppc.or; warnerd@nppc.org; liddella@nppc.org; formicam@nppc.org; huenekel@nppc.org; adamsona@nppc.org; redalenc@nppc.org; media@hormel.com; Katy.Hendrickson@bm.com; ga-mail@getactive.peta.org; HeatherW@peta.org; dmca@co.des-moines.ia.us;

Subject:
Public Opinion: Undercover Investigation Reveals Hormel Supplier's Abuse of Mother Pigs and Piglets

Body of the letter:

National Pork Producers:

Neil Dierks, Chief Executive Officer
Pat McGonegle, Vice President, State Relations and Resource Development
John Wrigley, Director, Resource Development and General Manager of World Pork Expo
Craig Boelling, Director of Producer Services
Dallas Hockman, Vice President of Industry Relations
Alicia Irlbeck, Database Administrator and Meeting Coordinator
Kirk Ferrell, Vice President of Public Policy
Nick Giordano, Vice President and Counsel International Trade Policy
Audrey Adamson, Assistant Vice President of Public Policy
Dr. Jennifer Greiner, Director of Science and Technology
Elizabeth Watson, Director of International Trade Policy and Economic Analysis
Gwendolyn Bingham, Administrative Assistant
Doug Fricke, Coordinator, World Pork Expo Trade Show
Jeff Bauman, Regional Director of Producer Services
Pete Houska, Regional Director of Producer Services
Bette Murray, Administrative Assistant
Meryem Merritt, Accounting Administrator
Angela O’Hara, Administrative Assistant
Dave Warner, Director of Communications
Michael Formica, Environmental Policy Counsel
Afton Liddell, Science and Technology and Environmental Policy Associate
Chelsie Redalen, Government Relations Associate
Laurie Hueneke, International Trade Research Specialist


Hormel Foods Corporation Consumer Response:

Katy Hendricksonm, Hormel Foods Corporation Consumer Response


People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals:

Heather Whidden, Activist Liaison, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals PETA (and PETA Media)


Iowa District Attorney's Office:

Patrick C. Jackson, Des Moines County District Attorney



Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen (and those of you who are not so honorable):


The public has now heard plenty about Hormel's abuse of livestock, specifically pigs.
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/iowa_pigfarm_abuse2

We will not condone or ignore these outrageous abuses. They are plastered all over the Internet, on activists sites and the reports have gone world-wide. Every other day we hear stories about Hormel and its horrors. Our inboxes are littered with pictures and video footage or what Hormel has done and is probably still doing to all of the animals behind their factory farm walls! These abuses are why California has Proposition 202 on the ballot in November. The public is sick and tired of factory farms!

So here we are writing to all of you to do something about it.

We must wonder how far this abuse goes?--Possibly across the board as systemic abuse based
on PETA's recent undercover investigation?
Rest assured, the public will not let up and we demand justice.
We are completed appalled by what we saw on that video!

The public humbly asks the District Attorney of Iowa and any law enforcement agency capable of bringing justice to seek the maximum penalty for this abuse. The public will not tolerate these kinds of abuses.

We ask Hormel to take responsibility for its criminal treatment of animals.
The public has trusted you and you have been endowed as an institution to be allowed to run what should be a respectable business. The public was trusting you to have ethics and to abide by the law and you've abused our trust, the law,
and worst of all, the animals that are (were) in your care.

If Hormel executives and Hormel media have a clue, you will issue a public apology. We haven't seen one. If it was issued, it wasn't a big enough apology. The public is not ignorant, regardless of what you all might think. Obviously you thought you would get away with running a criminal operation. You lie to us and take our money! What you do with the money we have given you is utterly disgusting to us.

Clearly PETA has done an accurate investigation and it will stand up in court!

At this point the public is not sure who we should write to about Hormel's ruthless exploitation of animals.
We want NO PART in your animal abuse we assure you.
People on the online environmental networks are clamoring to figure out what to do to stop Hormel.
So today we are writing this letter to help PETA, who have stood up for justice, and the animals who are suffering at the hands of Hormel employees, stock holders and the National Pork Producers who have allowed this to go on under their watch!

The way you do business will make vegetarians and vegans out of a meat eaters.

As far as Hormel's and National Pork Producer's attacks on PETA, it just makes the lot of you look guilty.
Attacking PETA only assures us of your guilt. We are at the point where we are boycotting ALL of your products based on
the way you are operating your business. PETA did nothing but video tape you.
They didn't even need to comment on your business. Your actions speak for themselves!

The pig farm industry is full of it and cannot "pretend" to care about animals.
If they did, they would go after Hormel, not PETA!

PETA has proven the point and sealed the case. It's air tight.
There is no other way to PROVE systematic abuse.
If PETA had gone straight to the authorities after 1 incident, it could have been brushed off as isolated...but now PETA has proven how Hormel does business. The problem is systemic!

ALL OF HORMEL'S OPERATIONS SHOULD BE UNDER INVESTIGATION AND SHUT DOWN IMMEDIATELY IF THESE ABUSES ARE STILL GOING ON!

Those opposing PETA (who represent the public in this case) do not have a chance to win in court!
The public will send so many letters, the judge on the case will not be able to read all of them.
The public promises you we will stand behind PETA not Hormel!
It the National Pork Producers try to protect or hide Hormel's abuses we will have you investigated
for criminal activities. We will assume you are being bribed to not do your jobs.

Hormel is a disgrace.

We thank PETA for letting consumers know what they are consuming.
Buying a product is not just about the end result.
We are now in the era of ethical consumption.
With the great media sources available to the public, we can now make informed choices.

Hormel and also the National Pork Producers--Clean up your acts or expect to go out of business!
The public at large wants to buy products of quality and products produced ethically.


Kind Regards,

A concerned citizen and ethical consumer.

Our promise to you:
We will not let up on this case until we see justice is served.
We will email hundreds of thousands of people and raise protests if necessary (and we may do it anyway as insurance).
So we humbly as that you all do your jobs so we don't have to do it for you.

Saturday September 27, 2008, 4:13 pm
Thank you Laurel!!!
Abolish Animal Slavery!

Saturday September 27, 2008, 5:44 pm
All ready forwarded the information on.

Saturday September 27, 2008, 7:43 pm
noted thank you

Saturday September 27, 2008, 7:56 pm
Wow Laurel, thank you for all your diligent work on this remarkable letter. Will follow your plan and send off with my added remarks!

I totally agree ~ this DEPLORABLE situation wrongs....cannot be layed at the feet of PETA....

Sunday September 28, 2008, 8:26 am
WOW, my comment should not appear here on this subject at all. Sorry folks, again glitches of care2.
I will send e-mail too.
Thanks for sharing this with us, Saving!

Sunday September 28, 2008, 2:09 pm
Thanks again to everyone who reached out to someone to help stop this abuse. Laurel, great example letter above and the contacts are awesome. I hope everyone can use your info to continue to contact the people involved. We did speak to the Greene County Attorney last week and he did say that he "believes charges will be filed". Let's continue to work on making that happen.

Sunday September 28, 2008, 7:53 pm
written to all:

Dear Hormel, I am disgusted to read/see the video about the abuse on your pig farm. Absolutely disgusted! I hope the guilty ones will be punished under the law! And sacked. Monitoring TV Channels would be a way of avoiding this from happening again! Introduce cameras, so there is absolutely no doubt, that there is animal abuse or not! I will no longer buy your sausages or any pork product, till you have cameras installed and the guilty punished and made an example of to other employees.

Thanks Bea

Monday September 29, 2008, 6:25 am
Noted and forwarded! Thank you for sharing!

Monday September 29, 2008, 9:32 am
My posting seems to be messed up. I type a comment on another article, and it ends up showing on other articles???

Sunday October 5, 2008, 4:04 pm
Noted and forwarded. Thanks a lot for sharing!!!

Monday October 6, 2008, 3:58 am
PETA is a humane association that has discovered and uncevered many cases of animal cruelty, this should not ruin its reputation as the humane people they are. Nobody likes to watch the disgusting acts of cruelty that people practice on these porr animals, however without them, how many animals would have been treated badly without getting justice? In Youtube, there are many videos accusing PETA of killing animals, in order to make it look bad, but what really looks bad is people making animals suffer, however PETA utilizes humane methods like euthanasia. PETA does not kill animals for fun like hunters do, they do it because the animals do not get adopted, and because they somehow have to control their population to not let them live as stray dogs, since most of the dogs in shelters are unprottected or abandoned neglected creatures, often coming from puppy mills, an issue that people should be looking at more than looking for senseless reasons to hate and contradict an Animal Welfare association that plans to do good for animals unlike hunters, fur traders, and other animal/nature exterminating humans looking for poinless reasons to legalize the killing of innocent animals, or making them look as dangerous, when the dangerous mosnters are humans themselves!!

Monday October 6, 2008, 5:05 pm
I sorta understand being uncover where you are seeing unbelievable cruelty being done to animals and staying quiet to document it. I also understand not taking the information public or to the authorities until you are sure your evidence will convict the abusers. Because of this I could never be an uncover person. I would not be able to calming and quietly video tape the abuse and not step in and knock the crap out of the person doing the abuse. Though if you are the best uncover person you quietly watch, video tape, and document, and than after hours do major damage. LOll

Wednesday October 15, 2008, 8:08 am
Can we not try to get a law passed that places a member of PETA or the ASPCA or some humane group in factory farms across the nation and beyond to oversee the workings of these farms? Or at least make it a law that cameras be installed to catch this sort of abuse in all facilities involving raising of any kind of animal for sale or consumption? It would be so simple a thing to do and maybe this horrific treatment of defenseless animals can be eliminated. I am so shocked at how sick and cruel human beings can be. Those horrible people need to have the same treatment they inflict on animals inflicted on them. I am very grateful to PETA and ASPCA and others for the wonderful work they are doing to help these poor creatures. Thank you so much for what you do.

Thursday October 23, 2008, 9:23 am

We have very important news. Last month, we told you about our new undercover investigation on an Iowa pig farm that breeds piglets to supply Hormel. Our investigation revealed that pregnant pigs were confined to barren gestation crates, beaten with metal gate rods, and kicked by farm workers. Workers were documented shocking pigs and spraying toxic paint around their eyes and up their noses, and one supervisor even raped a pig with a cane.
We are pleased to announce that the Greene County Sheriff stated in a news release yesterday that six individuals employed by the farm at the time of PETA's investigation now face a total of 22 counts of livestock neglect and abuse.
Those charged include a former farm manager and a supervisor. Fourteen of the counts are aggravated misdemeanors—the stiffest possible charges under Iowa state law for crimes committed against farmed animals—and each carry up to two years behind bars. Such charges are unprecedented.
PETA is on the front lines, fighting as hard as ever to expose and end cruelty to animals. We can't and won't let animal suffering and abuse be ignored or forgotten. Please take heart in the results of this investigation and the fact that your help and support makes this victory and everything that we do to help animals possible. And please know that we will continue to expose and end these abuses until the day comes when we bring an end to factory farming.
You can still help! Please forward the video to everyone you know and urge them not to eat pigs or any animals. And if you haven't already written to Hormel to demand that the company follow PETA's eight-point policy to govern future pig-farming operations, please do so now.
Thank you for all that you do for animals!
With kind regards,
Ingrid E. Newkirk

Sunday May 16, 2010, 7:18 pm
THE TWO MAIN REASONS WE ARE IN SUCH AN ENVIROMENTAL MESS TODAY
1) The decision of the United States Congress to pass the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act was based in part on testimony derived from articles in newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst, who, some authorsTemplate:Http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhearst.htm stress, had significant financial interests in the forest industry, which manufactured his newsprint.
2) Hemp paper threatened DuPont's monopoly on the necessary chemicals for manufacturing paper from trees and hemp fiber cloth would compete with Nylon, a synthetic fibre, that was patented in 1938, the year hemp was made illegal It is often asserted in pro-cannabis publications that DuPont actively supported the criminalization of the production of hemp in the US in 1937 through private and government intermediates, and alleged that this was done to eliminate hemp as a source of fiber—one of DuPont's biggest markets at the time. DuPont denies allegations that it influenced hemp regulation.

3)Hemp for Victory is a black-and-white United States government film made during World War II, explaining the uses of hemp, encouraging farmers to grow as much as possible.

THE GOVERNMENT MUST KNOW THE REAL VALUE OF USING HEMP IT HELPED SAVE THIS COUNTRY DURING WW2!!

Sunday May 16, 2010, 7:19 pm
HEMP NUTRITION GOOGLE HEMP, GO TO WIKIPIDIA
[show]Typical nutritional analysis of hemp nut (hulled hemp seeds)[19]
Calories/100 g 567
Protein 30.6
Carbohydrate 10.9
Dietary fiber 6
Fat 47.2
Saturated fat 5.2
Palmitic 16:0 3.4
Stearic 18:0 1.5
Monounsaturated fat 5.8
Oleic 18:1 (Omega-9) 5.8
Polyunsaturated fat 36.2
Linoleic 18:2 (Omega-6) 27.6
Linolenic 18:3 (Omega-3) 8.7
Linolenic 18:3 (Omega-6) 0.8
Cholesterol 0 mg
Moisture 5
Ash 6.6
Vitamin A (B-Carotene) 4 IU
Thiamine (Vit B1) 1 mg
Riboflavin (Vit B2) 1 mg
Vitamin B6 0 mg
Niacin (Vit B3) 0 mg
Vitamin C 1.0 mg
Vitamin D 0 IU
Vitamin E 9 IU
Sodium 9 mg
Calcium 74 mg
Iron 4.7 mg
HEMP NUTRITION GOOGLE HEMP, GO TO WIKIPIDIA
About 30–35% of the weight of hempseed is hempseed oil or hemp oil, an edible oil that contains about 80% essential fatty acids (EFAs); i.e., linoleic acid, omega-6 (LA, 55%), alpha-linolenic acid, omega-3 (ALA, 22%), in addition to gamma-linolenic acid, omega-6 (GLA, 1–4%) and stearidonic acid, omega-3 (SDA, 0–2%). Whole hempseed also contains about 25% of a highly-digestible protein, where 1/3 is edestin and 2/3 are albumins. Its amino acid profile is close to "complete" when compared to more common sources of proteins such as meat, milk, eggs and soy.[20] The proportions of linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid in one tablespoon (15 ml) per day of hemp oil easily provides human daily requirements for EFAs. Unlike flaxseed oil, hemp oil can be used continuously without developing a deficiency or other imbalance of EFAs.[21] This has been demonstrated in a clinical study, where the daily ingestion of flaxseed oil decreased the endogenous production of GLA.[21]

Hempseed is an adequate source of calcium and iron. Whole hempseeds are also a good source of phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, copper and manganese.

Hempseed contains no gluten and therefore would not trigger symptoms of celiac disease.

Sunday May 16, 2010, 7:19 pm
HEMP AS A FOOD SOURCE
Hemp seeds contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life. The seeds can be eaten raw, ground into a meal, sprouted, made into hemp milk (akin to soy milk), prepared as tea, and used in baking. The fresh leaves can also be eaten in salads. Products range from cereals to frozen waffles, hemp tofu to nut butters. A few companies produce value added hemp seed items that include the seed oils, whole hemp grain (which is sterilized by law), hulled hemp seed (the whole seed without the mineral rich outer shell), hemp flour, hemp cake (a by-product of pressing the seed for oil) and hemp protein powder. Hemp is also used in some organic cereals, for non-dairy milk somewhat similar to soy and nut milks, and for non-dairy hemp "ice cream

Within the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has treated hemp as purely a non-food crop. Seed appears on the UK market as a legal food product, and cultivation licences are available for this purpose. In North America, hemp seed food products are sold, typically in health food stores or through mail order. The USDA estimates that "the market potential for hemp seed as a food ingredient is unknown. However, it probably will remain a small market, like those for sesame and poppy seeds."...... GOOGLE HEMP, GO TO WIKIPIDIA

Friday May 21, 2010, 10:13 pm
THIS IS THE MOST HORRORIBLE ABUSE AND CRUELTY ON EARTH THESE ARE MONSTERS