Griffith Park, Interrupted

UPDATED: here.

Ooh, good, I thought. An opinion on chickens. This is something I might want to read understand.

Photo credit: Compassion Over Killing. I appreciate the humane way the HSUS treats photographers, too, by giving them proper credit.

Chicken Run, by Julia Olmstead, is about an initiative by the Humane Society to outlaw battery cages for farm animals.

If we’re going to eat eggs, I think the chickens that lay them should be able to stretch their wings, stand up and turn around, and not be caged. So I buy cage-free eggs, and I’m not alone. Demand for these eggs has outpaced supply in the last few years.

So far, so good. I like to agree with writers. Then she quotes a lot of numbers on how many chicken farmers there are, the problem with manure and ammonia to the environment, etc. Very true for all farm animals.

If passed, the Prevention of Farm Cruelty Act would ban some livestock confinement systems. Sounds like a no-brainer…

But I’m not certain I’ll vote yes.Unfortunately, a California ban may carry unintended costs for the environment.

Not quite understanding…you mean, new environmental problems, other than those you just listed? She doesn’t elaborate on this. The chickens (and other farm animals, like pigs, veal, etc) will have bigger cages, not GROW humongous themselves, Ms. Olmstead.

Photo credit: Farm Sanctuary. These calves live in darkness 23 hours a day, and can’t even stand up. I never eat veal.

She goes on to say farms might move to other states, or Mexico. Those flighty farmers, traveling men, always pulling up stakes, wondering if the grass is greener somewhere else!

She says this law isn’t strong enough. Why save the lives and suffering of animals now, when you can wait until things might get better down the road?

Her last point is good, although it’s nothing to do with how chickens are raised, but rather how the eggs are labeled:

Further, cage-free isn’t the same thing as free-range. The label does not ensure that chickens can get outdoors.

Heaven forbid that the Opinion section actually put LINKS in their articles, even when they’re online! Ooh, scary, someone might leave the page. (Should I go into my whole story about how a goofy opinion about what to do with Silver Lake made its way into the Opinion section, and did link to my server, but without my name or blog mentioned? Okay! They linked only to my large photo. They loved my copyrighted photo and bandwidth, but not me, apparently. Took several phone calls to get that corrected - sort of.)

So I had to Google the Prevention of Farm Cruelty Act to find it. This is fantastic. Vote YES on Prop 2. The Humane Society, which is sponsoring this legislation, also has an excellent page on the opposition’s points.

Photo credit: Farm Sanctuary. Pregnant sows can’t move.

At least I know now where the Humane Society stands, and what the pros and “cons” are. I have no idea what the writer in the Opinion page is trying to say, or even which way she rolls.

Los Angeles Times, this time I’m putting my foot down. Bring back the copy editors, stat.

Want more like this?
1. You mean I have to get political, and write about cruel farmers?
2. Vote for the woman this time.
3. Two good things about the LA Times, and one bad.