Pandemic, Conspiracy, and the Great Missed Opportunity
Zoonoses, antibiotic overuse, and our dysfunctional relationship with non-human animals and the natural world have brought our society to the brink of collapse, as we struggle to maintain the capitalist system amidst a socially and economically devastating pandemic. For the animal rights community, this should represent an opportune moment to highlight how our relationship with non-human animals is not only destroying non-human communities and taking individual lives, but is destroying us as well. However, the narrative within vegan and animal rights circles is instead being dominated by a war of words over whether in fact the pandemic is real and other associated conspiracy theories. Disinformation based on a distrust or misunderstanding of scientific process, in countries where education policies have lead to the promotion of anti-intellectual ideology, is proliferating across social media and throughout social discourse. And as a result, the opportunity to delve into the very real and apparent dangers presented by the industrial animal complex and our relationship with the natural world is being lost.
“The rate of future zoonotic disease emergence or re-emergence will be closely linked to the evolution of the agriculture-environment nexus.” -Bryony A. Jones et. al (2013)
In 2019, COVID-19 jumped the species barrier and began infecting human animals. Whilst there has been some debate regarding where this virus came from, it is generally accepted that bats (perhaps with the assistance of an intermediary species such as pangolins) were the species from which the virus generated. However bats are not responsible for this virus per se; rather, as humans increasingly encroach on the natural world in pursuit of resources including animal-based proteins for consumption, we are thrown into closer contact with other species. As a result, we have created increasing risk factors for diseases that may evolve to infect humans to devastating effect.
Three quarters of all new and emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic; past zoonotic diseases that have caused and/or continue to cause thousands of deaths worldwide each year include avian and swine influenza, ebola, SARS, MERS, tuberculosis and BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy). BSE was first documented in the 1970s and likely emerged as a result of humans feeding farmed cattle meat-and-bone meal that contained the BSE pathogen. A causal association between BSE in cattle and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans was reported in 1996. To this day, public health control measures in Australia include banning visitors to the UK between 1980–1996 from donating blood. Studies of MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) indicate transmission from infected Dromedary camels; Ebola Virus first emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976, transmitted via contact with other primates; H1N1 (“swine flu”) infection of humans was first documented in 2009 in Mexico, with its origins in farmed pigs; and the first human tuberculosis infection likely occurred 9000 years ago, around the same time as human agricultural societies were emerging and evolving, with infected cattle representing the source of most outbreaks today.
Countries of origin and the public health responses for each existing or emerging zoonotic disease may vary, however there is one constant; our relationship with non-human animals which is dependent on our continued exploitation of their bodies and the natural world as a causal factor in their emergence. Indeed the UN has blamed the rise in zoonotic diseases including COVID-19 on the increasing human demand for animal protein, unsustainable agricultural practices and climate change. But this is not a new phenomenon. Expert bodies have been warning of the very real threat posed to our species by zoonotic disease for many years; we, however, chose not to listen.
Whilst regulations in Australia ban the usage of antibiotics for the promotion of growth in farmed animals, they are permitted for use in order to prevent probable disease outbreaks as well as to treat existing disease outbreaks. In 2013, 700 tonnes of antibiotics were imported into Australia; 78% (550 tonnes) were used for disease control and treatment of non-human animals exploited by the food system. As animal agriculture in Australia becomes increasingly intensified, this is a loophole that can be easily and readily exploited by producers. And this antibiotic use in non-human animals is recognised as a driver for the evolution of antibiotic resistance even when the amounts used are of a lower level. The Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Australia 2019 report stated that e.coli and salmonella are becoming increasingly resistant to a majority of applicable drugs, and that antibiotic resistance shows little to no sign of abating.
According to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), we are already living in the post-antibiotic era, as increasing numbers of diseases become partially or wholly resistant to anti-microbial medications. In the USA, 2.8 million people per year are affected by antibiotic resistant conditions, resulting in at least 35 000 deaths. 70% of antibiotics sold for use in non-human animals are “medically important” to humans. And it is not simply that we consume non-human animals who have been treated with antibiotics; non-human animal waste containing antibiotic traces is frequently used on crops as fertiliser, contaminating fruits and vegetables.
Whilst our very food system increases the very real threat of zoonotic disease, it is simultaneously rendering the medications necessary to treat those diseases useless.
As COVID-19 spreads around the world, slaughterhouses have emerged as high-risk sites for outbreak clusters. The decline of the USA into uncontrollable infections was heralded by mass outbreaks originating in slaughterhouses across the country. By mid-May almost half of all USA clusters were attributable to slaughterhouses, with thousands infected, dozens dead, and industries dependent upon animal exploitation facing an unprecedented economic crisis with no facilities open to “process” animals for their “products”, and limited outlets to sell these “products”.
A similar pattern appeared in Germany towards the end of June, as one of its biggest clusters broke out in North Rhine-Westphalia, stemming from hundreds of employees who caught and transmitted the virus at one facility in Gütersloh, resulting in the reintroduction of mass public shutdowns. And the same pattern is emerging in Victoria, Australia, beginning with the shutdown in May of Cedar Meats (Melbourne) due to a mass cluster which impacted upon a school and an old-age care facility. Now there are three more slaughterhouses in Victoria at the epicenters of second-wave cluster outbreaks; JBS (Brooklyn), Pacific Meats (Trafalgar), and Australian Lamb Company (Colac). The cluster at ALC has resulted in the closure of Trinity College (Colac), after a student whose parent worked at the slaughterhouse tested positive for the virus. Midfield Meat International (Warnambool) has had to close as a precaution due to a meat inspector connected with the ALC case working at the facility. Mass lock downs of entire residential areas have occurred as the second wave of the virus takes hold.
Slaughterhouses have been identified as being difficult environments to contain COVID-19 outbreaks in. This is due to close physical working conditions, often crowded migrant worker housing, cool and damp conditions, and in some cases limited access to and use of PPE gear. But the exploitative nature of slaughterhouses themselves is a contributing factor:
“The pandemic has shone a light on the meat industry where for years workers have been exploited in these plants including being penalised for not showing up even when sick or injured.” -Tony Corbo, Food & Water Watch
Not only are slaughterhouses places of great violence against non-human animals, their operations are dependent upon exploiting the labour of individuals who due to circumstances of education, location, or migration may have limited employment alternatives. The current pandemic is not simply highlighting the inequity inherent within the slaughter system, it is also revealing slaughterhouses to be sites of significant risk for public health and safety.
Prior to the pandemic one could have mostly assumed that, given the circumstances of the spread of COVID-19, the animal rights community would have grasped this opportunity to reveal how inherently dysfunctional our relationship with non-human animals has become, to the detriment of our own survival as a species. However, rather than engaging in a critical analysis of the political and social structures that have brought us to this pass, with a focus on the destructive force that is the industrial animal complex, the dialogue has been dominated by arguments over whether the virus even exists and other associated “theories” largely relating to distrust of the government. What may have begun as healthy skepticism over the actions and intentions of government and corporate billionaires has steadily devolved into anti-scientific, anti-intellectual and often paradoxical theories with little to no grounding in reality. The scientific process as we are currently experiencing it, as a fallible system of hypotheses, theories, checks, balances, tests, failures and successes, has been supplanted by YouTube as an authoritative resource. And the opportunity to engage in important discussions, that could aid in undermining public confidence in the industrial animal complex and could encourage individuals to question their support for that system, are being lost amidst the shouting of whether we should wear a strip of cloth over our faces when in public (at a time when government surveillance of the populace is at an all time high).
Furthermore, the discord which arises from campaigns of deliberate disinformation (often originating from “bots” which are utilised to create this conflict for political purposes) fractures movements, making certain social justice movements appear more unstable or fringe and thus less socially valid, and disrupt our ability to effectively engage in creating networks with other social justice spheres, alliances which are beneficial to both human and non-human societies. It benefits corporations and governments to keep these movements fractured and to prevent important dialogues from taking place, as the discord often influences politics and elections as seen in 2016 with Cambridge Analytica and the emergence of QAnon on 4Chan in 2017.
One tactic utilised to achieve this is the consistent undermining of the tertiary education sector by neo-liberal governments, especially in the area of the liberal arts, preventing many from developing analytical, philosophical and intellectual skills in what is often a politically vibrant environment. This is currently being witnessed in Australia as the Morrison government raises university fees so high, certain degrees will become largely unattainable to any but the wealthy and privileged. And as access to learning becomes ever more limited, whilst our trust in media and political institutions dwindles, our reliance upon social media and the internet as a source for information as a means to understand an unknown and frightening world increases. This in turn make us prime targets for online political bots and the promulgation of conspiracy theories, which then dominate discourse and deviate attention away from the dialogues we need to engage in.
The threat posed to the human species by zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance and the exploitation of non-human animals is real, and it is a threat of our own creation. Whilst some may regard COVID-19 as some form of “karmic” retribution, others are searching for a way through the current pandemic and are investigating what strategies are necessary for us to prevent the future pandemics that are at this juncture inevitable. As advocates for non-human animal rights it is our responsibility to engage in these investigations and conversations with evidence-based dialogue, to understand the political processes that support the continuation of the industrial animal complex, and to create networks with other social justice movements as a means to effectively counter the dangers of neo-liberal politics. And those of us who have the privilege of education or of understanding have a responsibility to make that information accessible as a means to counter the deliberate campaigns of disinformation that are currently dominating the public discourse. And whilst COVID-19 is a significant threat to our species, it is also yet another invaluable indicator of the dysfunctional nature of our relationship with non-human animals. It is an opportunity to deconstruct the industrial animal complex that we cannot afford to miss.
Antimicrobial Use & Resistance in Australia 2019: Third Australian report on antimicrobial use (2019).
“Zoonosis emergence linked to agricultural intensification and environmental change,” (2013) Bryony A. Jones, Delia Grace, Richard Kock, Silvia Alonso, Jonathan Rushton, Mohammad Y. Said, Declan McKeever, Florence Mutua, Jarrah Young, John McDermott, Dirk Udo Pfeiffer, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA
www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/s0506-zoonotic-diseases-shared.html
Preventing the next pandemic: zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission (2020) United Nations Environment Program & the International Livestock Research Institute
www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/biggest-threats.html
Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States: AR threats report (2019)
“Antibiotic Overuse in Animal Agriculture: a call to action for health care providers,” (2012) Michael J. Martin, Sapna E. Thotathill, Thomas B. Newman
“Surveillance and reporting of anti-microbial resistance and antibiotic usage in animals and agriculture in Australia,” (2014) Ramon Z. Shaban, Geoff I. Simon, Daren J. Trott, John Turnidge, David Jordan
National surveillance and reporting of microbial resistance and antibiotic usage for human health in Australia (2013)
“The meat we eat is a pandemic risk too,” (2020) Sigal Samuel: www.vox.com/future-perfect-2020/4/22/21228158/coronavirus-pandemic-risk-factory-farming-meat
“Chaotic and crazy: meat plants around the world struggle with virus outbreaks,” (2020) Bibi van der Zee, Tom Levitt, Ella McSweeney: www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/11/chaotic-and-crazy-meat-plants-around-the-world-struggle-with-virus-outbreaks
“Are slaughterhouses turning into coronavirus factories?” (2020) Ryan Thompson: www.euronews.com/2020/06/24/are-slaughterhouses-turning-into-coronavirus-factories
“Melbourne Virus Hotspot Home to Cedar Meats, Source of Previous Outbreak,” (2020) Alex Joseph: www.theepochtimes.com/melbourne-virus-hotspot-home-to-cedar-meats-source-of-previous-outbreak_3398284.html
“Why are meatworks COVID-19 hotspots?” (2020) Ahmed Yussuf: www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/why-are-meatworks-covid-19-hotspots
“Is anti-intellectualism killing the national conversation?,” (2015) John Elder: www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/is-antiintellectualism-killing-the-national-conversation-20150801-gipidj.html
“We need tougher action against disinformation and propaganda,” (2020) Emma L. Briant: www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2020/07/15/we-need-tougher-action-against-disinformation-and-propaganda/
“The Prophecies of Q: American conspiracy theories are entering a dangerous new phase,” (2020) Adrienne LaFrance: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/
