Cows, pigs, and hens are sentient beings, just as intelligent as we are. They feel loss, love, pain, shame, fear, and solidarity. They want to be free, nurture their young, and play. Yet the factory farming industry is built with total disregard for these animals’ needs. It’s all about maximizing profits. The good news is that there are amazing people doing ground-breaking work to expose animal abuse and change legislation.

 Cody Carlson heard about Mercy For Animals when he was a private investigator for a business intelligence firm. Moved by their work, he reached out to the founder, Nathan Runkle (check out his episode). Before he knew it, Cody had quit his job, grown a goatee and become an undercover animal rights investigator.

It was a wild ride. Working undercover as a farm hand is exhausting physical work and emotionally intense. He witnessed how over 4,000 cows were kept constantly pregnant, saw newborn calves torn from their mothers and left to die, or sold for slaughter. He saw how much the animals wanted to play, to be loved. His footage of workers’ cruelty and the atrocities committed in the farm was broadcast by the media and resulted legislation that changed how these animals are treated. And that was it. He was hooked. He went to law school and is now one of Mercy for Animal’s attorneys.

Part of the work Cody is doing with Mercy For Animals is overturning ag-gag laws. Instead of reforming, the animal farming industry lobbies to amend legislation and keep their inhumane practices within the law. From around 2010, ag-gag laws made it a crime to conduct undercover investigations that reveal what goes on in factory farms. Mercy For Animals is winning the fight against ag-gag laws, but some states still have them: Montana, Utah, North Dakota, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and North Carolina. If you’re a resident of one of these states, you can help overturn these laws by contacting your local representative and encouraging them to speak out.

 

Are we ever going to see a world without slaughter houses? YES! With the rise of plant-based milks, dairy profits are plummeting. With growing public support, a radical movement away from meat and towards plant-based eating, changes in legislation and corporate policy, and delicious plant-powered options, we’re going to see the end of factory farming in our lifetimes. Additionally we can all be healthier, protect the environment, help the animals, and feel better than we’ve ever felt by ditching factory-farmed meats and adding more plants to our diets.

What can you do today to help the animals?

• Contact your law-maker and encourage them to speak out about animal cruelty and ag-gag laws.
• Join an animal activism group. Mercy For Animals is the leading international farm animal protection organization. You can sign up on the website and check out how you can get involved.
• Share Cody’s video of footage of how dairy and animals are produced in modern farms. You can check out the viral video at http://www.whatcodysaw.com/.
• Join Hen Heroes to take part in animal activism.
• Reach out to the Oink writers’ group if you want to get involved with writing letters to the editor and raising awareness.
• If you’re a California resident, you can help get legislation passed that would change the game for animals raised in California. Half a million signatures are needed—you can volunteer at com/volunteer to sign up. Please share the link with your friends!
• You can also donate. Donations help Mercy For Animals run undercover investigations and petition for real change in animal protection legislation. 

Cody and Leslie’s tips to eat healthier and plant-based wherever you live:

• Veganize your meal when you eat out (for example, you can order Denny’s scrambled egg platter and swap the eggs for potatoes).
• Stop eating processed foods.
• Eat real, whole foods.
• Always look at the ingredient list. If it doesn’t read like a recipe, put it down.

 

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