Animal Advocate to Receive
Albert Schweitzer Medal

            WASHINGTON, DC -- Gail A. Eisnitz, whose courageous field investigations over two decades led to criminal prosecution of numerous animal abusers and to network television, radio and newspaper exposés, will be presented the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Medal Monday, November 8 at 6:00 p.m., in the Russell Senate Office Building.  The award, given by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), honors individuals for outstanding achievement in the advancement of animal protection.  Previous winners of the award include Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall and Sen. Hubert Humphrey.

Eisnitz is author of the groundbreaking 1997 book Slaughterhouse which exposed horrendous violations of the Humane Slaughter and Federal Meat Inspection Acts inside USDA-inspected slaughter plants.  Eisnitz wrote the book after years of crisscrossing the country investigating slaughterhouses.  AWI President Cathy Liss said, “Slaughterhouse is widely compared to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle both for its clarity and its impact.

Liss went on to say, “We are thrilled to present Gail with this award.  In the course of her work as an investigator, she has been chased, harassed and threatened with bodily harm.  She has earned the respect of and negotiated strategic alliances with slaughterhouse workers and their union representatives during her tireless efforts to expose egregious crimes against animals.”

Eisnitz has worked in the animal protection field since 1983.  As chief investigator for the San Francisco based Humane Farming Association since 1992, she not only documented and exposed the use of deadly steroids by the U.S. veal industry but also revealed brutal violations in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of cattle by the nation’s largest meat producer.  Her efforts, in a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, were responsible for halting construction of what was slated to be the third largest pig factory farm in the world.  In addition, Eisnitz helped secure an annual appropriation from Congress of $5 million to enforce the Humane Slaughter Act—the first funding ever allocated to implement the 45-year-old law.  Currently, she is fighting to prevent the appropriation from being derailed by the livestock industry.

In 2001, Eisnitz was the driving force behind a front page Washington Post expose of slaughterhouse atrocities.  At a Georgetown University law conference, Post reporter Joby Warrick described her as “the most courageous investigator I’ve ever met.”

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, will present the medal.  Whole Foods Market is the world’s largest natural and organic foods supermarket chain with 145 stores in North America and the United Kingdom.

EDITORS:  For interviews with Gail Eisnitz, contact Wendy Swann at (703) 836-4300, (703) 585-7323 (cell) or wendy@awionline.org.