Monthly Archives: February 2010

Guilt-Free Animal Abuse

Chad Dechow
Associate Professor, Dairy Cattle Genetics
Department of Dairy and Animal Science
The Pennsylvania State University

Instead of redesigning the factory farm to suit the animals, they are redesigning the animals to suit the factory farm
Matthew Scully. The American Conservative, May 23, 2005.

My most memorably painful experience occurred when I was a teenage farm kid that stomped on the end of a pitchfork. My intent was for the handle to swing up and whack my sister in the hand. Alas, she was not the embarrassed teenager who left for our family vacation the next day with a well deserved set of stitches. In the seconds after the handle did its damage, I knew where I was hurting, I knew that it was a rather intense sensation, and I knew that it was not at all pleasant. What I did not know was that these experiences where the result of two different sensory pathways. The first pathway told me that my chin hurt, and badly; the second told me that it was not pleasant (for me at least – my sister was on the ground laughing). Continue reading Guilt-Free Animal Abuse

Not Grass-Fed, but at Least Pain-Free – An Experiment in Social Media

Terry D. Etherton


The Opinion-Editorial published in the New York Times was passed along to me earlier today.  As readers of Terry Etherton Blog on Biotechnology appreciate, I have written about a variety of topics across the landscape of science and agriculture; defending science, as well as attempting to counter attacks on, and misrepresentations of production agriculture .

In the article below, Mr. Shriver paints a picture of animal agriculture that presents some perspectives that don’t reflect the reality of practices used in contemporary animal production.  Moreover, a paradox is presented about science – use transgenic farm animals that have been engineered so they can tolerate “pain and suffering” that he asserts is caused by “factory farming”.

My experiment, you ask?  Rather than my writing an initial blog about this Op-Ed piece, I am opening up comments, and wish to moderate the discussion of your opinions and knowledge about animal agriculture and science as framed in the story by Mr. Shriver.  I will share my perspectives after I “gather” your comments. Continue reading Not Grass-Fed, but at Least Pain-Free – An Experiment in Social Media