Accident at Fearmans Slaughterhouse Involving Pig Transport Truck

[Speaker 1]

This is Benjamin, Jane. We are live from Canada, where hundreds of pigs have just been involved in a crash. Jenny McQueen, leading activist, along with Benjamin Pitigan, another leading activist.

 

Tell us what happened, Jenny.

 

[Speaker 2]

You know, we were just at a vigil with Toronto Pig Save. We just heard a beautifully moving poem about Regan Russell, who died in this exact spot. And then next minute, there’s a massive crash.

 

And we look behind us, and there’s a truck full of screaming pigs that had crashed into a small red car. So we immediately called EMS, and we had fire, we had ambulance, we had police here. You can see the tape behind me.

 

[Speaker 1]

Well, tell me more about the reaction of the pigs.

 

[Speaker 4]

Yeah, the pigs were screaming. We could hear they were, for example, one of the pigs claws was in the hole. It was horrible.

 

And pigs were here for about two hours without water, without any help. The only thing that the law enforcement was worried about was how to get about the injuries to the humans, to the cars and trucks. There was no compassion, empathy whatsoever towards the pigs.

 

There was nothing.

 

[Speaker 2]

Well, I spoke to the fireman, and he said, you know, we have strict instructions not to give anything to the pigs from the slaughterhouse. And I said to them, why are you listening to a slaughterhouse whose job it is to kill them anyway? And I asked, like, what is better death?

 

The pigs are going to die screaming, being lowered into a gas chamber, or they’re going to die of heat stroke right here on the truck. What would you prefer?

 

[Speaker 20]

What did he say?

 

[Speaker 2]

He says I can’t answer that question. He said, oh, I can’t answer that question. And I said to him, as an individual, you have an answer to that.

 

You deal in life and death all the time. Can you not consider the death of these animals?

 

[Speaker 1]

So what’s the situation there now? We’re looking at footage that you shot shortly after the crash. What happened to the pigs?

 

[Speaker 2]

Unfortunately, as we knew would happen, they were loaded up using another truck, and they were taken off to be gassed inside right behind us at this slaughterhouse. I actually have Mark Powell here as well with us. He drove down when he heard about the crash.

 

This is Regan Russell’s partner.

 

[Speaker 1]

Go ahead. Tell us, sir, what your reaction is.

 

[Speaker 3]

Well, it’s in many parts, of course, revisiting the spot where there’s been an accident involving a truck. Fortunately, it didn’t involve an activist getting killed today, but it does show you some of the recklessness, I think, of this spot for truckers. He was turning from the outside lane, as he did when Regan was killed, and a car happened to come up on his inside lane.

 

Stuff happens. But it is, unfortunately, when the authorities arrived, they paid more attention to the vehicles, getting them looked after and out of the way, and did nothing. Ironically, one of the fire trucks was a pumper.

 

He had thousands of gallons of water on his truck, and we had thirsty pigs only about ten feet away. And our cries for compassion were ignored. Just open the hose gently.

 

Let’s give these animals some comfort. They are going to slaughter. We all know that.

 

But you cannot just stand here and let them scream and suffer without feeling it in your bones and do something. It was horrible to see that.

 

[Speaker 1]

And these pigs, are they still alive now, or have they been killed?

 

[Speaker 3]

Well, we’re sure they’ve entered the system.

 

[Speaker 2]

I think they’ll be dead by now, Jane. Either now or they’re going to be dead.

 

[Speaker 3]

Yeah, today.

 

[Speaker 1]

Now, let me tell you that this is breaking news. We’re covering this as it happens. I’m in Los Angeles at Unchained TV headquarters.

 

The folks you’re listening to are in Canada. How far is this outside of Toronto? We’re about an hour outside of Toronto.

 

[Speaker 2]

This is the local slaughterhouse for us where we come and we bear witness. So we were here today bearing witness to hundreds upon hundreds of pigs being driven to their death in Burlington, Ontario, which is in Canada. And we know that, you know, today is a hot day and they are really, really struggling inside.

 

They’re screaming inside and then having them traumatized by a big crash and then having them just, you know, suffering inside there in the heat for two days, just suffering for sorry, two hours, just suffering and screaming in right front of us.

 

[Speaker 1]

Well we’ve just gotten the footage with sound of the interactions. This is coming in as we speak. This is breaking news.

 

Let’s play it. This is video the activists sent us and it’s about two minutes. We’ll take you right there to the crash and we’ll talk about it on the other side.

 

[Speaker 8]

At least at least one six month old pig, that’s what they deserve. These pigs are suffering right now. They are hot.

 

They are screaming. They need water. Yes.

 

Yes. Please. Let us give these pigs some water.

 

[Speaker 2]

That’s the driver.

 

[Speaker 8]

Just because you’re about to slaughter them doesn’t mean they need to suffer right now.

 

[Speaker 2]

They changed his cap to a red one and now he’s got a buddy with him.

 

[Speaker 1]

A little bit of water would be a long, a long way. So please show some compassion for the pigs and we can bring them some water.

 

[Speaker 15]

We really want to give them some water.

 

[Speaker 9]

If we do give them water, they can’t process the pigs. But if we give them water from here, then they’re garbage. They have to incinerate.

 

They can’t process the pigs. When we realize they’re going to be processed anyway, we can’t stop that.

 

[Speaker 12]

We can make sure that they’re alive. At the right moment.

 

[Speaker 9]

We can’t give them anything.

 

[Speaker 12]

But you’re a fire driver.

 

[Speaker 9]

We can’t give them anything.

 

[Speaker 12]

But can we talk to the slaughterhouse cleaner? You can talk to anybody.

 

[Speaker 9]

But if you give them water, they cannot process them. Can we hear from them?

 

[Speaker 15]

So they’ll incinerate them.

 

[Speaker 9]

You can believe me. Yeah. I mean, that’s true.

 

Yeah, we’ve done this before at this location. It’s just sad. It’s not right.

 

I don’t disagree with you. Sure. But if we give them water, then they incinerate them.

 

[Speaker 12]

Well, we’ve given them water before and they’ve processed them. Like, I was charged for giving water and they’ve still killed the pigs. If you just stay behind the line, we’ll take care of the rest.

 

In the court case, they did that. They still gave water. They still killed the pigs.

 

I appreciate your compassion.

 

[Speaker 15]

They’re okay.

 

[Speaker 12]

They’re not okay.

 

[Speaker 15]

They’re not great for you either.

 

[Speaker 1]

All right. Wow. As one of the viewers said, poor babies.

 

As activist Patty Schenker just said, animals run no risk of going to hell. They are there already. A quote from Victor Hugo.

 

So, Jenny, you are an amazing activist who has risked arrest many times. The idea that they need water, what exactly did the firefighters say about if you give them water, they’re trash, quote, they’re going to have to be incinerated? What is he talking about?

 

[Speaker 2]

I was telling the firefighter that myself. The firefighters did not react with any language of that. That way, they just refused to give us any hints of any compassion.

 

They were doing their job, but their job didn’t include any of the suffering animals. You know, we have international activists with us here today as well. Benjamin is here as part of the AVA conference that we just had.

 

[Speaker 1]

Benjamin, what’s your reaction to how the police and the firefighters handled this?

 

[Speaker 4]

I have it in my T-shirt.

 

[Speaker 1]

Can you read it? Oh, yes. Exactly.

 

Come closer. Yes. Is it any better in Finland?

 

It’s all the same shit, you know. Yeah.

 

[Speaker 4]

Yes.

 

[Speaker 2]

We actually have a slaughterhouse truck.

 

[Speaker 4]

What? In the back, we see a slaughterhouse.

 

[Speaker 2]

A slaughterhouse truck is exiting the slaughterhouse behind us. You can just see it behind us. This is…

 

The reality. It’s the reality. Yes.

 

[Speaker 1]

Yes. The reality. The truck is coming out empty.

 

Is that the truck that was involved in the crash?

 

[Speaker 2]

No. The truck that was involved in the crash just left a few minutes behind us with the same driver in. So the driver is not arrested for animal cruelty.

 

They’re not given breathalyzers. They’re just… They can just leave.

 

You know, meanwhile, the pigs are killed and the pigs have suffered for hours.

 

[Speaker 1]

So the point is that it compounded their suffering. For those of us just joining us, the breaking news is that in Canada, about an hour outside of Toronto, there was a car crash outside a slaughterhouse involving pigs. And there was a red car.

 

There you see it. The red car that was involved in the crash with the pig truck. But that meant that those pigs who are headed to slaughter have to sit there for hours in the heat.

 

The pigs, hundreds of pigs are inside that truck and they’re getting no water and they’re already thirsty. So the activists had said, oh, my gosh, at least see their snouts. You see their snouts poking out.

 

The activists were saying, at least give them some water. And the firefighters said, you just heard it on camera. If you give them water, they’re, quote, trash.

 

If you give them water, they will be incinerated. I still don’t understand that. Why would they be incinerated?

 

[Speaker 2]

Jane, I don’t want to be criticizing our first responders. I really don’t believe that they would have said that. We were telling them that they were going to be killed in a few minutes.

 

The reason why they didn’t give them any water is they were, for some stupid reason, listening to the instructions from the slaughterhouse, which is right behind us, strict instructions not to give them water from the slaughterhouse.

 

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, so when he said they’re trash, he meant they can’t be killed for food. So your opinion, or what you think, is that the slaughterhouse has said if any activists give pigs water, they are not going to be killed for food anymore. Is that your understanding?

 

That could be correct, yes. We don’t know, and I have to say, I invite firemen on any time. This is a breaking news story.

 

The information is just coming in. But suffice it to say that the firefighters said don’t give the pigs water. Is that the bottom line or not?

 

The slaughterhouse said don’t give the pigs water. Okay. So, and they were there for an additional how many hours due to the crash?

 

They were there for two hours.

 

[Speaker 2]

Two hours. Screaming the whole time. And we could see them struggling inside, trying to climb over each other, putting their snouts out of the holes in the truck.

 

It was just absolutely heartbreaking.

 

[Speaker 3]

As it was almost nine years ago during the truck rollover. And I was there to witness, so was Regan, the slaughterhouse staff, a boss from the And the police obeyed.

 

[Speaker 2]

I was wrong.

 

[Speaker 3]

I called them out on it. There’s a video of me calling them out that the slaughterhouse was instructing police to do certain things on their behalf to get those animals into the slaughterhouse.

 

[Speaker 1]

And again, we invite firemen on any time. This is a breaking news story. Mark Powell, I know this must be very difficult for you.

 

I’m going to play just a little bit of, present one of the many videos that have been done on your ex-wife, your former partner, who died tragically at that very location. Let’s listen to a little bit of a documentary regarding the death of Regan Russell. Thanks for asking.

 

[Speaker 5]

Please don’t ask me. Fucking truck hit her.

 

[Speaker 16]

Jesus. Oh, he just heard him. There’s a truck right there.

 

[Speaker 5]

There’s a truck coming in.

 

[Speaker 1]

There’s an officer conducting an investigation. Regan was there telling the truth about what really happens to these animals. And she was killed as a result.

 

[Speaker 14]

The industry here is very powerful. And it will stop at nothing to make sure that people can’t see the horrific conditions that animals are enduring.

 

[Speaker 20]

The government says it’s trying to protect farmers and animals from trespassers.

 

[Speaker 17]

Bill 156 is a pro-agriculture act. It essentially stops protesters and extremists from giving water to the pigs like we see down here every couple days.

 

[Speaker 13]

Who wants to put up with that harassment and get hassled? Look at this.

 

[Speaker 7]

These people here are illegally watering, touching, and stopping and interfering with the truck. They just want us out of the way. The police want us out of the way.

 

The politicians want us out of the way.

 

[Speaker 1]

Movements have murders. That’s the way it goes.

 

[Speaker 19]

This is a moment that is going to reverberate across the whole world. And it has.

 

[Speaker 21]

What’s your name? Regan. Beautiful activist trying to give water to the pigs.

 

[Speaker 10]

Animal Save Movement is an umbrella of groups around the world. And what we do is we go to slaughterhouses and we bear witness to animals. Oh my God.

 

[Speaker 7]

These animals are suffering. And one of the important things is to acknowledge that they exist.

 

[Speaker 10]

So what we do is we stop the trucks in the entrance. And then we ask for two minutes to be able to give them water, compassion.

 

[Speaker 7]

And over the years, these truckers understand what we’re doing.

 

[Speaker 10]

Two minutes!

 

[Speaker 7]

Regardless of if they agree with us or not, they know why we’re there.

 

[Speaker 16]

They have cuts all over them. They’re bleeding. I’ve seen ones with open infections.

 

We’ve seen pigs pass out from heat exhaustion.

 

[Speaker 13]

It’s a living, breathing nightmare for the animals.

 

[Speaker 7]

And the one threat that’s always there is that they’re terrified. And then we move out of the way of the truck and the truck goes into the slaughterhouse.

 

[Speaker 10]

If you look online or if you look in the commercials, it’s all these happy animals, loving their lives, but that’s not the reality.

 

[Speaker 8]

I didn’t know that that’s how they lived. How would I know, really? Until somebody goes in and exposes it.

 

It is shocking.

 

[Speaker 11]

So I come every Sunday of the year. And Regan wanted the public to see this. She wanted to do all that she could.

 

She was willing to put her own freedom at risk. People say we’re breaking the law by starving.

 

[Speaker 8]

How do you think women have the right? How do you think slavery was abolished? People stood up and broke the laws.

 

You’re stupid. You’re stupid laws. This is my dad.

 

[Speaker 13]

We’ve known each other most of our lives. We have been a couple for the last 19 years. I would attend protests with her or rallies.

 

She liked to know that I had her back.

 

[Speaker 7]

It was all about justice for Regan. She knew what was right.

 

[Speaker 11]

And she was basically saying, when anyone is suffering, you just do what’s right.

 

[Speaker 15]

This is what’s right. This is what’s not going on. It’s horrible suffering.

 

It’s cruelty. It’s trespassing.

 

[Speaker 7]

That’s kind of her in a nutshell. She said, if they arrest me, then I’m going to get the story told.

 

[Speaker 8]

It’s private property. How do we know what they’re doing in there? Except that we get video footage of it.

 

They won’t let us in. Because they know they’re doing this wrong.

 

[Speaker 18]

The Ontario government is looking to strengthen laws that shield farmers from animal rights activists. The government says it’s trying to protect farmers and animals from trespassers.

 

[Speaker 11]

We’re devastated about Bill 156. They’re trying to criminalize whistleblowers.

 

[Speaker 1]

These ag-gag bills keep popping up all over the United States and Canada as the industry tries to silence its critics and tries to hide the truth.

 

[Speaker 14]

One of the only chances that the public has to see the conditions that animals are in is during transport.

 

[Speaker 4]

We have to soon head out. Jane, are you hearing us?

 

[Speaker 2]

Hey Jane, we all have to unfortunately leave.

 

[Speaker 4]

We don’t hear you now.

 

[Speaker 2]

I’m here, I’m here. I know you have to go. We have to leave now.

 

Thank you so much for covering this.

 

[Speaker 1]

Final thoughts, Mark, that this happened at the same location where Regan Russell was killed. Before you go, just give us your final thoughts. As you were seen in that documentary, talking about helping her bear witness at that exact location where the pigs and the car crash occurred today.

 

[Speaker 3]

Well, final thoughts are really, it’s always hard to visit this spot, to be here. And I do it quietly on my own often. Today, fortunately, there were many people here to witness what happened.

 

And it really just shows the lack of efforts on the industry and the local community, the city and the police, to make some changes here. To make this whole thing happen. It’s going to happen.

 

We’re on the other side. We’re trying to stop it. But if it’s going to happen, how can we make it happen better?

 

While this is going on in the world, we shouldn’t have incidents like today.

 

[Speaker 1]

Thank you so much, everybody. Thank you, Ben. Thank you, Michael.

 

Thank you, Jenny. You guys are amazing activists. Really appreciate you bringing us this breaking news live of a crash involving hundreds of pigs.

 

Thank you. And we’ll talk to you soon.

 

[Speaker 15]

Thank you, James.

 

[Speaker 1]

Yes, absolutely. Thank you. Thanks, Ben.

 

All right. Well, you heard it there. We literally just went live because we heard about this happening.

 

And we brought you the news. So I’m going to recap exactly what we understand happened. Remember that when breaking news occurs, we don’t have all the information.

 

But we have some footage here. We got word that at a pig, a very, you might say infamous, because there was a death there, a death of a woman, Regan Russell. You just saw that.

 

Pig slaughterhouse about an hour, hour and a half outside Toronto, Canada. There was a crash involving this red car and the pig truck that you’re looking at right here. Hundreds and hundreds of pigs, and you see their snouts, were inside that truck.

 

And they had to remain there for a couple of hours at least as the firefighters and law enforcement arrived to investigate the crash. And so what the activists wanted was for water to be given to those pigs. They are terrified.

 

They are tired. They are hungry. They are confused.

 

And they’re babies. By the way, most pigs are killed at the age of approximately six months. And so the firefighter and the activists made a point of saying, don’t blame the firefighter.

 

He’s only the messenger. Said no, that they couldn’t give water to the pigs. And so this is one of the key points in the Animal Save movement, bearing witness.

 

The bearing witness part is that when you see suffering, you have a moral obligation to get closer, see if you can help, and even if you can’t help, to bear witness. But if you can help by giving water, then you do that. You give water.

 

And so the activists who were there already, they were there on the scene having a vigil, which is what they do religiously, and they were not allowed to give water to these pigs, according to what I see. And again, we invite Fearman’s, the Pig Slaughterhouse, on any time to comment on any of this. And the sad irony is that this is the exact same spot where Regan Russell was killed.

 

You saw a documentary that we played that is streaming on Unchained TV about Regan Russell’s life and death that we played a few minutes of just moments ago, and all you have to do is go to Unchained TV and put in Regan Russell, and three documentaries will pop up about that very, very tragic death at the same location as what happened today. So this is something you should share out because, and yes, thank you for covering it. Thank you for all the activists who texted me.

 

I woke up this morning to many, many texts. There’s a crash involving pigs. So we just went live here at Unchained TV to try to bring you the very latest, which is what we do, trying to cover the animal rights movement in real time, documenting a living history.

 

Sometimes it’s a little rough around the edges as breaking news is. You can imagine even with giant networks, with hundreds, even thousands of people, when they cover breaking news, it’s a little rough around the edges. We’re a much smaller staff than those major news organizations, but we are a legitimate news organization that brings you the news from a perspective of the animals along with the humans.

 

So when those news reports happen about a crash involving pigs, rarely do they talk about the suffering of the pigs who are also victims, double victims. They’re the victims of the crash and then they’re about to be killed. The pigs that we’re talking about now that were in that crash are likely dead already.

 

So the truck came out empty. They’re likely dead already. So I urge everyone to share this video out.

 

Also share out other videos on Unchained TV about the life of Regan Russell, about the Animal Save Movement, which has hundreds and hundreds of vigils around the world at slaughterhouses globally. If you can’t bring yourself to watch video of pigs in a truck going to slaughter, then please do not eat animals. In fact, no matter what, don’t eat animals.

 

You see the intense suffering. In tears watching this from the UK, thank you for bearing witness of animals suffering on their first and last journey. That’s a very good point.

 

This is the first time they’ve ever smelt the fresh air and been out of the industrial situation. And then it’s a ride to the slaughterhouse. And the conditions of pigs in general in factory farming are horrific, absolutely horrific.

 

Pigs are often, not always, because of Prop 12 in California, which they’re trying to get rid of, but pigs are often kept in crates the size of their bodies, unable to turn around. And these are called pig gestation crates. This is truly, truly, truly awful.

 

By the way, California, which is either the fourth or the fifth largest economy in the world, depending on the day of the week, passed something called Prop 12, which banned pig gestation crates. And as a result of that, a lot of these crates went away. Well, now the pig industry is trying to bring the pig gestation crates back.

 

So if you’re watching this and this upsets you, call your US senators and say, defeat the Save Our Bacon Act. And call any US senator. It doesn’t have to be from your own state because they’re trying to wipe out all state laws protecting animals in factory farm situations.

 

So we’ve been doing call-ins to all the senators at these states, and you can call any state. We’ve had live call-ins already several times here on Unchained TV to urge people. If you do nothing else, call your senators and say, defeat the Save Our Bacon Act.

 

All you have to do is call the Capitol Switchboard, and I may have the number right here, and just tell them, and the Capitol Switchboard is very easy to find, and just say, name any senator, and they will connect you. And you just say, defeat the Save Our Bacon Act. We are for states’ rights, and we do not want to have pigs in gestation crates.

 

It doesn’t matter what political party you’re from, this is a moral atrocity. And the truth is, all the factory farming of animals is a moral atrocity. If you purchase the products, you are contributing to the moral atrocity.

 

You are participating in the moral atrocity of industrialized animal production in the 21st century, which is a moral atrocity. So anybody who’s watching this, share it out. Maybe somebody who’s still eating bacon, or ham, or pastrami, or deli slices, will look at this.

 

By the way, processed meat is officially cancer-causing. So while we’re killing them, they’re killing us. And if somebody sees this and has a moment of moral clarity, maybe they’ll stop eating these animals.

 

Because here’s the problem. Americans eat 66.18 pounds of pork per capita yearly. I don’t even say pork anymore, I say pig.

 

The average American eats more than 66 pounds of a pig every year. This is the problem. It’s a consumer issue at the end of the day.

 

All the stuff we saw today with the horrors of this car crash at the slaughterhouse, which we brought you live as it happened, none of that would be happening if people didn’t eat pigs. So that’s the bottom line. It’s a consumer issue.

 

I have attended many vigils here in Los Angeles when there was a massive slaughterhouse, pig slaughterhouse here in Los Angeles called the Smithfield Slaughterhouse. By the way, Smithfield is a Chinese-owned company. This is another thing that we have to keep in mind.

 

The largest pig producer in the world is a Chinese-owned company, and yet US senators and the House passed the Save Our Bacon Act already. So the only line in the sand to stop it are US senators. Why on earth would they follow the mandate of a Chinese-owned company?

 

Because many US farmers have given up pig gestation crates already. So you just got to follow the money when it comes to that. So anyway, those are some of the issues.

 

If you’re watching this, if you’re horrified, this week, and you can start now, because the breaking news is that… Oh, thank you. Annie Abram is here.

 

She’s an amazing activist. She just gave me the number to call. I’m going to put it up right now.

 

202-224-3121. 202. This is the US Capitol.

 

This is the US Capitol building. If there’s anything to come out of this horror that happened today with this car crash in Canada and all these pigs sitting in the heat for two hours before they go in to get killed, and they’re probably all dead already because the truck that carried them in came out empty, you can call… If that upsets you, if you think that’s a moral atrocity, which I hope you do, you can call this number.

 

Let me edit it so it’s correct. Here’s the number. I’m going to do it right now.

 

Give me one second. Here we go. Yes.

 

202-224-3121. 202. Write it down, people.

 

202-224-3121. 202-224-3121. Write it down and start calling the US Capitol.

 

And you can leave a voicemail. You can call at four in the morning. It doesn’t matter.

 

You’re unlikely to get a human being. We have called so many times. We have talked to people.

 

That’s, of course, the best. But call the US Capitol. Ask for your US senators, okay?

 

Ask for any US senator and tell them no on Save Our Bacon. Okay? No on Save Our Bacon.

 

It’s going to be decided any minute. So that’s why we have to keep the pressure up. And again, of course, none of this has to happen except for the fact that people choose to eat these animals.

 

By the way, pigs are much smarter than dogs. I have two dogs I love very much, but that’s just a fact. They’re considered by many to be the fifth smartest mammal.

 

And so we can all not just be upset about this, but we can all take action. When I get depressed, I say I’m going to take action and that’s going to make me feel better about the situation. So thank you for covering it.

 

Thank you for watching. Thank the activists who contacted me this morning and were like, there’s a breaking news story in Canada. There’s a crash involving pigs.

 

And I said, I’m on it. Next thing you know, we’re live talking to people at the scene. So again, this is the very same location where a famed animal activist Regan Russell was killed by a pig truck.

 

Surely the firefighters could have overwritten the slaughterhouse rule orders. No, do these slaughterhouses rule Canada? Those are very good questions.

 

We all have to remain vigilant. There is always something that we can do. Just do the next indicated thing.

 

Together we can end these atrocities. Thank you so much for joining us. Please support Unchained TV.

 

We are a 501c3 nonprofit streaming network. By the way, we were all just at the animal vegan advocacy summit in Toronto, Canada. I just got back late last night.

 

I was with Jenny McQueen. I was with Benjamin Pritikin. I was with Anita Krines, the founder of the Save Movement and the Plant-Based Treaty.

 

And we were all talking about how we can work together to end the horrors of modern day animal agriculture. And then to wake up right after I arrived home last night and just woke up to this news. It was shocking.

 

But the main thing is to move into action and do whatever you can. So share out this video. Call.

 

And guess what, people? You don’t even have to be in the United States to call the U.S. senators to say, defeat the Save Our Bacon Act. Okay?

 

Anybody can call because this is a global issue. The reason is that animal agriculture is a very significant contributor to climate crisis that is getting worse and worse. We know the United Nations has said we are shooting past the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal set by the Paris Climate Accords and that if we get to 2.5 or 3, it’s an ecological apocalypse and a climate apocalypse. So we know there’s people watching from England. You can call. People watching from Canada, you can call because this affects all of us.

 

The climate does not know geographic boundaries, nation boundaries. This is a global crisis and the people who want to eliminate the meager protections for animals. Again, California, the fourth largest economy in the world on most days, sometimes the fifth, but what happens in California impacts the entire world.

 

We, and I collected signatures for this personally, several years ago passed Proposition 12 which banned these horrific, just sadistic crates. Oh, somebody’s saying I’m in London, UK and I’m calling. Thank you.

 

Thank you for calling. California banned these crates and that meant that farmers, so-called farmers, but pig producers all over the world started removing them because they want to sell in California because it’s the fourth largest economy in the world. So now there is a move by the pork industry, and by the way, Proposition 12 was upheld by the very conservative Supreme Court of the United States, but the pork industry still hasn’t given up.

 

Now they’re trying to use legislation to undo Proposition 12 that banned pig gestation crates and it’s called the Save Our Bacon Act. We have to defeat the Save Our Bacon Act. It passed in the House of Representatives.

 

It is now before the U.S. Senate. So call any senator and just say no on Save Our Bacon. Defeat the Save Our Bacon Act.

 

You can call the U.S. Capitol and you just name a senator, like for example, we have Adam Schiff. Now Adam Schiff, I can tell you this, is very much against the Save Our Bacon Act. And by the way, he’s on most days a vegan, okay?

 

And he was recently at a farm sanctuary event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Farm Sanctuary and I was standing right there. I accepted an award on behalf of Jane Fonda who actually said that animal agriculture is a significant contributor to climate change and we have to phase out of it, which was also breaking news. But listen to Senator Adam Schiff talking about how we have to defeat the Save Our Bacon Act.

 

[Speaker 5]

Right now our current fight is over the Farm Bill as Jane mentioned because among other things, they’re trying to preempt Proposition 12 passed by a strong majority of California voters demanding humane conditions for farm animals. And California has set the standard for the country which is why they’re taking aim at it because they know we’re such a big market that what California does, much of the rest of the country will follow and we need to make sure that we preserve Prop 12. We also have a lot of work to do in the Farm Bill itself.

 

[Speaker 1]

So there you go. This was just a few days ago in Beverly Hills, a fancy house, a very fancy house in Beverly Hills or somewhere around there. I forget exactly where.

 

But it was a gala and it was the 40th anniversary of Farm Sanctuary which is an incredible organization led by Gene Bauer. He also spoke against Prop 12 and how we all have to come together to fight this attempt. He also spoke in favor of Prop 12 in favor of keeping Prop 12 and against the Save Our Bacon Act.

 

That’s what I meant to say. Listen. How horrible would this be?

 

[Speaker 6]

Farm animals are seen just as commodities. They’re put in cages and crates so small they can’t move. California took a very bold step to say that this was not acceptable.

 

These animals need at least enough space to turn around and stretch their limbs. Very modest. But agribusiness has been fighting it for years and they’ve lost in court.

 

They lost at the U.S. Supreme Court. Now they unfortunately have been able to get language in the Farm Bill. And that Farm Bill passed the House of Representatives tragically and now it’s going to the U.S. Senate. So U.S. Senators now need to act to get Save Our Bacon Act out of the Farm Bill. This is our last hope. So please act today.

 

[Speaker 1]

That’s why actually this is an opportunity, this horror, this tragedy with the car crash and the pig truck, the truck carrying hundreds of pigs and the car crashing in Canada and us doing this breaking news. It is an opportunity to talk about how everybody has to mobilize. I say I’ve called 60 times already because I’ve called a whole bunch of senators.

 

Again, the Senate Agriculture Committee is super important. All these senators in these states and a very good argument to use to the conservative Republican senators is that generally, historically, conservative Republicans have been for states’ rights. You’ve heard it.

 

Why should the federal government decide what local schools do? That’s a very common conservative argument. And yet, it is Republican, conservative Republican members of Congress who are pushing the Save Our Bacon Act which would wipe out all state laws protecting farmed animals.

 

So you can call them and say, hey, you’re supposed to be in favor of states’ rights. You’re supposed to be in favor of local government. Why are you trying to use the federal government to wipe out all these states’ rights including what the voters of California passed, Proposition 12, which bans pig gestation rights.

 

So, please call. It’s so easy. You call the U.S. Capitol and say, defeat the Save Our Bacon Act. I’m going to put up the number. Okay? This is the number to call.

 

202-224-3121. 202-224-3121. I urge everybody take a screen grab of this or write it down on an old-fashioned piece of paper and start calling.

 

Yes, today happens to be a holiday. It doesn’t matter. They record the calls.

 

It’s a numbers game to a large degree. You don’t have to recite War and Peace when you pick up. All you have to do is say, defeat the Save Our Bacon Act.

 

I’m against it. I’m for all the state laws that protect animals. And by the way, this has massive repercussions in other areas even beyond farmed animals.

 

For example, it could affect horse slaughter. It could affect fur production and mink. I mean, it’s a nightmare.

 

So we’ve all got to stop it. So I want to thank you all for joining us today. Thank you for listening.

 

Thank you for sharing out many, many important subjects. But having just come from the Animal Vegan Advocacy Summit in Canada, where approximately 900 animal activists representing hundreds of organizations around the world gathered, I can tell you that our movement is very strong. And it is growing.

 

And there is tremendous collaboration happening. Okay, while we’re talking breaking news, I’ve got some more breaking news for you. We just created the Coalition for Accuracy in Media.

 

And that’s got approximately more than a dozen organizations now and prominent individual social media influencers agreeing to get together to hold journalists publicly to account when they publish misinformation and write hit pieces about veganism or vegan products, which is happening a lot. Okay, so this is basically a notice to journalists who write nasty hit pieces about veganism and vegan products. And some of them may actually be paid by the meat industry directly or indirectly.

 

We are going to hold you respectfully and journalistically to account for your misreporting. So, that’s another great thing that came out of the ABA Summit. We held a meetup at the Unchained TV booth.

 

About two dozen people showed up representing various organizations. And we created a Coalition for Accuracy in Media. And so, you’re going to be hearing more about that in the coming weeks and months as we roll this out.

 

And it’s going to be a major campaign. So, a lot is happening. Thank you very much for joining us.

 

Call, call, call, call. Defeat the Save Our Bacon Act. Call the U.S. Senators. Like I say, I never ask people to do something I haven’t done. I have probably made 60 calls and written dozens of emails. You can do it, too.

 

I’ve got another activist who’s here right now who says she’s called about 60 times. You can make the call, too. I’m going to give you one last chance to write it down.

 

This is the number, 202-224-3121. Call any time. Ask for any U.S. Senator, which you can Google. And, by the way, you can also Google, you know, various cities within those states to get the zip codes, whatever you need to do to get the message to those Senators. I’m going to give you on the Save Our Bacon Act. Thank you for joining us.

 

See you next time here on Unchained TV.