New York Times: U.S. Research Lab Lets Livestock Suffer in Quest for Profit

[phesina]

Some reader response to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/op...-meat-lab.html

[phesina]

An editorial in today's paper: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/op...onscience.html

Who decides the funding for this horror show travesty? Senate? House? Dept. of Agriculture? Elsewhere? What organization/persons do we contact with our outrage?

[Lady's Human]

An editorial in today's paper: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/op...onscience.html

Who decides the funding for this horror show travesty? Senate? House? Dept. of Agriculture? Elsewhere? What organization/persons do we contact with our outrage?

The funding is decided in the budget, and would be a part of the Ag department budget.

Killing this, however, will likely be a tough row to hoe, particularly with the makeup of the current Congress. I'd start by finding out which committees your rep and senators sit on. If any of them are on the federal oversight committee, they might be able to help.

[phesina]

Thank you, LH!

I just discovered that Michigan's Senator Debbie Stabenow is the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

And our new Senator Gary Peters is a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, "the chief oversight committee of the U.S. Senate."

As for the House, no such luck with the Committee on Agriculture or the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

[Lady's Human]

You will probably have better luck in the Senate, as the republicans in the house would be aghast at cutting an Ag department item. The ranking House Republicans are largely from the midwest, and would be disproportionately friendly to Ag programs.

[phesina]

There are a couple of Michigan reps on the House Agriculture Committee, both Republicans, one according to his biography "...an avid hunter and fisherman and a proud member of the NRA and the GOA." GOA is Gun Owners of America.

Somehow I doubt he'd care too much about farm animals being tortured for "research."

[Bonny]

At the very end of the article it mentions a mistake in the article that twins & embryo's were not the goal but the number of eggs the artificial breeding would produce. In swine breeding it is called flushing. It looks like they don't have enough help or aren't paying attention to whatever breeding program they have decided to try. Government as usual stupid people in charge of something they don't know anything about. Which in turn makes farmers & ranchers look bad.

[Lady's Human]

There are a couple of Michigan reps on the House Agriculture Committee, both Republicans, one according to his biography "...an avid hunter and fisherman and a proud member of the NRA and the GOA." GOA is Gun Owners of America.

Somehow I doubt he'd care too much about farm animals being tortured for "research."

I think most hunters would beg to differ. Hunting and gun ownership does not equate to abuse. Most (not all...) hunters are excellent stewards of nature and hate to see animals suffering.

[lizbud]

There are a couple of Michigan reps on the House Agriculture Committee, both Republicans, one according to his biography "...an avid hunter and fisherman and a proud member of the NRA and the GOA." GOA is Gun Owners of America.

Somehow I doubt he'd care too much about farm animals being tortured for "research."

Pat, Read a little bit of good news today in this article.

https://www.thedodo.com/meat-experim...973646124.html