tagged w/ animal compassion
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Truly inspiring! -- if this doesn’t cause you to shed a tear or two, and then put a smile on your face, then you have no heart...
http://veracitystew.com/?p=32718Truly inspiring! -- if this doesn’t cause you to shed a tear or two, and then... more
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treehugger...
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"Why Love One But Eat the Other?" Billboards Stir Controversy in Toronto Subway System
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They are pretty careful about who gets to put ads up in the Toronto subway system, and animal rights activists usually don't make the cut. But through September and October, subway riders have come face to face with a powerful campaign to convince people that if they like cute kittens and puppies, then they shouldn't be eating chickens and pigs. Kimberly Caroll, an organizer of the campaign says:
Pigs, cows and chickens are remarkable beings," says campaign spokesperson Kimberly Carroll. "Cows will walk for miles to reunite with a calf after being sold at auction. Pigs have intelligence beyond that of a 3 year-old human. Chickens mourn the loss of their loved ones. We hope that in connecting with these animals and the grievous suffering that is behind every burger, omelette, and hot dog, people will be motivated to make more compassionate food choices.
I was surprised that the campaign got approved at all; Kimberly explained:
We ran a similar campaign back in 2009 on the TTC at about a quarter of the size of the current one. At that point the ad had to go through various levels of approval while we waited on pins and needles, but it was approved! This time around, it seems there were no concerns. We've been very impressed with the TTC for this. We believe this is the first animal rights campaign to run on the TTC.
While the puppy and pig comparison is probably not a stretch for most people, the kitten and chicken one is probably a bit more difficult. But they make a case that chickens are "inquisitive, affectionate and personable."
It is not a new message, that animals are animals and it is crazy to treat one kind so differently from another; the British Vegetarian Society did it decades ago. But it is new, seeing it in Toronto plastered all over the subway, where the TTC says it will be seen by 5.7 million people every week. Kimberly says that it is effective; she is getting "several emails, posts, and twitters a day from folks saying they're going veg after seeing the ads."
.treehugger...
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"Why Love One But Eat the Other?" Billboards Stir... more
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VEGANISM: A TRUTH WHOSE TIME HAS COME
............Our Next Evolutionary Step.....
July 23, 2011
A True Story: Co-Existing with Free-Living Animals
Photo: Golden Rees with a rather sane reaction to our deer friend!
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Once upon a time, I lived a magical reality. I literally lived for months on end, year after year for two decades, in a magical spot located in a national forest; at 8,000 ft. elevation. I lived there with human vegan friends and with nonhuman herbivore friends. This forest did not have bears, wolves, snakes, and rarely were humans seen. Interestingly, there were hardly any carnivores in this magical reality. I did meet a coyote once and introduced him to our little ‘Magic’; our canine friend who ate a vegan diet. I lived with hummingbirds, rabbits, porcupines, wild turkeys, voles, chipmunks, and ground squirrels that ate seeds from our hands. I lived with deer that rested contently nearby in my campsite. They were friends and came when I called them over for some lovin’ or organic produce. After many years, we were able to pet them. I protected them during hunting season. Coping with the hunting season became the hardest part of living in the national forest. It brought me to my knees; broken-hearted and devasted.
I lived with cows and bulls that roamed the forest. The land was leased out to “cattle” ranchers. The first time I heard a bull’s bellow echoing down the meadows, I about keeled over in fear. But I soon realized however fierce they looked or sounded, that they would not hurt me. They’re herbivores. We co-existed on the long alpine and forested meadows. A cow could drink a five gallon bucket of water at a time; when we were generous enough to offer (we had to truck the water in from a spring an hour away.) We both enjoyed finding a spot to spend some time amongst the white barked Aspens and the sweet smelling bark of the Ponderosa Pine. Some of the things we shared in common were that we were both a part of the animal kingdom. We both breath air and have similar body parts and systems. We both liked living in peace away from humanity, above the world, under the big blue sky. We both wanted animal to be free.
The only scary animal I ever came into contact with for over two decades was the human animals. Only the human animals did things that made me feel uncomfortable. In the end, I was literally forced out of the forest by a substantial forest fire. I made it out just in time! It was a fire started by humans. According to a female forest ranger present at the time, it could have easily been put out – it was just one tree. But “forest management” decided to let it go (for the benefit of the forest!) They made the wrong choice. A strong wind came and spread the fire through the woods. I visited once after the fire was put out. The white barked Aspens were now black stumps. My forest friends and I were driven out by the one species of animal that ruined everything. The human animal is the only one that I ever had any problems with while living two decades in a forest filled with many species.
,VEGANISM: A TRUTH WHOSE TIME HAS COME
............Our Next Evolutionary Step........ more
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Watch a whale jump for joy after being freed from a net
by Jess Zimmerman
21 Jul 2011 1:23 PM
It's worth watching a guy scramble around in a Speedo to see this boatload of conservationists save a humpback whale caught in a net. If you don't want to sit through tense ... net-cutting, though, you can skip ahead to about 5:30 and watch the newly freed whale repeatedly leaping into the air in what looks like a show of joy and gratitude.
.Watch a whale jump for joy after being freed from a net
by Jess Zimmerman
21... more
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Los Angeles Times...
Dining: Café Gratitude in L.A., for the vegan Stuart Smalleys of the world
The vegan and raw Café Gratitude in L.A. has a positive, flower-child atmosphere. Even if that's not your thing, the food is inventive, delicious and wholesome.
By Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times
PART ONE...
July 14, 2011
Written on the mirror of the women's bathroom at Café Gratitude, a new raw and vegan restaurant, are the words, "I adore myself and everyone else." The sentiment is part of the positivity campaign that the restaurant has been waging since opening on Larchmont Boulevard and Melrose Avenue five months ago. Even the toilet seat covers are called "awesome covers."
Café Gratitude is the first Los Angeles outpost of a chain that claims seven Bay Area locations. And true to its flower-child roots, the items on its menu are given self-affirming names that swim in saccharine seas. Among them are I Am Thriving (butternut squash chipotle soup), I Am Elated (enchiladas), I Am Transformed (corn tacos) and I Am Extraordinary ("BLT" sandwich).
After several weeks of dining at Café Gratitude, one might find oneself Vibrant, Grounded, Whole, Loved, Magical, Precious and Cozy, but never Hung Over, Angry, Jealous, Hurt or Sorry. In fact, the restaurant is so uniformly bright and cheery that it borders on pathological. Think Disneyland gone vegan, sans the heartland tourists wearing fanny packs.
Look around you: Skin glows tan and smooth, hair is not brittle, men wear silver hoop earrings and have fluffy, golden locks. Women with teardrop-shaped diamonds in the middle of their foreheads and electric-colored feathers around their necks munch forkfuls of farm-fresh greens. The air smells like Tom's of Maine bathroom products and crushed nuts.
Café Gratitude could well be compared to a 21st century version of the Source Restaurant, a vegetarian hang managed by a 1970s cult called the Source Family. Led by the charismatic, psychedelic-song-spinning Father Yod, the Source was frequented by celebrities such as Warren Beatty and Julie Christie.
Its sleeker, modern soul mate, which was founded by the healthful power couple of Matthew and Terces Engelhart, is also honey to celebrity bees. On any given day you might find yourself feeling Complete as you are sandwiched — like cashew cheese in an organic wheat bun — between Jake Gyllenhaal and James Cromwell, or Moby and diminutive "Mad Men" star Kiernan Shipka.
But if Vietnam-era hippie cults have taught us anything, it's that there is a dark side to every daisy. Café Gratitude's noir stylings come from the sheer weight of its up-titude. Nothing that happy can be true.
For example, you get the sense that not every server is drinking the positivity punch and that some days — even most days — like the rest of us, they are far from Comforted. But they will still bravely ask you the question of the day, which is written on a white board by the entrance.
"What is your gift?" they will ask, or "What do you like to share?" and you and your friends will answer. You might even have some fun with it.
"We like to share this Eternally Youthful vanilla bean milkshake," you might say, giggling.
"That's nice," your server will say.
Later, after you've consumed a glass or two of organic wine and candles placed on tables have ushered in the evening hours, your food will come.
"You Are Thriving?" the food runner will ask, handing you the soup. "No, I Am Exhausted," you will say, and you both will laugh knowingly.
And with this little human exchange you are suddenly primed to eat a type of cuisine that you may not have considered cuisine before but that many people in this city — and beyond — have been embracing in increasing numbers. After your first few bites you'll realize that tasty food doesn't have to be cooked to count, and that thought may surprise and please you. What Café Gratitude serves is clean, and good. It feels healthful. You feel healthy. Perhaps that's because the wine and beer are the only things on the menu called by their proper names.
CONTINUED...Los Angeles Times...
Dining: Café Gratitude in L.A., for the vegan Stuart... more
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Grass Valley, California...
Douglas & Linus Saved!
July 8, 2011 -
Give a warm and hearty welcome to the truly happy bovines - Douglas and Linus! These two adorable calves were saved from slaughter, along with three others. I know you will fall in love with them as much as I have already.
The five calves are the discards of the dairy industry - the male calves. Stripped at birth, Douglas and Linus never nursed from their own mother. Instead they ended up at auction, sold for a measly $5 bucks a head. The individual who bought the five calves stuffed them into a dirt pen so small, they could barely turn around.
A neighbor complained - compassion in action - and Santa Cruz Animal Services was called out. Officer Todd Stosuy became immediately concerned when he saw the calves, noticing their painfully protruding ribs. One calf could barely stand. A veterinarian agreed, and the five calves were swiftly confiscated and taken to the shelter.
The man was raising the calves for slaughter. Male dairy calves are either killed at a young age (3-16 weeks) for veal or sold at auction for $3-20 and killed for their flesh. They know such little compassion, that when we received the call, we had to help.
Few animal control agencies take cruelty to farm animals seriously, so we work tirelessly with those who do. We agreed to take in two of the calves, while another sanctuary, Farm Sanctuary, took the remaining three.
But we had to wait while the individual who starved them decided whether to take the issue to court or relinquish all five calves. We cheered when he chose the latter and, more importantly, declared he probably would not be raising calves for a long time (we hope that means forever).
I am happy to report that Douglas and Linus, along with the three other calves, are slated for sanctuary, not slaughter, that their lives will be long and happy. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the millions of other male dairy calves who are born each year. They face the same fate as Douglas and Linus...they are the dirty little secret of the "happy cow" industry.
There is a solution. Next time, at the grocery store, skip the milk aisle and check out the wide variety of alternatives available - soy, almond, rice, oat, the diversity is impressive! Add the new "milk" to cereal and let your tastes buds adjust. Then try different cheese alternatives, yogurt, cream cheese and sour cream.
I can make this guarantee - you will feel absolutely awesome making these more compassionate choices. You are making a difference for little Douglas' future brothers!
-Marji Beach, Education ManagerGrass Valley, California...
Douglas & Linus Saved!
July 8, 2011 -... more
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Suffolk News-Herald...
Kitten’s death marks need for education
Published 8:35pm Saturday, June 4, 2011
By Michele Thames
Guest Columnist
Earlier this week, I learned about a case of animal cruelty in Suffolk in which a 12-year-old boy allegedly threw a kitten against a wall, kicked the kitten and attempted to stab the kitten with a pocketknife. Before the 12-year-old was able to hurt the kitten with the knife, another child stepped in and stopped the abuse.
There has been an outpouring of anger at the 12 year old child for his actions. There has been a flood of support for the heroic action of the child that stopped the mistreatment of the helpless kitten.
There are many different reasons why people hurt animals, and sometimes it is because they are simply cruel. Studies show that there is a correlation between animal abuse, child abuse and domestic violence. For some children, exposure to violence makes committing violent acts more probable.
The hope of the Suffolk Humane Society is that the 12-year-old child gets the help he needs so he can stop the cycle of abuse and cruelty.
Unfortunately, the kitten in this case died, but the boy who attempted to save his life deserves all the accolades in the world. It is very difficult to stand up for what is right, and it is never right to harm an animal in an act of violence.
The Suffolk Humane Society would like to publicly thank this boy for his heroic actions. Our hope is that all children will feel empowered to stand up for what is right and just as they grow up.
The Suffolk Humane Society is committed to a humane education program that teaches compassion and kindness toward both people and animals. We want to teach ways to commit to living an ethical, sustainable, and peaceful existence on earth with animals and humans alike. We have a team of committed volunteers and certified therapy dogs that are able to visit schools, community centers, churches and other gathering places to educate both children and adults.
Please visit our website, www.suffolkhumanesociety.com, or call 538-3030 and leave a message to find out more about our services or how you can help. The way that we treat those least able to defend themselves speaks volumes about our community.
Michele Thames is the humane education director and president of the Board of Directors for the Suffolk Humane Society.
PHOTO: This is NOT a photo of the kitten who was killed.Suffolk News-Herald...
Kitten’s death marks need for education
Published... more
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ABC...
Save the Frogs: Animal Rights Groups Help High Schools Do Frog Dissections by Computer Program
By NED POTTER (@NedPotterABC)
June 1, 2011
If you are like many of us, you probably had a high school science teacher like Mr. Alexander -- a wonderful, caring man who also put you through the experience of dissecting a live frog. You may have learned a lot, but there were kids who just couldn't handle it. You were, after all, killing a real animal.
But software has come to the students' rescue, and animal-welfare groups have come to the frogs' rescue. The Animal Welfare Institute in Washington offered free software to the first 25 schools in America that agree to end dissections of real animals, and as of this morning they report four schools have taken them up on it.
"We've had a lot of teachers who were frustrated," said Serda Ozbenian of the AWI. "They didn't want to dissect animals but it was required in the curriculum."
"I don't think we're teaching kids the right thing," said Kerry Kriger of Save The Frogs, a California group that partnered with the AWI in the effort. "It teaches them that animals are disposable."
That is changing now, though not entirely for the reasons activists might prefer. Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley, Calif., became the first school to accept the offer -- mainly because it was a good deal. Rights to use a computer program called Digital Frog 2.5 can cost as little as $900 for a group of students, a fraction of what it costs to buy real frogs to dissect in a high school lab.
PHOTO: Virtual frog dissection program
"With finances being the way they are, we felt that this was going to be a good opportunity," said Kevin Stipp, a former science teacher who is now assistant principal at Rancho Verde. "It's as much about the species as about saving cost." Most of the 2,600 students taking science courses this year will never go into the life sciences, he said; for those who do, they'll get other chances to do dissections in college.
Dissecting frogs -- whether or not teachers value the experience their students get from seeing an animal's organs -- is a costly proposition for many schools. The frogs have to be bought and kept until they are killed. A lab is expensive to maintain. There is setup and cleanup for the teacher. And -- no small consideration -- preservatives for the decaying animals may be toxic.
"With this program you're getting the same thing," said Stipp. "You don't get to touch the organs, but visually you are getting the same experience."
That is why business is picking up at Digital Frog International of Puslinch, Ontario, near Toronto. Animal-rights groups aside, the company says school systems from all over North America are signing up for its software. The Miami-Dade school system in Florida, it said, has contracted for software for all 85 of its middle schools and high schools.
"Sure, some kids like the wet lab because they like to mash the frogs' brains," said Tracie Treahy of Digital Frog. "Others don't like it because there's a kid behind them with a scalpel.
"But you're losing perspective on what this is for. We're teaching anatomy and physiology," she said.
The company cites a 2001 doctoral dissertation at George Mason University by Christine Youngblut, which concluded, "Multimedia-based virtual dissection was more effective than hands-on dissection in helping students learn about frog anatomy. Moreover, this result was achieved when the time available for the virtual dissection was approximately 44 percent less than that available for hands-on dissection."
She did concede that a majority of students surveyed felt they were "missing out on a valuable experience" if they did not do a dissection themselves.
So how do the ninth graders at Rancho Verde High School feel about dissection by computer? No answer yet; the software won't be rolled out there until fall.
But frog populations are declining in many parts of the world, said Kriger of Save the Frogs.
"If we can envision a time when there are no dissections," he said, "kids will understand that life is valuable."ABC...
Save the Frogs: Animal Rights Groups Help High Schools Do Frog Dissections... more
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Los Angeles Times...
Dogfighting phone app called 'cruel,' 'sickening' by LAPD union chief [Updated]
April 25, 2011 | 11:21 am
The head of the Los Angeles police union said Monday that a dogfighting game application for cellphones should be yanked from the market because it glorifies illegal activity and promotes "cruel and immoral" behavior.
Paul M. Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said he was particularly concerned that the Dog Wars game created by Kage Games would be embraced by local gang members and encourage them to engage in dogfighting.
"It's sickening, absolutely sickening," Weber said. "They should take it down immediately. These animals are defenseless. It's absolutely the wrong message to send to our children."
The Dog Wars app for the Android smart phone operating system encourages players to "Raise your dog to beat the best" and allows players to train a virtual pit bull to fight other virtual dogs and build street cred that "puts money in your pocket and lets you earn more in fights."
The company's website notes that the game player has a "gun for police raids and can inject the dog with steroids."
The Humane Society of the United States also released a statement urging Android to drop Dog Wars from its applications and calling the game "a step backward."
The humane society and other animal rights groups have been trying to educate the public about the dangers of professional and street dogfighting in the wake of the federal conviction of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick in connection with a dogfighting ring at his former Virginia residence.
"Because Dog Wars actually instructs players on how to condition a dog using methods that are true to organized dogfighting, this game may be a training ground for young people to try the activity in the real world, encouraging cruelty to dogs and leading young people down a dead-end path," said Wayne Pacelle, the humane society's chief executive.
[Updated 1:30 p.m.: Michael Vick issued a statement Monday critical of Dog Wars. “I’ve come to learn the hard way that dog-fighting is a dead-end street,” Vick said in the statement. “Now, I am on the right side of this issue, and I think it’s important to send the smart message to kids, and not glorify this form of animal cruelty, even in an Android app.”]
An email to Kage Games was not immediately returned, but the creators have responded to criticism in an online statement, saying it is not illegal and other games on the video market include crime or killing as part of the gaming experience.
"Just because something is illegal in real life in certain countries, does not mean it is illegal to make a song, movie, or video game about it," company officials said in the statement.Los Angeles Times...
Dogfighting phone app called 'cruel,'... more
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tim gier
vegan children
Posted on November 21, 2010 by timgier
Every person ought to answer important moral questions for themselves, only after they have thought them through, giving all due consideration to the facts in evidence. Children below a certain age aren’t generally equipped to answer these kinds of questions. Whether one wants to participate in the use of nonhuman individuals as things to eat or wear is such a question. We don’t expect young children to be able to understand complex moral reasoning, so it’s not likely that they can grapple with the concepts involved in human-nonhuman relations.
So what should the parents and grandparents of young children do? Should they let children eat “meat”? No.
Notice that I did not ask what the vegan parents of young children should do. If you’re the parents or grandparents of young children, it shouldn’t matter whether you eat other animals, or what your own moral reasoning informs you about the question. Young children shouldn’t eat other animals, period.
Here’s why.
In a world where the eating of other animals is pervasive and normalized, anyone who eats other animals from an early age will accept and adopt, without question, the dominant views of society. When young children reach the age where they are equipped to answer important moral questions, if they’ve lived their lives up to that point participating in activities which are properly within the reach of such questions, it will be difficult for them to approach such questions with an open mind. Someone who has been told all of their lives that there’s no moral question at stake considering their use of other animals as food and clothing will have a hard time answering that question; they may not even recognize that there is a question at all. We know this is true; most people don’t even think about it, they just eat “meat”, because they always have.
Now, a parent who is a “meat” eater might object, saying that raising a child vegan handicaps them in the opposite way. If one was to teach a child from an early age that eating other animals is something they don’t do, it would make it difficult for the child to reach a different decision once they were able to think through the issue on their own. This objection will not stand.
At every turn, the accepted exploitation of nonhumans presents itself to us – we can’t escape it. Any child raised vegan will be reminded constantly that they are different, that they are in the minority and that, in order to conform, they ought to eat “meat”. If they one day decide that they should eat “meat”, they will face little resistance from the outside world; it would be easy to join in with the crowd.
At the same time, by virtue of having not participated in a behavior all of their lives, they don’t carry a predisposition to engage in the activity, but neither do they have a predisposition to do something else. One who doesn’t eat animals doesn’t substitute something else for them, they just eat all the other things that most people eat anyway.
To illustrate this point, consider another aspect of child rearing. Suppose that two people of completely different religions marry, one a Hindu and the other Catholic. They want their child to make up her own mind as to which religion to follow. So, they raise her without religious training of any kind. When the time comes, she has no predisposition for the Hindu, or the Catholic religion; neither has been substituted for the other, nor has any other religion been substituted for either of them. The child is free and unencumbered by prejudice to consider each religion on its own merits, and to adopt, or not adopt, the one she deems most worthy, as the case may be.
Now, I doubt that many well-intentioned people would deny that every adult competent person is free to adopt the religion of their choosing. Nor will it be doubted that it is most often the case that religious people adopt the religion of their parents. Since most religious people raise their children in their own religion, they must not consider their children competent to choose religion on their own. By choosing which religion their children will be raised in, they deny their children the very opportunity to adopt the religion of their own choosing. They do not respect their children as independent individuals, but they treat them as things upon which they can impose their own beliefs.
The same is true when children are raised eating “meat”. Nearly everyone will agree that whether one chooses to eat other animals is something one has the right to decide for oneself. Few would insist upon, or force another to, eat “meat” against their will. But many parents and grandparents think nothing at all of imposing their will on young children, denying them the full chance to exercise their autonomy. They treat children as things, upon which they can impose their own beliefs.
There are two final objections to consider briefly. The first concerns religion, and asks, what if something tragic happens and a child dies before choosing her religion, before “knowing God” . It begs the question of whether God exists, but supposing God does exist, it seems unlikely that God would hold a child responsible for not having made a moral decision which she is incapable of making. God would be more forgiving than that. The second considers eating other animals and asks, what if it is vital to the health of the child to eat other animals, aren’t the parents and grandparents then obligated to feed the child “meat”? If it were true that it is only by eating other animals that young children can thrive, then it would be the case that children ought to eat them. But, unless every major health and nutrition authority in the modern Western world is incorrect, it simple isn’t the case that a child needs to eat other animals to thrive. It may be the case that the parents and grandparents of a child raised vegan needs to be more attentive to the dietary needs of such a child. Paying close attention to the nutritional needs of youngsters ought to be considered a good thing, and not a problem. In any case, the overarching principle of respecting the autonomy of individuals should outweigh any issues of inconvenience or tedious planning on the part of parents.
Children are not things upon which parents and grandparents should impose their will, prejudicing the children as to the moral questions they eventually will face and have to resolve for themselves. Children are individuals, who are here for themselves, and until they are able to face and resolve moral questions on their own, the job of parents and grandparents is ensure that they remain free and able to one day face those questions with an open mind, on their own terms, without prejudice or the burden of predisposition.
Whether you think it’s OK to eat “meat” or not, you shouldn’t raise your child to eat or wear other animals. It is simply not your choice to make.tim gier
vegan children
Posted on November 21, 2010 by timgier
Every... more
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Petting Dogs, Eating Pigs | By Tim Gier
Posted on November 10, 2010 by timgier
Nicolette Hahn Niman published a piece at The Atlantic titled “Dogs Aren’t Dinner: The Flaws in an Argument for Veganism”. In it, she opines that the argument “we ought not to eat pigs because we don’t eat dogs” doesn’t hold water. What she’s arguing against are the ideas that we value our dogs (and other “pets”) more than farm animals and that we value them for themselves. That is, she argues against the idea that we don’t eat dogs (in most western societies anyway) because they have moral value to us.
What she contends is that, rather than placing any moral value on our “pets”, we don’t eat dogs because we use dogs in a different way that doesn’t involve eating them. We couldn’t use dogs as we do if we ate them too. In the same way, we can’t generally use pigs in the same ways we use dogs because we eat pigs. It isn’t a moral calculation that we make when we decide to not eat dogs, it is an instrumental one. Since our preferred use of dogs is as playmates, companions, helpers, etc., eating them would be at cross-purposes to those uses. Since our preferred use of pigs is as food, keeping pigs as “pets” would be generally at cross-purposes to that use.
So, there isn’t any “moral schizophrenia” at work here. For there to be moral schizophrenia at work, we would have to assign moral value to our dogs, such that the moral value would be the operative fact preventing our use of them as food. But, Niman says that isn’t the case. She notes that whether a society treats a particular nonhuman species as a “pet” or as food, it has nothing to do with the animals themselves, but only with local tastes and customs. It’s the same as one culture eating dandelion greens and another throwing them away as weeds.
Niman also notes the long shared history between human and canine animals, over tens of thousands of years, which has resulted in our unique relationship. She doesn’t explain why some cultures choose to eat dogs nevertheless, but in any case she doesn’t describe this relationship in moral terms. Dogs are part of our family, but not part of our moral universe.
Unfortunately, Niman is right.
One need only read about how families in the Gulf Region of the United States, in the midst of the BP Oil Spill crisis in the summer of 2010, abandoned their dogs and cats in reaction to economic hardship. Most people living in modern western societies wouldn’t abandon an actual family member in times of strife; it is deemed unconscionable. But “pets”? When times are tough, all bets are off when it comes to “pets”.
I know of a family who, when they realized that they could no longer care for the Capuchin monkey they had lived with for 19 years, abandoned their “pet” to the care of a sanctuary. Even though they had raised the primate from infancy and had treated him as family, when he later became ill they couldn’t be bothered to visit him. Later still, as he lay dying in the middle of the night, the only people to comfort him were the loving strangers who took him in. His real family just couldn’t be bothered.
There is no moral schizophrenia at work in out relationships with nonhuman animals. We treat them all as things, every last one, dog, pig, cat, monkey, fish, it matters not. It isn’t moral schizophrenia at all, it is moral bankruptcy.
So Niman is right, but in winning this point, she shows why she must lose the larger argument in the end. The real question that needs to be answered isn’t why we treat dogs differently than pigs, but what gives us the right to treat them both merely as things? Whether it the use of a dog as a convenient playmate for our children, who will be discarded when he becomes no longer convenient, or whether it is the use of pigs as food we buy in convenient plastic wrapped packages, all uses of other animals as things is wrong.
Nonhuman animals are here on this planet for one reason, and one reason only. Just as is the case with you and me, they are here to give their own lives meaning, and not to serve as the means for the satisfaction of others. Niman misses this basic point, and mistakenly thinks that because we can control the lives of others, because we can decide who to pet and who to slaughter, that it gives us the right to. She’s wrong, we have no such right.
Go vegan.Petting Dogs, Eating Pigs | By Tim Gier
Posted on November 10, 2010 by timgier... more
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GUARDIAN.CO.UK
Let's make Peta history
The animal rights organisation treats women like meat and does animals few favours – this dreadful group needs to disappear
* Julie Bindel
o guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 October 2010 12.00 BST
Pamala Anderson PETA Campaign Launch - London Peta's latest poster campaign features Pamela Anderson portrayed as a collection of cuts of meat. Photograph: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press
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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), has done it again. Apparently never tiring of offending women with its horrifically misogynistic campaigns, it has now gone and upset British film-maker Victor Schonfeld over its use of footage from The Animals film, first released in 1982. Schonfeld, himself committed to animal rights, has long criticised Peta's vile anti-women gimmickry and has taken serious offence at his film being exploited by them. Many decent people – men and women – do not wish to be associated with an organisation that depicts women as pieces of meat in order to challenge folk that treat animals as, er, pieces of meat. A Peta spokesperson claimed that Schonfeld has "an axe to grind". I sincerely hope he has. We need all the support we can get to put a stop to this dangerous promotion of women as stupid slags, sexy sluts and brainless bimbos.
Peta does not just dehumanise women, although we are definitely its favourite target. Racist imagery can also be found in more than one of its campaigns – such as the juxtaposition of a photograph of African American men accused of raping white women being lynched in the American deep south with that of a bull being strung up in preparation for butchering. Then there was the campaign that depicted a semi-clad black man as a "wild" animal in a cage.
Females with low self-esteem due to weight or size can also rely on Peta to make their lives just that little bit worse. A billboard erected in the US had "Save the Whales. Lose the Blubber: Go Vegetarian" in massive lettering next to a picture of a woman in a bikini. In a press release, Peta executive vice-president Tracy Reiman said: "Trying to hide your thunder thighs and balloon belly is no day at the beach."
Peta is unrepentant and unconcerned when confronted about images of extreme acts of violence against women, such as a poster showing a woman being murdered on the street. It also does few favours for many animals. Peta received $32m in public donations last year and yet it does not run animal shelters. According to public records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Peta euthanised 2,124 pets in 2008 and gave fewer than 18 to adoptive homes. Since 1998, a total of 21,339 dogs and cats have died at the hands of Peta workers, making it more like a slaughterhouse than an animal rights campaign.
Peta using working porn stars in its campaigns such as Sasha Grey confirms its liking for an industry that sexualises the notion of women as meat. Peta is as guilty of doing so as Hustler magazine, which famously put a picture of a woman being pushed head-first through a meat grinder to make hamburger in the 1970s, one album cover shortly afterwards displayed a woman's naked, clingfilm-wrapped body sectioned off like cuts of meat in a butchers shop. Men are often heard guffawing at dinner when asked if they want "leg or breast".
The wonderful Carol J Adams, animal rights activist, feminist and author of the acclaimed, The Sexual Politics of Meat, is a staunch critic of Peta. "People say 'sex sells'. I say sex sells sex. Peta conflates sexualisation and animal exploitation and this harms animals."
In my opinion, having made several complaints to Peta over the years, it will never care what you or I say to them about the offence and suffering it causes for women. The attitude of Peta staff and volunteers I have spoken to in the past reminds me of the small number of hunt saboteur extremists who planted shards of glass in Epping Forest a few years ago to "make a point" about fox hunting. My dog almost died when cutting herself on the glass, which was meant for the horses. When I interviewed a Peta campaigns director a couple of years ago, she told me:
"Using a woman's body to show that animals are made of flesh and blood and bones, just like you, is a very serious point that we are trying to put out, so that people can think of animals as sentient human beings, not just pieces of meat on supermarket shelves. The results we are getting for the animals is part of our main aim, which is to alleviate their suffering."
Let us stop bothering to appeal to Peta's better judgment. Now is the time for serious action against the organisation. Let those of us who care about the harm it is doing try to shut them down. The harm they do to both women and animals is enough to justify calling on even the most passionate animal rights activist to support us in the campaign to close this hate-filled organisation.GUARDIAN.CO.UK
Let's make Peta history
The animal rights organisation... more
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Cows help rescue mama cow's baby during flash flood.
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Celebrate Compassion
The 5th annual World Go Vegan Week is taking place this year from October 24th through 31st. This week is a celebration of compassion and a time to take action for animals, the environment and everyone's well-being. A plant-based diet not only improves your health, it significantly reduces your carbon footprint and preserves resources for future generations. So please join me in creating a healthy future and go vegan for World Go Vegan Week.
- Emily Deschanel
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IDA would like to encourage people to use World Go Vegan Week to educate their community about the vegan lifestyle as a compassionate, sustainable, and healthy way of eating and living. Promoting veganism through outreach events and the media, we know that our annual World Go Vegan Week is helping make the word "vegan" a household word, universally recognized as meaning love and compassion for all living beings.
Take the Vegan Pledge [http://ida.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Vegan_Pledge] and pledge to go vegan for the week of World Go Vegan Week, October 24 - 31. Join other compassionate and inspired people that are changing their diet, changing their life and changing the world! Then, hold an event to celebrate you commitment to World Go Vegan Week.
Here are some ways you can celebrate World Go Vegan Week:
Be sure to register your event with us so we can send you flyers, posters and other materials to make you event a success. Contact Hope Bohanec: hope@idausa.org (415)448-0058.
* Plan an event or activity to get people interested in veganism, such as a public lecture, cooking demonstration, feed-in with vegan food samples, leafleting, tabling, library exhibit, or street theater performance. If you serve vegan food at your event, you can get refunded for the cost through the VegFund
* Host a vegan potluck dinner or restaurant outing to show your family and friends that they don't have to sacrifice taste to save animals' lives. Sharing delicious vegan food with others is a fun and easy way to make a difference in the lives of animals and the people you care about.
* Ask your local natural foods store to offer vegan samples for the week. Ask your favorite local food store to offer vegan samples or specials for the last week of October. Let them know that we can send information, posters and materials to help them celebrate World Go Vegan Week.
* Ask veg-friendly restaurants to offer discounts or specials on their vegan food. Encourage restaurants to have vegan specials for the week or to offer a discount for bringing in a veg-curious customer.
* Show a powerful, short vegan video at your next potluck or social gathering. Here's one of our favorites: Vegan video by NonViolenceUnited.org.
* Host a vegan pie-baking contest. You can do this in your own home in a public place. Offer prizes like gift certificates to veggie restaurants or IDA T-shirts. Don't you want to be a judge? Yum!
* Host a Vegan Halloween Party. Have a costume party and have prizes for the best animal costume, most compassionate, and the most vegan creative! Have vegan Halloween candy and treats on hand and go trick-or-treating, offering folks at the door vegan candy and brochures.
* Students: join or start a vegan club in your school and plan an event with your friends that will educate people about the benefits of a vegan diet to human health, animals, and the environment. Write a paper on veganism, hand out vegan literature at a college campus or help get vegan meals into your school's cafeteria. Visit Choice to learn how.
* Have a well-known vegan author or athlete come speak in your community. Host an event where a famous vegan offers an inspiring presentation. Have vegan treats for folks to try. IDA can help you contact the person.
* Send a friend or family member who lives far away a gift certificate to a restaurant in their own town. Visit Happy Cow for reviews of vegetarian restaurants around the country.
* Write a letter to the editor about the benefits of a vegan diet or the cruelties of factory farming, or ask your local newspaper to write a story on the subject.
* If you are religious, or participate in spiritual services or gatherings, look for opportunities to incorporate the vegan message into the discussions. If you participate in study groups, suggest discussion fo the vegan message.
* Visit a farmed animal sanctuary and take a friend who still eats meat. There are a number of farmed animal sanctuaries where you can visit rescued cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep and rabbits live naturally in peace and harmony without fear of abuse or slaughter. Check out Animal Acres, Animal Place, Farm Sanctuary, Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary, or IDA's Project Hope.
* Encourage a Compassionate Thanksgiving. Since Thanksgiving is coming up in a few weeks, talk to your community food banks about providing vegan options such as Tofurkys. Consider buying a few Tofurkys, preparing them, and bringing them to your food bank or other similar community dinner. Be sure to check out Gentle Thanksgiving which offers a lot of information and guidance on this special observance.
* Share the ideals of veganism with your community of friends and colleagues by adding this quote to your email signature:"Veganism gives us all the opportunity to say what we 'stand for' iin life -- the ideal of healthy, humane living. Add decades of health to your life, with a clear conscience as a bonus." - Donald Watson
* If you are a part of an animal protection organization, become a presenter of World Go Vegan Week. There are no costs to you for joining us as a co-presenter. All you need is to post the World Go Vegan Week banner on your web site, which links to the World Go Vegan Week web page. Contact Hope Bohanec, for more information: hope@idausa.org or call (415) 448-0058.Celebrate Compassion
The 5th annual World Go Vegan Week is taking place this year... more
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Humane education is about learning to respect life in our homes, communities and the environment. It encourages kindness and empathy for both human and nonhuman animals, and promotes understanding of our many diverse habitats. Most importantly, humane education strives to establish a sense of responsibility, making the world a better, more humane place.
Humane Education Programs helps humane societies establish educational programs. Assistance can be provided to help determine objectives, develop brochures, provide lessons, and train educators. By working together we can make a difference!Humane education is about learning to respect life in our homes, communities and the... more
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Something that always excites me is seeing awesome, thriving vegan businesses that appeal not only to the vegan community but also to the general not-yet(!)-vegan public, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that vegan food is as delicious as it is compassionate. And I want to give a quick shout-out to two that have launched this year, with much yummy success.
First, we'll head to Boston. Regular readers may recall from this summer's Great Whole Foods Cheese-and-Apple-Pie Adventure that I had my first Daiya pizza in the company of some friends at the AR conference, including my pal Eric, who referred to his gobbling up of the good stuff as "research" -- for what a few months later became the best thing to hit Boston's food scene in a long time: Peace o' Pie, an all-vegan, all-awesome pizza joint about which I've heard nothing but praise since it opened up. But though hearing vegans rave about it -- about everything from the quality of the pizza to the welcoming atmosphere to the eager, friendly staff -- was great, what I really loved was seeing the Boston Globe tell the world that there is "no sacrifice needed" to have amazing, delicious, cruelty-free vegan food. Indeed, when there are even vegan pizza places as good as -- if not better than -- any joints offering pies full of suffering, people quickly start running out of excuses not to ditch the cow's-milk cheese. Move over, vegan cupcakes. It may be time for vegan pizza to take over the world.
But pizza joints aren't the only vegan food businesses rapidly popping up. Vegan bakeries full of comforting smells and sugary goodness are spreading too -- wherever you live. Cities such as San Francisco and New York and D.C. are the usual suspects, of course, but one of the newest vegan bakeries is far from these locales: in Saudi Arabia. If you're among those who regularly drool over the Friday Food roundups, you've seen the Voracious Vegan's recipes and photos appear there regularly. And I was uber-excited for her a couple months ago when I learned that she was moving beyond cooking & baking just for herself and her husband (and sharing yummy recipes with us) to opening up her own bakery, Voracious, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. I don't have any plans to visit Saudi, but oh, do her scrumptious photos (including the one above) make me wish I could.
Author
Stephanie Ernst
Stephanie Ernst is an independent animal rights advocate, a vegan, a tree-hugging environmentalist, and a freelance editor and writer. She lives in St. Louis with an aging corgi-lab and an adolescent rescued pit bull. In her advocacy, she works to challenge prevailing perceptions of animals, to show the connections between animal exploitation and other injustices, to help people see that animals are more like us than different, and to encourage compassionate, nonviolent living and eating.Something that always excites me is seeing awesome, thriving vegan businesses that... more
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