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5 Pigs Liberated by ALF from Iron Maiden Farm (Owensboro, Kentucky)
2014 Undercover Investigation On Same Farm Discovered 900 Baby Piglets Had Died of Diarrheal Disease and Were Ground Up and Fed Back to Their Mothers
Owensboro, KY: An anonymous communique received by the North American Animal Liberation Press Office has revealed that the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) has recently returned to a notoriously cruel pig farm and liberated 5 pigs from conditions of severe suffering:
Received anonymously:
On the night of September 29th, 5 sick piglets were liberated from Iron Maiden (Hog Farm, 6939 Curdsville Delaware Road Owensboro, KY 42301) near Owensboro, KY. Four have survived and are in good health in a sanctuary that will remain anonymous. The wickedness, stench and cruelty of this prison forced us into action. We feel relieved to have these babies still alive.
None of the ‘Farms’ are impenetrable. But all are hell. Only one notecard Left with ALF in caps
Sows confined in cramped cages known as gestation crates were fed ground up intestines from piglets who had recently succumbed to a highly contagious diarrheal disease, an undercover exposé of Iron Maiden Hog Farm in Owensboro, Kentucky revealed. This investigation, conducted during early 2014 by The Humane Society of the United States, found that more than 900 piglets died from the diarrheal disease in a two-day period. The animals’ intestines were ground up and fed back to their mothers and other sows, a practice prohibited by state law.
Ironically sharing a name with the medieval torture device, Iron Maiden Hog Farm’s practices are harsh and inhumane, resulting in a wide range of health problems for pigs. The investigation at Iron Maiden Hog Farm documented:
· Animals locked in cages so small, they couldn’t even turn around for essentially their entire lives.
· Intestines of piglets who died from severe diarrhea—a highly contagious disease plaguing pig facilities nationwide—were routinely fed back to their mothers and other breeding females.
· Piglets left to die—often suffering for days. Over a 2-3 day period more than 900 piglets died of the highly contagious diarrheal disease;
· Sick and injured sows left without care, including one sow who suffered from an extreme uterine prolapse for nearly two days before finally dying;
· Lame sows – whose hind legs became too weak from strict confinement to support their weight—"hobbled" to keep their legs from splaying. Their legs are bound together so they could stand in their crates. Some sows had tight hobbles on for so long that the rope had cut into their flesh or had grown over the rope hobble.
"The entire atmosphere at this facility is awful for animals, many of whom are perpetually immobilized and suffering from body sores, diarrhea attacks and prolapsed uteruses," said Paul Shapiro, vice president of farm animal protection at The HSUS.
“Routine practices at many hog factories—immobilizing sows for their entire lives, feeding dead pigs to live pigs, denying medical treatment to injured or ailing animals—just don’t sit well with American consumers," added Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. "This industry is long overdue for a major course correction, and we hope this investigation triggers an examination at what’s happening behind closed doors on factory farms.”
Facts
· Studies of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus in Europe have consistently found higher risk of infection in large industrial factory farming operations, compared to smaller farms that raise their pigs outdoors. The diarrheal disease is coursing through U.S. pigs, especially at factory farms, while smaller family farms with higher animal welfare standards typically don’t engage in these practices. Since the outbreak started in the U.S. in April 2013, several million pigs have died from the virus.
· The factory farming practices that led to the emergence and global spread of this virus are the same risky practices that can lead to the emergence of diseases that kill people. Swine flu, which killed thousands of people, is an example of this.
· More than 60 major food companies (PDF) — McDonald’s, Costco, Target and dozens more — have mandated that their pork providers eliminate the crates from within their supply chains. As well, major pork producers including Smithfield, Tyson and Cargill are moving away from gestation crates. Meanwhile, many traditional farmers have avoided gestation crates for generations. These policies signal a reversal in a three-decade-old trend in the pork industry that leaves most breeding pigs confined day and night in gestation crates.
· Kentucky state law prohibits the feeding of dead pigs to pigs. The federal Swine Health Protection Act is intended to prevent the feeding of unsanitary substances to pigs, and The HSUS is urging USDA ban the practice.
Iron Maiden Hog Farm Inc
Phone: (270) 229-0220
Name: Jerry O'brien
Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $1 to 2.5 million and employs a staff of approximately 20 to 49.
Received anonymously:
On the night of September 29th, 5 sick piglets were liberated from Iron Maiden (Hog Farm, 6939 Curdsville Delaware Road Owensboro, KY 42301) near Owensboro, KY. Four have survived and are in good health in a sanctuary that will remain anonymous. The wickedness, stench and cruelty of this prison forced us into action. We feel relieved to have these babies still alive.
None of the ‘Farms’ are impenetrable. But all are hell. Only one notecard Left with ALF in caps
Sows confined in cramped cages known as gestation crates were fed ground up intestines from piglets who had recently succumbed to a highly contagious diarrheal disease, an undercover exposé of Iron Maiden Hog Farm in Owensboro, Kentucky revealed. This investigation, conducted during early 2014 by The Humane Society of the United States, found that more than 900 piglets died from the diarrheal disease in a two-day period. The animals’ intestines were ground up and fed back to their mothers and other sows, a practice prohibited by state law.
Ironically sharing a name with the medieval torture device, Iron Maiden Hog Farm’s practices are harsh and inhumane, resulting in a wide range of health problems for pigs. The investigation at Iron Maiden Hog Farm documented:
· Animals locked in cages so small, they couldn’t even turn around for essentially their entire lives.
· Intestines of piglets who died from severe diarrhea—a highly contagious disease plaguing pig facilities nationwide—were routinely fed back to their mothers and other breeding females.
· Piglets left to die—often suffering for days. Over a 2-3 day period more than 900 piglets died of the highly contagious diarrheal disease;
· Sick and injured sows left without care, including one sow who suffered from an extreme uterine prolapse for nearly two days before finally dying;
· Lame sows – whose hind legs became too weak from strict confinement to support their weight—"hobbled" to keep their legs from splaying. Their legs are bound together so they could stand in their crates. Some sows had tight hobbles on for so long that the rope had cut into their flesh or had grown over the rope hobble.
"The entire atmosphere at this facility is awful for animals, many of whom are perpetually immobilized and suffering from body sores, diarrhea attacks and prolapsed uteruses," said Paul Shapiro, vice president of farm animal protection at The HSUS.
“Routine practices at many hog factories—immobilizing sows for their entire lives, feeding dead pigs to live pigs, denying medical treatment to injured or ailing animals—just don’t sit well with American consumers," added Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. "This industry is long overdue for a major course correction, and we hope this investigation triggers an examination at what’s happening behind closed doors on factory farms.”
Facts
· Studies of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus in Europe have consistently found higher risk of infection in large industrial factory farming operations, compared to smaller farms that raise their pigs outdoors. The diarrheal disease is coursing through U.S. pigs, especially at factory farms, while smaller family farms with higher animal welfare standards typically don’t engage in these practices. Since the outbreak started in the U.S. in April 2013, several million pigs have died from the virus.
· The factory farming practices that led to the emergence and global spread of this virus are the same risky practices that can lead to the emergence of diseases that kill people. Swine flu, which killed thousands of people, is an example of this.
· More than 60 major food companies (PDF) — McDonald’s, Costco, Target and dozens more — have mandated that their pork providers eliminate the crates from within their supply chains. As well, major pork producers including Smithfield, Tyson and Cargill are moving away from gestation crates. Meanwhile, many traditional farmers have avoided gestation crates for generations. These policies signal a reversal in a three-decade-old trend in the pork industry that leaves most breeding pigs confined day and night in gestation crates.
· Kentucky state law prohibits the feeding of dead pigs to pigs. The federal Swine Health Protection Act is intended to prevent the feeding of unsanitary substances to pigs, and The HSUS is urging USDA ban the practice.
Iron Maiden Hog Farm Inc
Phone: (270) 229-0220
Name: Jerry O'brien
Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $1 to 2.5 million and employs a staff of approximately 20 to 49.
For more information:
http://www.animalliberationpressoffice.org/
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No Shortcuts
Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age
Jane F. McAlevey
The crisis of the progressive movement is so evident that nothing less than a fundamental rethinking of its basic assumptions is required. Today's progressives now work for professional organizations more comfortable with the inside game in Washington DC (and capitols throughout the West), where they are outmatched and outspent by corporate interests. Labor unions now focus on the narrowest possible understanding of the interests of their members, and membership continues to decline in lockstep with the narrowing of their goals. Meanwhile, promising movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter lack sufficient power to accomplish meaningful change. Why do progressives in the United States keep losing on so many issues?
In No Shortcuts, Jane McAlevey argues that progressives can win, but lack the organized power to enact significant change, to outlast their bosses in labor fights, and to hold elected leaders accountable. Drawing upon her experience as a scholar and longtime organizer in the student, environmental, and labor movements, McAlevey examines cases from labor unions and social movements to pinpoint the factors that helped them succeed - or fail - to accomplish their intended goals. McAlevey makes a compelling case that the great social movements of previous eras gained their power from mass organizing, a strategy today's progressives have mostly abandoned in favor of shallow mobilization or advocacy. She ultimately concludes that, in order to win, progressive movements need strong unions built from bottom-up organizing strategies that place the power for change in the hands of workers and ordinary people at the community level. Beyond the concrete examples in this book, McAlevey's arguments have direct implications for anyone involved in organizing for social change. Much more than cogent analysis, No Shortcuts explains exactly how progressives can go about rebuilding powerful movements at work, in our communities, and at the ballot box.
https://www.alternet.org/labor/no-short-cuts
Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age
Jane F. McAlevey
The crisis of the progressive movement is so evident that nothing less than a fundamental rethinking of its basic assumptions is required. Today's progressives now work for professional organizations more comfortable with the inside game in Washington DC (and capitols throughout the West), where they are outmatched and outspent by corporate interests. Labor unions now focus on the narrowest possible understanding of the interests of their members, and membership continues to decline in lockstep with the narrowing of their goals. Meanwhile, promising movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter lack sufficient power to accomplish meaningful change. Why do progressives in the United States keep losing on so many issues?
In No Shortcuts, Jane McAlevey argues that progressives can win, but lack the organized power to enact significant change, to outlast their bosses in labor fights, and to hold elected leaders accountable. Drawing upon her experience as a scholar and longtime organizer in the student, environmental, and labor movements, McAlevey examines cases from labor unions and social movements to pinpoint the factors that helped them succeed - or fail - to accomplish their intended goals. McAlevey makes a compelling case that the great social movements of previous eras gained their power from mass organizing, a strategy today's progressives have mostly abandoned in favor of shallow mobilization or advocacy. She ultimately concludes that, in order to win, progressive movements need strong unions built from bottom-up organizing strategies that place the power for change in the hands of workers and ordinary people at the community level. Beyond the concrete examples in this book, McAlevey's arguments have direct implications for anyone involved in organizing for social change. Much more than cogent analysis, No Shortcuts explains exactly how progressives can go about rebuilding powerful movements at work, in our communities, and at the ballot box.
https://www.alternet.org/labor/no-short-cuts
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