Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Peta to protest at Kosherfest

The Rubashkins better get good bodyguards:

Peta.org press release:

Holding signs that read, "Cruelty Is Treif: Boycott AgriProcessors," PETA members and supporters will protest against AgriProcessors, the world’s largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse, at Kosherfest on Tuesday. One person wearing a body screen TV will show graphic undercover footage of the mutilation of conscious cows who writhe in agony in pools of their own blood while other activists hand out leaflets to conferencegoers:
Date: Tuesday, November 15Time: 11:30 a.m.Place: Kosherfest, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 W. 34th St.


What’s PETA’s beef with AgriProcessors? An undercover investigation at the company’s Postville, Iowa, plant last year found that workers were shocking cows in the face with electric prods, ripping their tracheas and esophagi out of their throats while the cows were still conscious, and then dumping the animals onto a concrete floor, where they stumbled and tried to get up as blood poured from their throats. According to every scientific expert who commented on the video, many of the animals were still conscious when they were hoisted by one leg and moved to another chamber to be decapitated.
The Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act requires that cattle be "rendered insensible to pain" before they are shackled, hoisted, or cut but recognizes properly performed kosher slaughter as humane. According to the Orthodox Union, kosher law requires that the "trachea and esophagus of the animal are severed with a special razor-sharp, perfectly smooth blade, causing instantaneous death with no pain to the animal."
Rabbi David Rosen, the former chief rabbi of Ireland, called the abuse a "flagrant violation of Jewish halachic (religious legal) requirements." Rabbi Barry Schwartz, who sits on the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ Task Force on Kashrut, asserted, "The suffering of these animals during slaughter is sickening. Death is neither quick nor merciful."
"There’s nothing ‘kosher’ about torturing animals," says PETA campaigner Benjamin Goldsmith. "If you’re buying or eating meat, you’re supporting cruelty to animals—no matter what assurances you have been given by the government, the meat industry, or religious authorities. What we found at AgriProcessors was the worst of the worst, so we’re urging retailers and consumers to boycott AgriProcessors."
Broadcast-quality footage of animal slaughter at AgriProcessors is available. For more information and to view the video footage, please visit PETA’s Web site
GoVeg.com.

Enjoy your tasty chicken tonight.
posted by Yeshiva Orthodoxy
at 2:11 PM

4 Comments:

Blogger heebnvegan said...

You highlighted "worst of the worst" and seemed to acknowledge horrendous cruelty to animals, but still make a snide remark about supporting this company and its cruel practices? It's hard to deny, as PETA says, that "cruelty is treif"--that we MUST avoid causing egregious, unnecessary animal suffering (tsa'ar ba'alei chayim).

I think FailedMessiah.com did a great job with its post, essentially saying watch the footage and decide for yourself.

And if you haven't seen the footage yet, please do watch:

http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/video.asp

6:57 PM  
Blogger Yeshiva Orthodoxy said...

Cruelty to animals is againstthe halacha.
Peta is against humans.

1:18 PM  
Blogger heebnvegan said...

It's "against humans" to point out when something is against halacha if a company conceals it and the OU doesn't make a fuss?

9:37 PM  
Blogger Yeshiva Orthodoxy said...

People would take them seriously if it were not for the fact that PETA makes no distinction beetween humans and animals.

12:51 AM  

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