The Sarah Harrison Chronicles

PETA in Greenside FTW

2011-06-30T00:53:00.001+02:00

For a blog that is supposed to chronicle my exploits, this one looks very empty! Sadly I have found that when my life is most interesting, I don't get to write things down. This week has been quite remarkable, and I just couldn't put off writing about it for another second!

The PETA Lettuce Ladies demonstration is now well-known. It has been done around the world, by regular people and celebrities alike. We decided that it was about time the PETA Lettuce Ladies came to Johannesburg. And they did.

Cloris Leachman and Pamela Anderson have both been Lettuce Ladies for PETA.

Yesterday three amazing vegetarian women agreed to wear leafy green vegetables in the middle of the Johannesburg winter to draw attention to the benefits of vegetarianism - for the animals, for the environment, and for your health. The consumption of meat, eggs and dairy are major contributors to climate change, resource depletion, pollution and world hunger. Each day, animal agriculture consumes a shocking 2.5 trillion litres of water – enough for everyone in the world to take eight showers.

Meat production wastes food that could be used to feed people! It takes up to 16 kilograms of grain to produce just 1 kilogram of meat, and animals raised for food consume nearly 1 billion metric tons of human-edible food every year. That's enough to feed almost half the world's population. We could solve the problem of world hunger, just by going vegetarian!

Animals raised for food are confined to filthy, crowded enclosures and denied everything that is natural and important to them. On factory farms and in slaughterhouses, chickens have their throats cut while they're still conscious, piglets are castrated and have their tails cut off without being given any painkillers and cows are hung upside down and skinned while they're still alive and able to feel pain. This happens all over the world.

Even if this doesn't concern you, you cannot ignore the fact that meat-eating is linked to heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes and impotence. Vegetarianism is as important for your own health as it is for the animals and the environment.

PETA Lettuce Ladies ask South Africans to go vegetarian.

The ladies wore spinach, and distributed literature explaining the links between the modern meat industry and global warming. They were very brave, considering the cold weather!

The media loved the Lettuce Ladies (or Spinach Sisters, as someone quipped)! Mail & Guardian put footage of the event and interviews on their website. The Beeld Newspaper printed a large picture of the ladies, and three newspapers in India printed the pictures too! Several online publications also featured pictures of the PETA Lettuce Ladies! The Ladies themselves blogged about the event here and here. We received very positive comments from onlookers. I think my favourite was someone who drove past and posted a picture on facebook with the comment, "PETA in Greenside FTW".

The Lettuce Ladies in Greenside.

A big thank you to the three Lettuce Ladies, and to Ashley Fruno at PETA for all the help in putting together this demo! If you would like to be on our mailing list for future events, please email me!

Chicks Love a Vegetarian

2011-06-22T22:29:00.003+02:00

Actor Michael Vartan's Dog Care Tips

2011-06-10T23:25:00.002+02:00

Meet Scooby!

2011-06-10T22:35:00.002+02:00

In March I wrote about the tragedy that unfolded in Bapsfontein when residents were forcibly removed and had to leave their companion animals behind. Scooby was one of the deserted. He was frightened by the bulldozers and ran into some barbed wire. His ear was ripped, but otherwise he's perfect! If you can give Scooby a home, please contact CLAW on on 011 763 1638 or 072 642 0850.

The Story of Cosmetics (2010)

2011-06-09T21:44:00.000+02:00

MY ADOPTION OF THE WEEK

2011-03-23T21:46:00.000+02:00

We found this kitty a week ago. She is extremely friendly and loving, but noone has come forward to claim her. We need to home her asap. She is being spayed and getting her shots tonight! She is about 4 months old.

She was definitely not a stray, and is used to people! We think she was dumped because she needed a hernia operation. She is having her hernia operation at the same time as her spay though!

She'll be ready to go to her new home in a couple of days! Spayed, inoculated, micro-chipped and hernia-free!

Strict application process and home check will apply.

Bapsfontein: Help Needed!

2011-03-20T10:54:00.002+02:00

Tragedy has struck Bapsfontein again. Just weeks after people lost their possessions in the floods, they are being forcibly removed by the army. Some people’s homes are even being demolished in their absence. (One family was at a funeral when their shack was torn down.) Once the shacks are bulldozed, people are loaded onto trucks with their possessions and relocated.

To make matters worse, people are not allowed to take their companion animals with them. They are forced to abandon their animals, who flee into the veld when they are frightened by the trucks. CLAW has been working day and night to trap these abandoned animals and get them to safety. There are thousands of terrified, starving animals who need to be rescued!

CLAW has reported that some animals are inside the shacks when they are demolished. One cat was trapped under a pile of rubble, where she had to give birth. CLAW found her, and her litter of newborn kittens, just in time!

There are so many more stories like this. These are the reports from CLAW:

Mother dogs refusing to leave babies, even though they were terrified of the trucks.

One mother cat brought us her baby.

Another one stayed in shack that was being demolished - with her new babies.

A proud mother hen did her best to keep her ten chicks safe from trucks and bulldozers.

Another mother cat gave birth in a shack that was demolished around her!

We heard one kitten crying, and then found four, and the mother too. She was under an old bookcase!

These animals need to go into foster homes, and need to be adopted. CLAW is not a shelter, but a clinic, and does not have space for all these animals. Please consider giving a home to one of these animals who really deserve the best! To find out about fostering and adopting, please call CLAW on 011 763 1638 or 072 642 0850.

You can also make a donation to CLAW for all the work they are doing! Click here for information on how to donate. To keep updated on what is happening in Bapsfontein, please join CLAW's facebook group here.

LADY GAGA - Born This Way (Cover)

2011-02-23T07:32:00.000+02:00

This is so good! ♥ Lady Gaga was brought to tears by this cover of Born This Way!

The Environmental Toothbrush is already for sale!

2011-02-19T08:34:00.001+02:00

The amazing Harmless House Environmental Toothbrush which I talked about last week (click here) is already in stores! You can buy the Environmental Toothbrush at the health shops in both Hyde Park Shopping Centre, and Benmore Gardens Shopping Centre! It's just R35! Read more below.

I've bought mine! It's fantastic!

Shopping for a Happy Planet!

2011-02-16T21:49:00.004+02:00

Finally, there is a company that can bring us the products that we really want! Products that are organic, kind to the planet, and not tested on animals! What more could we ask for?

Harmless House, started by Kate Townshend, offers a wide range of products. Harmless House has everything: scrubs, lotions, skin care, toothbrushes, toothpaste and baby products and stocks four brands: Sanctum, Eco-Dent, BWC and The Environmental Toothbrush.

I have sampled some of the products myself and they are really quite amazing! Not only is the quality fantastic, but you can use these products with a clear conscious!

If you really do replace your toothbrush every three months like you're supposed, you have probably wondered about the environmental impacts of all those plastic toothbrushes being thrown in the bin (not to mention what went into making them). The bamboo for a Harmless House Environmental toothbrush grows sustainably in just five hours, and is biodegradable!

Click here to read more about Harmless House. Please comment on the article when you visit it, too! Click here to email Kate for more information.

I can't wait to start shopping!

Finally, a good idea...

2011-02-15T21:10:00.001+02:00

"Former McDonald’s Execs to Open Healthy, Vegan-friendly Chain of Restaurants"! Click here to read the full article.

This video is really hilarious! Click here to enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-13T12:12:00.001+02:00

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! Whether you believe it is a hallmark construct or Cupid's birthday, there is no reason not to give the gift of life! Please consider donating blood in honour of Valentine's Day! SANBS only has 2.6 days of blood stocks left. Click here.

Another wonderful thing that you can do to save a life this Valentine's Day is not eat animals. It does, after all, fall on Meat Free Monday! Click here.

Whatever you do this Valentine's Day, you should definitely give your loved ones some PETA Presents! With PETA, you can give a customized Valentine's Day gift! Click here.

'I am going to be Cupid, and I am going to shoot my sparrow at unsuspecting victims, and they are going to get hit and say "I'm in love! I was hit by Cupid's Sparrow." Funny little bird, but he gets the job done.' - Michael Scott

Jane's Journey

2011-02-12T04:39:00.000+02:00

On Tuesday evening I had the privilege of attending the premier of Jane's Journey: a documentary telling the story of Jane Goodall's amazing life and dedication to chimpanzees.

The premier was a fundraiser for the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI). They sold toy chimpanzees (Yes, I bought one), calendars (that too), and some of Goodall's books (I've already read those). The caterers sadly failed to provide vegetarian food, which is rather silly considering that Goodall is a strict vegetarian. However, considering that Cinema Nouveau provided the catering and the movie-screening for free, I think we can forgive that oversight.

A JGI member talked about a recent expedition to the Central African Republic. JGI sent a team to the CAR to collect a chimpanzee named Claude from a desolate life in a zoo, and brought him back to Chimp Eden. During the expedition a power change in the CAR caused political problems for the team, who eventually had to break Claude out of the zoo so that the South African Air Force could bring them all back. The story was incredibly inspirational. You can read more incredible JGI stories here.

Click here to view the website and the amazing work that they do,

All I want for my birthday...

2011-01-22T12:09:00.002+02:00

January 24th is my 25th birthday! Instead of birthday presents I am asking for donations to PETA! PETA does truly amazing work around the world, and they need our support! Please consider donating to this amazing cause for my birthday! Click here to donate!

Thanks to my amazing friends and family, I have already collected almost $300 but I would like to reach my goal of $500 by the end of the day tomorrow!

Because I have the most wonderful friends (Kate, Avz, Ash - that's you!) I also get to enjoy vegan birthday cake, courtesy of The Greenside Cafe! This vegetarian restaurant in the heart of Greenside provides an amazing menu that everyone can enjoy! My friends treated me to dinner at the The Greenside Cafe for my birthday, and everyone loved the food! Click here to view their menu.

Fantastic Non-Spill Dog Bowl: The Road Refresher!

2011-01-07T23:45:00.000+02:00

Lucy Elizabeth really loves to play in water: the sprinkler, the swimming pool, and her water bowl!

It's so cute to watch, but it gets very messy! I worry that the dogs will be without water if there is noone home for a few hours, because Lucy has spilled all their water!

Enter the Road Refresher: an ingenious non-spill dog bowl that can even be used in the car! The Road Refresher has a Velcro base which fixes the bowl to your carpet - even the car floor! - and comes with Velcro strips which you can use to attach the bowl to a tile or wood floor.

Though she tried, Lucy could not move or tip the Road Refresher!

The Road Refresher has a floating plate inside which feeds enough water through for Lucy to drink at all times, yet immediately restricts the flow whenever there is a surge of water from car travel, or when it is kicked or shoved.

Lucy Elizabeth now uses her water bowl just for drinking!

You can buy your very own Road Refresher from me for just R120! For every Road Refresher sold, I will donate R20 to the Sandton SPCA! Click here to email me to order your Road Refresher today!

For more information about the Road Refresher, and to view testimonials, click here.

2011: The Year of the Rabbit

2011-01-07T23:41:00.000+02:00

2011 is the Year of the Rabbit! In honour of rabbits everywhere, here are some resolutions I would like to suggest:

Go Vegan in 2011! Do it for rabbits! Click here to find out more.
Start volunteering at your local animal shelter! If you're in the Sandton area, email Ceri about volunteering at the Sandton SPCA. Alternatively you can contact your local SPCA directly.
Donate to the Sandton SPCA online.
Join PETA!
Email me to join our activist database. You will be updated on upcoming protests and animal rights events.
Join Fur Free SA!
Recycle! You can do so with the help of Whole Earth Recycling.
Switch to products that are not tested on animals. You can get a list of cruelty-free products from Beauty Without Cruelty or PETA!

Enjoy 2011!

Goodbye to the Circus

2010-12-17T11:02:00.000+02:00

After two weeks of leafleting and holding signs outside the circus, the craziness is winding down. There are only five circus shows left - and we will have them all covered! While I'm so relieved that the demo is behind me, and most of the leafleting too, I think I'm mostly pleased that I won't have to drive past the circus every time I go to Fourways. It hurts my heart every time I see it, and think about those poor animals!

The demo made photo of the day in a German newspaper.

While I'm relieved that it'll be over soon, I'm also keenly aware that it is never over for the animals. On Monday they will load the animals into hot trailers and truck them for hours to their next destination. Then the animals will have to perform complicated tricks twice a day, under the constant threat of punishment. For them, it really never ends.

For me? I am tabling at the Bryanston Organic Market tomorrow, so stop by to say hello!

To find out more about future campaigns, please email me so we can add you to our activist network.

News and Updates

2010-12-14T21:39:00.002+02:00

This morning Ashley from PETA Asia and I were on Chai FM to talk about our anti-circus campaign. I am so grateful for the opportunity to talk to the public about what really happens to animals who are victims of the entertainment industry.
After the interview I went into a nearby shop, where someone saw my PETA tshirt and gave me her contact information so that I can let her know about our next campaign! It's always so fun to meet another activist and vegan.
This evening five activists and I leafleted outside the circus so that circus goers know what really goes on! I got to meet some really wonderful people, and we had a very positive response from the public. One of the activists - a first-timer - commented that doing this kind of work "really feeds your soul". I completely agree!
I am tabling at the Bryanston Organic Market this Saturday. Come along to get some literature and free stickers, or just to say hi!
Email me if you would like to get involved in work we do in the future.
I just found a really fun game: Super Chick Sisters! No need to ask what I'm doing with the rest of my evening.
Have a look at this amazing anti-fur march in Tokyo.
PETA has written a letter to Santa.

CLAW Goodwill Christmas Carnival

2010-12-12T21:41:00.001+02:00

Every year, the good people at CLAW put on a Carnival for the underprivileged children of Durban Deep, and surrounding areas. For just one day, the Cecil Payne Stadium in Roodepoort is transformed into an exciting fete, with clowns, a wizard, jumping castles, balloons and face-painting!

My friends and I hosted our own stall, where the 780 children who attended could play fun games and win great prizes!

We had treasure chests, where the children wore blindfolds and dug for fun prizes:

A hula hooping contest:

Musical statues:

Fortunately, it didn't rain until the Carnival was over! I guess the Universe decided it wouldn't be fair to ruin the day!

Cora Bailey, founder of CLAW, said: "The kids loved it!! For most of them its the only day out of squalor all year. They start asking about it early in the year. Bus trip, food, games, presents - loads of stuff we take for granted. Its not possible to host a day like this without the help of others." To make a donation to CLAW, click here.

PETA Demo Makes the News!

2010-12-08T17:53:00.000+02:00

We also made photo of the day!

Anti-Circus Demo 07-12-10

2010-12-08T00:16:00.002+02:00

What a fun, fantastic demonstration today! I was so overwhelmed by the turnout. We had over 40 people, which was far more than we expected. Thank you to everyone who came, brought friends, and did such a great job! Thank you also to everyone who dressed up as convicts - and to Pinnacle Digital Solutions for the posters and banner - the visual was fantastic.

The news outlets who came were the Star, and Fourways Review. There was also a photographer from EPA. Please let me know if you see the demo in any of the media!

Radio presenters Grant and Anele (5FM) apparently talked about how terrible the circus is, and gave the information about the demo on their show! Some people showed up because they had just heard about the demo on the radio, and decided to join us at the last minute!

The Circus

2010-12-02T16:00:00.001+02:00

A 2008 study by NGO Public Watch found evidence that circus animals are "mistreated". This is not news, really, as animal rights organisations have been asking people to steer clear of the circus for decades.

Photograph from the Sunday Times

The undercover investigation by Public Watch found elephants "chained by their legs for 19 hours a day; left outside in extreme heat with no shelter; given water only twice a day; and made to urinate on command." Elephants should not have to endure this unnatural lifestyle.

Photograph from the circus's own website. I wonder what you have to do to an elephant to make him dance?

While acrobats, trapeze artists and clowns thrive on the thrill of performing, and the praise from the crowds, wild animals don't want to perform, or be anywhere near huge crowds! Studies of circuses around the world confirm this. I would love to attend a circus with only human performers - people who are skilled artists demonstrating their own agility - instead of one where animals are made to do tricks!

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has photographs of "a chimpanzee in an 'extremely emaciated state', and another with broken teeth."
I am concerned about the basic logistics of a circus that performs six days a week, and travels on the seventh. As anyone who drives past the circus can see, the elephants are chained to a trailer when they're not performing. They spend the seventh day driving in a hot trailer to the next venue. This doesn't seem to leave any time to, you know, just be elephants.

In this very moving video, renowned wildlife rehabilitation expert Karen Trendler talks about the methods that are typically used to make elephants do tricks.

Brian Boswell and his lions. Photograph from freddevries.co.za.

If you would like information on the Johannesburg anti-circus demo, please email me.

The First of December

2010-12-01T22:03:00.000+02:00

I have had some really fun experiences today and I just have to share them.

First, I went to the Johannesburg Metro Police Department to tell them about next week's circus demo. (Email me for more info.) The first thing they asked was whether the last demo was a success - actually, whether we "won"! I thought this was very sweet! They also told me they would come to protect us from the circus people!

While at JMPD, I was approached by representatives of the Golden Triangle Community Crisis Committee (Golcom). They were there to apply for a permit to protest about their right to housing, but wanted to talk to me about PETA. They have concerns about the dogs in their community, who are chained and caged for long periods. It always warms my heart when people who are living in shelters they have built themselves, with no electricity, reach out for help for mistreated dogs! They told me their own dogs sleep indoors, and they don't like to see dogs left outside.

I contacted Community Led Animal Welfare, and received a positive response right away! Cora Bailey agreed to speak at the Golcom Community Meeting this Sunday, and take a team into the community next week to help them with their dogs. Please consider donating to CLAW to help with their fantastic work!

I came home to discover that a friend had dropped off a whole bunch of toys for the stall I am hosting at the CLAW Christmas Carnival (an event that ensures 600 underprivileged children have a fun Christmas!). When I went to yoga, more toys had been collected for the carnival!

Oh, and I also got to visit some of the happiest rescue animals I have ever seen!

Today set a pretty high standard which tomorrow probably won't meet.

A Wonderful Story!

2010-11-29T17:24:00.000+02:00

This dog was abandoned by his owner and left with two other dogs on the property. He was left unchained while the other two dogs were tied up. He scavenged for food each day and brought it to the other two tied-up dogs. He kept them alive for a month before CLAW (Community Led Animal Welfare) rescued them! He is an absolute saviour and deserves a second chance at life! Please contact CLAW on 011 763 1638 if you can help him.

Pictures from the Fur Free SA Demo

2010-11-29T11:16:00.000+02:00

Here are some pictures from the Fur Free SA demo this weekend, taken by Tricia Davis of Fur Free SA.

Here I am with my dog, Lucy Elizabeth; Kelly-Leigh of Spread the Word; and Matthew.

Here activists are demonstrating the plight of animals caged and skinned alive for their fur.