Some headlines really write themselves. A Minnesota pig factory is now
embroiled in an animal cruelty scandal. Okay, no shocker there. But
this time, the facility employs a politician who’s the sponsor of an
ag-gag bill. No wonder he was trying to shield factory farms from
scrutiny!

When tourists in Times Square looked up this week, they may have seen not a bird nor a plane, but…well actually, they
did see birds. HSUS ran a 1,700-square-foot video billboard
showing graphic undercover footage from inside a Costco egg supplier
that locks chickens in cages, generating coverage on

Fox,
CBS, and more.

And just a few blocks away from Times Square, the New York Times was busy condemning factory farming. The paper

ran this editorial, potently noting: “In a country that lavishes
love and legal protections on house pets, factory-farmed animals are
left out in the cold, exempt from almost all animal-cruelty laws. As a
result they suffer torture and other mistreatment
to a degree that is hard to imagine.”

Finally, ever wonder how to get 10,000 calories a
day on a vegan diet? Me neither. But if you’re Chicago Bears lineman
David Carter you do. Check out his profile in
GQ!

P.S. Video of the week: Rescued piglets take a three-legged pit bull for a walk. Seriously.

P.P.S. If you like these weekly updates, you may like following Paul on Twitter!

The big news this week: A federal judge delivered a
smack-down to ag-gag proponents, ruling that Idaho’s ag-gag law is unconstitutional.

Want to get to know HSUS’s dietitian helping schools implement meat reduction programs? Check her out in the new issue of
Today’s Dietitian.

Compass Group, the world’s biggest food service company,
expanded its already forward-thinking animal welfare policy this week.

And finally, we’ll all miss Jon Stewart. Check out a
few highlights of his commentary on animal protection.

P.S. Video of the week: Baby elephant chases birds.

P.P.S. Want a short, upbeat email about progress for animals and a cute animal video each Friday? Sign up, and share the love with your friends, too!

Huge news to celebrate this week: The world’s largest temple “sacrifice” of animals has finally

come to an end.

Really gives you a lot of hope for the future. In
fact, did you ever wonder what the future of finance is? My colleague
Matt Prescott has some thoughts in this new

Barron’s column.

Or maybe it’ll look something like what Miami-Dade schools are doing for their menus with HSUS right now.

Check out what my colleague Karla Dumas, RD, is up to in Florida!

Good thing too, as
NPR reports this week that one of the best ways to combat obesity
is, you guessed it, choosing plant-strong meals. And this former marine
and police captain of 25 years is doing just that: Check out his column
about it in

USA Today.

P.S. Video of the week: In honor of Cecil, here’s David Attenborough on lion cubs.

You’ve heard of people leaving their dogs in the
car during summer. Now the USDA is suggesting the possibility of doing
the same thing to chickens affected by avian flu: baking them in their
cages alive. I offer some thoughts to the

Washington Post about this gruesome proposal.

The good news is that many are calling for better treatment of chickens. For example,
Fortune reported this week on the star-studded cast publicly calling on Costco to stop supporting battery cages.

And the world is already changing for the better for these birds. Don’t believe it? Watch the

TODAY show’s feature this week with Russell Simmons on the popularity and benefits of vegan eating. Need more proof? Check out what

7-Eleven is up to.

P.S. Video of the week: Can a cat and rat share?

Costco continues to get called out for its support of battery cage confinement. Today, Bill Maher published an
op-ed in the New York Times urging the company to do the right thing, generating extensive news coverage, including by

CNN.

It’s a big day for op-eds, as the
LA Times published a great op-ed too today, by Bruce Friedrich, about the Pope and farm animal protection.

While Costco may be reticent to move away from caging hens, General Mills isn’t. The company

announced this week that it’s converting to 100 percent eggs from cage-free hens.

And finally, you know the egg industry has a sordid track record on animal cruelty. But did you hear about the

federal slavery indictments at a major Ohio battery cage facility that allegedly forced captive children to debeak birds and commit other abuses?

P.S. Video of the week: Chickens don’t like cages, but do you know what they do like? Bananas!