"State of the Art"

If Canada geese currently represent the most persecuted animals in nature, chickens undoubtedly represent the most tyrannized of domestic animals.

 

Billions of chickens are factory raised and slaughtered for "meat" each year and millions of hens are subjected to a life of indoor hell as "egg layers" for things like "Egg Mcmuffins" or millions of morning breakfasts.

 

In what is a very unusual move for network TV, the news program, "20/20" last night aired an investigation of a commercial egg factory:

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/mcdonalds-dumps-mcmuffin-egg-factory-health-concerns/story?id=14976054

 

Sparboe "farms" describes itself as, "State of the art when it comes to the production of eggs."

 

Such is tragically a true statement as intensive factory farming is indeed how most eggs in this country are produced.

 

Another way of saying it is, "maximum sustained yield."

 

Who cares how many chickens die in the cages or are slammed around by cruel or frustrated humans as long as billions of eggs are laid?

 

Even on the ABC report, little attention was actually paid to the cruelty towards the chickens as the focus was the potential health threat of the "dirty" eggs to humans.

 

The report also focused on McDonald's dumping Sparboe as an egg supplier. ABC claimed this move to be a "major victory" for Animal Rights.

 

But, it is hardly a victory for Animal Rights as McDonalds will simply contract with another similar company to supply its millions of factory derived eggs.

 

The move by McDonalds to dump Sparboe can only be rightfully seen as a major Public Relations move.

 

After all, it doesn't really look good for McDonald's rosy, "Lovin' It!" images for people to see workers in one of its supply factories swinging live chickens around or removing stiff, dead chickens from cages.

 

(ABC announced that much of the cruelty footage filmed undercover from a Mercy for Animals investigator was "too graphic" to be shown on Television.)

 

McDonalds had no choice, BUT to dump Sparboe under the circumstances.

 

Not only were numerous laws violated in the footage from Sparboe, but the image of concrete factories where workers have to wear protective gear contradicts the images in McDonald's commercials showing bucolic and quaint farms where chickens run freely in barn yards. 

 

Of course, one could argue that just about everything shown in McDonald's commercials is fabricated in lies, Madison Ave "spin" and misrepresentations of truth.

 

Towards the end of the overall, excellent report by Brian Ross, 20/20 news anchor, Chris Cuomo tells viewers to "Go to our website to learn how to properly cook eggs."

 

But, was cooking the subject and source of question of the piece?

 

Really?

 

How disconnected and stunted is ABC from what it is actually showing or how disrespectful and cynical to both animals and humans can a network be that it apparently concludes the only questions viewers would have after a disturbing report like that would be on cooking?   (I could not believe my ears when hearing that.)

 

Then again, maybe it is me.   Perhaps I am seeing things that networks and other people apparently don't.

 

Still, it seems even common sense might dictate that if one has to cook something at such extraordinarily high temperatures or lengths of time to properly "kill everything" then perhaps humans should not be eating the product at all less they ultimately kill themselves.

 

(Viewers would have been better served if guided on where to seek "product" that is not produced through endless, "state of the art," maximum sustained yield, tyranny, abuse and cruelty towards other living beings.)

 

When it comes to animals in our modern society, both wild and domestic, the term, "state of the art" has taken on a whole new dimension and meaning -- and not necessarily, positive ones.

 

As the USDA constantly seeks new, "state of the art" methods to capture and "remove" wild geese, so too do our corporate factory farms forever seek new "state of the art" methods to oppress and exploit domestic chickens and other animals.

 

It seems "state of the art" has nothing to do these days, with either art or humanity.  -- PCA

 

                                                          

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