AR groups could threaten H1N1 vaccine supply -Edit. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)‏

Sent: October 27, 2009 3:19:07 PM



Cleveland Plain Dealer
Hard-boiled animal activists could threaten vaccine supply
By David Martosko guest columnist
October 25, 2009, 5:00AM
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/10/hard-boiled_animal_activists_c.html

In the post-9/11 world, the phrase "national security" conjures up
images of dirty bombs, jihadists, white powder and biohazard labels.
It should also bring to mind another picture: an egg.

As we enter flu season, scientists and public health officials are
ramping up efforts to combat the expected rise in cases of H1N1 flu.
Hospitals, doctors' offices and clinics started receiving the vaccine
earlier this month, but so far it's only available in limited
quantities and will have to be allocated piecemeal across the country.
And some experts predict that the H1N1 epidemic will peak before the
majority of vaccine doses can be produced.

The most common method of making flu vaccines requires chicken eggs to
incubate viral strains. It takes three eggs to produce a single dose
of H1N1 flu vaccine. Vaccination of every American would require more
than 920 million eggs.

If that sounds like a big number to you, try asking a chicken farmer.
Thankfully, America's modern agriculture system makes production on
that scale possible. For now.

If the latest fad of animal-rights activism continues, however, our
capacity to produce eggs -- and vaccines -- may be threatened.

Last fall, Californians voted to approve a ballot initiative
advertised as promoting animal welfare. One of the things that law
actually did, however, is require that egg-laying hens be raised
without cages.

Proposition 2, as the measure was called, received major support from
the so-called Humane Society of the United States, a "humane society"
in name only. (HSUS essentially functions as a richer and more
policy-oriented sister to the better-known wing nuts at People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals.) Groups like PETA and HSUS are driven by
an animal-"rights" agenda that seeks the end of animal agriculture as
we know it.

What do animal rights activists have to do with the flu? Lobbying by
these groups has the potential to diminish our domestic "egg security"
by driving egg farmers out of business -- or at least out of the
United States.

Complying with Proposition 2 is already proving prohibitively costly
for Californian egg producers. And businesses are learning that this
alleged "progress" for animal welfare has opened a Pandora's box of
activist-driven problems. Last month, one California producer
announced the construction of a new, $3 million,
Proposition-2-"approved" henhouse. HSUS immediately attacked it in the
press over how much room was enough for wing-flapping.

It could take years in the courts and millions in legal costs for the
company to learn if it has to build yet another henhouse. Chances are
it won't stick around long enough to find out.

Ultimately, the animal-rights industry won't be satisfied with just a
"cage-free" law. One HSUS director told his organization's Taking
Action for Animals conference in July that "if anyone says 'cage-free'
is 100 percent humane, 100 percent cruelty-free, just know that that's
not accurate."

HSUS is happy to make livestock farming a thing of the past because
its core philosophy is veganism: no meat, no eggs, no dairy. In July,
that same HSUS spokesman spoke of an immediate need to "reduce the
number of animals raised for food" in the United States.

According to a 2008 University of California economic analysis, a
nationwide switch to cage-free eggs would cost consumers 25 percent
more for their omelets. With HSUS winning concessions from Michigan
farmers and openly targeting Ohio next, that scenario isn't a mere
figment of anyone's imagination.

But there's an even bigger picture: Once egg farmers tire of being
hassled by chicken advocates, they can (and will) simply move abroad,
mostly to Mexico, taking jobs (and eggs) with them. And as more U.S.
producers relocate south of the border, our response to a future
pandemic could hinge on the quality -- and affordability -- of a
billion hastily imported huevos.

It's clearly reckless to allow our national food policies to be
written by animal activists who see chickens (and their eggs) as legal
persons. Giving those same radicals the power to put public health at
risk makes even less sense.

PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk famously said that "even if animal tests
produced a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it."

Does that sound like someone you'd like to see connected to our supply
of flu vaccine?

Me neither.

Martosko is the director of research at the Center for Consumer
Freedom, a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food
companies and consumers to promote personal responsibility and protect
consumer choices.