WATCH OPRAH TODAY!

Check your local listings for OPRAH and record it and/or watch it today, October 14th.

The reality of cruelty and suffering in farm animal production has finally made it to about as mainstream as it can get. It's going to be showcased on OPRAH. This means it will be white-washed, cleaned up, and easy to explore without having to face the horrors that help put those dead bodies on the table.

This OPRAH is in light of the current Proposition 2 in California up for debate and vote, which would stand to AT LEAST alleviate a great amount of suffering and create protections for these animals, along with increasing support for family farmers who have been affected by the powerful movement of Factory Farming.

Please set your Tivo's, DVR's, VCR's, or plop your booty down in front of Oprah tomorrow, Tuesday, October 14th (check your local listings). Though this is a vote that is up in California, it affects everything about us as a people. It's a first (very tiny, but important) step toward opening up to our humanity and compassion to other species, AS WELL as toward each other and the Earth. Can you imagine what kind of world we might live in if we cared enough about the quality of life for a Chicken or a Pig... it would be very hard not to care about each other or about others who are so different from what we find familiar.

Please... just tune in and see what you think and feel. I have no idea if she is going to derail the proposition, or push for it, but at least it's being discussed.







PROP 2 FACTSHEET

Below are some key facts of the proposition:

This November 4, Californians should vote YES! on Prop 2 – a modest measure that stops cruel and inhumane treatment of animals, ending the practice of cramming farm animals into cages so small the animals can't even turn around, lie down or extend their limbs.

Voting YES! on Prop 2...

• Prevents cruelty to animals.

  It's simply wrong to confine veal calves, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens in tiny cages barely larger than their bodies. Calves are tethered by the neck and can barely move, pigs in severe confinement bite the metal bars of their crates, and hens get trapped and even impaled in their wire cages. We wouldn't force our pets to live in filthy, cramped cages for their whole lives, and we shouldn't force farm animals to endure such misery. All animals, including those raised for food, deserve humane treatment.
  
  
  

• Improves our health and food safety.

  We all witnessed the cruel treatment of sick and crippled cows exposed by a Southern California slaughter plant investigation this year, prompting authorities to pull meat off school menus and initiate a nationwide recall. Factory farms put our health at risk—cramming tens of thousands of animals into tiny cages, fostering the spread of diseases that may affect people. YES! on Prop 2 is better for animals—and for us.
  
  
  

• Supports family farmers.

  California family farmers support YES! on Prop 2 because they know that better farming practices enhance food quality and safety. Increasingly, they're supplying major retailers like Safeway and Burger King. Factory farms cut corners and drive family farmers out of business when they put profits ahead of animal welfare and our health.
  
  
  

• Protects air and water and safeguards the environment.

  The American Public Health Association has called for a moratorium on new factory farms because of the devastating effects these operations can have on surrounding communities, spreading untreated waste on the ground and contaminating our waterways, lakes, groundwater, soil, and air. Prop 2 helps stop some of the worst abuses and protects our precious natural resources. That's why California Clean Water Action and Sierra Club-California support YES! on Prop 2.
  
  
  

• Is a reasonable and common-sense reform.

  Prop 2 provides ample time—until 2015—for factory farms using these severe confinement methods to shift to more humane practices. Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Oregon have passed similar laws. The Humane Society of the United States, the ASPCA, hundreds of California veterinarians, including the California Veterinary Medical Association; California family farmers; the Center for Food Safety, the Consumer Federation of America, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the United Farm Workers, and the Cesar Chavez Foundation; Republican and Democratic elected officials; California religious leaders; and many others.