Re “I think Dr. Temple Grandin agrees.”
* It depends on when we’re talking about.
* PETA found numerous examples of inhumane practices (not just the 5-minute video I linked to. there’s also a 30-minute clip publicly available, and many more hours of raw video footage I’m sure) in the 2004 investigation. I quoted Dr. Grandin’s opposition from 2004.
* The Forward article from 2006 SPECIFICALLY refers to a tour of the plant she took in 2006, and she said everything she saw then was OK.
* But by the time the 2008 investigation came out, she complained that the tours that AgriProcessors gave to her, rabbis, and the media showed distinct practices from when nobody was watching. This is why she called for video monitoring, which the plant did not implement. In 2008, she told JTA, “There’s no point [re the scheduled visits]. I’ve been in business 35 years, and I’m getting sick and tired of: They act good when you’re there and they don’t act good when your back is turned. They did the same thing for the rabbis they would do for me — put on a show.” (For more information about Dr. Grandin’s reaction in 2008, see my heebnvegan post: http://heebnvegan.blogspot.com.....child.html)
* The reason why I linked to that Forward article is because it shows that Dr. Grandin isn’t just held up as an expert by the animal rights movement. AgriProcessors also praised her as an expert — even more so on a post on their Web site (which has of course been taken down by now) around that time than in that Forward article.

Re “They have never been tried for animal cruelty.”
Not every violation of every law is tried by a jury. The USDA has enforcement power that works separately from jury trials, etc. I mentioned two instances of when they got into trouble with the USDA. This is distinct from being put on trial for cruelty to animals.

Re “Why are you bringing this up now?”
See the explanation I gave in the first paragraph.

First of all, I’ve been contributing to The Jew & The Carrot for three years, and it’s always been respectful dialogue in the comments section on this blog (as opposed to so many others). I find it surprising that you and others this week are resorting to comments like “Thank you for letting the whole world know how dumb you are” and I hope that name-calling and personal insults aren’t something you plan on continuing on this blog. Reasonable people can genuinely disagree and still be respectful.

As for doing my “research” and learning what animals feel, I certainly have. I actually just finished reading a scientific book about the extent to which nociception and pain are felt by animals (see my The Jew & The Carrot post from earlier this month: http://jcarrot.org/fish-feel-pain), and I’ve also read up on how this plays out in the moments after animals are shechted (see my previous commentary here: http://heebnvegan.blogspot.com.....-pain.html).

100% of veterinarians and animal welfare scientists who reviewed the video footage from the 2004 investigation agreed that animals were still capable of feeling pain after the initial cut of shechita had been made (see their statements here: http://www.goveg.com/feat/agri.....xperts.asp). When a PETA representative raised that exact point in an hourlong debate against Nathan Lewin (not Lein) a couple years ago, Lewin just dodged the issue and never rebutted the point. I kept listening and hoping he’d attempt a decent argument in that regard, but he didn’t.

“various interest groups and people evidently seeking personal notoriety have hijacked the true facts of this case for their own purposes. It is impossible to address the mountain of false information that has found its way into the public arena.”

http://failedmessiah.typepad.c.....guilt.html