If the Shoe Fits …
You may have heard about the incident this weekend in which an Iraqi reporter took aim at President Bush … by throwing both his shoes at him. The footwear was flung during a news conference in Baghdad, where Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki were just about to sign a security pact. Bush called it “a way to gain attention,” which is why we’ve got an attention-grabbing idea of our own (without the projectiles, of course).
PETA has decided to gain some attention for an important issue by collecting more footwear to send to President Bush to decry his recent gutting of important regulations in order to benefit factory farms. Yes, that’s in addition to his recent attack on wildlife protection regulations. Bush’s changes would let factory farms continue polluting the earth with the waste that the animals create while they are stuck in those vile, feces-filled, cramped sheds. The bill allows factory farms to burn the waste instead of sending it off to an incineration firm. The waste disposal can be better regulated in the hands of incineration firms instead of being left to the notoriously dirty factory farms. Burning factory farm waste creates yet more air and water pollution, which affects the habitats of any living beings near the farms.
PETA has a better idea: Reduce the number of animals who create the waste in the first place! If you recall our recent undercover investigation of an Iowa pig farm, you’ll know that pigs and other animals raised for food live in awful conditions, often spending their entire lives in cramped cages where they are abused before being led to the slaughterhouse. If farmers would simply stop breeding more animals, all these things could be avoided.
Written by Lianne Turner