GreenWatch

B. McPherson   This past week saw prosecutors in Utah first charge, then drop the charges is what is seen as the first attempt to criminalize someone under the little known Ag-Gag laws being enacted in many states. This incident involved a woman who had heard cruelty stories about a slaughterhouse in Draper City. She went to look for herself, remaining on the road allowance, but could clearly see some of the activity. She was repulsed by what she saw, activated the camera on her cell phone and starting recording. The plant manager ordered her to stop and she refused, stating that she was on public land. Cops were called and they backed up the woman. Later she was charged under the Utah legislation that prohibits the filming of animal abuse of farmed animals. Many of us have seen the videos on PETA ’s site of animals in factory farms living in horrendous conditions. Gratuitous violence against animals from chickens to milk cows has been uncovered. Evidence presented of s...

B. McPherson Never handle turtles The most popular tourist attraction on the Cayman Islands is harboring a dirty secret. The Cayman Turtle Farm has been exposed by the World Society for Protection of Animals for its horrific conditions. High levels of bacteria in the water, skin lesions, deformities and cases of cannibalism were found by investigators. This government operated facility has thousands of endangered green sea turtles in holding ponds. Breeding of the reptiles is done for release into the wild but also to support a demand for turtle meat. Releasing diseased and deformed turtles into the ocean endangers the few that are still surviving wild in the sea. Turtle ponds, not the breeding and meat ponds, are open to the public where interaction with the turtles is allowed. The WSPA noted that in many cases turtles are handled in a way that is distressing to them. Initially the Cayman government discounted the allegations of inhuman treatment of their turtles...