Monday, April 24, 2006

Red Tractor Drives Roughshod On Animal Wellfare

Red Tractor Happy Meat is an Oxymoron

red tractor leaves bad taste in the mouth for animal welfare activists
PM helps launch Red Tractor Day Downing Street Reports:

Tony Blair has backed a scheme which helps shoppers easily find UK-produced fresh food.

He helped launch "Red Tractor Day" as a full-size red tractor pulled in Downing Street.

The scheme allows producers to use a distinctive logo on packs of food which meet its strict set of criteria.

These standards cover animal welfare, food transport, processing and packing.

Mr Blair said:

"Six years ago I helped launch the Red Tractor logo. Last year it appeared on over £5bn worth of food.

The Red Tractor scheme claims it's Farmers must care for their animals by following the Five Freedoms welfare code (freedom from hunger & thirst; discomfort; pain, injury or disease; fear or distress; freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour).

This doesn't mean what you'd think it means - for example 'normal patterns of behaviour only mean normal for an animal caged and trapped with little or no light or mental and physical stimulation and deprived to fulfil basic intincts such as caring for their young and running or making a nest.

One look at the Red Tractor farms exposed by Hillside Animal Sanctuary show this scheme to by a farce and meaningless when it comes to animal welfare. Health seems to only apply to health that would endanger human life not the health of the animals (vetinary bills are expensive)

little Red Tractor exposed

www.hillside.org.uk

1 comment:

Maynard S. Clark said...

I have long said that, despite the Biblical statements, SOME ASPECT of the world's historical outcomes SEEM TO belong to the swiftest. What alarms me at times is that the world's vegetarians SEEM to be among the slowest to act, perhaps because they also SEEM to be the slowest to comprehend.

That needs to change, and many of us on the vegetarian discussion lists are ready to discuss this, AMONG OURSELVES, not in public!

Comprehend or perish!