ALLEEN BROWN: Iowa legislators quietly passed a bill on Friday to increase penalties for animal rights activism that has targeted the factory farming industry. Debates in both the state House and Senate were followed rapidly by votes in favor of the legislation. The bill now awaits the governor’s signature. “The intent is to silence whistleblowers and those that would expose animal welfare abuses,” said Adam Mason, the state policy director for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, which has fought two previous ag-gag laws in Iowa courts... The latest version was buried at the bottom of…

ROBBIE LOCKIE: Doctors are calling for 'a focus on plant-based diets' in the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Nonprofit the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) - which advocates for animal-free diets on health grounds - has released its recommendations for guidelines. The organization highlights the connection between the consumption of animal products and diseases including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease - which it says 'were already among America’s top killers and are now leading COVID-19 comorbidities'. Among PCRM's recommendations, is that…

TOBY STERLING: Dutch mink farms have begun a government-ordered cull amid concern that animals infected with coronavirus could transmit the illness to humans... Infected mink have been found on 10 Dutch farms where the ferret-like animals are bred for their fur, according to the country’s Food & Wares Authority. “All mink breeding farms where there is an infection will be cleared, and farms where there are no infections won’t be,” said spokeswoman Frederique Hermie. The government ordered the KILLING of 10,000 mink on Wednesday after determining that affected farms could act as a…

LOUISE BOYLE: Dr. Jane Goodall has said that "we are finished" if humanity does not learn lessons from the coronavirus pandemic. “If we do not do things differently, we are finished. We can’t go on very much longer like this," she said, calling for an overhaul of our food systems and end to the destruction of natural habitats. The renowned conservationist, 86, issued the warning at an online conference on Tuesday to address pandemics, wildlife and intensive animal farming hosted by campaigners Compassion in World Farming, where she spoke alongside two European Commissioners. The panel…

JEN SKERRITT: A poll taken By Rethink Priorities in conjunction with the Humane Society of the United States at the end of May found that 52% of respondents think the food industry should focus more on meat-free foods to help reduce shortages. The survey of 998 people also found that half of respondents don’t think the meat industry cares about the health of its workers, and 65% don’t think it cares about the treatment of animals. “Covid is shining a light for consumers to start evaluating their own choices and whether or not they want to continue to buy meat,” said Josh Balk, vice…

EWAN SOMERVILLE: A vegan influencer has been slammed for saying the Black Lives Matter movement is “all the same fight” as animal rights. Lauren Rebecca Perez told followers on the video-sharing app TikTok that “black lives matter and animal lives matter”, urging them to “connect these two dots”. Her remarks sparked a furious backlash and were branded “tone deaf” and “cruel”... Ms Perez said in the TikTok video: "I feel like this needs to be said and I really wish that more people would connect these two dots but black lives matter and animal lives matter. "Literally all sentient beings on…

LIAM GILLIVER: Clinging onto the smallest glimmer of hope to help us get through these unprecedented times. CO2 levels are plummeting in major cities across the globe, sales of plant-based meat are skyrocketing, and meat giants like Tyson are being scrutinised for putting their workers’ health in jeopardy. These small but mighty leaps forward are worth celebrating... But standing out amongst all headlines is a statement most vegans dream of reading. One that appears innocent and hopeful. But in reality, is insidiously misleading and reductive: 'The End of Meat Is Here'. The Op-Ed was…

ALLEEN BROWN: Animal rights activists published an interactive map on Sunday revealing the locations of more than 27,500 farms and animal agriculture facilities, including 5,812 identified using satellite imagery, many of which do not appear in public records. Users will be able to pin new locations to the map, known as Project Counterglow, and attach photos and videos documenting animal cruelty and health violations. The animal agriculture industry has spent decades fighting to avoid the disclosure of information about facilities where animals are raised for food. The map is meant to offer…

NATHAN FIORITTI: The COVID-19 pandemic probably began with a single transmission of virus from an animal to a human. The tragic consequences highlight the relationship between public, animal and environmental health. There are many ways in which these areas are interconnected, from the overuse of antibiotics on farm animals leaving us more vulnerable to superbugs, to climate change giving diseases new opportunities to spread or the need to maintain balanced and viable ecosystems to protect our health... Outbreaks like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, Middle East respiratory…

GLENN GREENWALD: Iowa's largest pork producer, Iowa Select Farms, has been using a cruel and excruciating method to kill thousands of pigs that have become commercially worthless due to the coronavirus pandemic. As is true for so much of what the agricultural industry does, the company’s gruesome extermination of sentient animals that are emotionally complex and intelligent has been conducted entirely out of public view. But The Intercept, as the result of an investigation by animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, has obtained video footage of the procedure and the resulting…