Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Animals
Wayne Pacelle
Not long ago I visited my family in Connecticut and renewed some
acquaintances who live near my Aunt Harriet's beautiful, semi-
wooded property outside of New Haven. Growing up, I always
enjoyed watching her wild neighbors—deer, raccoons, skunks,
ducks, and geese. I kept an eye out for wild turkeys, too, groups of
toms, hens, and poults foraging in the edge habitat so characteris-
tic of suburban landscapes. When I was a kid, there were few wild
turkeys in the East—hunters had seen to that—so I was always ex-
cited when I spotted one.
When I got into full-time animal protection work, I began visit-
ing factory farms to see for myself how these animals are raised.
Twenty years later, I am still amazed at the differences between
the designs of nature and the designs of agribusiness. When I saw
up to 10,000 domesticated turkeys raised in a single, filthy shed
the length of a football field, they were a shadow of their natural
selves.
Wild turkeys can run twenty-five miles an hour and in short
bursts fly faster than fifty miles an hour. They live in flocks and for-
age more than twelve hours a day before retiring at night to roost in
trees. They are so alert and fast that hunters dress in camouflage
Wayne Pacelle is the president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society
of the United States, founder of Humane USA, and founder of the Humane Society
Legislative Fund.
