Expose animal abuse

Bonnie Bogart (Jan. 1) is right to denounce the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a law that would punish whistle-blowers who expose the ugly corporate culture of agribusiness, and its routine abuse of animals.

Mercy for Animals has documented such abuse, which includes the following (to be seen on their website and YouTube): Baby pigs being castrated without anesthesia; sick and injured animals being killed by repeatedly slamming them into concrete floors; calves being punched, kicked and bludgeoned with hammers and pickaxes; sick cows too ill to stand being kicked in the face to make them get up (according to the owner of a dairy farm in Ohio, this is “standard practice”).

Mercy for Animals also videotaped catfish being skinned alive at a plant in Texas.

Corporate response has not been shame, remorse or the resolve to stop the abuse. No, they want to curtail the investigations that bring the horrors of factory farming into light. It is not the whistle-blowers who should be punished. The sadistic employees who torture the animals, the managers who look the other way and the owners who allow such abuse to occur are the ones who should be prosecuted, fined and imprisoned.

Marcia Mueller

Spokane

I am appalled at the failure of the three Catholic bishops in Washington state to condemn and censure Gov. Christine Gregoire, a confirmed Catholic, for her stand supporting gay marriage. I am equally disturbed by the failure of the Oregon Provincial General of the Jesuit Order to condemn this proposed gay marriage legislation.

Protestants and Evangelicals understand what is at stake, and their voices can be heard loud and clear denouncing this sham legislation. For example, the Methodist Church is suing the state of New Jersey over being forced to allow their private property to be used to perform a lesbian wedding. Still, the Catholic hierarchy says nothing.

There are a number of churches that sanction same-sex marriages or look the other way regarding such ceremonies, but in no way should a church be compelled via legislation to allow gay marriage. Why isn’t the Catholic Church taking a strong position against this proposed law suppressing religious freedom?

Does the provincial general’s and Washington state bishops’ silence mean tacit approval or fear of more lawsuits? Maybe the Catholics should change their TV ad to, “We are the weak-kneed church.”

Michael Shea

Mead