Klem - 1 Year Veggie! Congratulations!!!

Congratulations Klem - for living a more thoughtful life...

A little more than a year ago I met Klem when he posted information that he had just been made aware of:

The horrible conditions hens in battery cages live in.

Klem decided to try going meat-free for a week... The week became 6 months - And today it becomes a year!

On behalf of all the cows, chickens and pigs - Thanks for remembering those who are too often forgotten. :)

Your veggie-ness suits you well!

Klem, my friend who walks the walk - It's an honor to know you!

I was for Animal Rights - Thoughtfulness for Turkeys

I didn't eat a vegan meal... But I know I was for Animal Rights I guess I was about 5 when this photo was taken... It's a very modest table setting - representing what a single mother could afford, made more special with a candle and a cake... I can't honestly remember back 50 years ago to what I was praying for then... I didn't have an understanding of war, or poverty or death. But what I do remember is what I thought of animals... I loved them! All of them! Whether their homes were in a barn, cave or tree. I was taught to be kind to them. And that their lives mattered. I understood that hurting them was a bad thing to do... At five, and a scant 40 pounds I would have defended terrible monsters who might do harm to my animal "friends". At five, I hadn't yet asked what I would soon learn to "forget" or rationalize; That it is wrong to cause unnecessary pain, suffering and death. At five, I lived my convictions for what merit they had... At five I was for "Animal Rights". And at 55 I am for Animal Rights anew! I've had decades to discover obscure truths about "necessity", "need" and "fairness" to Others. No, I did not "mourn" for the turkey's stolen life then... Nor do I do so today. To all who live thoughtfully - Happy ThanksLiving! Please Go Vegan

Humane Turkeys - Cheap Meat - Same Slaughter

There is an article here which compares the impracticality of selecting a "free range" 80 dollar turkey as opposed to an industrial carcass which sells for 88cents/lb. The argument is that animal industries have provided us with cheap food, so consumers should take advantage of the savings. On issues regarding the "humane" treatment of "Free Range" turkeys is questionable... "Free Range" labels mean very little and standards are not enforced by any regulation... And the fact is that most of these birds still endure a harrowing transport to a brutal slaughterhouse... Right next to his brothers raised in a "factory"... Or at the very least... your turkey met it's worse day at the hands of a "private butcher". How "humane" is it to cause that to happen? Now, the cost of the industrial bird also has payments not seen at the register: Because "factory farmed" animals are raised in extreme confinement they are given antibiotics and drugs which make our own medicines less effective... The manure from poultry houses or other "livestock" facilities is responsible for the contamination of ground water and rivers... Leaving taxpayers to pay for the cleanup. Meat packing and slaughter plants exploit and abuse, not only the animal victims but the human workers too. So, if one is concerned with these issues: The economics.... The "fair" treatment of living beings... The health issues, and the environment - there is a third option which this article avoids - If one is sincere when they say these things matter to them... The option is to leave the turkey off the plate entirely. The option is to not support a business or "tradition" that violates Others. Walking the walk - and meaning what you say... means to make a sincere effort to follow through with action that is part of the solution. The most immediate and concrete effort one can make if they claim they "care" about the "welfare" of these turkeys, (or any animals) is: DON'T EAT THEM. Very simple. Still, I know that the vast majority of people will say one thing... And do another - And as long as everyone else is in the party and the denial: Let the rose-colored glass, feasting begin:

Beef CheckOFF! ~ Vegan Soapbox Video ~ Animal Rights Heroine

Elaine Vigneault of Vegan Soapbox has always been an inspiration to me! Her Animal Rights blogs:

Kangaroo Elaine

Selling Compassion

Meat Peeps

Her youtube vlogging and

her devoted Vegan Outreach activism...

I'm honored that I inspired her in the creation of this compelling video:

I don't know that anyone can say it better than Elaine... But I'll try:

GO VEGAN!

Food Fight - Check Beef OFF! - Go Vegan

Thanks BeefCheck folks for the wonderful graphics! Couldn't have said it better myself!

Or maybe I can?

Here's the facts I'll fling: Barbed wired. Sentient, docile cows standing in their own waste on feedlots. Dehorning. Branding. Castration... without anesthesia. Downers. And forklifts. Manure. Cattle prods. Nitrates. Cows forced to eat an unnatural diet of corn, poultry litter and slaughterhouse waste. Recalls. Destruction of the world's rainforests. Water waste and contamination. "Calving season" and "culls". Methane. Antibiotics. Grazing land issues. Crowded transport trucks. Artificial insemination. Conflict with wildlife. Hormones. Rodeos. Irradiation. The hide pulling machine. The bleedrail. MadCow. E-Coli O157:H7. World hunger. Animals as "commodities". Poisonous "leather" processing chemicals. The captive bolt gun. Saturated fat. Evisceration. Fear. Death.

More reasons to get cows, all animals and the unholy stench of murder off your plate and Go Vegan: http://www.theanimalspirit.com/worldhunger.html http://www.mercyforanimals.org/beef.asp http://www.madcowboy.com/ http://www.chooseveg.com/beef.asp

Eating Animals is Wrong - So is Dairy & Eggs - Go Vegan

Today on Ellen Degeneres Jonathan Safran Foer was interviewed about his latest book Eating Animals. During the Q&A the subject of what's wrong with dairy and eggs was asked: I grimace at the line: "For those who have to eat turkeys"...

But for all that Mr. Foer neglected to say about the stolen calves, and the grieving mothers... Here's the rest of the story from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau of Compassionate Cooks.

While Eating Animals does not address the issue of Animal Rights - I still commend him for opening the topic up for the long overdue discussion that it deserves. People need to know that 99% of all the meat they are eating comes from factory farms. From there, they can make the decisions of what is an ethical alternative. As for me, I know the enslavement & slaughtering of animals is totally unnecessary and unacceptable.

On dairy and eggs... Please - Go Vegan

World Vegan Day - Why I'm Vegan - It Began w Circus Cruelty!

I'm vegan because I discovered

the truth about circus animals. I never thought they were harmed or abused. I really never thought about anyone deliberately harming any animals at all!

Yes, I know this was naive, but like others I was always lead to think that we were kind. And I was taught to treat others as I would like to be treated. I never connected that our species excludes every other one except our own...

I have since found that circus animals, like all animals used for entertainment are usually stolen from their homes and removed from their parents often at birth. They are confined for endless hours and made to travel is tiny boxes, released only for training which is cruel and physically brutal...

All animals in entertainment are made to "perform" or "compete". Rodeos, most zoos and aquatic parks all exploit animals so they can make money selling tickets to an unaware public. Once I connected the commodification of animals to profit, it made me examine my eating habits as well... Was I being duped by the same "humane" mantra as the entertainment world? Absolutely!

Animals raised for food are kept in crowded filthy warehouses. Their waste pollutes the environment. And feeding these billions of animals is terribly wasteful on resources too.

I never knew the animals used for food were so young. Or that their bodies were so painfully mutilated to fit in the scheme of "productivity". But like all animals used as production units - their needs and rights are always denied.

After I realized this... along with many, many other things, I knew I had been blinded by a culture that chose to show it's self as benevolent and kind... But was anything but. I decided to eliminate meat, dairy, eggs and all purchases that involved the exploitation of nonhumans.

I learned that there are delicious alternatives to foods that weren't healthy for me anyway! I've been able to replace almost everything in my life with a kinder, more thoughtful choice. I'm happier for this decision and try to encourage everyone I know to research what we are really doing to animals. The needless experimentations, the foolish frivolities that cause so much pain and suffering. The enslavement of innocent creatures who have only us to speak for their interests. I know their interests and their RIGHT is to live without exploitation. This is why I am vegan... Why aren't you?

Go vegan - do it today!