The Vegan Vine

I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Faux Fur

2012-01-05T11:50:00.016-05:00

I was faced with a dilemma this past Christmas. A relative gifted me a beautiful pair of warm, weatherproof gloves with cuffs lined with faux fur mimicking that of a rabbit or chinchilla. I desperately need a new pair of gloves since my current pair is frayed at the edges and doesn't keep my hands very warm. The new pair has many labels guaranteeing that it is faux fur; however, as much as I would like to keep the new pair, I cannot consciously do so and here's why. While I know that the fur is fake, nobody else will. I could, of course, announce their imitation to every passerby on the street who happens to notice them, but this is not a very realistic (or sane) option. The bottom line is that if I wear these new gloves, my statement to the world will be that fur—fake or real—is fashionable.

Being vegan means having accountability and discipline in taking care to avoid all forms of animal exploitation. I try to do this every day through the choices I make from the food I eat, to the clothes I wear, to the toothpaste I use. As a passionate proponent of animal rights and a minority, I'm quite cognizant that everything I do must reflect my vegan values. Furthermore, I have to remain vigilant of how my actions affect animals and influence how others see and treat them.

Many companies that have their clothing made in China have sold products that were labeled as having faux fur but which still contained real fur. Sadly, China treats its dogs and cats similarly to how we Americans treat cows, pigs, and chickens. Investigations by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have found that dog and cat fur is still finding its way into the country on unlabeled and falsely advertised clothing. You may think you're buying faux fur, but you could be buying the real thing. And why, may I ask, is it so unacceptable for some to wear dog and cat fur, yet it is tolerable to wear the fur of other animals like rabbits, beavers, foxes, and minks? Don't all animals feel pain?

Real or not, fur is considered a desirable luxury and makes itself unmistakably apparent when worn out in public. Consequently, some companies have sought to fill a niche market for those who like the look and feel of fur, but who don't want animals to suffer for their shallow conspicuous consumption. Animals captured or bred for fur are often maimed in traps and face brutal deaths at the hands of humans; some are suffocated and drowned to death, some have their chests crushed, and others have electric prods forced up their anuses to electrocute them to death. Companies like Imposter insist that they are saving animals by "harnessing the power of enterprise" by copying the look and feel of real animals. I say that by promoting these faux fur products (and may I add, expensive ones at that), they are continuing to send the message that it is fashionable and opulent to wear fur, leaving the door ajar for those who still covet the "real thing."

As animal activists or simply as people of compassion, we should just avoid wearing any resemblance of an animal's fur and make a statement that the look of fur can never be appealing or fashion forward. One year, models in magazine ads are denouncing fur, claiming they'd rather go naked than wear fur, and the next year they're wearing it again. Can one's conscience be that malleable? Celebrities for PETA advertise themselves in near-naked poses to protest wearing fur but that doesn't stop them from consuming the bodies of dead animals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The zeitgeist persists in telling us that it is acceptable to continue exploiting animals with little to no moral resistance.

There is never a reason for animal exploitation of any kind. I say ditch fur altogether, including faux fur, and proclaim that animal fur is not and will never be stylish on human animals. And while you're at, stop eating animals, too, if you haven't already done so. The only imposter here is us when we claim to love animals but continue participating in their suffering and death by consuming them and their bodily fluids and unfertilized ovum. While advocating for animals on a single issue like fur is a step in the right direction, we cannot claim to be lovers of animals and proponents of justice until we stand up for ALL animals.

Click here for more information on the fur industry and to find fur-free retailers.

Photo courtesy of PETA.

Animal Activist Uses Art to Inspire Change

2011-12-24T10:18:00.015-05:00

Advocates for veganism and animal rights are no strangers to the use of art to bear witness to animal suffering as well as to foment change. In sketching, drawing, and painting what she has seen in factory farms, slaughterhouses, and other places where animals are made to suffer all over the world, New York-based British artist Sue Coe is both a witness and a change agent. Our Hen House, the internet’s hub of all things vegan and animal rights (which was recently named Indie Media Powerhouse of 2011 by VegNews Magazine), is proud to announce the latest installment in their Art of the Animal series: a new video-short, Sue Coe: Art of the Animal.

Our Hen House’s ongoing Art of the Animal video series speaks with artists of all kinds who speak up for animals through their medium. Previous subjects have included visual artist Jonathan Horowitz, singer-songwriter Joy Askew, filmmakers Denis Henry Hennelly and Casey Suchan, and poet Gretchen Primack.

Directed by Our Hen House’s Executive Director, Jasmin Singer, the video-short takes the viewer on a journey narrated by Sue Coe, and features selections from her vast body of work which, through revelatory images, documents the reality of animal exploitation. Coe describes the impetus behind her life’s work—growing up next door to a hog farm and hearing the hogs’ screaming as they were led to slaughter. These experiences left an indelible mark on the artist. In turn, Coe leaves her own mark on the hearts and minds of anyone who views her images, which have been shown in galleries and museums all over the world. The unapologetically graphic nature of Coe’s work results in viewers bearing witness to animal suffering—a fate that began for Coe so many years ago—yet also leaves many feeling inspired to create change. For Sue Coe, and for many of us who take in her images, complacency is no longer an option. Though many vegans and animal rights advocates are already aware of these realities, even seasoned activists will be moved and inspired by Coe’s artistic explorations of animal suffering.

Click here to view the video.

Source and photo courtesy of Our Hen House.

The Perfect Last Minute Gift Idea

2011-12-17T09:00:00.022-05:00

If you’re like most people, you’re probably counting down the days until you get some much-needed holiday downtime. During the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it can be easy to forget that animals on today’s factory farms never get a holiday. While we laugh and enjoy good times with our friends and family, farmed animals are frightened, alone, and severely confined in darkness 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Abused day in and day out, they can barely move, lie down, or even extend their limbs and, eventually, will be mercilessly slaughtered. It’s a miserable life that you wouldn’t want any animal to endure. The only way to help end this suffering is to adopt a vegan diet. A great holiday gift idea that could help spread the vegan message and bring peace to these gentle beings, while providing a one-of-a-kind gift solution for the person who has everything, is a Farm Sanctuary holiday sponsorship.

For as little as $10 a month (for a chicken), Farm Sanctuary’s holiday sponsorships allow shoppers to “adopt” a rescued farmed animal who resides at one of their bicoastal shelters. The rescued animals at Farm Sanctuary are finally safe from harm, but they rely on sponsorship support for their daily care. As a sponsor, you will become an essential part of your adopted animal’s life by helping to provide the food, bedding, medicine, and individualized care your animal will need to live peacefully at the shelter. Gift recipients will be mailed a unique and memorable sponsorship package that includes a personalized adoption certificate, a beautiful color photo, and details about scheduling a VIP tour to meet their adopted friend. It’s a gift you can feel great about giving and receiving! Here are some of this year’s adoptable animals:

It’s hard to believe that someone would leave a sensitive animal tied up in the trunk of a car without food or water for two days, but that is exactly what happened to Noel. Thankfully, he was discovered by police and brought to Farm Sanctuary. Now safe at the spacious Orland Shelter in California, Noel will brighten your holiday when you sponsor him. Sponsor Noel

Natural disasters claim the lives of countless farm animals each year. But this summer, severe flooding spared this lucky piglet from a cruel end at a factory farm. Jane was found by a supporter and will be spending her first of many holidays at the New York Shelter.
Sponsor Jane

Dandypants was found on the street, running for his life after he likely escaped from a live market in Los Angeles. This handsome rooster now spends his days strutting proudly at Farm Sanctuary’s Animal Acres
in Acton, CA.
Sponsor Dandypants

Farm animals aren’t supposed to make it out of a slaughterhouse alive. Ironically, the neglect of Agnes and other animals was so severe that humane officers were compelled to seize them. Agnes now thrives at Farm Sanctuary’s Animal Acres.
Sponsor Agnes

Finally, the best way to help animals is to not eat them or their byproducts so that places like Farm Sanctuary will no longer be necessary. Click here for a free vegan starter kit .

Source and photos courtesy of Farm Sanctuary.

New Website Delivers the Science AND Ethics to End Animal Research

2011-12-03T15:42:00.014-05:00

Founded in 1895, NEAVS, the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, one of the most respected national organizations working on behalf of animals in labs, recently announced the launch of their new interactive website that delivers the scientific facts and humane ethics to end animal use in research, testing, and education.

Dr. Theodora Capaldo, President of NEAVS, noted, “Years ago, no one understood the science behind our mission. People thought our work to get animals out of labs was based only on ethical and humane concerns. Today, we bolster our ethical arguments with scientific evidence. A growing number of policy makers, the public, and scientists now understand the limitations and dangers of using animals as models for human disease. Today’s science is developing, validating, and using non-animal alternatives that are proving not only more humane, but also better science. The American public reluctantly accepted the use of animals because they thought it was necessary and useful; now, we have the science behind us to show them it is neither. NEAVS’ new website carries a loud and clear message: animal research must end for everyone’s benefit.”

Precise and purposeful, neavs.org informs the public about the realities of animal research and encourages them to get involved. Emphasized Dr. Capaldo, “We launched our new website so that visitors can go to one trusted resource for comprehensive and relevant information including scientific papers, legislative initiatives, alternatives, and what they can do to help end and replace the use of animals.”

In 2006, NEAVS spearheaded national efforts on behalf of chimpanzees with Project R&R: Release and Restitution for Chimpanzees in U.S. Laboratories and launched the award-winning website releasechimps.org—the most comprehensive source of information on the plight of chimpanzees in biomedical research. NEAVS is currently asking people to tell their congressman and senators to cosponsor The Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act (H.R.1513/S.810), which will end the use of chimpanzees in invasive biomedical research and retire all federally-owned chimpanzees to permanent sanctuary.

NEAVS’ new site extends that quality resource to encompass all areas of research, testing, and science education.

Source: NEAVS

Two Businessmen Put Their Money Where Their Mouths Aren't

2011-11-05T11:33:00.008-04:00

Thanksgiving is a time of great warmth, gratitude, and the comfort of being surrounded by family and friends—unless you’re a turkey. That’s why two Boston businessmen are putting their money where their mouths aren’t. Not only will John Talbot, founder of Boston Baked Bonz, a company that makes organic vegan dog treats, and Dorr Begnal, Managing Director of Park Street Capital, not be eating a turkey this holiday, they have pledged to save as many birds as they can by matching every contribution to Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey Project, up to $50K. As the proud parents of four beloved rescued dogs, the decision to help turkeys rescued from the abusive commercial turkey industry just made good sense.

“Like many people, our dogs are valued members of our family,” explains Talbot, an attorney turned entrepreneur. “We cherish them so much we even built a business around celebrating the special relationship that people have with their dogs. But here’s the thing—we’re not comfortable making arbitrary distinctions between animals. We’ve spent a lot of time with rescued turkeys at Farm Sanctuary’s shelters, and we know that these animals are just as intelligent and affectionate as our dogs. We would never allow dogs to be subjected to the intolerable cruelty that millions of turkeys endure every year on industrial farms, so why would we allow it to happen to turkeys?” Adds Begnal, “I can’t think of a better investment to make than one that contributes to building a more compassionate world."

For 25 years, the Adopt-A-Turkey Project seeks to inspire people to make more compassionate choices and end the misery of commercially-raised turkeys, while providing support for the care of more than 1,000 rescued turkeys. For a one-time donation of just $30, adopters will receive a special Adopt-A-Turkey certificate complete with color photo of a rescued turkey who resides at one of Farm Sanctuary’s shelters and fun details about their adopted turkey. These donations help Farm Sanctuary educate and advocate for turkeys, and other farmed animals, everywhere.

This year’s irresistible flock of “adoptable” turkeys include Skip, Payton, Elizabeth, Amelinda, Antoinette, Raphael and Victoria.

Between 250 to 300 million turkeys are raised for slaughter every year in the U.S.—more than 46 million alone for Thanksgiving. Birds are typically packed by the thousands into dark, filthy factory farm warehouses, where they are allotted approximately three square feet of space in which to live. Debeaked and detoed without any pain relief, these birds are bred to reach a crippling weight at an unnaturally fast rate. When turkeys reach only 14 to 18 weeks of age they are transported to slaughter, often under harrowing conditions. Because turkeys and other birds are specifically excluded from the Humane Slaughter Act, which requires that animals be stunned prior to slaughter, their deaths are a brutal end to a miserable existence.

“Here at Farm Sanctuary, we live with turkeys, so we know they are interesting and intelligent and have complex emotional lives like dogs, cats and other animals," says Farm Sanctuary President and Co-Founder Gene Baur. "Sadly, the meat industry subjects turkeys to intolerable cruelty and treats them like inanimate objects with no feelings or personalities. The important thing to realize about the Adopt-A-Turkey Project is that it’s not about giving anything up—it’s about embracing your deepest values and celebrating in a way that is consistent with those values. No one likes cruelty to animals, and when people learn about what happens to turkeys on factory farms, the decision to skip the turkey in favor of compassionate plant-based options is an easy one to make.”

For compassionate Thanksgiving recipes, click here.

You can learn more about Thanksgiving’s toll on turkeys here.

To sponsor a turkey today or donate to the Adopt-A-Turkey Project and have your gift DOUBLED, visit adoptaturkey.org or call the Turkey Adoption Hotline at 1-888-SPONSOR.

Source/Photo Credit: Farm Sanctuary

MFA Offers Truth in Advertising With New TV Ad

2011-10-25T16:25:00.025-04:00

Imagine you’re rushing through the fast-food drive-thru grabbing your lunch. As you reach for your cheeseburger, blood begins to seep from the bag onto your hands and car seat. Yes, blood! The experience would be disturbing, right? I bet you’d never look at a burger the same way again.

The sobering truth is that the hidden ingredient in burgers and chicken nuggets are unspeakable acts of cruelty to animals.

Every year, billions—that’s right, billions—of farmed animals are crammed in tiny, filthy cages where they can hardly move. They have their bodies cut, burned, and mutilated without even as much as a drop of painkiller. They are beaten, abused, and neglected. And, in the end, they shake in fear as they wait their turn to have their throats slit at the slaughterhouse.

Each and every one of these animals is an intelligent, sensitive, and loving individual—no different than our dogs and cats. Yet, the brutality they endure takes place out of sight and out of mind from most Americans.

But a brand new Mercy For Animals (MFA) television advertising campaign is about to change all of this, bringing consumers face-to-face with the harsh reality animals suffer before becoming breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

MFA is launching an ambitious national ad campaign consisting of three groundbreaking television advertisements that will air from coast-to-coast on MTV. Over the next month, the spots will be viewed millions of times.

Click here to watch the new ads.

Any compassionate American would be horrified to see how farmed animals are abused on giant factory farms and in slaughterhouses. But too few know the truth.

MFA’s new ad campaign throws open the doors of factory farms, shining a bright national spotlight on the animals suffering in silence within. In doing so, they move toward inspiring millions of consumers to choose kindness over cruelty by choosing vegetarian—preventing cruelty and sparing countless lives in the process.

The abuses animals endure on factory farms and in slaughterhouses thrive in secrecy. By placing powerful ads exposing the hidden costs of meat and dairy—animal abuse—side by side with those for KFC, McDonald’s, and Burger King, we can begin to change the tide for farmed animals in America.

If you can, please support MFA’s eye-opening ad campaign by making a tax-deductible donation today.

Click here for a Free Vegetarian Starter Kit.

Source courtesy of Mercy For Animals.

Pennsylvania Jobs Plan: Kill More Animals

2011-10-08T11:43:00.022-04:00

Pennsylvania has its very own version of a jobs plan. It’s called expanded Sunday hunting. It’s not enough that Pennsylvanians are already allowed to kill pheasants, chukars, foxes, crows, and coyotes any day of the week, including Sunday. Now, House Bill 1760 introduced by Representative John Evans, chairman of the House Game and Fisheries Committee, aims to expand Sunday hunting to include additional unnamed “furbearing” species. (I wonder if this includes women wearing fur coats.)

According to a recent study conducted by the very partial National Shooting Sports Foundation, expanded Sunday hunting will provide 8,000 new jobs and $750 million in economic activity. Whether this is true or not, this study is all the validation the State of Pennsylvania needs to give hunters permission to persecute even more animals.

It’s well known that States love to promote hunting and dole out hunting licenses because of the money it brings into the State. Consequently, the PA Legislative Budget and Finance Committee is also backing expanded hunting at the expense of the lives of innocent animals. According to my State representative, they are currently exploring ways to “better promote the outdoors” through hunting. Yes, what better way to encourage citizens to explore all the wonders of the natural world than to arm them and their children with guns so that they can kill anyone who moves! Not surprisingly, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) also supports expanding Sunday hunting. They insist that it will help to “properly manage wildlife populations and generate greater opportunity and interest in hunting, especially among youth.”

Currently, Pennsylvania is the only State in the nation to allow pigeon shooting whereby pigeons are trapped in boxes for weeks and then released only yards away from hunters who eagerly attempt to gun them down. The birds are frightened, hungry, and dehydrated. Once shot, a majority of birds die slow, agonizing deaths at the hands of children who are often present to pick up the dying birds and administer the final blow by breaking the birds’ necks, stepping on them, suffocating them, or cutting their heads off with garden shears!

There’s so much wrong with hunting before even considering the conflict of interest inherent in State money being tied to this deplorable yet tolerated custom. First of all, hunting is barbaric any day of the week. Secondly, tying the taking of innocent lives to money and jobs is sick and appalling. To mask hunting as a benefit to managing wildlife is pure hooey. And to encourage youth to be so callous towards animals is even worse. Teaching a child how to kill another living being is not a sport—it is child abuse, turning children into desensitized and compassionless monsters who torture animals and who will probably go on to commit violence against human animals.

There is simply no justification for taking the lives of other living beings, no matter how much we try to convince our human-centric selves otherwise. The truth of the matter is that the only population that needs managing is the human one. I think the animals would agree. If only we could get all those Elmer Fudds out there to turn in their guns and slap on a condom.

Take Action: If you live in PA, please tell your senator and representative that you are opposed to hunting any day of the week. Tell them to vote "no" to HB 1760 to expanding Sunday hunting, and to vote "yes" to SB 626 to end live pigeon shoots. Click here to find your legislator.

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Comedian Shows the Funny, Lighter Side of Vegans

2011-09-07T17:08:00.013-04:00

Our Hen House, the all-media online clearinghouse for all things animal rights, is pleased to present the newest installment of its Art of the Animal series, an enlightening and light-hearted videocast interview with acclaimed vegan comedian Myq Kaplan.

Our Hen House’s Art of the Animal series is committed to presenting vegan artists who advocate for animals in their work and use their creativity to educate. Says Our Hen House Co-founder and Executive Director Jasmin Singer, "The Our Hen House Art of the Animal series explores the under-examined, yet so vitally important connection between art and advocacy. Myq Kaplan's ability to bring his unique and intelligent brand of humor to bear on the quest to change the world for animals is refreshing, and, in its own way, profound."

The hands-down hilarious comedian, who has appeared on Conan and was a finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, uses his sharp comedic mind and unabashed wit to deliver a healthy dose of humor to the serious subject of a vegan lifestyle. Speaking as an insider, rather than pointing fingers from the outside, he nevertheless pulls no punches in his jabs at vegans, though he manages to take down their detractors as well.

Our Hen House produces resources that visitors can use to find their way to create change for animals. Using, video, audio, interviews, reviews, and the written word, the organization provides daily updates on what the public needs to create change. Changemakers come in all shapes and sizes — artists, grassroots activists, academics, lawyers, students, business moguls, media darlings, etc. No matter what their niche is, Our Hen House aims to give people what they need to be part of a new world for animals.

Source courtesy of Maya Gottfried at Girl and the World (cruelty-free communications).

Taking It to the Streets For Abused and Neglected Farm Animals

2011-08-24T10:48:00.009-04:00

This fall, thousands of people in more than 35 cities across North America will gather for the 2011 Walk for Farm Animals, a series of fun, community-focused events that promote kindness to animals and raise vital funds to support the lifesaving work of Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization.

For 25 years, Farm Sanctuary has relied on the Walk to support its mission to protect farm animals from cruelty and inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals. These family-friendly events are an opportunity for those concerned with the cruel and horrific practices of factory farming to take a stand in support of compassion for animals and raise awareness about the mistreatment of animals raised for food. Each event will offer its own unique schedule, including such attractions as speakers, live music, delicious food, raffle prizes, face painting, and costume contests.

“When you walk, you give hope to billions of farm animals who suffer appalling cruelty and confinement each year on factory farms,” says Farm Sanctuary President and Co-Founder Gene Baur, who TIME magazine recently called “the conscience of the food movement.” “The Walk for Farm Animals is a positive way to speak out on behalf of animals who cannot speak for themselves and to make a real difference in their lives.”

For more information on the Walk and how to register, please visit w a lk f orfarmanimals.org.

Another way to help farm animals is to simply not eat them or their byproducts. Click here for a Free Vegan Starter Kit.

Events to Help End Bear Bile Trade

2011-08-03T13:33:00.000-04:00

It’s been two years since Animals Asia Founder and Executive Director Jill Robinson last visited New York City. The United Kingdom native is usually based in China, where she leads her organization’s efforts in advocating for and rescuing Moon bears and other suffering animals in Asia. This month, she returns to the States to help close down the U.S. side of the international bear bile trade.

In 1993, Robinson broke away from a tour group in China and witnessed Asiatic black bears (also known as Moon bears) being farmed for their bile. The bold and sentient beings are incarcerated in tiny wire cages with rusting metal catheters implanted through crude holes cut into their abdomen walls and into their gall bladders so that their bile can be extracted and used in folk medicine to cure ailments ranging from headaches to hemorrhoids. Bear bile is also used in shampoos, wines, and sodas. Sadly, the bears suffer greatly for these medicinals. Their wounds are deliberately left open, leaving the bears subject to bacterial infection and disease. Robinson responded to what she saw with action and began her work building relationships and negotiating with government departments to bring an end to this cruel practice.

Founded in 1998, Animals Asia has since rescued 361 bears and continues to work to end their plight. The saved Moon bears come to live out the rest of their lives in the peaceful Moon Bear Rescue sanctuaries located in China and Vietnam.

In addition to its shelters, Animals Asia now has offices in China, Australia, Germany, Italy, the U.K., and the U.S.A. Animals Asia also promotes two other campaigns. One campaign, called Cat and Dog Welfare, advocates embracing cats and dogs as friends, not food, as they are currently raised in large numbers to be consumed in countries like China, Vietnam and Korea, similarly to how Americans raise chickens, cows, and pigs. Animals Asia's other campaign, Action against Cruelty, seeks to end circus-style performances involving wild animals in zoos and safari parks.

As part of her North American road show, Robinson will be making two appearances in New York City this August. On Friday, August 19, she will give a special presentation at Jivamuktea Café, part of the Jivamukti Yoga School. The event will be emceed by Joshua Katcher of The Discerning Brute, who was deemed a “vegan superstar…” by Oprah.com. This event is free and open to the public. No RSVP required.

On Sunday, August 21, Robinson will join supporters for an intimate reception at the Kitano Hotel. The event will feature a presentation, talk by Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, light vegan dinner, and silent auction. Rosenthal is the sponsor of AB 6291, the New York bill aimed at closing the bear bile trade in the state. The bill was passed through state legislature last month and is currently awaiting the governor’s signature. It represents a major step forward in closing down the U.S. side of the international bear bile trade. Rosenthal was a great force in its passage and will be honored at the Kitano hotel event. Tickets to “An Intimate Reception with Jill Robinson” are available for $75 by calling (415) 677-9601 or click here to order online. All proceeds will benefit Animals Asia’s work in Asia and throughout the world.

For more information or to find out how you can help stop the bear bile trade, visit Animals Asia.

To learn how to recognize products containing bear bile, visit the New England Anti-Vivisection Society.

Photos courtesy of Animals Asia.

Animal Welfare Groups Lay an Egg

2011-07-19T12:12:00.018-04:00

You are a slave in the American South in 1860. You live in an 8’ x 8’ shack. You are tortured daily. A slave welfare organization is lobbying on your behalf and that of all slaves. They have struck a deal with those who own you that they insist will help you. The slave welfare organization works out an arrangement with your tormentors to increase your shack size to up to 12’ x 12’; however, this will only go into effect some eighteen years down the road. Oh, and you’ll eventually be able to wash, bathe and sleep, but you will still be held against your will, tortured, and eventually killed.

Does this sound like a good contract for you? Has the slave’s suffering really been reduced? Do you think President Lincoln would have made such an agreement with the Confederacy during the Civil War?

The latest deal concocted between animal welfare advocates like the Humane Society and the United Egg Producers (UEP) is a similarly pitiable arrangement. If the proposed law gets enacted, hens will get up to 144 square inches of space each, compared to the 67 square inches most get today. (The key words here are “up to.”) Hens will also be given space to do things that come naturally to them like perch, scratch, and nest; however, they will still be held against their will in cages, tortured, and mercilessly killed for food production.

The only group that stands to benefit from such a deal is the UEP. Not only does this guarantee a continued market for their product, but their eggs will seem more acceptable to a blissfully ignorant public who is eager to keep eating animal products. Furthermore, egg farmers can dupe their customers into believing that their eggs are “humane” since the proposed law will be sanctioned by animal welfare groups. Moreover, if passed, the new federal law will make it harder—if not impossible—for states to enact tougher standards.

I propose that animal activists spend less time wheeling and dealing for meaningless reform and more time eradicating animal industries. PETA claimed major victories ten years ago when it got fast food companies like Burger King and Wendy’s to agree to animal welfare standards like “humane catching guidelines to reduce the number of chickens' broken bones as a result of rough handling.” So what? Ten years have past and fast food companies still offer the same cruel, tortured animal products, only now, Burger King and Wendy's can ludicrously claim that they are somehow humane because PETA said so.

Animal activist groups should be putting animal industries out of business, not shaking their executive's hands and making pacts to mitigate animal suffering from severe suffering to moderately severe suffering. Once a federal law like the one proposed gets adopted, it will be difficult to reopen the door and argue for more protections, and the UEP is well aware of this. We should put more focus on undercover investigations, revealing the ugly truths of animal production and showing people the error of their ways, not tip-toeing around carnists and agreeing to celebrated backroom deals that do little to help animals. Furthermore, it is unfair, condescending, and just plain wrong to say that those animal activists who criticize such arrangements are contributing to animal suffering. Especially when, according to the New York Times, the Humane Society has “agreed to give up on a push to ban cages entirely in exchange for the opportunity to work toward a single, nationwide standard, even saying it would agree not to conduct undercover investigations at large egg farms unless it was aware of especially egregious practices.” Animal Law Professor Gary L. Francione summed it up perfectly when he said, “If this is a ‘landmark’ for hens, it would be difficult to conceptualize what a disaster would look like.”

People will find all kinds of reasons to keep eating animals, as recent poll numbers indicate for why some vegetarians return to eating meat. According to Psychology Today, one in four believed vegetarianism to be a hassle and almost one in five listed cravings as their reason for capitulation. Rather than disproving abolitionists, I believe this makes their case against reform. I was recently in the grocery store and saw some cookies I wanted, however, the ingredients listed “cage-free eggs,” so I didn’t buy them. I instantly thought about how easy the proposed law will make it for those less disciplined people who want to avoid hassles and give into their cravings. They will immediately see “humane eggs” as a green light to pass go and buy the product. I believe the proposed law will simply give people another reason not to change their eating habits; it will increase the production and purchase of animal products, not lessen it, which will increase suffering, not eliminate it. Therefore; reform efforts like the proposed law are a setback, not something to cheer.

I resent the implication that I am somehow turning my back on suffering; rather, I believe we need to abolish abuse, not reform it. I'm in favor of exposing the horrors and offering the remedy of veganism, not giving people another reason to feel better about doing what they have always done. I view meaningless reform against abolitionism similarly to the different methods that Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass employed with regards to slavery and segregation. Washington accepted the burden of racial segregation while Douglass railed against it. Douglass would never have accepted a deal to simply lesson the suffering of slaves just as we animal advocates should not accept such a compact with animal industries to continue using and abusing animals. Those fighting against animal slavery would be wise to do exactly what Douglass suggested to those fighting against African American slavery—“Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!”
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Pork Industry Trains Workers to Throw Piglets

2011-06-29T11:22:00.009-04:00

A new Mercy For Animals (MFA) undercover investigation provides a shocking look into one of the nation’s largest pork producers–Iowa Select Farms in Kamrar, Iowa. At this factory farm, mother sows and their piglets are forced to suffer brutal abuse and lives of unrelenting confinement and misery.

Between April and June of 2011, an MFA investigator documented:

Mother sows confined to barren metal stalls barely larger than their own bodies–unable to turn around or lie down comfortably for nearly their entire lives.
Workers ripping out the testicles of conscious piglets without the use of painkillers.
Piglets suffering with herniated intestines due to botched castration.
Conscious piglets having their tails painfully sliced into and yanked off with pliers.
Large, open, pus-filled wounds and pressure sores.
Sick and injured pigs left to languish and slowly die without proper veterinary care.
Mother pigs–physically taxed from constant birthing–suffering from distended, inflamed, bleeding and often fatal uterine prolapses.
Management training workers to throw piglets across the room–comparing it to a "rollercoaster ride."

Upon reviewing the undercover footage, world-renowned animal behaviorist Dr. Jonathan Balcombe denounced the facility, stating that "this video depicts scenes of unbearable suffering and inexcusable neglect. … This farm should be closed down at once."

Veterinarian Dr. Armaiti May also condemned the operation, stating, "I was greatly disturbed and appalled to watch footage of such horrifying cruelty and neglect towards pigs."

Confining mother pigs in such stalls is so patently cruel that the practice has been banned by the entire European Union, New Zealand, and the states of Florida, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, California, Maine and Michigan. Yet, while other states make progress to prevent cruelty to farmed animals, legislators in Iowa–the largest pork-producing state in the nation–are actively working to conceal it. At the behest of factory farm interests, Iowa legislators are considering an "ag-gag" bill that seeks to silence and intimidate whistleblowers who document and expose animal abuse. As this new investigation graphically illustrates, with not a single federal law providing protection to animals on factory farms, and Iowa state anti-cruelty law largely exempting farmed animals, legislators should be working to enact laws protecting animals, not abusers.

As MFA works to expose and end the exploitation of animals at the hands of the meat, egg and dairy industries, consumers still hold the greatest power of all to prevent needless suffering of farmed animals by adopting a healthy and humane vegan diet.

Source and video courtesy of Mercy For Animals.

Book Wins Award With "Ninety-Five" Excellent Reasons

2011-06-19T09:27:00.000-04:00

A book featuring the loveable faces and captivating stories of some of the rescued animals who reside at the bi-coastal shelters of Farm Sanctuary has won the Gold Medal in the Animals/Pets category of the Independent Publishers Awards (referred to in the publishing industry as the “IPPY Awards”). Ninety-Five: Meeting America’s Farmed Animals in Stories and Photographs, released last year by nonprofit publisher No Voice Unheard, has already caused thousands of readers to reevaluate their assumptions about farmed animals.

Flush with beautiful, full-color photographs, Ninety-Five [ISBN: 978-0-97283-875-7; 168 pages; $19.95] is a compilation of work by vegan photographers and writers, telling the fascinating stories of farmed animals living in sanctuaries and homes across the country. From the irrepressible Fiona, a pig at Farm Sanctuary’s New York Shelter who wins the hearts of all who visit, to a sheep aptly named Lucky Lady, who cheated death by escaping an auction house and journeying through the streets of New York City, to California Shelter residents Loretta and Harrison, the inseparable mother-son bovine duo who were reunited to ensure their survival after Harrison was found near death as a tiny calf, their stories are compelling, enlightening, and always moving.

According to Diane Leigh, No Voice Unheard co-founder, “For every person who reads Ninety-Five and decides to adopt a vegan diet, we know that approximately 95 animals are spared – hence the title of the book. We publish to honor animals and eliminate suffering; that is our ultimate goal.”

“Thanks to this book, people who may not have an opportunity to visit our shelters in New York and California will still be able to get to know some of our residents,” says Susie Coston, national shelter director for Farm Sanctuary. “When people meet farm animals, either in person or through stories and photographs, it changes the way they think about these complex beings. Suddenly, they are individuals with likes, dislikes, hopes, and desires that aren’t so different from our own.”

Animal advocates have adopted the book as a personal outreach tool, giving it as a gift to friends and family to “show them why I’m veg.” They are also keeping copies on their desks or coffee tables and spreading the animals’ stories via social media. Writes one advocate: “I have been able to get 30 copies in schools and libraries throughout my county. Working on churches next.”

Ninety-Five previously received an Eric Hoffer Book Award, which “honors the memory of the great American philosopher Eric Hoffer by highlighting salient writing, as well as the independent spirit of small publishers.”

Copies of Ninety-Five: Meeting America’s Farmed Animals in Stories and Photographs can be ordered here.

Photo and source courtesy of Farm Sanctuary.

Vegan Race Car Driver Visits Farm Sanctuary

2011-06-03T16:24:00.006-04:00

Motorsports and farm animal protection do not generally go hand in hand, but on Thursday, June 2, Watkins Glen’s two star attractions came together when vegan race car driver Spencer Pumpelly, a two-time winner of the Glen’s six hour race, paid a visit to the rescued animals of Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization.

“I am very passionate about both animals and health, and I want to do more to promote both,” says Pumpelly, who is returning to the Glen this Saturday as the defending GT champ. If he takes the top prize again, he plans to donate his share of the winnings to the organization to support their work on behalf of abused and neglected farm animals. “I am honored to support Farm Sanctuary and the people who are devoted to defending others.”

Pumpelly, who races sports cars professionally in several different series, has been a vegetarian for over eight years and a vegan for just under a year. He contacted Farm Sanctuary after seeing the Watkins Glen-based shelter and the organization’s President and Co-Founder Gene Baur featured in Forks Over Knives, a groundbreaking documentary examining the profound claim that most, if not all, of the so-called “diseases of affluence” (heart disease, stroke and diabetes) can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting the predominate menu of animal-based and processed foods. Pumpelly immediately made the connection between Farm Sanctuary’s shelter for abused and neglected farm animals and the nearby Watkins Glen Speedway, to which he travels every year to compete in races.

“I knew vegan was the right thing to do, but I always figured it would be too hard with all the traveling I do,” says Pumpelly. “I decided to give it a try last summer when several things, including my favorite local pizza joint starting to carry Daiya non-dairy cheese, seemed to point me in that direction. After a few weeks of adjusting, I now find it quite easy no matter where I go.”

“We are excited to have Spencer Pumpelly’s support,” says Baur. “We hope his dedication to protecting farm animals and compassionate living will inspire other race car drivers and racing enthusiasts to pay us a visit the next time they are in Watkins Glen.”

For updates on Saturday’s race, follow Spencer Pumpelly on Twitter @SpencerPumpelly.

Farm Sanctuary is open to visitors from May through October. Guided tours are offered Wednesday through Sunday on the hour. The first tour is at 11 a.m. and the last tour is at 3 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children under 12, and children 3 and under are admitted free. Directions to the New York Shelter in Watkins Glen are available here.

Source and photo courtesy of Farm Sanctuary.

Cross-Country Tour to Explore Vegan Food Movement

2011-05-22T11:38:00.009-04:00

To commemorate Farm Sanctuary’s 25th Anniversary, co-founder Gene Baur is hitting the open road for a three-week cross-country adventure to explore the food, people and places sparking a national awakening toward conscious consumption and respect for farm animals.

The Just Eats Tour launched from the organization’s 25th Anniversary Gala in New York City on May 14 and will arrive at its final stop in Orland, CA on June 5. In his iconic Volkswagen van, Gene will travel across America seeking out the game-changers at the heart of the movement. This is the same van Gene sold veggie hot dogs out of to raise the money to start Farm Sanctuary 25 years ago. Through recipes, videos, photos, blog posts, and interviews, Gene will explore the past, present, and future of the vegan food movement. He’ll also be eating well and sharing delicious recipes he picks up along the way.

“Farm Sanctuary has achieved great things in our first 25 years and I’m very optimistic about the next 25 years,” says Baur. “The Just Eats Tour is a chance to celebrate our history as well as an exploration of where we are going as a nation. I believe we are in the midst of an awakening about the profound impacts food has on our lives and the well-being of the planet. This adventure is about the people, places, and food behind the growing vegan food movement.”

Farm Sanctuary and Gene want you to be a part of the experience! Follow the van on the Just Eats Tour website, share your own recipes, take the Vegan Challenge, and enjoy the food, people and stories behind the fastest growing food movement in America.

Be part of the Just Eats Tour!

Follow the van online at www.justeatstour.org and follow Gene on Twitter at @genebaur
Share Just Eats Tour videos, recipes, and other content with your friends.
Take the Vegan Challenge during the tour!
Submit your own vegan recipes to be featured on the Just Eats Tour website.
Come meet Gene at any of the stops or encourage friends to do so.

Source and photo courtesy of Farm Sanctuary.

Star-Studded Anniversary Gala to Celebrate Vegan Food and Innovators

2011-05-06T12:00:00.005-04:00

Celebrities will mingle, legends will be honored, guests will be wowed, and all will be well fed at Farm Sanctuary’s 25th Anniversary Gala event on May 14 at New York City’s renowned Cipriani on Wall Street.

As the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, Farm Sanctuary has worked for 25 years to protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living. The star-studded Gala already includes actor Chevy Chase, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, Skinny Bitch author Rory Freedman, comedienne and writer Carol Leifer, “Hot in Cleveland” actress Wendie Malick, television and film actress Kathy Najimy, film actor Eric Roberts, “M*A*S*H” star Loretta Swit, actor Fred Willard, and music by singer-songwriter Nellie McKay.

“This is as much a celebration as a recognition that we are in the midst of a major awakening about the food we put in our bodies and what it means for the world around us,” said Gene Baur, co-founder of Farm Sanctuary. “Twenty-five years ago I couldn’t have predicted the profound effect Farm Sanctuary would have on how our society views and treats farm animals. We still have a long way to go and events like this are important milestones on the road to renewing our empathy and compassion.”

During the program, Farm Sanctuary will recognize the efforts of influential advocates, including:

Kathy Freston – a renowned health and wellness expert and a New York Times best-selling author of The Veganist and The Quantum Wellness Cleanse. Freston has been featured on Oprah, Ellen and Good Morning America, among other shows.
David Wolfson – America’s foremost animal law expert, Wolfson teaches animal law as a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School and has previously taught animal law at Cardozo Law School, Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. He is the author of a number of articles on animal protection law, with a focus on farm animal law, and represents a number of animal protection groups.
John Robbins – author of Food Revolution and Diet for a New America, Robbins is a social activist, humanitarian, and recipient of the Rachel Carson Award, the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award, and Peace Abbey's Courage of Conscience Award.
David Lee – president and co-founder of the Field Roast Grain Meat Company. A chef by trade, Lee’s goal is to establish a new paradigm for meat by providing people with quality vegetarian grain meats made with the simple tenets of good cooking and traditional food making practices. Lee is a long-time supporter of animal protection causes and his company supports organizations working to end farm animal suffering.
Susie Coston – Farm Sanctuary's national shelter director. She has been a committed farm animal caregiver for more than a decade and is a mentor for many of her peers (who have started their own sanctuaries). Coston is well-known for bringing the animals' stories of love, loss and life to the public. Currently, she oversees a full department of caregivers, feeders, cleaners, and project workers at the organization’s New York Shelter.

Animal Planet will also be there filming as part of a reality show series featuring activist and vegan baker Danielle Konya, of Vegan Treats bakery in Pennsylvania–who will be indulging guests with her signature treats.

The program will also feature live and silent auctions, which will feature unique farm animal-inspired items, including original paintings, photography, jewelry, and much more. Iconic American artist Peter Max has created original art in honor of Farm Sanctuary’s 25th anniversary–beautiful paintings of “Maxine,” the cow who is named in Mary and Peter Max’s honor and who resides at Farm Sanctuary’s Watkins Glen shelter.

As an added treat, Farm Sanctuary’s Just Eats Tour will be launching immediately after the dinner. The organization’s iconic founder, Gene Baur, will leave the event in the same VW van he used to found Farm Sanctuary 25 years ago for a three-week, cross-country adventure documenting the food, people and places that helped spark a national movement toward compassionate living and eating.

For more information on the event and how to register, please click here.

Source and photo courtesy of Farm Sanctuary

Undercover Video Reveals "Happy Cows" Fallacy

2011-04-27T21:40:00.003-04:00

A new Mercy For Animals (MFA) undercover investigation provides a horrifying look into the E6 Cattle Company in Hart, Texas, which supplies thousands of calves for the dairy industry. For over two weeks in March of 2011, an MFA investigator documented the operation's deplorable conditions and brutal mistreatment of animals.

MFA's hidden camera reveals:

Workers bludgeoning calves in their skulls with pickaxes and hammers–a killing method condemned by the American Veterinary Medical Association;
Beaten calves, still alive and conscious, thrown onto dead piles;
Workers kicking downed calves in the head, and standing on their necks and ribs;
Calves confined to squalid hutches, thick with manure and urine buildup, and barely large enough for the calves to turn around or fully extend their legs;
Gruesome injuries and afflictions, including open sores, swollen joints and severed hooves;
Ill, injured and dying calves denied medical care, and
The budding horns of calves burned out of their skulls without painkillers.

Upon reviewing the undercover footage, Temple Grandin, PhD, an animal welfare advisor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), declared: "It is obvious that both the management and the employees have no regard for animal welfare."

Following the undercover investigation, MFA alerted law enforcement authorities to violations of Texas anti-cruelty law at E6 Cattle Co., and presented a detailed legal complaint and meticulously compiled evidence of such violations to the Castro County District Attorney and Sheriff. The evidence demonstrates an ongoing pattern of torture, unjustifiable infliction of pain and suffering on animals, and a failure to provide necessary medical care. The case is currently under investigation.

As MFA continues to expose the unconscionable cruelties of animal agriculture, and to diligently pursue justice by aiding prosecutions of animal abusers, consumers still hold the greatest power of all to end the needless suffering and death of calves–and all farmed animals–by adopting a compassionate, vegan diet.

Click here to order a Free Vegetarian Starter Kit.

For more information, visit www.mercyforanimals.org

Source and video courtesy of Mercy For Animals (MFA)

Parents Urged to Think Twice Before Buying Pets This Easter

2011-04-20T14:40:00.011-04:00

With Easter just days away, and the animated movie Hop, featuring an adorable bunny as the main character, packing movie theaters nationwide; Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, is encouraging families to resist buying live bunnies, ducklings and chicks as gifts for their children, and instead sponsor an animal in need. Every year hundreds of baby chickens, ducks and rabbits find their way into Easter baskets, but they grow quickly, and interest in them is often lost as the reality of their long term care sets in. As a result, Farm Sanctuary’s California and New York Shelters see an abundance of people looking to find homes for unwanted animals immediately following Easter.

“Rabbits, ducks and chickens are living, feeling animals, not holiday trinkets, yet many people impulsively purchase them without considering whether or not they are prepared to take care of them for many years to come,” said Farm Sanctuary’s National Shelter Director Susie Coston. “We urge parents to show their children that animals deserve love when they’re all grown up just as much as when they were babies. They can do that by sponsoring an animal in need for their children this Easter rather than buying one.”

Farm Sanctuary sponsorships help provide year-round care for rescued animals in a setting where they can enjoy freedoms difficult to provide in households, such as the space necessary to exercise their natural behaviors and the ability to socialize with others of the same species. The animals available for sponsorship this Easter include: Stacey, a pig who had been used for practice surgeries at a university; Jade, a hen who was rescued from a cockfighting operation; Mr. Peepers, a goose who was a target of abuse for nearly 10 years; Bradley, a steer who was rescued from a dairy farm where he was tied in a filthy barn, unable to walk or lift his head; Preston, a duck who was found wandering the streets of New York City after likely having been bought during Easter and abandoned; and Lily, a goat who faced slaughter after being purchased as a gift for a child. Each unique sponsorship package includes a personalized adoption certificate with color photo that makes the perfect addition to any Easter basket.

To sponsor an animal for Easter, visit farmsanctuary.org.

Source and photo courtesy of Farm Sanctuary.

Taxpayer-Funded Torture

2011-04-15T14:06:00.006-04:00

Similarly to the bailout of Wall Street–but on a much more recurring basis–United States citizens unwittingly dole out their hard-earned money to sustain something even more heartless, unreliable and ineffective than Wall Street–animal research.

April 16-24 marks World Week for Animals in Laboratories (WWAIL), bringing awareness to the millions whose cries and screams go unheard every day in the bowels of a nightmarish underworld known as America’s laboratories.

Using animals for scientific research is as archaic as if doctors were still performing lobotomies. So, why are animals still experimented on? Quite simply–the money! Research is big business, so breeders, government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, universities, and others who profit generously from animal research will do anything to keep making money, even if it means convincing the public that animal testing is necessary. And, just like the Wall Street bailout, animal research is primarily funded by taxpayer dollars through grants doled out by government-run agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Laboratories are living hells. Some animals are born there and never leave. Many spend their entire lives (40+ years) surrounded by concrete and steel, subjected to nonstop physical and emotional pain. Reactions to trauma include persistent gagging from repeatedly having tubes stuck down their throats, chewed off fingernails from anxiety, rocking, and banging their heads on cell walls. In addition, hypervigilance, depression and self-abuse (biting themselves) have also been exhibited in laboratory animals. These symptoms of distress have also been observed in people who have suffered physical and sexual abuse, war and other traumatic experiences, proving that suffering is universal, regardless who is experiencing it.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates that more than 25 million animals are used annually for research, testing, and education. These animals include mice, rats, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, farm animals (pigs and sheep), dogs, primates (monkeys and chimpanzees), cats, frogs, and fish.

Chimpanzees used in research to study human diseases like HIV/AIDS remain incompatible and unsuccessful subjects, yet great apes linger behind bars because of the millions of dollars laboratories receive just to retain them. According to the New England Anti-Vivise ction Society (NEAVS), in just 2008, taxpayers awarded $27.8 million to U.S. laboratories to “house and maintain” chimpanzees. Congress recently reintroduced the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act (H.R. 1513/S. 810), which calls for an end to invasive biomedical research and testing on great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans). This proposed law also requires that all federally-owned great apes be given permanent sanctuary. This bill is long overdue, especially for the hundreds of apes languishing in cells who have never experienced climbing a tree or feeling the warmth of the sun.

Rabbits are used for eye irritancy tests and consumer product testing, among other experiments. They are immobilized in a device that only allows their heads to extend out while their eyes are held open with clips so that substances can be dropped into them. Tests may last as long as eighteen days and result in swollen eyelids, ulceration, bleeding and blindness. Many rabbits have broken their necks or backs struggling to escape. Other experiments include applying chemicals directly to their skin or forcing rabbits to ingest large quantities of toxic substances.

Dogs and cats are typically experimented on by colleges and universities. These dogs and cats are obtained from animal shelters, and from laboratory agents who answer “free to good home” ads and subsequently sell the animals to laboratories. Robert, an orange and white tabby cat, who was experimented on at the University of Utah, had a hole drilled into his skull so electrodes could be implanted in his brain for invasive brain experiments. Robert threw up following each experiment, which sent electrical currents through the electrodes in his brain making his legs move uncontrollably. He eventually became skittish and withdrawn, also exhibiting signs of trauma.

Rats and mice are most frequently used in experiments. Labs are not required to keep track of the number of rats and mice experimented on because they are not protected under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), but approximately twenty million-plus rats and mice are killed each year for research just in the U.S. These clever and friendly creatures are routinely infected with diseases, cut open, burned, mutilated, starved, poisoned and killed, usually without any anesthesia.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates drugs and cosmetics, has the power to require that non-animal testing alternatives be employed. The agency, however, continues to capitulate to industry pressure (read: pharmaceutical companies) by enforcing inadequate, unreliable and cruel animal tests, merely suggesting that alternatives be considered. There is little incentive for companies to use non-animal tests without the full force of the FDA making it mandatory. Until this happens, we will continue to have deadly results for both animals and humans as we did with Vioxx, the arthritis drug that was deemed safe after animal testing but was later pulled from pharmacy shelves after killing 60,000 people just in the U.S. According to NEAVS, adverse drug reactions cause more than 100,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. More than half of the drugs given the green light by the FDA are also pulled or relabeled for serious or fatal side effects that were not discovered during animal testing.

Newer, sophisticated technologies are making non-animal testing methods more and more prevalent. More than 500 manufacturers of cosmetics and household products have declined animal testing, opting instead for human clinical studies and test tube assessments that prove to be more accurate, cheaper and less time consuming.

According to In Defense of Animals (IDA), Tom's of Maine appealed to the American Dental Association (ADA) for seven years to grant its seal of approval to Tom's of Maine toothpastes. While other toothpaste companies were obediently performing deadly tests on rats to gain the ADA seal (They actually brushed the teeth of rats for more than a month, then killed them and examined their teeth under a microscope.), Tom's of Maine collaborated with researchers to create fluoride tests that could safely be conducted on human volunteers. The ADA accepted the results of these tests and granted its seal to several of the company's toothpastes in 1995. The company’s innovative efforts to find a humane alternative to cruel and tolerated animal tests set a precedent for other manufacturers to follow.

Non-animal testing methods benefit human health, eliminate animal suffering and save money. Transitioning to non-animal alternatives requires an educated public willing to question companies, governments and institutions that profit off of human ignorance and animal agony.

As a consumer, you can help reduce spending and eliminate animal cruelty by doing the following:

Urge your Congressman and Senators to support the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act (H.R. 1513/S. 810). For more information, visit Release Chimps.
Only buy consumer products that say “not tested on animals” or have the leaping bunny seal of approval. This seal indicates that the finished product–and all the ingredients that comprise it–was not tested on animals. For more information, visit Leaping Bunny Pledge.
Only support charities that do not test on animals. These organizations choose to put charitable dollars toward sensible, preventative measures and the latest technology, rather than to baseless, outdated animal experiments. For information on humane charities, visit Humane Charity Seal of Approval.
Speak up at school. Many states have enacted laws that allow students the right to refuse participation in animal dissection exercises. For more information, visit the New England Anti-Vivisection Society.

For more information on World Week for Animals in Laboratories, visit www.wwail.org.

Media Series Examines Connection Between Animal Rights and Gay Rights Movements

2011-04-03T10:00:00.003-04:00

Our Hen House, the all-media online clearinghouse for all things animal rights, has recently launched “The Gay Animal,” a compelling and revelatory series combining videocasts and blogs that examines the relationship between the animal rights and gay rights movements. The Gay Animal series will focus on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT)/Animal rights connection through insightful and honest profiles of LGBT-identifying individuals who are leaders in the animal rights and vegan movements.

Our Hen House co-founders Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan are also committed domestic partners, and have first hand knowledge of the intersection of the gay rights and animal rights movements. Says Our Hen House Executive Director Singer of the series, “In addition to the potential for awakening ourselves to others’ plights and fights, exploring the connections can give us deeper insight into the dangers inherent in the ‘othering’ mentality—you are different than me, which gives me the right to….” She adds, "Our Hen House's ‘The Gay Animal’ series aims to connect the dots between the LGBT and animal rights movements.”

The first installment of the series profiles Nathan Runkle, Founder and Executive Director of Mercy For Animals, one of the leading organizations in the farm animal rights and vegan movements.

Says Singer of the choice to feature Runkle first in the series, “Nathan epitomizes what it means to speak up for animals. He has used that platform to also speak against violence and inequality aimed at the LGBT community, by, among other things, marching behind a banner that says 'No one is free when others are oppressed' at gay pride parades, all the while leafleting with 'Go Vegan' brochures."

In Our Hen House’s beautifully produced video, the Mercy For Animals’ leader states, “Our community understands oppression and we understand being the center of unjustified hate and intolerance, and being treated different because people perceive us as being different from them…. Animals are oftentimes subject to oppression and exploitation because people consider them very different from us, even though in many important ways they’re very much like us, and they deserve the same consideration.”

The series will continue to look at the words and actions of those LGBT individuals who are making great strides for animals and for fellow members of the LGBT community.

For more information on Our Hen House, visit www.OurHenHouse.org.

Click here to watch The Gay Animal Series' first installment on Nathan Runkle.

Source and photo courtesy of Our Hen House

Farm Sanctuary Celebrates 25 Years of Helping Farm Animals

2011-03-27T11:00:00.000-04:00

This year, Farm Sanctuary, the organization responsible for bringing farm animal issues into the mainstream consciousness, celebrates its 25th anniversary. As the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, Farm Sanctuary urged passage of the first U.S. laws to protect animals on farms, initiated the first cruelty convictions at stockyards and slaughterhouses, and established the first and largest rescue and refuge network for farm animals in North America. Along the way, the organization has encouraged the public to embrace compassionate living through public campaigns, like getting the first veggie burger on Burger King menus and welcoming visitors to its sanctuaries, where thousands of people have had transformational experiences—including Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone, who became a vegan after a visit to the New York Shelter.

This special milestone, and all that has been achieved to promote compassion for farm animals in the U.S., will be commemorated by celebrities, supporters, public figures, authors and corporate leaders through a series of special anniversary-themed events across the country, including two star-studded, black-tie galas in New York (May 14) and Los Angeles (September 24). The organization has received broad support for past efforts and events from Ellen DeGeneres, Bob Barker, Martha Stewart, Betty White, Forest Whitaker, David Duchovny, Bill Maher, Mary Tyler Moore, Kristen Bell, Emily Deschanel, Kim Basinger, Alicia Silverstone, Ginnifer Goodwin, Biz Stone, Daryl Hannah, James Cromwell, Loretta Swit, Chevy Chase, Fred Willard, Valerie Harper, Marilu Henner, Mariel Hemingway, Chrissie Hynde, Moby, Kevin Nealon, Joan Jett, Paul Sorvino, and countless others who care about farm animals.

Co-founded in 1986 by beloved animal protection icon Gene Baur, and funded initially by sales of veggie hot dogs from a VW van at Grateful Dead concerts, the once fledgling, all volunteer organization has grown to become the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, with more than 230,000 members and supporters. Farm Sanctuary was recently described by best-selling author Jonathan Safran Foer in his book Eating Animals as “one of the most important animal protection, education, and lobbying organizations in America.”

Farm Sanctuary has celebrated landmark legal victories with the passage of laws protecting farm animals in Arizona, California, Florida, Maine, Michigan, and Oregon, as well as a USDA regulation to protect downed cattle from entering the human food supply, approved by President Obama. This year, Farm Sanctuary is working on legislation to protect farm animals in Massachusetts, as well as a ballot initiative in Washington State that would end the use of battery cages for egg-laying hens. The organization is also seeking to extend the federal downed cattle policy to include pigs, sheep and goats.

Over the past quarter century, Farm Sanctuary has provided rehabilitative care and lifelong sanctuary to thousands of rescued farm animals at its world-class sanctuaries in Watkins Glen, New York and Orland, California. When some of the worst natural disasters in U.S history have struck, including Hurricane Katrina and the Midwest floods of 2008, devastating entire regions of the country and stranding thousands of animals, the organization has been on the ground providing emergency relief and rescue to animals in need. Nikki, a pig at the New York Shelter who gave birth to a litter of piglets while stranded on a levee during the Midwest floods, was celebrated in the media for her awe-inspiring courage under fire and commitment to ensuring the safety of her babies when her own life was in peril.

Described by the Associated Press as “a heaven for farm animals,” people from all over the world have visited the shelters and learned about the realities of factory farming directly from the victims themselves—the rescued residents who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere. Millions more have been educated through media stories, like in the case of Queenie, a determined cow who made a daring dash from a New York City slaughterhouse in Queens and won the hearts of thousands of people who joined her quest for freedom. Hilda, a sheep found on a pile of dead animals at a Pennsylvania stockyard, was the first animal to be rescued by Farm Sanctuary. She lived at the organization’s New York Shelter for more than a decade, and died of old age.

“Farm Sanctuary began with the simple belief that farm animals, like all living, feeling beings, deserve to be treated with kindness and respect,” says Baur, who grew up in Hollywood acting in commercials for fast-food chains like McDonald’s and KFC. “When I began visiting farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses in the 1980s, I was shocked by the horrific conditions I found and the routine cruelties that were considered ‘normal.’ Animals are treated like inanimate commodities, raised by the billons and denied basic humane consideration. Sick animals, or those otherwise deemed to have no economic value, have been callously discarded and left to die in trash cans or on piles of dead animals. Unaware of the abuses of factory farming, most citizens have unwittingly supported this inhumane system, but with growing awareness, change is in the air. I am encouraged to see growing mainstream opposition to the inhumane treatment of animals raised for food and the increasing support for reforming our abusive and wasteful factory farming system.”

Baur’s book chronicling the organization’s more than two decades of work protecting animals from the abuses of the food animal industry, entitled Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, was published by Touchstone in March 2008 and has appeared on the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe bestseller lists. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. praised the book for being “a compelling testament to the need to civilize this industry and end its radical practices for producing meat, dairy, and eggs."

Source and photo courtesy of Farm Sanctuary

Grassroots Campaign to Serve Free Vegan Food to 20,000+ People

2011-03-20T08:00:00.003-04:00

Activists around the world will reach out to members of their communities to spread the benefits of a vegan diet for the 27th annual Great American Meatout. The Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) has upped the ante this year by challenging activists to serve free vegan food to at least 10,000 people. Meatout is projected to shatter that original goal by serving more than 28,000 people in the month of March.

These grassroots events will range from small gatherings at health food stores and libraries to major events like the Feed-in For Peace, where activists will serve meatless sandwiches and other vegan foods to hungry anti-war protester to celebrate and encourage non-violent eating.

FARM will again hold the main event in Washington, DC, where last year the group served more than 1,200 people. For 2011, Meatout also includes large feed-ins at the anti-war rallies in San Francisco and Chicago bringing the number of people served at these three events alone to nearly 3,000.

"It's one thing to hand people a brochure about veganism," said campaign director Michael Weber, "but if they receive a sandwich with that brochure, they are shown first-hand that cruelty-free food is delicious."

Activists on college and high school campuses in New Mexico, Utah, California, Texas and several other states will also stage feed-ins, showing thousands of students that plant-based eating can be tasty and convenient.

In total, seven hundred communities throughout all 50 states and 24 other countries will hold educational events during Meatout, most falling on March 20 to mark the first day of spring.

Meatout draws massive support from consumer, environmental and animal protection advocates, as well as from public officials, health care providers, meat-free food manufacturers, retailers, educators, and the mass media. They advocate a vegan diet to reduce incidences of heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes, to save animals from suffering on factory farms and slaughterhouses, and to conserve precious environmental resources.

For more information on Meatout events, visit meatout.org.

Source: Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM)

Snakes Face Cruelty and Extinction, Too

2011-03-14T12:00:00.009-04:00

By Guest Blogger, Matt Ellerbeck

Snakes have proved to be one of the most successful and resilient survivors on earth. They have been on this planet for well over 100 million years while countless of other species have disappeared around them.

Today, however, snakes are in trouble. Hundreds of snake species are now in need of conservation if they are to survive. Currently, over 450 snake species are listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

For some snakes, it is already too late, as several species have already gone extinct, completely exterminated by the hands of man. Many more snake species are being pushed to the very brink of extinction.

For many people, the term endangered species conjures up images of exotic animals far from home. However, the decline in snake populations can be seen around the globe. Many of India's native snake species are declining, with some considered threatened or endangered. This includes the Indian Python (Python molurus) and King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah).

The biggest issue affecting snakes today is the loss of their natural habitat. Many areas that were once suitable for snakes to live in have now been destroyed. Habitats of all kinds are being lost at an alarming rate as wetlands are drained, forests are cut down, and waterfronts are developed. Snakes are literally losing their homes and they are losing them rapidly.

Degradation occurs when a natural habitat has been altered and degraded to such a degree that it is unlikely that any remaining snake species will be able to survive. Contaminants and sewage runoff from developmental construction and human settlement also cause harm to snakes and their increasingly degraded habitats. Pesticides, oils, chemicals, and industrial pollution contaminate the habitats of snakes and their local prey. When the snakes eat contaminated prey, they may become poisoned and die.

Habitats are often isolated and cut off from one another by the roads and highways that now run through them. Countless numbers of snakes are killed on roads and highways every year. In many cases, people will purposely swerve to run over and kill snakes. Snakes are attracted to roads because the sun-baked surface provides an opportunity to absorb heat.

Habitat loss also puts snakes in greater danger of encounters with humans. Once their natural habitat has been destroyed, snakes are forced (by no fault of their own) into urbanized environments. Here, they are likely to be killed by fearful humans or those who deem them as pests. Snakes are often the victims of malicious and deliberate killings by fearful people.

The issues that plague snakes are not just exclusive to species found in the wild. Every year, literally millions of snakes are unwillingly forced into captive settings. Here they are subjected to many forms of abuse and cruelty, while others are exploited like lifeless commodities for monetary gain.

Annually, snakes, including rare and endangered ones, suffer from being harvested from the wild at staggering rates. Snakes are collected for the pet trade, food markets, their skins, or to be used in traditional medicines. The extensive exploitation of snakes is a tremendous problem that populations simply cannot sustain. National Geographic reports that more then 24 million reptile parts were exported from Southeast Asia alone between 2000 and 2007. Reptile skins are used for handbags, belts, shoes and clothes.

Animal welfare and cruelty groups have reported that millions of snakes are impaled on hooks or nailed to trees by their heads and skinned alive yearly. Large snakes like pythons have hoses inserted into their mouths and are pumped full of water to loosen their skin so that it will cut away more easily. The animals' peeled, writhing bodies are then discarded, and it can take days before the animals die from the effects of shock and dehydration.

The desecration and ill-treatment that snakes endure as a result of trades that harvest and exploit them is truly horrifying. For example, many snakes suffer intensely as they are painfully skinned alive for their skins, while others endure excruciating deaths as they are slowly suffocated.

Snakes are often used as "props" or gimmicks in movies and television shows. Here they may be subjected to any form of misuse and agony. The portrayal of snakes in the media is also detrimental to these animals. Snakes are often portrayed as aggressive and malicious creatures. This reputation only promotes a fear of these animals, and this fear helps fuel an unjust persecution of snakes.

Snake charmers and "side show'' handlers also exploit snakes for monetary gain. The snakes who are used in such acts are often kidnapped from their natural habitats. Many snake charmers and snake handlers do not give these animals the proper care they need to remain healthy. In fact, most handlers subject their snakes to terribly cruel and inhumane conditions and inflict horrendous acts of abuse upon them. Such abuse includes having the snake's venom ducts punctured with hot needles. This incapacitates the animal's ability to deliver venom. The handlers will also pull out the snake's fangs or sew their mouths shut as a way of avoiding bites. These actions cause the snakes extreme pain and suffering and also lead to premature deaths. This means new snakes will be obtained to be used in the side-shows and these replacement snakes will be subjected to the same agonizing cruelty.

A massive number of snakes are being lost each year through the combination of many man-made threats mentioned above. This unnatural decline in snake populations cannot rebound on its own. This is why the conservation of many snake species is required. Without assistance, many snake species simply cannot continue to survive the many hazards we have created for them.

For more information or how to help, visit www.the-snake-man.com.

Be a Honey Bunny and Take the Leaping Bunny Pledge

2011-02-14T09:00:00.009-05:00

According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. Celebrate Valentine’s Day by taking the Leaping Bunny pledge today! Over 13,000 people have taken the pledge to go cruelty-free. Help rabbits, mice, rats, and countless other animals—and help the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS) reach their goal of 100,000 signatures in 2011.

A heartfelt reason
NEAVS and several other organizations founded the Leaping Bunny program because millions of animals still suffer in unnecessary experiments to test products like lipstick, lotion and detergent. These cosmetic and household product tests are not required by any law. A growing number of companies are committing to safety WITHOUT animal testing. The Leaping Bunny is the only unified cruelty-free standard awarded to companies that meet the strictest of criteria. Certified companies are listed in the Compassionate Shopping Guide and/or bear the Leaping Bunny logo—the gold standard that consumers can trust.

Sweet accomplishments

Nearly 300 companies have been certified as being 100 percent free of animal testing, from ingredients—where most animal testing occurs—to final product. Some are partnering to help raise money for the Leaping Bunny program.
Every year new companies are added to the Leaping Bunny list, including major brands such as Seventh Generation, Kiss My Face, Jason Natural Cosmetics, Nature’s Gate and Method Products.
The European Union has banned animal testing for cosmetics, and is in the process of banning the sale of all new cosmetics tested on animals outside the E.U.
According to a public opinion poll, two-thirds of the American public will choose a product labeled cruelty-free when given a choice. NEAVS' goal is to bring the U.S. in line with the E.U.’s cruelty-free mandate.

Be a bunny honey

Download a complimentary pocket-sized Leaping Bunny shopping guide. You can also download a free App on your iPhone or Android. The guide will help you identify companies currently with the Leaping Bunny logo and make your cruelty-free shopping fast and easy!
Become a fan of the Leaping Bunny on Facebook.
Make a special donation to support NEAVS’ work to mandate non-animal alternatives.

Source courtesy of NEAVS
Photo courtesy of the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC)

Celebrate Valentine's Day This Year With Love AND Compassion

2011-02-02T09:00:00.017-05:00

A day to celebrate love in the world is a day to sponsor a Farm Sanctuary shelter animal! Adopt in your name or give a gift sponsorship to someone special in your life. Right now, many rescued farm animals are in need of tender loving care.

A farm animal sponsorship is a thoughtful, fun, compassionate, and unique way to share some love this Valentine’s Day! It’s also the perfect way to help animals and show you care, whether it’s for your sweetheart, your mom, dad, sister, brother, best friend, or for yourself.

Sponsors receive an adoption certificate with a color photograph of their adopted friend, an adoption card, an invitation to schedule a VIP tour to meet their adopted friend, and other benefits depending on the animal chosen for adoption. See a list of spons orship packages here .

Celebrate Valentine’s Day by sponsoring one of the special animals below OR make a one-time holiday gift for Farm Sanctuary animals.

Only days old and on the verge of death, Riley captured hearts when he was rescued from a stockyard. Now that his health is improving and he is growing fast, Riley is turning out to be a real charmer. Sponsoring this sweet piglet for that special someone in your life is a great way to share your love.
Adopt Riley

Stella was spared when a farmer's change of heart saved her from slaughter and offered her a chance that so few farm animals get: a life of joy and happiness at Farm Sanctuary. Safe at their California Shelter, she now spends all her time amongst friends.
Adopt Ste lla

Persia knows what it's like to be lonely. Motherless since birth and neglected by humans, she was luckily rescued as a tiny lamb and found a home at Farm Sanctuary's California Shelter.
Adopt Persia

Romeo was the victim of years of abuse until he and eight other geese were rescued by a compassionate advocate who noticed their plight and came to their aid. Now he spends his days in peace at Farm Sanctuary.
Adopt Romeo

If you or your loved one has a sweet tooth or prefers a little bling, Farm Sanctuary also offers a vegan chocolate heart, as well as a Farm Sanctuary necklace and a Veg For Life necklace. Every purchase from Farm Sanctuary directly supports the lifesaving work they do on behalf of farm animals.

Finally, what better way to show your love for animals than by not eating them! Click here for a free vegan starter kit.

Source and photos courtesy of: Farm Sancutary