Preface to the 2009 Edition
In2008,tensofmillionsofAmericanswatchedwithhorror
and disbelief when they saw on their evening news an
undercover video of cattle too sick to walk being kicked,
shockedwithelectricprods,jabbedintheeyewithabaton,
andpushedaroundwithaforklift,allsothattheycouldbe
drivennearenough tothe“kill box”tobe slaughteredand
processedintomeat.ThevideowastakenattheWestland/
Hallmark slaughterhouse, in Chino, California—a large,
supposedlystate-of-the-artoperationandamajorsupplierto
theNational SchoolLunchProgram, locatednot ina rural
backwaterbutjustthirtymilesfromtheheartofLosAngeles.
Becauseeatingmeatfromcowsthatcannotwalkisahealth
hazard,thevideoledtothelargestmeatrecallinthehistory
of the United States.
Therevelationsprovideddramaticconfirmationofthethesis
of this book. After pleading guilty to charges of animal
cruelty, Daniel Ugarte Navarro, the pen manager shown
givingsickcowselectricshocksintheface,beatingthem,and
usingaforklifttomovethem,saidthathehaddonenothing
wrongandwas“justdoinghisjob.”It’sanexcusewehave
heardbefore,butnotwithoutagrainofuncomfortabletruth.
DespicableasUgarte’sactionswere,thereissomethingmore
fundamentallywrongwiththeethics,andthelaw,governing
howwetreatanimals.Ifpeoplewanttoeatsentientcreatures
and there is competition to provide meat at the lowest
possibleprice,thenthesystemwillreward thosewhomeet
thisdemand.Inthatsense,Ugartewasjustdoinghisjob.But
forthe“badluck”—forhimandforWestland/Hallmark—that
aninvestigatorfromtheHumaneSocietyoftheUnitedStates