Ag Industry Says Investigators “Just Want to Get That Sweet Cow-Head-Kicking Cash”

Sometimes you just have to laugh to keep yourself from screaming. Or at least that’s how I feel most days, especially when I hear the Big Ag public relations machine trying to defend “ag-gag” bills that target anyone who photographs and videotapes animal abuse on factory farms. So it was a lot of fun to be on Citizen Radio and talk about these attempts to keep consumers in the dark.

My favorite part of the interview was discussing the slanderous statements of corporate front groups like the Animal Agriculture Alliance. Emily Meredith of the Ag Alliance told CNN that undercover videos by groups like the Humane Society and Mercy for Animals areÂ “manipulated, edited, and staged” to make money. She said the same thing when we were on Democracy Now, and the same thing when we were on Al Jazeera.Â It’s an outright lie.

If there was any evidence of video “manipulated” or “staged,” these corporations should alert prosecutors, because it has led to criminal convictions just this week in Wyoming and North Carolina.

And it’s hard to believe that the corporations responsible for this horrific cruelty can say groups like the Humane Society have “staged” it all. Think about this for a second: this industry actually has the nerve to say that the Humane Society “staged” workers slamming piglets to death on concerete floors. And that it’s all so animal advocates can make money.

As I said on Al Jazeera:

“There is a difference between saying that a video has been edited, to condense it to a few minutes, to present on YouTube, and a different thing entirely to allege that these videos have been doctored, manipulated or manufactured, which is what the industry seems to be saying right now. There is no evidence of this.”

But I like Jamie Kilstein’s response to this absurdity on Citizen Radio better:

“Yeah, Mercy for Animals doesn’t care about animals. They just want to get that sweet cow-head-kicking cash!”

And if you’re not following Jamie Kilstein and Allison KilkennyÂ (and her blog at The Nation)Â already, you’re missing out.