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Land of Hope and Glory UK Earthlings Documentary
Surge (2017)
Film Review
This is a documentary about the brutal conditions under which factory farmed animals are raised in the UK, Australia and the US. This type of footage is extremely rare because Food Inc makes every effort to conceal the disgusting conditions under which our meat is produced.
Factory farmed pigs and chickens seem to fare the worst. Even though pigs are as intelligent and emotionally complex as dogs, they are raised in extremely confining cages and forced to lie in their own feces, as well as being routinely tortured and beaten by their keepers. Pigs, like most other factory farmed animals, are fed massive doses of antibiotics (contributing to antibody resistance and the rise of “superbugs”) while continual exposure to feces makes factory farmed meat a major source of food borne illness.
Chickens and more than 90% of ducks and turkeys are also crowded into pens. In chickens raised for meat, 45% suffer painful fractures because their specially bred bodies are too heavy for their skeleton.
What seems most consistent among all factory farmed animals (besides their continual exposure to feces) are the inhumane conditions under which they are killed. Although most jurisdictions require them to be asphyxiated or electrically stunned prior to slaughter, abattoir personnel are rushed and poorly trained. As the film clearly shows, many animals are still alive when they’re butchered.
In 1990, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Special Agent colleague and I worked in Nevada on a mid-west based suspect offering to sell a Black Rhino horn for $20,000. In a covert capacity I secured his knowledge and agreed to meet him at a new casino in Las Vegas for the transaction. My colleague and Special Agents from Legacy U.S. Customs leased an adjacent room to the suspect and wired me up.
The horn was genuine and I agreed to purchase it for $20,000. But only after debating the suspect’s friend who handed me a National Geographic Magazine with an article showing a single Black Rhino horn was worth $25,000 on the black market. After paying a $1,000 deposit to hold the horn, I promised to return with the balance ($19,000 I never had). I opened the door and my colleague and U.S. Customs Agents entered to detain and fully identify the seller and his two colleagues and seize the horn and the $1,000 deposit.
Many weeks later after the suspect was indicted and later pled guilty, the end result was a federal judge assessing the suspect a meagerly fine plus court costs. After all that expenditure of effort, time, and money, not to mention the profit to be made. The judge just orders a fine and court costs for the life of an endangered rhino? They should be worth more alive than dead.
A colleague with another federal agency later quipped that his co-worker had several unpaid parking tickets in his government vehicle glove box that was more than the fine levied in this rhino horn case.
My colleague was shocked at the failure of justice and said it was impossible for the judge to be that stupid.
A new movement in the debate on animal abuse policing and prosecution has turned its attention to redefining bestiality in state codes around the country.
It is a topic shrouded in taboo, but links between bestiality and sex crimes against humans—children in particular—are bringing the debate out in the open.
Bestiality “is the single greatest predictor of people who will molest children,” Detective Jeremy Hoffman, of the Fairfax County, Va., Sheriff’s Office, told Bloomberg BNA.
Hoffman routinely testifies in front of state legislative committees deciding on bestiality bills.
Bloomberg BNA will explore the changing landscape of animal cruelty in criminal law in a four-part series.
Although states have been enacting these bills over the past 10 years, there is a push toward enforcement in states that have the laws and establishing laws where there are none because of more information on the link between animal sexual abuse and human sexual abuse, according to Jenny Edwards, a criminologist and independent researcher who has been studying animal sexual abuse for 10 years.
She explained that often means animal control officers handle offenses, and many incidents of bestiality are not investigated by sexual assault detectives.
The issue recently took on more significance when the FBI announced an initiative to start tracking animal cruelty crimes in 2016, which would include bestiality, Lindsay Hamrick, New Hampshire state director for the Humane Society of the U.S., told Bloomberg BNA. That initiative sprang from law enforcement’s recognized link between animal abuse and crimes against people (98 CrL 229, 12/9/15).
Did you know that an estimated 4-5 million dogs are still living outside 24/7/365 on chains and in pens all across the nation? And that in most areas of the country chaining is not banned or even limited? If you, like most musicians, think dogs deserve better than life at the end of a chain.
Donna Hughes’ original song, “Dog On A 10 Foot Chain” has certainly caught the attention of people around the world as she brings important awareness to dogs being kept on chains and living a life of suffering. The heart-wrenching tune appears in different two versions on her current albums, From the Heart and Fly.
Multi-award winning Singer-Songwriter and Animal Rights Activist, Donna Hughes has won the 2015 Canine Freedom Award in the Musician category from Dogs Deserve Better – a nonprofit organization that has been freeing chained dogs since 2002.
Most Americans know that dogs are Man’s Best Friends, AND we love and treasure them as true family members. We don’t want to see any dogs left alone out in the cold; let’s work together to bring them out of the backyards and into the home and family.
The Animal Rights Advocate continues her passionate mission to change tethering laws around the country. Hughes recently launched a Change.org petition to change tethering laws around the country and in her home state of North Carolina.
*** If you would like to be a Guest or know somebody that would be a great guest on “Voices Carry for Animals” Please email small bio about yourself, any websites, FB Pages or Groups, Videos, etc to voicescarrryforanimals@aol.com Your more than welcome to come aboard…***
Guests will be: Guests will be: Dr. Michael Greger- Director of Public Health and Animal Welfare & Ashley Rhinehart- Senior Food & Nutrition Manager for the HSUS
Mark Barone, the Artist and Founder of the charity, An Act of Dog, has created a stunning collection of 5500 portraits of shelter dogs, illustrating the approximate number destroyed in shelters, everyday.
Prior to starting this charity, Mark had been an Artist for over 30 years, with his work featured in top art publications, awarded and exhibited throughout America, with much of his work hanging in private and corporation collections all over the World.
An Act of Dog is currently working toward the vision of creating a “Museum of Compassion” which will house these paintings and serve as an interactive, educational center to help promote and develop compassion and positive action, and build a forever fund for animals and the life saving rescue groups
This will be a venue for conferences and “Ted-like” talks on compassion and humane solutions, Music and performances, as well as a learning spot where kids from around the world can come to apply the power of art for social change. As children participate in hands-on workshops and create beautiful products from their own artwork, they’ll be inspired to raise awareness for the animal causes they feel most strongly. They will be encouraged to create campaigns to protect animals such as elephants, gorillas, whales, dolphins, big cats, and any other animals they feel passionately about in addition to dogs and cats. Empathic activism and interactive exercises will lead to the development of more empathic pathways for tomorrow’s compassionate generation.
Funding
Our fund will be generated by your generous donations and by the proceeds from the sale of the beautiful products created from the 5500 portraits and sold around the world.
Guest will be: Robert St Germaine – Author of Animal Sanctuary on Amazon and Animal Rights Advocate
Robert St. Germaine is an animal rights advocate who takes great pride for the animals he calls family. His goal is to create awareness about animal abusers and cause a groundswell of support for tougher animal abuse laws nationwide. Robert is also a avid motorcycle enthusiast that dedicates a large part of his time and effort in supporting our veterans.
Animal Sanctuary Amazon is about a wealthy heiress named Dr. Paula Talbot, who decides one day to use her resources to capture and incarcerate animal abusers on her own private island in the Caribbean.
With the help of her friends and close associates they work together flying around the globe to collect onlly the most heinous animal abusers and brinng them back to face a special kind of justice in series of survival games where the animals have the upper paw.
Check out Robert St. Germaine’s Animal Sanctuary books on http://www.amazon.com and get ready for fast paced, fun adventure as animal abusers are kidnapped and the animals get a chance to get even.
Guest will be: Renee King-Sonnen/ Founder and Board Member of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary
Renee is born and raised in Houston, Texas and is the Founder of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary – she was a dyed in the wool city girl before moving to the Angleton TX Ranch in 2009. She fell in love with all the farm animals and had no idea that her life was about to be forever changed as a result of her husbands ranching business. After witnessing time and time again the baby calves going to the sale barn she became more and more depressed about the business. She drew the line in the sand October 2014, went vegan as a result and dove into researching every farm sanctuary. She contacted every leader in the vegan movement and was determined to do whatever she could to create sanctuary out of what once was a beef cattle ranch on their ranch.
Guest will be: Midge Grinstead- Kansas Senior State Director – The Humane Society of the United States
There are three issues Midge Grinstead has worked on last legislated session: SB 97 was a bad bill allowing human contact with big cats 40 lbs and under and de-listing Clouded Leopards from the dangerous regulated animals act. Midge also worked on an exotic bill to add non-human primates and wolves to the dangerous regulated animals act (HB2737)
The other bill was brought forth from the Dept of Agriculture and updated the Kansas . Pet Animal Act including banning CO chambers, allowing shelters to do mobile adoptions and giving the rescue groups representation on the board as well as many other positive changes for animal welfare like having water available to all animals under the pet animal act. This bill was supported by the Kansas Pet Animal Coalition, large and small animal welfare groups, the Kansas Animal Control Association and many others.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest animal protection organization, rated most effective by our peers. For 60 years, HSUS have celebrated the protection of all animals and confronted all forms of cruelty. HSUS is the nation’s largest provider of hands-on service for animals, caring for more than 100,000 animals each year, and HSUS prevent cruelty to millions more through our advocacy campaigns.
What Constitutes Animal Cruelty? Acts of violence or neglect made against animals are considered animal cruelty. Examples include overt abuse, dog fighting, and being neglected or denied the basic necessities of care, such as food, water, shelter, sanitation, grooming and veterinary care.
Neglect is the failure to provide an animal with the most basic of requirements of food, water, shelter and veterinary care.Neglect is often the result of simple ignorance on the animal owner’s part and is usually handled by requiring the owner to correct the situation. If the problem is not corrected, the animal may be removed from the neglectful person by law enforcement authorities. In some cases, the owner will simply turn the animal over to authorities because they no longer want the responsibility.
Intentional Cruelty is often more shocking and usually an indicator of a serious human behavior problem. Intentional cruelty is when an individual purposely inflicts physical harm or injury on an animal.
The NJSPCA has trained investigators with the authority to arrest and prosecute those individuals who have deliberately maimed, tortured or even killed animals.
Someone who is violent towards animals may be violent towards family members or other people.
Enforcement of Animal Cruelty laws is the primary responsibility of the NJSPCA and it’s investigators. We handle complaints daily in all 21 counties throughout the State.
Many people who witness, or hear about cruelty, are not aware that legal action can be taken to help stop the problem. Companion animals are covered by the State of New Jersey’s animal cruelty laws. Generally, animal cruelty can be divided into two categories: Neglect and Intentional Cruelty:
