With thanks to Stacey at ‘Our Compass’ for sending this data over – Mark.

 

https://our-compass.org/2020/05/18/happy-cows-and-humane-dairy-ruled-unacceptable/

 

Source Medium

 

We, the complainants (Fairbrother, Kemp, others) welcome the decision made by the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) Appeal Committee regarding the ruling Fair Cape Dairies vs Kemp, Fairbrother, others on 30 April 2020.

The conclusion in the appeal decision makes the order:

 

22.1 The use of the phrases/words “#HappyCows” and “humane” by Fair
Cape in its advertising is in breach of clause 4.1 and 4.2.1 of the Code [of Advertising Practice].

22.2 Fair Cape is instructed to withdraw the phrases/words “#HappyCows” and “humane” from its advertising in accordance with clause 15.3 and 15.5 of the Procedural Guide.

 

We are in agreement with the statement by the ARB Appeal Committee that

 

”In our view, humane treatment means more than freedom from violence, pain and disease; it means treatment characterised by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy. It does not include many of the practices complained of, such as the forced impregnation of cows, the forced separation of calves from their mothers immediately after birth, and the slaughter of male calves thereafter.

It follows then, in our view, that the cows cannot be described as happy, or as humanely treated.”

 

We would like to thank the Advertising Regulator Board for their commitment to fairness and transparency during the course of our complaint and appeal. We also applaud their commitment to responsible and honest advertising. In addition, we would like to thank Animal Law Reform South Africa for their assistance with this matter, including the provision of research, compilation of information and points of issue and review of the Code and documents submitted.

Consumers care about their food choices and many care deeply about animals. For these reasons consumers are increasingly demanding transparency from these industries. To meet these demands it is unfortunate that green-washing and humane-washing advertising techniques are extremely common and heavily on the increase. These advertising techniques are designed to purposely manipulate and exploit the good faith of well meaning consumers.

Fair Cape Dairies has a history of misleading consumers with so-called ‘free-range’ claims and their use of the terms ‘humane’ and ‘#happycows’ in their advertising is no exception. Fair Cape Dairies do not only directly misinform consumers, but they actively conceal many of their practices while creating an illusion of transparency.

Unfortunately, the majority of people in South Africa are not aware of the many horrific standard practices in the dairy industry. The dairy industry thrives in obfuscation. They have an interest in omitting and obscuring the facts about dairy, and it is done through ‘omission and silence and in the presentation of an incomplete and idealised picture’ (¹).

We encourage all those who value truth and justice and who abhor cruelty to animals to investigate the dairy industry and to inform yourselves. This cruelty is not an anomaly, but is standard practice inherent in the industry. To be informed, is to be empowered. When we are informed we can make consumer choices that are authentic and genuinely in line with our values.

We believe we have extensively covered many of these standard practices in our appeal (Section d. Facts and Research). In our appeal we also address many of the claims made by Fair Cape Dairies, we provide multiple facts on the dairy industry, and we provide information on consumer awareness of dairy practices in in South Africa.

While our original complaint was dismissed by the ARB, we felt confident that the ruling had grounds to be challenged and we subsequently submitted an appeal. Our complaint then found itself in front of the ARB Appeals Committee which ruled in our favour.

In our commitment to transparency we have provided all documents relating to the initial complaint, appeal, supporting documents and final rulings, ordered by date below.

 

ARB Ruling Documents

• ARB — Initial Ruling — Fair Cape vs Fairbrother, Kemp, others
• Fair Cape Dairies — 190521 — ARB complaint response

Appeal Documents

• Complainants — ARB Appeal — Fair Cape vs Fairbrother, Kemp, others
• Fair Cape — Appeal Response

Final Ruling Document

• ARB Appeals Committee Decision — Kemp, Others v Fair Cape Dairies

Written by Joanne Fairbrother on behalf of the com

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We don’t want another strategy. We want meaningful change for animals

9 April 2020

 

EurogroupforAnimals

News

 

The European Commission has called on citizens and organisations to take part in an online consultation to gather information and views on the EU Animal Welfare Strategy 2012-2015.

The consultation goes hand-in-hand with the Commission’s evaluation on the strategy, which will assess the extent to which it delivered on its objectives, and whether they are relevant and consistent today. It will also look at efficiency and whether the strategy usefully complements national efforts in this field. This has to be done before any new actions are brought forward.

This evaluation of the Animal Welfare Strategy will inform the actions that come after, so it’s vital that the animal movement contributes its opinion to the consultation with a unified voice, even though we may want to stress different aspects of policy or different priorities.

However, we can all agree on some things. The Animal Welfare Strategy resulted in no demonstrable overall improvement for the welfare of animals. Instead of meaningful progress for animals on the ground, we are left with no ‘foundation’ on which to build, and eight years have passed by in the meantime.

The strategy should serve as a lesson: strategies in themselves don’t lead to anything. We need actions, not words, and we hope that this new Commission will deliver real improvements to the lives of animals through the revision of existing legislation as well as the introduction of new law to adequately protect all species.

 

You can participate in the consultation here.

 

To help you formulate your responses, Eurogroup for Animals has put together some detailed information to help us all come across with a unified voice and call for legislative changes instead of a new strategy.

We trust that the Commission’s evaluation – and the accompanying consultation – will lead to concrete actions focused on the improvement of existing legislation, as well as the introduction of new laws to adequately protect other species.

‘It’s horrible killing cows when you see how they do it,’ admits slaughterhouse worker
‘You see the blood, and they go from being alive to being in pieces’.

A slaughterhouse worker has admitted that killing cows is ‘horrible when you see how they do it’.
The worker made the admission to the “Guardian”, who changed his name to Florin in a bid to retain his anonymity.

He was speaking to the outlet for a report about how meat industry workers in Ireland are seeing high rates of COVID-19 infections.

The report follows news that U.S. slaughterhouses are ‘hotspots’ for outbreaks.

Horrible!

“It’s horrible killing cows, when you see how they do it,” he said.
“They kill it – shoot it, cut the neck, cut the legs. I don’t like it. The cow is slow, an emotional thing. And you see the blood, and they go from being alive to being in pieces. That’s the way. When you see the conditions – it’s a dirty and nasty place, nobody is happy.”

The “Guardian” adds that the ‘ job is repetitive and tough; workers take painkillers to get through their shifts’ and the temperature are kept very low (4°C) to ‘keep the meat free of microbes’.

Slaughterhouse work
Many animal advocates have spoken out about the horrors of working in slaughterhouses.

A piece published in January this year by vegan charity PETA discussed the work.

It said: “Animals are tortured and butchered in slaughterhouses, but they’re not the only ones who suffer. While it may be hard for kind people to feel sympathy for someone who is paid to kill animals, many slaughterhouse employees become mentally unwell, even suicidal, not long after working at the ghastly places”.

And workers often become sick or are injured because of the unsafe and unsanitary working conditions of these gruesome facilities. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) records show that about 17 ‘severe’ accidents occur each month in U.S. slaughterhouses.

“Approximately two slaughterhouse workers have a limb cut off by slaughterhouse machinery each week. It’s not uncommon to hear of workers losing an eye, fracturing their fingers, or suffering from head trauma.”

https://www.plantbasednews.org/culture/horrible-killing-cows-admits-slaughterhouse-worker

 

And I mean…Did I understand it correctly, that we should keep the slaughterhouses alive so that some people can continue to process living “things” into pieces?

Do slaughterhouse workers expect us to feel sorry for those who, unlike animals, have a way of avoiding exploitation and poor working conditions because they can look for another job?
Should we also feel sorry for a matador losing an egg or an eye during bullfighting?

It is the case with such professions that they always have a risk.

We are for animal rights and animals have no unions or associations to defend them.

We wonder what is the purpose of this article.
If it is intended that the “horror” conditions for slaughterhouse workers have priority and should be improved urgently, so that torture and murder in slaughterhouses continue as before, then we can realize a well-known media propaganda for a system that is the most cruel of human history.

Best regards to all, Venus