farmed animal intelligence being discussed

(Note: I have a tip from PETA, telling us that ABC World News Tonight is planning on covering the Lincoln Park Zoo elephant deaths, tonight, Monday May 16. Watch if you can - it airs at 6:30 in most US markets -- and please thank the show.)

On Saturday, May 14, ABC World News Tonight aired a terrific piece on farmed animal intelligence. (The same segment aired on SBS in Australia on Sunday, May 16.) I will paste the transcript below, though the transcript does not have the impact of the video, on which we saw sheep making selections from computer screens and pigs playing video games. The piece discussed vegetarianism, mentioning that Jane Goodall is vegetarian. She told viewers we should all eat less meat, and a farmer said that animals must be treated with compassion. The story's weakness was a lack of footage showing how farm animals are generally treated now -- the kind of images you will find on http://www.FactoryFarming.com

Please thank the station for airing the terrific piece. On accepting a Genesis Award a few years ago, one of the ABC producers let us know how much feedback matters. The email address is NETAUDR [at] abc.com . "WORLD NEWS TONIGHT" must go in the 'subject' line.

Aussies can thank SBS. The SBS website advises "We appreciate your feedback and comments. The address for comments is: comments [at] sbs.com.au "

Here is the transcript from the segment, which aired Saturday, May 14, on ABC World News Tonight:

STORY: BARNYARD BRAINS
NEW RESEARCH ON FARM ANIMALS
[CORR: DAVID WRIGHT]
[CORLOC: BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND]
[1]18:55:37 BOB WOODRUFF (ABC NEWS)
(OC) Finally tonight, if you could talk to the animals would they have anything to say? Well, new research suggests that they might. ABC’s David Wright reports tonight from Berkshire, England, on brain power in the barnyard.
[1]18:55:51 DAVID WRIGHT (ABC NEWS)
(VO) Testing the IQ of a sheep may seem laughable. But at the Babraham Institute, they know better. Sheep number 26 gets a reward every time she recognizes a face correctly. Her score, 50 out of 50.
[1]18:56:12 KEITH KENDRICK (NEUROLOGIST, BABRAHAM INSTITUTE)
If it was a monkey, no one would have any, any problems, possibly even if it was a dog. They would say, yeah, yeah, that’s -you know, expected. But a sheep, no one really believes.
[1]18:56:21 DAVID WRIGHT (ABC NEWS)
(VO) This joystick was designed for chimps but Hamlet, the pig, is a computer wiz. He gets a reward every time he moves the cursor into the blue area. A Jack Russell terrier couldn’t achieve this task after a year of trying. In other words, pigs are smarter than dogs.
[1]18:56:43 PROFESSOR JOHN WEBSTER (UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL)
They’re very curious and they’ll charge off on their own. And they will investigate the world with their noses down and batter through like a small boy.
[1]18:56:50 DAVID WRIGHT (ABC NEWS)
(VO) New research shows that chickens can be taught to run the thermostat of the chicken coop. And that even the lowly cow has a surprising inner life. Cows have been known to form life-long friendships. And one recent study found that they actually show excitement when they’ve learned something new.
[1]18:57:09 PROFESSOR DONALD BROOM (UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE)
As if they’re saying, eureka, I found out how to solve the problem.
[1]18:57:13 DAVID WRIGHT (ABC NEWS)
(VO) If farm animals are intelligent creatures, that has some uncomfortable implications.
[1]18:57:19 DAVID WRIGHT (ABC NEWS)
(OC) Should we all be vegetarians?
[1]18:57:21 DOCTOR JANE GOODALL (ANIMAL RESEARCHER)
We should eat less meat.
[1]18:57:24 DAVID WRIGHT (ABC NEWS)
(VO) Dr. Jane Goodall, who pioneered research on chimpanzees, is a vegetarian.
[1]18:57:29 DOCTOR JANE GOODALL (ANIMAL RESEARCHER)
I stopped eating meat as soon as I began to really think about it. People actually don’t think about it.
[1]18:57:35 DAVID WRIGHT (ABC NEWS)
(VO) John Redmore disagrees. He runs an organic farm in England
[1]18:57:41 JOHN REDMORE (FARMER)
We’ve been eating meat since we’ve managed to stand on hind legs. And so, a natural part of being human is to eat meat.
[1]18:57:46 DAVID WRIGHT (ABC NEWS)
(OC) Even if they’re smart?
[1]18:57:48 JOHN REDMORE (FARMER)
Yeah. They’d eat us.
[1]18:57:51 DAVID WRIGHT (ABC NEWS)
(VO) But he says, it does mean that farm animals should be treated with compassion. After all, the research shows they may be able to recognize it. David Wright, ABC News, Berkshire, England.
[1]18:58:04 BOB WOODRUFF (ABC NEWS)
(OC) Food for thought, I guess. So to speak. That’s “World News Tonight” this Saturday. Tomorrow on the broadcast, millions of people fighting cancer one yellow bracelet at a time. I’m Bob Woodruff. For all of us here at ABC News, have a good evening, good night.


(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)