Hi Kind Lifers!
I want to draw your attention to an important upcoming Supreme Court case . It's called National Meat Association v. Harris, and it involves federal and state laws regulating the way "downer" animals are treated at the slaughterhouse. Downer animals are those so sick they cannot move.
In California, the law requires these poor downer animals be humanely euthanized on the spot. The federal laws, however, allow downers to be "observed" for a period up to 24 hours before it's determined they can walk to slaughter, or be otherwise "disposed" of.
The 24 hour "observation" period is nothing more than an opportunity for these slaugtherhouses to find ways to get the animals to move, thus making them eligible for slaughter, which equals more money in the bank for the meat industry. Slaughterhouses have devised cruel methods such as simulated drowning and electrocution to get downers to move.
Another reason for euthanization, aside from sheer humanity, is that sending sick animals to slaughter - animals that are likely covered in excrement from having been on the ground - leads to an unsafe food supply (for those who eat it).
Naturally, the meat industry challenged California's law because it wants to slaughter anything it can. Thankfully, Judge Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down that challenge by holding that the federal law didn't preempt (in this case, prohibit) California from creating its own, stricter regulations for the treatment of downer animals within it's own borders.
Now, the Supreme Court has decided to give the meat association one more chance. Unfortunately, the law cares little for animal welfare. It does care about human welfare, however. We can only hope they make a wise decision. Send your good energy to the counsel for California to make the better argument!