WASHINGTON— The HSUS will cap celebration of its 10th annual
National Farm Animals Awareness Week, September 15-21, by
participating in CompassionFest 2002 in Cincinnati on Sunday,
September 22.
National Farm Animals Awareness Week is designed to educate
the public about the nature of farm animals, including cows,
chickens, pigs and other animals raised for food. Dr. Michael
Appleby, senior vice president of farm animals and sustainable
agriculture for The HSUS notes, “More and more farm animals are
being raised on huge factory farms, where the conditions make
it impossible for them to express their natural behaviors. We
are hoping that educating people about the socially complex and
intelligent nature of animals raised for food will increase
concern about their welfare.”
The week will end with The HSUS’ participation in
CompassionFest 2002, the youth festival organized by a local
high school student that celebrates a compassionate attitude
towards all living creatures and the environment. The HSUS
booth will have available child-oriented information and games
that educate children and adults alike about the ability of
farm animals to interact socially, learn from experience, and
feel a range of emotions. The HSUS is also a co-sponsor of
CompassionFest.
A sample of the little-known facts about farm animals a
visitor to the booth will learn include:
• Pigs have a highly developed sense of smell and can be
trained, much like dogs, to detect certain scents. In France,
pigs are used to find truffles; police have used them to detect
drugs; and they have been put in to service finding landmines
during wartime.
• Cattle are very social. They are able to recognize more
than 100 individual herd members and have definite preferences
about who they choose to interact with, forming close bonds
with some and avoiding others. The bond between cow and calf is
especially strong. Mothers will become distressed if separated
from their calves, even refusing to move or eat until
reunited.
• Mother hens pass on lessons on life to their chicks,
teaching them what to eat, how to drink, where to roost, and
how to avoid enemies.
• Goats have been known to make clever use of their horns,
using them to open gates and feed bins and to batter down
boards in their enclosures.
Cartoonist Patrick McDonnell will also celebrate National
Farm Animals Awareness Week by devoting his comic strip “Mutts”
to farm animals that week. “Mutts” is syndicated to more than
400 newspapers nationwide.
To order a free information packet on farms animals, contact
The HSUS at 301-548-7790 or mclifft@hsus.org.
