December 18, 2024 • 57 mins
Seems like the human race never learns. We just got through one massive, global pandemic that killed many millions of people. Now, fears surrounding Bird Flu are making headlines like: Experts Warn of Bird Flu Pandemic As Signals of Mutation Mount. That from ScienceAlert. SciTechDaily's headline reads: Alarming Mutation in H5N1 Virus Raises Pandemic Red Flags. The article goes on to say: "A recent study published in Science and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that a single alteration in a protein on the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus—currently present in U.S. dairy cows—could significantly increase its potential for human-to-human transmission." And, now, the USDA is going be testing cow's milk! NBC News reports: "The mandate targeting bulk milk transporters and dairy processors is meant to help identify herds that have caught the virus, which has spread among livestock." So, what happens when they find Bird Flu? They've already killed millions of exposed chickens by baking them to death in a cruel mass-killing process called Ventilation Shutdown! Are they going to bake the cows to death too? Would it be too crazy to suggest that humans should just stop torturing and killing 92 BILLION ANIMALS for food every year in dangerously cramped industrial factory farming systems? Here to discuss is Free From Harm's Robert Grillo and Amber Canavan, PETA’s Vegan Campaigns Project Manager with UnchainedTV host Jane Velez-Mitchell.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Just as we were going to air, news
has come down that is quite disturbing.
Health officials, according to the Associated Press, are
saying a Louisiana patient is the first severe
bird flu case in the United States.
And the Associated Press article adds that this
year more than 60 bird flu infections have
(00:23):
been reported with more than half of them
in California.
In two, an adult in Missouri and a
child in California, health officials have not determined
how they caught it.
Our question today is, is our horrific treatment
of farmed animals setting us up for the
next pandemic?
(00:44):
And before you decide whether that is an
exaggeration, we'll take a look at this.
Numerous dairy cows have been spotted dead near
the side of the road in California, documented
on videotape by veterinarian and founder of Our
Honour, Dr. Crystal Heath, who will be joining
us in a bit.
And now the USDA is going to be
(01:04):
testing cow's milk.
According to NBC, the mandate targeting bulk milk
transporters and dairy processors is meant to help
identify herds that have caught the virus, which
has spread among livestock.
So what happens when they find, look at
this cow, if you're listening, take our word
(01:25):
for it, nasal discharge, clearly a sick cow.
What happens when they start identifying bird flu
amongst all of these cows?
Are they going to do what they did
to and have been doing to many, many
millions of chickens?
Look at this.
(01:46):
This is how sick our society has gotten.
This is a bird being baked to death
live in a process called ventilation shutdown.
And they're doing it to millions of birds.
2,000 veterinarians have signed a petition saying,
tell corporations to stop using ventilation shutdown plus.
(02:09):
Basically, they seal off the area and they
turn up the heat and they bake these
animals alive.
It takes them hours to die.
It's kind of like when you get the
termite removed and they tank your house and
then they turn up the heat and you
got to leave for a couple of days.
This is what they're doing to millions of
animals.
Guess who's paying for all that?
Us.
(02:30):
The U.S. government subsidises this.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government is going on
and on and on about how we have
to, oh, do something to stop bird flu.
And don't worry, mostly focused on go ahead,
keep eating your milk and your dairy and
(02:51):
your meat.
It's OK, consumers, nothing to worry about here.
You know, will the human race ever learn?
We just went through a pandemic that killed
millions of people.
And whether you believe it started in the
Wuhan market where they were torturing animals to
be chopped up alive in a retail setting,
or you think it started in the laboratory
(03:11):
where they were also torturing animals in experiments.
It's zoonotic, people.
Seventy three percent of the emerging pathogens are
zoonotic, means they come from animals.
Bottom line, our horrific treatment of animals is
what's brought us again to this crisis.
I want to go straight out to Robert
(03:32):
Grillo of Free From Harm.
Robert, you've been on the forefront of this,
speaking truth to power.
Where are we as a society that we're
here again after just barely crawling out of
the last pandemic?
Yeah, right.
And just the other day, Jane, Congress passed
(03:53):
a disaster relief bill, which is which is
giving 21 billion dollars to 21 billion, by
the way, not million billion dollars to ranchers
and livestock producers who have suffered losses from
disease, from drought, from wildfires.
(04:15):
All of the things that that industry actually
creates is the biggest driver.
Right.
So the insanity in that alone is hard
to wrap your head around.
But I'll tell you, you know, I have
been to some industry conferences lately, like I
was recently at the Federal Reserve Bank Agriculture
Forum.
And, you know, people are scared and they
(04:37):
don't know where this is headed.
The best experts don't know where this is
headed.
But the health experts around the world are
sounding the alarm, like they have been doing
for years, that bird flu is an inevitability
if we don't change course.
(04:57):
Again, I would like you to look at,
and this is just a snippet, the cows,
the dead cows piling up on the side
of the roads in California, which, by the
way, is the largest dairy state and the
fifth largest economy in the world.
This is a horror show.
(05:21):
And it's something that is happening right now
in real time in California.
I had to look at this footage yesterday
getting ready for the show, and I was
just horrified.
Now, here's another image of a sick cow.
You can see the nasal discharge coming out
(05:42):
of the cow's nose.
And obviously, the cow was surrounded by other
cows, some of whom appear to be downed,
but others are walking around.
That is, you know, to me, and I'm
the first to say I'm not an expert
on this issue.
But to me, that is the first sign
that cows are not being isolated, who are
(06:04):
showing symptoms.
And so that just on a basic logic
level would mean that it could spread more
rapidly.
And I just can't believe that we are
sleepwalking into this next disaster.
I want to go to Amber Canavan, who's
(06:25):
with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Amber, please tell me what PETA's position is
on this emerging crisis.
Well, PETA has been saying for years, I
mean, back when we were in the previous
avian flu outbreaks, and swine flu, and every
(06:46):
other one that's come out is that the
vast majority of emerging diseases come from animals.
And that is from mostly from mass confining
them for food or, or taking them from
the wild.
And the thing we need to do to
prevent the next pandemic is to go vegan.
(07:09):
Because when factory farms are cramming thousands or
10s of thousands or even millions of animals
into cramped, filthy conditions, you're creating a petri
dish for diseases to spread, especially when they're
spreading between species.
So the fact that this is jumped into
(07:31):
cows used for dairy is definitely very concerning.
I mean, it really is.
And I, again, I'm not an expert in
this subject at all.
I've been reading articles, it's complicated.
But the bottom line is that we are
treating 92 billion animals every year, like trash,
(07:58):
torturing them in industrial conditions.
And we expect that there's no repercussions.
I personally believe that nature is sending us
a signal that this has got to stop.
And so now I want to talk about
the specific new breaking news.
(08:18):
There's two right before we went on the
air, if you're just joining us, we got
word that there's a first.
And that is health officials are now saying
a Louisiana patient is the first severe bird
flu case in the United States.
This is according to the Associated Press.
Overall, more than 60 bird flu infections have
(08:40):
been reported with over half of them in
California.
And here's the other breaking news is that
the US Department of Agriculture has now ordered
the testing of milk for bird flu.
So I know you, Robert Grillo, are urging
everybody and I would just say take a
(09:00):
snapshot of this.
If you're watching, if you're listening, I will
give you the number.
Call the USDA 202-720-3631.
That's 202-720-3631.
I just called right before air, I got
(09:22):
a voicemail.
And what I said was, the United States
government has got to stop subsidising the dairy
industry.
73% of the dairy industry's profits in
one shape or another come from US government
subsidies.
(09:43):
That means that we, the taxpayers, are paying
73% of the dairy industry's profits.
While 68% minimum, according to the National
Institutes of Health, 68% of the world's
population is lactose intolerant, which means most of
(10:04):
us are allergic to dairy.
So right there, it's illogical to push it.
And then additionally, we're all talking about Make
America Healthy Again and the obesity crisis.
And what's contributing mightily to the obesity crisis?
Ice cream, cheese, dairy, milkshakes, which again, the
US government is subsidising.
(10:26):
It blows my mind, not to mention climate
change.
We're in a climate crisis.
And the US government is purportedly trying to
solve the climate crisis, while they're actually fuelling
the climate crisis with subsidies to animal agriculture,
which is a leading contributor to climate change.
(10:47):
Robert Grillo, my head explodes when I think
about the stupidity.
Yeah, well, it's unbelievable.
And we could talk about the whole show
about that.
But what I really want to do is
hopefully provide people with a path to how
we how we can have an impact on
this.
(11:08):
And of course, the digital call to action,
call Vilsack's office, follow up with an email,
do both if you can.
We have a script on our social channels
for what to say if you're not sure,
but there's three core things.
And one of them is, we want the
USTA to charge the corporations, not taxpayers, for
(11:33):
this bird flu disaster that the industry itself
is spreading, not taxpayers.
The second thing is, which they probably will
do is quarantine stop animals and product, milk
product from leaving infected farms.
Over half of the California dairy farms have
had positive infections.
(11:53):
Those farms should not be selling milk.
This will have a huge impact on the
industry.
And the last thing we want is we
want the records made public of all of
the infections that humans, workers, other humans, and
animals, we want those records made public.
(12:16):
The USDA doesn't want to make those records
public, because they don't want to scare the
public into thinking that we have a problem
that they actually don't know how to control.
But let me just say something about more
than what we can do.
Okay, so we had a group of very
brave people, activists go to a cattle health
(12:36):
meeting in Sacramento at the California Department of
Food and Agriculture.
Actually, it was at the California Farm Bureau
offices, just to show you how cosy, the
most influential animal ag lobby group, the Farm
Bureau is with the Department of Agriculture, just
to show you that they have many of
(12:57):
their meetings at this California Farm Bureau's office.
And it's only people that have a vested
interest in the animal ag industry.
So they had a cattle health meeting, and
they were talking about bird flu and what
they can do about it.
And for the first, perhaps the first time,
there were activists in the room that were
(13:19):
telling them that their policy is a disaster,
and that they are betraying CDFA's mission of
putting public health first.
And they are not putting public health first.
This is not a complicated issue.
This is about putting industry profits, dairy industry
profits above public health, trying to save the
(13:41):
dairy industry at any expense, even if it
means a pandemic.
Well, the US government is the dairy industry.
The USDA is run by Tom Vilsack, who
was a dairy industry executive.
Prior to becoming the USDA Secretary for the
(14:03):
second time, he was Secretary the first time
under the Obama administration.
So Amber, I mean, what can we do
about the incredible ties between the dairy industry
and the US government to the point where
they are essentially, in my view, one and
(14:27):
the same?
Right?
I mean, well, first of all, whenever things
like this are happening that, you know, do
seem far above our heads, the first thing
people should do is to stop giving money
to these industries in the first place before
going vegan, by going vegan, sorry.
PETA does also have our subsidies campaign.
(14:53):
So we are urging the government to pull
subsidies out of the animal agriculture industry and
put that into healthy vegan food production.
And yeah, contacting Vilsack right now is also,
(15:14):
as the action alert on the screen was,
to let them know that people are upset
that especially the dairy industry, but also the
egg industry has been getting so many passes
recently, and is getting covered.
They're getting covered to mass kill all these
(15:34):
animals at taxpayer expense.
And we're all suffering for it.
And you had mentioned, Robert, that there were
activists at that hearing, we have a clip
of one brave activist who stood up and
spoke truth to power.
I'm worried about that bird flu very much.
(15:56):
And I know that there are dead dairy
cows infected with bird flu that lay along
the roadside near dairy farms.
The scavengers go after them.
There's no biosecurity or warning.
And that scavenger hunt there actually spreads the
disease of bird flu to wildlife, other birds
and humans.
How can the CDFA allow this?
(16:16):
And are you putting industry profits over public
health and animal welfare?
That's my question.
And we are showing you, these are still
photos, we also have video shot by Dr.
(16:37):
Crystal Heath, a veterinarian, who is the founder
of Our Honour, a veterinarian organisation that seeks
to stop the mass torture.
And I know that Oh, oh, you're so
exaggerating.
No, the mass torture of animals in the
(16:57):
industrialised food system.
And instead of being applauded for her work,
she is actually being attacked.
We're going to be speaking to her in
a few minutes.
Right now she is doing spay neuters.
And she's going to try to go on
a break at the half hour mark and
join us and tell us how she got
these images and she did not trespass.
(17:19):
First user of trespassing, when she's taking the
video, you can hear the sound of the
cars right behind her.
In fact, let me play something.
So you can hear the sound of the
cars.
(17:54):
You can also see the fence.
And additionally, what scared me about that video,
and I've been watching these videos for a
couple of days now, it's it's really debilitating,
is that you've got obviously sick, possibly dead,
they look dead cows.
And then you've got healthy ones walking around.
So again, the idea that just as your
(18:16):
activists stated at that hearing, they're not be
the animals are not being separated, that that
is just going to allow them to spread
logic tells me that what are you saying,
Robert?
I'm saying that, listen, I've, I've had a
conversation with Karen Ross, the Secretary of Agriculture.
I asked her directly about ventilation shutdown in
(18:39):
about what her concern level is about bird
flu.
Those people that were representatives of her office
at that cattle health meeting, from the video
that you just showed, they're rattled.
They don't know exactly what to do.
They're trying to save face.
(19:00):
But we need more people.
If we want media attention on this, we
need more activists that are willing to go
to these meetings, confront these power holders, from
the Agriculture Authority in California, California Department of
Food and Agriculture, and interact with them face
(19:22):
to face demand answers face to face, because
all the emails and calls in the world
will not be enough to solve this.
We need people willing to participate face to
face.
So that's, that's the effort that we're really
involved in right now.
Yes, and we're going to keep putting this
(19:44):
up over and over again throughout the show.
I called right before we went on the
air 202-720-3631.
And I left a voicemail.
Do I know whether that's going to have
an impact?
No, but I know that if I don't
make the call, it definitely won't have an
impact.
So I think they get inundated with calls.
(20:07):
You know, somebody walks up, I've been on
the other side, and I've seen how it
works.
Somebody walks up to some executive and says,
Hey, we're getting a lot of calls on
this bird flu thing.
I mean, yeah, it's, it's out of control.
You know, something's got to be done.
People are people.
Yeah, there's, there's a lot of politically incorrect
(20:28):
phrases I could use to describe how they
will treat the general public in terms of,
oh, they're getting, they're getting restless.
Let's look, let's just put it that way.
Now, I want to go back to Amber
Canavan of PETA for the ethical treatment of
animals.
You know, as I was reading articles about
this, the amount of animals, the sheer number
(20:50):
of animals that we are killing for food
is, is beyond comprehension, but then just killing
because they've been exposed to the bird flu.
According to Science Alert, more than 300 million
poultry birds have been killed or culled since
October 2021, while 315 different species of wild
(21:13):
birds have died across 79 countries.
The World Organisation for Animal Health told AFP.
Globally, 300 million birds.
And how do we wrap our mind around
that kind of horror, Amber?
Anybody who's been involved in trying to protect
(21:34):
animals for a long time.
I mean, we're raising and killing 10 billion
animals in the United States, land animals every
year.
And that number, for me at least, is
always ticking in my mind.
But yes, these mass killings for disease control
are incredibly disturbing.
(21:56):
The ventilation shutdown and ventilation shutdown plus.
In birds, avian flu is fatal.
They're going to die if they get it.
Cows, that has not been the case so
far.
But the extent of how sick they are
appearing to get now is very worrying.
(22:19):
And yeah, we may see some killing of
the cows going forward.
And again, that is just part and parcel
of the industry.
Any animal who is not profitable will be
disposed of, as we have seen through disease
(22:40):
outbreaks.
Or if an animal is injured or sick,
it's not worth it for veterinary care.
And they're just, they're killed.
In the dairy industry, if a cow cannot
get pregnant, she is worthless to the industry
and she'll be killed.
That's just the nature of raising and killing
(23:00):
animals for food and using them for profit.
And we need to change the way we
see animals.
And people need to get active.
We have alerts on our website and of
course, contacting the USDA.
You know, I thought maybe the pandemic that
(23:20):
we just went through COVID-19 would have
woken us up.
But it didn't.
It really did not.
Unfortunately, the amount of meat that is being
consumed is going up globally.
I mean, the numbers are just beyond staggering.
I've heard the word pandemic fatigue, right?
(23:43):
So people are, they just made it through
one and it's hard to imagine we're heading
into another.
But these numbers don't lie.
These are massive, massive amounts of chickens and
turkeys mainly who've been mass killed in some
of the cruellest ways possible because of this
outbreak.
(24:03):
And anyone who is purchasing meat, dairy or
eggs right now, they are paying for that.
Yeah, ultimately, it's a consumer issue.
And what really strikes me in the so
called environmentalists are always saying, well, you know,
we can't just rely on individual action.
(24:26):
We've got to have systemic change.
Yes, we can rely on individual action if
all the individuals got together and took the
right action.
Right here, the New York Times reported last
year, researchers, and this is an Oxford University
study, very, very well regarded.
(24:49):
Researchers examined a diet of 55,500 people
and found that vegans are responsible for 75
% less in greenhouse gases than meat eaters.
Now put another way, if you want to
solve the climate crisis, if we all went
plant based, if the word vegan makes you
a little crazy, well, let's just say plant
(25:11):
based.
If we all went plant based, we could
put a massive dent in the climate crisis.
We're going to now be joined by Dr.
Crystal Heath.
Dr. Heath, thank you so much for being
here.
I know you're doing a spay neuters and
working very hard today.
So I thank you for taking time off
(25:32):
for for a few minutes.
I want to go right into the video
that you have provided and you've written now
an article for Time Magazine.
You've been in major publications.
So you have a lot of credentials.
You are an expert in the subject.
What are we looking at?
And please leave the names of the farms
out.
We're just in general here.
(25:53):
Okay, so this was taken October 8th, and
it was about 90 degrees that day when
I went and I just drove along the
side of the road.
I basically went to where the most dairies
were and just drove by each dairy to
see if I could find any signs of
avian influenza.
And pretty quickly, this was in Pixley, California
(26:16):
in Tulare County.
I found this pile alongside the road.
And then this is also this is in
the city of Tulare.
You'll see two aborted foetuses and then the
mom with nasal discharge and just flies everywhere.
And that's been a huge question, too, is
are these flies spreading this virus as well?
(26:39):
And there's so many birds around everywhere.
And the idea of that these can be
biosecure facilities is just laughable when you have
birds, when you have flies.
It's an impossible situation that we've created with
modern intensive animal agriculture.
Guess what?
(27:00):
We've got more breaking news.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has just declared a
state of emergency over bird flu, calling it
a proactive action.
I am reading right now.
I literally got a text from a friend,
an amazing activist, Adita Bernkrant in New York
(27:22):
with New York class.
She's watching our broadcast and she said, there's
breaking news, Jane.
Let me read it to you.
And this is from CBS News.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued.
We might as well take a look at
the problem while we talk about this.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an emergency
(27:42):
proclamation on Wednesday.
That's today in response to growing concerns over
bird flu cases in the state and across
the country.
The state of emergency proclamation comes after more
bird flu cases were detected in Southern California
dairy cows, the governor's office stated.
Wednesday also saw the Centres for Disease Control
(28:04):
and Prevention report the first severe illness in
a person due to bird flu in Louisiana.
We had reported that at the top of
the hour.
Dr. Heath, what's reaction to this declaration of
a state of emergency in California?
Yeah, I actually just saw that before I
(28:24):
got on to and I tweeted about it.
It's like finally, Gavin Newsom has entered the
chat.
We've lost 80% of California's chickens have
been exterminated due to avian influenza.
Like grocery store shelves are empty when so
many people still are dependent on protein from
animals.
I wonder what this will mean.
(28:46):
It usually means that they can mobilise resources
better.
So what will that mean?
Will that mean that they are able to
test more workers?
Are they going to be able to compensate
workers for when they have to take time
off work?
Because that's been a big barrier to testing
workers is because they don't want to be
tested.
They're not consenting to testing because they don't
(29:07):
want to have to take time off work
and lose that income.
But meanwhile, they're still spreading this in the
communities.
And I actually a colleague of mine last
week went to one of the big depopulations
that was happening and took photos of workers
without masks on and with the masks below
(29:29):
the nose.
And so that's a concern.
Are they not being provided with enough PPE?
Why are they not being educated enough about
the risks of this virus?
Why such lax protocols related to PPE?
So it'll be interesting to see what happens
as a result of this state of emergency.
Well, I'm showing a photo that is a
(29:53):
bird being killed slowly with something called ventilation
shutdown.
Plus, you have led the way, leading more
than 2000 veterinarians to sign a petition saying
this is, well, I'll say it for myself.
This is evil.
This is evil, baking millions of animals to
death and forcing taxpayers to pay for it.
(30:13):
I'm just going to declare a state of
evil.
How about that?
What can we do about this, Robert?
Well, Jane, I just wanted to say that
what I thought was really interesting was that
there's a farm workers union, I believe.
I forgot the name of it, but also
some public health groups that are now starting
(30:35):
to organise to build awareness about this and
try to change the government's policy.
And what's interesting about that is where are
we?
We should be rallying at the governor's mansion.
We should be championing this state of emergency,
(30:59):
whatever it actually means.
Like Crystal said, it probably means freeing up
funding to get to this problem.
But in any case, we should use this
opportunity to amplify our message instead of sitting
back and watching this unfold.
And it's an opportunity for us to really
(31:20):
get a bigger message out about the industry
and the problems the industry creates for animals,
for public health, for the climate crisis and
any number of farm workers.
So that's what I wish.
I would like to see more of us
doing this.
We should be at the USDA's office.
(31:41):
We should be at Gavin Newsom's mansion.
We should be at the CDFA headquarters.
We should be prioritising this because it's a
huge trigger event that we could turn into
something big.
Well, let me say you do more than
99% of the people in trying to
speak truth to power.
(32:01):
I have a clip of you and your
team trying to basically stop the farm bill,
the upcoming farm bill from bailing out these
industries for another five to 10 years.
While at the same time, the incoming administration
is talking about wanting to cut waste.
The farm bill is a product of dark
(32:23):
money that comes from the meat, dairy and
egg industries who have bought your vote through
millions of dollars in campaign contributions.
You have betrayed hardworking Americans, but we refuse
to pay for these outbreaks that come from
confining and slaughtering billions of animals.
Not another penny for cooking millions of birds
alive.
(32:43):
It's time to fund a slaughter-free, plant
-based food system.
(33:07):
No, you didn't come to that.
All right.
Well, there you go.
This was prior to the declaration of the
state emergency.
The farm bill has not been passed in
full.
It's still being debated.
Where are we with that?
Because clearly to me, that is the key
(33:30):
to solving this.
If the US government stopped propping up the
dairy industry, it would collapse.
Kids aren't drinking milk the way they did
back in the beaver days.
And we've got a growing awareness, thanks to
organisations like PETA and Switch for Good, that
most people are allergic to dairy products.
(33:52):
The National Institutes of Health itself says 68
% of humans experience lactose malabsorption.
No shock, because we are not cows.
So we shouldn't be drinking the breast milk
of cows.
The US government is keeping this industry afloat.
And now it is killing people in a
new way with potentially, we've got a critically
(34:15):
ill person in Louisiana due to bird flu.
And now it's infecting dairy cows, as we
saw.
And still, the USDA and the government remains
completely, completely, completely blind to its role in
(34:35):
basically funding this industry.
I just can't believe the stupidity, Robert.
I'm at a loss for words.
Well, I think we tend to look at
this industry and the USDA as this kind
of monolithic force that is impenetrable and immune
(34:57):
to change.
But in actuality, when you actually go to
their conferences and you talk to people, what
you find is that they're scared shitless.
I don't know any other way to put
it.
But they're in a very vulnerable situation here.
And we can have an impact.
We can leverage these weaknesses of the system
(35:21):
that they've created, that they've propped up.
And we can use it to gain popular
support, to change policy.
Are we seeing that in the new voices
we're hearing from people calling for cutting agriculture
(35:41):
subsidies, criticising fast food and factory farming?
All of a sudden, we're hearing RFK and
others talk about ending factory farming or cutting
subsidies for it.
If that's really true, are we looking at
a big change in policy?
(36:02):
But even if we're not, we should be
calling their bluffs and saying, if you really
are so against factory farming, the first biggest
thing you could do is cut subsidies to
this industry, because it's basically on life support.
And without these subsidies, you pull the plug
and the industry is going to be crippled
(36:24):
financially.
Even if we shift the subsidies by 20
to 30 percent, it's going to be crippling
for this industry.
I mean, look at what we're looking at.
This is happening in California right now, as
the governor declares a state of emergency.
(36:45):
Dr. Heath, I know that you have been
actually targeted for trying to raise this issue.
Again, we don't want to get into any
specific names here, but why aren't you being
hailed as a hero for risking your life
to go out and videotape and photograph these
cows, instead of being attacked with some people
(37:05):
trying to remove your veterinary licence because you've
alerted people?
You may be the very reason why California
is declaring a state of emergency, because you're
the person who videotaped these cows and wrote
an article in Time magazine that has been
picked up everywhere.
Yeah, I mean, it's really absurd, but the
(37:25):
industry's biggest fear is trusted messengers criticising the
industry, and that's what veterinarians are.
It's easy to dismiss vegans and animal rights
activists because farmers have more public trust than
vegans and animal rights activists, but when you
have a veterinarian who is speaking about the
issues and the public health threat and our
food security threat and the animal welfare issues,
(37:47):
that is very dangerous for the industry.
Veterinarians are taught over and over again, and
the AVMA's message has been, we need consistent
messaging around these issues, around depopulation, and when
you have a veterinarian like me and 2
,000 others straying from the AVMA industry message,
that is a huge threat, and that could
(38:10):
topple their whole industry, so that's why we
believe our honours work is so important, mobilising
more veterinarians to question the industry narrative and
the AVMA and speak to the press directly,
because right now, the press, whenever there's an
avian influenza outbreak, they ask the ag departments,
(38:30):
what's your take on this, and the ag
departments say, don't worry, the food supply is
safe, the milk is safe to drink, pasteurised
milk doesn't have any risk of avian influenza,
when that's not the issue, it's the food
production methods that are threatening public health, animal
welfare, and our food security, and those are
the questions that the journalists need to ask
(38:51):
and start to question, and how much is
this costing taxpayers?
These things aren't in the media, but we're
getting these talking points in the media, and
that is scary to them, so yeah, now
a page with more than a million followers
is calling for my veterinary licence to be
removed, we'll see what happens with that, it's
(39:11):
quite scary, but I think I'm on the
right side of history.
Well, you know what I say, no good
deed goes unpunished, it's a cliche, but it
is true, so please keep us surprised, because
we will obviously be on your side to
protest any attempts to remove your licence, and
(39:33):
that's a big story.
Yeah, I think it is too.
That's a big story, and that could backfire
really badly on the industry, you're the one
who basically was the Paul Revere of the
situation, hey, bird flu is coming, bird flu
is coming, look at this, I'm going by
the side of the road, videotaping these things,
(39:56):
and this is a crisis, and now, just
now, while we were on the air, the
governor of California has declared a state of
emergency over bird flu, and there's gonna come
a time where the lies will not stand.
I have to throw another cliche out there,
(40:17):
you can fool some of the people some
of the time, but you can't fool all
of the people all of the time, and
you know, Amber, I want to bring in
this whole issue of now, with the incoming
administration talking about make America healthy again, you
know, I've been saying that for the longest
time, I've used that phrase long before it
came into the news, yes, but why are
(40:38):
43% of Americans obese?
Why are 68% or more of Americans
overweight or obese?
It's because the US government is subsidising bad
food, and it's meat, in the form of
especially fast food, which a huge percentage of
Americans eat on a daily basis, and that's
(41:01):
cheap hamburger, cheap shakes, all meat and dairy
based, but without US government subsidies, those same
items would cost something like 20 or $25.
Okay, not $1 burger, a 250 burger, it
would be at least, well, triple, quadruple, much
(41:24):
higher.
So while they're talking now about make America
healthy again, and they're also talking simultaneously about
how they want to cut $2 trillion off
the federal budget, and there's a slew of
articles saying, you're not going to be able
to do that, because a lot of these
costs are fixed, and it's servicing the debt,
blah, blah, blah.
(41:44):
Well, the answer is sitting there right on
a silver platter in front of them.
The farm bill, the farm bill, which has
not passed yet, contains the proposed farm bill
that they'd like to pass, literally, over the
course of 10 years, more than a trillion
dollars in subsidies that are making us sick,
(42:05):
contributing to climate change, inspiring pandemics, and every
other darn thing under the sun.
It's an easy place to cut.
Do you think anybody is seeing this?
Right.
I mean, in times when there's a feeling
(42:25):
of panic or crisis, like right now, when
a state of emergency is announced far, far
too late, the states have been having this
very patchwork response to the avian flu outbreak
for many, many, many months.
And public health officials have been, rightfully so,
(42:47):
very frustrated at this patchwork, delayed response.
We've been two steps behind for a long
time.
And at least as far as PETA goes,
it's always going back to the power that
us individuals have and where we can make
(43:07):
the most impact.
And we're ready to support any activists who
want to get involved and jump on this
issue.
We will help activists with materials for doing,
you know, demonstrations, for giving out free vegan
dairy and eggs or whatever, to show people
(43:31):
that there are alternatives.
And of course, you know, contacting the USDA
to get better policies to help end the
mass, cruel mass killings of these birds and
possibly in the future, the cows.
It's a mess out there, but I think
(43:53):
all of us on the show right now
can attest there are so many things you
can do to get active and involved on
this issue.
Well, not to depress you further, but I've
got some other really disturbing news, reading articles
associated with this issue.
Take a look at this.
(44:13):
This is from a scientific publication and here's
the headline.
Alarming mutation in H5N1 virus, that's the bird
flu virus, raises pandemic red flags.
Now here's the fine print people, fasten your
seat belts.
A recent study published in science and funded
(44:33):
by the National Institutes of Health has that
a single alteration in a protein on the
surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1
virus currently present in US dairy cows could
significantly increase its potential for human to human
(44:56):
transmission.
Again, a single alteration in a protein on
the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza
virus.
Dr. Crystal Heath, we also had the breaking
news of health officials declaring today that a
(45:18):
Louisiana patient is the first severe bird flu
case in the United States, but more than
60 bird flu infections have been reported.
What do you make of this mutation warning?
Yeah, this mutation would make it more easily
transmissible between humans and has that happened yet?
(45:40):
We have seen this virus evolve over the
last several months and gain more ability to
infect humans and we're waiting for that, is
it now transmissible between humans state, which would
be very concerning.
This is a virus that historically has had
(46:01):
around a 50% mortality rate in humans.
We obviously haven't seen that with the dairy
workers who've just experienced some severe conjunctivitis and
respiratory signs, but we've seen no deaths from
it yet.
But is that a possibility as it mutates?
Can it come more deadly and more easily
transmissible between humans and lead to the next
(46:21):
pandemic?
I want to go back to your video
that you shot so courageously, because I think
you did put yourself at risk to shoot
this.
You're going up to, again, you did not
trespass, you were falsely accused of trespassing.
And I even played a clip where you
can hear the cars whizzing by and you
can see that you're outside the fence.
But I mean, what does this video that
(46:42):
you recorded tell you about the broken response?
I mean, you are walking up and just
seeing this.
Yeah.
And you see these cows are uncovered.
There's no signage anywhere warning anybody of the
risk.
And when I saw this, I contacted the
CDFA to express my concerns and they didn't
(47:04):
really care.
They said, yeah, the rendering trucks are backed
up because so many cows are dying.
And I was like, wow, that's alarming.
And Anya Radabaugh of the Western United Dairies
confirmed that in the media.
But yeah, we're always kind of caught off
guard and unprepared for these infectious disease outbreaks.
(47:24):
And these happen over and over again every
few years.
And each time it happens, we're shocked and
we have to resort to cruel things like
ventilation shutdown and piling up animals alongside the
road and things like that.
It was interesting.
A journalist went out there to that farm
after I had sent them the footage and
there was another dead cow laying there.
(47:45):
And while the journalist was there talking to
the farmer, a dog came up and sniffed
the dead body.
So this could spread.
This is the perfect environment where cats, there's
lots of community cats in the area.
Dogs can come up to these cows and
potentially get infected and spread it.
So it's very concerning.
(48:06):
And they should at least cover them.
They should spray flyspray.
They should put signs out.
Those are easy fixes.
Yeah, we can't fix the number of rendering
trucks right now.
But those are some easy solutions that they
just weren't doing.
And they're aware of this, obviously.
Robert Grillo's associate made that point.
(48:30):
Let's listen to it again, because now with
the information you've just provided.
I'm worried about that bird flu very much.
And I know that there are dead dairy
cows infected with bird flu that lay along
the roadside near dairy farms.
The scavengers go after them.
There's no biosecurity or warning.
And that scavenger hunt there actually spreads the
(48:50):
disease of bird flu to wildlife, other birds
and humans.
How can the CDFA allow this?
And are you putting industry profits over public
health and animal welfare?
That's my question.
(49:12):
Wow.
You know, I'm going to do something bold.
I know it's a two-party state.
So I'm in California, so I can't call
somebody and have a conversation and record it
without their permission.
But I called the US government and I
got a voicemail.
So I got a voiceover.
So this isn't a person, this is just
(49:33):
a voice.
Let's see.
Okay.
You call the number.
This is the number we're telling you to
call.
Okay.
I am calling right now and leaving my
(49:54):
message as a US citizen to say, you
are mishandling the bird flu.
And the solution is not to do more
mass killing of birds.
Okay.
The solution is to stop subsidising animal agriculture
and let the free market decide.
(50:15):
And now the incoming administration says they want
to cut $2 trillion off the budget.
The best way to do that is to
cut the 73% of profits to the
dairy industry that comes from the US government.
I do not want my tax dollars supporting
ventilation shutdown of millions of birds.
I do not want my tax dollars rewarding
(50:39):
farmers for keeping animals in horrific conditions.
Stop the bailout, stop the subsidies.
Thank you.
Okay.
That was my message.
And I'm telling everybody out there, you can
call too.
Okay.
There's the number 202-720-3631.
(51:00):
If you're listening, jot it down.
202-720-3631.
If you're watching, take a screen grab.
If you're not going to call the second
or just call now.
I mean, we've given you the lowdown on
what's going on.
This is a crisis.
It is an unfolding crisis, people, happening right,
(51:25):
a slow motion train wreck happening before our
eyes.
I just lived for two and a half,
three years in my apartment by myself or
walking my dogs or using a mask.
I do not want to do that again.
I do not want to go through that
again.
(51:45):
Final thoughts, everybody.
And I'll start with, we've only got a
couple of minutes.
So give us your final 30 seconds, Amber
of PETA.
Just never be silent.
And PETA is ready to help any activists
who want to get involved.
We will get you set up with all
the materials you need to help those animals
(52:06):
on those factory farms.
Thank you, Amber.
Robert, your final thoughts?
To build a coalition with other groups that
are concerned about public health, about climate, about
pandemics, about animals, and all come together to
collectively gain power over this very destructive and
(52:28):
dangerous industry.
And our very special guest, Dr. Crystal Heath,
thank you again for joining us.
I know you are working very hard around
the clock to do spay, neuter.
So I appreciate you taking the time.
What are your final thoughts?
Yeah, I mean, people can go and see
these things for themselves.
And I'm kind of shocked that me and
(52:50):
just one other person are the only people
going to the Central Valley and other areas
where avian influenza is infecting herds and flocks
and taking photos.
I hope more animal advocates take photos, talk
to the media.
We are continuing to talk to the media
and get them to ask the right questions.
And this is so, so important.
(53:10):
Update them on how much in bailouts that
we are giving these companies.
This is really important information to get out
there.
Write op-eds, write letters to the editor.
If you wanted to volunteer for our honour,
go to ourhonor.org and help us out
and get this message to the media via
trusted messengers, which are so important for getting
the right narrative out there in the media.
(53:32):
Well, thank you again, Dr. Heath.
And my final thought is I've always believed
in the law of unintended consequences.
Sometimes I think the worst things that happen
to me end up being the best things,
like I got fired and then I got
a much better job.
And this is a horrible crisis, but there
is an opportunity in this crisis.
(53:52):
This is a wake up call to the
American people to let these industries go.
There is no need for you to drink
the breast milk of a cow.
It is unnatural.
Most of us are allergic and there's no
need for us to eat animals to get
protein.
It's all just unnecessary.
(54:17):
And it's coming back to bite us big
time.
I think that this could be an opportunity
for America and by extension, the world to
wake up, wake up and evolve.
We are complicit when we eat meat and
when we eat dairy.
(54:38):
And I haven't eaten meat or dairy in
going on 30 years.
And I haven't eaten meat for probably my
entire life, but dairy 30 years.
And look at me.
Okay.
Nobody on this panel is eating animals.
We're doing okay.
So it's really an opportunity, I think, for
(55:00):
all of us to wake up and to
evolve beyond killing 92 billion animals.
That's land animals alone for food every year.
And the last thing I'd say is please
support Unchained TV.
We are the world's only 100% plant
-based animal rights streaming television network.
So it's a vegan Netflix.
(55:21):
Okay.
That's the craziest thing I've ever heard.
I love Unchained TV.
Unchained, Unchained TV.
Your life will change.
It's just that easy.
Unchained TV has all sorts of content for
everybody.
Unchained TV changed my life.
Unchained TV is crushing it.
I love Unchained TV.
Unchained TV is my go-to.
(55:42):
Unchained TV.
Who knew?
Unchained baby, yeah.
Just as we were going to air, news
has come down that is quite disturbing.
Health officials, according to the Associated Press, are
saying a Louisiana patient is the first severe
bird flu case in the United States.
And the Associated Press article adds that this
year more than 60 bird flu infections have
(00:23):
been reported with more than half of them
in California.
In two, an adult in Missouri and a
child in California, health officials have not determined
how they caught it.
Our question today is, is our horrific treatment
of farmed animals setting us up for the
next pandemic?
(00:44):
And before you decide whether that is an
exaggeration, we'll take a look at this.
Numerous dairy cows have been spotted dead near
the side of the road in California, documented
on videotape by veterinarian and founder of Our
Honour, Dr. Crystal Heath, who will be joining
us in a bit.
And now the USDA is going to be
(01:04):
testing cow's milk.
According to NBC, the mandate targeting bulk milk
transporters and dairy processors is meant to help
identify herds that have caught the virus, which
has spread among livestock.
So what happens when they find, look at
this cow, if you're listening, take our word
(01:25):
for it, nasal discharge, clearly a sick cow.
What happens when they start identifying bird flu
amongst all of these cows?
Are they going to do what they did
to and have been doing to many, many
millions of chickens?
Look at this.
(01:46):
This is how sick our society has gotten.
This is a bird being baked to death
live in a process called ventilation shutdown.
And they're doing it to millions of birds.
2,000 veterinarians have signed a petition saying,
tell corporations to stop using ventilation shutdown plus.
(02:09):
Basically, they seal off the area and they
turn up the heat and they bake these
animals alive.
It takes them hours to die.
It's kind of like when you get the
termite removed and they tank your house and
then they turn up the heat and you
got to leave for a couple of days.
This is what they're doing to millions of
animals.
Guess who's paying for all that?
Us.
(02:30):
The U.S. government subsidises this.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government is going on
and on and on about how we have
to, oh, do something to stop bird flu.
And don't worry, mostly focused on go ahead,
keep eating your milk and your dairy and
(02:51):
your meat.
It's OK, consumers, nothing to worry about here.
You know, will the human race ever learn?
We just went through a pandemic that killed
millions of people.
And whether you believe it started in the
Wuhan market where they were torturing animals to
be chopped up alive in a retail setting,
or you think it started in the laboratory
(03:11):
where they were also torturing animals in experiments.
It's zoonotic, people.
Seventy three percent of the emerging pathogens are
zoonotic, means they come from animals.
Bottom line, our horrific treatment of animals is
what's brought us again to this crisis.
I want to go straight out to Robert
(03:32):
Grillo of Free From Harm.
Robert, you've been on the forefront of this,
speaking truth to power.
Where are we as a society that we're
here again after just barely crawling out of
the last pandemic?
Yeah, right.
And just the other day, Jane, Congress passed
(03:53):
a disaster relief bill, which is which is
giving 21 billion dollars to 21 billion, by
the way, not million billion dollars to ranchers
and livestock producers who have suffered losses from
disease, from drought, from wildfires.
(04:15):
All of the things that that industry actually
creates is the biggest driver.
Right.
So the insanity in that alone is hard
to wrap your head around.
But I'll tell you, you know, I have
been to some industry conferences lately, like I
was recently at the Federal Reserve Bank Agriculture
Forum.
And, you know, people are scared and they
(04:37):
don't know where this is headed.
The best experts don't know where this is
headed.
But the health experts around the world are
sounding the alarm, like they have been doing
for years, that bird flu is an inevitability
if we don't change course.
(04:57):
Again, I would like you to look at,
and this is just a snippet, the cows,
the dead cows piling up on the side
of the roads in California, which, by the
way, is the largest dairy state and the
fifth largest economy in the world.
This is a horror show.
(05:21):
And it's something that is happening right now
in real time in California.
I had to look at this footage yesterday
getting ready for the show, and I was
just horrified.
Now, here's another image of a sick cow.
You can see the nasal discharge coming out
(05:42):
of the cow's nose.
And obviously, the cow was surrounded by other
cows, some of whom appear to be downed,
but others are walking around.
That is, you know, to me, and I'm
the first to say I'm not an expert
on this issue.
But to me, that is the first sign
that cows are not being isolated, who are
(06:04):
showing symptoms.
And so that just on a basic logic
level would mean that it could spread more
rapidly.
And I just can't believe that we are
sleepwalking into this next disaster.
I want to go to Amber Canavan, who's
(06:25):
with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Amber, please tell me what PETA's position is
on this emerging crisis.
Well, PETA has been saying for years, I
mean, back when we were in the previous
avian flu outbreaks, and swine flu, and every
(06:46):
other one that's come out is that the
vast majority of emerging diseases come from animals.
And that is from mostly from mass confining
them for food or, or taking them from
the wild.
And the thing we need to do to
prevent the next pandemic is to go vegan.
(07:09):
Because when factory farms are cramming thousands or
10s of thousands or even millions of animals
into cramped, filthy conditions, you're creating a petri
dish for diseases to spread, especially when they're
spreading between species.
So the fact that this is jumped into
(07:31):
cows used for dairy is definitely very concerning.
I mean, it really is.
And I, again, I'm not an expert in
this subject at all.
I've been reading articles, it's complicated.
But the bottom line is that we are
treating 92 billion animals every year, like trash,
(07:58):
torturing them in industrial conditions.
And we expect that there's no repercussions.
I personally believe that nature is sending us
a signal that this has got to stop.
And so now I want to talk about
the specific new breaking news.
(08:18):
There's two right before we went on the
air, if you're just joining us, we got
word that there's a first.
And that is health officials are now saying
a Louisiana patient is the first severe bird
flu case in the United States.
This is according to the Associated Press.
Overall, more than 60 bird flu infections have
(08:40):
been reported with over half of them in
California.
And here's the other breaking news is that
the US Department of Agriculture has now ordered
the testing of milk for bird flu.
So I know you, Robert Grillo, are urging
everybody and I would just say take a
(09:00):
snapshot of this.
If you're watching, if you're listening, I will
give you the number.
Call the USDA 202-720-3631.
That's 202-720-3631.
I just called right before air, I got
(09:22):
a voicemail.
And what I said was, the United States
government has got to stop subsidising the dairy
industry.
73% of the dairy industry's profits in
one shape or another come from US government
subsidies.
(09:43):
That means that we, the taxpayers, are paying
73% of the dairy industry's profits.
While 68% minimum, according to the National
Institutes of Health, 68% of the world's
population is lactose intolerant, which means most of
(10:04):
us are allergic to dairy.
So right there, it's illogical to push it.
And then additionally, we're all talking about Make
America Healthy Again and the obesity crisis.
And what's contributing mightily to the obesity crisis?
Ice cream, cheese, dairy, milkshakes, which again, the
US government is subsidising.
(10:26):
It blows my mind, not to mention climate
change.
We're in a climate crisis.
And the US government is purportedly trying to
solve the climate crisis, while they're actually fuelling
the climate crisis with subsidies to animal agriculture,
which is a leading contributor to climate change.
(10:47):
Robert Grillo, my head explodes when I think
about the stupidity.
Yeah, well, it's unbelievable.
And we could talk about the whole show
about that.
But what I really want to do is
hopefully provide people with a path to how
we how we can have an impact on
this.
(11:08):
And of course, the digital call to action,
call Vilsack's office, follow up with an email,
do both if you can.
We have a script on our social channels
for what to say if you're not sure,
but there's three core things.
And one of them is, we want the
USTA to charge the corporations, not taxpayers, for
(11:33):
this bird flu disaster that the industry itself
is spreading, not taxpayers.
The second thing is, which they probably will
do is quarantine stop animals and product, milk
product from leaving infected farms.
Over half of the California dairy farms have
had positive infections.
(11:53):
Those farms should not be selling milk.
This will have a huge impact on the
industry.
And the last thing we want is we
want the records made public of all of
the infections that humans, workers, other humans, and
animals, we want those records made public.
(12:16):
The USDA doesn't want to make those records
public, because they don't want to scare the
public into thinking that we have a problem
that they actually don't know how to control.
But let me just say something about more
than what we can do.
Okay, so we had a group of very
brave people, activists go to a cattle health
(12:36):
meeting in Sacramento at the California Department of
Food and Agriculture.
Actually, it was at the California Farm Bureau
offices, just to show you how cosy, the
most influential animal ag lobby group, the Farm
Bureau is with the Department of Agriculture, just
to show you that they have many of
(12:57):
their meetings at this California Farm Bureau's office.
And it's only people that have a vested
interest in the animal ag industry.
So they had a cattle health meeting, and
they were talking about bird flu and what
they can do about it.
And for the first, perhaps the first time,
there were activists in the room that were
(13:19):
telling them that their policy is a disaster,
and that they are betraying CDFA's mission of
putting public health first.
And they are not putting public health first.
This is not a complicated issue.
This is about putting industry profits, dairy industry
profits above public health, trying to save the
(13:41):
dairy industry at any expense, even if it
means a pandemic.
Well, the US government is the dairy industry.
The USDA is run by Tom Vilsack, who
was a dairy industry executive.
Prior to becoming the USDA Secretary for the
(14:03):
second time, he was Secretary the first time
under the Obama administration.
So Amber, I mean, what can we do
about the incredible ties between the dairy industry
and the US government to the point where
they are essentially, in my view, one and
(14:27):
the same?
Right?
I mean, well, first of all, whenever things
like this are happening that, you know, do
seem far above our heads, the first thing
people should do is to stop giving money
to these industries in the first place before
going vegan, by going vegan, sorry.
PETA does also have our subsidies campaign.
(14:53):
So we are urging the government to pull
subsidies out of the animal agriculture industry and
put that into healthy vegan food production.
And yeah, contacting Vilsack right now is also,
(15:14):
as the action alert on the screen was,
to let them know that people are upset
that especially the dairy industry, but also the
egg industry has been getting so many passes
recently, and is getting covered.
They're getting covered to mass kill all these
(15:34):
animals at taxpayer expense.
And we're all suffering for it.
And you had mentioned, Robert, that there were
activists at that hearing, we have a clip
of one brave activist who stood up and
spoke truth to power.
I'm worried about that bird flu very much.
(15:56):
And I know that there are dead dairy
cows infected with bird flu that lay along
the roadside near dairy farms.
The scavengers go after them.
There's no biosecurity or warning.
And that scavenger hunt there actually spreads the
disease of bird flu to wildlife, other birds
and humans.
How can the CDFA allow this?
(16:16):
And are you putting industry profits over public
health and animal welfare?
That's my question.
And we are showing you, these are still
photos, we also have video shot by Dr.
(16:37):
Crystal Heath, a veterinarian, who is the founder
of Our Honour, a veterinarian organisation that seeks
to stop the mass torture.
And I know that Oh, oh, you're so
exaggerating.
No, the mass torture of animals in the
(16:57):
industrialised food system.
And instead of being applauded for her work,
she is actually being attacked.
We're going to be speaking to her in
a few minutes.
Right now she is doing spay neuters.
And she's going to try to go on
a break at the half hour mark and
join us and tell us how she got
these images and she did not trespass.
(17:19):
First user of trespassing, when she's taking the
video, you can hear the sound of the
cars right behind her.
In fact, let me play something.
So you can hear the sound of the
cars.
(17:54):
You can also see the fence.
And additionally, what scared me about that video,
and I've been watching these videos for a
couple of days now, it's it's really debilitating,
is that you've got obviously sick, possibly dead,
they look dead cows.
And then you've got healthy ones walking around.
So again, the idea that just as your
(18:16):
activists stated at that hearing, they're not be
the animals are not being separated, that that
is just going to allow them to spread
logic tells me that what are you saying,
Robert?
I'm saying that, listen, I've, I've had a
conversation with Karen Ross, the Secretary of Agriculture.
I asked her directly about ventilation shutdown in
(18:39):
about what her concern level is about bird
flu.
Those people that were representatives of her office
at that cattle health meeting, from the video
that you just showed, they're rattled.
They don't know exactly what to do.
They're trying to save face.
(19:00):
But we need more people.
If we want media attention on this, we
need more activists that are willing to go
to these meetings, confront these power holders, from
the Agriculture Authority in California, California Department of
Food and Agriculture, and interact with them face
(19:22):
to face demand answers face to face, because
all the emails and calls in the world
will not be enough to solve this.
We need people willing to participate face to
face.
So that's, that's the effort that we're really
involved in right now.
Yes, and we're going to keep putting this
(19:44):
up over and over again throughout the show.
I called right before we went on the
air 202-720-3631.
And I left a voicemail.
Do I know whether that's going to have
an impact?
No, but I know that if I don't
make the call, it definitely won't have an
impact.
So I think they get inundated with calls.
(20:07):
You know, somebody walks up, I've been on
the other side, and I've seen how it
works.
Somebody walks up to some executive and says,
Hey, we're getting a lot of calls on
this bird flu thing.
I mean, yeah, it's, it's out of control.
You know, something's got to be done.
People are people.
Yeah, there's, there's a lot of politically incorrect
(20:28):
phrases I could use to describe how they
will treat the general public in terms of,
oh, they're getting, they're getting restless.
Let's look, let's just put it that way.
Now, I want to go back to Amber
Canavan of PETA for the ethical treatment of
animals.
You know, as I was reading articles about
this, the amount of animals, the sheer number
(20:50):
of animals that we are killing for food
is, is beyond comprehension, but then just killing
because they've been exposed to the bird flu.
According to Science Alert, more than 300 million
poultry birds have been killed or culled since
October 2021, while 315 different species of wild
(21:13):
birds have died across 79 countries.
The World Organisation for Animal Health told AFP.
Globally, 300 million birds.
And how do we wrap our mind around
that kind of horror, Amber?
Anybody who's been involved in trying to protect
(21:34):
animals for a long time.
I mean, we're raising and killing 10 billion
animals in the United States, land animals every
year.
And that number, for me at least, is
always ticking in my mind.
But yes, these mass killings for disease control
are incredibly disturbing.
(21:56):
The ventilation shutdown and ventilation shutdown plus.
In birds, avian flu is fatal.
They're going to die if they get it.
Cows, that has not been the case so
far.
But the extent of how sick they are
appearing to get now is very worrying.
(22:19):
And yeah, we may see some killing of
the cows going forward.
And again, that is just part and parcel
of the industry.
Any animal who is not profitable will be
disposed of, as we have seen through disease
(22:40):
outbreaks.
Or if an animal is injured or sick,
it's not worth it for veterinary care.
And they're just, they're killed.
In the dairy industry, if a cow cannot
get pregnant, she is worthless to the industry
and she'll be killed.
That's just the nature of raising and killing
(23:00):
animals for food and using them for profit.
And we need to change the way we
see animals.
And people need to get active.
We have alerts on our website and of
course, contacting the USDA.
You know, I thought maybe the pandemic that
(23:20):
we just went through COVID-19 would have
woken us up.
But it didn't.
It really did not.
Unfortunately, the amount of meat that is being
consumed is going up globally.
I mean, the numbers are just beyond staggering.
I've heard the word pandemic fatigue, right?
(23:43):
So people are, they just made it through
one and it's hard to imagine we're heading
into another.
But these numbers don't lie.
These are massive, massive amounts of chickens and
turkeys mainly who've been mass killed in some
of the cruellest ways possible because of this
outbreak.
(24:03):
And anyone who is purchasing meat, dairy or
eggs right now, they are paying for that.
Yeah, ultimately, it's a consumer issue.
And what really strikes me in the so
called environmentalists are always saying, well, you know,
we can't just rely on individual action.
(24:26):
We've got to have systemic change.
Yes, we can rely on individual action if
all the individuals got together and took the
right action.
Right here, the New York Times reported last
year, researchers, and this is an Oxford University
study, very, very well regarded.
(24:49):
Researchers examined a diet of 55,500 people
and found that vegans are responsible for 75
% less in greenhouse gases than meat eaters.
Now put another way, if you want to
solve the climate crisis, if we all went
plant based, if the word vegan makes you
a little crazy, well, let's just say plant
(25:11):
based.
If we all went plant based, we could
put a massive dent in the climate crisis.
We're going to now be joined by Dr.
Crystal Heath.
Dr. Heath, thank you so much for being
here.
I know you're doing a spay neuters and
working very hard today.
So I thank you for taking time off
(25:32):
for for a few minutes.
I want to go right into the video
that you have provided and you've written now
an article for Time Magazine.
You've been in major publications.
So you have a lot of credentials.
You are an expert in the subject.
What are we looking at?
And please leave the names of the farms
out.
We're just in general here.
(25:53):
Okay, so this was taken October 8th, and
it was about 90 degrees that day when
I went and I just drove along the
side of the road.
I basically went to where the most dairies
were and just drove by each dairy to
see if I could find any signs of
avian influenza.
And pretty quickly, this was in Pixley, California
(26:16):
in Tulare County.
I found this pile alongside the road.
And then this is also this is in
the city of Tulare.
You'll see two aborted foetuses and then the
mom with nasal discharge and just flies everywhere.
And that's been a huge question, too, is
are these flies spreading this virus as well?
(26:39):
And there's so many birds around everywhere.
And the idea of that these can be
biosecure facilities is just laughable when you have
birds, when you have flies.
It's an impossible situation that we've created with
modern intensive animal agriculture.
Guess what?
(27:00):
We've got more breaking news.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has just declared a
state of emergency over bird flu, calling it
a proactive action.
I am reading right now.
I literally got a text from a friend,
an amazing activist, Adita Bernkrant in New York
(27:22):
with New York class.
She's watching our broadcast and she said, there's
breaking news, Jane.
Let me read it to you.
And this is from CBS News.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued.
We might as well take a look at
the problem while we talk about this.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an emergency
(27:42):
proclamation on Wednesday.
That's today in response to growing concerns over
bird flu cases in the state and across
the country.
The state of emergency proclamation comes after more
bird flu cases were detected in Southern California
dairy cows, the governor's office stated.
Wednesday also saw the Centres for Disease Control
(28:04):
and Prevention report the first severe illness in
a person due to bird flu in Louisiana.
We had reported that at the top of
the hour.
Dr. Heath, what's reaction to this declaration of
a state of emergency in California?
Yeah, I actually just saw that before I
(28:24):
got on to and I tweeted about it.
It's like finally, Gavin Newsom has entered the
chat.
We've lost 80% of California's chickens have
been exterminated due to avian influenza.
Like grocery store shelves are empty when so
many people still are dependent on protein from
animals.
I wonder what this will mean.
(28:46):
It usually means that they can mobilise resources
better.
So what will that mean?
Will that mean that they are able to
test more workers?
Are they going to be able to compensate
workers for when they have to take time
off work?
Because that's been a big barrier to testing
workers is because they don't want to be
tested.
They're not consenting to testing because they don't
(29:07):
want to have to take time off work
and lose that income.
But meanwhile, they're still spreading this in the
communities.
And I actually a colleague of mine last
week went to one of the big depopulations
that was happening and took photos of workers
without masks on and with the masks below
(29:29):
the nose.
And so that's a concern.
Are they not being provided with enough PPE?
Why are they not being educated enough about
the risks of this virus?
Why such lax protocols related to PPE?
So it'll be interesting to see what happens
as a result of this state of emergency.
Well, I'm showing a photo that is a
(29:53):
bird being killed slowly with something called ventilation
shutdown.
Plus, you have led the way, leading more
than 2000 veterinarians to sign a petition saying
this is, well, I'll say it for myself.
This is evil.
This is evil, baking millions of animals to
death and forcing taxpayers to pay for it.
(30:13):
I'm just going to declare a state of
evil.
How about that?
What can we do about this, Robert?
Well, Jane, I just wanted to say that
what I thought was really interesting was that
there's a farm workers union, I believe.
I forgot the name of it, but also
some public health groups that are now starting
(30:35):
to organise to build awareness about this and
try to change the government's policy.
And what's interesting about that is where are
we?
We should be rallying at the governor's mansion.
We should be championing this state of emergency,
(30:59):
whatever it actually means.
Like Crystal said, it probably means freeing up
funding to get to this problem.
But in any case, we should use this
opportunity to amplify our message instead of sitting
back and watching this unfold.
And it's an opportunity for us to really
(31:20):
get a bigger message out about the industry
and the problems the industry creates for animals,
for public health, for the climate crisis and
any number of farm workers.
So that's what I wish.
I would like to see more of us
doing this.
We should be at the USDA's office.
(31:41):
We should be at Gavin Newsom's mansion.
We should be at the CDFA headquarters.
We should be prioritising this because it's a
huge trigger event that we could turn into
something big.
Well, let me say you do more than
99% of the people in trying to
speak truth to power.
(32:01):
I have a clip of you and your
team trying to basically stop the farm bill,
the upcoming farm bill from bailing out these
industries for another five to 10 years.
While at the same time, the incoming administration
is talking about wanting to cut waste.
The farm bill is a product of dark
(32:23):
money that comes from the meat, dairy and
egg industries who have bought your vote through
millions of dollars in campaign contributions.
You have betrayed hardworking Americans, but we refuse
to pay for these outbreaks that come from
confining and slaughtering billions of animals.
Not another penny for cooking millions of birds
alive.
(32:43):
It's time to fund a slaughter-free, plant
-based food system.
(33:07):
No, you didn't come to that.
All right.
Well, there you go.
This was prior to the declaration of the
state emergency.
The farm bill has not been passed in
full.
It's still being debated.
Where are we with that?
Because clearly to me, that is the key
(33:30):
to solving this.
If the US government stopped propping up the
dairy industry, it would collapse.
Kids aren't drinking milk the way they did
back in the beaver days.
And we've got a growing awareness, thanks to
organisations like PETA and Switch for Good, that
most people are allergic to dairy products.
(33:52):
The National Institutes of Health itself says 68
% of humans experience lactose malabsorption.
No shock, because we are not cows.
So we shouldn't be drinking the breast milk
of cows.
The US government is keeping this industry afloat.
And now it is killing people in a
new way with potentially, we've got a critically
(34:15):
ill person in Louisiana due to bird flu.
And now it's infecting dairy cows, as we
saw.
And still, the USDA and the government remains
completely, completely, completely blind to its role in
(34:35):
basically funding this industry.
I just can't believe the stupidity, Robert.
I'm at a loss for words.
Well, I think we tend to look at
this industry and the USDA as this kind
of monolithic force that is impenetrable and immune
(34:57):
to change.
But in actuality, when you actually go to
their conferences and you talk to people, what
you find is that they're scared shitless.
I don't know any other way to put
it.
But they're in a very vulnerable situation here.
And we can have an impact.
We can leverage these weaknesses of the system
(35:21):
that they've created, that they've propped up.
And we can use it to gain popular
support, to change policy.
Are we seeing that in the new voices
we're hearing from people calling for cutting agriculture
(35:41):
subsidies, criticising fast food and factory farming?
All of a sudden, we're hearing RFK and
others talk about ending factory farming or cutting
subsidies for it.
If that's really true, are we looking at
a big change in policy?
(36:02):
But even if we're not, we should be
calling their bluffs and saying, if you really
are so against factory farming, the first biggest
thing you could do is cut subsidies to
this industry, because it's basically on life support.
And without these subsidies, you pull the plug
and the industry is going to be crippled
(36:24):
financially.
Even if we shift the subsidies by 20
to 30 percent, it's going to be crippling
for this industry.
I mean, look at what we're looking at.
This is happening in California right now, as
the governor declares a state of emergency.
(36:45):
Dr. Heath, I know that you have been
actually targeted for trying to raise this issue.
Again, we don't want to get into any
specific names here, but why aren't you being
hailed as a hero for risking your life
to go out and videotape and photograph these
cows, instead of being attacked with some people
(37:05):
trying to remove your veterinary licence because you've
alerted people?
You may be the very reason why California
is declaring a state of emergency, because you're
the person who videotaped these cows and wrote
an article in Time magazine that has been
picked up everywhere.
Yeah, I mean, it's really absurd, but the
(37:25):
industry's biggest fear is trusted messengers criticising the
industry, and that's what veterinarians are.
It's easy to dismiss vegans and animal rights
activists because farmers have more public trust than
vegans and animal rights activists, but when you
have a veterinarian who is speaking about the
issues and the public health threat and our
food security threat and the animal welfare issues,
(37:47):
that is very dangerous for the industry.
Veterinarians are taught over and over again, and
the AVMA's message has been, we need consistent
messaging around these issues, around depopulation, and when
you have a veterinarian like me and 2
,000 others straying from the AVMA industry message,
that is a huge threat, and that could
(38:10):
topple their whole industry, so that's why we
believe our honours work is so important, mobilising
more veterinarians to question the industry narrative and
the AVMA and speak to the press directly,
because right now, the press, whenever there's an
avian influenza outbreak, they ask the ag departments,
(38:30):
what's your take on this, and the ag
departments say, don't worry, the food supply is
safe, the milk is safe to drink, pasteurised
milk doesn't have any risk of avian influenza,
when that's not the issue, it's the food
production methods that are threatening public health, animal
welfare, and our food security, and those are
the questions that the journalists need to ask
(38:51):
and start to question, and how much is
this costing taxpayers?
These things aren't in the media, but we're
getting these talking points in the media, and
that is scary to them, so yeah, now
a page with more than a million followers
is calling for my veterinary licence to be
removed, we'll see what happens with that, it's
(39:11):
quite scary, but I think I'm on the
right side of history.
Well, you know what I say, no good
deed goes unpunished, it's a cliche, but it
is true, so please keep us surprised, because
we will obviously be on your side to
protest any attempts to remove your licence, and
(39:33):
that's a big story.
Yeah, I think it is too.
That's a big story, and that could backfire
really badly on the industry, you're the one
who basically was the Paul Revere of the
situation, hey, bird flu is coming, bird flu
is coming, look at this, I'm going by
the side of the road, videotaping these things,
(39:56):
and this is a crisis, and now, just
now, while we were on the air, the
governor of California has declared a state of
emergency over bird flu, and there's gonna come
a time where the lies will not stand.
I have to throw another cliche out there,
(40:17):
you can fool some of the people some
of the time, but you can't fool all
of the people all of the time, and
you know, Amber, I want to bring in
this whole issue of now, with the incoming
administration talking about make America healthy again, you
know, I've been saying that for the longest
time, I've used that phrase long before it
came into the news, yes, but why are
(40:38):
43% of Americans obese?
Why are 68% or more of Americans
overweight or obese?
It's because the US government is subsidising bad
food, and it's meat, in the form of
especially fast food, which a huge percentage of
Americans eat on a daily basis, and that's
(41:01):
cheap hamburger, cheap shakes, all meat and dairy
based, but without US government subsidies, those same
items would cost something like 20 or $25.
Okay, not $1 burger, a 250 burger, it
would be at least, well, triple, quadruple, much
(41:24):
higher.
So while they're talking now about make America
healthy again, and they're also talking simultaneously about
how they want to cut $2 trillion off
the federal budget, and there's a slew of
articles saying, you're not going to be able
to do that, because a lot of these
costs are fixed, and it's servicing the debt,
blah, blah, blah.
(41:44):
Well, the answer is sitting there right on
a silver platter in front of them.
The farm bill, the farm bill, which has
not passed yet, contains the proposed farm bill
that they'd like to pass, literally, over the
course of 10 years, more than a trillion
dollars in subsidies that are making us sick,
(42:05):
contributing to climate change, inspiring pandemics, and every
other darn thing under the sun.
It's an easy place to cut.
Do you think anybody is seeing this?
Right.
I mean, in times when there's a feeling
(42:25):
of panic or crisis, like right now, when
a state of emergency is announced far, far
too late, the states have been having this
very patchwork response to the avian flu outbreak
for many, many, many months.
And public health officials have been, rightfully so,
(42:47):
very frustrated at this patchwork, delayed response.
We've been two steps behind for a long
time.
And at least as far as PETA goes,
it's always going back to the power that
us individuals have and where we can make
(43:07):
the most impact.
And we're ready to support any activists who
want to get involved and jump on this
issue.
We will help activists with materials for doing,
you know, demonstrations, for giving out free vegan
dairy and eggs or whatever, to show people
(43:31):
that there are alternatives.
And of course, you know, contacting the USDA
to get better policies to help end the
mass, cruel mass killings of these birds and
possibly in the future, the cows.
It's a mess out there, but I think
(43:53):
all of us on the show right now
can attest there are so many things you
can do to get active and involved on
this issue.
Well, not to depress you further, but I've
got some other really disturbing news, reading articles
associated with this issue.
Take a look at this.
(44:13):
This is from a scientific publication and here's
the headline.
Alarming mutation in H5N1 virus, that's the bird
flu virus, raises pandemic red flags.
Now here's the fine print people, fasten your
seat belts.
A recent study published in science and funded
(44:33):
by the National Institutes of Health has that
a single alteration in a protein on the
surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1
virus currently present in US dairy cows could
significantly increase its potential for human to human
(44:56):
transmission.
Again, a single alteration in a protein on
the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza
virus.
Dr. Crystal Heath, we also had the breaking
news of health officials declaring today that a
(45:18):
Louisiana patient is the first severe bird flu
case in the United States, but more than
60 bird flu infections have been reported.
What do you make of this mutation warning?
Yeah, this mutation would make it more easily
transmissible between humans and has that happened yet?
(45:40):
We have seen this virus evolve over the
last several months and gain more ability to
infect humans and we're waiting for that, is
it now transmissible between humans state, which would
be very concerning.
This is a virus that historically has had
(46:01):
around a 50% mortality rate in humans.
We obviously haven't seen that with the dairy
workers who've just experienced some severe conjunctivitis and
respiratory signs, but we've seen no deaths from
it yet.
But is that a possibility as it mutates?
Can it come more deadly and more easily
transmissible between humans and lead to the next
(46:21):
pandemic?
I want to go back to your video
that you shot so courageously, because I think
you did put yourself at risk to shoot
this.
You're going up to, again, you did not
trespass, you were falsely accused of trespassing.
And I even played a clip where you
can hear the cars whizzing by and you
can see that you're outside the fence.
But I mean, what does this video that
(46:42):
you recorded tell you about the broken response?
I mean, you are walking up and just
seeing this.
Yeah.
And you see these cows are uncovered.
There's no signage anywhere warning anybody of the
risk.
And when I saw this, I contacted the
CDFA to express my concerns and they didn't
(47:04):
really care.
They said, yeah, the rendering trucks are backed
up because so many cows are dying.
And I was like, wow, that's alarming.
And Anya Radabaugh of the Western United Dairies
confirmed that in the media.
But yeah, we're always kind of caught off
guard and unprepared for these infectious disease outbreaks.
(47:24):
And these happen over and over again every
few years.
And each time it happens, we're shocked and
we have to resort to cruel things like
ventilation shutdown and piling up animals alongside the
road and things like that.
It was interesting.
A journalist went out there to that farm
after I had sent them the footage and
there was another dead cow laying there.
(47:45):
And while the journalist was there talking to
the farmer, a dog came up and sniffed
the dead body.
So this could spread.
This is the perfect environment where cats, there's
lots of community cats in the area.
Dogs can come up to these cows and
potentially get infected and spread it.
So it's very concerning.
(48:06):
And they should at least cover them.
They should spray flyspray.
They should put signs out.
Those are easy fixes.
Yeah, we can't fix the number of rendering
trucks right now.
But those are some easy solutions that they
just weren't doing.
And they're aware of this, obviously.
Robert Grillo's associate made that point.
(48:30):
Let's listen to it again, because now with
the information you've just provided.
I'm worried about that bird flu very much.
And I know that there are dead dairy
cows infected with bird flu that lay along
the roadside near dairy farms.
The scavengers go after them.
There's no biosecurity or warning.
And that scavenger hunt there actually spreads the
(48:50):
disease of bird flu to wildlife, other birds
and humans.
How can the CDFA allow this?
And are you putting industry profits over public
health and animal welfare?
That's my question.
(49:12):
Wow.
You know, I'm going to do something bold.
I know it's a two-party state.
So I'm in California, so I can't call
somebody and have a conversation and record it
without their permission.
But I called the US government and I
got a voicemail.
So I got a voiceover.
So this isn't a person, this is just
(49:33):
a voice.
Let's see.
Okay.
You call the number.
This is the number we're telling you to
call.
Okay.
I am calling right now and leaving my
(49:54):
message as a US citizen to say, you
are mishandling the bird flu.
And the solution is not to do more
mass killing of birds.
Okay.
The solution is to stop subsidising animal agriculture
and let the free market decide.
(50:15):
And now the incoming administration says they want
to cut $2 trillion off the budget.
The best way to do that is to
cut the 73% of profits to the
dairy industry that comes from the US government.
I do not want my tax dollars supporting
ventilation shutdown of millions of birds.
I do not want my tax dollars rewarding
(50:39):
farmers for keeping animals in horrific conditions.
Stop the bailout, stop the subsidies.
Thank you.
Okay.
That was my message.
And I'm telling everybody out there, you can
call too.
Okay.
There's the number 202-720-3631.
(51:00):
If you're listening, jot it down.
202-720-3631.
If you're watching, take a screen grab.
If you're not going to call the second
or just call now.
I mean, we've given you the lowdown on
what's going on.
This is a crisis.
It is an unfolding crisis, people, happening right,
(51:25):
a slow motion train wreck happening before our
eyes.
I just lived for two and a half,
three years in my apartment by myself or
walking my dogs or using a mask.
I do not want to do that again.
I do not want to go through that
again.
(51:45):
Final thoughts, everybody.
And I'll start with, we've only got a
couple of minutes.
So give us your final 30 seconds, Amber
of PETA.
Just never be silent.
And PETA is ready to help any activists
who want to get involved.
We will get you set up with all
the materials you need to help those animals
(52:06):
on those factory farms.
Thank you, Amber.
Robert, your final thoughts?
To build a coalition with other groups that
are concerned about public health, about climate, about
pandemics, about animals, and all come together to
collectively gain power over this very destructive and
(52:28):
dangerous industry.
And our very special guest, Dr. Crystal Heath,
thank you again for joining us.
I know you are working very hard around
the clock to do spay, neuter.
So I appreciate you taking the time.
What are your final thoughts?
Yeah, I mean, people can go and see
these things for themselves.
And I'm kind of shocked that me and
(52:50):
just one other person are the only people
going to the Central Valley and other areas
where avian influenza is infecting herds and flocks
and taking photos.
I hope more animal advocates take photos, talk
to the media.
We are continuing to talk to the media
and get them to ask the right questions.
And this is so, so important.
(53:10):
Update them on how much in bailouts that
we are giving these companies.
This is really important information to get out
there.
Write op-eds, write letters to the editor.
If you wanted to volunteer for our honour,
go to ourhonor.org and help us out
and get this message to the media via
trusted messengers, which are so important for getting
the right narrative out there in the media.
(53:32):
Well, thank you again, Dr. Heath.
And my final thought is I've always believed
in the law of unintended consequences.
Sometimes I think the worst things that happen
to me end up being the best things,
like I got fired and then I got
a much better job.
And this is a horrible crisis, but there
is an opportunity in this crisis.
(53:52):
This is a wake up call to the
American people to let these industries go.
There is no need for you to drink
the breast milk of a cow.
It is unnatural.
Most of us are allergic and there's no
need for us to eat animals to get
protein.
It's all just unnecessary.
(54:17):
And it's coming back to bite us big
time.
I think that this could be an opportunity
for America and by extension, the world to
wake up, wake up and evolve.
We are complicit when we eat meat and
when we eat dairy.
(54:38):
And I haven't eaten meat or dairy in
going on 30 years.
And I haven't eaten meat for probably my
entire life, but dairy 30 years.
And look at me.
Okay.
Nobody on this panel is eating animals.
We're doing okay.
So it's really an opportunity, I think, for
(55:00):
all of us to wake up and to
evolve beyond killing 92 billion animals.
That's land animals alone for food every year.
And the last thing I'd say is please
support Unchained TV.
We are the world's only 100% plant
-based animal rights streaming television network.
So it's a vegan Netflix.
(55:21):
Okay.
That's the craziest thing I've ever heard.
I love Unchained TV.
Unchained, Unchained TV.
Your life will change.
It's just that easy.
Unchained TV has all sorts of content for
everybody.
Unchained TV changed my life.
Unchained TV is crushing it.
I love Unchained TV.
Unchained TV is my go-to.
(55:42):
Unchained TV.
Who knew?
Unchained baby, yeah.
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