Cats and Cows

Downer cow loophole is closed

2009-03-14T15:26:00.004-05:00

Good news to report from Wayne Pacelle's blog (HSUS President)

[T]oday, President Obama himself announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was officially putting a stop to non-ambulatory cattle being mishandled in order to get them into slaughter plants.

Pacelle is referring to the USDA's heartless economic policy that allowed sick cattle to be slaughtered and enter the food supply, if they were ambulatory on first inspection and then went down later. The USDA has promised no-downer policies in the past, but it was quietly weakened despite consumer outcry.

Thanks to last year's HSUS undercover video investigation at the Chino, CA slaughter plant, lots of Americans were exposed for the first time to the cruelest abuses taken against farm animals. Based on the President's address and the appointment of Tom Vilsack to head USDA and Peggy Hamburg to FDA, 2009 could mean good things for animals. According to HSLF, Vilsack has a "solid record on animal protection," standing up to animal fighting and puppy mills as former Iowa governor. And Hamburg is viewed by many as a consumer advocate. We will see how this plays out for animals.

It's encouraging to hear Obama acknowledging some major problems in our food safety system: grossly outdated food safety laws, poor coordination between government agencies that regulate food safety, and lack of FDA funding to conduct inspections. Watch his 5-minute weekly address:

Vegans should get behind the food safety push, not just as animal advocates but as consumers. Especially when we have national leaders who are making commitments early on to improve the situation. There's lots of common ground for us vegans to build upon when more people realize that the way we treat animals is harming society.

Be nutty, protect your heart

2009-01-27T14:25:00.007-06:00

Turns out, vegetable oils, nuts and seeds are good for your heart. According to a science advisory from the American Heart Association:

Omega-6 fatty acids – found in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds – are a beneficial part of a heart-healthy eating plan, according to a science advisory published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Omega-6 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats that can help reduce your risk of heart disease. According to a nutritionist who helped issue the report, people who ate the most Omega-6 fatty acids generally had a lower incidence of heart disease. And studies found that people with heart disease had lower amounts of Omega-6 in their blood than healthy people.

The AHA's statements lend further support for eating vegan for heart health reasons.

However, the AHA also recommends eating animals twice a week to be healthy, which is not a huge surprise considering the fact that they aren't a humane charity, and fund research that goes to cruel, irrelevant experiments conducted on dogs, cats, mice, primates, pigs, sheep, and other animals instead of spending them on promising human-based programs. If you're thinking of donating to a health charity, check to see if it has a humane seal of approval first. No need to kill a life in order to save mine.

Vote for Vegan School Lunch Options

2009-01-12T21:27:00.004-06:00

You can help make this kid's frown turn upside down. You have three days to vote for healthful school lunch options (currently in 18th place, under Agricultural Policy) as part of Change.org's Ideas for Change in America. Animal rights is competing if you will, with a spectrum of progressive issues submitted by Change.org users, to be among the top 10 ideas submitted to the Obama administration this Friday.

The proposal (submitted by Alex Hershaft): Require USDA to facilitate healthful plant-based (vegan) school lunch options to promote public health, freedom from hunger, environmental quality, nonviolence, and kindness to animals.

The Problem

Under the mandate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National School Lunch Program, school cafeterias routinely serve highly processed meals laden with saturated fat, cholesterol, hormones, and salt. Common entrees include chicken nuggets, pizza, cheeseburgers, and hot dogs. This diet flouts U.S. Dietary Guidelines and promotes obesity, diabetes, hypertension, other chronic conditions, and food poisoning.

Consider the following:

• Fewer than 2% of children eat in accordance with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines on a given day.
• School lunches contain 33% of calories from fat, including 12% from saturated fat, while U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend 30% and 10%, respectively.
• More than 30% of children are overweight or obese.
• 25% of children ages 5 to 10 suffer from high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, or other chronic conditions.

The Solution

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains is largely free of these problems and essential to good health. It supplies nearly all essential nutrients, contains little fat, fewer pesticides, and no cholesterol, hormones, antibiotics, or heavy metals. It also provides special nutrients that reduce the risk of cancer. It is conducive to more energy and improved academic performance.

A healthy diet for children is a critical indicator of future health, because children's bodies are still developing, because their dietary choices are still being formed, and because their poor eating habits become lifelong addictions.

In addition to its obvious health benefits, a plant-based diet offers the only long-term solution to the world hunger epidemic. It avoids the massive deforestation, water pollution, and global warming caused by the meat and dairy industries. Last, but not least, it spares billions of cows, pigs, and other innocent sentient animals from the atrocities of factory farms and slaughterhouses.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has the ability and the obligation to provide a wholesome food supply for our nation, starting with our children. It should use the school lunch and other national feeding programs to improve the nation's health, rather than to susidize the meat and dairy agribusiness.

Healthy school lunch options are a human right that coincides nicely with animal rights. Yet the word "vegan" in a proposal will be a tough sell in the world of politics and special interests. Even talking about obesity may be a tough sell.

But perhaps the essence of Hershaft's school lunch proposal could be included in the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill. When it comes down to real votes in Congress, tell your lawmakers that school nutrition shouldn't be lip service to parents. We need to change the food power structure so that corporate food isn't given an unfair, immoral, marketplace advantage. Here are some of my favorite suggestions to improve child nutrition, so that vegan school lunch options can have the groundwork it needs. Taken from La Vida Locavore:

* Increase funds for school lunch. The reimbursement rate is $2.55/kid/meal right now. Schools already spend $2.88 on average. Cheap food is junk food. For a budget breakdown of a school meal, read "Many Barriers Keep Fresh, Organic Food Out of School Lunches."

* Expand the Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program. This is a program that provides fresh fruits and veggies at a handful of select schools in each of the 50 states. Right now it's a pilot programs and the schools that are chosen are typically ones in which a high percent of kids qualify for free or subsidized school lunches.

* Reduce barriers or encourage schools to feed students locally produced foods. This is a no-brainer and the farm-to-school programs that exist currently seem to be very popular. However, a number of barriers keep many interested schools and districts from being able to bring fresh, local food into their schools (i.e. schools have no kitchens, the bidding process for vendors is complex, the lunch budget is so small they can't afford local food).

* Get competitive foods out of schools. A "competitive food" is any food outside the federally reimbursed school lunch. The USDA has nutrition standards for the school lunch but it is NOT ALLOWED to have nutrition standards on other foods, called competitive foods. Competitive foods are typically junk, like stuff in vending machines.

* Keep rBGH milk out of schools. This is a longshot since the FDA approved rBGH and thinks there's no difference between rBGH and rBGH-free milk BUT there are links to cancer in humans and the American public overwhelmingly DOES NOT want rBGH in their milk.

* Either ensure commodities provided to schools are healthy foods or give the schools more money for lunches in lieu of commodities. Schools are forced to take free government commodities that are often processed into unhealthy junk... the commodities provided flip the food pyramid on its head, giving schools a lot of the things you should eat sparingly (high fat meat and cheese) and little of stuff you should eat a lot of (fruits and veggies).

* Increase regulation of and inspection of slaughterhouses. Right now the fast food companies have the clout and buying power to insist on high standards for food safety and humane slaughter practices. The government does not have the political will to insist on these things and as a result a lot of the worst quality crap goes to the schools

Considering we eat animals as though they are meant to be eaten, we owe our children the right to a healthier diet that would inevitably address other social issues such as food safety, food sustainability, health, health care, and environmental policy. Change starts with our everyday lives, and what closer way to promote change than to start with our diets?

FDA will require carmine to be labeled

2009-01-10T21:21:00.004-06:00

The FDA will now require companies to label whether your food or cosmetics contain carmine and cochineal. While these ingredients sound relatively harmless and perhaps even exotic, in reality, they were obtained by crushing the bodies of female cochineal insects, producing a red dye (see photo above). Carmine and cochineal are found in cosmetics, shampoos, dozens of reddish colored foods and beverages, including fruit drinks, ice creams, yogurts and candies. Thanks to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), who first petitioned the FDA back in 1998, after receiving several dozen reports from people who had suffered adverse reactions from consuming carmine.

Although CSPI asked the FDA to label carmine as being of animal (insect) origin, the FDA has decided you don't need to know that detail. They assume the label is "adequate information" for vegetarians and people who want to avoid eating crushed bugs for religious or health reasons.

If the FDA expects you to know that carmine comes from an animal, you should probably take a look at this extended list of other animal ingredients (and their alternatives) as well. While we may not be able to avoid these ingredients every time we shop, there's no harm in knowing where they might be hiding.

Veggie dogs with attitude

2008-12-07T15:48:00.004-06:00

Meet HotRod Dog, veggie dog mascot for the Hotrod Honeys of the Texas Rollergirls. "I am a veggie dog. I am also Kosher. In fact, I received my Bar Mitzvah in a Jewish deli on the lower east side of Manhattan," explains HotRod Dog. Considering he's such a big fan of the roller derby, it's quite an honor for him to be surrounded by such high energy women with names such as Dagger Deb and Janie Gottagunn.

The Hotrod Honeys became 2008 season champions after sticking it to last year's season champs, the Hell Marys. Final score: 79-23. Congratulations Hotrods! They'll return to kick some ass in March 2009.

Be on the lookout for a giant veggie dog splattered with mustard. He's kind of hard to miss. Find out what makes HotRod Dog sweat--besides casting him onto the grill!

Spilling blood for all to see

2008-12-03T19:42:00.020-06:00

Rooster used for a cockfight in Bali, Indonesia.

"Spilling Blood," an episode on the National Geographic Channel's Taboo series, made me want to vomit. I will never forget those bloody scenes of animal sacrifice in Nepal, of flies swirling around lifeless chickens and families lined up to see a man carving a goat's head off as his crimson blood drains down the altar of Kali. This Hindu temple never closes. Animals are killed around the clock for all to see.

This segment of "Spilling Blood" was about the contrast between the east and the west. In Nepal, some Hindus slaughter animals and offer them to Kali, the goddess with a strong lust for blood. But in the west, farm animals are killed out of sight, and their deaths go unnoticed and without ceremony.

Said one temple slaughterman: "When I'm in the temple, I feel Kali beside me. I don't feel sad about the animal, I just start killing."

According to people who practice this 400-year-old tradition, once you sacrifice the animal, it won't be reborn as an animal; it will go to heaven. The family believes it will bring spiritual rewards. Similar acts of ritual animal sacrifice are practiced in many countries and religions around the world.

While the gruesomeness of animal sacrifice was partly offset by the innocent faces of Nepalese children waiting to worship by the altar, cockfighting in Indonesia looked fully heartless. (See the photo above of a rooster with a blade attached to kill its opponent.) The ring was filled by men eager to see a bloody show who claim they must appease evil Hindu spirits by the blood of fighting cocks. While cockfighting was banned in Indonesia in 1981 due to its close association with gambling, it is still allowed on certain dates on the Hindu calendar.

Cockfighting is banned in the U.S. and most of Europe because it is seen as cruel. But the National Geographic Channel notes that cockfighting is part of American history. Both Washington and Jefferson raised fighting cocks.

"Spilling Blood" featured another awful practice occurring in the Faroe Islands, where pilot whales are driven to shore and hacked for their flesh. Set up as a family ritual, Islander men wait by the shore with hooks and knives and stain the ocean with whale blood. Though it takes the whale as long as 30 seconds to die, they call it humane.

950 pilot whales are killed each year in the Faroe Islands. One local biologist said the killings make "local environmental sense" rather than importing food. But modern technology makes other foods available, and it should be of high concern to Islanders due to the increasing levels of mercury found in North Atlantic pilot whales.

From Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's Captain Paul Watson:

I hate to say I told you so, especially when it involves the health and lives of children, but the people of the Danish Protectorate of the Faeroe Islands are now reaping the foul seeds of poison that they have been ignorantly been sowing for decades.

Back in 1985, 1986 and again in 2000 I repeatedly warned the people in the Faeroes that if they continued to eat pilot whales they would suffer the effects of mercury poisoning.

Now finally after two decades of warnings from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, their own medical doctors are now admitting that we have been right.

Karma's a bitch. So much for tradition.

Ultrasounds may reveal that mercury causes cardiovascular problems. Even in low doses, mercury can affect the central nervous system and impair memory and language skills. Despite risks and outside pressure, many Islanders consider it their birthright.

My point is not to single out cultures or religions but to show that bloody, inhumane traditions can't be defended merely because they are tradition, especially when those traditions may be psychologically and physically harmful to children. These children have no real choice but to go ahead and participate in these traditions. In some cases, they may object, like the girl in Nepal who refused to watch her family goat being slaughtered. But they may also be subjected and harmed, like the children eating mercury contaminated whale meat.

And we can't really be critical of foreign traditions until we apply that same criticism to our own irreverence towards animals.

Thank you

2008-11-28T22:47:00.007-06:00

When I ran into Dennis Kucinich at a College Democrats conference in D.C. a few years ago, I thanked him for being vegan.

"It's great, isn't it?" he replied back with a friendly grin. As far as I know, Dennis is the only vegan in Congress.

I should probably say "thank you" more often. Thanks to VegCooking for the cashew nut roast recipe. It tasted fantastic.

Exhibit A: Nut roast

Exhibit B: Tofurky with dad's spiced vegetables

Fur crying out loud it's Fur Free Friday

2008-11-26T15:59:00.007-06:00

Most of us know this day as Black Friday, or the largest shopping day of the year, but it's also Fur Free Friday, a historic day in the animal rights movement. Since 1986, animal rights groups have organized grassroots events across the country encouraging people not to buy fur this holiday season. In an hour I'll be standing outside of the lame upscale Julian Gold with members of Action for Animals holding signs and passing out fliers that show what really goes on in the fur trade.

In past years, store managers called the cops on us when we weren't breaking any laws or harassing any customers. Middle-aged women denied our fliers while cars honked by in support.

I'd be mortified to walk into a store that sold fur. Not to mention, we're in TEXAS for crying out loud! You'd look like an idiot wearing real fur, like the women in this ABC slide show, a calendar called "Pretty in Mink: Conservative Leading Ladies."
Sponsored by the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, the slide show has gag-worthy tidbits such as Ann Coulter wearing a mink coat "from her personal wardrobe," Star Parker described as a "champion of personal responsibility," and Nonie Darwish, "an Egyptian-born former Muslim who renounced jihad for America."

It's actually pretty interesting to see these women link fur with conservatism. In their eyes, wealth and vanity are things every woman should strive for! It's also interesting to see how this calendar sought to be "diverse," by including Asian, African-American, young and older women. It's sickening actually. But I guess that's what they were going for. The post by Amanda Carpenter (who's featured in the calendar) has some pretty funny comments: "Way to tick off the PETA freaks!" "Conservative ladies are hot."

As Doris Lin writes in "Heartless in Mink," not all conservatives believe in fur, and even liberal movie stars have "accidentally" posed in fur.

It's true, fur has less to do with politics than it does with human compassion. Now if conservatives don't get the concepts of cruelty or compassion, that's worthy of another blog post.

Pardon me, but this is disgusting

2008-11-23T21:03:00.007-06:00

Sarah Palin makes headlines for all the wrong reasons, and here is yet another one. She visited an Alaska turkey farm to pardon a turkey for Thanksgiving, which makes this entire video horribly ironic. Unsurprisingly, she said this during the turkey slaughter:

"I was happy to get to be invited to participate in this. For one, you need a little bit of levity in this job...Certainly we'll probably invite criticism for even doing this, too, but at least this was fun."

Sarah Palin has an extreme record of thinking animal cruelty is fun:

A lifetime member of the NRA and close ally of Safari Club International that lobby to defend some of the cruelest forms of hunting: captive trophy hunts, bear baiting, and steel-jawed leghold traps

An anti-conservationist that supports aerial hunting, which allows hunters to chase wolves to exhaustion and shoot them from the air, which is illegal under federal law

Argued against listing the polar bear as an endangered species and then sued the federal government to reverse the decision

With such a horrible record on animal welfare, all of us should be thankful Sarah Palin will not be our Vice-President and I feel sorry for Alaskans.

More than 72 million of the nearly 270 million turkeys killed for food every year in the U.S. are slaughtered for holiday meals. Thankful for this?

Videos like this remind me why I couldn't eat turkey this holiday season, or any other one. Instead, I plan on gobbling up some of these blood-free foods.

Tips for Enjoying Holiday Meals with Omnivores

2008-11-20T20:00:00.006-06:00

If the thought of eating with your meat-eating friends and loved ones over the holidays makes you anxious, read on. I've compiled a list of best tips, starting with those from members of Action for Animals, to encourage you to be pro-active and positive about sharing holiday meals with omnivores. The key is to try and foster a sense of mutual respect so that you feel confident in your vegetarianism and enjoy your family gathering to the fullest. Have tips of your own? Please, please share them here!

1) Do not be self-righteous about being meat-free. This is a quick way to turn folks off. Besides, who wants to listen to a windbag?
2) Do not be defensive about your food choices. Accept that not everyone will not understand or accept why you are veggie.
3) If you are attacked for being veggie than quietly defer the subject till after everyone has eaten then discuss calmly with the offending party, if they still want to listen.
4) Remember: you don't want people to feel uncomfortable about the subject of vegetarianism/veganism. So be pleasant. People will equate your pleasantness with the subject of veganism/vegetarianism.
5) Do not give in "just this once" or because mom is upset. Believe it or not folks really will respect you if you confidently decline to eat meat no matter what the situation.
6) If someone asks why you are not eating meat then politely say that you are vegetarian. Leave it at that. If they ask questions then defer to after eating so you don't upset folks.
7) BRING YOUR OWN FOOD SO YOU DON'T FEEL LEFT OUT. Also, bring some extras for folks to sample. Quietly announce that you have brought "vegan" options and that anyone can help themselves. Do not be pushy about insisting that folks try your food. Put it out and let folks help themselves.
8) If you don't plan on cooking much, communicate about what you eat and don't to your host/hostess IN ADVANCE.
9) Replace or leave out animal-based ingredients in family holiday recipes. It can be as simple as leaving giblets out of stuffing or adding meat substitutes like seitan to your recipe. If they drink eggnog, bring soy nog. That way you show your family members that you can still appreciate tradition.
10) Is this your first vegetarian holiday meal? VegCooking has some basic cooking tips for first-timers.

From Treehugger:
11) Offer to bring a vegetarian main course so that you aren’t making extra work for your parents. Make something that is ready to serve and doesn’t require precious oven or stove space.
12) Don’t cover old ground. Families have a way of endlessly reprising touchy topics. Keep in mind a list of things to talk about that will help you avoid the mobius strip of argument.
13) Be open to friendly discussion about your food choices if this is your first Thanksgiving as a vegetarian. Being a vegetarian is a normal, everyday thing for you and if you are matter of fact about it your family will see that it needn’t be a big deal.
14) If you’ve already had the friendly discussion and you don’t want to keep having it, it’s time to set some limits. Politely point out that there may be other topics more interesting than what you eat.
15) Don’t apologize to your family for your food choices, but also recognize that they have the right to their own choices as well.

From Toronto Vegetarian Association:
16) If you don’t know your hosts all that well, try to make sure they know you are vegetarian or vegan. Their reaction should give you some clue as to how to proceed from there. They may cheerfully offer to provide a separate dish for you, or they may be at a total loss and would, therefore, welcome your contributing an entree to the meal.
17) If you are the host/hostess and inviting omnivores, prepare a substantial vegetarian meal – well cooked and attractively served. Don’t apologize for the lack of a turkey or other meat centre piece. There is no need to call attention to the idea that something is missing.

From Jolinda Hackett at About.com:
18) You might offer to prepare a few vegetarian side dishes that everyone can enjoy, for example, or provide your host with some simple vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes or easy substitution ideas.
19) If you’ll be traveling or unable to cook, bring some pre-prepared foods that can easily be reheated. Tofurky makes a vegetarian gravy, and many instant stuffing mixes are vegetarian or vegan. Whole Foods offers ready-made veggie Thanksgiving meals, and you can check with your local health food store or vegetarian restaurant to see if they have a similar service. [If you live in Austin, Wheatsville Co-op is making vegan pumpkin pie and vegan cream pie you can order in advance.]
20) If you want to do the cooking yourself, but need a little help, many Whole Foods stores offer vegetarian Thanksgiving cooking classes in the weeks before Thanksgiving. [Austin residents: Today I was notified of a vegan and macrobiotic cooking class this Saturday at Casa de Luz. Go to The Natural Epicurean for more details.
21) Remember, the holidays are about coming together with friends and family. If you are having some difficulty with your menu plans, try thinking of a compromise, and don’t be afraid to get creative! For example, several years ago as a new vegan, I made a deal with my family: I offered to plan, shop, prepare the entire meal (and clean up afterward!) as long as nobody minded a vegetarian Thanksgiving meal.

From Gaiam Life:
22) Be aware of hidden ingredients that might render a dish inedible by your vegetarian guests. For instance, marshmallows (or anything else containing gelatin) are not vegetarian. So leave them off the sweet potatoes. And, it goes without saying, don't use fatback or pork to flavor baked beans or soup. And be careful not to contaminate other dishes with the juices of the turkey.
23) If you are going to make a meatless entrée, keep the flavors and ingredients somewhat simple, so that they don't compete with the sides.

Also, these ten thanksgiving tips from the Cool Foods Campaign are worth looking at if you are trying to prepare something local and organic. Consult the Eat Well Guide to search for organic and local food sources near your zip code. If you do make something local, be sure to share your recipe with Consumers Union.

For excellent recipes, I recommend this Vegan Bits post, The Daily Green (with pics!), Compassion Over Killing and of course, The Post Punk Kitchen.

And now for some pre-holiday fun!

Samantha Ronson rants on PETA

2008-11-16T12:03:00.005-06:00

When I logged into MySpace this morning, instead of the usual fast food ads, I was glad to see animal rights made the homepage but worried when I saw PETA's name attached. Apparently actress Lindsay Lohan was "floured" by a French activist as she was entering a Paris nightclub recently, which ticked off her girlfriend, DJ Samantha Ronson. She blogged:

It seems lately I am learning that there are too many people who put another species before their fellow man and that's sad. I don't wear fur, but I don't think I have the right to ATTACK those who do. No one has that right.

PETA should focus their efforts on educating people on what they believe are injustices instead of seeking press via harassing those in the limelight...p.s.s. i think there are plenty of families that could have used that flour for a meal. nice job, lady.

PETA UK's Director said, "There is nothing remotely 'fashionable' about the torture and death of animals killed for fur. Lindsay Lohan might be able to ignore images of bloody animals skinned alive for their pelts, but we hope a dash of flour will help her rise to the occasion and forsake fur once and for all."

Amused by the several thousand comments Ronson's blog received, (I guess I need to be a celebrity!) I decided to leave one of my own:

It's kinda interesting to see 2395+ comments on this blog post when we don't really know the facts.

We don't know for a FACT that this person who threw flour at Lindsay represented PETA. Many times animal activists get labeled as PETA activists when they, in fact, are not representing a PETA action. If this was an official PETA protest, then we have to ask ourselves why PETA felt the need to throw flour on someone.

Does all the torture involved with caging an animal for the purpose of electrocuting them dead just for their fur to go to wealthy people seem justifiable? With all that money Lindsay has, she could have at least bought a faux fur coat. many celebrities object to wearing fur, not to mention all the animals who have to die needlessly just to stroke some rich person's ego.

It's kind of funny to see all these people that claim to "loooooove animals" defend Lindsay Lohan instead of defending the animals who had to suffer for Lindsay's five-minute fashion.

Samantha, why not encourage Lindsay to wear something sexier than dead animal?

Yes, Samantha, the flour could have been used for feeding people. When Lindsay stops wearing fur, why not encourage her to donate it to a needy person who is truly freezing?

I've been on PETA's email list for years and have never received any instruction to go out and "assault" people. Like Ronson, I don't think throwing flour is productive either, but wearing fur is inexcusable in this day in age.

I guess it's a lot easier for most people to comment about something petty like flour throwing, instead of the carnage of fur production.

Presidential Pooch may be adopted

2008-11-13T20:45:00.006-06:00

Aside from fixing our economy, our health care system, and everything that happened over the past eight years, President-Elect Barack Obama's faces another "major issue": what kind of dog will join his family as they move to the White House. In his victory speech in Chicago, Obama promised his two daughters, Malia and Sasha, a puppy, and now the question is whether Obama will adopt from a shelter or some other source that wouldn't be as helpful to homeless animals, such as a private breeder, or worse, a puppy store that sells puppies bred in cruel puppy mills. In a press conference last Friday, Obama said,"We have two criteria that have to be reconciled. One is that Malia is allergic, so it has to be hypoallergenic. There are a number of breeds that are hypoallergenic. On the other hand, our preference would be to get a shelter dog, but, obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me. So...whether we're going to be able to balance those two things I think is a pressing issue on the Obama household."

We're still waiting on Obama's final decision, but we have plenty reason to believe that the Obamas will adopt their presidential pooch. Last month, Michelle Obama told Entertainment Tonight that the family would adopt a rescue dog. In 2005, Obama promised Jana Kohl, author of A Rare Breed of Love
that he would indeed adopt if he was going to get a dog for his children, reports The Wall Street Journal. That's Obama with Baby in the picture above; Baby, the three-legged dog, was rescued from a puppy-mill after nine years of confinement in a cage, and cannot bark because her vocal chords were cut. Due to maltreatment, she lost one of her legs.

Considering Obama's solid record on animal protection at both the state and federal levels, including bills to combat animal fighting and puppy mills, I think we can feel pretty confident that Obama gets the animal cruelty issue and will make an informed and compassionate decision.

Animal protection groups like The Best Friends Network have tried to sway Obama's decision, and successfully collected over 50,000 signatures in two weeks encouraging Obama to adopt from a shelter. From Best Friends:

As you know, adoption is an amazing gift of life to a homeless animal... and it is something that all of us, no matter our political leaning, can enthusiastically support. The Obama family's decision to adopt will be a great example, and will result in many dogs and cats being saved from euthanasia across the country.

Go ahead and vote yourself. The Presidential Pooch Parden has been signed by over 9,000 people so far. Obama said that their pet decision has gained as much attention as any other issue on his website, and I'm not even sure he was joking.

Participatory politics in action has characterized Obama's presidential campaign from the very start. Let's ensure that Obama will continue to listen to the vision of animal advocates well into his administration. We now have a president that will allow you to share your vision on his website, Change.gov. Animal protection starts right now, with us.

YES, WE CAN help farm animals

2008-11-05T22:04:00.007-06:00

Last night's passage of Prop 2 in California sent a powerful message to the public, lawmakers, and the agribusiness industry that compassion rules over cruelty. Thanks to the tireless work of groups like the Humane Society of the United States, key endorsements from the California Democratic Party and the California Veterinary Medical Association, along with excellent media coverage on Ellen and Oprah, more people are aware of the disturbing situation for chickens, pigs and veal calves that were otherwise clueless about why they should help animals. When the opposition spent $9 million to spread empty claims about Prop 2, California voters said "yes, we can" eliminate the worst abuses for farm animals.

Prop 2 simply prohibits the cramming of farm animals into cages so small they can't move their bodies or stretch their limbs. It will directly affect roughly 20 million egg-producing hens in California by allowing them enough room to spread their wings. By 2015, there should be no battery cage, veal or gestation crate in sight.

That doesn't mean this fight is over. It really marks the beginning of an ongoing discussion about what is humane treatment for farm animals. As Stephanie Ernst points out on Animal Rights, there is a danger in thinking Prop 2 is all it takes for cruelty to end.

Prop 2 is a crucial incremental step to raising public consciousness about the rights of animals (even if those rights are very basic) and it will get more people questioning whether they really need to eat animals at all. When my omnivorous friends caught Oprah and could tell me all about Prop 2, you know we achieved something special.

Highway Activism

2008-10-28T21:26:00.007-05:00

Just as the anti-war movement has performed banner drops over time to protest injustice, Action for Animals dropped a banner over Interstate 35 urging people to discover for themselves what exactly goes into the making of their food. October is considered Vegetarian Awareness Month and is an opportunity for vegetarians to show their pride and tell others about why they choose a vegetarian diet - for animals, for humanity, for the planet. Although we are positive about our diet, we protest our dependence on factory farm agriculture which makes a mockery of nature and human sanity. Google factory farm and see what you come up with. We may not be as direct as CODEPINK, but our message could lead to drastic consequences as well.

CA's Prop 2: Vote YES for human decency

2008-10-20T22:25:00.006-05:00

All California voters should vote yes on Prop 2 for human decency. Prop 2 would phase out the cruel confinement of millions of California farm animals, including calves, pigs, and egg-laying hens that currently do not have the freedom to move around, stretch their limbs or lie down. Prop 2 would change the atrocious conditions for California's 19 million egg-laying hens that spend up to a year restricted to less than the surface area of a sheet of notebook paper. If you don't like the idea of seeing or smelling how your eggs were produced, then you should vote for Prop 2.

Lots of people are speaking out in support of Prop 2. Stars threw a gala and raised over $1 million. As expected, special interests are spending big bucks to continue their dirty practices:

Fearing a national trend, dozens of egg producers across the country are writing checks to help finance the opposition in California. Rose Acre Farms in Indiana contributed $517,000; Midwest Poultry Services, also based in Indiana, sent $250,000; and Herbruck's Poultry Ranch in Michigan delivered $117,000. Moark, a western Riverside County egg operation in Norco, was one of the big California donors, contributing $215,000.

As you can see, if Prop 2 passes, it could have a huge effect not just on California factories, but in factories across the U.S. that don't want people to know what goes on behind closed doors.

Even if it's true that Prop 2 will increase the costs of eggs by a penny per egg, it's a minuscule amount that will have the unquantifiable effect of allowing chickens a basic animal right. Said the NY TImes October 8 editorial:

Americans are becoming increasingly aware of how and where food is raised. With that should come real concern. The mantra of industrial farming has always been efficiency, but efficiency has come to mean a pregnant sow — millions of them — confined in a gestation crate barely 2 feet wide and only as long as she is. It means veal-calves rendered virtually immobile in crates barely large enough to contain their bodies. It means endless rows of laying hens kept in battery cages so small that the birds cannot even stretch their wings.

No philosophy can justify this kind of cruelty, not even the philosophy of cheapness.

Peter Young recalls "haunting" images of cruelty

2008-10-18T16:41:00.014-05:00

Now you can put a face to the shallow cry of "eco-terrorism." Peter Young can be cynical about the term; he spent two years in federal prison for committing "animal enterprise terrorism" (AET) in 1997, when he freed between 8,000-12,000 mink from fur farms across the Midwest, two of which closed down. Young spoke to a full auditorium at the University of Texas on Wednesday night, sponsored by Students Against Cruelty to Animals and United Student Activists. Young was arrested in 2005 after being wanted by the FBI for seven years. "I spent 10 hours in jail for every animal saved," he said. "I was honored to do so little to grant so much."

The word "terrorism" has become common lingo in today's news climate. In 2006, The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (S.3880) passed the Senate and Bush signed into law. It gives the Department of Justice the "necessary authority to apprehend, prosecute, and convict individuals committing animal enterprise terror." Under this law, if your action causes a fur farmer "illness" you can be thrown in prison for up to 20 years. If you're a fur farmer, you mutilate animals and you are protected by our government.

As a college student at the University of Washington, Young planned a trip across state lines to liberate mink. In two weeks, he successfully broke into and freed thousands of mink who would be skinned and tortured for their fur. Each year over 50 million animals, including millions of dogs, cats, raccoon, rabbits, foxes, mink and chinchillas are killed for their fur worldwide. If you want to know if there are any fur farms in your state, check here.

Thanks to fur footage available on the internet, you wonder why our government allows sick fur operations, along with other animal facilities, to exist on our soil unchecked. "Images of animal testing...this is terrorism," said Young.

Young was driven to direct action by the haunting images he saw in the numerous facilities he visited. It started in his early days monitoring a Seattle chicken farm within a mile of his house. "I saw hundreds of chickens hung upside down, slit throats," he said. "I would go in and spend time with them in the early morning. [Hours later] I stood in the alley and saw them die right in front of me. I would try to go home and forget what I saw. Then I got to a point where I couldn't do it anymore." He described this as his "point of no return," when animal slaughter was no longer an abstraction, it became reality.

Together with his friend, they visited as many slaughterhouses, fur farms and research labs as possible, even digging through trash for facility documents. "We felt we had a right to know," said Young. "We would take by day what the night never gave for these animals."

Peter's direct actions earned him two years in prison where he shared a jail cell with murderers and rapists. Reminiscent of the red scare and now the green scare, the FBI was also interested in Young's associations. "The FBI became absolutely obsessed with figuring out who my friends were. They were going after the entire movement. Raided two or three houses. You were guilty by association. They didn't want to implicate for crimes. They wanted to implore a broader conspiracy within a movement." Even if you aren't a direct action activist, all animal rights supporters, actually, all Americans ought to be concerned about the exercise of domestic surveillance. I reported on this phenomenon in August, when I talked about animal rights activists being unduly targeted by our government.

As he delivers talks across the country, Young challenges the tactics of the contemporary animal rights movement. "As an activist, you need to ask yourself 'Am I fighting harder or smarter?' We need to fight smarter, not harder." With 10 billion animals killed annually for food, "Patience is not a virtue, it's criminal," said Young. "Lots more battles were won with claws and fangs."

We Haven't Teeth like Tiger

2008-10-09T22:08:00.003-05:00

Mate take nejaka vegetarianska jidla? Learn how to say that and you may get some vegetarian food in the Czech Republic. From Kelly Sloan, vegan film student in Austin, TX who filmed this while studying in Prague this summer:

We Haven't Teeth Like Tiger from Kelly Sloan on Vimeo.

According to Vegetarian Guides, the Czech food groups are sausage, cheese, icecream and beer. Luckily, all these can be veganized and it's nice to know there's around 30 vegan-friendly restaurants and health stores right in Prague, as well as some like-minded kin. Mmmm

My favorite line from the video: "All meat have life."

VegAustin.com!

2008-10-05T21:37:00.002-05:00

If you're looking for animal-friendly grub in the Austin area, check out VegAustin.com for a city-wide guide to vegetarian/vegan-friendly restaurants, groceries, and baked goods. I reviewed Jade Leaves Teahouse, which made October's feature of the month! Thanks to Compassion Over Killing, people living in D.C., Baltimore and Portland can enjoy similar food guides.

Austin is the 8th best vegetarian-friendly city in America. Did your city make the list?

For other cities, just Google the vegetarian restaurant scene and you'll likely find something. Of course, word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to find a good place, such as when I discovered Mercury Cafe in Denver and Galactic Pizza in Minneapolis. Even if I'm dining somewhere unexpectedly that doesn't look vegetarian-friendly, I always find something to eat. I can "veganize" anything. As most vegans will tell you, being vegan is all about getting creative!

Pew Commission report slaps factory farms..what's next?

2008-09-29T21:18:00.015-05:00

In April 2008, the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production issued a report that found current industrial farming methods pose threats to public health, the environment, and animal welfare.

This conclusion is pretty obvious if you've Googled "factory farms" and read through the results, but coming from a diverse advisory panel (including a third with "direct experience in the agriculture industry") it's likely this Pew study will draw steady national attention.

Among its key recommendations:

1. Ban the non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in food animal production to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance to medically important antibiotics and other microbials.
2. Implement a disease monitoring program for food animals to allow 48-hour trace-back of those animals through aspects of their production, in a fully integrated and robust national database.
3. Treat industrial farm animal production (IFAP) as an industrial operation and implement a new system to deal with farm waste to replace the inflexible and broken system that exists today, to protect Americans from the adverse environmental and human health hazards of improperly handled IFAP waste.
4. Phase out the most intensive and inhumane production practices within a decade to reduce the risk of IFAP to public health and improve animal wellbeing (i.e., gestation crates and battery cages).
5. Federal and state laws need to be amended and enforced to provide a level playing field for producers when entering contracts with integrators.
6. Increase funding for, expand and reform, animal agriculture research.

The report has already received statements from several lawmakers and animal protection organizations like the Humane Society of the United States and Farm Sanctuary. "The release of the Pew Commission report is a landmark event," said Julie Janovsky, director of campaigns for Farm Sanctuary. "At long last there was a great degree of deliberation and independent examination of the systematic confinement, mutilation and force-feeding of farm animals, and recognition that policy must be shaped not simply by the production value of the animal, but rather the ethics of how we treat these animals" (Sanctuary, Summer 2008).

Just as the U.N.'s 2006 report, Livestock's Long Shadow, called for urgent action to address the environmental threat of the livestock sector, this Pew report will also be a useful document for many who are catching on to the worst way of farming.

A Call for Compassion

2008-09-23T01:32:00.010-05:00

As a young kid doing commercials for McDonald's, KFC, and other fast food establishments, Gene Baur probably didn't foresee himself taking on the industrial farm industry later in life. But tonight at BookPeople, Baur recalled the violence he witnessed first hand while he rescued sick and neglected animals that had literally been dumped into the trash. Baur, President and Co-Founder of Farm Sanctuary would make any reasonable person question why this agricultural madness is accepted as "common industry practice."

Since Farm Sanctuary started in 1985, Baur has been on the front lines of the animal protection movement, conducting hundreds of visits to farms, stockyards, and slaughterhouses to document and expose factory farming conditions for the public good. I'd probably experience something like post-traumatic stress after leaving a slaughterhouse, but Baur remains friendly and eloquent. Reading from his new book Farm Sanctuary:

Industrial farming is now the dominant model of raising animals for food in the United States, Europe, and other developed countries--and, increasingly, in poorer regions as well. How did the United States--whose agrarian identity Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers championed and whose "embattled farmers," as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in "Concord Hymn," "stood / And fired the shot heard round the world"--become the hegemonic agribusiness juggernaut it is today? (pp.8)

Baur left no entity out. Industry, government, and individuals all play a tragic role in the legalization and normalization of cruelty to farm animals and farm workers. Federal laws are weak in terms of food safety and animal welfare, where we see the adverse effects of the USDA's "Don't look, don't find approach" (Baur).

In 2004, the USDA agreed to ban meat from all downed animals, but special interests lobbied for exceptions to the rule. It wasn't until earlier this summer, following the largest ever beef recall (a PR nightmare for the industry and USDA) that the Secretary of Agriculture said the agency would close the loopholes. State ballot initiatives have aimed to curb federal oversight failures, including the 2006 Arizona initiative to ban gestation and veal crates, and the current effort to pass Proposition 2 on the California November ballot, banning veal and gestation crates, and hen battery cages. Whereas humane legislative efforts are "long and tedious battles," often against millions of dollars worth of special interests, the personal choice to reduce our animal consumption is the quickest way out.

Former Animal Tester Speaks Out

2008-09-21T12:17:00.006-05:00

I interviewed Amanda, a recent Animal Behavior and Environmental Studies graduate, about her experience working in an animal testing lab studying the sexual behavior of female rats with the use of a drug currently on the market. She discusses her motivations, "animal sacrifice," the ethics of animal research, and challenges for the future. This is Amanda's story:

Can you describe the goals of your research?
To understand female sexual behavior as a whole. Looking at the brain pathway through medial preoptic area and control over nitrous oxide levels in the blood.

Can you tell me about the drugs you were using to test?
A drug that is currently being used on the market..that functions same as Viagra, a pDH5 inhibitor that takes nitrous oxide out of your bloodstream and causes vasodilation.

How did you feel about performing the research?
It was a big passion of mine. I've loved science, been in science academies throughout my education. I was really gung-ho about being offered the research position in the lab because they only take one senior in the school. It was a big honor, and I was super excited. I was about to learn something new about the human brain.

Did you have any concerns (personal, academic, other)?
I grew up with animals, pets, and loving animals my whole life. Being in a lab doing invasive research was a concern. I had pet rats at the time. The main reason was so I wouldn't get attached to the animals [in the lab].

Were you made fully aware by your instructor about the kind of physical research you'd be conducting on animals?
110%. We had a sort of emotional background check before we were allowed to work on the serious research projects. No official business, just me and my professor talking. I had seen the lab. She wanted to make sure I was okay doing the surgeries and doing the injections. We talked about the different drugs we'd be using. It prepared me for everything going into the research. The only thing I wasn't prepared for was the sacrifice of the animals.

Can you describe a typical day in your research lab?
No sure thing as a typical day in a lab. Spent lots of hours in there. I could be there anywhere from 2 to 12 hours a day. When we were conducting the test, I had to be in there for 14 hours in a 24-hour period for two days.

Did you enjoy the lab? What did you enjoy about it?
I particularly enjoyed the surgeries. They were 100% sterile. You remove the ovaries but leave the uterus and sex organs in tact. When we did the lesions and fake lesions, that was pretty cool.

When you create a lesion, you're doing through chemical lesions. Put a neurotoxin directly in the brain. Needle that went down and released a small amount of toxin. Unlesioned, still have to administer the needle. Injected a saline solution. Also times when you had to inject rats with hormones, like giving them birth control. Rats had a side of the chamber where they could be with different stimuli. [It was] first-hand leaning. Seeing the anatomy up close, feeling more powerful since you're actually performing the procedures and seeing that the rats managed to live through what you did. 90% was analyzing data. Not fun.

How many rats were in the lab and where did they come from?
Between 100 and 150 rats at any given time in the lab. About 40 experimental rats. The majority lived. Probably only lost 3 out of 80.

Rats had a scientific life, a scientific purpose. The rats were bred in a facility that sold rats to labs. They lived until they were old enough to be in experiments. If they could be reused for experiments, we would.

What ultimately happened to the rats?
The [stimulus] rats that didn't receive any manipulation were given to raptors at a bird rehab center. The rest had to be sacrificed. The ones that had to be sacrificed, have to preserve the brain before blood comes in and swells.

What are "sacrifices"?
Sacrifices included a live dissection. Pump formaldehyde in their hearts to pickle them. Extract brains and cut them into tiny slices and look through a microscope to see if lesions were in the right place.

Animal sacrifice would be, in scientific terms, take from a living state to a non-living state. From a moral standpoint, the idea that if you used a product, surgery, or connection with the medical industry, those animals have to make the sacrifice so that humans have a better way of living. About 75% of the experimental rats were sacrificed.

How did you document your animal research and the animals' reactions?
Had to document everything. Research itself has a really complicated way of documentation. Wrote papers. The analytical side of research to make sure research meant something so people could understand it. Had to document the amount of drugs given to each animal. [Rats were] weighed and checked out everyday.

Rats were comfortable, especially after being there for six months. Some of the male rats get violent when they're kept in colony conditions. Had to let a few of them go. A vet humanely euthanized them. Rats were checked by vets on a monthly basis.

While you were taking the course, how did you feel about the research you were conducting?
Really gung-ho about it. Was there in every process step. I enjoyed my time in the lab even though I was there in a dark cramped room where the sun was hidden.

Can you describe the rats you bought as pets?
Lena and Harley were hooded rats, the same as the lab rats we used. I did enjoy spending time with them. They were still living and breathing and had personalities. I pretty much understood the research I was getting into. That's why I had the distinction between the animals in research and the ones that were my pets.

Did your class provide you with alternatives to animal research?
Yes and no. Since it's a behavioral major, we had to, but some students did completely behavioral. And some choose to administer drugs.

Was there pressure on students to conduct animal research?
Yes, there was pressure, but the manner of that research was completely open. The pressure is in the sense that without doing at least one lab experiment, we wouldn't be able to graduate. Other students [studying behavior, non-invasive research] may have manipulated the amount of food you get, or stimulus objects in the cage.

In terms of revealing knowledge, [both types of research] are exactly the same. In terms of getting the research published, probably not as likely. In terms of the science machine as a whole, you have a lab, it takes a lot of money to have that lab, and the way you fund the lab work is to publish. You have mechanisms to get money..government/private grants, educational grants. The only way you'll get them is if you have the idea, ask for funding, and publish the research. You have to cater your experiment based on the people who give you money. Old guys want to hear about sex research because it's sexy, and our research was in that way fundable.

How much was your research worth?
At least over $5,000 for the two experiments we did.

What did you learn about animals throughout the course of your research?
From start to finish, had to take a lot of intro classes before the research classes. Then we got to learn about them on a personal level..[with] lab observation studies where we'd watch the animals in a box without stimulus. We'd go outdoors and watch squirrels or rabbits. Then the biological side where we studied the organs, physiology, cells, evolution.

Did you feel connected with these animals?
I did connect with the animals a lot more during the research. And after my three years of being in the lab and doing my own experiments, definitely not viewing them as the same sort of creatures as I did when I first started.

What did you learn about humanity and/or science in your research?
I learned that the system was flawed, a lot more than I previously thought [in terms of] getting funded..the main goal being publication rather than actually learning something about what you were doing. In terms of humanity, it takes a very strong person to go in there and do the experiments. Someone who loves animals. Everything that worked there loved animals. On the day that we did the sacrificing, I remember my coworker and I were looking at each other and not talking in the back room. You see humanity there knowing that you shared that experience with someone who feels the same way.

[The ethical conflicts] came about afterwords, when I was considering the value of the rats' lives who I worked with. Not research and animal testing as a whole, but more deciding the amount of animal use versus the amount of output.

Would you do it again?
I might do a completely behavioral study, but I wouldn't do a manipulation again. But if I could go back in time, I wouldn't change anything.

For my cause, enough animals were sacrificed and the experiment is over. I don't think I could personally do the projects again, on a personal level..just because I was more connected with the research subjects than I should have been. It was hard to get the images out of my head. I could see my mom, friend, cat, pet rats.

What kind of outcomes result from conducting animal tests?
The obvious outcome: furthering knowledge. Benefiting humanity as a whole with the production of drugs and products, and the medical uses of that knowledge. And the system itself..a multi-billion dollar industry. Science is that.

There is a backlash of people who vehemently oppose it, all different sides. One end where it's completely irrational and one end where they are bringing ethics into the equation. Science will allow those questions to be brought up, the good labs. The lab i worked in was different because..professors are there to teach, not spit out experiment after experiment. Teaches you about science, ethics, anatomy, behavior. We have a project approved by an ethics board before we conduct experiments. Most [universities] have it but the extent to which it's used varies.

Is the ethics board balanced?
I'd say it's balanced, especially for the beginning students. Want to make sure they are using the recycled animals and making sacrifices as minimal as possible and making subject base small whereas for the experiments we're trying to get published, we'll use 40 animals.

The FDA says: "In animal testing, drug companies make every effort to use as few animals as possible and to ensure their humane and proper care." How would you comment on this statement?
I'm pretty sure the FDA doesn't consider mice and rats to be animals. If you test on dogs, there are rules you have to accompany and they can come in and shut down your lab. No rules for rats and mice. Not considered to be mammals.

I think this is horrible. [Our lab was] the cream of the crop in terms of animals being well taken care of, advocates for them there in terms of researchers and committee who decides where we do experiments. In labs of Pharma companies, I'm sure you'd see a very different environment where rats are not kept in the same conditions. A lot more money involved. When not studying the behavior, there's less of an incentive to take care of them. When you're studying behavior, we spend a lot of effort making sure they are happy and healthy, not fighting.

Were the rats you studied happy?
They behaved very similarly to my pets, even the ones that had surgery.

How would you comment on efforts to reduce the amount of animals used in research and the investment in non-animal methods?
I agree, if you can conduct an experiment on an animal that is not really an animal, with a robot that doesn't have emotions or neurosensory systems in which that can't experience pain, that would be preferred. In terms of applying that to my research, a lot harder. When you study behaviors, you can't have robots that express same behaviors that rats do. In terms of drug and toxicity testing, if they can do it by minimizing the sacrifice of the animals, they should.

In your view, what are the barriers to ending animal research?
The mechanism as a whole, the scientific machine and industry, you're going to have problems there. People who strongly believe that animal research is worthy because of scientific outcome. Animals are so complex..in terms of the other side of science--ethology--really nothing that you can replace for what you're trying to study out there. The biggest barrier is finding where to redraw that line. A common goal would be to move the gray area where we have now to a more humane side from a less humane side. It's never going to be a black and white issue.

Is there anything you'd like to share with scientific authorities?
I would like for all the research labs to function a lot like mine did, where animals were used several times, weeding out which studies need to happen and which of them don't. And changing the publication system so that people can get funded to do whatever they want to do rather than what people want.

Is there anything you would like to share with animal activists?

Without two sides of every moral issue, it wouldn't really be a question of ethics. If there weren't people who didn't believe in the things animal activists are first against, and no animal activists, it won't be real communication. Without it, you won't achieve any better being. Things we do to animals are wrong..immoral..and it makes you cry. It's great there are people fighting for what they believe in. The science industry would be a lot worse if there weren't people against them.

Ellen's Vegan Wedding

2008-09-04T12:38:00.003-05:00

I don't watch much TV, but Ellen is someone I always chuckle at with admiration. She married her femme beauty Portia de Rossi last month after the California Supreme Court struck down a ban on gay marriage stating that same-sex couples have a fundamental "right to marry." Ecorazzi reports that Ellen and Portia had a vegan wedding ceremony. Ellen herself is not yet vegetarian, but she has "come out" as an animal lover on her show. Can't forget her emotional release about the dog she trained.

It's a big deal when popular celebrities endorse meat-free diets, even if it's temporary. Oprah made animal rights headlines after her 21-day vegan cleanse. It's always interesting to hear non-vegetarians talk about your diet. Whether it's trying to be PC or just general unfamiliarity with the delicious food options a vegan diet entails, omnivores sometimes think our diet limits options. It's true: vegans on average read nutritional content labels; we plan our meals ahead; account for potential limitations in the options provided. But ultimately, veganism is about liberating ourselves from the meat-eating complex that is spread throughout our food establishments. Vegans are not about limiting ourselves; we're about freeing ourselves from what we don't even consider food.

By week three of her vegan cleanse, Oprah said on her blog,

Eating more consciously now feels like a way of being. I actually think about how my food got to my plate. That was the whole point, right?

Doesn't mean I'm committed to veganism…but I am thinking about what I eat and why. And from that I can never turn back.

By week four:"I used to say thanks before a meal out of perfunctory habit. Now I consider it true grace to be able to eat anything in a world of increasing food shortages and starving people...This has been exactly what we intended: enlightening. I will forever be a more cautious and conscious eater. That's my commitment for now. To stay awakened."

Whether vegans and vegetarians can convince the world that veganism is a healthy, life-saving diet, dietary awareness might be one of the most fruitful outcomes we can expect, and appreciate.

'Taxing Meat' is sensible

2008-08-31T21:45:00.009-05:00

Last week Denver was full of delegates, politicians and pigs at the Democratic National Convention. PETA pigs, holding signs that read "Stop Global Warming: Tax Meat," are calling for a 10-cent federal excise tax on every pound of chicken, turkey, pig, fish, and cow flesh sold in grocery stores and restaurants. That's me standing between them!

Said PETA's Senior VP Dan Mathews: "The impact of the meat trade is as devastating to our health as the tobacco and alcohol industries put together--and every more so to the environment. Slapping a tax on meat would save countless lives--and not just those of animals."

One vegetarian said this proposal would punish the poor even more. She has a point. According to the USDA, food prices have increased as high as 16 percent since last year, as retailers pass on the burden of higher commodity and energy costs to consumers. Whether you eat at home or dine out, whether you're vegetarian or omnivorous, you're paying more for food than you were a year ago, and costs keep climbing. So why would American taxpayers want to pay even more for their food?

They wouldn't, just as we groan at higher gas prices. But higher meat costs could lead to better health and a cleaner environment, provided that meat is a substitute good. 7 out of 10 Americans die every year from chronic disease which could be prevented by a vegetarian diet. According to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarian meals tend to result in lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer. Treating chronic disease accounts for three-fourths of the nation's $2 trillion health care costs each year.

Raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than driving a car, and is a major source of land and water degradation, according to the UN.

The justification for 'taxing meat' is more urgent and pressing than our political process could allow for such a measure. And it raises the question of how rising costs of commodities will manifest change in the American lifestyle and diet. For example, the higher cost of gas has led to a plummet in SUV sales. Rural Americans were giving up meat so they could buy expensive fuel. Not that this proposal could actually pass, but it raises the point that living and eating sustainably makes taxpayer sense.

The PETA pigs will be traveling to the RNC to make the same statement. Bon voyage!

AR National Conference: Day 4

2008-08-19T22:48:00.007-05:00

This concludes my series on the Animal Rights 2008 National Conference. Ideas are still brewing but I'm planning my next actions to ensure that we can work for a better world for all living beings. I hope to see you at next year's conference in Los Angeles!

Plenary
Anthony Marr of HOPE-CARE Foundation and Richard Schwartz of Jewish Veg spoke about acting globally for animal rights and our planet.

In Marr's view, homo sapiens can save the earth from mass extinction due to global warming. At least that's the title of his new book. Sneak preview here.

To get an idea of Schwartz, check out his essay "Judaism, Animals, and Vegetarianism". Drawing from biblical text and modern day facts, Schwartz argues:

The Jewish concept of tsa'ar ba'alei chaim, the obligation not to cause pain to animals, is one of the most beautiful elements of Jewish thought. Jewish tradition is filled with compassion for animals, and strongly opposes the infliction of suffering on another living creature..Let us not forget the suffering we have experienced as a people when it comes our turn to choose whether others will be brutalized at our hands, every time we sit down to dinner.

He is also promoting the Jewish Vegetarians of North America documentary "A Sacred Duty."

Next, presentations by human rights, environmental, civil liberties, and women's movement leaders.

The speaker from Amnesty International said, "People working for a more humane earth and humane society are frequently the ones targeted by our government." She specifically referred to the Austrian animal rights activists who were imprisoned in May 2008 by the Austrian police. According to Dr. Martin Balluch (Association Against Animal Factories) who wrote from a prison hospital in Vienna, police broke into 21 private homes, 6 NGO offices, and one of their storage facilities with no criminal evidence against them. The Amnesty International speaker calls this "punishment without crime," including surveillance over legal activities. To this day, 10 animal rights activists remain imprisoned because of suspected ties to criminal activity, which Balluch calls slander.

Debra Erenberg from Rainforest Action Network (RAN) spoke about opportunities and barriers to animal rights--environmental movement collaboration. Read notes from her speech on RAN's blog. She surveyed her environmental work colleagues from different organizations to find their thoughts on the animal rights movement. Some key findings:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements often used by activists in the animal rights movement?

Animal Agriculture is a leading cause of climate change

Strongly agree: 15.4%; Agree 61.5%; Neutral 0; Disagree 23.1%; Strongly Disagree: 0

You can’t be an environmentalist and eat meat.

Strongly agree: 0%; Agree 7.7%; Neutral 30.8; Disagree 38.5%; Strongly Disagree: 23.1%

Environmental groups are afraid to promote vegetarianism because they don’t want to offend mainstream members.

Strongly agree: 0%; Agree 41.7%; Neutral 8.3%; Disagree 33.3%; Strongly Disagree: 16.7%

These raw findings echo Al Gore's "inconvenient truth." A Nobel Peace Prize winning global warming activist, Gore eats meat.

This is certainly a topic that warrants future consideration. Grist thinks you're "extremist" if you claim meat-eaters can't be environmentalists.

Of course, most of us carnivorous environmentalists do sometimes eat factory-farmed meat, just as vegans sometimes eat products made from industrial soybeans. In a nation where more than 85 percent of soybeans are genetically modified, while none of them are labeled as such, it's hard to avoid. Likewise, most environmentalists drive cars from time to time, even though we know driving is bad for the environment. This doesn't mean we're not environmentalists -- it means we live in the real world.

To me, being an environmentalist simply means supporting policies and practices that promote a healthy environment.

What does being an environmentalist mean to you?

Elizabeth Farians, a founder of National Organization for Women (NOW) talked about the connection between animal cruelty and feminism. "Animal rights is a feminist issue," she said. "Women and animals are being oppressed by false masculine values. We need to find out what it means to have human values and get men and women to embrace those values to the fullest."

James Ploeser from Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, presented on Global Trade Watch, a project which challenges corporate globalization. He mentioned the harmful effects of GATT, the WTO, and NAFTA on animals and our economy. "Corporate control of agriculture increased with NAFTA," he said. As far as prospects for the worker and animal rights movement to collaborate, he pointed to the beef packers who are also affected by our issues. He also cited the "Turtles and Teamsters" collaboration during the Seattle WTO protests in 1999, in which "hundreds of thousands Sierra Club activists (who dressed as sea turtles) and union members who marched to demand that human and environmental concerns be included in discussions of global Free Trade regimes."

AR National Conference: Day 3

2008-08-18T21:59:00.015-05:00

Engaging Children
"I was the teacher who got fired for telling the truth," began Dave Warwak, a vegan art teacher who taught his middle-school students about veganism until an Illinois school district voted for his dismissal. "Students and teachers have a lot of power. More than principals," he said. He claims the schools are taking away kids' lives which violates the 14th Amendment due process clause.

According to Northwest Herald,

Officials said Warwak’s comments to his students weren’t casual references to veganism and animal rights, but rather entire class sessions devoted to “preaching to fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders that eating meat, milk and animal products was bad and that following a vegan lifestyle was good.”

Ultimately, "You can't fight the system," he said, "but you can make a lot of noise." Warwak appears to have succeeded in this feat for nearly a year. In 2007, the Chicagoist offered unflattering coverage with hundreds of comments. This year, mainstream media outlets have covered him again. "Every ten seconds a meat eater is born. No laws, no changing the school system. Talk to children," Warwak told the crowd.

He's handing out small cards to kids that ask them to look up "factory farming" and "vegan" on their favorite search engine. "Through that discovery they have ownership," said Warwak.

When I participated in a humane education program in college, I taught kids about factory farmed animals and the vegetarian diet. Many of them had questions about why animals were treated cruelly. Naturally inquisitive, kids seem to have affinity for animals, granted, reinforced by cartoons and books.

How can we forget the largest beef recall in history, which fed kids potentially toxic beef? As Warwak stated in his June 2008 editorial

People deserve all the information so they can choose wisely about things such as living an extra 10 to 12 years or never having to worry about many cancers, heart attacks or strokes.

Kids have a right to unbiased information about their food just like the rest of us. The status quo, whereby children are taught drinking milk is healthy, makes people like Warwak seem rather eccentric, which is not always a bad thing.

Does Welfare Bring Abolition?
Karen Davis from United Poultry Concerns led this open discussion that caused many of us to probe deeply into our beliefs about what's acceptable to advocate as animal rights activists. Should we support welfare reforms as a path to abolition?

In this context, abolition refers to the act of ending animal abuse, exploitation and slaughter. It is historically associated with the abolition movement during the end of the 18th and during the 19th centuries, both in the European colonies, and in the U.S. (Oxford English Dictionary). Animal rights activists who are proponents of the abolitionist approach claim there is no good justification for animal slaughter. Animal welfare laws that include terms like "humane slaughter" are "largely meaningless because animals are property..As far as the law is concerned, nonhuman animals are no different from cars, furniture, or any other property that we own."

The characterization of animal exploitation as becoming more 'humane' encourages the public to become more comfortable about animal use and this encourages continued consumption of animal products and many even increase net suffering and death.

Their solution is veganism.

Animal welfare is a a broader term used by mainstream animal advocacy groups who believe in incremental steps to reducing animal suffering, such as animal welfare legislation to ban the use of factory farm gestation crates, tiny metal crates in which pregnant pigs can barely move and may spend most of their life.

The conversation got rather heated at the mention of Prop 2. California's Prop 2, or the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act appearing on the November 2008 ballot, would prohibit the tethering and confining of farm animals (veal, "egg-laying hens," and pregnant pigs). I suggest you read Prop 2 for yourself and form your own opinion.

Abolition (veganism) is something all of us want the world to catch on to, but welfare and abolitionism aren't mutually exclusive. Welfare can be oriented towards, or supplemented by, vegan outreach, which most of us activists are involved with in some way. After all, we live in a world of political and cultural realities, long oriented towards the status quo, but many individuals are capable of recognizing animal injustice. We ought to support each other in proactive approaches that expose animal suffering but remain critical of their viability.

AR National Conference: Day 2

2008-08-17T12:23:00.009-05:00

So much energy at this conference, panels all day, tons of speakers and an exhibit hall, I will try my best to feature the highlights.

Grassroots Activism
Nathan Runkle of Mercy for Animals was first confronted with animal rights at the age of 10 when he saw undercover footage of abuse in the fur trapping industry. It inspired him to get involved in the movement and is the basis for his belief in the power of grassroots activism. Though "factory farming can seem like an overwhelming issue," he encourages us to think globally, act locally. "[National] groups rely on locals to achieve global victories on behalf of animals," he said.

He stressed the importance of finding your audience. Urban or progressive communities are more likely to be familiar with veganism but it's different in smaller communities. Therefore, you should craft your events to reach individuals. The youth market is important to focus on because those individuals are most likely to make changes in their life that will benefit animals. They are also the consumers of today and youth hold long-term buying power.

Organizing events, Runkle said, should mean more than angry protests. In fact, he says leafleting is the best use of one's time as an activist. You can reach hundreds of individuals every hour at your college, during festivals like Earth Day and pride fests, etc. He underscores video footage and recommends film screenings on college campuses and libraries.

He also said the biggest hurdle in our activism is people feel they have to give up their favorite food. For this, he suggests feed-ins, where you give free vegan samples and stand in downtown busy locations or in front of fast-food restaurants. But he recommends wearing an apron and gloves to look sanitary and professional. I've tried this before with Tofutti cuties and they were a big hit downtown and everyone was very thankful. Also, promote vegetarian restaurant guides to educate people about the vegetarian options in their city. Another idea which I plan to consider is working with local restaurants to carry more vegetarian options. It's true; the vegetarian community is booming and carrying options is a smart business move.

Dawn Moncrieff with FARM promoted Meat-Out which happens every year on March 20. Since 1985, activists all over the world organize events to advocate a vegetarian diet in a fun and festive way. World Farm Animal Day on October 2 is a more somber event to bring attention to animal suffering and slaughter. FARM will do banner swaps and give printed materials on their dime, which is a good reason to donate to them.

Activist Rick Corbette distinguished the different types of activism: armchair activism, street activism, spokesperson activism, behind-the-scenes activism, instructional activism, and model activism. It's good to participate in a campaign before you organize one yourself. He suggested work on national campaigns, such as the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign. My side note -- KFC Canada added vegan chicken to their menu, following five years of demonstrations against their cruel treatment of chickens. This goes to show that grassroots activity can lead to change. Whether you agree with that change is part of the ongoing animal welfare versus abolition debate.

Winning Hearts and Minds
Melanie Joy, author of Strategic Action for Animals discussed psychology concepts useful for animal rights activists like cognitive moral dissonance, or the discomfort some may feel if you tell someone you are vegetarian. People need to maintain a positive self-concept, where they feel as though they are not contributing to something bad. Psychic numbing is made possible by widespread ideology that is reinforced by society. A new definition I heard was carnism, or the dominant ideology that says meat eating is a given. Carnists internalize carnism through schema, or the psychological framework that shapes and is shaped by our beliefs. It is also resistant to change. "The goal of vegetarian advocacy is to transform numbing to witnessing," said Joy.

Asking people to give up meat is not only asking them to give up a habit, it's asking them to give up their identity.

From my own experience, this is accurate. When I was very young, I didn't connect the animal dots. The stuffed farm animals on my bed were my cuddling toys, but I didn't realize they were also my food at the time.

Applying Direct Action
Camille Hankins of Win Animal Rights takes a different activism approach: direct action. "Direct Action is very misunderstood," she said. "You think of labs set on fire, animals liberated, car bombs, property destruction." It doesn't have to be negative, she said. She cited FARM's Alex Hershaft, who a couple of years ago sat in front of a truck about to deliver pigs to a slaughterhouse. He put himself between the animals and the animal abusers. Tammy Grimes of Dogs Deserve Better cut loose a dog that was tied in the mud for days. Tammy cut the dog loose and went to jail because she refused to return the dog to those horrible conditions. Said Hankins:

If you only go to fur-free Friday just to see your friends, it's not going to do anything except make you feel good...We're in a stage in the animal rights movement where we need people to get uncomfortable.

Do you agree with direct action tactics?

Steve Hindi of SHARK talked about the importance of video footage in campaigns, to expose the corporate cruelty until the public is outraged. Specifically he talked about their rodeo campaign, which got Matchbox 20 to stop performing at rodeos. The booking agent sued SHARK in federal court, but the judge threw it out recently, according to Hindi.

Johnny Vasic of Sea Shepherd, whose anti-whaling operations garnered them the label of "terrorists" by the Japanese Fisheries Agency, said we can't rely on government to change the world for the better. "Our job is to get out there and stop the suffering," he said. It's crucial for us to act. "50 percent of all the ocean catch gets fed to farm animals," which contributes to the destruction of ocean diversity. Go vegan, however, "Until we solve poverty problem, we'll never solve the animal rights problem," Vasic concluded.

Enacting Animal Protection Laws
Bruce Zemen from In Defense of Animals said that most people view animals as family members, not property, and they are against the exploitation of animals. He advised activists to know who the key players are and your support. You need to explain to them why they should help you. "Politicians want to know what's in it for them," he said. Get letters of support from the community and be persistent, and ask legislators for their input.

Howard Lyman, former cattle rancher turned vegan animal rights activist, famous for his lawsuit with Oprah Winfrey by the cattle industry, and author of Mad Cowboy
said that animal law isn't rocket science. His first rule is, "If you want people to help you, you have to help them." It helps that the public is on our side: "99% of the people out there do not want to abuse animals. We have more people that think like we do than the NRA," Lyman bluntly stated. Tongue and cheekly he said,

Join it [NRA], and when you have a press conference, stand up and say I'm a member of the NRA and I care about animals.

For media advice, he said keep it simple. Don't engage in a shouting match. You need to know what you're talking about and stay focused on the issue, no matter what the reporter asks. It's also good to tailor the issue to your local community so that local people will want to be part of your band.

Howard Lyman is also one of the main interviewees in Peaceable Kingdom, a documentary that asks us to allow farm animals into our sphere of compassion. I have seen older versions of the film, and it's powerful beyond words.

Peter Muller (League of Humane Voters) also recommends to think about the economic arguments. Robert Nixon of Humane Political Action emphasized action at the state level. "The smaller the political entity, the easier to get stuff done," he said.

Animal Rights National Conference: Day 1

2008-08-14T23:20:00.012-05:00

I am super happy to report from the Animal Rights 2008 National Conference, a place to meet other animal advocates and activists, writers, and leaders. Our work is diverse in terms of our issues, tactics and lingo, but we share the common vision that animals need us to be effective and this is a good place to start evaluating. Not to mention all the great organizations (both large and small) represented and getting to meet some key movement spokespeople! Now some highlights:

Plenary
Dr. Alex Hershaft of FARM gave a friendly welcome in his European accent. New attendees (myself included), returners, and "animal oppressors [are] welcome too," all of whom he called on to open our minds and hearts. He highlighted Nathan Runkle of Mercy for Animals, which launched applause. Runkle became an activist as a young teenager, and he's one of the first animal movement leaders I met back in 2004.

Eric Prescott of An Animal-Friendly Life, the VegNews 2008 bloggy award winner, has an upcoming documentary called I'm Vegan which aims to "normalize veganism."

Kim McCoy of Sea Shepard Conservation Society, who has an animal law background, spoke emotionally about her cat she recognized was ill as she rubbed her cat eyes. McCoy had a "dark moment" when she recognized that animals in labs can't rub their eyes like her cat. It's true, most of us here are attached to our companion animals. The barking dogs provided testament that we consider them family. Her seven-part TV series "Whale Wars" will premier on Animal Planet this fall.

Then the plenary entered the religious realm with Cheri Brown Thompson, founder of The Healing Species, an 11-week education program that originated from her realization that "violence and crime are matters of the heart," and that peace on earth is possible. Said Thompson: "Many times in the animal rights community, the faith-based community is underrepresented." Many vegans I know aren't religious, but I think it's safe to say we have faith that our work could lead to some good.

Steven Gellman, who I sat by during the plenary, played his acoustic guitar and sang about an eight-year-old girl who killed a bear after being told to hunt by her father. "That's wrong," he repeated.

Animal rights activist Elizabeth Farians, who was also a NOW founder and theologian made a strong case for the inclusion of the religious community in the animal rights movement.

Animal rights people have dismissed the religious community. The religious community hasn't done much for animals...animal rights people should consider religion because so many people use religion to dismiss animals.

She convinced me, and I'm not just biased because she attended my alma mater's sister school (St. Mary's College) but because it's probably true that we need to "get a better hold on religious tradition" so we can engage the majority of people who identify themselves as Christian. You could tell she was a pioneer, as a Catholic who said tonight that God couldn't make a sentient being that was meant to be killed and eaten. "[Humans] aren't the whole of creation."

SHARK's Janet Enoch spoke about the need for animal issues to be brought to the mainstream, something I think is extremely important and one of the reasons I created this blog. According to Enoch, SHARK's video investigations have led to the exposure of cruelty in rodeos and the closure of some rodeos. You can watch the videos on YouTube. Although I couldn't find a press statement, Enoch informed us that Starbucks has withdrawn support of the rodeo with the help of video sites. Coffee anyone? However, "Why don't other big corporations like Coca Cola, McDonald's, and Walmart support animal-friendly events?" is a question she posed.

Camille Hankins of Win Animal Rights (with the ironic acronym "WAR") spoke boldly about efforts to end animal testing and experimentation. According to Hankins, we've made the most progress in the area of cosmetic testing and within the next decade, she expects it will be eliminated. While talking about the success efforts overseas, she said one of our biggest challenges will be research, partly due to the argument that research helps human health. And although all SHAC activists ended up in jail and the Huntingdon stock exchange is going up, "The good news is they'll have further to fall," said Hankins.

I must say Greg Lawson's speech had the most cited facts which I appreciated but found it hard to write down. Note to self: carry your laptop everywhere you go. A longtime National Park Services Ranger and wildlife activist, Lawson said, "There is no protection for the wild animals in our country except us." Last year Park Services killed over 1,000 bison because of pressure from cattle herders. He described the Park Services bison policy as placing an artificial size limit on bison (numbering 3,000), which translates to authorized killing. Park Services' justification?

The purpose of the IBMP ("Interagency Bison Management Plan") is to maintain a wild free-ranging bison population and to address the risk of brucellosis transmissions to protect the economic interest and viability of the livestock industry in Montana.

Basically, these poor bison are captured and forced vaccination, under the lame argument of creating a "brucellosis-free" zone. Yet in the same paragraph Park Services states:

The risk of Yellowstone bison transmitting brucellosis to nearby livestock is very low.

Their flow chart and "capture" table is remarkably Orwellian. And another excuse for too much government with no legitimate oversight. Lawson also talked about threats to the wolf population, an ongoing fight which got the attention of a U.S. District Judge who granted a preliminary injunction protecting wolves in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. Laugh out loud at Wyoming Vote Tracker's despair.

It's true, the animal rights movement can claim several victories: statewide bans against pig gestation crates in Florida and Oregon; gestation and veal crate bans in Arizona and Colorado; significant progress in exposing the cruelty of battery cages for egg-laying hens and consumer fraud; FARM's Great American Meat-Out; New York's first-ever Veggie Pride Parade...

We should be proud of our progress and the leaders we ought to learn from throughout the animal rights movement. Well-directed movement--and future victories for animals--is on us. However we're still here, gathering because of the clearly documented problem of widespread animal cruelty. Let the learning continue!

Netroots Nation food panel & Al Gore on meat

2008-07-21T19:04:00.007-05:00

This weekend I attended the food panel at Netroots Nation, a large blogger conference formerly known as the YearlyKos Convention. It was probably the most enlightening conversation I could have heard on a Friday morning; not because I'm not familiar with the fact that our food safety system has become a joke, but because I got to hear in an hour an a half how food policy experts and bloggers are currently thinking and talking about food. It would have been interesting to see a show of hands of how many vegetarians and vegans were in the room because they care about food issues like safety, sustainability, and public health.

Several panelists offered their perspective on how "farmers and eaters can work together for their mutual benefit," the object of the panel. Many good solutions to our food system crisis came up: eating locally produced food; joining city and state food councils; informing yourself about how the government subsidizes "big Ag" factory farms over small farms, etc. These ideas were particularly useful to think about as an animal rights activist.

Small farmer Judith McGeary said that factory farms pose animal welfare concerns, and her organization - Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance - supports the family farm. Michele Simon, author of Appetite for Profit, brought up how the food industry markets to children which sets them up for unhealthy lifestyles. This one really struck a chord with me, reminding me of my childhood days when milk cartons and chicken nuggets were practically shoved down my throat at school lunch. Mark Winne, author of Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty got me thinking about urban food deserts, where fast food chains are the closest thing low-income people can find nearby to eat. If animal rights advocates are going to suggest vegetarianism as a solution, we need to think of how to frame our message in light of these unjust market realities. While I've always said that vegetarianism is the single most important step one can personally take to help animals, our environment, and our health, this panel helped me realize that we need to become as educated as possible about the structure and policies that make up our food system, which have allowed factory farms to be the behemoth of food production we so rightfully oppose today.

On another note, which excited much media over the weekend, Al Gore was the surprise keynote speaker along with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Thankfully, OrangeClouds115, who I met at the conference, asked Gore about the role of meat in global warming. His reply

It would be healthier for the planet if we consumed less meat. I will plead guilty to the idea that we can only do so much at once. I myself am a meat eater and perhaps that has had an impact on my definition of the problem.

I challenge Al Gore to amplify his brief answer on his new campaign website, We Can Solve It, by listing it as one of his tips for a more climate-friendly life. It's time we work together on these critical issues that threaten our population.

Salmonella-laced tomatoes poop us out

2008-07-08T16:40:00.002-05:00

While more people get diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps from eating salmonella-laced tomatoes, the FDA is still trying to hunt down the source of the outbreak. Last week the FDA announced that it’s going to expand the search to investigate packing or shipping sites and communal water sources on farms. FDA officials are also checking out other veggies used to make salsa--like jalapeno peppers and cilantro--as possible outbreak suspects.

According to the CDC, salmonella are usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces. Food microbiologist, Keith Warriner, explained the science:

The bacteria probably come from groundwater contaminated with animal feces, he says. Once Salmonella gets on and into a tomato, the fruit acts like an incubator. Bacteria divide even in the cool temperatures of packing houses. ‘If you get a few samples into the internal tissue, then they will grow for sure.’

Fresh vegetables are increasingly packaged and shipped in centralized locations, so instead of a localized outbreak, we see a nationwide or even worldwide epidemic.

In 2007, about 125 billion pounds of cattle, broilers, hogs, and turkeys were produced in the U.S. As Vegan Bits says rather bluntly, “that’s a lot of poop to process!”

Much of that poop is recycled on our nation’s fields to feed the crops, including veggies. Without careful handling, poop used as fertilizer can contaminate irrigation water and even directly contaminate crops. Mexico denies its involvement, so perhaps we need to look at our own food system.

While the source of contamination may be murkier than we hoped, Food Karma Alert offers a helpful breakdown of the harm this salmonella outbreak has caused so far. If you don’t know what to do with the tomatoes you’ve decided not to eat, read Tom’s suggestion over at Grist. Watch out, stomach, those red orbs can be dangerous.

Remove the chains from dogs, and ourselves

2008-06-29T22:49:00.013-05:00

Witnessing hunks of flesh at family holiday get-togethers isn't always comfortable. While I eat my rosemary wine-cooked seitan with tahini gravy and mom's veganized stuffing and mashed potatoes, my family members eat differently.

But even though the animals on our dinner plates aren't usually the first to garner human empathy, the chaining and tethering of dogs is something that most people can deem inhumane. "Man's best friend" shouldn't have to endure a life of isolation, boredom, and sadness that factory farmed animals experience on a massive scale, everyday.

Cheryl Kaminski, an Austin dog advocate, thought people should be reminded that dogs deserve better treatment. Yesterday she chained herself in front of the Texas capitol for 24 hours to draw attention to the fact that dogs shouldn't be chained for long periods of time. "If you're going to have a dog, dogs should be part of the family," she told Fox7 news. According to local animal activist Timothy Verret, Cheryl was "tired, bored, sad, aching everywhere in her bones, but she wasn't giving up."

Timothy, who joined Cheryl for part of the demonstration, reported in an email to local animal activists:

I can honestly say that for the brief four hours I was chained, I was greatly annoyed, lonely, sad, bored...you name the negative emotion and I felt it. And unlike a chained dog, I was able to vocalize my displeasure to anyone who would listen but people, for the most part, walked by and barely noticed me. I watched as people went about their business, crossing the street, talking to others, enjoying their freedom. I wanted to be a part of their world, but I was chained. Eventually, though, I was able to take the chain off and go home to my dogs. Chained dogs don't have that luxury. They can only watch and pray someone will notice them.

Austin residents may wonder why Cheryl chose to demonstrate for chained dogs when Austin passed an ordinance to ban the chaining and tethering of unattended dogs in June 2007 by a 7-0 vote. While several communities have passed similar bans, not everyone knows about the new law and continue to chain their dog for hours in the hot summer sun. This issue may also be social justice oriented, since low-income people are disproportionately affected by the ban if they don't have the funds to build a fence. The Dog Fence Fund in Austin has awarded over $13,000 in vouchers for fencing materials thanks to grassroots fundraising targeting local businesses.

Chaining a dog for long periods isn't only cruel to animals, it's cruel to humans. According to Dogs Deserve Better, at least 214 children were killed or seriously injured by chained dogs across the country between October 2003 and June 2008. What otherwise would be gentle, social animals, without ample room to move around, can become very territorial and dangerous to humans. But the solution isn't to euthanize the dog. We need to examine the root source of the dog's aggression, and we need to realize that all animals--both human and nonhuman--desire freedom.

Chained dogs suffer and so do all the farm animals confined to dark factories where they are slaughtered. Humans should stand for freedom, whomever it touches.

Chow down on guilt-free burgers (veggie, of course)

2008-06-02T21:46:00.017-05:00

ShopSmart, a publication of Consumer Reports printed a review of veggie burgers in its July 2008 issue. The tasters make eating veggie burgers a science by providing nutritional information, pricing, and descriptions for about a dozen different brands on the market. MorningStar Farms Garden Veggie patty scored "best-tasting" while Boca All American Flame Grilled Meatless Burgers were "most meat-like." I love when reading makes me hungry.

Compared with beef and turkey burgers, veggie burgers have less calories, are less fattening (.5 grams compared to 11 grams of lean beef), have fiber (whereas beef and turkey burgers contain none) and can contain up to 16 grams of protein per patty. That's good news for all you health-conscious people who can't resist a good burger.

But why should you have to? These tasty burgers are better for your health (and for your waist band) than beef burgers, and may even reduce the risk of chronic disease. According to the American Heart Association , vegetarians have a lower risk of obesity, coronary heart disease (which causes heart attack), high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and some forms of cancer. The Cancer Project reports that consuming vegetables helps to reduce the risk of cancer, while meat, animal products, and other fatty foods are frequently found to increase risk. Diets high in fiber make it easier for your body to pass out cancer-linked carcinogens, like those found in red meat.

There are more reasons to love veggie burgers. As Anne Lappe of Small Planet Institute and The Bite Blog says, if we are serious about the global climate crisis, we've got to talk about food. She couldn't be more on target when she writes in her diet tips

When it comes to global warming the Hummer has been quite the easy scapegoat: With its enormous frame and pathetic gas mileage, the vehicular behemoth has become the bogeyman of climate change. But look past the Hummer: hamburgers may be just as guilty.

It's as easy as A-B-C to see the connection between global warming and cheeseburgers. In November 2006, the UN released its groundbreaking report on greenhouse gases that found rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars. Tragically, the livestock sector generates 65% of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO2.

FoxNews even reported on this scientific epiphany of linking vegetarianism to global warming reduction. I have no clue why they included in this same article a "Spying on Lovers" section regarding the "Islamic government of Malaysia" but I (they?) digress. Vegetarian eating behavior shouldn't warrant government spying, but that's another blog entry.

So while you're planning your summer picnics or just your routine burger, be sure to fire up a juicy veggie burger.

In Vitro Meat: To be or not to be?

2008-04-29T22:40:00.008-05:00

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has announced its offer of $1 million to the first scientist that will produce and bring to market in vitro meat by 2012. In vitro meat is taking cells from a farm animal and multiplying them in a lab setting.

PETA president and founder Ingrid Newkirk predicted the contest would incite controversy:

People say animal rights people can't agree. Well, human beings can't agree. In any social cause community, there are people who strive for purity...We don't mind taking uncomfortable positions if it means that few animals suffer.

PETA's proposal is a pragmatic solution to its firm stance against cruel factory farms. Any serious activist should consider the realistic limitations of their idealism.

And reality isn't all pretty. A 2006 UN report projected global meat production to more than double by 2050. Animals urgently need us to advocate for meat alternatives, whether it's soy or something else. By downsizing animal production, the In Vitro Meat Consortium argue meat-eating could become more sustainable.

Princeton University ethics professor and author of the ground-breaking Animal Liberation (1975), isn't opposed to this developing food technology. "If it is harder to move people on ethical grounds than it is to provide a sustainable humane substitute, I'm all for the substitute," he told Dot Earth.

In June 2005, U.S. and international scientists printed a paper in Tissue Engineering that said edible meat can be grown in a lab on a large scale, based on NASA experiments. What is considered edible? One that tastes like conventional meat that "has the nutrients and texture of meat"? Perhaps the marketplace will determine what's edible or not.

One of the paper's co-authors, Jason Matheny, acknowledged that some may not want to eat this artificially produced meat. "On the other hand, cultured meat could appeal to people concerned about food safety, the environment, and animal welfare, and people who want to tailor food to their individual tastes," he said.

Vegan activist and author at Before Wisdom says PETA's reward is a "win-win" situation. A NY Times editorial, while admitting they are "disgusted by the conventional meat industry in this country," doesn't endorse this new meat technology.

Animal rights activists should be hopeful of the life-saving prospects of in vitro meat. New Harvest, a nonprofit research organization that supports in vitro meat development, say processed meats could be ready within several years "with modifications of existing technologies."

Would you eat the stuff?

Impoverished art

2008-04-24T21:31:00.012-05:00

If you were to ask me whether art should be censored, my automatic answer would be no, but if you were to tell me that this same art involved showcasing a live starving dog, I'd be appalled and support immediate censorship.

As reported by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Costa Rican Guillermo Vargas used a captured street dog in his 2007 Nicaraguan gallery exhibit. Central American animal welfare organizations alerted HSUS that the dog spent one day in the exhibit and later escaped the gallery.

One argument is that art can bring about social change. But if Vargas' goal was to critique animal cruelty, he failed to recognize the hypocrisy of exploiting an animal to "prove a point." He's rightfully offended thousands of people, some who've organized a petition against him and others with more radical visions of retribution.

"Only the fool, fixed in his folly, may think he can turn the wheel on which he turns." - T.S. Eliot "Murder in the Cathedral"

Using a live animal is about as artistic as nailing a deer head to your wall. Except this dog had the potential to be saved, and it's up to us to ensure that other homeless animals-ones in our own country and abroad-can have better lives when Vargas would have us merely observe.

The Humane Society of the U.S. suggests ways you can help homeless animals. The World Society for the Protection of Animals asks that you sign the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare. I support these measures, and I urge current and future artists to be critical of exploitative art. When done in good faith, art can help change public attitudes about how we ought to treat animals. To that end, I recommend viewing Sue Coe's Porkopolis.

Fine dining and wining

2008-04-20T13:43:00.010-05:00

Gourmet food is even finer when it's vegan. I was thrilled to eat at both Millennium and Greens Restaurants in San Francisco last week, two highly recommended restaurants by SF locals. Millennium is all-vegan and Greens is all-vegetarian with vegan options. Growing up, my parents and I dined mostly at affordable establishments with animals as the main course. So when I chose to eat maple glazed smoked tempeh (at Millennium) and mesquite grilled brochettes (at Greens), I felt extremely lucky!

When I called Millennium to make a reservation, the guy asked me if I had any allergies they should know about. Most restaurants I've been to don't ask such caring questions and it really helps build trust between establishment and consumer. Everything on the menu is animal-free, and they even serve organic, sustainable, and biodynamic wines. That's what I call consumer choice! I ordered the most recognizable item - tempeh (not a caviar kind of girl, even if it is veganized) - my meal looked like strips of steak! From website quoting San Francisco Magazine:

Millennium offers a menu that 'intrigues even the most devoted carnivores among us' according to one steak lover.

So save a cow and eat at Millennium!

And my dessert was the highly recommended Chocolate Almond Midnight with a side of chocolate sorbet. What can I say, my palate was honored.

Then at Greens, my brochettes were yummy especially with the peanut sauce. The food was fantastic, and I loved watching the gleaming sunset. For desert, I had chocolate margiuis. It would've been nice to see more vegan dessert options but I loved my meal.

These restaurants prove that vegetarians can enjoy the cultural experience of fine cuisine and save their arteries at the same time. Oh, and save the planet. What more could you want? Now I can conceive why San Francisco is the 3rd best vegetarian city in America. I've seen Seattle, so watch out Portland!

Greenpeace Kangaroo controversy is misguided

2008-04-13T13:21:00.012-05:00

In this month's News Beet section of VegNews magazine, I was shocked to read Mat Thomas' blurb (sourcing Aussie publication Herald Sun) on a study partly funded by Greenpeace, "Paths to a Low-Carbon Future," that details a plan to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020:

[I]nstead of recommending a vegan diet (which is the most effective way of curbing personal carbon emissions), Greenpeace encourages people to consume 20 percent less beef from cows (whose flatulence and burping causes almost one-tenth of the total carbon dioxide produced by human activities) and replace it with kangaroo meat.

Greenpeace's current position contradicts their earlier stance condemning the commercial slaughter of kangaroos for ecological and moral reasons, which the group articulated in Goodbye to Joey, their 1986 documentary film.

Greenpeace advocating roo slaughtering?! Didn't sound right, so I did my own research and found several things that debunk this VegNews reported item, which is good news for animal righters and environmentalists. At the study's release, the Herald Sun quoted Greenpeace organizer Mark Wakeham: "Changing our meat consumption habits is a small way to make an impact." Yes, eating kangaroo is one way to change your lifestyle but the study itself barely mentions it, and Greenpeace never publicly endorsed such a measure, instead calling the report "a conversation starter." There's no question that this Herald Sun article is filled with bias.

Andrew Bolt at the Herald Sun wasted time parodying Greenpeace but the end result was comic relief. Laugh out loud at #19.

The study in question was released September 2007 by Mark Diesendorf at the Sustainability Centre in Australia. Apparently most didn't read or care about the following disclaimer:

[T]he conclusions and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other individual or organisation...While every care has been taken, the author does not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of, or inferences from, the material in this report, or for any actions resulting from any person's or group's interpretations, deductions, conclusions or actions in reliance upon this material.

His two solutions for reducing agriculture emissions are switching to kangaroo meat or eating less meat. I found nothing on the flatulence and burping reference.

Here's the lesson: Greenpeace should have gotten to know Diesendorf a little better before they commissioned him to release a study that would be attached to their name. If his goal was truly to advocate reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he should have avoided sounding like Jonathan Swift in A Modest Proposal. He's clearly not an animal rightist, but in light of that understanding, his solutions wouldn't worsen the meat-eating status quo. So let's lighten up here and consider that the study might actually be a "green" satire.

Greenpeace knew better than to keep silent. In peaceful retaliation, Making Waves, the official Greenpeace blog, states:

Greenpeace did NOT say that people should eat more kangaroos.
Solving climate change requires every possible solution to be examined. Immediate action is required. But, as far as Greenpeace is concerned, eating Skippy isn't a climate change solution.

By succinctly stating their position, Greenpeace did a clever job of not adding to the drama.

Vegetarian activists have every right to be dismayed if Greenpeace advocated eating kangaroos. The truth, as far as research can support, is that they are not. So let's choose our battles better and give a thumbs up to Greenpeace for taking a stand on global warming. While I don't agree with Greenpeace when they say free-range meat is acceptable to eat, we shouldn't criticize the baby steps they are taking to help the mainstream public become a little more conscious. That just means we have more work to do.

Wyoming Wolves Under Attack

2008-04-06T16:04:00.021-05:00

If you think nothing happens in Wyoming, think again. Five wolves have already been killed days after they were taken off the federal endangered species list and probably more by now. Killing wolves is obviously wrong from an animal rights standpoint, but it's also wrong ecologically. Of course we can blame hunters for this kill-fest, but we should also blame the Wyoming state and federal governments for letting politics interfere with science and environmental heritage.

Wolves were protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 after years of bounty hunting nearly wiped the species out. The reduction of wolves skyrocketed the elk population which in turn harmed the water quality and other wildlife. As a result, the feds had to shoot elk.

In the late 90s, the feds brought over Canadian wolves to restore the balance, and the wolf population grew across Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. But last month the feds removed the wolves from the endangered species list, claiming that "threats to the species have been addressed." They cite approval of Wyoming's wolf management plan, which states "predator' wolves can be shot on the spot as long as they're outside of the "trophy" region (requires hunting license). Unless of course those wolves eat your livestock, then you can get a state-issued license to kill what's left of the remaining 30-35 wolves that live outside of the trophy zone.

Why such hostility towards wolves? Maybe we can owe it to childhood fables like Little Red Riding Hood or Peter and the Wolf, but perhaps it's really all about making money. Hunters gain profit by shooting elk, not wolves. So their solution is to kill off the wolves. A backward legal step.

The feds decided to ignore their stated mission to "conserve, protect, and enhance" wildlife under heavy pressure by the state of Wyoming to approve its wolf killing program, which was essentially deemed a "frivolous lawsuit" in 2006 by a U.S. district judge.

Wyoming state officials should have read Ishmael. "I have amazing news for you. Man is not alone on this planet. He is part of a community, upon which he depends absolutely."

But since the state and federal governments couldn't accept this easy concept, they should have at least consulted the smarter public. 7 out of 10 Wyoming residents believe the wolf population should be allowed to grow naturally. Conservation groups are going to sue but have to wait 30 days. Vicky Frangos has suggested a simple marketplace action.

These government decisions take our society and environment backwards. This editorial states a philosophical critique of the wolf plight:

The more we think about it, the more we believe the only nature that matters anymore is human nature. This is not a happy thought. The answer to every important environmental question ultimately depends on human self-restraint. The simple ethical fact seems to be that humans cannot restrain themselves, not without laws and incentives that are only as solid as our weakest intentions. The laws change, and overnight all that good work is threatened by gun smoke.

Petland: Making Life Better (for its Shareholders)

2008-03-30T11:24:00.009-05:00

The international pet store corporation Petland is making several animal welfare groups snarl at the company's alleged sale of puppy mill puppies. Though their corporate slogan is "Petland Pets Make Life Better!" the animal lover and the taxpayer alike should ask themselves if they can tolerate this misleading, corporate PR.

For the past two weekends, local groups Spay Austin Coalition, Best Friends Animal Society Network, Action for Animals, and animal rescue supporters teamed up to protest the opening of a new Petland store. This campaign is part of a national front to urge consumers not to buy pets or pet supplies from any Petland stores. They claim Petland buys its puppies from large-scale puppy mill operations, where breeding dogs spend their entire lives in filthy cages. In addition,

Puppies are routinely shipped overland by truck or by air as cargo, often traveling hundreds of miles to pet shops across the country. Injuries and fatalities en route to pet stores are common and deplorable, yet they pale in comparison to the conditions their parents endure until their death at the mills. The euthanasia of millions of animals at shelters due to a lack of adoptive families compounds the tragedy of mill animals enduring a miserable existence to satiate the demand for their offspring.

They also report that a major supplier of Petland puppies, Do-Bo-Tri Kennels, has been repeatedly charged with violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

Why is this store still in business?!

According to store website, Petland currently has 140 stores in the U.S. and 63 in foreign markets, and growing. FixAustin says the city shelter euthanized around 5000 animals in 2005, about a 50% kill rate.

Julia Hilder, President of the Spay Austin Coalition had this to say.

As part of their PR ploy, Petland stores team up with local animal shelter programs, placing homeless pets. They claim to have placed over 100,000 pets over the last four years. But they only sell puppies and kittens, which means they are obviously more concerned with profit. They must have figured out that consumers go ga-ga over small animals. But if they were really "an avid proponent" of spaying and neutering as they falsely claim, they would require all stores to spay and neuter their pets before they sell them, not SOME of them. Instead of putting up informational posters in their stores about s/n, they would actually tell consumers to adopt from their local shelters instead.

But that would be too honest.

The Town Lake Animal Shelter, and other local shelters, should have seen through this corporate PR, but instead, you have small nonprofit groups educating the public about why puppy mills are wrong, why Petland is ruining efforts to adopt homeless animals, and why you as a taxpayer shouldn't stand for it. Travis County taxpayers spend close to $6 million a year to manage the surplus pet population according to AHS Ferals.

But since many cities haven't figured out an effective way to control pet overpopulation, small feral "trapping" groups will take the initiative to address overpopulation in their residential areas. At last weekend's Petland demonstration, I was fortunate to meet and chat with Sister Dawn, a Franciscan nun in the Orthodox Catholic Church who rescues (and spays/neuters) feral cats in her area. She told me that her religious order teaches stewardship for the environment "including caring for all God's homeless creatures--human and animal."

I think that's a great lesson for all of us. But whatever guides your beliefs, please don't support chains like Petland. Instead, shop at stores that support animal rescue (in practice).

Quack fashion show

2008-03-23T06:46:00.012-05:00

I watch Project Runway on a regular basis, so my ears perked when I saw a clip of a fashion show in Sydney, Australia. The models were slim, cute...also ducks.

The CNN anchor seemed really amused by this quackery. Some people think it's acceptable to use animals for whatever purpose we designate. Regular models are probably nervous before they walk the runway but they chose that profession and could prepare themselves for the scrutiny. I can't even imagine the kind of nervousness and terror ducks feel as they waddle in a straight line in unfamiliar runway territory amidst a crowd of a chatter and picture taking.

Brian Harrington, the duck show's organizer, said to the press: "I love that little duck. If she was a human, she'd be on top money." I guess Harrington and I show our love for animals in different ways.

Now here's fashion I can support...

Chris from Season 4 of Project Runway was unconventional in his final collection when he used human hair on several of his designs. He said: "It's about showing your work and your creativity as well. So I didn't want to compromise that. Certainly, using human hair in fashion isn't unprecedented."

Great American Meat-Out, Austin Style

2008-03-20T12:56:00.012-05:00

Today is the day you can go vegetarian. There are so many reasons why, and I'm offering 30.

My friend Timothy and I delivered bags of vegetarian food (all from Austin restaurants) to the Austin City Council today with Action for Animals. They will hopefully read our vegetarian starter kits complimented by this eco-friendly handout and try the delicious food and perhaps make the pledge to go vegetarian for a day, a week, or the rest of their lives.

You can too! Visit GoVeg.com and to learn about how you can enjoy a healthy diet with so many options and help animals and the environment at the same time. Then make a pledge today to eat more vegetarian.

Both Hillary & Obama have strong animal welfare records

2008-02-21T18:40:00.008-06:00

In 20 minutes, I will watch the CNN Democratic debate that's taking place in my hometown of Austin, TX. It's a tough race and I'm looking for a tiebreaker. But when Hillary and Obama both have strong records of supporting animal welfare laws, and when both have made favorable statements about animals, the devil's in the details.

In a Humane Society Legislative Fund questionnaire form, Obama enumerates the animal welfare measures he supported as an Illinois Senator, including mandating psychological treatment for people charged with animal cruelty; as U.S. Senator he supported the ban on horse slaughter for human consumption and increasing penalties for dogfighting and cockfighting. He has however, stated that he supports the rights of hunters and sportsmen:

I don't hunt myself, but I respect hunters and sportsmen. But I don't know of any self-respecting hunter that needs 19 rounds of anything. You don't shoot 19 rounds at a deer, and if you do, you shouldn't be hunting.

Note that he begins and ends his statement with two negatives. I think he was being politically safe. So what else?

Last month, Time magazine reported Obama's response to a woman who asked his position on animal rights:

Obama responded that he cares about animal rights very much, "not only because I have a 9-year-old and 6-year-old who want a dog." He said he sponsored a bill to prevent horse slaughter in the Illinois state Senate and has been repeatedly endorsed by the Humane Society.

"I think how we treat our animals reflects how we treat each other," he said. "And it's very important that we have a president who is mindful of the cruelty that is perpetrated on animals."

And what says his competition?

In addition to maintaining a 100%+ on the HSLF Humane Scorecard in her seven years as U.S. Senator, Michael Markarian writes in Animals & Politics:

One thing that stands out about Clinton’s record is that she has taken a leadership role in efforts to stop the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals.

Clinton spearheaded efforts in Congress to study the effects of certain antibiotics in animal feeds and to prohibit the USDA from buying chickens for the federal school lunch program that have been injected with cipro-like antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. Her successful efforts on the antibiotic issue have helped people and animals, and have informed her outlook on the broader issues related to the production of animals on industrial factory farms.

Her responses to the HSLF questionnaire can be found here. She appears to recognize the connection between animal welfare and broader public health issues:

Yes, I believe animal welfare is an important issue to Americans, and I would work to address these problems when I am President, as I have during my time in the Senate. From preventing dog fighting to preventing horse slaughter to addressing global warming, I will work to ensure that these issues get the attention and support they deserve.

Perhaps she is aware of the University of Chicago findings linking animal agriculture to greenhouse gas emissions?

I was trying to look for dirt to make my decision easier, and found that Hillary offended the Des Moines Register when she appointed Joy Philippi to be her co-chair for "Rural Families for America." They claim Clinton preferred corporate agribusiness over small farmers.

Let's be honest - if you make a living by slaughtering animals, whether it's 2,000 or 100, you're still making money off the same thing. Let the records stand alone. While I don't like it, politics is still a game, and I have no clue why she picked Philippi to be her co-chair.

Since I believe in fairness, let me mention that McCain is not the worst of Republicans. He supported the ban on horse slaughter and opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And Paul's position on animal welfare, like most of his positions on social issues, is less government, thus weaker laws. And Huckabee's son apparently was involved in hanging a stray dog at boy scout camp.

It's true, government will not end animal cruelty, but the fact is, laws set a standard, and hopefully an example to others, that there are consequences for maltreatment of animals, and for other public safety violations such as food safety and environmental quality.

As animal advocates we need to hold public leaders accountable for their positions on animal welfare, to make sure they act in favor of animals when it's time to vote, and that words are not just words, but representative of true reform for animals.

Largest beef recall in history

2008-02-20T07:02:00.018-06:00

Westland/Hallmark Meat Company issued the largest beef recall in history on Sunday following the Humane Society video release of workers abusing sick cattle at its Chino, CA plant. The agency is saying however, that most of the 143 million lbs. of beef has already been eaten, but that they are working with distributors to find the leftovers. Also, they haven't yet found any cases of illness associated with the recall. Lucky for children who benefit from the National School Lunch program, but it's unfortunate that the USDA isn't admitting to their systemic inspection weaknesses.

Dick Raymond, undersecretary of agriculture for food safety said: "We do not know how much of this product is out there at this time. We do not feel this product presents a health risk of any significance. But the product was produced in noncompliance with our regulations, so therefore we do have to take this action."

So if they didn't know about the law-breaking at Westland, how do they know the "product" didn't pose a health risk to the public?

Said Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer:

I am dismayed at the in-humane handling of cattle that has resulted in the violation of food safety regulations at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company. It is extremely unlikely that these animals were at risk for BSE because of the multiple safeguards; however, this action is necessary because plant procedures violated USDA regulations.

They mention those "multiple safeguards" here, but they weren't enough to keep the downed cattle from entering the food supply, thanks to the poor work ethic of the USDA on-site inspector. I wonder what the agency inspector was inspecting in his two hours at Westland. When will the USDA say what happened to him/her?

Nevertheless, the two slaughterhouse workers caught on video were charged with both felony and misdemeanor charges and if convicted could serve eight and three years in prison each. And they were fired, in case you were wondering.

Meanwhile, the National Cattlemen's Association released this funny statement:

We support USDA’s recall as a precautionary measure. At the same time, we can say with confidence that the beef supply is safe. We have multiple interlocking safeguards in place in every beef processing plant in America so that if one is bypassed, the other systems continue to ensure the product we serve our families remains safe...
As an organization representing beef producers, we have two expectations when our cattle leave our farms and ranches: that our animals are treated humanely and that every step is taken to produce safe beef. We support USDA’s actions today to enforce the laws that ensure our cattle are handled with care and that our beef is produced safely.

The USDA has taken significant steps to make the public feel as though they are doing their job, but the fact that they called Westland a Supplier of the Year for two years, shows that they need some laws strengthened to ensure that food safety is not merely a symbolic term.

Undercover video sparks outcry on meat safey

2008-02-18T18:07:00.007-06:00

None of us want to eat beef infected with mad cow disease, E. coli, or salmonella. Nor would we feed it to our children. Unfortunately, low-income children who qualified for federal assistance under the National School Lunch Program may not have had a choice.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) conducted an undercover video investigation of the Hallmark Meat Packing plant, which supplies meat to Westland Meat Co. The video reveals graphic footage of the way animals were handled at this USDA award-winning Supplier of the Year.

Westland supplied over 27 million pounds of meat to schools and federal programs in 36 states. Was your community on the list?

“Downer” cows, too sick or weak to stand cannot enter the food supply under both California state and federal law. “Downer” cows may have Bovine Spongiform Encephalopthy (BSE), or mad cow disease, or they may spread bacterial diseases such as E. coli and salmonella, which make millions of Americans sick every year.

Several lawmakers have spoken publicly about the video’s content, including Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who sent two letters to the USDA asking for further investigation of the food safety of ground beef in the National School Lunch Program. Said Durbin:

The apparent slaughter of sick and weak animals not only appears to violate the USDA regulations, but could be a danger to our nation’s food supply. These ‘downed’ animals are more easily contaminated and may carry diseases dangerous to consumers.

In response to the HSUS video, Westland President and Hallmark’s operations manager Steve Mendell told ABC7 news:
“We are shocked, saddened, and sickened by what we have seen today.”

Then to the Washington Post: “We have a massive humane treatment program here that we follow to the n {+t}{+h} degree, so this doesn’t even sound possible,” Mendell said. “I don’t stand out there all day, but to me it would be next to impossible.”

So if the slaughterhouse manager wasn’t around to see any law-breaking, where was the USDA inspector? With 7,800 pairs of eyes overseeing the 6,200 slaughterhouses and food processors across the nation, surely one of them would have caught it. Right?

Food safety expert, and former advisor to the FDA and the USDA, Dean Cliver, told the LA Times: “We rely on a system, and the system dropped the ball. Somebody ought to be asking some questions.” Although the USDA has yet to confirm that any downer cattle entered the food supply, the video and HSUS allegation of inhumane treatment prompted the agency to stop shipments and to shut down until it proves the animals are “humanely handled.”

Schools across the nation responded to the Westland beef suspension. California school authorities told their districts to stop using Westland meat and other beef products from unknown sources. New York City schools went burger-free.

The western producer newspaper, Capital Press, cautions that such severe violations of animal husbandry standards will shake consumer confidence:

If someone tries to skirt the law and disregards proper animal care practices, it reflects on everyone. Consumer confidence and trust are difficult to build, but they can vanish in an instant if people question the safety of their food. Scofflaws cannot be tolerated anywhere in agriculture. The quicker they are rooted out, the better for all concerned.

According to Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society President, lawmakers should do more to protect the food supply:

The USDA gets millions of dollars in taxpayer funds from Congress and the American people every year to inspect the plants and enforce the law. It’s a tough job to be sure, but the USDA should focus on investigating this plant and, in a larger sense, correcting its own procedures and policies that allowed these atrocious practices to occur—on the USDA’s watch, I might add.

Your thoughts?