Wool, Wealth, and Walking Out: Why the Animal Industry Is Having a Terrible Week | Rising Anxieties

Marshall BioResources is big mad about Our Hen House, the Animal Agriculture Alliance thinks animal activists are secretly swimming in a billion dollars, and a UK newspaper is very upset that PETA has the audacity to care about sheep. Meanwhile, a Smithfield plant worker becomes the fourth death on the job, a rancher writes a whole essay pretending climate change isn’t why the beef herd is shrinking, and scientists are scrambling to prove animal testing can never end. Plus, Republicans are quietly making animal rights a winning political issue while Democrats are apparently too busy to notice. Marshall BioResources vs. Our Hen House: The animal testing company left a comment accusing the show of “dangerous disinformation” and name-dropped the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act to sound scary — which, as Mariann notes, conveniently ignores the statute’s own First Amendment protection clause. The “Billion-Dollar Activist Network” myth: The Animal Agriculture Alliance tallied up every penny donated to every animal cause ever and arrived at $1.07 billion, which sounds amazing until you realize most of it is money that no grassroots activist has ever seen. New Scientist says animal testing “cannot and will not” end: The scientific establishment is getting nervous that governments are actually talking about phasing it out, so they’re recycling the argument that curiosity justifies cruelty — an argument that would also, technically, justify experimenting on humans. Fourth worker death at Smithfield: Management told employees to just keep working after a colleague was killed on the job, prompting a walkout. Slaughterhouses see roughly two amputations per week in the U.S., because the danger isn’t limited to the animals. Animal rights as the last bipartisan issue: A Current Affairs discussion explores how Republicans are claiming animal rights as their own while Democrats haven’t caught up, making this arguably the only issue in Washington where both sides could actually agree — if anyone bothered to try.     We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.  Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series. Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky. The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.