On Friday, February 24, 2017, Professor Heidi M. Hurd appeared with Dr. Temple Grandin, acclaimed animal welfare advocate and Illinois alumnus, to discuss the ethical, legal, and scientific dimensions of livestock production. Hosted by the Texas A&M School of Law and funded by the G. Rollie White Trust, this large public event took place at the Sheraton Hotel Ballroom in Fort Worth, Texas.
It included a diverse audience of professionals from the Texas bar, bench, veterinary, agriculture, livestock industry, and academic communities, as well as students and faculty from the Texas A&M School of Law. Professor Hurd, together with animal behavior expert Bonnie Beaver of the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine, led an hour-long discussion in advance of Dr. Grandin’s luncheon lecture. The discussion surveyed the moral complexities of livestock production and examined the ways that legal regulations often confound, rather than assist, efforts to ensure humane methods of confinement, transportation, and slaughter.
Texas A&M Law Professor Lisa Rich, one of the organizers of the event, stated, “Both Dr. Hurd and Dr. Beaver are considered premier voices in their particular disciplines, and it is a great pleasure for us to have them joining this event. Their advance presentations will allow us to consider the scientific, moral, legal and regulatory questions raised by animal production and will allow the audience to engage the important issues that arise from Dr. Grandin’s work.”
Temple Grandin is a world-renowned animal welfare expert and autism activist. As one of the earliest members of the autistic community to champion the talents of those with autism, Dr. Grandin was the subject of an award-winning film bearing her name and starring Claire Danes. She was honored as one of Time magazine's most influential people in 2010; received the Meritorious Award from the World Organization for Animal Health; and was inducted into the Academy of Arts and Sciences in recognition of the nine books and over 400 articles that she has written about animal husbandry. Encouraged by her science teacher and mentor as a young student, Grandin harnessed her own autism in the service of pursuing her interest in science and animal behavior. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Franklin Pierce College in 1970, a master's in animal science from Arizona State University in 1975, and her doctorate in animal science from the University of Illinois in 1989.
Now a consultant and designer of livestock handling facilities for Grandin Livestock Handling Systems, Inc. based in Fort Collins, Colorado, she is also a professor of animal science at Colorado State University. Today, half the cattle in North America are handled in facilities she designed. Her unique facilities, such as the curved cattle chute, help keep animals calm and prevent them from getting hurt. Other facilities she has designed are located in Europe, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.