Meat + Poultry - March 2006 - 64

For the Record
March 2006

Straight talk about antibiotic use in food animal production presented by ALPHARMA Inc., Animal Health

ANTIBIOTICS AND ANIMAL
RIGHTS: WHY THE LINK?

Opposition to farm antibiotics ﬁts the publicadvocacy playbook perfected by PETA because
it satisﬁes the ﬁrst step of the campaign: It
allows a vague, anti-modern nostalgia for smallfarm agriculture to be translated into a goal
that's speciﬁc, unambiguous, achievable, and

● For the animal
rightist:
It's inhumane
to use
animals
for food.

Start
with a
central
fundamental
issue

Step 1
Manufacture a
marketable sub-issue

Attack one speciﬁc part of
the fundamental issue, one
that's easily understood.

Step 2
Develop
a slogan

Step 3
Fabricate
public
debate

easily portrayed as unnatural or dehumanizing.
Thus, like the animal-rights movement, the
campaign to limit eﬃcient farming gains support - and dollars - from people who would
normally not subscribe to the underlying fundamental issue. Here's how it works.

● "Vets
without
hearts"

● The American Veterinary Medical
Association supports cruelty because
it refuses to support a ban on stalls.
The public demands action.

● For opponents
of industrial farming:
Small farms
should
RI be guaranteed
survival.

● Sow gestation "crates" are cruel.
● Farm antibiotics
threaten public health.

● "Keep
antibiotics
working"

I(EEP
I(
EEP

ANTIBI O TIC S

WORKING.

The
be ffl.5IcS
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p ign
The CC**rp*ign

● Cowardly and greedy veterinarians kowtowing
to greedy corporate farms.
● Greedy drug manufacturers preying on ignorant
or greedy corporate farms.

Step 5
Pitch
a panacea

● Outlaw stalls.
● Ban most
animal antibiotic use.

● Stalls. The overall
welfare of gestating
sows depends on
factors beyond housing. Some studies
show group-penned
sows actually fare
worse than individually housed ones.
● Free range. Freerange dairy cattle can
have higher disease
risks; organic production can increase disease pathogen levels
in chickens and pigs;
and free-range animals suffer from
heavier burdens of
parasites.

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● Antibiotic resistance is at
crisis proportions. Large farms
are the major contributor.
The public demands action.

Step 4
Invent
a villain

Step 6
Create a new
sub-issue

Presumed cruel?

Repeat
the
process
Each time
making
incremental
progress
toward the
central
fundamental
issue.

● Even sows conﬁned only to group pens ﬁght and suffer.
● Even when not given antibiotics, animals in large farms
are diseased and contribute to risk of food poisoning.
Source: Adapted from Ethical Corporation Magazine, May 2002, p. 27.

Antibiotics prevent
animal disease and
improve meat, milk and
egg production. These
important, safe and
proven tools remain
absolutely necessary to
meet the world's growing demand for affordable protein.
ALPHARMA Inc.,
Animal Health sponsors this educational
series to provide you
facts to help set the
record straight.
Comments? Contact
Steve Kopperud at
skopperud@poldir.com.
To read past issues:
www.alpharma.com/ahd.

http://www.alpharma.com/ahd

Meat + Poultry - March 2006

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