Dear Animal Times Reader,

In January 1999, a PETA undercover investigator videotaped workers at Belcross Farm, a pig farm in North Carolina, bludgeoning sows with wrenches and skinning and dismembering them while they were still conscious. I’m happy to report that two of the workers have pleaded guilty to the first-ever animal cruelty charges brought against a factory farm worker! Raymond Sanchez, who has a history of domestic violence offenses, received a $500 fine, three years’ supervised probation, and 240 days in jail, 140 of which have been served and the rest suspended. Russell Crawford received a $300 fine (plus court costs), a 45-day suspended sentence, and two years of probation.

While we wish that the sentences had been stiffer, this is nevertheless a landmark victory for animals on farms. Repeated coverage by TV news shows—including graphic footage of the beatings—generated thousands of calls to the PETA office and turned many viewers into vegetarians.

The recent death of Sir John Gielgud is a terrible loss for the animals. Like the bold animal rights activist he played in the 1984 film The Shooting Party, Sir John believed that animals should not be exploited. He was particularly fond of birds and joined PETA’s campaign against the foie gras industry nearly a decade ago, narrating our video exposé of the force-feeding of geese and ducks. Many chefs and restaurateurs who saw that video dropped foie gras from their menus.

Sir John received PETA’s Humanitarian of the Year Award twice, in 1994 and 1999. Just this year, he gave his name and good wishes to our campaign to recognize health charities that use donations for human clinical studies, hospice care, and prevention, not animal tests. Sir John was a patron of a British charity that, in his words, “concentrates solely on the latest scientific technology in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, instead of supporting the pitiful animal suffering that takes place in laboratories around the world.” We will miss him.

For the animals,

Ingrid Newkirk
President