Ryan Gosling: A Tiny Cage is Not a Life

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Jen Honickman — No Comments ↓

I’ve been impressed with Ryan Gosling for a long time after seeing his acting and buff body. But add to this his article in the Canadian Globe and Mail to improve the conditions for the nation’s one million breeding pigs.  The article, ” A Tiny Cage is Not a Life” is about the pork industry confining female pigs to cages that are so small the animal can’t turn around.  He wouldn’t dream of doing this to his dog George and Ryan called for the complete elimination of the use of gestation crates.  Gosling is calling for an end to the cruel confinement of female pigs. A Canadian himself, Gosling applauded Canada’s National Farm Animal Care Council’s decision to stop allowing female pigs to be confined to crates for “nearly their entire lives.”

Gosling wrote “Currently, mother pigs are kept in these cages called ‘gestation crates’ for four months while pregnant, moved to another cage to give birth, reimpregnated and put back into a gestation crate for the cycle to repeat. It adds up to years of immobilization and millions of smart, inquisitive animals relegated to iron maidens.” Although the council has reduced the time that the pork industry is allowed to confine pregnant pigs, Gosling is calling for further action.  He writes, “While NFACC’s progress is important and laudable, there is a major loophole in the code that I hope will be closed. As written, the draft still allows the pork industry to lock pigs in gestation crates for up to five weeks at a time. Over a pig’s short life, which is just four years long, this amounts to about nine months of solitary confinement in a cage so small she can’t even turn her own body around.”

Here’s how The New York Times’ Mark Bittman describes them:

“A gestation crate is an individual metal stall so small that the sow cannot turn around; most sows spend not only their pregnancies in crates, but most of their lives. For humans, this would qualify as ‘cruel and unusual punishment,’ and even if you believe that pigs are somehow ‘inferior,’ it’s hard to rationalize gestation crates once you see what they look like.”

It’s clear that this inhumane and unethical practice is wrong and must end.  Ryan Gosling agrees.

The Canadian actor has spoken up for farmed animals before: he has urged the USDA to stop allowing slaughterhouses to kill chickens and turkeys by slowly suffocating them with foam, and he has written to the National Milk Producers Federation, calling for an end to painful dehorning of cows through burning or the use of sharp tools.

While Gosling is encouraged by the NFACC’s new regulations mandating the pork industry to stop relegating pigs to gestation crates for nearly their entire lives, he singles out a loophole in the new laws that would still inflict serious mental and physical harm on the animals.
“As written, the draft still allows the pork industry to lock pigs in gestation crates for up to five weeks at a time,” he writes. “Over a pig’s short life, which is just four years long, this amounts to about nine months of solitary confinement in a cage so small she can’t even turn her own body around.”
“Pigs in tiny crates suffer beyond anything most of us can easily imagine. They are unable even to turn around for weeks at a time, so that their muscles and bones deteriorate. And these extremely social and intelligent animals lose their minds from being denied any social or psychological stimulation at all.”
According to Farm Sanctuary and Humane Society International/Canada (which have partnered with Gosling on the campaign), more than 60 of North America’s largest pork buyers, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Tim Hortons have made commitments eliminating gestation crates from their supply chains within the next two-to-nine years. Canada’s new Code of Practice will take effect in 2014.
Ryan’s commitment to the humane treatment of animals of course gives me hope that the cruel confinement in small cages for pigs, hens and veal calves will finally end. Unfortunately their misery won’t end fast enough since agriculture is business. Please contact your state and federal congress representatives and senators to eliminate these tiny cages.
Go to the Globe and Mail homepage

 

 

 

Jen Honickman

Thanks for visiting my site. I hope you find something useful in building your business or any helpful information. I work full-time, enjoy time with my family, and our dog and cat. I've looked for online businesses that have potential and long term stability.
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