Ethos: The Practical Ethics Blog

If you’re interested in seeing what brazen hypocrisy looks like, here’s an article from the New York Times you can’t pass up:

Humane Society Criticized in Meat Quality Scandal

It seems the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has decided to blame the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) for the Westland/Hallmark meat recall fiasco, because, they claim, HSUS did not immediately release an undercover video of downed cattle being abused at a Westland/Hallmark site. Apparently, HSUS, and not the department itself, is responsible for failing to treat animals humanely and ensure food safety. Below is an excerpt:

At a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Representative Michael C. Burgess, Republican of Texas, assailed the Humane Society for waiting to inform the federal government.

“Why wait until February to release the video?” Mr. Burgess demanded of a Humane Society representative. “Why wait until now to bring this to our attention?”

His criticism echoed a point made last week by Ed Schafer, the secretary of agriculture, who said he was “extremely disappointed” in the Humane Society. He complained that “for four months, theoretically, animals were not being properly treated, and the Humane Society stood by and allowed it to happen.”

Let me offer a restatement of the above: “Why didn’t the Humane Society tell us to stop allowing the abuse of animals and to protect public health?”

Yes, it’s galling.

The USDA’s argument is particularly shameless because the Westland/Hallmark incident began as a humane treatment issue, not a food safety one. The case has led to the investigation of the USDA’s inspection procedures as a result of the evidence submitted by HSUS.

But I think the government is doing something here that is much more insidious than just scapegoating HSUS to cover its own embarrassing failures; it’s implying that those who care about animals are so concerned with their own agendas that they’ll sacrifice public safety to achieve their ends. No doubt some do. Most, however, do not.

Perhaps the more plausible interpretation of this story is that the USDA is so concerned with protecting agribusiness, they’ll sacrifice the safety of people and animals to do so. This is one example of how the oppression of humans and animals is tightly interlocked by those who callously industrialize creatures in the interest of profits.

The accusation by the USDA against HSUS is a classic, albeit subtle, example of how animal supporters are portrayed as hypocrites, often by hypocrites themselves. For more on this, see Animals and Why They Matter by philosopher and practical ethicist, Mary Midgley (University of Georgia Press, 1983).

Incidentally, HSUS did immediately come forth with the tape, but was asked by local prosecutors not to release it until after their investigation. So why did government prosecutors ask HSUS to delay? Sounds suspicious to me.

Painting: “The Scapegoat,” William Holman Hunt (1854). Courtesy Mark Harden’s Artchive, www.artchive.com.

Karin Lauria :: Mar.11.2008 :: Ethics, Human-Animal Studies, Religion :: No Comments »

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