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UnchainedTV: Could Bird Flu Be the Next Pandemic? · UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell

0:00
Just as we were going to air, news
0:04
has come down that is quite disturbing.
0:07
Health officials, according to the Associated Press, are
0:10
saying a Louisiana patient is the first severe
0:13
bird flu case in the United States.
0:17
And the Associated Press article adds that this
0:20
year more than 60 bird flu infections have
0:23
been reported with more than half of them
0:25
in California.
0:26
In two, an adult in Missouri and a
0:28
child in California, health officials have not determined
0:33
how they caught it.
0:35
Our question today is, is our horrific treatment
0:39
of farmed animals setting us up for the
0:42
next pandemic?
0:44
And before you decide whether that is an
0:47
exaggeration, we'll take a look at this.
0:50
Numerous dairy cows have been spotted dead near
0:52
the side of the road in California, documented
0:55
on videotape by veterinarian and founder of Our
0:58
Honour, Dr. Crystal Heath, who will be joining
1:01
us in a bit.
1:02
And now the USDA is going to be
1:04
testing cow's milk.
1:06
According to NBC, the mandate targeting bulk milk
1:11
transporters and dairy processors is meant to help
1:14
identify herds that have caught the virus, which
1:17
has spread among livestock.
1:20
So what happens when they find, look at
1:23
this cow, if you're listening, take our word
1:25
for it, nasal discharge, clearly a sick cow.
1:31
What happens when they start identifying bird flu
1:35
amongst all of these cows?
1:37
Are they going to do what they did
1:39
to and have been doing to many, many
1:42
millions of chickens?
1:45
Look at this.
1:46
This is how sick our society has gotten.
1:49
This is a bird being baked to death
1:53
live in a process called ventilation shutdown.
1:56
And they're doing it to millions of birds.
1:59
2,000 veterinarians have signed a petition saying,
2:04
tell corporations to stop using ventilation shutdown plus.
2:09
Basically, they seal off the area and they
2:13
turn up the heat and they bake these
2:14
animals alive.
2:15
It takes them hours to die.
2:17
It's kind of like when you get the
2:19
termite removed and they tank your house and
2:22
then they turn up the heat and you
2:23
got to leave for a couple of days.
2:24
This is what they're doing to millions of
2:26
animals.
2:27
Guess who's paying for all that?
2:29
Us.
2:30
The U.S. government subsidises this.
2:35
Meanwhile, the U.S. government is going on
2:37
and on and on about how we have
2:38
to, oh, do something to stop bird flu.
2:45
And don't worry, mostly focused on go ahead,
2:48
keep eating your milk and your dairy and
2:51
your meat.
2:52
It's OK, consumers, nothing to worry about here.
2:55
You know, will the human race ever learn?
2:57
We just went through a pandemic that killed
2:59
millions of people.
3:01
And whether you believe it started in the
3:03
Wuhan market where they were torturing animals to
3:06
be chopped up alive in a retail setting,
3:09
or you think it started in the laboratory
3:11
where they were also torturing animals in experiments.
3:15
It's zoonotic, people.
3:18
Seventy three percent of the emerging pathogens are
3:21
zoonotic, means they come from animals.
3:24
Bottom line, our horrific treatment of animals is
3:27
what's brought us again to this crisis.
3:30
I want to go straight out to Robert
3:32
Grillo of Free From Harm.
3:34
Robert, you've been on the forefront of this,
3:37
speaking truth to power.
3:40
Where are we as a society that we're
3:45
here again after just barely crawling out of
3:47
the last pandemic?
3:49
Yeah, right.
3:50
And just the other day, Jane, Congress passed
3:53
a disaster relief bill, which is which is
3:57
giving 21 billion dollars to 21 billion, by
4:01
the way, not million billion dollars to ranchers
4:05
and livestock producers who have suffered losses from
4:11
disease, from drought, from wildfires.
4:15
All of the things that that industry actually
4:17
creates is the biggest driver.
4:20
Right.
4:20
So the insanity in that alone is hard
4:23
to wrap your head around.
4:25
But I'll tell you, you know, I have
4:27
been to some industry conferences lately, like I
4:29
was recently at the Federal Reserve Bank Agriculture
4:33
Forum.
4:34
And, you know, people are scared and they
4:37
don't know where this is headed.
4:39
The best experts don't know where this is
4:43
headed.
4:44
But the health experts around the world are
4:47
sounding the alarm, like they have been doing
4:49
for years, that bird flu is an inevitability
4:53
if we don't change course.
4:57
Again, I would like you to look at,
5:00
and this is just a snippet, the cows,
5:04
the dead cows piling up on the side
5:07
of the roads in California, which, by the
5:10
way, is the largest dairy state and the
5:14
fifth largest economy in the world.
5:17
This is a horror show.
5:21
And it's something that is happening right now
5:26
in real time in California.
5:30
I had to look at this footage yesterday
5:32
getting ready for the show, and I was
5:35
just horrified.
5:36
Now, here's another image of a sick cow.
5:39
You can see the nasal discharge coming out
5:42
of the cow's nose.
5:45
And obviously, the cow was surrounded by other
5:48
cows, some of whom appear to be downed,
5:50
but others are walking around.
5:53
That is, you know, to me, and I'm
5:55
the first to say I'm not an expert
5:57
on this issue.
5:58
But to me, that is the first sign
6:00
that cows are not being isolated, who are
6:04
showing symptoms.
6:06
And so that just on a basic logic
6:09
level would mean that it could spread more
6:13
rapidly.
6:15
And I just can't believe that we are
6:20
sleepwalking into this next disaster.
6:23
I want to go to Amber Canavan, who's
6:25
with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
6:27
Amber, please tell me what PETA's position is
6:32
on this emerging crisis.
6:36
Well, PETA has been saying for years, I
6:39
mean, back when we were in the previous
6:41
avian flu outbreaks, and swine flu, and every
6:46
other one that's come out is that the
6:49
vast majority of emerging diseases come from animals.
6:54
And that is from mostly from mass confining
6:59
them for food or, or taking them from
7:02
the wild.
7:03
And the thing we need to do to
7:06
prevent the next pandemic is to go vegan.
7:09
Because when factory farms are cramming thousands or
7:14
10s of thousands or even millions of animals
7:17
into cramped, filthy conditions, you're creating a petri
7:21
dish for diseases to spread, especially when they're
7:25
spreading between species.
7:28
So the fact that this is jumped into
7:31
cows used for dairy is definitely very concerning.
7:36
I mean, it really is.
7:38
And I, again, I'm not an expert in
7:42
this subject at all.
7:43
I've been reading articles, it's complicated.
7:46
But the bottom line is that we are
7:51
treating 92 billion animals every year, like trash,
7:58
torturing them in industrial conditions.
8:01
And we expect that there's no repercussions.
8:05
I personally believe that nature is sending us
8:09
a signal that this has got to stop.
8:13
And so now I want to talk about
8:15
the specific new breaking news.
8:18
There's two right before we went on the
8:20
air, if you're just joining us, we got
8:23
word that there's a first.
8:26
And that is health officials are now saying
8:29
a Louisiana patient is the first severe bird
8:32
flu case in the United States.
8:34
This is according to the Associated Press.
8:37
Overall, more than 60 bird flu infections have
8:40
been reported with over half of them in
8:42
California.
8:44
And here's the other breaking news is that
8:47
the US Department of Agriculture has now ordered
8:50
the testing of milk for bird flu.
8:53
So I know you, Robert Grillo, are urging
8:57
everybody and I would just say take a
9:00
snapshot of this.
9:01
If you're watching, if you're listening, I will
9:04
give you the number.
9:05
Call the USDA 202-720-3631.
9:14
That's 202-720-3631.
9:19
I just called right before air, I got
9:22
a voicemail.
9:24
And what I said was, the United States
9:28
government has got to stop subsidising the dairy
9:32
industry.
9:33
73% of the dairy industry's profits in
9:39
one shape or another come from US government
9:42
subsidies.
9:43
That means that we, the taxpayers, are paying
9:47
73% of the dairy industry's profits.
9:51
While 68% minimum, according to the National
9:55
Institutes of Health, 68% of the world's
10:00
population is lactose intolerant, which means most of
10:04
us are allergic to dairy.
10:05
So right there, it's illogical to push it.
10:08
And then additionally, we're all talking about Make
10:12
America Healthy Again and the obesity crisis.
10:15
And what's contributing mightily to the obesity crisis?
10:18
Ice cream, cheese, dairy, milkshakes, which again, the
10:23
US government is subsidising.
10:26
It blows my mind, not to mention climate
10:31
change.
10:32
We're in a climate crisis.
10:34
And the US government is purportedly trying to
10:36
solve the climate crisis, while they're actually fuelling
10:39
the climate crisis with subsidies to animal agriculture,
10:44
which is a leading contributor to climate change.
10:47
Robert Grillo, my head explodes when I think
10:50
about the stupidity.
10:54
Yeah, well, it's unbelievable.
10:57
And we could talk about the whole show
10:58
about that.
10:59
But what I really want to do is
11:01
hopefully provide people with a path to how
11:05
we how we can have an impact on
11:07
this.
11:08
And of course, the digital call to action,
11:10
call Vilsack's office, follow up with an email,
11:15
do both if you can.
11:17
We have a script on our social channels
11:21
for what to say if you're not sure,
11:23
but there's three core things.
11:25
And one of them is, we want the
11:27
USTA to charge the corporations, not taxpayers, for
11:33
this bird flu disaster that the industry itself
11:36
is spreading, not taxpayers.
11:39
The second thing is, which they probably will
11:41
do is quarantine stop animals and product, milk
11:45
product from leaving infected farms.
11:48
Over half of the California dairy farms have
11:51
had positive infections.
11:53
Those farms should not be selling milk.
11:56
This will have a huge impact on the
11:59
industry.
12:00
And the last thing we want is we
12:03
want the records made public of all of
12:06
the infections that humans, workers, other humans, and
12:13
animals, we want those records made public.
12:16
The USDA doesn't want to make those records
12:18
public, because they don't want to scare the
12:21
public into thinking that we have a problem
12:23
that they actually don't know how to control.
12:26
But let me just say something about more
12:28
than what we can do.
12:29
Okay, so we had a group of very
12:31
brave people, activists go to a cattle health
12:36
meeting in Sacramento at the California Department of
12:39
Food and Agriculture.
12:40
Actually, it was at the California Farm Bureau
12:42
offices, just to show you how cosy, the
12:46
most influential animal ag lobby group, the Farm
12:51
Bureau is with the Department of Agriculture, just
12:54
to show you that they have many of
12:57
their meetings at this California Farm Bureau's office.
13:01
And it's only people that have a vested
13:03
interest in the animal ag industry.
13:07
So they had a cattle health meeting, and
13:09
they were talking about bird flu and what
13:11
they can do about it.
13:14
And for the first, perhaps the first time,
13:16
there were activists in the room that were
13:19
telling them that their policy is a disaster,
13:22
and that they are betraying CDFA's mission of
13:27
putting public health first.
13:30
And they are not putting public health first.
13:32
This is not a complicated issue.
13:34
This is about putting industry profits, dairy industry
13:37
profits above public health, trying to save the
13:41
dairy industry at any expense, even if it
13:44
means a pandemic.
13:47
Well, the US government is the dairy industry.
13:51
The USDA is run by Tom Vilsack, who
13:55
was a dairy industry executive.
14:00
Prior to becoming the USDA Secretary for the
14:03
second time, he was Secretary the first time
14:07
under the Obama administration.
14:09
So Amber, I mean, what can we do
14:11
about the incredible ties between the dairy industry
14:20
and the US government to the point where
14:23
they are essentially, in my view, one and
14:27
the same?
14:30
Right?
14:31
I mean, well, first of all, whenever things
14:34
like this are happening that, you know, do
14:36
seem far above our heads, the first thing
14:39
people should do is to stop giving money
14:41
to these industries in the first place before
14:43
going vegan, by going vegan, sorry.
14:47
PETA does also have our subsidies campaign.
14:53
So we are urging the government to pull
14:56
subsidies out of the animal agriculture industry and
15:00
put that into healthy vegan food production.
15:04
And yeah, contacting Vilsack right now is also,
15:14
as the action alert on the screen was,
15:18
to let them know that people are upset
15:20
that especially the dairy industry, but also the
15:24
egg industry has been getting so many passes
15:27
recently, and is getting covered.
15:31
They're getting covered to mass kill all these
15:34
animals at taxpayer expense.
15:37
And we're all suffering for it.
15:40
And you had mentioned, Robert, that there were
15:44
activists at that hearing, we have a clip
15:48
of one brave activist who stood up and
15:51
spoke truth to power.
15:54
I'm worried about that bird flu very much.
15:56
And I know that there are dead dairy
15:57
cows infected with bird flu that lay along
16:00
the roadside near dairy farms.
16:02
The scavengers go after them.
16:03
There's no biosecurity or warning.
16:06
And that scavenger hunt there actually spreads the
16:08
disease of bird flu to wildlife, other birds
16:12
and humans.
16:13
How can the CDFA allow this?
16:16
And are you putting industry profits over public
16:19
health and animal welfare?
16:21
That's my question.
16:30
And we are showing you, these are still
16:34
photos, we also have video shot by Dr.
16:37
Crystal Heath, a veterinarian, who is the founder
16:41
of Our Honour, a veterinarian organisation that seeks
16:46
to stop the mass torture.
16:50
And I know that Oh, oh, you're so
16:52
exaggerating.
16:53
No, the mass torture of animals in the
16:57
industrialised food system.
17:00
And instead of being applauded for her work,
17:04
she is actually being attacked.
17:05
We're going to be speaking to her in
17:07
a few minutes.
17:07
Right now she is doing spay neuters.
17:09
And she's going to try to go on
17:10
a break at the half hour mark and
17:13
join us and tell us how she got
17:15
these images and she did not trespass.
17:19
First user of trespassing, when she's taking the
17:22
video, you can hear the sound of the
17:25
cars right behind her.
17:26
In fact, let me play something.
17:29
So you can hear the sound of the
17:30
cars.
17:54
You can also see the fence.
17:56
And additionally, what scared me about that video,
18:00
and I've been watching these videos for a
18:02
couple of days now, it's it's really debilitating,
18:06
is that you've got obviously sick, possibly dead,
18:09
they look dead cows.
18:11
And then you've got healthy ones walking around.
18:13
So again, the idea that just as your
18:16
activists stated at that hearing, they're not be
18:20
the animals are not being separated, that that
18:23
is just going to allow them to spread
18:25
logic tells me that what are you saying,
18:27
Robert?
18:28
I'm saying that, listen, I've, I've had a
18:32
conversation with Karen Ross, the Secretary of Agriculture.
18:36
I asked her directly about ventilation shutdown in
18:39
about what her concern level is about bird
18:42
flu.
18:43
Those people that were representatives of her office
18:48
at that cattle health meeting, from the video
18:51
that you just showed, they're rattled.
18:54
They don't know exactly what to do.
18:57
They're trying to save face.
19:00
But we need more people.
19:04
If we want media attention on this, we
19:07
need more activists that are willing to go
19:09
to these meetings, confront these power holders, from
19:13
the Agriculture Authority in California, California Department of
19:18
Food and Agriculture, and interact with them face
19:22
to face demand answers face to face, because
19:25
all the emails and calls in the world
19:28
will not be enough to solve this.
19:30
We need people willing to participate face to
19:35
face.
19:37
So that's, that's the effort that we're really
19:39
involved in right now.
19:42
Yes, and we're going to keep putting this
19:44
up over and over again throughout the show.
19:47
I called right before we went on the
19:49
air 202-720-3631.
19:54
And I left a voicemail.
19:56
Do I know whether that's going to have
19:58
an impact?
19:58
No, but I know that if I don't
20:00
make the call, it definitely won't have an
20:03
impact.
20:03
So I think they get inundated with calls.
20:07
You know, somebody walks up, I've been on
20:10
the other side, and I've seen how it
20:12
works.
20:12
Somebody walks up to some executive and says,
20:15
Hey, we're getting a lot of calls on
20:17
this bird flu thing.
20:18
I mean, yeah, it's, it's out of control.
20:23
You know, something's got to be done.
20:24
People are people.
20:26
Yeah, there's, there's a lot of politically incorrect
20:28
phrases I could use to describe how they
20:31
will treat the general public in terms of,
20:35
oh, they're getting, they're getting restless.
20:37
Let's look, let's just put it that way.
20:39
Now, I want to go back to Amber
20:41
Canavan of PETA for the ethical treatment of
20:44
animals.
20:45
You know, as I was reading articles about
20:47
this, the amount of animals, the sheer number
20:50
of animals that we are killing for food
20:54
is, is beyond comprehension, but then just killing
20:57
because they've been exposed to the bird flu.
21:01
According to Science Alert, more than 300 million
21:04
poultry birds have been killed or culled since
21:08
October 2021, while 315 different species of wild
21:13
birds have died across 79 countries.
21:15
The World Organisation for Animal Health told AFP.
21:20
Globally, 300 million birds.
21:24
And how do we wrap our mind around
21:27
that kind of horror, Amber?
21:31
Anybody who's been involved in trying to protect
21:34
animals for a long time.
21:36
I mean, we're raising and killing 10 billion
21:40
animals in the United States, land animals every
21:43
year.
21:44
And that number, for me at least, is
21:46
always ticking in my mind.
21:49
But yes, these mass killings for disease control
21:53
are incredibly disturbing.
21:56
The ventilation shutdown and ventilation shutdown plus.
22:00
In birds, avian flu is fatal.
22:05
They're going to die if they get it.
22:07
Cows, that has not been the case so
22:10
far.
22:11
But the extent of how sick they are
22:16
appearing to get now is very worrying.
22:19
And yeah, we may see some killing of
22:25
the cows going forward.
22:28
And again, that is just part and parcel
22:31
of the industry.
22:33
Any animal who is not profitable will be
22:36
disposed of, as we have seen through disease
22:40
outbreaks.
22:40
Or if an animal is injured or sick,
22:43
it's not worth it for veterinary care.
22:46
And they're just, they're killed.
22:49
In the dairy industry, if a cow cannot
22:51
get pregnant, she is worthless to the industry
22:55
and she'll be killed.
22:56
That's just the nature of raising and killing
23:00
animals for food and using them for profit.
23:03
And we need to change the way we
23:05
see animals.
23:07
And people need to get active.
23:11
We have alerts on our website and of
23:14
course, contacting the USDA.
23:17
You know, I thought maybe the pandemic that
23:20
we just went through COVID-19 would have
23:24
woken us up.
23:26
But it didn't.
23:28
It really did not.
23:30
Unfortunately, the amount of meat that is being
23:33
consumed is going up globally.
23:36
I mean, the numbers are just beyond staggering.
23:39
I've heard the word pandemic fatigue, right?
23:43
So people are, they just made it through
23:46
one and it's hard to imagine we're heading
23:49
into another.
23:49
But these numbers don't lie.
23:52
These are massive, massive amounts of chickens and
23:56
turkeys mainly who've been mass killed in some
23:59
of the cruellest ways possible because of this
24:02
outbreak.
24:03
And anyone who is purchasing meat, dairy or
24:06
eggs right now, they are paying for that.
24:13
Yeah, ultimately, it's a consumer issue.
24:17
And what really strikes me in the so
24:20
called environmentalists are always saying, well, you know,
24:23
we can't just rely on individual action.
24:26
We've got to have systemic change.
24:28
Yes, we can rely on individual action if
24:32
all the individuals got together and took the
24:35
right action.
24:36
Right here, the New York Times reported last
24:40
year, researchers, and this is an Oxford University
24:45
study, very, very well regarded.
24:49
Researchers examined a diet of 55,500 people
24:53
and found that vegans are responsible for 75
24:57
% less in greenhouse gases than meat eaters.
25:01
Now put another way, if you want to
25:03
solve the climate crisis, if we all went
25:05
plant based, if the word vegan makes you
25:08
a little crazy, well, let's just say plant
25:11
based.
25:11
If we all went plant based, we could
25:14
put a massive dent in the climate crisis.
25:20
We're going to now be joined by Dr.
25:22
Crystal Heath.
25:23
Dr. Heath, thank you so much for being
25:26
here.
25:26
I know you're doing a spay neuters and
25:28
working very hard today.
25:30
So I thank you for taking time off
25:32
for for a few minutes.
25:33
I want to go right into the video
25:36
that you have provided and you've written now
25:39
an article for Time Magazine.
25:41
You've been in major publications.
25:43
So you have a lot of credentials.
25:46
You are an expert in the subject.
25:48
What are we looking at?
25:49
And please leave the names of the farms
25:50
out.
25:51
We're just in general here.
25:53
Okay, so this was taken October 8th, and
25:56
it was about 90 degrees that day when
25:59
I went and I just drove along the
26:02
side of the road.
26:02
I basically went to where the most dairies
26:05
were and just drove by each dairy to
26:08
see if I could find any signs of
26:10
avian influenza.
26:12
And pretty quickly, this was in Pixley, California
26:16
in Tulare County.
26:17
I found this pile alongside the road.
26:20
And then this is also this is in
26:23
the city of Tulare.
26:24
You'll see two aborted foetuses and then the
26:28
mom with nasal discharge and just flies everywhere.
26:33
And that's been a huge question, too, is
26:35
are these flies spreading this virus as well?
26:39
And there's so many birds around everywhere.
26:42
And the idea of that these can be
26:44
biosecure facilities is just laughable when you have
26:48
birds, when you have flies.
26:51
It's an impossible situation that we've created with
26:56
modern intensive animal agriculture.
26:58
Guess what?
27:00
We've got more breaking news.
27:04
California Governor Gavin Newsom has just declared a
27:08
state of emergency over bird flu, calling it
27:12
a proactive action.
27:14
I am reading right now.
27:16
I literally got a text from a friend,
27:19
an amazing activist, Adita Bernkrant in New York
27:22
with New York class.
27:24
She's watching our broadcast and she said, there's
27:27
breaking news, Jane.
27:28
Let me read it to you.
27:30
And this is from CBS News.
27:32
California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued.
27:36
We might as well take a look at
27:37
the problem while we talk about this.
27:40
California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an emergency
27:42
proclamation on Wednesday.
27:44
That's today in response to growing concerns over
27:48
bird flu cases in the state and across
27:50
the country.
27:51
The state of emergency proclamation comes after more
27:55
bird flu cases were detected in Southern California
27:58
dairy cows, the governor's office stated.
28:01
Wednesday also saw the Centres for Disease Control
28:04
and Prevention report the first severe illness in
28:08
a person due to bird flu in Louisiana.
28:12
We had reported that at the top of
28:13
the hour.
28:14
Dr. Heath, what's reaction to this declaration of
28:18
a state of emergency in California?
28:22
Yeah, I actually just saw that before I
28:24
got on to and I tweeted about it.
28:26
It's like finally, Gavin Newsom has entered the
28:28
chat.
28:29
We've lost 80% of California's chickens have
28:32
been exterminated due to avian influenza.
28:35
Like grocery store shelves are empty when so
28:38
many people still are dependent on protein from
28:42
animals.
28:43
I wonder what this will mean.
28:46
It usually means that they can mobilise resources
28:49
better.
28:49
So what will that mean?
28:51
Will that mean that they are able to
28:53
test more workers?
28:55
Are they going to be able to compensate
28:57
workers for when they have to take time
28:59
off work?
29:00
Because that's been a big barrier to testing
29:02
workers is because they don't want to be
29:04
tested.
29:05
They're not consenting to testing because they don't
29:07
want to have to take time off work
29:09
and lose that income.
29:12
But meanwhile, they're still spreading this in the
29:15
communities.
29:16
And I actually a colleague of mine last
29:19
week went to one of the big depopulations
29:22
that was happening and took photos of workers
29:25
without masks on and with the masks below
29:29
the nose.
29:30
And so that's a concern.
29:32
Are they not being provided with enough PPE?
29:35
Why are they not being educated enough about
29:37
the risks of this virus?
29:39
Why such lax protocols related to PPE?
29:44
So it'll be interesting to see what happens
29:46
as a result of this state of emergency.
29:48
Well, I'm showing a photo that is a
29:53
bird being killed slowly with something called ventilation
29:56
shutdown.
29:57
Plus, you have led the way, leading more
29:59
than 2000 veterinarians to sign a petition saying
30:03
this is, well, I'll say it for myself.
30:05
This is evil.
30:07
This is evil, baking millions of animals to
30:10
death and forcing taxpayers to pay for it.
30:13
I'm just going to declare a state of
30:16
evil.
30:17
How about that?
30:19
What can we do about this, Robert?
30:24
Well, Jane, I just wanted to say that
30:26
what I thought was really interesting was that
30:28
there's a farm workers union, I believe.
30:31
I forgot the name of it, but also
30:33
some public health groups that are now starting
30:35
to organise to build awareness about this and
30:43
try to change the government's policy.
30:46
And what's interesting about that is where are
30:48
we?
30:49
We should be rallying at the governor's mansion.
30:54
We should be championing this state of emergency,
30:59
whatever it actually means.
31:00
Like Crystal said, it probably means freeing up
31:02
funding to get to this problem.
31:05
But in any case, we should use this
31:08
opportunity to amplify our message instead of sitting
31:14
back and watching this unfold.
31:17
And it's an opportunity for us to really
31:20
get a bigger message out about the industry
31:23
and the problems the industry creates for animals,
31:27
for public health, for the climate crisis and
31:30
any number of farm workers.
31:32
So that's what I wish.
31:34
I would like to see more of us
31:37
doing this.
31:38
We should be at the USDA's office.
31:41
We should be at Gavin Newsom's mansion.
31:43
We should be at the CDFA headquarters.
31:46
We should be prioritising this because it's a
31:49
huge trigger event that we could turn into
31:52
something big.
31:54
Well, let me say you do more than
31:56
99% of the people in trying to
31:59
speak truth to power.
32:01
I have a clip of you and your
32:03
team trying to basically stop the farm bill,
32:08
the upcoming farm bill from bailing out these
32:11
industries for another five to 10 years.
32:14
While at the same time, the incoming administration
32:16
is talking about wanting to cut waste.
32:20
The farm bill is a product of dark
32:23
money that comes from the meat, dairy and
32:25
egg industries who have bought your vote through
32:27
millions of dollars in campaign contributions.
32:31
You have betrayed hardworking Americans, but we refuse
32:34
to pay for these outbreaks that come from
32:36
confining and slaughtering billions of animals.
32:39
Not another penny for cooking millions of birds
32:42
alive.
32:43
It's time to fund a slaughter-free, plant
32:46
-based food system.
33:07
No, you didn't come to that.
33:09
All right.
33:13
Well, there you go.
33:14
This was prior to the declaration of the
33:17
state emergency.
33:19
The farm bill has not been passed in
33:22
full.
33:23
It's still being debated.
33:25
Where are we with that?
33:27
Because clearly to me, that is the key
33:30
to solving this.
33:32
If the US government stopped propping up the
33:35
dairy industry, it would collapse.
33:38
Kids aren't drinking milk the way they did
33:40
back in the beaver days.
33:42
And we've got a growing awareness, thanks to
33:46
organisations like PETA and Switch for Good, that
33:48
most people are allergic to dairy products.
33:52
The National Institutes of Health itself says 68
33:55
% of humans experience lactose malabsorption.
33:59
No shock, because we are not cows.
34:02
So we shouldn't be drinking the breast milk
34:04
of cows.
34:05
The US government is keeping this industry afloat.
34:09
And now it is killing people in a
34:11
new way with potentially, we've got a critically
34:15
ill person in Louisiana due to bird flu.
34:19
And now it's infecting dairy cows, as we
34:23
saw.
34:23
And still, the USDA and the government remains
34:28
completely, completely, completely blind to its role in
34:35
basically funding this industry.
34:40
I just can't believe the stupidity, Robert.
34:43
I'm at a loss for words.
34:46
Well, I think we tend to look at
34:49
this industry and the USDA as this kind
34:52
of monolithic force that is impenetrable and immune
34:57
to change.
34:58
But in actuality, when you actually go to
35:02
their conferences and you talk to people, what
35:05
you find is that they're scared shitless.
35:08
I don't know any other way to put
35:10
it.
35:10
But they're in a very vulnerable situation here.
35:14
And we can have an impact.
35:17
We can leverage these weaknesses of the system
35:21
that they've created, that they've propped up.
35:24
And we can use it to gain popular
35:29
support, to change policy.
35:33
Are we seeing that in the new voices
35:37
we're hearing from people calling for cutting agriculture
35:41
subsidies, criticising fast food and factory farming?
35:48
All of a sudden, we're hearing RFK and
35:50
others talk about ending factory farming or cutting
35:53
subsidies for it.
35:54
If that's really true, are we looking at
35:58
a big change in policy?
36:02
But even if we're not, we should be
36:04
calling their bluffs and saying, if you really
36:08
are so against factory farming, the first biggest
36:11
thing you could do is cut subsidies to
36:13
this industry, because it's basically on life support.
36:16
And without these subsidies, you pull the plug
36:20
and the industry is going to be crippled
36:24
financially.
36:27
Even if we shift the subsidies by 20
36:30
to 30 percent, it's going to be crippling
36:33
for this industry.
36:36
I mean, look at what we're looking at.
36:37
This is happening in California right now, as
36:41
the governor declares a state of emergency.
36:45
Dr. Heath, I know that you have been
36:48
actually targeted for trying to raise this issue.
36:52
Again, we don't want to get into any
36:54
specific names here, but why aren't you being
36:57
hailed as a hero for risking your life
36:59
to go out and videotape and photograph these
37:02
cows, instead of being attacked with some people
37:05
trying to remove your veterinary licence because you've
37:08
alerted people?
37:10
You may be the very reason why California
37:12
is declaring a state of emergency, because you're
37:14
the person who videotaped these cows and wrote
37:19
an article in Time magazine that has been
37:21
picked up everywhere.
37:23
Yeah, I mean, it's really absurd, but the
37:25
industry's biggest fear is trusted messengers criticising the
37:29
industry, and that's what veterinarians are.
37:31
It's easy to dismiss vegans and animal rights
37:34
activists because farmers have more public trust than
37:37
vegans and animal rights activists, but when you
37:39
have a veterinarian who is speaking about the
37:42
issues and the public health threat and our
37:44
food security threat and the animal welfare issues,
37:47
that is very dangerous for the industry.
37:51
Veterinarians are taught over and over again, and
37:53
the AVMA's message has been, we need consistent
37:56
messaging around these issues, around depopulation, and when
38:00
you have a veterinarian like me and 2
38:02
,000 others straying from the AVMA industry message,
38:06
that is a huge threat, and that could
38:10
topple their whole industry, so that's why we
38:13
believe our honours work is so important, mobilising
38:15
more veterinarians to question the industry narrative and
38:19
the AVMA and speak to the press directly,
38:23
because right now, the press, whenever there's an
38:26
avian influenza outbreak, they ask the ag departments,
38:30
what's your take on this, and the ag
38:32
departments say, don't worry, the food supply is
38:35
safe, the milk is safe to drink, pasteurised
38:37
milk doesn't have any risk of avian influenza,
38:40
when that's not the issue, it's the food
38:42
production methods that are threatening public health, animal
38:45
welfare, and our food security, and those are
38:48
the questions that the journalists need to ask
38:51
and start to question, and how much is
38:52
this costing taxpayers?
38:54
These things aren't in the media, but we're
38:57
getting these talking points in the media, and
38:59
that is scary to them, so yeah, now
39:02
a page with more than a million followers
39:05
is calling for my veterinary licence to be
39:07
removed, we'll see what happens with that, it's
39:11
quite scary, but I think I'm on the
39:13
right side of history.
39:14
Well, you know what I say, no good
39:18
deed goes unpunished, it's a cliche, but it
39:21
is true, so please keep us surprised, because
39:25
we will obviously be on your side to
39:29
protest any attempts to remove your licence, and
39:33
that's a big story.
39:36
Yeah, I think it is too.
39:38
That's a big story, and that could backfire
39:40
really badly on the industry, you're the one
39:45
who basically was the Paul Revere of the
39:48
situation, hey, bird flu is coming, bird flu
39:51
is coming, look at this, I'm going by
39:53
the side of the road, videotaping these things,
39:56
and this is a crisis, and now, just
40:00
now, while we were on the air, the
40:03
governor of California has declared a state of
40:05
emergency over bird flu, and there's gonna come
40:10
a time where the lies will not stand.
40:15
I have to throw another cliche out there,
40:17
you can fool some of the people some
40:19
of the time, but you can't fool all
40:21
of the people all of the time, and
40:23
you know, Amber, I want to bring in
40:25
this whole issue of now, with the incoming
40:27
administration talking about make America healthy again, you
40:31
know, I've been saying that for the longest
40:32
time, I've used that phrase long before it
40:35
came into the news, yes, but why are
40:38
43% of Americans obese?
40:41
Why are 68% or more of Americans
40:45
overweight or obese?
40:47
It's because the US government is subsidising bad
40:50
food, and it's meat, in the form of
40:54
especially fast food, which a huge percentage of
40:58
Americans eat on a daily basis, and that's
41:01
cheap hamburger, cheap shakes, all meat and dairy
41:04
based, but without US government subsidies, those same
41:10
items would cost something like 20 or $25.
41:14
Okay, not $1 burger, a 250 burger, it
41:18
would be at least, well, triple, quadruple, much
41:24
higher.
41:24
So while they're talking now about make America
41:28
healthy again, and they're also talking simultaneously about
41:32
how they want to cut $2 trillion off
41:34
the federal budget, and there's a slew of
41:38
articles saying, you're not going to be able
41:39
to do that, because a lot of these
41:41
costs are fixed, and it's servicing the debt,
41:43
blah, blah, blah.
41:44
Well, the answer is sitting there right on
41:47
a silver platter in front of them.
41:49
The farm bill, the farm bill, which has
41:52
not passed yet, contains the proposed farm bill
41:56
that they'd like to pass, literally, over the
41:59
course of 10 years, more than a trillion
42:01
dollars in subsidies that are making us sick,
42:05
contributing to climate change, inspiring pandemics, and every
42:10
other darn thing under the sun.
42:13
It's an easy place to cut.
42:16
Do you think anybody is seeing this?
42:21
Right.
42:22
I mean, in times when there's a feeling
42:25
of panic or crisis, like right now, when
42:30
a state of emergency is announced far, far
42:34
too late, the states have been having this
42:36
very patchwork response to the avian flu outbreak
42:40
for many, many, many months.
42:43
And public health officials have been, rightfully so,
42:47
very frustrated at this patchwork, delayed response.
42:52
We've been two steps behind for a long
42:56
time.
42:57
And at least as far as PETA goes,
43:00
it's always going back to the power that
43:04
us individuals have and where we can make
43:07
the most impact.
43:09
And we're ready to support any activists who
43:14
want to get involved and jump on this
43:17
issue.
43:18
We will help activists with materials for doing,
43:23
you know, demonstrations, for giving out free vegan
43:27
dairy and eggs or whatever, to show people
43:31
that there are alternatives.
43:33
And of course, you know, contacting the USDA
43:37
to get better policies to help end the
43:41
mass, cruel mass killings of these birds and
43:44
possibly in the future, the cows.
43:50
It's a mess out there, but I think
43:53
all of us on the show right now
43:55
can attest there are so many things you
43:59
can do to get active and involved on
44:01
this issue.
44:01
Well, not to depress you further, but I've
44:04
got some other really disturbing news, reading articles
44:08
associated with this issue.
44:11
Take a look at this.
44:13
This is from a scientific publication and here's
44:19
the headline.
44:20
Alarming mutation in H5N1 virus, that's the bird
44:24
flu virus, raises pandemic red flags.
44:27
Now here's the fine print people, fasten your
44:30
seat belts.
44:31
A recent study published in science and funded
44:33
by the National Institutes of Health has that
44:36
a single alteration in a protein on the
44:40
surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1
44:47
virus currently present in US dairy cows could
44:51
significantly increase its potential for human to human
44:56
transmission.
44:58
Again, a single alteration in a protein on
45:02
the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza
45:07
virus.
45:10
Dr. Crystal Heath, we also had the breaking
45:15
news of health officials declaring today that a
45:18
Louisiana patient is the first severe bird flu
45:22
case in the United States, but more than
45:26
60 bird flu infections have been reported.
45:28
What do you make of this mutation warning?
45:33
Yeah, this mutation would make it more easily
45:36
transmissible between humans and has that happened yet?
45:40
We have seen this virus evolve over the
45:45
last several months and gain more ability to
45:48
infect humans and we're waiting for that, is
45:52
it now transmissible between humans state, which would
45:56
be very concerning.
45:58
This is a virus that historically has had
46:01
around a 50% mortality rate in humans.
46:04
We obviously haven't seen that with the dairy
46:05
workers who've just experienced some severe conjunctivitis and
46:09
respiratory signs, but we've seen no deaths from
46:12
it yet.
46:13
But is that a possibility as it mutates?
46:16
Can it come more deadly and more easily
46:18
transmissible between humans and lead to the next
46:21
pandemic?
46:22
I want to go back to your video
46:24
that you shot so courageously, because I think
46:27
you did put yourself at risk to shoot
46:28
this.
46:29
You're going up to, again, you did not
46:32
trespass, you were falsely accused of trespassing.
46:35
And I even played a clip where you
46:37
can hear the cars whizzing by and you
46:38
can see that you're outside the fence.
46:40
But I mean, what does this video that
46:42
you recorded tell you about the broken response?
46:47
I mean, you are walking up and just
46:50
seeing this.
46:52
Yeah.
46:53
And you see these cows are uncovered.
46:56
There's no signage anywhere warning anybody of the
46:59
risk.
47:00
And when I saw this, I contacted the
47:02
CDFA to express my concerns and they didn't
47:04
really care.
47:05
They said, yeah, the rendering trucks are backed
47:07
up because so many cows are dying.
47:09
And I was like, wow, that's alarming.
47:12
And Anya Radabaugh of the Western United Dairies
47:16
confirmed that in the media.
47:18
But yeah, we're always kind of caught off
47:22
guard and unprepared for these infectious disease outbreaks.
47:24
And these happen over and over again every
47:26
few years.
47:27
And each time it happens, we're shocked and
47:29
we have to resort to cruel things like
47:31
ventilation shutdown and piling up animals alongside the
47:35
road and things like that.
47:37
It was interesting.
47:38
A journalist went out there to that farm
47:40
after I had sent them the footage and
47:43
there was another dead cow laying there.
47:45
And while the journalist was there talking to
47:48
the farmer, a dog came up and sniffed
47:51
the dead body.
47:52
So this could spread.
47:54
This is the perfect environment where cats, there's
47:57
lots of community cats in the area.
47:59
Dogs can come up to these cows and
48:01
potentially get infected and spread it.
48:04
So it's very concerning.
48:06
And they should at least cover them.
48:08
They should spray flyspray.
48:10
They should put signs out.
48:12
Those are easy fixes.
48:14
Yeah, we can't fix the number of rendering
48:16
trucks right now.
48:18
But those are some easy solutions that they
48:21
just weren't doing.
48:22
And they're aware of this, obviously.
48:25
Robert Grillo's associate made that point.
48:30
Let's listen to it again, because now with
48:33
the information you've just provided.
48:35
I'm worried about that bird flu very much.
48:38
And I know that there are dead dairy
48:39
cows infected with bird flu that lay along
48:42
the roadside near dairy farms.
48:44
The scavengers go after them.
48:45
There's no biosecurity or warning.
48:47
And that scavenger hunt there actually spreads the
48:50
disease of bird flu to wildlife, other birds
48:54
and humans.
48:55
How can the CDFA allow this?
48:58
And are you putting industry profits over public
49:01
health and animal welfare?
49:03
That's my question.
49:12
Wow.
49:13
You know, I'm going to do something bold.
49:15
I know it's a two-party state.
49:19
So I'm in California, so I can't call
49:20
somebody and have a conversation and record it
49:24
without their permission.
49:25
But I called the US government and I
49:28
got a voicemail.
49:29
So I got a voiceover.
49:31
So this isn't a person, this is just
49:33
a voice.
49:34
Let's see.
49:35
Okay.
49:35
You call the number.
49:36
This is the number we're telling you to
49:38
call.
49:44
Okay.
49:49
I am calling right now and leaving my
49:54
message as a US citizen to say, you
49:59
are mishandling the bird flu.
50:02
And the solution is not to do more
50:05
mass killing of birds.
50:07
Okay.
50:07
The solution is to stop subsidising animal agriculture
50:13
and let the free market decide.
50:15
And now the incoming administration says they want
50:18
to cut $2 trillion off the budget.
50:20
The best way to do that is to
50:22
cut the 73% of profits to the
50:26
dairy industry that comes from the US government.
50:29
I do not want my tax dollars supporting
50:31
ventilation shutdown of millions of birds.
50:35
I do not want my tax dollars rewarding
50:39
farmers for keeping animals in horrific conditions.
50:42
Stop the bailout, stop the subsidies.
50:45
Thank you.
50:47
Okay.
50:48
That was my message.
50:50
And I'm telling everybody out there, you can
50:53
call too.
50:54
Okay.
50:55
There's the number 202-720-3631.
51:00
If you're listening, jot it down.
51:06
202-720-3631.
51:10
If you're watching, take a screen grab.
51:12
If you're not going to call the second
51:13
or just call now.
51:15
I mean, we've given you the lowdown on
51:18
what's going on.
51:19
This is a crisis.
51:20
It is an unfolding crisis, people, happening right,
51:25
a slow motion train wreck happening before our
51:28
eyes.
51:29
I just lived for two and a half,
51:32
three years in my apartment by myself or
51:36
walking my dogs or using a mask.
51:40
I do not want to do that again.
51:42
I do not want to go through that
51:43
again.
51:45
Final thoughts, everybody.
51:47
And I'll start with, we've only got a
51:49
couple of minutes.
51:50
So give us your final 30 seconds, Amber
51:52
of PETA.
51:55
Just never be silent.
51:57
And PETA is ready to help any activists
51:59
who want to get involved.
52:01
We will get you set up with all
52:02
the materials you need to help those animals
52:06
on those factory farms.
52:08
Thank you, Amber.
52:09
Robert, your final thoughts?
52:13
To build a coalition with other groups that
52:16
are concerned about public health, about climate, about
52:19
pandemics, about animals, and all come together to
52:24
collectively gain power over this very destructive and
52:28
dangerous industry.
52:30
And our very special guest, Dr. Crystal Heath,
52:34
thank you again for joining us.
52:36
I know you are working very hard around
52:38
the clock to do spay, neuter.
52:40
So I appreciate you taking the time.
52:41
What are your final thoughts?
52:43
Yeah, I mean, people can go and see
52:46
these things for themselves.
52:48
And I'm kind of shocked that me and
52:50
just one other person are the only people
52:52
going to the Central Valley and other areas
52:54
where avian influenza is infecting herds and flocks
52:58
and taking photos.
53:00
I hope more animal advocates take photos, talk
53:03
to the media.
53:04
We are continuing to talk to the media
53:06
and get them to ask the right questions.
53:08
And this is so, so important.
53:10
Update them on how much in bailouts that
53:13
we are giving these companies.
53:14
This is really important information to get out
53:16
there.
53:17
Write op-eds, write letters to the editor.
53:19
If you wanted to volunteer for our honour,
53:20
go to ourhonor.org and help us out
53:23
and get this message to the media via
53:25
trusted messengers, which are so important for getting
53:30
the right narrative out there in the media.
53:32
Well, thank you again, Dr. Heath.
53:34
And my final thought is I've always believed
53:38
in the law of unintended consequences.
53:41
Sometimes I think the worst things that happen
53:43
to me end up being the best things,
53:45
like I got fired and then I got
53:46
a much better job.
53:48
And this is a horrible crisis, but there
53:50
is an opportunity in this crisis.
53:52
This is a wake up call to the
53:54
American people to let these industries go.
54:00
There is no need for you to drink
54:03
the breast milk of a cow.
54:04
It is unnatural.
54:05
Most of us are allergic and there's no
54:09
need for us to eat animals to get
54:11
protein.
54:12
It's all just unnecessary.
54:17
And it's coming back to bite us big
54:19
time.
54:20
I think that this could be an opportunity
54:23
for America and by extension, the world to
54:27
wake up, wake up and evolve.
54:31
We are complicit when we eat meat and
54:37
when we eat dairy.
54:38
And I haven't eaten meat or dairy in
54:41
going on 30 years.
54:43
And I haven't eaten meat for probably my
54:46
entire life, but dairy 30 years.
54:48
And look at me.
54:50
Okay.
54:51
Nobody on this panel is eating animals.
54:54
We're doing okay.
54:55
So it's really an opportunity, I think, for
55:00
all of us to wake up and to
55:03
evolve beyond killing 92 billion animals.
55:07
That's land animals alone for food every year.
55:10
And the last thing I'd say is please
55:11
support Unchained TV.
55:14
We are the world's only 100% plant
55:17
-based animal rights streaming television network.
55:19
So it's a vegan Netflix.
55:21
Okay.
55:22
That's the craziest thing I've ever heard.
55:23
I love Unchained TV.
55:25
Unchained, Unchained TV.
55:27
Your life will change.
55:28
It's just that easy.
55:29
Unchained TV has all sorts of content for
55:31
everybody.
55:32
Unchained TV changed my life.
55:35
Unchained TV is crushing it.
55:38
I love Unchained TV.
55:39
Unchained TV is my go-to.
55:42
Unchained TV.
55:43
Who knew?
55:44
Unchained baby, yeah.