Big Ag Advises Farmers to Use Extreme Caution in Hiring

The Animal Agriculture Alliance recently issued a public service announcement to urge farm managers to be more careful in their hiring process. This warning comes after a series of undercover videos exposed cruelty at dairy farms, egg producers, and hatcheries. But, before you get excited that they're showing some concern about hiring more Billy Joe Greggs (the guy being charged for the sadistic abuse of cows and young calves at Conklin Dairy) that's not their main concern.

They're not worried about letting the sadists in the door; according to the Alliance, it's the animal activists you have to watch out for. Those activists keep fooling factory farmers and processors into hiring them so they can "use highly-edited images of violence and neglect to prey on the emotions of the public."

I think it's safe to say that it's the suffering animals — not the Hollywood brilliance of animal advocacy groups — that gets the public all worked up. As This Dish is Veg notes, "Unless the budgets of these organizations have increased dramatically, it is quite doubtful they have employed the services of the motion picture gurus at Pixar to create realistic looking animations of farmers kicking pigs, stuffing chickens in battery cages or beating cows with crowbars."

Big Ag also complains that groups sometimes wait to release the video footage and "by waiting for the most politically opportune time to 'go public,' they allow any alleged abuse to continue." So, if the abuse isn't just a trick of the camera, then the activists are to blame for it?

It's a good thing for the wary farmer that they've been provided with a few America's Most Wanted style profiles of individuals who "have been connected" with recent undercover investigations, along with some helpful tips on what to watch out for during the hiring process, so they don't accidentally give someone access who can produce videos of "real or staged animal mistreatment." These warning signs include "Volunteering for jobs before or after normal business hours" and "Seeking employment with no pay — so they can 'learn more about the business before committing to that field.'"

In other words, if someone comes along with ambition or interest, that's a big red flag. Because we wouldn't want anyone in the factory farming business to care about their job or want to know too much about it. Then they might realize that abuse in animal agriculture is rooted far deeper than just one or two of their co-workers. They might start to question the recommended "high standards of animal welfare," which include keeping animals confined in cages where they don't have enough room to stretch their limbs or turn around, and pumping them full of antibiotics to mask the overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions.

Employees should be there "for the right reasons — to help produce a safe and nutritious food supply." Nevermind the animals.

The Alliance closes their press release on cautious hiring by saying it is critical for the industry to "take extra security precautions to prevent getting targeted by animal rights groups looking for video to aid in their fundraising efforts and political campaigns."

What if the industry put this kind of effort into extra precautions to ensure there was no animal cruelty taking place for activists to video in the first place?

Photo credit: Maqi