Humane Society Post-Trial Statement

HOWARD LYMAN, LL.D., FOUND NOT LIABLE
IN LANDMARK CASE IN AMARILLO

On February 29th, 1998, a Texas jury found former Humane Society of the US program director Howard Lyman and Oprah Winfrey not liable for comments made on a national show about eating beef. Dr. Lyman, Executive Director of the educational 501c3 non-profit organization Voice for a Viable Future, spent 6 weeks in Amarillo fighting "food disparagement" and libel charges against him. Until the jury rendered its judgement, Mr. Lyman and associates were barred from speaking about the lawsuit as a result of a court-imposed gag order.

Dr. Lyman, who spent much of his profesional life RAISING cattle, has been traveling the globe year-round since 1991, speaking on health, environemnt & animal issues, stated:

"Today...I breathe more easily, knowing that a vigorous debate about potential dangers to our food supply--ranging from E.coli to pfiesteria to salmonella to Mad Cow disease--is permissable. Lawsuits like this stifle speech about matters that have implications for the health and welfare of every American consumer. At a time when threats to food safety are arguably greater than ever--threats exacerbated by intense confinement conditions that abet the spread of disease, and by controversial feeding practices--we need a free and open discussion about these matters."

But the battle isn't over. Thirteen states, including Texas, have passed laws designed to silence and intimidate those who expose unsafe and unhealthy factory farm and slaughterhouse practices. These so-called "food disparagement" laws make it a crime to criticize food and how it is produced.

In Britain, 22 people died from Mad Cow disease. In the U.S., over 9,000 deaths occur yearly due to food-bourne illnesses such as E.coli. Unsafe food is deadly. It is time to challenge these laws. It is time to stand up to those who put their own economic interests above the public's safety.