This article originally appeared on Forbes. Somehow or other, it has become the mark of twenty-first century urban hipness to keep a bunch of birds out back. We’re mostly talking hens. Exact numbers are unavailable, but the trend has become popular enough for dozens of major cities to revise their animal ordinances, thereby opening the legal floodgates for the emergence of urban animal agriculture, an endeavor that most American cities […]
Following an undercover investigation revealing gruesome acts of animal cruelty, Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in Florida’s 13th District Court against Hillsborough County’s Cuesta Farm and Planchart Farm. The video speaks for itself. Take action, and share ALDF‘s video on Facebook and Twitter.
This comic by Alfred Twu addresses many issues. Are cities prepared to deal with people and additional animals in the dense urban environment? Can people who get hens on a whim really take good care of them? And what about the males killed at birth? What happens to the spent hens? Are chickens just “disposable pets?” Are cities prepared to deal with yet another animal routinely harmed by humans? And […]
Backyard Butcher In April 2012, Roberto Celedon was arrested for butchering animals on his property in Southern California. The news called him a “backyard butcher,” one who slaughters animals illegally to sell, or for personal consumption. The below video depicts his actions, and how the animal suffered. Roberto Celedon was arrested and charged with a felony under California Penal Code 597(b) which states that every person who “tortures, torments,” “cruelly […]
As one of the great Have A Heart Farm supporters noted, another consequence of zoning allowing for backyard chickens would be the issue of people who might extend the parameters of zoning on their own and begin slaughtering chickens on-site in their backyards, which would negatively impact not only the chickens but neighboring homes as well. And, as many of these municipalities involved are near forest preserves and there are […]
In April 2012, the City of Oakland issued a resolution that encourages residents to eliminate meat consumption for Oakland Veg Week. Among other things, the resolution officially recognizes the negative impacts of livestock production on the environment, and the health benefits of decreasing or eliminating meat from the diet. We congratulate the City of Oakland for making recommendations to residents that encourage increased care for the environment, healthy living, and compassion toward animals. […]
When rescuers first showed up at a Turlock, California egg-farm, men in hazmat suits were gassing hens and dumping their lifeless bodies onto front-loaders. More than 20,000 hens had already starved to death after their owner decided that he didn’t want to feed them anymore and walked away. Stanislaus County Animal Services finally relented to mounting public pressure, a gathering crowd, and hundreds of phone calls, granting rescuers permission to […]
I’m writing to you about the piece you allowed to run on your website (about “DIY Slaughter”). I’m one of the founders and organizers of Neighbors Opposed to Backyard Slaughter, and I’m proud of the work we’re doing to prevent harm and protect animals in Oakland. We are in complete support of urban farming and of the policy changes Oakland recently made to allow people to grow crops to feed […]
Inspired by the local food movement and the novelty of do-it-yourself meat, a food writer in California bought a baby Hampshire pig. She planned to raise and eventually kill and eat him for the sake of an experiment in getting personal with food. A conversation with some of her vegan readers and an open mind, however, trumped her curiosity, and that little pig, named Reggie, came instead to our Northern […]
As the urban-farming movement grows in popularity, the importance of animal husbandry as a piece of the puzzle becomes a must-act issue. In the past few years, independent bookstores in cities such as San Francisco, Oakland, and Portland have sprouted new urban-farming sections. Sandwiched between celebrity gourmands and sustainable gardeners are newly minted books covering a range of topics relating to hobby-scale urban agriculture. Covered with colorful pastoral graphics overlaid […]
