Community: Forum: Animal Rights & Animal Welfare
Page 2: Animal Rights Forum - Community
Speak up for animals if you believe that they, like human animals, have the right to live out their natural lives on this earth. Post events, share information, & connect.
| Topic | Post Date | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Adopt a turkey I am getting my friends and family to adopt a turkey for thanksgiving and pledge not to eat one. If you would like to do this too,visit Farm Sanctuary! Post Date: 11/18/14, Replies: 0 | ||
| Alaska: Man in bear costume harasses bears Man in bear costume harasses bears in Alaska http://news.yahoo.com/man-bear-costumes-harasses-bears-alaska-005420961.html Post Date: 08/13/15, Replies: 0 | ||
| Americans eating sh*t - chicken sh*t Sirloin with a Touch of Cr*p Exactly what do chickens and cows eat before we eat them? By Lee Klein Published: November 22, 2007 It takes a lot of salt to make sh*t edible. Chicken sh*t, that is. Turns out that while chickens and cows aren't the fussiest of diners, neither of them will eat feces without a solid dose of sodium — plus a mess of molasses. It still can't be pleasurable, but at some point (on average three to five days), with no better options on the horizon, both animals will succumb to hunger, swallow their pride, and lap up the poop. Animal rights activists have been crowing for years about the stupefying abuses that livestock must endure, so this one indignity may mount only a modicum of concern; it almost sounds funny in an absurdist way. But as you learn more about the consequences of dining on chicken and burgers culled from these cr*p-fed creatures, the news just might wipe that sh*t-eating grin right off your face. Dr. Robert Ben Mitchell, dressed in a denim shirt, blue cargo pants, and sensible shoes, is standing at the intersection of NE 146th Street and Biscayne Boulevard. A bandanna over his head makes him appear as if he's affecting a bohemian look, but the ever-cautious doctor is merely protecting his mostly bald head from the sunlight; conversely, expressive blue eyes that dominate the Everyman face below are left unshaded. "I'm never going to be on the cover of GQ," he says as a self-deprecating description, "but people don't throw up when they see me." Mitchell generally speaks seriously and articulately, in a measured tone, but occasionally he'll blurt out a goofy, mischievous laugh that startles by way of contrast. These outbursts expose a gap in his front teeth, causing his countenance to resemble a school kid who has just pulled off a prank. The message on a half-sandwich board hanging from his neck, though, is no joke: BAN CHICKEN FECES IN COW FEED. SEE SOYLENT BROWN ON WWW.YOUTUBE.COM. The URL references a video he has made on the subject. Its title is a take-off on the 1973 futuristic thriller Soylent Green — in which Charlton Heston alerts an unsuspecting populace that the eponymous food they've been mindlessly feasting upon is ... (spoiler alert) ... "People!" Like its progenitor, Soylent Brown also delves into a deranged diet, but of a different sort: Chickens and cows that end up on our dinner plates are being fed manure, and this might be as bad for us as it is for them. While disquieting information struts across the screen, Mitchell sings reworked lyrics to the tune of Bob Dylan's Ballad of a Thin Man: Now the greed and perversion Have gotten so sick That they're feeding the cows on Salted chicken [censored]. Something is going on, But you don't want to know what it is, Do you, Mister Jones? "Things work in a natural cycle," explains Mitchell. "There's a reason animals poop on the ground — so it can break down in the earth and provide nutrition to plants, which in turn provide nutrition to animals. When you start recycling the sh*t directly into the animal, it causes all sorts of problems." His hands mimic the cycles he speaks of, the level voice becoming more animated. "There are so many different diseases transmitted by the fecal-oral route, and we're only putting one animal between us and the feces. What if bird flu breaks out? It will have a very quick route to get back into human beings, which could lead to a huge disaster down the road." Mitchell stumbled upon the issue serendipitously. "I was watching a movie called Kill Me Later," he recalls, "and at the end they scrolled these words on the screen about what happened to the characters.... It said that one of them went to Mexico and became a millionaire by figuring out how to feed chicken feces to cows by adding salt. I thought that was such a bizarre thing to put in — it had nothing to do with the story. So just for a fluke I Googled it, and all this real stuff popped up." Real stuff like a 1984 "manual" put out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations called Feed from Animal Wastes, which details precisely how to process manure into dinner for farm animals. "This is the actual recipe book," beams Mitchell, holding aloft the 214-page publication as if it were the Holy Grail. "Martha Stewart gone mad." It is indeed Martha-esque, the way just a few simple ingredients can be turned into 171 nifty serving ideas. Surprise your bovines with a scrumptious tropical blend of chicken feces and pineapple cannery run-off! Gastronomic flourishes notwithstanding, the cookbook concedes,"Animal wastes may not be equal in all ways to the feeds they replace." There is likewise a glut of current evidence to suggest Mitchell is not full of you know what. A 1998 Food and Drug Administration report titled The Use of Recycled Animal Waste in Animal Feed states, "Animal wastes have been deliberately incorporated into animal diets for their nutrient properties" for 40 years as a "viable alternative to ... landfill." The World Health Organization estimates nearly 10 million metric tons of slaughterhouse sewerage are fed to livestock every year. (Europe followed WHO's recommendations and in 2001 outlawed the feeding of all slaughterhouse and animal waste to livestock.) In this country alone there are 14,000-plus companies that produce more than 308 billion pounds of animal chow annually. FDA-approved ingredients include "dried poultry waste, a processed animal waste product composed primarily of feces from commercial poultry" (also offered with part or all of the urine removed), and "dried poultry litter, a processed combination of feces from commercial poultry together with litter that was present in the floor production." Excrement accounts for about 60 percent of "litter"; the rest comprises bedding, dirt, feathers, and other debris scooped from the floors of broiler sheds. A Virginia Tech professor of animal and poultry sciences has estimated that up to four billion pounds of poultry litter are fed to beef cattle each year. Mitchell found an FDA registration form listing 26 categories of feeds — including one for "Recycled Animal Waste Products" — and sought information about the companies producing it, "assuming it would be public information — or obtainable by a Freedom of Information Act request." He was astonished when Shannon Jordre, a liaison between the FDA and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), told him the agency would not release this data because "it had been classified as a homeland security issue." New Times tried to contact Mr. Jordre for confirmation and to ask whether the classification is because of concern that what a terrorist puts into animal feed might make its way into humans — and if so, why would animal feed be allowed to contain sh*t? Jordre did not return our calls. Two months ago, a 15-year-old girl from Pembroke Pines contracted E. coli O157:H7 after eating a hamburger made from ground beef purchased at a local Wal-Mart. E. coli is a fecal-based bacterial pathogen that colonizes the intestinal tract and can trigger severe and bloody diarrhea and painful abdominal cramps; in up to five percent of cases it can lead to temporary anemia, profuse bleeding, kidney failure, and even death. The girl's parents are suing the chain, claiming their daughter suffered nearly the worst of those consequences. Topps Meat Company, provider of the tainted meat, was one of the United States' largest producers of ground beef — until the subsequent recall of 21.7 million pounds of product caused it to shut down. Also close to home: Last month Hialeah's Blue Ribbon Meats pulled 8,200 pounds of frozen ground beef because of potential E. coli contamination. The government classified this recall as Class 1, meaning "reasonable probability" that consuming the product would cause "serious, adverse health consequences or death." (The meat processor, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef of Kansas, is an affiliate of the Boca Raton private investment firm Sun Capital Partners.) "There is substantial evidence that U.S. animal feeds are often contaminated with important human foodborne bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli, including E. coli O157:H7," says a report released this year by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and the University of Maryland. Dr. Amy Sapkota, who coauthored the review, says "one of the large take-home messages is the lack of national surveillance systems that are set up and well funded by the federal government." Weighing her words, she emphasizes that only one study uncovered a connection between litter-laden feed and a strain of salmonella, but adds that the information for making such determinations isn't there. "It could be possible that there is an increased risk associated with these [fecal] feeding practices," she continues, "but we just don't have enough data to fully understand and calculate the threats." But would Dr. Sapkota knowingly eat food derived from a manure-munching animal? "That's a good question." After a long pause, she advises that, regardless of whether she would or wouldn't, "people can personally reduce their risk of foodborne illness by properly cooking meats and trying to prevent cross-contamination in the kitchen." Not all professionals are as well informed as Dr. Sapkota. When we asked Tania Rivera, assistant clinical professor in FIU's Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, what she thought about feeding waste-based feed to food-chain livestock, she bristled. "I have never heard of this and doubt that this is the likely case across the board. This is not the type of message I would like to comment on." Rivera's department is part of the Robert Stempel School of Public Health. What we don't know can hurt us. The USDA calculates that during summer months, up to 50 percent of feedlot cattle carry E. coli, which translates to an average plant processing 150 to 200 infected cows every hour (though not all are strains of O157:H7, which is the killer). Because meat gets shipped from stockyards all over the country and ground together in a single blending facility, one hamburger might contain bits and pieces of dozens, or even hundreds, of different cows — and a single infected animal can contaminate up to 32,000 pounds of ground beef, roughly four times the amount recalled by Blue Ribbon Meats in Hialeah. Unlike most foodborne pathogens, which require the consumption of up to a million organisms to cause considerable illness, ingesting just five E. coli O157:H7 organisms in a bit of uncooked hamburger meat can prove lethal. Then there is the elephant in the room, or in this case, the big mad cow: From August 1997 through March 2004, 52 companies recalled feed products for violating federal rules that guard against infectious prions, the proteins believed to cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The USDA admits it can't rule out a connection between waste-based rations and mad cow disease, but in 1997 the FDA wrote it was "unaware of any research on this issue that would indicate that the agency should take regulatory action on poultry litter at this time." Ironically it is because of the BSE scare that fecal matter is being used more to feed animals. Public fears about the disease the same year prodded the FDA to ban many of the meat industry's previous bargain breakfasts — like brain tissue, spinal cords, and euthanized cats and dogs, millions of which were annually purchased from shelters to be ground into feed. Agribusiness needed a cheap alternative fodder, and manure became even more alluring. The early 20th Century was, in retrospect, a golden era for food-production animals. Cows grazed on grass, traipsing the bucolic pastures of family-owned farms. Chickens strutted about the barnyard, pecking contentedly at their mostly corn-based meals (the lucky clucker might occasionally happen upon a worm). The arrival of factory farming in the Twenties increased production, widened availability, and reduced the price of fowl. It also represented the beginning of the end for family ranching. When fast foods arrived in the early Sixties, the clamor for beef and poultry spiked, and so did demand. Industrial facilities with highly automated production methods were required to meet these new needs. Ranches, farms, and meat-processing industries became consolidated by a few multinational corporations, which began confining animals in 30,000-cow feedlots and 60,000-chicken warehouses, and slaughtering them in assembly-line fashion. The golden days had transmogrified into golden arches. Enormous feedlots needed massive quantities of high-protein rations that could fatten and speed growth at the lowest possible cost. Expansive slaughterhouses had to find an inexpensive way to dispose of waste. A partnership was formed, and the newly defined feed formulas included all parts of all species of rendered animals, as well as the feces of chickens, cows, and pigs. But 40 years on, there is simply too much chicken sh*t being shat. Sources cited in the Johns Hopkins' review estimate that in 2003, "one million pounds of chicken feces were produced in Florida, with at least 350,000 pounds of it used for animal rations." Some nine billion chickens are slaughtered annually in the States, resulting in roughly 50 billion pounds of product. Nobody knows quite what to do with the resultant, seemingly infinite mounds of manure, but all acknowledge that disposing of it creates environmentally disastrous consequences, including wide-spread fecal pollution of waterways and ground water. A single cow can munch as much as three tons of chicken muck per year — a lot, but not nearly enough to flush away the problem. Farm animals are injected with heavy doses of hormones, antibiotics, and countless other biological, chemical, and etiologic agents — even more so when dieting on dung. High concentrations of these toxins end up in their own feces, which might also contain pesticides, pathogens, parasites, and toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic. These then pollute either the ground and water, or the animals and us. Things work in a cycle: The use of antibiotics in food-production animals speeds up development of drug-resistant bacteria in humans. So antibiotics used on people, aimed at curing illnesses caused by eating contaminated meat, become ineffective because of antibiotics used on animals to prevent them from becoming contaminated. In the confines of his cluttered office, bandanna-less and wearing a green scrub shirt, Bob Mitchell looks like a medical professional. He is, specifically, a licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine (D.O.), and is at the moment eating some gooey brown substance from a jar. He calls it a chocolate-corn muffin. "Pure cocoa powder, cornmeal, bananas, apple sauce, natural peanut butter, and baking soda — not baking powder, which has aluminum sulfate in it." He mixes the ingredients and bakes under low heat in the microwave until "it puffs up and fills the jar." It looks like sh*t. Mitchell has lost 30 pounds in the past year, and one can only assume food such as this played a role. He's been noncarnivorous "off and on" since he was 16 years old. "I always had a difficult time digesting meat." He admits to being a "parasitic vegetarian" — if invited to a house for a dinner that includes meat, he will partake of it. Or at least he used to. "I usually eat before I go out now. Not to the point where I'm full, but I have enough that if the main course is something I'm not comfortable with, I can make it on just the sides." He was born in Massachusetts 49 years ago. His father worked as an electrical engineer; his mom performed community service work. Both live in Lantana. After landing in Miami in 1986, Mitchell earned his degree at Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine, just a kidney stone's throw from his practice in North Miami Beach. Besides giving osteopathic treatments, he offers a $30 "Mini-Med" deal "where minor medical problems don't cost an arm or a leg." He sits in a swivel chair, the space around him cramped with books, papers, and generic dishevelment. Mitchell's protest sign hangs in a prominent place, but apparently his patients don't notice it. "Only one person said anything. I know if I walked into a doctor's office and saw a sign saying 'Ban chicken feces in cow feed,' I'd sure ask about it." Asking about it has taken up a lot of the doctor's time lately. He guesses he spends "about 10 or 20 hours per week" researching, e-mailing, and calling folks about the topic. Luckily he takes rejection well, an advantageous trait for a prophet of doom. He even seems to relish telling stories concerning the media's disinterest, gleefully recalling that after he carefully explained the matter to Herald food editor Kathy Martin, "she connected me with Georgia Tasker, the gardening editor!" A laugh explodes. This isn't Mitchell's first foray into controversial subject matter. He previously wrote The Dragon Option, a "factual fiction" in which global warming causes subglacial Antarctic bacteria to be released into the atmosphere after thousands of years under ice. Disaster ensues. His other book, Syphilis as AIDS, theorizes that the organism responsible for a long-ago strain of the former disease is related to that which causes the latter. Mitchell has contacted some 65 media outlets about feces-filled feed, as well as pet food companies, health organizations, and the top four beef conglomerates. His e-mails are exceedingly lengthy and excruciatingly thorough, the gist being a listing of "AAFCO-approved and FDA-nonregulated ingredients" permitted as legitimate animal food, followed by half a dozen questions including whether live cattle on the company's grounds are given feed containing any of the itemized ingredients, whether vendors who supply cattle to the company use such feed, and how the company's certification process operates — if it even has one. Mitchell's most ambitious and ironic correspondence was the one he sent to Mr. Chen, "first secretary of the commercial section, agricultural officer, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China." The 10-page e-mail included 80 related links. "Given the recent concerns over consumer safety and health issues, and the importance of these issues to world trade between nations," he queried, "what is the People's Republic of China's opinion on the United States cattle industry practice of feeding chicken feces to cattle?" Mr. Chen did not reply. Nor has anyone else. "Which," laments Mitchell, "is a statement in itself." He also allows that "maybe people think it's some sort of hoax." The sh*t has hit the fan: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta now estimates that foodborne illnesses affect 80 million Americans annually. Over 300,000 require hospitalization, and roughly 5,000 of them die — more than the number killed since the war in Iraq began. Who's in charge of the hen house? Chickens get packed into vertically stacked cages so that droppings from the top row bespatter the birds underneath, and their feces foul the fowl below, and so forth. The government's bureaucratic chain of command concerning inspection and regulation of our food supply works according to a similar trickle-down theory. At the top of the pecking order are the USDA and FDA. George Hayslip, environmental manager of Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, has been supervising the state's commercial feed and seed programs for the past six years. "The FDA is responsible for overseeing human food and animal feed," Hayslip clarifies. "The USDA has responsibility for inspecting the animals." Neither agency endorses waste in feed, but their policies are to resist regulation unless a shipment crosses state lines. Manure, though, rarely travels that far, because transport costs would undercut the price advantage. Farmers now place chicken coops on one side of the road and cow feedlots on the other, so they can simply shift the [censored] across the street. Florida laws are likewise laissez-faire. "As far as the department goes, we don't condone it," Hayslip says of using processed plop. "But at the same time, we don't prohibit it. It's something that's gone on for a long time, and as much as you can run into problems with parasites and things like that, I guess the science isn't really there to say that if the litter is processed correctly, it's going to cause that many problems." But isn't it incorrect processing that leads to the problems? "Yes, exactly, and that's an issue. We've looked at this over the past several years and considered whether there was anything we could do about it." The department "sent out a fact sheet a couple of years ago, outlining some of the risks involved with that practice." Hayslip mentions an interim rule the FDA put forth in 2004 that would have prohibited use of poultry litter, among other things, owing to BSE-related fears. "Unfortunately," he continues, "the proposed rule was not adopted." Instead the onus for imposing such restrictions fell to the states. Plop. The FDA and USDA may relieve themselves of responsibility like top-row fowl, but they really have more in common with the foxes guarding those coop dwellers. The USDA increasingly uses "risk-based inspection," in which visits are determined by the safety risk posed by each plant. Now it is pushing to inspect only plants with past violations, permitting the rest to submit records by fax — a drastic deviation from the "continuous government inspection" once required of meat-processing facilities. And in 2007, Congress passed a farm bill that would turn the job of certifying smaller slaughterhouses over to weaker state inspection programs. Plop. Some states don't even have meat inspection laws, while others only regulate production that stays within their borders. By Hayslip's count, Florida employs approximately 40 feed inspectors for its roughly 1.7 million head of cattle. Whether investigations are undertaken by federal or state agencies might not ultimately matter much. The aforementioned Johns Hopkins review found that "guidelines are not adequately enforced at the federal or state level." The FDA advises that state agencies adhere to definitions of feed ingredients promulgated by the AAFCO. Sitting on AAFCO's advisory boards are the National Renderers Association, National Pork Board, National Cattleman's Beef Association, American Feed Association, American Farm Bureau, and many other industry insiders. The government's willingness to work hand in hand with agribusiness is nothing new. In 1976 then-Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Carol Foreman approved a change in food safety procedures that made it permissible for chicken visibly smeared with fecal matter to be rinsed and used. This proved a boon to poultry processors, whose losses from unsafe product were greatly reduced. It likewise proved a boon to germs: Within a year, the incidence of food-related illnesses began to climb — and the figures have ascended each year since. Bob Mitchell is not the first to call attention to this matter. A 1997 US News & World Report article, "The Next Bad Beef Scandal?: Cattle Feed Now Contains Things Like Manure and Dead Cats," sounded a warning, but the story raised more eyebrows than alarm. Not until mad cow emerged, followed by bird flu scares, tainted pet food, beef recalls, and such, did the public's ears perk. Still, the media feeds on food industry advertising, so these stories get dropped faster than crap through a chicken — and the multinationals that control our foods from farm to fork spend billions of dollars to keep it this way. If their spokespeople sound a little defensive, it's because they recognize that seeing feces and feed in the same sentence can have a potentially unhealthy effect on public perceptions. "Feeding manure may not be aesthetically pleasing," says the FDA's head of animal-feed safety, Daniel McChesney, "but it is safe if you process it properly." He adds, "If you don't, it's like playing with matches around gasoline." Proper processing requires that the feces be "dry-stacked" in a silo for four to eight weeks. The idea is that over time, owing to its weight and organic breakdown, the pile of manure will reach temperatures high enough to sterilize it of any harmful disease-causing agents. However, nobody knows how often, or even whether, farmers check their samples. And effective surveillance systems, as Dr. Sapkota pointed out, are simply not in place. Some drivers slow down so they can read Mitchell's sandwich board, and many of their passengers peer at him or his sign out of sheer curiosity. Most cars just zip by without much notice. "At least nobody's thrown a beer can," offers the occasionally optimistic osteopath, who might be described as a doctor who looks at a bladder and sees it being half full and half empty. Black clouds have rumbled in, and now it's raining — hard. Mitchell ducks under the Biscayne Commons clock-kiosk, remaining in sight of commuters. Huddled there with the message board still around his neck, surrounded by six lanes of splashing traffic, a sizable strip mall parking lot, and the big, wet, gray sky, Mitchell and his cause look small and forlorn. Not at all like Heston in Soylent Green. He plans to be out here just once more after this, his final foray falling on Wednesday, December 12. Then he'll let folks worry about their own [censored]. "I feel that I've done what can be reasonably done. I'm just trying to make people aware. I don't want to get so caught up with the issue that I become consumed by it." He then tacks on cryptically: "It's the Semmelweis syndrome." Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, a Viennese obstetrician in the mid-1800s, spent 37 years trying to persuade Austrian physicians to wash their hands when they went from autopsy room to delivery room. His theory on controlling germs was viewed as heretical, and he eventually died in an insane asylum. Mitchell envisions himself ending up in a different kind of institution. "I can see myself 30, 40 years from now in an old-folks home, and NBC Nightly News will come on with: 'Breaking news: Agriculture feeding feces to animals.' And I'll tell anyone who'll listen: 'Hey, I knew that!'" Meanwhile the livestock industry plows ahead in its search for the perfect feed, experimenting with mixes that include newspaper, cement-kiln dust, and human sewer sludge. A spokesperson for the Animal Industry Association recently boasted that "the U.S. farm animal eats better than the average U.S. citizen." Could somebody please pass the salt? Post Date: 06/18/08, Replies: 12 | ||
| An animal rights-themed video game I would like to ask you for some support and opinions. We are making a video game about something that is important to us. Pigsodus will be a vegan (but not openly, not in right-into your-face style) humorous horror-RPG about a pig that escapes a truck heading to a slaughterhouse after it learns that idyllic farm life is a trap. It will be a bit like a Trojan Horse - the story will tie people emotionally with the fate of the animals and make them think about it, but not in any specific way, they will choose their own. Maybe there is someone here who have heard about it? The demo we made doesn't show the story at all, but gamers should find it interesting. We are really looking forward for some feedback. We are gathering support on our Thunderclap: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/41594-become-the-bacon-of-hope PS. This is the video that precisely inspired us to make Pigsodus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGh8YDoLnOU Post Date: 05/12/16, Replies: 0 | ||
| An Email Only Takes a Few Minutes! I've heard a lot of vegans ask about a vegan candy corn and heard that Jelly Belly is the closest brand to being vegan, but still contains beeswax. I sent them a message using their customer service form. Please go to mycusthelp.com/JELLYBELLY/supportcontact.asp?sSessionID= to send Jelly Belly a message and ask them not to use beeswax in their candy, specifically candy corn. Please do not eat Jelly Belly candy corn just because its the closest brand to being vegan! Here's the email I got back: Our Solution: Thank you for visiting our site. We hope the following information answers your question. Thanks you for sharing your thoughts with us concerning beeswax. We will share your comments with our Product Development department for their information. On 10/15/2007 4:43:06 PM, Misty Hurley sent: I am a vegan, meaning I do not eat or use any animal products. Many vegans have a hard time with candy corn, as most candy corn contains either gelatin, eggs, and/or honey. Your product, however, does not contain these ingredients, but it does contain beeswax, which is also restricted for vegan consumption. Your candy corn is the closest of all brands to being vegan and all your company needs to do to make it vegan is drop the beeswax. By doing this, you will make many vegans happy that they will be able to consume candy corn again. Thank you for your time and attention, and please drop the beeswax from your candy, especially your candy corn. Post Date: 10/24/07, Replies: 1 | ||
| AN1MAL is looking for writers, and more! My name is Justin DeTolla, and I'm in the process of launching an independent media source dedicated to the rights and welfare of all living creatures, called AN1MAL. Currently, we're looking for individuals that share our passion and concern, who might be interested in writing feature stories for us! Feel free to check out the site at an1mal.org, or email me directly at: [email protected] Additionally, if you have any questions or comments about the site, feel free to post them here! We'd love to have your feedback. My thanks for your interest! Post Date: 07/16/14, Replies: 5 | ||
| Animal Abuse - Bettencourt Dairy (Idaho) www.burgerkingcruelty.com/ Saw the "Burger King Cruelty" (above link)on the evening news last night. It made me literally sick to my stomach and so upset and anxious. My heart is still flip-flopping around (I have a heart condition) and my nerves are so on edge even still and I saw this hours ago. That's why I HAD to post it. EVERYONE should see this and then COMMIT TO SAVE THE ANIMALS BY GOING VEGAN!! It's the ONLY way. Cut the demand for cruel, inhumane food and products. PLEASE HELP THESE POOR DEFENSELESS ANIMALS - SHARE THIS WITH EVERYONE! Shocking Video: Burger King Cruelty Mercy For Animals Exposes Sadistic, Illegal Animal Abuse at Burger King Dairy Supplier I wrote the following letter to the owners of the Bettencourt Dairy when this undercover animal abuse was video taped: Luis and Sharon Bettencourt, (Owners) It is with great sadness that I write this letter to you. I saw the horrifying video on the evening news last night of the blatant abuse of many of the cows at your dairy. It is beyond me what kind of human being could do that to a poor defenseless animal. It makes me wonder if they could do that to an animal, what would stop them from doing the same to another human being? Of course it would have to be a defenseless human being or they might really get what they deserve!! These "people" are the lowest form of life on the planet. They are cowards and their minds are so twisted and demented. They should be required by law to receive lengthy therapy and a few shock treatments might help them put things in perspective too! I wonder how they would like that? Or perhaps maybe they should be repeatedly punched in their face, or beaten, or repeatedly stomped on when they are down, and then have a chain wrapped around their neck and hooked up to a machine that would drag their sorry ass around. It is unconscionable what your employees have done (for who knows how long) to these poor, docile, intelligent creatures. This brings me to the question; Where is the supervision of these employees? Or ARE these the supervisors? How is anything remotely like this even allowed to go on? What kind of operation are you running that allows this to go on? If all of this abuse was caught in such a short time span, what in the world WASN'T documented and for how long? It is so appalling and unsettling to me. So what that everyone that is hired by your organization has to sign a zero tolerance of animal abuse or misuse policy when you don't pay attention to what's going on right under your noses to enforce such a policy. The people that appear in this video should receive the maximum amount of punishment allowed by law. Even that isn't enough. These laws desperately need to be changed. These people should NEVER be allowed to work or be near ANY animal for the rest of their natural born life. They should be treated like the abusers they are.......like child molesters and pedophiles, they should have to be entered into a national registry and forever be "branded" an ANIMAL ABUSER. Such a rosy picture is painted on your website of your facility and the operation of your dairy farm. What a deception. It is nothing more than a house of horrors for all of the animals that trust YOU to take the best possible care of them and treat them with the kindness and dignity that they so deserve. You should be ashamed of yourselves, your employees and your entire operation. Your facility at the very least should be fined (heavily) and investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law (which still isn't enough). I have never been more proud to be a VEGAN!! Sincerely, journey4peace Post Date: 03/18/13, Replies: 1 | ||
| animal advocacy 101 Hello members. My name is Jeremie. I am a vegetarian who has recently become more and more interesting in animals rights. Wanted to introduce myself to everyone and also share my fav AR Website. Animal Advocacy 101 - animaladvocacy101.weebly.com Feel free to share any insightful videos and sites with me, I am also happy to learn more. Post Date: 11/01/09, Replies: 1 | ||
| Animal charity: cruel tourist rides Animal charity exposes the spread of cruel tourist rides http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00174/animal-charity-exposes-the-spread-of-cruel-tourist-rides.htm Post Date: 09/14/15, Replies: 0 | ||
| Animal Issues internet radio show with COK Greetings! I am a vegan veterinarian who does housecalls for dogs and cats in Los Angeles as well as advocacy for all animals, including of course farmed animals. I recently started a radio show on Animal Issues. A variety of important issues concerning animals around the world have been and will be addressed, as well as tips for keeping one's companion dog or cat healthy. Please tune in Tuesdays from 1-2 pm PST on my radio show Animal Issues with Dr. Armaiti May - listen live online at adrenalineradio.com/shows/168-the-vegan-vet. This week's show features Jaya Bhumitra from Compassion Over Killing, a national non-profit animal advocacy organization dedicated to ending abuse of animals for food and encouraging people to adopt a vegan diet. The other featured guest will be Richard Schwartz, who has authored several books on Judaism and Vegetarianism. Listeners can call in with questions during the show at 1-800-405-6425. The most recent shows covered vivisection and devocalization. In a prior show, we had Ady Gil talking about rescuing dogs from puppy mills, as well as Kim Sturla from Animal Place, a farmed animal sanctuary in Grass Valley. Previous shows featured guest Dr. Jennifer Conrad speaking about her film "The Paw Project" which tells the inspiring story of the effort to ban declawing of cats. Also on the show was guest Abby Elliott, a wonderful dog trainer who uses positive reinforcement methods for training dogs. Other guests on the show have been Darren Middlesworth from V-dog, a vegan dog food company, Lesa Miller from Orangutan Republik Foundation (OURF), and Nicole Forsyth, CEO of RedRover talking about Superstorm Sandy relief efforts in New Jersey. If you can't listen live, you can listen to the archived podcasts anytime at adrenalineradio.com/podcasts/archives/viewcategory/437-animal-issues. Please share with friends and family! Also, I am looking for sponsors to help me sustain the cost of putting on the show each week. It costs $85 every week and for that amount I can feature an animal-friendly business by including a 60 second commercial for the business, and/or give a shout-out to a generous individual who simply wants to support the show. Thank you so much! For the animals, Armaiti May, DVM www.veganvet.net Post Date: 12/10/12, Replies: 0 | ||
| Animal Issues show: vivisection, devocaliz Please join me Tuesdays from 1-2 pm PST on my new radio show Animal Issues with Dr. Armaiti May - listen live online http://adrenalineradio.com/shows/168-the-vegan-vet! The next Tuesday show on 11/27/12 will feature a discussion of vivisection by guest Julia Orr as well as the efforts to ban devocalization by guests Sue Perry and Cheryl Major from the Coalition to Protect and Rescue Pets. Past shows can be heard at http://adrenalineradio.com/podcasts/archives/viewcategory/437-animal-issues. Past guests on the show have included Ady Gil talking about his work rescuing dogs and Kim Sturla with Animal Place, a farmed animal sanctuary in Grass Valley; Dr. Jennifer Conrad speaking about her film "The Paw Project" which tells the inspiring story of the effort to ban declawing of cats; dog trainer Abby Elliott, who uses positive reinforcement methods for training dogs; Darren Middlesworth from V-dog, a vegan dog food company; Lesa Miller from Orangutan Republik Foundation (OURF); and Nicole Forsyth, CEO of RedRover. Please spread the word so more people tune in! For the animals, Armaiti May, DVM www.veganvet.net Post Date: 11/26/12, Replies: 0 | ||
| Animal Law Hi everyone ! Do you know Universities in Animal Law ? I'm a law student in Geneva, Switzerland and I would like to be a lawyer in animal rights, but there is no opportunity to study it in Switzerland. Thank you ! Post Date: 02/28/17, Replies: 3 | ||
| Animal Rights / Veg*n Designs Check 'em out and spread the word. All royalties go to a good cause. zazzle.com/aac_designs* Post Date: 06/27/14, Replies: 0 | ||
| Animal rights fashion What do you guys think about animal rights fashion? I could not find anything cute and fashionable. So I created Humaneproject.com. Would be interested in any feedback have not sold any . Any feedback is appreciated. Post Date: 10/09/14, Replies: 0 | ||
| Animal rights groups denounce NSW surfers' Animal rights groups denounce NSW surfers’ call for shark cull as ‘morally wrong’ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/12/animal-rights-groups-denounce-nsw-surfers-call-for-shark-cull-as-morally-wrong Post Date: 08/13/15, Replies: 0 | ||
| Animal Rights Petition! MY STORY: One of the neighborhood stray cats (whom we had grown very fond of and would have adopted if we didn't already have three cats) was hit by a car late one night but still had movement in all but one of his legs. Worried that if we moved him ourselves we could possibly hurt him even more, we called animal control who took two hours to arrive and then proceeded to pick him up by the nape of the neck and shove him in the carrier. The officer refused to tell us where they were taking him until I practically begged him. Literally one minute after the animal control officer drove away, we looked the place up and there were several different addresses and phone numbers (all of which didn't answer when I called) so I called animal control back and asked them if they could give me the phone number to the vet they take their injured animals to. New Haven Animal Control Officer Tammy Hewston answered the phone and after refusing to answer my question she pretended to put me on hold for about 30 seconds to "call the officer who picked him up" and then got back on the phone with me and said "Yep, his back is broken ma'am." I asked her how they could know this 2-3 minutes after the officer pulled away and she started literally yelling at me "HE'S ALREADY BEEN EUTHANIZED, MAAAAA'AAAAM!" and "he's been put down, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa'am! He's already dead, maaaaaaaaaaaa'am!" repeatedly. Her yelling was so extremely loud and condescending that I literally started crying and asked her why she was treating me this way and she hung up on me! My boyfriend called her back and she told him he could come in on Monday and talk to the supervisor and refused to give us her name. I had to call repeatedly from a blocked phone number and ask for each of the employees listed on their website until she confirmed her name was Tammy Hewston. All I wanted to know was the phone number to the vet to talk to them so that if the cat only had a broken leg or some other fixable problem I could pay to have him treated instead of them putting him down. I understand that he could have been seriously injured and if so he probably should have been put down, but the fact of the matter is an animal control officer can't make that diagnosis and especially not in 2-3 minutes. I am positive the cat wasn't dead when I called her but her refusal to relay my desire to help this cat to the vet cost us a lot of precious time and probably resulted in his death. We've already written a letter to the supervisor but we believe that something else must be done. Someone who cares so little about animals should not be working with them and a grown woman who acts that immature and unprofessional period let alone to clients and customers should not be working with people or at all. Please sign this petition requesting that New Haven Animal Control Officer Tammy Hewston be removed from her position because I would bet I'm not the first or the last person she's going to treat this way. Sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/petitions/new-haven-animal-control-fire-tammy-hewston Post Date: 10/03/12, Replies: 0 | ||
| Animal Rights/Animal Welfare I made SOME Animal Welfare people angry by saying there is no such people call meat eating true animal lover. Many people posted hateful messages to me and said "We eat meat but we are animal lovers." This is my question to these people. If people truly love animals, how can they stand to send farm animals to horror of slaughterhouses and cruelly killed? Of course many meat,dairy, egg lovers deny cruelty in slaughterhouses and livestock farms but when farm animals are born as food animals, there is no way for livestock farmers to respect basic desires of these animals. How many of you know livestock farmers who let mother animals to stay with their off springs? In dairy farms, almost all male calves who don't end up in veal factory are thrown in dead pile alive and freeze to death or starve to death while mother cows are frantically trying to find their calves. Of course dairy farmers deny about this cruely but according to well known Animal Welfare organization, brutlities in dairy farms is common and there is no strict law to protect farm animals. Shocking cruelty in dairy farms is dark secret and nobody wants to speak about it. I know true story of mother cow who traveled long distance in unfamiliar country road to find her baby and reunited with her calf. This story has happy ending because kind woman who bought her calf let mother cow and her calf to stay together by buying mother cow. Needless to say, that saddest cry of mother cows whose babies are taken away is more than enough to ruin day for normal people. Post Date: 02/17/11, Replies: 1 | ||
| Animal Sanctuary in Crete Needs Help! Hi Guys, Our friends Viki and Steve run an Animal Sanctuary on the Island of Crete. They do a lot of hard work in helping dozens of animals under their care, which includes (amongst many others!) a partially blind ex-circus horse, a donkey that had been left to die, a number of rescue dogs and even some chickens saved from a factory barn! All of this obviously takes time and money (especially in vet bills alone). If anyone could contribute a couple of quid it would go a long way in continuing their care. The last year has been a struggle for them with a severe winter ruining some of the shelter that the animals have, and also spate of dog poisonings in the local area which badly affected one of the rescue dogs (and again cost them in vet bills). Even if you can't afford to contribute financially, it would be a huge help if people can share the link and show some of the brilliant work they do. Follow the link below. Thanks!!! https://fundrazr.c om/campaigns/4xAN8 ?psid=6a312e359d20 4504a993fa39003425 86&fb_ref=shar e__44ZL3cand Post Date: 03/10/15, Replies: 1 | ||
| Animal Testing Supposedly there is the Nation Animal Welfare Bill (NAW) since 2005, the purpose being to 'promote humane, responsible and accountable care, protection and use of domestic animals, livestock, wildlife and animals kept for scientific purposes, and the standards required to achieve this end, and for related purposes'. It's not a law; it's simply a code at this time. I've heard arguments that animals aren't treated as badly as portrayed on extremist websites such as Peta.com, regarding NAW. I disagree and still believe that animals are given virtually no rights despite the efforts of NAW, and are still greatly harmed during testing; scientists disregard this bill and simply DON'T CARE! Does anyone else have an opinion about animal testing and animal rights during the process? Post Date: 11/15/08, Replies: 5 | ||
| Animals killed for food each year I was astounded to find out that (according to Oprah's vegan for a week episode yesterday) 10 BILLION animals a year are killed for food and 33 million cows are killed for food. wow I simply don't have words. Post Date: 02/14/11, Replies: 3 | ||
| ANTI-McDONALDS MUSIC VIDEO The following music video is an assault on the fast food/factory farming industry, [Note by staff: Video contains graphic images] If you like it please help get it going viral by rating it and sharing it thru facebook, twitter etc. Much love, Gaiaisi Post Date: 07/17/10, Replies: 4 | ||
| Anti-poaching drones to take off in Africa Anti-poaching drones to take off in Africa http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/01/2013117135422298209.html Post Date: 09/16/15, Replies: 0 | ||
| Anti-whaling activists barred from Faroes Five anti-whaling activists barred from Denmark's Faroe islands http://news.yahoo.com/five-anti-whaling-activists-barred-denmarks-faroe-islands-185102689.html Post Date: 08/16/15, Replies: 1 | ||
| Anti-whaling boat seizure sparks anger Anti-whaling boat seizure sparks anger http://www.thenational.scot/news/anti-whaling-boat-seizure-sparks-anger.7129 Post Date: 09/04/15, Replies: 1 | ||
| Apes at risk of extinction in Congo Tracking apes at risk of extinction in Congo http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/tracking-apes-risk-extinction-congo-151115173352122.html Post Date: 11/18/15, Replies: 0 | ||
| Argos becomes BUAV Approved I had this sent to me a few weeks ago so apologies if this is old news. Argos becomes BUAV Approved on its own brand cosmetics, joining Superdrug, M&S, Co-op. -------------------------------------------- Argos becomes BUAV Approved The BUAV is delighted to announce that Argos, the UK's leading general merchandise retailer, has joined other major high street retailers such as Marks and Spencers and been approved under the BUAV's internationally recognised Humane Cosmetics Standard ( H CS), for not testing its products on animals. Argos, the multi-channel retailer, sells general merchandise and products for the home from over 700 stores and the internet throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland . Argos ' own brand make-up and cosmetic product range is approved under the BUAV scheme and the globally recognised Leaping Bunny Logo now appears on the company's website and in its catalogue. The Logo symbolises an extensive independent audit process and guarantees that no animal testing has occurred in any part of the product or its ingredients after a fixed cut-off date. A fixed cut-off date is a date after which a company will not accept animal testing of any of its ingredients for cosmetic purposes. Like all of the BUAV's approved companies, Argos recognises the importance of offering a guarantee to its customers that its products are entirely cruelty free. Argos approved products include gift packs which are ideal for birthdays and special occasions and are available at www.argos.co. uk. Seventy nine per cent of UK shoppers said they would swap to a brand that was not animal tested if they discovered that their existing brand was tested on animals in a survey carried out by Opinion Research Business for the BUAV. BUAV Chief Executive, Michelle Thew said: "We are delighted that high street giants such as Argos are responding to the growing consumer concern over cruelly animal tested cosmetics and toiletries. We applaud Argos , the first catalogue company to be approved by us, for taking this step to prove its cruelty-free retailer status. The BUAV's Leaping Bunny Logo is the absolute gold standard in cruelty-free products." Maria Thompson, Commercial Director, H ome Retail Group said "We offer clear information and products to customers to help them make responsible choices. We are very pleased to be able to promote our own brand make-up and cosmetic range which meets the internationally accepted guarantee of cruelty free products" Please visit the BUAV website www.buav.org for more information. ENDS For further information contact Sarah Kite at [email protected] org or 44(0) 207 700 4888 and out of hours on + 44 (0)7850 510 955 or visit our web site: www.buav.org. Notes: The BUAV has been campaigning for over 100 years to achieve a world where nobody wants or believes we need to experiment on animals. We are committed to achieving our aims through reliable and reasoned evidence-based debate. In order to attain The BUAV Humane Cosmetics Standard ( H CS) and Humane Household Products Standard ( H H PS) and gain the right to use the logo, retailers or manufacturers must pledge that 1) neither they nor their suppliers will conduct or commission animal testing 2) that they will apply a fixed cut-off date (FCOD) as company policy 3) that they agree to open up their supply chains to full independent audit. It means that neither the final product, or crucially, any of the ingredients, have been tested on animals after a fixed cut off date, thereby demonstrating the company's commitment to ending animal testing for cosmetics and household products. The BUAV's H umane Cosmetics and H ousehold Products Standards Leaping Bunny logo is internationally recognised and patented cruelty-free certification. For more information on the auditing process and a full list of approved companies visit www.gocrueltyfree. org. Statistics According to an opinion poll carried out by BUAV and Co-op Retail in 2001, 83% of women in the UK would be in favour of a Europe-wide ban on the sale of cosmetics and make-up that are tested on animals. According to a BUAV poll conducted by Opinion Research Business in 2004, 79% of people they asked said they would be likely to swap to a brand that was not animal tested if they discovered that their existing brand was tested on animals. Cosmetic testing was banned in the UK in 1998. H owever most leading brands cannot currently claim cruelty-free status as the products and/or ingredients are manufactured and tested overseas. The Government decided to stop granting licences for cosmetics tests on animals, because the suffering caused was not justified given the trivial nature of the products tested. "Tests on animals have led to around 100 drugs being thought potentially useful for stroke; not one has proved effective in humans. You don't need to be a balaclava-wearing animal rights activist to question the value of animal studies in this area of medical research." Post Date: 04/03/10, Replies: 0 | ||
| Art and Jewelry Helping Animals I am a vegan artist, teacher, and animal lover. I make art and jewelry inspired by my love of animals. It is veg friendly and 10% goes to help a different animal charity each month: mvegan5.etsy.com I also run an amazing group: Etsy for Animals: Artists Helping Animals: etsyforanimals.com Check out a group I'm in of veg artists and craftspeople: EtsyVeg etsyveg.blogspot.com Thanks! :0) Michele Post Date: 08/07/14, Replies: 2 |
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