Exposing the Big Game

Forget Hunters' Feeble Rationalizations and Trust Your Gut Feelings: Making Sport of Killing Is Not Healthy Human Behavior

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Category Archives: Animal Rights

Justin Bieber’s $35k part-exotic kittens are not a hit with PETA

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/04/entertainment/justin-bieber-kittens-peta-trnd/?

Justin Bieber defends his $35k cats against PETA scrutiny 01:20
(CNN)Justin Bieber and PETA are engaged in a cat fight.

It all centers around the singer’s part-exotic kittens, Sushi and Tuna.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bieber paid $35,000 for the pair of Savannah breed cats from Illinois-based breeder Select Exotics.
“Baby, baby, baby, nooooooo,” PETA said in a statement to CNN. “Justin Bieber could inspire his fans around the world to save a life by adopting a cat from a local animal shelter — rather than fueling the dangerous demand for hybrid cats, contributing to the animal overpopulation crisis, and proving that when it comes to helping animals, his stance so far is ‘I don’t care.'”
Select Exotics’ website says Savannah cats are “a Serval/domestic feline cross” that is “the largest hybrid cat available today.”
“Bright, inventive, intelligent, even ingenious, playful, charming, and intensely energetic, the personable Savannah cat is very dog-like,” the site said. “Readily trainable, most love to play fetch, ride in cars, and relish outdoor walks on a leash.”
The kittens were purchased in the weeks leading up to Bieber’s second wedding to his wife, the former Hailey Baldwin, and he’s clearly enamored with them.
So much so that he launched a @kittysushiandtuna Instagram account to document their lives in the Bieber household.
The Biebs didn’t take too kindly to PETA’s statement.
He posted a screen shot of a story about PETA protesting his purchase on his Instagram stories, writing “PETA can suck it.”
“PETA go focus on real problems. Like poaching and animal brutality,” he wrote in a note posted on his Instagram stories. “Ur tripping because I want a specific kind of cat? U weren’t tripping when I got my dog Oscar and he wasn’t a rescue.”
Bieber added that he believes “in adopting rescues but also think there are preferences and that’s what breeders are for.”
“PETA go help with all the plastic in the ocean, and leave my beautiful cats alone,” he ended his note.
On Friday, PETA responded to Bieber in another statement provided to CNN.
PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said “Sorry, Justin, but you must think more deeply about this issue: When millions of animals are losing their lives every year because not enough people adopt — choosing instead to shop — the animal overpopulation crisis is a ‘real problem.'”
“That’s what ‘sucks,'” she said. “PETA urges you to spend just one hour in a municipal animal shelter with us — we think you’ll understand how hard it is to look into the animals’ eyes and know that because people pay breeders, many of them will pay with their lives. You have the power to be a great role model on this issue — your behavior guides that of tons of your fans — so please put that to good use.”

CITES agreement to ban sending wild elephants to zoos a victory for legacy of Swaziland

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Posted by Meghan McIntire on 08/27/2019 in

 

The end of the elephant-to-zoo trade marked by today’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species decision in Geneva is a victory for Friends of Animals efforts to make sure that no other pachyderms would suffer the cruelty of being ripped from the wild for a life in captivity and that the 18 elephants destined for U.S. zoos in 2016 would be the last to ever have to endure this.

The story of the Swaziland elephants that were sent to three U.S. zoos despite Friends of Animals efforts to keep them in the wild was spotlighted in a July New York Times Magazine cover story “Zoos Called it a ‘Rescue.’ But are the Elephants Really Safe?” by Charles Siebert.

The three zoos, Dallas Zoo, Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas and the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, had obtained permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to import the elephants in 2016 from a national park in Swaziland overseen by Big Game Parks.

FoA filed a lawsuit claiming that the FWS had a mandatory duty under the National Environmental Policy Act to fully evaluate and disclose whether the elephants, as a result of captivity, would suffer social, psychological, behavioral and physical impacts for the rest of their lives. But ahead of the scheduled March 17, 2016 hearing and without informing the court, a plane was secretly sent from Kansas City on March 5 to transport the elephants to the U.S.

“No other elephants should be drugged and crated, hauled off to a foreign place to spend the next 50 years feeling like captives,” said FoA Wildlife Law Program Director Michael Harris. “The Swaziland elephants will suffer in captivity, there is no doubt of that, but to them we must credit the decision today to end this practice.”

While the U.S. delegation to CITES opposed the agreement, FoA President Priscilla Feral said it is a vital step at a time when elephant populations in Africa are plummeting.

“In the last three years, we kept the story of the Swaziland elephants alive and delivered a PR nightmare for the zoos involved,’’ she said. “It’s gratifying to learn that despite the disappointing performance of the U.S. delegation, CITES passed a trade rule banning the exportation of African elephants to all zoos. Being able to deliver on our goal that they would be the last elephants to be robbed of their freedom and families is rewarding, especially in these difficult political times.”

CITES agreement to ban sending wild elephants to zoos a victory for legacy of Swaziland 18

Veggie burger opens new divide in the US

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Impossible Foods meatless Whopper
Impossible Foods meatless Whopper

 

The veggie burger has emerged as the latest battleground over traditional American values.

Several states have passed labelling laws banning the use of the word meat – and even meat-related terms such as burger or hot dog – for plant-based products.

The row has pitched high-tech food innovators against the ranchers’ trade body US Cattlemen’s Association and mainly conservative politicians in America’s rural heartland.

Environmentalists extol the planet-friendly virtues of plant-based meat, arguing that it is responsible for far lower methane emissions than cattle.

From the other corner conservatives, like Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz, have been scathing about vegan food.

During his bitter election battle with Beto O’Rourke, he claimed on Twitter that the Democrats would ban barbecues across the state.

Mississippi, Missouri, Louisiana and Arkansas have led the way in passing strict labelling laws, imposing fines on companies who  transgress.

Ted Cruz

✔@tedcruz

.@peta protested our town hall yesterday, handing out barbecued tofu. We were glad to welcome them, but it illustrates the stakes af the election: if Beto wins, BBQ will be illegal! 😂😂😂 https://twitter.com/peta/status/1041373529684434946 …

PETA

✔@peta

Yesterday, PETA supporters gathered outside of Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign event in #Texas and handed out samples of barbecued tofu 😋 Tofu is versatile, healthy, and grown right in the Lone Star State, and if Cruz knew this we’re sure he’d want to see tofu in every Texas pot!

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In America’s cattle-producing states, the legislation has broad support, said Billy Hudson, a Republican state senator who piloted the law through the Mississippi legislature.

“The intent of this legislation was to help consumers better identify their foods. We don’t want fake meat confused with real meat.

“If there is a product on the shelf made from bugs, plants or grown in a lab, and someone wants to buy it, Mississippi wants that to happen. But the packaging material should not be misleading or deceptive.

“The legislation passed the Senate and House without opposition. Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals all voted for it.”

Andy Berry, the executive vice president of the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association, described the measure as purely a piece of consumer protection legislation.

“The beef industry has never been worried about competition. We produce a high-quality product.

“I like vegetables too,  but just don’t call them meat.

“My family was in the Chevrolet business from 1936 to 2009. We would never put a Corvette sticker on a Malibu.”

Cattle in Louisiana
Cattle in Louisiana where new meat labelling laws have been introduced CREDIT: NICOLE CRAINE/BLOOMBERT

However, the Plant Based Foods Association and one of its members,  Upton’s Naturals, are challenging the law in court, arguing it infringes the US First Amendment which guarantees free speech.

“We have been in business for 13 years and we have never had anyone say they have bought our products unknowingly,” said Nicole Sopko, the company’s vice president

“We are not trying to trick people. We are proud of what we produce.

“This is a protectionist move by the meat industry: it is trying to limit the competition.”

Last month another challenge was filed in Arkansas on behalf of a company producing Tofurky.

That lawsuit is backed by the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Good Food Institute and the Animal Legal Defence Fund.

Underpinning the battle is ranchers’ alarm at soaring demand for alternatives to meat which, according to the Plant Based Food Association, has seen sales grow five times faster than the food sector as a whole.

Last month it said the plant-based food market was worth $4.5 billion a year, representing an 11 per cent increase over the previous 12 months.

The strength of the flourishing new industry was underlined when Beyond Meat, one of the biggest producers of vegan burgers and sausages, went public in May.

Shares rose 160 per cent on the first day’s trading as investors piled in.

Its main rival, Impossible Foods, which has been selling its laboratory-produced meat alternatives since 2016, has even teamed up with Burger King to offer “Impossible Whoppers”.

The company broke new ground by using heme – a protein which is found in soybean plants – to replicate blood. It means that the patty has the appearance of a meat equivalent, including being red in the middle for those who prefer their burgers underdone.

Ranchers argue that consumers are being misled by the use of the term meat when no animal was slaughtered.

But this was denied by an Impossible Foods spokesman.

“Consumers are not at all confused about the fact that plant-based meat contains no animals. That’s precisely why they’re buying it at record levels,” she said.

TED Radio hour on Animal Thinking and Emotion

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Anthropomorphic

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Anthropomorphic

Do animals grieve? Do they have language or consciousness? For a long time, scientists resisted the urge to look for human qualities in animals. This hour, TED speakers explore how that is changing.

LISTEN TO FULL SHOWPLAYLIST

♫

Mixed Emotions – InstrumentalBmby

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Human BehaviorRon Locurto

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Wild Wild LifeTalking Heads

Chicken Plants See Little Fallout From Immigration Raids

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Heard on All Things Considered

A trailer loaded with chickens passes a federal agent outside a Koch Foods plant in Morton, Miss., on Wednesday.

Rogelio V. Solis/AP

Federal agents carried out one of the largest immigration raids in recent history this week, arresting nearly 700 workers at chicken processing plants in Mississippi.

But you can still buy a rotisserie bird at your local supermarket tonight for less than $10.

So far, the government crackdown has had little effect on the wider food-processing industry, a dangerous business which is heavily reliant on immigrant labor.

Some 300 Arrested In Mississippi Immigration Raids Have Been Released, Officials Say

NATIONAL

Some 300 Arrested In Mississippi Immigration Raids Have Been Released, Officials Say

The Trump administration says its crackdown helps discourage illegal immigration. But workers’ advocates warn it leaves vulnerable employees open to exploitation and unsafe working conditions.

“Americans really need to think about where their chicken and where their beef and their pork comes from and really demand that the industry raise labor standards,” says Debbie Berkowitz, who directs a health and safety program at the National Employment Law Project.

Authorities raided seven Mississippi poultry plants on Wednesday, arresting 680 people suspected of living in the country illegally. So far, no charges have been brought against the five companies that run the plants, although federal officials say that could change as the investigation is ongoing.

With Workers Hard To Find, Immigration Crackdown Leaves Iowa Town In A Bind

PROFILES OF AMERICA IN FULL EMPLOYMENT

With Workers Hard To Find, Immigration Crackdown Leaves Iowa Town In A Bind

The Trump administration has focused considerable resources on workplace immigration probes. Investigations and audits more than tripled last year, and arrests of workers rose even more. But there was no comparable increase in the number of employers cited.

“These enforcement actions are always aimed toward the workforces,” says Ted Genoways, whose 2014 book The Chain focuses on the food processing industry. “No one ever seems to ask how it is that a company comes to employ a factory full of people who do not have legal immigration status.”

Genoways says that’s reminiscent of other high-profile raids on a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, in 2008 and at half-a-dozen Swift plants in 2006.

“In all those cases, there were work stoppages, huge numbers of people swept up, families divided, but little to no consequences for the people who did the hiring,” he says. “And those plants were back up and in production in fairly short order.”

Working 'The Chain,' Slaughterhouse Workers Face Lifelong Injuries

THE SALT

Working ‘The Chain,’ Slaughterhouse Workers Face Lifelong Injuries

Koch Foods, one of the companies raided in Mississippi this week, said in a statement that it closed for one shift on Wednesday, but planned to keep operating to “minimize customer impact.” The company also advertised a hiring fair in Mississippi next Monday, and advised job applicants to bring two forms of ID.

Koch Foods — no relation to the Koch Brothers — paid nearly $4 million last year to settle a complaint brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Latina workers at the company’s plant in Morton, Miss., accused the company of both racial and sexual harassment. The company admitted no wrongdoing.

Another of the companies raided this week, Peco Foods, had two workers suffer amputations last year at a chicken processing plant in Arkansas.

Tyson Foods Promises Better Conditions And Safety For Meat Workers

THE SALT

Tyson Foods Promises Better Conditions And Safety For Meat Workers

The chicken industry boasts that its processing plants have gotten safer. The rate of workplace injuries was cut by half between 2003 and 2016. But poultry workers are still twice as likely to suffer serious injuries and six times as likely to contract a workplace illness as other private-sector employees.

Berkowitz, who was chief of staff at OSHA during the Obama administration, says those numbers are likely understated, because of declining government inspections.

“The industry is totally dependent on finding workers who will not raise issues and who, to a degree, live in fear of the company and they’ll just keep their head down and do the work,” Berkowitz says. “For the last 30 years that’s been immigrant labor.”

We Don't Know How Many Workers Are Injured At Slaughterhouses. Here's Why

THE SALT

We Don’t Know How Many Workers Are Injured At Slaughterhouses. Here’s Why

A quarter-century ago, the late journalist Tony Horowitz documented the miserable conditions in a chicken processing plant in a Pulitzer Prize-winning story for the The Wall Street Journal. Industry observers say little has changed since then.

“On a good day, the work is repetitive and stressful,” Genoways says. “On a bad day, if there’s a single mistake made by anyone in a group, there’s a high risk of accident.”

If anything, the pressure on workers has only increased, as processing lines move ever faster.

“Meatpacking remains one of the most dangerous jobs in America,” Genoways says. “And because of that, for really more than a century it’s been a job that’s very often done by first-generation immigrants who are just looking for a foot in the door and a way up the economic ladder in America.”

CORY BOOKER ON ANIMAL RIGHTS, VEGANISM, AND HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD

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https://vegnews.com/2019/2/cory-booker-on-animal-rights-veganism-and-how-to-change-the-world

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In this VegNews exclusive, Senator Cory Booker—who just announced his 2020 presidential run—opens up about his hopes for legislative change when it comes to animal welfare, the one thing each of us can do in order to be part of a forward-thinking society, and just why he’s so passionate about what he eats.

by JASMIN SINGER

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Unlike most Senators, Cory Booker is a household name. The first African-American United States Senator from New Jersey, this former Mayor of Newark is now making waves in the nation’s capital for being an outspoken advocate for a slew of social justice issues including women’s rights, affirmative action, and animal advocacy.  Booker—who just announced that he’s running for President of the United States for 2020—is as hellbent on fighting for the underdog as he is on finding the perfect vegan cheese. VegNews Digital DirectorJasmin Singer sat down with Senator Booker to discover his hopes for legislative change when it comes to animal welfare, the one thing each of us can do in order to be part of a forward-thinking society, and just why he’s so passionate about what he eats.

VegNews: When and why did you go vegan?
Cory Booker: I think my journey started in 1992. I was just coming off from playing varsity football for Stanford, about to start to play varsity basketball for Oxford, and I really believed what Gandhi titled his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth. So, I tried to experiment with his vegetarian diet and see how I felt. And my body just took off; it was like somebody lifted off a twenty-pound weighted vest. My sleep patterns got better, I felt more energy, better recovery after workouts. I was like, “Oh my gosh, I will never go back to eating meat. I started becoming a vegetarian, but then, it made me insanely curious, like why is my body reacting this way? I just started reading about health and fitness. I found the data that began to reaffirm my vegetarianism. In fact, it led me to more about our environment and cruelty to animals. I began saying I was a vegetarian because, for me, it was the best way to live in accordance to the ideals and values that I have. My veganism started then. I started to cut back on milk and dairy, which includes cheese. I always felt like giving it up cold turkey was going to be too hard for me, but eventually, you know, twenty years later, I remember eating eggs and it was almost like my conditioning had changed. I think so many of our likes and dislikes are childhood memories or family traditions, and you associate the foods you’re eating often with such good emotions—but now, suddenly, eating those eggs for me was something that didn’t align with my spirit, and I could feel it. I finally just made a decision that I was going to become vegan. I remember my last non-vegan meal was Election Day, November 2014.

VN: Many people in your position may play it a little closer to the vest to avoid the kind of defenses so many people display when they find out you’re going vegan. Do you think being vegan for the animals hurts you or helps you politically, or maybe neither? And do you care?
CB: None of us want our government or elected officials preaching to us and telling us what we can or can’t eat. This is the United States of America, and I, for one, believe in our freedom to choose. So, I don’t want to preach to anybody about their diets; that’s just not how I live. But I am who I am. I want to live my life authentically and I don’t want to be one of those people that quiets when I’m excited to have food. I’m like every American: I want to talk about food. We love talking about food, and we love posting our food on social media. I’m not sure if any of my friends aren’t posting on Instagram something they love to eat. I’m not going to somehow mute that fundamental aspect of who we are just because I’m an elected official. The reality is, I just want to live my life in accordance with my values with an unapologetic authenticity. I think that’s what we want from our elected officials. We want authentic people, we want people who are not contorting themselves to fit into what voters might want. We all feel that, we’ve all encountered that before. So, I am who I am. And I remember when I was running for mayor of Newark, a friend of mine who is a Black guy, grew up in an African American community, and he was just laughing at me and goes, “You know, I don’t know if any African American community is going to elect a guy that doesn’t eat ribs.” This was when I was vegetarian. I laughed, you know, and I said, “You know, the great thing about Newark and the great thing about Americans is folks just want to feel you. They want to know your heart and they want to know your spirit, know that you come at it with good intentions.” That doesn’t mean we always need to agree with one another, but I think we like folks who are real. That’s who I am. In all my views, I just want to put my truth out there, and if folk believe in that, if folk want to support that, great.

VN: Taking into account what is reasonably realistic, what would you like to accomplish legislatively for animals and veganism?
CB: You know, look: I think that what we see happening in America is an awareness growing about the negative impacts that our current food system have on animals, and it’s great to see that consciousness and how people are demanding a change. You see very powerful corporate interests trying to fight against that change, when we, as Americans, don’t want to be engaging in activities that don’t support our fundamental ideas of justice and freedom. So, legislatively, I want to continue to be a part of a movement of folk who are fighting against corporate interests that are undermining the public good and the public welfare. So, I’m going to continue supporting bills that are about public health, whether it is pumping in all these antibiotics into animals that are literally threatening the safety of Americans. I believe that Americans do care about the cruelty to animals, and that’s why you see public movement to stop pig crating, which is harmful and violates our collective values as a country. I think that corporate power shouldn’t be snuffing out competition. This why I’ve been standing up. And we shouldn’t be trying to hurt industries—whether it’s the almond milk industry, dairy industry, or Veganaise or Just Mayo which has literally been under attack by the egg industry because they don’t like the competition. They shouldn’t undermine that. So, there’s a lot of bipartisan support for animal welfare bills, including some legislation I have to limit animal fighting. The testing of chemicals on animals is a big victory that I was able to have across party lines. So, I think there’s a lot of legislation we could be doing to stop sort of corporate power from reigning over the power of individuals to have freedom of choice, to see more compassion, to see a focus on public health. There’s momentum to doing the right thing legislatively, and I will continue to be part of a leadership that fights for these things and makes them happen.

VN: Do you think food policy will be a part of that?
CB: I think it has to be a part of it. You see the planet earth moving towards what is the Standard American Diet. We’ve seen this massive increase in consumption of meat produced by the industrial animal agriculture industry. The tragic reality is this planet simply can’t sustain billions of people consuming industrially produced animal agriculture because of environmental impact. It’s just not possible, as China, as Africa move toward consuming meat the same way America does because we just don’t have enough land. The number-one reason for rainforest destruction now is animal grazing land. We see greenhouse producing gases produced; the devastating impact is just not practical. The numbers just don’t add up. We will destroy our planet unless we start figuring out a better way forward when it comes to our climate change and our environment. So when you start seeing places like Duplin County and the severe health impact that the industrial pig farming is having there—literally, people that are living in those communities can’t open their windows, can’t run their air-conditioning, can’t put their clothes out on the clothing lines. Where they have respiratory diseases, there are high rates of cancer because of these massive pig farms where the farmers themselves are now being treated more like sharecroppers than small business people. It is grounding down the livelihood, the environment, the health and safety of folks. And all to do what? To produce pork that is being exported back by a Chinese company, Smithfield, being exported back to China. China is treating us now like a colonized country by outsourcing all of their pollution onto the United States. It’s just not sustainable as their demand for these products grows and the power of the industrial pork industry grows. It’s trampling the rights of others. We have to figure out a sustainable way. This doesn’t mean, in any way, getting rid of animal farming, but in many ways, it means lifting up the voices of small farmers again. Lifting up the voices of midsize farmers who are being beaten and killed by this corporate consolidation that’s taken over, and I mean that metaphorically, beaten and killed, of American farming as we know it because of the incredible power of these large corporate animal agriculture monopolies. It’s just crushing our ideas of family farms, crushing our ideas of the power of the American farmer. It’s something we have to start talking about. It’s small farmers who are treating animals with better care and compassion, who are treating the environment in a more sustainable way that really speak to the farming traditions of our country being destroyed economically because of this corporate consolidation that is unsustainable. So I think that we have a lot of work to do to start fighting again this Big Ag, industrial agriculture that has deep pockets and powerfully influential in places like Washington, but I don’t believe the status quo is going to continue indefinitely because I just think that we know that we’re starting to see the ill that this is having to farm labor, small farmers, to our environment, to the health and safety of folks. So my hope is that these bipartisan efforts are going to continue to facilitate change, and perhaps, help us get back to sustainable farm practices that can prevent against the ills that are so harmful on so many levels.

VN: One of the things we get excited about at VegNews is when these small animal farms transition to produce plant-based food. We’re seeing more and more of this—dairy farms are turning into hemp or almond farms; Elmhurst Milked recently transitioned from being the oldest dairy in New York State to being completely plant-based, for example. This is a way of maintaining the small farmer mindset and bringing in plant-based agriculture, and elevating that. To that end, we’d love to know a little bit more about your veganism. Can you talk a little about the day in and day out of your veganism?
CB: Yeah, but I just want to say something because you hit a really great point there. There’s a guy, Buckminster Fuller, who said—and I’m paraphrasing here—you never change things by fighting what exists in reality; to change something, you gotta build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. That’s the deal here. American consumers should not be told what to eat, but if you provide viable alternatives, in some cases, that taste even better—and if people have more information, if we consumers are informed about whatever it is—the dangers of the overuse of plastics all the way to the conditions in which animals that we are consuming are being treated. I think if they’re given viable options, whether it’s milk that tastes great … I’ve seen incredible vegan cheese shops popping up across the country, and my friends who are lovers of cheese just can’t tell the difference. You have pizza: I was at the New Jersey VegFest, and Screamer’s Pizza is just phenomenal. My non-vegan friends love it. One of my favorite comfort food vegan places is HipCityVeg, and I started going to it in Philadelphia. They now opened here in DC, and there’s often a line out the door in the Philadelphia one, and I asked people, “Are you vegetarian or vegan?” And they say, “No.” They just love the food. When alternatives like that, like Champs Diner in Brooklyn … It’s one of my favorite places to go eat vegan comfort food. You know, there are lines outside the door and everybody that goes here isn’t vegan, they just love the food. I took Gayle King, the CBS news producer. I posted this online. She was so skeptical, so hating on vegan food. When we choose restaurants, it’s always me saying, “Let’s make sure there are some vegan options for me, Gayle,” when we go out to eat. This time I took her to Avant Garden and she was blown away. I loved when she put the first forkful of the different dishes we tried, just to look at her face. She just couldn’t deny how incredibly good it was. So for me in Newark, there’s Blueberry Cafe that I love in our city, and that’s got amazing vegan food. I just met a guy that told me he’s opening up another vegan restaurant in Newark. I think it’s going to be called The Greedy Vegan. Just, the options are incredible. I just see the growth of vegan brands, the growth of vegan food. Even big meat mobiles like Tyson Foods, for example, they’re investing in all the meat alternatives that are coming because they see this space growing, and it’s not growing because vegans are growing out there. The growth of vegans in America is not proportional to the growth of vegan options that are out there. What’s happening is that Americans are just making the choice for health reasons, they’re making the choice because of their environmental consciousness, they’re making the choice because it tastes incredibly good. I just believe in freedom. Eat what you want, but do everything you can to eat in accordance with your own values, your own views, whatever they are. And eat for taste. The great thing for me, that I’ve found, as a plant-based eater for over 20 years and a vegan for the last five, is that the food options are just getting better and better and better.

VN: If you could give one piece of advice to those wanting to contribute and make a difference for the animals in our current political climate, what would it be?
CB: Well, before I do anything, I just want to make sure to mention a couple more of my favorite places because now you’re making me feel guilty. Philly is one of my favorite vegan cities, so I almost want to do a vegan tour of places in America because there’s a great diner in New Jersey that doesn’t get enough play: The Rutherford Diner. It has vegan pancakes, vegan stuffed French toast. It’s just amazing in New Jersey, one of my favorite places in my own state. In Philly, Vedge. Here in DC, Shouk and Fare Well are just incredible places. When I went to the Asbury Park Vegan Fest, I was hearing about places I haven’t been to. So your last question …

VN: Yes, and you’re making me hungry. If you could give one piece of advice to those wanting to contribute and make a difference for the animals in our current political climate, what would it be?
CB: Let your voices be heard. We live in a democracy where people have to understand our democracy is not a spectator sport. You can’t just get caught up in a state of sedentary agitation and see things that really bother you and not do something to change that. If you’re not voting or confronting your congressperson or your senator on your strong views, then you are actually contributing to the very things you find wrong and unsettling. The opposite of justice is not injustice, it’s inaction. So this is a competitive space down here, the policy space. There are very powerful, wealthy large corporate interests working to do what many of them have done for generations. Destroying our environment, undermining the public interest. And they’re down here shaping tax legislation, shaping regulations. We need you in the game. And if you have views—I don’t care what your views are, liberal or conservative, pro-animal compassion or heck, whatever your issue is—you gotta participate in this democracy. I think that people who care about animals, we’re the majority in this country who care about animals. I’ve seen our country move with its heart. Often, the challenge is just not knowing what’s going on. Again, so much about life is about being engaged, being knowledgeable, finding out what’s going on and then being an activist that lets your voice be heard. So I’m hoping that we start seeing more and more people who are making this an issue they’re voting on. It’s something that, again, I’m proud to stand up here in Washington with non-vegans, with a vow of meat-eaters who agree with me that we should be compassionate and stop animal cruelty, who agree with me that the overuse of antibiotics is one of greatest threats to humanity because of super viruses, that agree with me that we have a real environmental challenge if more and more people are going to be eating what is considered now to be the Standard American Diet. So my advice for anybody is to get informed, get more engaged, fight local laws. Like ag-gag laws, which are the most outrageous things I’ve heard of, trying to block people from knowing what’s going on in industrial animal agriculture. So we’re literally at a point where people are trying to take away fundamental freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom to know, freedom for consumer information. That’s what going on right now. The only way that’s going to stop, the only way we’re going to bring more transparency to government, transparency to society, more compassion, greater health, greater wellbeing, is if we have active, engaged citizenry who are willing to stand up, to speak up, to rise up for the values we all hold dear and treasure.

A portion of this interview was originally published in the September+October 2018 issue of VegNews Magazine.


Jasmin Singer is the Digital Director for VegNews, the cohost of the Our Hen Housepodcast, and the author of the memoir, Always Too Much and Never Enough.

Warrants waiting to be signed in burning dog case

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NEW HAVEN

by: WTNH.com staff

https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/new-haven/warrants-waiting-to-be-signed-in-burning-dog-case

Posted:  / Updated: 

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)– Mayor Nancy Rossi says arrests are coming for the suspects allegedly responsible for burning a dog at a West Haven beach.

The warrants for the two suspects just need to be signed. A source tells us it’s a woman and her boyfriend.

The dog’s remains were discovered at Sandy Point Beach over the 4th of July weekend. Police think the dog was a 1-year-old mini schnauzer.

More than $25,000 in reward money is being offered the case.

The Gadhimai “Festival” of Nepal

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Animal sacrifice is a cultural/religious tradition across parts of India/Nepal echoing the ancient world.

A recent demonstration against the Gadhimai “Festival”

This atrocious event takes place every 5 years and has gained notoriety because tens of thousands of animals are brutally slaughtered.

The newly formed Federation of Animal Welfare Nepal (FAWN) was established as a lobbying entity for animal welfare with the purpose to institutionalize animal welfare in Nepal.

FAWN is now working so that this “festival” doesn’t happen again in November 2019

Despite mounting pressure over the years and some misleading information, religious sacrifice of animals has not been outlawed in Nepal. In the last decade, thanks to the tireless work of animal rights activists and organizations, there has been a significant decrease in the number of animals sacrificed but the tradition continues. The next Gadhimai festival planned for this November so now is the time is now for all to come together and present a united voice against the continuity of this outdated and criminal practice.

Help Animals India participation: If you are able to support these FAWN activists we will send your USA tax deductible donation to them! Or donate directly on the website below.