PROVOKED

What Is Your Shade Of Compassion?

2012-01-27T20:06:00.000-05:00

Eenie, meenie, miney, mo -
What shade of grey does your compassion show?

Many say that life doesn't provide us with black and whites... Nor does morality. Many believe everything exists in a nebulous, shades-of-grey world.

Here's the story of an accident involving a cargo of cows. The double decker truck didn't clear an overpass and several "passengers" were injured. The cow-owner had to euthanize 7 of them.

Here's the quiz: Since animal ag claims they "care" for their "stock" - When was it exactly that the farmer "cared" most? Was it when he originally loaded the cows to go to slaughter? When he killed the "damaged" ones? Or when he loaded the rest to continue their journey to the knock box?

Of course this is a rhetorical question... Anyone with the gumption to do a smidgen of honest thinking would know that when it comes to taking lives... There is no gradient degree of compromise. This applies too if you're paying someone to do the killing for you! It's just plain black and white wrong!

If you're not doing it now - please consider living your life in a thoughtful way. There's absolutely no justifiable reason to not be vegan. None.

On Virginia's Bible Thumping Sunday Hunters

2012-01-24T09:54:00.000-05:00

There's so many things wrong with this story that I hardly know what bit of junk to pick out first...

The differing views of Sunday hunting in Virginia is contaminated with superstitious rubbish that goes something like this:

A deer and rabbit hunter says that God wants wildlife to have a day of rest.

And the guy who hunts elk and pigs, thinks it's his "God given right" to hunt any time.

In the end it comes down to "sacred" property rights and "holy" money. The additional killing day is worth $300 million... And well, people own land and all the life in it.

I say the deer, the rabbits, pigs and anyone who possesses a body has a right to the life within it... All the time!

If Sunday is a day to pick up "The Good Book". May I recommend a few others?

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. ~Susan B. Anthony

Spilling Blood for Pork - What a Waste!

2012-01-21T21:50:00.002-05:00

See this adorable little "cowboy" pig? Isn't he a happy fellow! So pleased to be the trademark for Columbia Packing Inc. in Dallas that is, according to their website, "celebrating 90 years" of family pride and tradition.

But wait! Is there trouble in paradise? Poor little Columbia Piggy's not too happy that all his blood is being dumped in the Trinity River. In fact, federal, state, and local authorities say this Texas meat-packing company is under criminal investigation for contaminating the water ways and threatening human health. Slitting pig's throats certainly threatens their health too! :(

The Texas Environmental Crimes Task Force has been looking into the plant for two months now. They were tipped off by someone who filmed the suspicious red stuff flowing in the creek/river - via aerial footage. Thank goodness there are no laws (as of yet) to discourage filming animal enterprises - Because if there were... This whistle blower might very well have faced fines for exposing "pork production". Maybe...

No help to the pigs - But this packing house was suspended twice for "humane" violations in the handling and slaughter of our happy cowboy pigs...

Still that doesn't seem to bother 3rd generation Joe Ondrusek one bit. He's too busy smooching with fellow animal killers:
Participating in "livestock" shows, judging meat at fairs. And best of all being in the USDA Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point program. Everything's so civilized and safe isn't it?

The reality is - Pigs don't want to be mascots for murder. They don't want their bodies to be harmed. They don't want to be confined, forced or man handled. They don't want their lives to be stolen. They don't want their precious blood to be "waste".

Please - Have no part in one drop of blood shed! It's the least we can do.

The Complete Noel Vegan Fitness Star Has A Message

2012-01-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

Along with many other vegan athletes Noel Vegan Fitness Star is putting to rest the myths that those living on a plant based diet are "sickly", "skinny" or unhealthy...

When Noel isn't sculpting his body - He keeps his mind fit as well:

Aligning your values with your material self... It's a thing of beauty.

And you don't have to be a bodybuilder to challenge your mind or live up to your ethics. You will be in good company if you choose to do the same.

Animal Ag Laments: ALF Risked Killing Cows

2012-01-11T23:27:00.004-05:00

Gosh, it's quiet around here... So quiet you could hear the sound of 14 cattle trucks being blown up.

And I bet if such a thing did happen the industry folks would name the act "terrorism". I bet they'd for call for a lynching and a hanging. Bet they'd say the offenders should be sent to prison or Gitmo - indefinitely.

But I never figured on hearing their concern over the cows!

MeatingPlace (members only)

Now that's strange being that Harris Feedlot fattens and kills hundreds of thousands of cows every year... I wonder if this Kim person cares about any of those victims?

And what's the deal with sending the activists to the slaughterhouse to "see how this really works" --- I think they're very well aware of the process. We all are - And none of us likes it one bit.

If trucking billions of innocent beings to their wrongful deaths bothers you, the very minimum you can do is to not participate in their murders. Others will chose to do more according to what their hearts decide. May we all work towards a more just world.

“War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.” ~Author Unknown

Singing in the New Year for Animal Rights

2012-01-02T20:50:00.001-05:00

Four years of experience and witnessing what happens to our nonhuman friends has taught me that the bad news makes it's way no matter what.
Still, I wanted to begin 2012 on a somewhat rare but harmonious note of positive energy...

In case you didn't see this article from Green Planet, 2011 What a Year for Veganism, it documents how much can change happen in a year.

There's also this Mercy for Animals post that spreads the news on declining meat consumption in the U.S.

And according to this Google Trends graph - The word vegan (and hopefully all it's implications) is gaining social grounding as well.

One can research and find all the data they want about any subject that effects life on this planet... But I can only speak from my own personal experience of observing a s-l-o-w but steady awakening of important issues that fly under a vegan banner.

Each year I've met more people who acknowledge the negative implications of "livestock" and who have reduced their meat intake... More who have a daughter, grandson, sister or neighbor who is already "veg". Music to my ears!

Rightfully so, from puppy-mills to whaling - rodeos to labs... Non-human rights are being re-evaluated as an important issue in our social progress.

What all this means is that whatever we're doing we must stay at it. We must press harder... Perhaps even to the point of putting to end the infighting that distracts our rhythm from the goal we want to achieve. If I've ever done so before - this year, I want to stop singing off-key about what other activists are doing wrong... And just focus on what I can do right.

Obviously our tasks are monumental... My belief always has been and still is that it takes many, many voices to fill the choir. As long as everyone's message is to work towards animal liberation - to end this horrible carnage... They are singing my song:

Thank you to everyone who's voice is in the choir! May 2012 bring us all comity in the name of those who we all speak for.

Hey Butterball! I'm on the turkey's side!

2011-12-29T22:27:00.000-05:00

Below are some of the comments left on Meating Place a flesh-peddling industry forum... You have to be a member to read/comment - But trust me - The responses below are accurate.

I get Meating Place daily - Most of the articles are of a technical nature or relate to news that has financial significance for those in the biz. But when industry practices are exposed - As happened (again) today with the Mercy for Animals Butterball investigation... The forum alights with absurd defensiveness:

In the following you'll find people who are more concerned with the damage done to a trademark, then to the victims:
I wonder how these people can deface the Butterball logo in the video? is that legal? Can Butterball sue for illegal use of logo? How much do you think they can sue for damages? The barn was not owned by Butterball? Butterball, do you have good lawyers?
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by An Old Man

Someone who will blame the turkeys for "roughing" each other up:
This farm was owned by the Smithfield and not Butterball before they split then merged into Butterball. Give the new owners a chance and time, they will make the improvements necessary. Meanwhile, it appears that most of the injuries are caused by the aggressive nature of studs. Watch National Geographic and wild rams beating their heads to the death. This the natural behavior of males in a reproductive mode. So if you take away the pictures of the blood and injury, you are still left with improper culling, rough handling of birds. This may not raise to the height of criminal abuse but certainly not acceptable by Butterball management.
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by Former EE

The dolts:
you gots to have a little slap and tickle sometimes....
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by clucker

People, this is a SEMEN COLLECTION facility!!! Just like all turkeys can feel pain, fear, stress, and suffering, there are some psico turkeys that have to have a little "roughing" so they can get excited and "deliver". Get it?
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by JC

Someone who wants to shoot the messenger:
The footage was taken secretly over a three-week period ending in mid-December, AFTER which the group FILED A COMPLAINT with the Hoke County District Attorney. Butterball has a zero tolerance policy for any mistreatment of our birds or the FAILURE TO IMMEDIATELY REPORT MISTREATMENT of our birds by any associates. The MFA should ALSO be prosecuted for participating in the filming of the abuse. They can not be allowed to climb above the law.
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by Stewy

The Excuse-itarian:
Now for the record i have nothing against vegans,I have many friends who are. But at the same time i have seen them go to great lengths to stop the processing of meat. I have also seen where they set up people in places to do the dirty deeds and then press charges in the hopes of shutting down the plant. I am not saying all vegans are like this but I have seen and know some who have done this.If the workers truly did this then i agree that they should be fired for there actions.
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by RM

The pragmatic worrier:
We as an industry need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. It's hard to defend why I love meat and working in the meat industry when someone gets footage like this. We have got to spot these infrequent incidences and make sure they are taken care of before another vegan tries to take out our industry, our jobs, and our way of life.
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by Meatatarian

The skeptic deniers:
if the feds raided must have seen something that would provoke this. i will wait to judge till all the info comes out. i am sure this company will take immediate and swift action if needed. customers and consumers simply do not tolerate abuse and mistreatment of any animals that are being killed for the table.
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by making the grade

The 'investigators" are probably the ones performing the cruelty for the cameras.
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by Dusty

I have to wonder... HOW did a guy with a video camera just "happen" to be present when a worker was abusing the turkeys? Did he have psychic powers so that he KNEW there was going to be abuse and WHICH barn was going to have an abuser in it? Most curious. It is not as if all these workers are spending time abusing turkeys...they wouldn't get their jobs done. Now, the question remains, and it is a very serious question...HOW did the videographer know WHICH barn to visit and during the exact time the abuse was taking place? Or is this another MFA "Ohio" maneuver, where the abuser has "arranged" to do the abuse for the camera? With the Mercy for Animals people behind it, one has to ask these kinds of questions. Faking abuse in videos about animal issues has been a problem since the 1990s when the animal rights folks decided that the end justified the means.
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by Laurella Desborough

The spineless:
I agree that the turkeys should not be mistreated. But - we should all be vegans?? - & unemployed???
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by old meat packing mama

The vindictive:
Surely the cameraman and the MFA will also be brought up on charges for aiding in the cruelty to the birds in question. The way I read it, company policy was not followed by their stooge, which was probably made known to them and more than likely signed off by them in the terms of their employment.
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by hoss

(Words fail me here)
while I abhor animal abuse such as described there is absolutely no chance I'd ever adopt a vegan diet. if MFA thinks they can swing people to their side they are wasting their time and money!
Thursday, December 29, 2011 Posted by poutlerer

I think poulterer is wrong though... Had I seen this video years ago (before)... I would have been on the turkey's side in a jif! ;)

But in the end, it really doesn't matter how this video was obtained... What matters is that if you are using living beings for your ends- You are a participant in their demise.

You are condoning the torture AND killing of guiltless animals --- despite the obvious, easy, rational and kind alternative. There is no right way to do the wrong thing! There is NO "humane" animal- food folks! Nada!

Celebrating A Thoughtful Holiday - Vegan Style

2011-12-24T15:16:00.000-05:00

There's nothing kind in a holiday ham... Nothing happy about a holiday turkey... Nothing sweet in a treat - Made of suffering and death.

But everything is right about a silent night... If we would just EVOLVE!

"Prayer for Animals"
Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals,
especially for animals who are suffering;
for animals that are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated;
for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars;
for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put death.
We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity,
and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion
and gentle hands and kindly words.
Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals,
and so to share the blessings of the merciful.
- Albert Schweitzer

Happy Celebrations to those who share the gift of kindness! <3

On Reindeer And Rabbits And Vegan Kindness

2011-12-20T09:15:00.001-05:00

Since I've become informed of animal issues I've had numerous shocking and disappointing realities. One of the worst for me was the knowledge of what is done to reindeer in the name of the holiday spirit.

I hope you keep the horrible video above in mind as you read about this reindeer "farmer". First there are the countless creatures who lost their home as he cleared 319 acres of virgin forest to build his enterprise... And it wasn't like he was born in Alaska and had to make his way by the necessary destruction of land... No, he was originally from Ohio and chose to place himself in an area that required his very large footprint.

And he really likes what he does! So much so that he had "stock" reindeer shipped from Canada... From here on all he needs to do is breed and kill them in order to have a "winning ticket".

The article says that he recognizes all the deer have personalities... And that he "accepts" them. He also wants to train them to pull a sled "just like a dog team does." Now, gee - Isn't this exactly what every reindeer wants as a life before their bodies are eventually dismembered?

This man who gladly enslaves others for profit hopes to grow the herd to 100 or more captives... Meanwhile - What does he and his eat? Why the rabbits he also exploits of course!

Now I realize that there are people who were born in climates that allows few options other than the use and killing of others in order to survive. But folks that choose to grow their "herd"... Human and nonhuman in an area that almost demands animal sacrifice is beyond me! Obviously some are drawn to the snow and the money... And think the blood upon it is what a good life is all about. :(

During this "most wonderful" time of the year - It's a pity that everything delightful has been soiled and spoiled by man's "gift" of dominance over innocent others.

Then there are those --- Who go out of their way to cause as little harm as possible. They don't deliberately move somewhere to kill reindeer or rabbits... Or any One else! They opt for compassionate and rational lives They are the ones who truly deserve the abundance this season brings.

Everything else is just for show...

No Peace On Earth Without Justice

2011-12-14T22:31:00.000-05:00

.
The photography in this video is magnificent! Breath taking sunsets and spectacular wild life scenes, interspersed with "cowboys" in mix. These were taken by Wyman Meinzer - a professional predator hunter...

Now... From my POV all I see are beings that are prey for man! Not a single one of these nonhumans is free from our use or control. Not the wolf, the birds, the snakes, the horses, and certainly NOT the cows!

If someone wants to hunt for predators... Try the pickings in any major metropolitan area - A football game... Or your local mall. You'll find all the predators imaginable.

The Sustainable Scale Project

And the more I see and learn I'm beginning to realize that this is our major problem... As a species we have absolutely no one to control our numbers as we rape and pillage everything we can make monetary use of.

But the more arrogant in our plundering, the more things adapt and mutate... Things, bacteria and viruses, that might slow down and halt our lusts, are always lurking as a penalty. It's a universal leveling, karma or anything you'd like to call it - But generally things can only go so far before there is a price to pay. And from what I'm seeing during this uber-commercial, gluttony-driven, animal-consuming-season - The more I'm revising my yearly Christmas wish list.

For years I thought - If only there was peace... Peace! Peace on Earth - That would be the best gift ever! But now... I think it makes much more sense to want justice instead. For without justice - There can never be peace.

If you don't know - But care to learn about the most unfairly treated beings ever... The ones who know no peace and have no justice:
Please watch Earthlings and your ethical conscience will tell you what to do to set things right.

Vegans Help Stamp Out Animal Cruelty -

2011-12-02T08:56:00.004-05:00

You might have heard - Peta is proposing a limited edition of Famous Vegetarian postage stamps - Featuring kind thinkers from Pythagoras to Russel Simmons.

I suppose this is a nice compliment to the vanishing species stamps issued by the USPS.

And the postal folks do look like they're trying the "Go Green" message with these stamps. Great ideas for conservation... 'Cept not one mention of eschewing the largest contributor to global warming: one's unnecessary meat based diet.

Anyway... My favorite stamps have been the Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet Stamps promoted by Ellen DeGeneres. Whenever I've bought them it always gave me an excuse to talk with the clerk about them... And leave one of these MFA Why Love One But Eat The Other fliers as further food for thought.

But I guess the stamp I would be most willing to use would be one that didn't pretty-up reality... I like things blunt as most who know me realize. So... How about a little honesty to dress up the holiday greeting card exchange?

Just think! If these were successful- Maybe we could issue commemorative slaughterhouse series? Or ones honoring animal testing? Hum...

YOU can help "stamp" out horrible cruelty simply by going:

Vegan Stamps

The Whole Truth About The Whole Turkey

2011-11-23T13:45:00.001-05:00

To all those celebrating the holidays with a "whole turkey":

Now, that's not entirely the "whole truth" - Now is it???

Turkeys have feet...

Turkeys have heads...

Turkeys have hearts and feelings too... They'd really rather live than be killed.

Please use your head and heart... And have a Happy ThanksLiving Day instead!

The Chicken, The Egg, The Cruelty - Billions Sacrificed

2011-11-20T07:59:00.001-05:00

what is in your breakfast
if it ever cried, ever lived
and sadly, died
is not food at all
for food is meant to
sustain
not bring about suffering,
heartache or pain

Karen Lyons Kalmenson

Posted at Our Compass with the full story regarding the recent Mercy For Animals investigation into where McDonald's eggs (and all production eggs) are sourced.

There is no system that can "serve" billions and billions without the sacrifice and bloodshed of billions and billions of others.

What Happens To The Male Chicks?

This study The Economics of Farm Animal Happiness rightfully says that there is an either/or scenario that eliminates the ability to be "humane"... That for profit - certain (most) animal industries MUST do things a certain way.

"Sometimes it makes more economic sense to sacrifice the happiness of each animal, so that you can have more animals producing. Producers are not paid based on the number of eggs produced per hen, but rather on the total number of eggs coming out of the barn.”

Many attempt to eat only "cage free" eggs... But here are the USDA's standards for labeling FREE RANGE or FREE ROAMING:

"Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside."

In essence all this means is that if you are a hen inside one of these facilities - You're given the opportunity to fight your way through thousands of other birds to find the 2 x 2 foot opening that leads you to an exit into another fenced pen. These exits may be arbitrarily closed for any reason and for any length of time for the "welfare" of the birds.

The Truth About Free Range

And what happens after hens are no longer laying eggs is self evident:

If you are still eating eggs, dairy or meat - You'll find that these systems exist in every "food-animal" industry. It is an inherent part of their economic profit... And "sacrifices" are made by everyone who's a part of it.
Sacrificed lives. Sacrificed human decency.

"Animal cruelty takes a million different forms and it takes billions of victims. What we do to the animals, we do to ourselves..."

~Dr. Steven Best

I don't want to be treated as a drone or a widget... Or a consumption machine. I want to be treated fairly. With justice and respect. And kindness. I don't want to serve or be "served"! I have the choice... We all have the choice to refuse to participate in these bottom-line conveyor- belt systems. But the victims... The ones who are units, given essentials but not comfort... Necessities but not freedom... Shelter but not safety... Care but not life... Cannot walk away and choose another course. They are forced to endure to the bitter end.

If you've already made your decisions to change things for the better - I applaud you! Now our message must continue till every cage is empty! Billions and billions of innocent lives are depending on us:

Do not accept cruelty in any degree! Go Vegan*

This Vegan Doesn't Get Nice, Holy Killing

2011-11-14T17:04:00.000-05:00

Holy and home-style slaughter... There's a lot of that going around these days. In fact each November marks the beginning of a two month long blood bath of victims that will either be killed to serve "religious" custom or gustatory delight. In any case, seems like everyone wants to get in on doing it "nicely" themselves.

For instance, from The Jakarta Post: City gives all sacrificial animals a nice, clean bill of health - 10,796 cows, 964 buffaloes, 47,618 goats and 3,450 sheep were killed on one day mostly by do-it-yourselfers...

In Kuwait "My family will feast on this sheep tonight," said one Kuwaiti customer, Salah, who planned to slaughter the animal at his house. "It's fine. This is Halal."

"I will slaughter the animal in my house, because it's better for the children to see it." (Isn't that nice?)

In Spain there is the (nice) Festival of Sacrifice - Killing of Lambs

And all over the U.S. (nice) hunters will begin their annual gutting and "dressing" of their kill over picnic tables and in their garages... Just in Michigan alone hunters are expected to kill 275,000-300,000 during the firearms season that opens tomorrow... More than half of the deer killed will be shot on the first two days, and a large percentage of them during the first minutes after dawn. Yeah... They even take their kids out of school for the (nice) experience.

Yep, the blood sure does spill - And everyone wants to get into the act! "Nicely" of course as this Equal Time Radio interview indicates. Just 3 minutes into the discussion I heard the word used 9 times! Yes, everything about killing animals up close and personal is so very "nice".

And just think for those planning a "nice" turkey-dinner, (who can't participate in the holy-bloodletting event themselves), are paying someone else this very moment to do the deed for them! Of course - It's all so very nice.

nice

adjective, nic·er, nic·est.

pleasing; agreeable; delightful: a nice visit.

amiably pleasant; kind: They are always nice to strangers.

Synonyms: friendly, delicate, exact, polite.

I suppose then, that the antonyms: unpleasant, unkind, careless and rude would apply to those who don't kill or don't pay others to kill for them.

You know who I think is rude? People who abuse animals. Killing an animal and eating its decomposing body could at the very least be described as “rude”. Am I rude for bringing this reality to these people’s attention? Perhaps they may view it as such simply because it is unpleasant news to be confronted with. For them to call me rude for bringing this up is simply the pot calling the kettle black. ~Vegan Rabbit

Yep, that's us alright... vegans who'd rather live another way... Apparently we're rude and not so "nice".

So as these "holy" days advance I think it's fair warning for me to fess up and admit I just don't speak the same language as others do!

And since this is the case - Please, family, friends and neighbors spare me the confusion when you tell me how "nice" it was that your brother shared his venison with you... Keep me from being embarrassed and bewildered when you say how "careful" you are because you source "free range" eggs... Refrain from telling me how your God will offer you mercy because you "humanely" slit the throat of a lamb... I confess! I don't understand a word you say!

When you tell me you're planning a "nice" Thanksgiving... I haven't a clue what you're talking about! And quite frankly... I don't want to learn your pleasant language anyway. But I do understand Benjamin Zephaniah who knows how to talk turkey AND how to be sincerely nice!

So in your festivities and celebrations that gorge on "compassionate" murder... Consider me uncommunicative and unable to comprehend you. Oh yeah and if you're killing animals?...
Be sure to

Carnist Trade Deals with Korea is NOT for the Dogs!

2011-11-02T02:44:00.000-04:00

I was disgusted when Bush Jr. attended the 2008 Olympics in China. For all the human rights violations China inflicts, the most ethical thing to have done would have been to boycott the whole of it... As a symbol of how much we Americans value freedom. But GWB said he wanted to keep politics out of the event. S-u-r-e.

Fast forward to this past Oct. 13 when the U.S. ratified trade deals with Columbia, Panama and Korea. Despite ongoing protests in Korea - All the big money interests here in the U.S. totally approve... They say it will create jobs.

"A study by the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute estimated the agreement will cost about 159,000 jobs over seven years. The White House says it will help create or maintain more than 70,000, while congressional Republicans see as many as 250,000 new jobs."

Obviously these three guesstimates aren't using the same fuzzy math...

Anyway, even if it does create (some) jobs - The major big win is for the flesh peddlers: "U.S. farmers and big agricultural exporters are excited about new sales opportunities for beef, pork, poultry, corn, wheat, soybeans and other food products in the three markets, but they lament the long delay as a lost opportunity."

Now what does all this have to do with the Olympics in China? Everything! It is just one more time that the U.S. is selling out ethical principles for blood-greed.

In this case, I'm referring to the hideous practice sanctioned in Korea by not enforcing laws against "fragrant dog meat". It's abominable! Any civilized people ought to vehemently abstain from any "deals" with a nation that endorses these vicious acts. But commerce trumps all morality - doesn't it? I mean, we need jobs right?

Meanwhile take a look at the labors in the White House kitchen as staff prepares the "Fall Harvest" menu for Korean President and other dignitaries. No... No fragrant dog meat here! Just Texas Wagyu beef rib eye steaks, apparently the Western version of Kobe beef.

Is it just me or can anyone else see the ludicrous absurdity of it all? This meal is dedicated to a pact that profits through murder. The meal is meant to indulge those who permit the beating of dogs - till their delicious, by serving up pampered cows on gold-rimmed plates. I mean - WTF? It truly does boggle the mind!

If by any chance you're offended at the idea of munching on Spot... But buy jackets made of hide - You might be interested in discovering why this is just as problematic.

Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

All beings love their lives... Please live compassionately.

Halloween - Made-up Fear & Earthlings Real Terror

2011-10-29T23:51:00.000-04:00

How strange is our species? It takes only the Halloween ceremonies to answer that...

With it's roots in pagan ritual, Oct. 31st would mark the end of summer, and the mysteries of longer, darker nights would begin. The coming months with it's withered leaves and chilling winds would be like a brush with death for these ancient Celts. And as now - with death comes fear...

Who doesn't fear threat to his life? Everyone knows, avoiding bodily harm is every one's most urgent instinct! But here's how humans warp even this emotion in the most bizarre and twisted ways...

We actually revel in fear! We create elaborate ghost stories, 3-D horror movies, rides of terror, corn fields of fright, and willingly pay others to scare the daylights out of us:

Even creepier is that some get their rush being spooked inside abandoned slaughterhouses. The place where real hell was the final stab to victims who would beg against that experience altogether! And of these folks who delight in macabre fantasy, they don't want to know the first bit in what true horror actually is!

That's right - These scream-seekers don't want a second of what poor Tommy witnessed while awaiting his turn at the butcher's knife. Most haven't the courage to even nod at the true face of fear.

Yeah, but they love that fake fright! Imagining vampires drinking human blood... Men turning into wolves.. And maniacs dismembering body parts with saws!

Meantime in reality, vicious monsters do suck the marrow from murdered bones! And eat babies with the worst of ogres. All the while so desperate for anything that will give their little lives meaning...

Me? I'm plenty scared of the soul-less ghouls, devils, and the walking dead among us. I shudder thinking how heartless they are.

So Boo! to those who lust after stolen life and flesh. Hide in the pitch shadows away from the reality you refuse to see... Savage, graphic, fierce killing happens all the time - By your hand!

But for those who might be brave enough to learn... Who are done cowering in the props of cultural lies and distortions - Keep your eyes open if you dare... And watch Earthlings.

Another Provoked Rant About Why Dairy Sucks

2011-10-21T22:13:00.000-04:00

Google Chrome has this neat feature that enables you to "pin" your tabs... And as I'm looking at my browser at this moment I can see several articles about cows have "herded" together. No wonder... Having concluded another "World Dairy Expo" fiasco- Let's hope the cows who were "losers" are "safe" back home too...

And did you hear about the "designer dairy" stuff? No --- Not talking about the fabric made from casein or the gown made from cow nipples. I'm speaking of the strange flavorings the industry is adding to cow's milk: chocolate, strawberry-banana and coffee; six varieties are planned for next year. I guess the logic is if you sugar-up pain and death enough - anyone will swallow it.

Now from what I'm gathering there's quite a bit of re-aligning of theft-tactics in the dairy industry. They've abolished the Cooperatives Working Together that enabled them to send millions of cows to an early slaughter in order to jack up prices. Glad to see Compassion Over Killing is calling them out on such vicious practices. Even if it is under the premise of price fixing. My reason for signing the complaint was this:

For more than 35 years I bought milk, cream, butter, and all sorts of product made from cow's milk. I swear on everything that has value to me that I would NEVER, EVER have purchased a single one of these items had I known the ugly truth behind "innocent" milk. I was a long time vegetarian who did not have a clue that consuming dairy violated my ethics. These ethics are important to me... They represent my philosophy in life... The way I spend each nickle reflects my beliefs! I never agreed to needlessly harm gentle cows or their babies for the "food" I bought. But I was an unwitting participant because the reality of milk production (just as in eggs) stays behind dark curtains.

This is false advertising... It is a deceitful scheme to tell half truths while keeping the nasty parts away from consumers. Since every dollar spent is a "vote" for the product and the practices required to make it... I was robbed of my consent! My "vote" stolen from me through dishonesty... I, and many others have a complete moral right to demand compensation.

But still the cow-killing folks are screaming that they want to get government out of their business. You wouldn't know it though with all the special legislation to maintain their profits. Like: this, this, this and this.

Still somethings to cheer about! Reality does have a way of catching up eventually... The Wisconsin Dairy Group has finally been told to remove it's deceptive ads stating that cow's milk aids weight loss. Now Physicians for Responsible Medicine have been urging this move since 2003, 2005 and again in Feb 2011.

But better news is to congratulat Robert Grillo at Free From Harm, the winner of Pamela Ziemann's Milk Revolution Contest!

And so Chrome's pin-tabs could go on and on about dairy nonsense, lies and corruption - Till the cow's come home --- But it's best to end it here with the follow up on the MFA E-6 rescued calves that really did find a home:

This calf-stealing/cow-killing business is vile on every level... Please - consider kind choices.

The Morality of Animal Agriculture... Doesn't Exist

2011-10-17T01:30:00.000-04:00

Event Cancelled!

The "swine and hog" folks were scheduled to host Wes Jamison who I wrote about before: here, here and here...

I know there's a dozen possible "unfortunate events" that might have prevented this presentation... Given that even Wes concedes that: "Morality trumps science in debate".

I suspect that he's an absolute disappointment to the industry because he just can't get their message to the sacred, holy high-ground they want (and need) so badly! Might this even be the reason for the cancelled speech?

Yep, considering that there are no ethical justifications to breed, confine, mutilate, torture then murder innocent beings - An oration about the "rightness" of it seems pitifully lame and futile!

Meanwhile... Public speaking coach Pamela Ziemann, author of Giving Voice to Your Cause: Speaking Tips for Nonprofit Professionals, offers these suggestions in having productive conversations:

Be sure to check out her article Vegan Social Skills: Improvisation to the rescue.

For those who are looking for a moral life - You will not find it picking through the bones of victims. But you will through compassionate choices. Go Vegan Now.

Fresh! Animal Rights Activism On The Web!

2011-10-13T00:39:00.000-04:00

Following VeganElder's lead of introducing an impressive new blogger - I'm thrilled to add a few myself...

Many know Shelley Williams for her energetic and gutsy videos. From her first video a year ago Earthlings: Dear DIARY, I'm COWardly to her most recent one Are You PERFECT, Shelley hits the high notes with passion, humor and irrefutable sense. Impossible to choose... But this is one of my favorite videos with a remarkable 65,000+ views:
Sick of Vegans' Opinions:

I don't know how she manages but Shelley has also found the inspiration to create another form of advocacy by way of her new blog Oppress THIS. You'll love her welcome message! ;)

And speaking of extraordinary talents dedicated to our nonhuman friends- Sarah Kiser has picked up the charge of speaking for dairy cows at the newly formed (resurrected) blog: Dairy Cow Diary.

Sarah is also an accomplished artist and has used her creativity to urge ethical living in these videos.

Needless Suffering exposes the contradictions in our animal-"loving" but animal-eating culture. The innocent visuals contrasted with the blunt truth should haunt anyone who willingly swallows the "humane" myth.

And there's also A Diary of an Animal Lover who's amazing crew of fur-companions help in a clever way to tell of her vegan journey...

Also James E. McWilliams, author of Just Foods has begun blogging at Eating Plants.

Yes, I'm sure there's dozens of new voices, new advocates, new bloggers and unique methods getting the message out... And while online activism is never meant to replace the one on one interactions that we have throughout our public life... It sure is comforting to see our numbers grow!

How To Do Animal Rights On The Internet

Kudos to those who dedicate their time (their lives) to getting the truth heard!
The web was meant to be an information highway - Let's help close the roads to the slaughterhouses down by making good use of it!

Animals That Count & Animals That Don't

2011-09-28T20:16:00.000-04:00

There's no mistaking it that other animals have been instrumental in teaching us language and counting skills: The Ark was filled two by two, Three Blind Mice, This Little Piggy and so on...

But it seems that animals in the hands of those who grow/use/kill them hardly count at all unless it's to further profits.

And so animal ag is very interested in establishing National Animal Identification System (NAIS), so that these beings (inventory) can be traced from the AI moment till they are stamped as the dead meat they've become.

Nope... It's no longer good enough to have the ear-tags traced along with the tonsils, skull, spinal cord, etc. According to animal ag the global market will demand better tracking... And by their accounts it will "save" taxpayers money in the long run. :/

Yet, with all the concern for micro-managed accountability, let's take a look at how these lives just disappear when they aren't of economic benefit:

The Deadstock

Read about the massive deaths in the tens of thousands that are seen as trash - undocumented and unrecorded. Worthless.

And the very inconvenient issues surrounding the volume of flesh waste that must be disposed of.

And the lives that are counted as "junk" when they outlive their economic "purpose".

Yes indeed... Other animals did teach us to calculate very well. And so we multiply their numbers - And add their worth. We subtract their meaning and divide ourselves from the essence that is them. Such good mathematicians in our callousness and greed.

But there's another kind of equation to be done... And it's in recognizing that they are counting on us to speak in their behalf. Counting on us to know that each single-one of their lives have meaning. Counting on us to never, ever sell them out...

We Are All Friends by Madeleine Tuttle

The first, best way is to go vegan. They are counting on YOU!

Activists In A Forest Of Thieves

2011-09-21T12:51:00.000-04:00

The last few posts were very difficult to write as they involve ideas that belong to everyone... Regarding other animals fate: welfare or abolition. Regarding activism... Passive or aggressive. I've seen how even the heavy-hitters can have heaps of contrary opinions cast on them... I suppose I avoided all that by staying on a flexible fence - Because I really don't have the answers for everyone - Only mine that I admit are often uncertain.

But here I am again, offering two stories that include direct action in an attempt to save life... These stories struck me in a personal way as I wrote here.

Butterfly

In December 1997, Julia Hill climbed a thousand-year-old redwood tree vowing to not come down until it was saved from being clear-cut. She lived 180 feet off the ground for more than two years, galvanizing an already intense dispute over the fate of Northern California's old-growth forests. Wolens' film is a primer on forest issues and direct-action environmentalism, but most of all, it is about the spiritual journey of a determined, articulate woman nicknamed Butterfly who saved an ancient tree she called Luna.

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front explores two of America's most pressing issues — environmentalism and terrorism — by lifting the veil on a radical environmental group the FBI calls America's "number one domestic terrorism threat." Daniel McGowan, a former member of the Earth Liberation Front, faces life in prison for two multimillion-dollar arsons against Oregon timber companies. What turned this working-class kid from Queens into an eco-warrior? Marshall Curry (Oscar®-nominated Street Fight, POV 2005) provides a nuanced and provocative account that is part coming-of-age story, part cautionary tale and part cops-and-robbers thriller.

Again, I have no conclusions as to what can be done to stop the destructive course we humans are on... These are just some solutions others have been forced to take. And until someone shows me a better way - They are heroes to me...

Violence Justified - Against Legal Terrorism

2011-09-10T02:34:00.003-04:00

This isn't the post I was going to write about direct action... But it will more than do for what point I was hoping to make.

Like most who seek compassionate alternatives in their lives I would never think of "forcing" anything on anyone. In the first place, I know that any authentic changes people make must come from their own desire in order to be lasting. Secondly... "force", destruction and violence just isn't my style. Oddly enough even before I became aware of hidden injustices that I was participating in... I still always thought myself to be a "peace-nik". If there was conflict, I consistently sought out a rational way through it.

After all, violence is never rational... Or is it?

Now there are a few occasions that I recall using physical means as protection... Once even against a large, vicious dog that was attacking my vulnerable dog Midas. It hurt me to do that... I actually kicked the aggressive dog in the face for him to release his bite from my dog... I felt ill at the force that was necessary for me to use.

Even earlier than that... As a tween I remember being over a friend's house whose father (drunk I suppose), took a belt to her in a wild fit of rage. The strap clapped on her small body, even tinier than my own, when a giant, confident voice of indignation rose from within me. With all the strength that my 70 pound body had, I grabbed the man's hand and demanded: "Stop! You're hurting her!" I think he did out of shame...

I think many times injustice requires stern confrontation to put wrong doing in it's place. In the defense of ourselves and of others there is a line we all have that will tolerate "No more!". But with nonhumans it's different. Those lines we all have, become obscured or erased - as these beings who we know are being violated in the most brutal ways - are "possessions". And society's rules and laws say because they "belong" to someone, it is not any one's place to interfere with that "legal" ownership... No matter what they do to their "property".

But society has been wrong before... And not all "laws" are right. So how is it that the best among us still do not come to the direct aid of innocent victims, labeled as "food animals", "lab animals", "fur animals", "production" or "entertainment" animals? How and why do we remain civil with such atrocities going on?

I think I know the answer and it is found in part in these articles. Ironically, the first - Do We Need a Militant Movement to Save the Planet (and Ourselves)? is co-authored by Lierre Keith the writer of the Vegetarian Myth. And the other is written by Mikey Z: Our way of life is the problem
In both articles the agreement is that most of us live comfortably where the risks and possible sacrifices incurred in "illegal" dissent might be more than most of us want to make...

Perhaps Peter Young speaking at the 2011 Animal Rights Conference touches on some truth when he suggests we might not fight so hard for nonhumans because of unacknowledged speciesism...

But some do engage in direct action in spite of the consequences: Like Daryl Hannah, the SHAC 7, Kumi Naidoo, Tim deChristopher, and less famous others... And most recently it is Steve Hindi founder of SHARK who was assaulted a few nights ago - Hit by a vehicle whose driver was caught attending the shameful Berk's County Pigeon massacres. This is not the first time Hindi has been assaulted. Clearly animal rights activists risk personal safety, their very lives and liberty. It's true... The blood shed goes beyond the nonhuman victims and to the activists themselves.

I hope that it is here that I can admit to sometimes being cautious for my own safety and that my courage lacks the follow through that I know the victims deserve.

But like many, what I do as an activist or what happens to me by being such, affects others in my life... When you're alone - You can do what you want. When others love you - It's not that simple... I can't and don't do what my heart tells me I should. I stay within the laws even though I don't respect them... This I think for everyone - Is the hardest thing about knowing what justice is but not taking direct action to make it so.

So... The point I wanted to make was that none of us really knows what will be the catalyst or the breaking point that lets us cross "that line" beyond lawful (peaceful) advocacy... But for those who do - I hope we all support them as the heroes they truly are!

On Sneaks And Sneakers - Butter & Leather Exposed

2011-08-18T01:05:00.003-04:00

While I piece together an upcoming post on direct action as a method to raise awareness about animal issues - I thought I'd interject this post about a few animal rights activists in Iowa who "taped" a "Go Vegan" sign on a butter sculpture cow.

Now... I'm not about to go into all the reasons these cow sculptures are a gigantic farce because I've already done that before and before that. But what I will do is admit to a lot of skepticism about the alleged butter caper. The story just doesn't make much sense! Wouldn't a group that was able to scale a wall and sneak past guards have more "destruction" in mind than a sign taped to a coagulated fatty substance?

Or would it be more reasonable to think that these Iowa animal ag folks had a sneaky idea to promote their absurd butter-cow/dairy/egg and pork politics?

Truth is... Doesn't matter much what you eat at the Iowa Fair - As long as it's got an animal part or secretion in it...

Yep... There's "activism" and "politics" all around butter. So says the winner of the "dairy princess crown". She likes to go to day care kids and teach them all about cheese and "milking units".

But before, during and after all this politicking and partying with meat, eggs and dairy there's stories that bring truths back in focus... Like what I see in this cow's milk propaganda photo:

Sure the kids are curious... Who wouldn't love a new born calf? Especially the mother who bore him?

But here's a boy with new leather shoes... Meanwhile a girl's pink leather sneaker is being stepped on by the poor, confused, mother-less baby calf... Contrast this with the reality that humans actually cut the feet off of baby calves... Sometimes when their still alive! And bash their skulls to make them not be so... And you've got a culture totally at odds with who they want to be and who they really are!

All of it is sickening and shameful!

Don't like the dishonesty in Iowa, in dairy or in your own life? Then quit with the unnecessary and unkind animal killing and animal eating!
Go Vegan - And live in a Gentle World

The Animal Rights Debate... On Abolition, Reform & Welfare - My POV

2011-08-08T19:21:00.000-04:00

The debates between what is best for nonhumans on their road to liberation has circulated through the Animal Rights movement since forever... In my few years I surely have seen both sides of the arguments and have been torn many times about the consequential infighting that occurs as a result. I lament because they are counterproductive and the animals only stand to loose when any of us takes our eye off the goal.

From the 1989 Agricultural Law newsletter
What is effective strategy? Some find it useful to objectify naked humans to get their point across... Some appeal with vegan food... Some initiate petitions... Some plead through the legal system... Some do open rescue and undercover video... Some destroy property... And on and on.

Which is the answer? My belief is that all of it is necessary to change society. I don't think there is one single road to convince billions that animals deserve their lives. Different messages reach different people. Some come to Animal Rights through viewing a graphic image... Some make their connection via a sanctuary. Point is... There is no "one way".

I don't support welfare. My end goal is to see nonhumans out of man's domination entirely... But I do know that every tactical battle includes incremental change and multi-faceted strategies. I know that nothing will change over night and that reform efforts will continue till the goal is reached. That's just fact.

I know too that when someone buys "cage free" or "free-range" options because they care... It is up to abolitionists to correct the positions to what "care" really means...

A HOLISTIC APPROACH:

I think Animal Rights will be had through a constant series of measures that ever-more pushes in the same direction. But whatever each of us chooses to invest our advocacy time, effort and money in is something that I stand little hope of influencing, so I avoid criticizing fellow advocates. My focus has always been on addressing consumers who are unaware or disengaged from the systems that exploits nonhumans: Carnists.

I view culture's relationship to nonhumans as an injury... Really more like a sickness, requiring many therapeutic steps towards recovery. Would I recommend the "medicine" of continued animal use in "better ways" as part of the cure? Absolutely not... But I'm afraid there are "doctors" that would suggest this. Our job as healers is to tear down this idea every chance we get. And to remind everyone that the end goal is not to use animals at all... No matter how much sugar is on the poison.

Put another way of how I see Animal Rights as a multi-tactical, "holistic" endeavor is by viewing it through a prism:

Direct Action as in acts of open rescue and under cover video will increase awareness of issues.

Science & Health will expand options for better choices. Concerns to the environment and diseases caused by raising and eating flesh will persist... So will technologies create "vat meats" and urban farms. This will all reduce animal consumption.

Economic & Legislative changes will influence demand. If politicians are sent the message that favors, grants and tax payer funding to these institutions is unacceptable... Eventually the animal using industries will be forced to operate in a true market.

Social & Cultural contributions are seen everywhere through literature, Animal Rights artists, plays, music and other methods of emotional/aesthetic expression.

Generational Influence will accumulate and re-adapt it's relationship to nonhumans. Because the nature of youth is to constantly question the teachings of the generation before - They will be more receptive to new ideas and progressive thinking.

Advocacy will press on throughout all these other changes. And it will be a mix of welfare, reform and abolition... I know what shade of "purple" I think is the best - But I also realize that others will see it their own way, with or without my approval. And the time/energy spent arguing with each other - means that's less attention reaching totally unaware & disengaged individuals.

Obviously, I am confessing that I haven't got any one "right" answer as to the way justice will be achieved. I'm not enough of an expert and have no crystal ball to say what the "only" way to abolition is. Thus far I believe that all changes are part of the grand scheme.

I know the quickest way is for everyone to just "go vegan" - It's a pure idea. But most see that as extreme and will muddle their way only with constant nudging. Using reforms helps those people drag their way down the road. I don't like it. But it's what we have until a tipping point can be reached.

I'm not against anyone's personal tactics to achieve Animal Rights. All that I ask is that they sincerely question whether their work really does help animals... Or does it just help people continue to use them?

The following have helped shape my views:

Yes, we do support a gradual, incremental approach to animal liberation, but one vegan meal at a time – not one inch of cage space at a time. The distant goal must be a vegan world – not a world with animals in huge cages.
~Alex Hershaft FARM President and Founder

Steve Best discusses the Rights vs Welfare debate: Reform articulated through rights

Change Of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change

I don't believe there is one single strategy which will work, exclusive of others. Spreading the message through potlucks or protests all have their place within this movement.

Animal Rights - Taking The Fight To Them

Humane Meat? Thousands of Pigs, Cows & Birds Die in Heatwave

2011-08-05T01:15:00.000-04:00

No one has escaped this oppressive heat.

Certainly not the nearly 55,000 birds that have perished in Kansas and North Carolina.
Or the 2500 pigs Missouri.
Or the 4,000 cows in Iowa. The thousand in Kansas. 1500 in South Dakota.
And in Texas the ones that don't get killed by the heat are being sent to slaughter all the sooner because there just isn't enough water or grass.

No big worries for these ranchers and harmers though... They get reimbursed through the Livestock Indemnity Program and all is well.

But... Just in case you are prone to eating any of these creatures - I suggest that you re-consider what "humane meat" is... Are you factoring in for the whole system that you contribute to? Are you taking into account the torturous deaths to these animals in floods and fires? Or are you just considering their happy deaths at the slaughterhouses?

There really is a cooler way to live...

Salmonella Contaminated Turkey Fails While Tofurky Market Expanding

2011-08-04T01:44:00.001-04:00

A terrible incident has occurred in which almost 80 people have been infected and one person dead from an outbreak of anti-bacterial resistant Salmonella connected with "turkey" products.

Despite a recall back in April of 55,000 pounds of Jennie-O turkey meat, the USDA and CDC had yet to name the source of the current outbreak. And really, it's no wonder about the confusion - The recall was for products packaged on Nov. 23, 2010... Just days before the sacrificed one's were due for worship on holy "Turkey Day".

The recall has since been expanded to 36 million pounds (16300 metric tons).

I'm not a mathematician but one turkey weighs about 28.2 pounds.

Art by Twyla Francois

This is incomprehensible cost in bird lives. :(

It's tragic in all ways... To human life and safety. The waste of grain, fuel, water... And the damage to the environment.

It's hard not to see flesh for the destructive curse that it is.

But here's a happier story: Tofurky has just announced the opening of a new plant and is nicely on target for market expansion. Turtle Island Foods: Revolutionary Thinking

And this new facility includes: solar power to heat its water; capture heat from the refrigeration system that can be used as heating source; and employ high-efficiency processing equipment as its pursues LEED Platinum certification.
Check it out!

Please use compassion and good sense when you gobble...

World Vegan Radio Interview with Dr. Steve Best

2011-07-28T08:02:00.002-04:00

Below is an interview with Dr. Steve Best. This is an excerpt from WKPFT World Vegan Radio in Houston. The co-host who conducts this interview is Antenteh Roba, M.D., Founder and Executive Director of International Fund for Africa.

While many have differing, and often negative views of Best, I found his messages in this interview worthy of consideration.

I too agree that it is dangerous when free and "progressed" countries ban political thought if it is deemed "radical". Steve Best has been forbidden entry into the U.K. due to his controversial views and outspoken advocacy regarding social justice and animal rights issues. Shouldn't speech be protected not just when it suggests mundane ideas - but also "unpopular" ones as well? But this gagging of contentious ideology is exactly what the U.S. is attempting to do too as explained in Muzzling a Movement: The Effects of Anti-Terrorism Law, Money, and Politics on Animal Activism by Dara Lovitz.

I particularly like his insights on Animal Standpoint Theory and how we can learn so much from these most oppressed beings by viewing historical conditions through their lens of relentless human domination and marginalization.

Best also elaborates on his fears of the vegan movement becoming elitist in advocating to white, middle-class Western cultures as the rest of the world is rushing towards our gluttonous consumption habits. To which I provide just a handful of examples that illustrate how globally, our movement to end/reduce "meat" consumption has been pathetically ineffectual:

Rapid growth of pork production in Ukraine
//19 Jul 2011

In the first five months of 2011 the total pork production in Ukraine increased by 45% compared to same period of the last year.

US, Mexico sign trucking agreement - NPPC pleased
//07 Jul 2011
Mexico is the second largest market for the US pork industry, which shipped $986 million of pork south of the border in 2010. Since 1993 – the year before NAFTA was implemented – US pork exports to Mexico have increased by 780 percent.

From the Bangkok Post

Dairy Queen and Burger King speeding up expansion
Two food chains under Minor Food Group Dairy Queen and Burger King aim to expand their businesses faster in the second half of this year to respond to the public's greater spending power.

Beef export sales 38 percent higher led by Japan and Mexico
Beef export sales were 6,493 metric tons higher last week led by shipments to Japan (4,200 MT) and Mexico (4,100 MT). Vietnam, South Korea and Canada also contributed to the United States’ higher export sales.

Audio: Beef exports to Hong Kong booming
U.S. beef exports to Hong Kong are reaching new heights in 2011. Through the first five months of the year, exports have more than doubled in volume to 50.8 million pounds and increased 140 percent in value to just over $100 million.

Dairy Herd Magazine
“The United States has reached a tipping point where dairy exporting is no longer an option but a necessity,”

And here as Dr. Anteneh Roba mentions in the interview with Steve Best are the problems created in Africa due to the expansion of factory farming. Of course the consequences to human and nonhuman alike are incalculable.

I wanted to call attention to these matters to explain my reasoning in not proclaiming "victory" to the proposed larger cages for hens that may (or may not) happen in a decade or so... I wanted to restate my conviction to the abolition of cages, factory farms and slaughterhouses all together. I wanted to re-align myself with the reality that education and "welfare measures" will not influence the world towards a more compassionate diet in any quantifiable way.

We must become more outspoken in our personal lives and publicly/politically challenge the notion that everything and everyone on Earth is up for grabs as a "resource". We mustn't become complacent just because we have, "our family" has, "our community" or "our country" has become vegan. If indeed we are ever so fortunate to be ever be able to say these things at all - It will not be enough!

Acting individually and locally is a necessary start - but we mustn't settle until the world embraces all social justice issues. We, our nonhuman kin and the sake of the planet urgently depend on us to have this uncompromising goal - Or all is lost.

"One cannot change destructive policies without changing the institutions and power systems that cause, benefit from, and sustain them. An effective struggle for animal liberation, then, means tackling issues such as poverty, class, political corruption, and ultimately the inequalities created by transnational corporations and globalization."
~Steve Best
Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Volume V, Issue 2, 2007

For those courageous enough now, and to legions more in the future, who dare to expose and topple the underpinnings of the systematized oppression of the forgotten and disenfranchised - I for one, know you do so, because there is no other way.

Full radio show here at the KPFT archives
http://www.drstevebest.org/
http://drstevebest.wordpress.com/
International Fund for Africa
Globalization of Factory Farms at Brighter Green

Vegans Judged 5 Star In Compassion Rating System

2011-07-26T01:50:00.003-04:00

For those who may have missed it here is A four-part video presentation and companion essay by James LaVeck titled Let's Not Give Up Before We Even Get Started

What the British anti-slavery movement can teach animal advocates about overcoming the politics of pessimism

In this essay the historical perspective of social struggle is examined. It's used as a reference to compare today's "compromise" with advocates of "humane" meat to efforts of slave owners who warped language and used other cultural conditioners to maintain acceptance. Nothing illustrates this shift more than Whole Food's deceptive 5 point animal "welfare" system. And this essay exposes the con for what it is...

I think LaVeck's words and powerful ideas stand on their own merit - But I would like to take this opportunity to interject a little project I've been working on regarding the notion of eating animals "compassionately".

Whole Food's standards on the surface seem to successfully convince some consumers that their flesh choices are honest and pure... It involves human"e" 3rd party auditors and "experts" that define what would make a meal gotten from spilling blood tolerable to one's "sensitive" conscience. Of course these steps to a "clean" conscience come with a price tag... And one can spend just a few minutes in front of a Save-A-Lot chain to see where and how most meat clients shop. This insures that WholeFoods will maintain their elitist brand of "compassion".

Even so, their 5 tier "kindness" system deserves a closer look. If one were to imagine two shoppers at a register - One with a high rated #5 welfare chicken carcass among the top honored to be killed, and the other customer with a bird who's "value" scores only a 1 or 2. What oh what are we to think of her?!? Is she not "as kind" as the other? Couldn't she have done without the $12 jar of imported pomegranate jam to compensate for the taking of this poor, poor chicken's life in a more friendly way? I know it's absurd - but stay with me please...

Doesn't this WholeFoods 5 tier welfare standard also attempt to reflect consumer kindness or lack thereof? And if so... If we could have visual models defining "conscientiousness", might they not look something like this?

Let's say there was a

And if the legend could show that red was reserved for those who would be genocidal maniacs...
Then dark green would symbolize those who'd never take a life unless absolutely necessary. That bar would be raised to uphold vegan standards.

This could even be illustrated with the good old fashioned grade-school "gold-star" system:

Now somewhere in between those who have total disregard for life... And those who champion to save lives, are those who would use war as offense, war as defense, pleasure killers - like hunters or hit men. There would also be people who in their considerations would privilege humans exclusively to that "life right". And others... Who would not condone taking any life unless it was under the extreme urgency of survival to do so. Yep again. That would be the 5 star vegans!

Now, I'm not judging anyone harshly without some reasonable position to make these claims. Killing without necessity is never kind! Besides... I'm not WholeFoods putting levels of "value" or price tags on other's lives, and then assigning some type of false "conscientiousness" rating to it.

So does it make any sense for a society to encourage anything less than the highest criteria? Shouldn't our culture be demanding the most elevated standards to live by? Shouldn't we be encouraging non-violent, inclusive kindness to all beings - Rather than making pitiful excuses to permit the middle of the road compromises? More importantly... If you are not vegan - Shouldn't you expect this from yourself? And if not - Why not???

In truth... There is no "5 star" prize for being vegan. It is the very minimum one can do to lead a compassionate life... No bravery required. You don't have to be an ALF liberator or an "animal rights" activist. The very minimum of true kindness mandates someone who doesn't want to take anyone's life, for any reason. And in my book... Buying 5 star "compassionately" slaughtered animals in Whole Foods fails that test miserably.

Please do not buy into the humane myth. No being, no matter how happily he or she is killed wants to die. You already know those rules... Please live by them.

Animal Rights Debate With Ag Rep - Compassion vs. Utility

2011-07-14T00:48:00.002-04:00

Unforeseen demands in my personal life will briefly restrict my on-line activities... I know there are comments previously left that I have not responded to yet... I know my friends will bare with me as I regroup.

But in the meantime I want to post this very important news about an event that will take place (tomorrow) on the morning of July 14th.

Two of the most effective advocates I can name, Gary Loewenthal and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau will be interviewed by animal agriculture spokesperson Trent Loos on his show Loos Tales.

For those who might not know (and where have you been?) - Gary Loewenthal is one of the founders of Compassion 4 Animals and the very successful Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale is his brain child.

Vegan cookbook author and speaker, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau hosts the ever popular Food for Thought podcasts that is a gateway for those who want to learn how to be Compassionate Cooks.

Our movement not only has the power of truth on it's side, but some of the most articulate, passionate and thoughtful advocates we all could ever hope for... Gary and Colleen are the finest among them.

This interview will be posted here after 10AM and will be available for one week afterward.

I think it's unanimous, that we all hope reason and all it's rewards makes it's presence known and understood for the good that it is.

On the other hand, Mr. Loos will endeavor to convince his audience that the issues of animal killing are not all that serious... He will compare activists to Hitler and say we are "driven by guilt". He will use words like "respectful harvest" and reduce lives to the "production" purposes he (profitably) sees fit. He will suggest that the old social norms are acceptable and ought not to be challenged.That has always been the carnist's mantra. But the very idea that this "first" debate is occurring proves that to be all wrong.

This discussion on the severity of animal killing will only escalate in the future, as this topic is brought to the light of critical thinking minds. In academic halls, public libraries, shopping malls and employee break-rooms - May the conversations be civil with human enlightenment as it's goal, as the voices of the invisible are finally heard!

Sheryl Crow's Blood Money & Paul Seymour's Un-Leather Boots

2011-07-08T03:02:00.001-04:00

Okay, so did you hear? Sheryl Crow announced that she is using some of the profits made by her performance at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo to help "wild" horses. It doesn't seem to matter to Ms. Crow that captive horses and other nonhumans are used for bull riding, tie down roping and steer wrestling.
:

Nope, Ms. Crow doesn't care. And why should she? Even the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird Fighter jets are in on this battle against the beasts!

And heavens! So even is the Christian Cowboy Church!

War machines and leather! Now that's a match made in hell. :(

For a more in depth study of these western "legends in their own minds" I highly recommend this revealing post written by veganelder called Cows and "boys".

And if all this glory to the mud, blood and beer weren't enough - Did you know the U.S. Senate approved (for the 7th consecutive year), the "National Day of the American Cowboy" to be July 23rd - Surprise! Surprise! This is also the first day of rodeo "action" at the "Daddy of 'em All"! How pathetic is that?

I wish humans would realize that the best way to give horses (and all sentient beings) the respect they deserve is to leave them out of our personal wants, demands and controls. And it certainly means (Ms. Crow) not using one group of victims as leverage for or against the other. That only betrays them all!

"I won't hurt another soul for pleasure or reward". ~Paul Seymour

Pork Is Safe For Who? Cages Won't Fix Cruelty - But You CAN!

2011-06-30T21:54:00.001-04:00

It's always interesting to observe the fall-out, backlash, misconceptions, denials, and damage control after an undercover investigation.

This newest one conducted by Mercy For Animals, exposing the horrific abuses done to pigs before their throats are slit is no exception.

I read a post on facebook: I got un-friended by a few people because they didn't like the graphic images on the pig farm video. Screw them! If they aren't brave enough to see where their meat comes from - I don't want them as friends!

Boy, I couldn't click the "like" button fast enough!

Someone on this news feed commented that it's the consumers who are "TERRORIZED" by "how our livestock are being treated inhumanely."

Livestock are always destined for slaughter. Always seen as a commodity; Always having value in their production or after their murder - Are never, ever treated "humanely". Ever.

From the news at an industry forum: "The group claims that the video shows piglets castrated and their tails docked without painkillers; intestinal ruptures seemingly the result of botched castrations; and workers throwing piglets across the room."

But they always say this... That the infractions are "alleged", staged or an isolated incident. They say that they have nothing but the best interest in the care and welfare of these animals. Even as they reach the head-dropper's station.

And a statement from the National Pork Producers Council wants the public to know that when castrations go wrong, the piglets are "humanely euthanized ".

What they strategically fail to say is that this placebo term defines a common practice known as thumping... Where the poor piglet's head is slammed on to a concrete floor. I can hardly write the words in such a cut/dry manner... But this is the blunt reality.

As vile as all these practices are... No amount of fall-out, backlash, misconception, denial, or damage control OR bigger cages will end these brutalities more than elevating your consumer choices to a vegan diet.

Congrats to all the clear thinking, compassionate people who've done so already...
For the rest... What in the world is it going to take to guide you to this choice? What???

My Very First (and probably last) Freaky Friday Post...

2011-06-24T03:03:00.000-04:00

This post is a compilation of some strange, bizarre stuff within the foolish world of animal use.

I don't yet have a "Freaky-Friday" post so here it is!

How would you like to decline an event with this excuse... "So sorry, but I'm attending a Boar Semen Conference that day."

Or what about the next time someone says that cows, chickens and pigs offer the best source of "essential" nutriments for the body? Here's a great argument for them:

Hamburger, for example, is roughly 18 percent protein and 18 percent fat. Cooked grasshopper, meanwhile, contains up to 60 percent protein with just 6 percent fat. Moreover, like fish, insect fatty acids are unsaturated and thus healthier.

DeFoliart, the Wisconsin entomologist, says that not only are insects nutritious and delicious, they could be an environmentally friendly source of human protein requirements.

"In our preoccupation with cattle, we have denuded the planet of vegetation," DeFoliart said. "Insects are much more efficient in converting biomass to protein."

Insect farming is arguably much more efficient than cattle production. One hundred pounds (45 kilograms) of feed produces 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of beef, while the same amount of feed yields 45 pounds (20 kilograms) of cricket.

No bug eating? Good!

How about some yummy human breast milk - That scientists in China have now convinced cows to make and to NOT feed to their own calves?

I know... Isn't it silly for any adult to drink any mammary secretions?

OKAY - What about steak made from poo - Whet anyone's appetite yet?

Ahhh... But what to feed a pig? I found this on an animal ag site:

Odd to worry about the "ethics" of feeding a pig a pig - But completely fail to monitor our own ethics.
(We are a strange species!)

And speaking of not eating pigs... Seems there's a rash of fake photo-copied Halal certificates that are misleading the Muslim community seeking "lawful" meats. And we've all seen how genuinely "clean" and "humane" the real deal is - Haven't we?

Here's a bit more bizarre news... Seems it's become more profitable to grow oats as livestock feed than for human consumption. It really is frustrating competing with "meat animals" for food isn't it?

Pathetic stoopidity a UL "Research" Lab caused the death of 3 Rhesus monkeys. No... It wasn't the death by usual torture - These guys went the special way of neglect through dehydration and starvation.

And here's one wacky nonsensical title for a sorry article "Horse welfare declines after closing of U.S. slaughter plants". The piece includes the pitiful sentiments about some horse trainer saying his sad goodbyes to his horse Rocky who he rode for 27 years. The guy really hated to do it - (ship his friend to the slaughterhouse in Canada or Mexico) - But hey - bullets cost money you know!

Finally, what about fish-hunting in a public pool? Yep it's all for "community fun", "education" and the reinforcement of "ethnic traditions". And more bothersome than the story was the unending defenses once the event was criticized. I know many readers here and friends on Facebook diligently tried to present truthful and reasonable arguments against this event (and all animal killing). I found myself cheering as I read each of your posts! Thanks be to living tuna for your clarity!!! And as I left it... We can only hope that some seeds were planted! ;)

So I guess this de-virginizes my lack of a Freaky Friday post... But then again - In this crazy animal-killing world it could be Freaky Friday, Freaky Wednesday, Monday or Tuesday. All of it lacks sanity. All of it is primitive, barbaric, deadly and wrong!

Glad to be vegan! Hope you are too!

Slaughterhouse Crime & Violence - Vicious Treatment To Man & Nonhumans

2011-06-15T19:39:00.001-04:00

Oh say it isn't so! Murders and terrorists inside of slaughterhouses?

A Canadian who ran an immigration business and a slaughterhouse in Chicago was found guilty of aiding terrorists who killed more than 160 people in India. "Prosecutors said Rana used income from the slaughterhouse to fund terrorist activities."

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And a 30 year old Tyson meat worker is dead after being stabbed in the neck.

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Such nice folks work around a slaughterhouse - Right? I just don't understand why all these slaughterhouse employees aren't whistling while they work:

Skinner/butcher: Rabbit/Poultry kill floor
Specific Skills: Slaughter livestock and remove viscera and other inedible parts from carcasses, De-bone meat, Slaughter poultry and remove inedible parts.

Blood Collector
This position is responsible for the collection and shipment of fetal bovine blood from an assigned slaughter facility. Set-up bleeding station to receive unborn calves (slunks) for bleeding.
Extract blood from unborn calves in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures.

1st Shift Kill Supervisor
This position is responsible for day-to-day management of operations in assigned production area. (emphasis mine)

Rendering Supervisor

Over see the meat cooking, hair hydrolyzing operations, loading and hauling of inedible product. Monitor raw material, informing Director of Operations of any abnormal situations.

Odd how these positions all require "communication skills" and "no violent backgrounds". Maybe it's so workers can start on a clean slate destined to make them disgusted and enraged with what they and their fellow man do for a dollar? Just think how a few weeks of boot camp can adjust nice kids to kill up close and personal.

It's no secret the industry from factory farm to the bleed rails, preys on the desperate poor - Most are immigrants... Many illegal.

“If you visit the killing floor of a slaughterhouse, it will brand your soul for life.”

-Howard Lyman

And Gail Eisnitz thoroughly documented the horrors in her book Slaughterhouse - The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect and Inhumane Treatment Inside Th U.S. Meat Industry with excepts here:

When the pregnant sows are ready to give birth, they are moved from gestation crates into farrowing crates. "They beat the shit out of the sows to get them inside the crates because they don't want to go," said a female worker. "One guy smashed a sow's nose in so bad that she ended up dying of starvation." "We had one too with his nose smashed in," said another. "A 600 pound boar. Smashed him in there. He finally died."

"On the farm where I work," said a worker, "they drag live pigs who can't stand up any more out of the crate. They put a metal snare around her ear or front foot and they drag her the full length of the building. And these animals are just screaming in pain. They're dragging them across the concrete. It's ripping their skin. These metal snares are tearing up their ears...."

"When sows can't stand up anymore and we have to kill 'em to perform C-sections, we wait until within a week of farrowing and we kill her and cut her open, then we drag her outside to the Dumpster. We use a stun gun or we get a hammer and start beating the head. Until they die."

"After a while you become desensitized. And as far as animals go, they're a lower life-form. They're maybe one step above a maggot. When you got a live, conscious hog, you not only kill it, you want to make it hurt. You go in hard, blow the windpipe, make it drown in its own blood. Take out an eyeball, split its nose. A live hog would be running around the pit with me. It would be looking up at me and I would just take my knife and--eerk--take its eye out while it was just sitting there. And this hog would just scream.

"When a cow arrives at the first hind-legger [who removes the legs], usually the legger tries to make a cut to start skinning out the leg. But it's hard to do that when the cow is kicking violently. A lot of times the leggers'll take their clippers and cut off the cow's leg right below the knee--the skinny part. The cow'll continue to kick, but it don't have that long of a reach."

"Outside of the weak ones, just about every cow I stunned had to be hit between three and five times just to get it to go down. There were plenty of times you'd have to make a big hole in their head, shooting them eight or nine times. And they'd still be alive. I remember one time I saw the other knocker at the plant shoot a bull twelve times, and still it wouldn't go down. "

"Sometimes a steer would get its head stuck in the restrainer [the conveyance that cattle ride up to the stun operator in]. You couldn't stun it at that point, so you'd end up cutting its head off while the steer was still alive. Or, there've been a lot of cases where the beef almost falls through the restrainer, and it struggles and twists so bad that the restrainer wouldn't move. A lot of times what happens is we just chop the leg off. We do it with a saw."

And these are the animals "protected" under the Humane Slaughter Act... Imagine the unhappy things that happen to chickens. :(

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Now I'm not writing this to educate or inform regular readers... Everyone is very aware of the atrocities that animals go through in the name of "food, clothing, entertainment and science". So aware and concerned that they've actually done something tangible and meaningful to remove themselves from such harming acts!

No, I'm hoping to catch the curious lurker who happens to land here... I want them to understand what they pay for every time they buy a burger, a "chop", an egg, or a pair of leather sneakers. I want them to own the fact that they are the ones supporting crimes against man and crimes against nonhuman animals. I'm hoping they read Mercy for Animals 25 Reasons to Try Vegetarian and pay special attention to reason #22:

"Flesh eating is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act which is contrary to moral feeling: killing. By killing, man suppresses in himself, unnecessarily, the highest spiritual capacity, that of sympathy and pity towards living creatures like himself and by violating his own feelings becomes cruel. As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields." -Leo Tolstoy

Please... If you are not already vegan - Give it your very best effort to make it so.

USDA Provides Funds For Dairy Propaganda

2011-06-10T23:16:00.001-04:00

There really is no nice way to put this... The corruption is blatantly obvious. The USDA just gave the dairy industry $1.1 million dollars so that they may explore more effective ways of communicating to customers how great cow's milk is. :/

That's not exactly how the grant reads... But it's the gist of it. And you can draw your own conclusions here.

Now... Wanna see something FREE that shows how wonderful some people think cows are?

Today's Happy Veggie Kids post on vegansaurus highlights 6 year old Ruby Bird as she embraces the gentle giant beside her:

I don't think there's enough money in the world that could buy the honesty this photo displays.

Want a real life without excuses that rationalize killing innocent animals? Go Vegan. ;)

It's The Cucumbers. It's the Tomatoes. It's the Lettuce. It's The Sprouts.

2011-06-09T02:29:00.002-04:00

21 Dead in Germany:

The bacterium in question, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, or STEC, can cause severe enteric and systemic disease in humans, including hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, which can lead to kidney failure or death.

World Health Organization

E-coli is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms.

Let us be clear about one thing. This and every other E. Coli outbreak has at its source bacteria produced by livestock, and spread by the excrement that has entered the water supply used in fruit and vegetable production and/or preparation.

We are poisoning our food at the expense of "growing" meat.

It's no coincidence that the most ethical way to eat is also the most practical.

For the sake of our food system. For the sake of our environment. For the sake of compassion to others... Won't you please explore Vegan options?

Farm & Dairy, Silver Spurs - These Are The Free Speech Saboteurs

2011-06-06T02:04:00.003-04:00

Up until a few days ago I was actively engaged in a discussion at the Farm and Dairy site. Now, I'm no stranger to censorship on these animal ag sites... On too many occasions to count, I've been cut off in mid thought - Coincidentally, the "last word" is always had by one of their gang. So be it. But this is the beauty of the internet - I can post my responses here instead. I think they are worthy of consideration.

We were debating if vegetation could be grown without the use of industrial animal agriculture. And without laboring over the background conversation the final points I wanted to make to "TY" are in bold.
Warning - For some it might be a gruesome subject:
Ty said: The only way to capture the nitrogen potential would be to macerate, sterilize,and reconstitute...

My reply:
I am not a chemist or biologist but I know that the sooner a cadaver returns to the soil the quicker the worms eat... And the sooner the "cycle" begins.

Now if this more natural mode is riddled with hazards why are green burials becoming so popular?

There are environmentally friendly ways of disposing of human remains that would benefit the permaculture.

Bio-cremations or "resomations" are certainly fertilizing the lawns in a Florida facility!

And in the U.K. there's Promessa: "The primary principles are preservation after death in organic form and shallow burial in living soil that quickly converts us to mulch."

So I disagree - I do think we are culturally ready to think of more renewable things to do with our dead bodies. And given enough funding and study it just might replace animal waste after all.

I wish you well Ty. I hold no bitterness towards you... I think you are bright and that you have a mind strong enough to inquire ideologies further.

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I think it's easy to see why I became frustrated by not being given the space to reply. I think I had some valid points... But this is how the animal users work on the web... Now let's see how they act in the real world:

I attended the protest at Silver Spurs Rodeo last night... To the right of the photo below is The Florida Cattlemen's building.

This demonstration was just a small group, holding signs in a peaceful, orderly, LEGAL way. I smiled and waved... We all did. It was an effort to just get people to THINK about the possibility that cows, calves, bulls and horses were being needlessly "used" for harmful and frivolous amusement. It was an attempt to get people to WAKE UP from their thoughtless ignorance. That's it.

There were cars and trucks that passed by us... Some with horses being sent possibly to their doom should an "unfortunate" "accident" happen. Still, our small group stood in quiet calm.

But many of these trucks with tires taller than my vehicle - spit and threw used chewing tobacco at us. They shouted obscenities. They cussed and gave us the finger... They spun their wheels so as to kick up pebbles and rocks in our faces... The gunned their engines and left clouds of black smoke as they sped off towards the parking lot. Many had children in the cars as well. They were brutish. Angry. Aggressive and hostile.

It wouldn't be a stretch that if possible, they would have stomped and slammed on us physically so that our message would be silenced. I am sure in the same way that they think nothing of harming innocent "rodeo" animals, they'd think nothing of tyrannizing us too. You see that's the way it goes when you run roughshod over those "smaller" than you - When you're a bully - Everyone's is game and nothing's too petty.

And let it be no surprise to anyone that these thugs are also the first to call activists "communists", "liberals", "radicals", troublemakers, terrorists and un-American. But look how they represent themselves! On line or not... It is the voice of reason and compassion they suppress... It is the very first order of Free Speech which they deny and attack.

I'm sure their mothers didn't raise them that way... And I'd bet anything even the Florida Crackers who actually did drive the cattle through the swamps way back when would be aghast at the uncivil display of rude childishness. As for me, I've paid my taxes to the "Sunshine State" for almost 40 years - and I hang my head in embarrassment for I've truly seen the underbelly of it all at the Silver Spurs sham. Just pitiful.

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I hope the information about the possibility of growing REAL food without the need of killing animals is useful knowledge... As for anyone else even considering spending their valuable time or money in Florida, as you can see we're not the progressive, civilized state you think we are. We're knee-deep in hillbillies that abuse animals as "things" just 20 minutes from the zipitee-do-da "magical" kingdom where they eat them all day.

La-la-land for sure. :/

Welfare Losers and The Humane Game

2011-05-23T23:47:00.001-04:00

So the harmer says: "Many food stores and food retailers have announced implementation of third-party verification measures to ensure the animals from which food products are derived were treated humanely. In the near future, customers will demand third-party verification and if it doesn’t exist, the store providing the food is not going to be credible with the public.Agriculture can win this battle for the hearts and minds of consumers. Farmers and ranchers must remember whom they are trying to influence. Customers and consumers need to hear from livestock producers.It is not productive for the agriculture community to attack activist groups. Instead, agriculture must retake its rightful position as the people in charge of ensuring the humane treatment of animals.Agriculture must inform people we share their concerns and we work hard every day to make sure our animals are treated fairly and humanely. Follow that by sharing with them how we meet our obligations to the humane treatment of the animals on our farms."

Now what exactly is "humane" - Everyone wants to know! It seems that consumers are having a hard time with figuring out the "standards" that others are suggesting:
Animal Welfare Institute
Animal Welfare Approved

Global Animal Partnership

Farm Animal Welfare Council

FAO Gateway to Farm Animal Welfare

National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee

Animal Agriculture Alliance

Making Sense of Animal Product Labels

Beef Quality Assurance Code of Ethics

USDA Livestock Behavior Research
Animal Wellbeing Program
Animal Care and Use Committee
Animal Welfare Quality
Compassion in World Farming

This list of "experts" and diverse "welfare ratings" could go on and on... But there are a few basic "rules" to what they all say is "humane". And they are: that all animal intended as "food", ought to have food and water themselves... (duh) And animals ought to be given appropriate medical treatment just to insure they don't (accidentally) die... And that when it is time for them to be killed it should be done "humanely". From there on there is a plethora of variables that can get very confusing.

So, if you're someone looking to figure out what is "humane" and you can't quite sort all the details out yourself - Perhaps you should play The Humane Game:

It sort of works like chutes and ladders... You know - You find a "free range" egg... But ooops! You just learned the hen came from a hatchery where millions of male chicks are killed --- Down the slide you go!

Hey! Found some "grass fed beef"? But wait a second... You discover the dehorning and castration process is done without anesthetics --- Gosh, down the slide you go again!

What about "organic milk" from happy cows? Oh no!!! They take away their babies too! And the poor cows are shuffled off to the industrial slaughterhouses along side their "factory" sisters. Yep... This game is going to be pretty hard alright.

Now... How about some bacon sourced from pigs that are wallowing contentedly in the mud and sunshine... Uh, Oh... You pull the card that has this question: Is it really right to remove a "happy" animal from the earth either?

Let's face it... It's a game that can't be won! There is no "humane" way to eat animals!

Finally, if you really want to get technical about it --- Here goes:

"Humane" means to be concerned with alleviating suffering. These animals are not diseased, crippled or in aged pain. They are delivered young and healthy and "fit for life", so there is absolutely no "misery" to relieve these animals of- Only terror and pain to cause.

The saddest thing of all though in this Humane Game is that

it's always the animals that lose!

Tired of playing games with innocent lives? Learn more: Humane Myth

Gentle Mercy Rescues Calves & Children - Healing Through Kindness

2011-05-14T00:10:00.003-04:00

A happy update from the Mercy for Animals E6 investigation! Four beautiful calves have been rescued and placed at The Gentle Barn. Gentle Barn is a unique haven where refugee animals help human kids heal from their own wounds of misfortune, neglect and/or abuse:

"We believe that our animals are particularly healing with these children. First of all, the animals have all been abused before coming to The Gentle Barn. Relaying their stories to the children allows them to identify and relate to the pain of the animals. Often times the children share similar pasts. Secondly, as they see that the animals are safe here with us, the children begin to open up, as they too feel safe. Finally, we believe that animals, with their unconditional love and non-judgmental attitude, can often times reach kids more deeply and effectively than people can. As the children learn to love the animals, they simultaneously learn to love a part of themselves. As they learn to understand the animals, they learn to understand a part of themselves."

I believe the injuries inflicted to animals and children stem from the same source... It makes total sense that their mutual experiences will help each the same, to become whole again.

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Roy, Ari, Mercy, and Bob represent 10,000 calves in JUST this ONE facility with thousands more just like it... When you're in the dairy isle - Remember these babies torn from their mothers. Remember that their food AND lives were stolen from them! PLEASE, please - You would not deliberately make a victim of any human child - Please don't make victims of the nonhuman ones either. There are countless alternatives...

Eat Gently. Live with Mercy. Go Vegan.

Let's STOP! Killing Other Mother's Children

2011-05-07T00:07:00.002-04:00

Ah... Mother's Day! And don't we know the cards, flowers and candy are being showered to praise these adored and adoring Moms!

But for those who may not know... Right this very moment, indeed at any time you look at your watch or calendar some mom some where is bearing down to deliver her baby either on a kill pen floor like Spirit was born to Faith:

Or Luna born to Bella:

Or countless nameless ones on the run from being hazed back to Yellow Stone - Or marched with their newborns in "pairs" to the slaughterhouses:
In February, 249,000 dairy cows were sent through Federally inspected slaughter plants

Round the clock we take mother's precious newborns and use special equipment to break open their bodies with. We hunt mother wolves when babies are in their dens. We club baby seals while their mothers are helpless to defend them. We steal baby elephants to train and "amuse" us in circuses. And remove "exotic" babies from their homes to "educate" us in zoos. We force infant primates into mad scientist's labs... And what we do for the want of eggs would horrify even an ogre.

We trap other mothers away from everything that's a natural instinct and dispose of her "excess" babies, a result of breeding that has created litters too large for each piglet to have a teat. We imprison tens of thousands of female dogs in tiny cages to spit out pet-store "inventory".

Yeah... We slaughter ewes with their lambs and nannies with their kids. Strange how we even adopted "their names" sanitizing our relationship with them even more. Meanwhile what human mothers do to their own kids in the way of shielding and warping the truth about "meat" and "livestock" is even more perverse still.

Yet, I know there are good people out there... Trying to live an honest life - And so I don't want to end this post totally on all the wrongs and harms that those "other" people do...

Instead, I'd like to praise this human "mom" who saved three young dairy calves "Maid Marion, Robin Hood and Little John". Now, if your heart doesn't melt watching the rescue of these gorgeous little lives... You go right to your Mom and tell her she must have neglected something in the raising of you!

Rescuer: Edgar's Mission

Beautiful Mother's Day e-cards available at cow ribbon.com

We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.
Jimmy Carter

Farms That Harm - Farms That Feed * Blood VS Food

2011-05-04T02:28:00.000-04:00

I always wished that there was something I could call those in animal "agriculture" that more closely defined their trade... After all, I do LOVE the fine people that grow the food which nourishes me, and they are very different than the ones that breed animals for blood, bone and flesh.

So I'm very grateful that John Sakars made the clever distinction between the two...

And what about these people who work the "nice" harms? They will say that the animals are very happy and well cared for... The man who raises cattle enjoys seeing the "cycle" of life --- But that "life" is abruptly ended at a mere fraction of it's potential. How is that "life"? The woman is always "awed" to see that new mother cows know exactly what to do... And of course her family "eats like kings". What an odd, warped world these "nice harmers" must exist in.

Now after undercover investigations like the most recent one from Mercy for Animals, these harmers come out in full rank to defend that their businesses... They will say that most places take great "care" of the animals they "love". We've all seen and read this countless times. They will also say that they encourage transparency and encourage questions... This may be so initially, but in my experience once the conversations get too "uncomfortable" they will discontinue them.

Case in point - A little more than a year ago Mercy for Animals conducted yet another investigation on a dairy farm. I engaged in a conversation at the "Dairy Goddess" site and after posting a few comments of unwavering disagreement - The discussion was "closed".

And just last week a few advocates participated in a debate on the Farm and Dairy site. The "last word" was had by eliminating the "reply" button. Well! Guess that's one way to win an argument!

There are many other instances of this hiding-habit of the harmers to shut down verbal exchange - But thus far, a conversation is allowed an open forum on this Brandi Buzzard site. In fact I'm encouraged to share this with other advocates so that all views can be considered. If anyone's interested here ya go:
Still No Excuse: Owner of E6 Ranch Steps Up

Finally anyone who's been reading my posts for a while knows I'm keeping a running tab of the "food animals" raised "humanely" who have perish live in burning infernos:
From Farm to Fridge and Fire Along the Way - Got Mercy For Animals?
Mooving Along to Burned Cows - Cash Cows & Viral Video Cows
Farmers Aren't Practicing Birth Control - Your Husbandry & Proliferation Is Killing Us!
And so I add 4,800 pigs killed in a fire in northeast Iowa.

I know without a doubt these pigs were being tended to by harmers... Not farmers.
So please... Support your farmers - Eat all the fresh fruits and veggies that you know are better for you and kindest to the animals.

Easter Chicks, Bunnies and Hams ~~~ Celebrate With Friends!

2011-04-24T01:23:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter to everyone...
It's true that chicks and rabbits are celebrated on this day ---

But if you don't know what happens to them the rest of the year - don't you think it's time to learn?

The Peeps

The Bunnies
And just by chance should you be curious about where Easter "hams" come from...

I think you'll find that the best way by far to celebrate Easter is to extend that joyful spirit to all our animal friends too!
Hippity, Hoppity... :)

E6 Hammered Dairy Calves - Butchered Cows - Who's Responsible?

2011-04-21T04:31:00.003-04:00

By now everyone has seen the gruesome footage of dairy calves being bludgeoned with hammers and pick axes at the E6 Cattle Company in Texas.

Here is the full release from Mercy for Animals for those who haven't...

The "owner" claims that now all employees have been trained in "proper" animal care in accordance with what the dairy industry recommends: Gun Shot, Captive Bolt, Barbituate Overdose, Throat Slitting, or Electrocution. Yeah... That's "humane dairy" for ya...

Now in this interview Trent Loos says that the footage is "tough for anybody, even in agriculture to watch". Loos also insinuates that the employees were coerced to use blunt force rather than the rifle to kill these calves... The question was put (at 2:20): "Did you know anyone was using a hammer to perform euthanasia on these animals?" Owner Kirt Espenson says "I did not. They had a rifle". And then the interview get's kind of splicy sounding... Hummm

And here from Pro News7 in Amarillo "He acknowledges his employees did not have adequate training. He credits that because he had a lot of employees quit and he was accepting basically anyone who was willing to work.
Espenson also told Pronews 7 that all his employees were given a .22 rifle but they, instead, chose to kill the calves in the malicious manners shown in the video.

Additionally, Espenson felt that the undercover worker from Mercy For Animals had some type of influence on the employees."

But doesn't the second video footage above (at l:10) show that Espenson was asked "So the hammer's okay if we don't find the rifle"? And Epsenson responds that it is. He just walks away unconcerned and detached from the process about to occur. Still, he wants to "accept full responsibility" for his employees that were "poorly trained" and who had a lack of knowledge of the proper procedure.

Doesn't that remind you of the Conklin Dairy owner caught on video shoving a downed cow yet saying the violations were just in hands of one rouge employee and encouraged by the undercover investigator? Doesn't animal ag usually claim "alleged abuses" and "doctored footage"... It's always the undercover agent or the employees it seems. Yet these are the favored labor force! Usually (illegal) immigrants that are so desperate they are willing to do the unthinkable just for a greenback and a chance to stay in the U.S. Dairies depend on these people so much that they even want to give them licenses even if they are here in the U.S. illegally. That's why dairies, all of animal ag and slaughterhouses hire these individuals. Because they will do the work that needs to be done if people insist on having milk/eggs and meat. That means if you buy these "cheap" products YOU are responsible too!

These calves never got to feel the warmth of their mothers, never got to nurse or be nuzzled... Never got to experience the specialness that all babies deserve - Instead they were assaulted, battered and murdered in the most horrific way imaginable. Killing calves, killing cows, no matter what methods are used is barbaric.

That said, these poor calves are now in peace and released from the clutches of butchering men. What kind of society pays people to do this??? Whether it's throat slitting, electrocution, a gun or a bat - Who needs cow's milk this badly??? Please - whatever empathy you have for these innocent ones - Wean yourself!

Farmers Aren't Practicing Birth Control - Your Husbandry & Proliferation Is Killing Us!

2011-04-11T03:22:00.000-04:00

With a cluck-cluck here and a cluck-cluck there I add 285,000 chickens who perished in a fire in Maryland last Tuesday...

With an oink-oink here and an oink-oink there 800 genetically advanced breeding pigs were flown on a 747 to China.

With a moo-moo here and a moo-moo there Idaho gets busted with illegal drug residue found in cow's milk and dairy cows at slaughter. But not to worry... They've got a few passed bills to help suppress this kind of news.

With a neigh-neigh here and a neigh-neigh there Idaho also manages to keep horses off the "pet protections" list... This keeps the options open for when/if they build their "humane" horse slaughter facility, most likely on an Indian reservation. Nice huh?

Finally, with a bah-bah here and a bah-bah the lambs born this last winter will be fattened just in time to make it to the festive Easter celebrations only weeks away! And I guess it's true as one of these farmers admits... You can't keep them all!

Too bad Old MacDonald never considered birth control as an option...

It really would be such a better place. :(

If you have the inclination to consider any of these animals as "food", please know that they are sentient beings. They love their lives just like you and I do. There are many better options for nourishment -
Please, go vegan.

April Fool! Animal Use - The Last Laugh Is On Us!

2011-04-01T02:17:00.003-04:00

April Fool! This is just a little day among all marked calendar events. Meant to be harmless and silly - It's a day dedicated to jokes and pranks... And I do understand a good laugh. Laughter is "good for the soul" - Right? Along with that notion I've also heard that one shouldn't take one's self too seriously. If you've ever been the brunt of a set-up, and the ha-ha's were at your expense, the perpetrator will say they were just "kidding". But most often this just kidding "apology" is not meant to be sincere at all.

And I admit as a vegan I am often dismayed and saddened at "jokes" meant to make light of some very grave things.

But here's the peculiar part with the way animal industries (and culture) have "fun" with animals as their subject matter.

The joke is all backwards!

The "trick" doesn't happen and then everything's sort of okay again, like with an April Fool's joke. No harm. No foul. No! It's the exact opposite! We deceive them and ourselves that their best care and interests are important. Even paramount. At the onset we teach kids that these farmed animals are our friends. Friends that deserve kindness and loyalty. Everything at the start is so even and fair... No mischief or harm could ever be expected!

And then the punchline comes! The biggest "joke" on them that there ever could ever be! With false pretenses of "fair play"... We lead them to the kill floor and then we say "Ooops! Just kidding! We didn't really care that much about you at all!"

Sadly the joke is on us. The effects of this in-side-out, backwards trick we play on our fellow creatures contaminates everything in our "sorry", kidding and kidded culture. We cannot be happy with such a lie of this magnitude. It is only an illusion that has not been examined in full light of reality. And those who wish to remain blind to it, ridicule their own wisdom.

Please do not be a fool! Animals do not wish to die for us. We don't need to kill them. And we certainly don't need to laugh at how "gullible" they are to trust us.

A kind suggestion: End the contradictions. Go Vegan

Sanctuaries For Our Food And Our Friends - Part Two

2011-03-29T03:06:00.003-04:00

In Sanctuaries For Our Food And Our Friends - Part One I took a look at new "reversed" systems that could provide food by growing it indoors and could give animals a real life, by letting them live outdoors. Kind of a revolutionary idea - isn't it? But then so is the idea of providing "food" animals with loving homes. And after a comment left by Bren McClain, I realized this tribute to sanctuaries for "farmed animals" was sadly lacking in my blog. So I'm dedicating this post to correcting that.

Mama Red

I have added some well known and not-so-famous sanctuaries on the side bar and will of course add more as they come my way. I'd also like to acknowledge Bren McClain's story in appreciation. I was deeply touched by her memories of a cow named Mama Red. And so happy that Bren is writing a novel that explores the whole 4H beef raising competition and sale, a rite of passage for many young people. Any personal experiences of readers who have ever participated in these "feeding out the steers for market shows," should get in touch with Bren at bren@brenmcclain.com. and share these stories with her. I'm sure they would be a great contribution to her very important work.

Frequently absurdities are most clearly seen when contradictions are set along side of each other. The juxtapose of profit-oriented "livestock" and havens of rescue such as Cow Sanctuary couldn't be more evident to that. One values flesh as a dead "product". The other cherishes animals alive, even if at "cost" to make and keep it so.

But the idea of rescuing "food animal" is frequently met with total, heartless ignorance. There are some that feel quite threatened at the idea that anyone could care for this type of species at all, aside from the significance they serve to be placed at the end of a fork.

Lisa

There's an article here about how Whatcom Humane Society is showing a documentary film called "Pigmalion", the story of an 800 pound Yorkshire pig named Lisa, that was sent to Sanctuary One rather then sent to slaughter. With so few comments, the ones left by Garnet appear all the more hurtful and crass. Her (?) comments: "I for one am tired of the "do-gooder" animal rescue stories of livestock food animals" and "They cannot be used for breeding, and they are not to be eaten. They are now a pet". She thinks that Lisa instead should have been butchered to feed the dogs... And that since Lisa is an omnivore, she could never be trusted not to harm someone. Well, I suppose Garnet has that right about not trusting omnivores. Certainly the human ones can sure snuff a lot of lives in the name of "food".

Anyway, one of the best things about sanctuaries is they have the opportunity to tell the stories of how the refugees one by one or sometimes by the hundreds made their way to safety. Where they could live out their lives in the way that all beings should be allowed to. I admire and respect all who have ever provided loving homes to the ones who would be "worthless" otherwise. A special appreciation too to Farm Sanctuary - Now celebrating 25 years of rescue and hope. ~Thank you~

Part One

Vegan Myths Debunked! Music To My Ears! :)

2011-03-24T02:03:00.000-04:00

This musical interlude comes from therockcookiebottom who has been writing a song a day for almost 3 years. That's incredible! The themes of these short songs are sometimes silly, sometimes serious but always clever. Here are some of my favorites - Enjoy!

Vegan Myths Debunked

If Dogs Have Feelings

Vegetables!

We've Been Cooking All Day!

10 Billion

All songs available here. :)

Are You Lucky Enough To Be Vegan?

2011-03-17T20:21:00.005-04:00

I'm not superstitious at all - But here's some things I do know about "luck".

I share my home with "lucky" friends, who would otherwise have had dreaded misfortune. Being born without the advantages of thumbs and god-like ownership over their own lives - Their end probably would have already been done.

Most were useless in the scheme of human plan. One and all, they were considered burdens to feed or care for. Unplanned accidents... Waste from industries... Not worth the time or trouble to save... Unprofitable residue... Nuisances and pests. All born "unlucky" to be "purposeless" in a world where everything must have value to the insatiable... That would be "us" the "lucky" ones: Homo Sapiens; Literally to mean the animals born with "taste" and "wisdom".

And being born creatures with such "smart appetites", aren't we so lucky to have created systems and diversions that allow us to consume without guilt? The consequence to others escapes us in myths and lies that we author. This is especially true in our ravenous gluttony of the foods made of flesh. They are invisible, the blood, bone and bodies of the "unlucky" ones that lost their lives for the sake of indulging ours...

We wise ones, deities of our own making, can sell cellophane wrapped stories, fairy tales, legends and doctrines that excuse us from the most horrid of practices. These are some "lucky" lies that attempt to validate and reinforce our own species-granted privileges.

Now here's the hitch to being able to utilize those "lucky lies"... We must be "lucky" enough to make a habit of not investigating beyond our comfort zone. "Lucky" enough to preserve the disguises that allow cons and deceptions to exist. It's the simplest thing... All you have to do is not think or examine (meat or animals) too closely, and the grotesque realities never have to be acknowledged!

I once had that kind of "luck" when I saw a pig's head in a meat case at the Piggly Wiggly 30 years ago...

It infuriated and repulsed me so much that I complained to the manager! I told him the pig-head was vulgar and disgusting! And that it wasn't decent to put me, or his customers, through the ordeal of seeing such an ugly thing! I felt completely satisfied when he agreed to remove the apple-biting specimen from view. I felt content... Even as I wheeled my cart with ham, bacon and chops riding within. I was "lucky" that my awareness was left unshaken and protected. Blinded by conjecture and habit, I was "lucky" to stay "blessed" in the bliss of dissonance for many decades afterwards.

But, like most of us here, that kind of "charm" eventually ran out. For whatever reason, that fragile veil of secret "rites" was revealed for the trick that it was. Gifted instead to see that behind the eyes of every creature, there is a somebody. A kin of mine, a kin of ours, that had been born without human "luck". These are fellow earthlings that only lack our cheat of might and favored lust. And it's only our unquestioned indoctrinations of the crafty sham, that perpetuates their brutal curse.

And thus, we make the "luck" of others better through our own actions. We make decisions that alter their fate for the good. We choose not to harm lesser ones. Innocent ones. Helpless ones. We choose not to create victims. We choose not to prey on the weak. We choose to challenge the false premises of traditions, "exceptionalism" and domination. We rejected the status quo and live in ways that make things more fair. More equal. More thoughtful and kind. At the heart of the matter, we choose not to eat these beings who are so "unlucky" not to be us.

What about you... Are you a "lucky" omnivore? Or a just vegan?

Sanctuaries For Our Food And Our Friends - Part One

2011-03-15T17:34:00.003-04:00

I thought my last post about the AFF here in Florida would be my last story on this "disordered" organization... But finding this short Hoosier Ag Today podcast, interviewing a AFF teen changed that. Note that the first few sentences indicate that it is "consumers" and economics that are of the most interest to agriculture. No surprise there... The clip also says that vegan and animal rights advocates are "aniti-agriculture", as if we didn't consume food too. But surely they've got that all wrong!

Young Morgan Dawson states that the population will nearly double in the next 40 years and that agriculture has to devise "new ways" to meet food demands. With this I couldn't agree more!

My thought however is to do things in complete reverse of what's being done now. Currently, we have billions of animals crammed inside warehouses... And countless thousands of acres of crops grown outdoors.

Now, indoor animals must be regulated with electronic "climate controlled" facilities and many drugs.

Indoors their waste accumulates to a point where air quality around factory farms is inferior to major cities. Raising animals indoors is wasteful in water and energy use. And of course it's downright torture for these beings! Talk about "intensive confinement":

On the other hand, plants that are raised outdoors take up vast swaths of land. These are vulnerable to weather conditions. Crops must be sprayed to guard against instects and "pests". And there is also collateral damage done to wildlife that find these foods suitable for their meals too.

Now --- What if we revolutionized the system, removing animals from their indoor prisons and put plants there instead? What if all the grants, fundings, "pork" and favors that go to producing "livestock" were to go to inovative new forms of high-tech food production instead?
Many such systems are on the drafting boards and blueprint stages but of course without sufficient economic backing they're having a challenge in being realized. But here's a few that are built and already producing food with closed loop energy systems:
The Science Barge in New York uses state of the art computer technology and an agricultural technique called hydroponics to grow fruits and veggies using much less water and space than field farming.
The Eden Project that is what it's name implies.
The Sahara Forest Project, that is also a restorative technology.
And look what a green marvel is being built in Newark, New Jersey:

Imagine what kind of future we could have if we planned communities that were sustainable within their own environment and location. Housing units where people could literally obtain their food in the same building that they lived in. No trucking food for hundreds/thousands of miles... Food that also supplied energy to your building would only be steps away. Now that is projecting into the future!

There are a lot of ways that we can make the next decades be bountiful, clean, safe and wholesome environments for both humans and animals... One of my favorites is the brainchild of these young group of "future farmers of America" who created a hydroponic plant by converting (of all things!) an old meat packing plant. Indeed this concept Conscious Vertical Farming 312 AQUAPONICS is Phoenix rising from the ashes:

Granted... I know some of these systems still depend on sea creatures to produce fertilizer. But we humans also generate an abundant amount of waste too, that could be used instead, as the technology advances... Thus eliminating our need for "water treatment" plants... Or nearly so. Genius - Isn't it?

So, you live in a rural area... In a home not a high rise --- Nourishing food could be grown in these systems by building them on top of grocery stores! What a site to see our foods living on the roofs of the supermarkets we shop in! The possibilities with this future are endless, sustainable, and most of all allow all living beings their unharmed and *unviolated* place on this earth!

If there was ever a way to provide a secure, peaceful co-existence with the planet and each other surely this is it! We don't need "glass walls" in slaughterhouses! We don't "need" slaughterhouses at all! Glass walls that could protect our real food and our survival is the way to go for "future farming" in the world.

Part one of two

Florida Schools Disregard Humane Education Law - Rally To End Slaughter

2011-03-10T23:05:00.006-05:00

Gosh, Florida just can't stay out of the news (or my blog) this month!

Back in 2009 two Alachua County students were arrested on felony animal cruelty charges.

As the small minded, boastful (and stupid) jerks that they were, they posted a "brag video" on youtube. But when the animal services investigator went to the school principle he didn't even know that there was an ag-chick-raising-bird-killing program going on! Imagine that? 40 students involved in this FFA (Future Farmers Association) project and the only one "in charge" was teacher Allen Shaw who "On the day the video was shot, Shaw was helping students "kill and properly package their chickens."

Adding further ignorance to injury (and murder), charges were dropped in Jan. 2010 --- "after it was discovered the chicken used in the video was already dead when the video was made."

Now I don't know... Any one ever see a "dead chicken" flap her wings as the video shows? How lazy and cowardly the "justice system" is huh? :(

The FFA organization is much like 4H - Yeah they have a "blah, blah" creed too. And a yearly "Beast Feast" where they can win prizes like hunting and fishing trips and killing equipment to add to the pleasure and fun. And they also can gorge on dead deer, pig, fish, and alligator bodies... Oh yes, and tortured chickens too.

I have nothing against teaching kids self sufficiency and how to grow healthy, wholesome foods with projects like the Edible Schoolyard. And I'd love to see the fruits of their labor in neighboring Plant City, that holds it's yearly Strawberry Festival this month... But I'll pass for all the "livestock" shows and the pig races. Pity such a beautiful celebration of nourishing and lovely fruits, marred by the inclusion of animal-slave exhibits.

Given the video above, and the blatant disregard that public institutions have for following law, I have good reason to be mistrusting of systems that indoctrinate kids into thinking that living beings are to be used and disposed of. This does not teach them respect or compassion. Clearly 4H, FFA and other organizations that teach kids it's okay to take innocent life, should be dismantled, spurned and rejected for the sinister propaganda that they spew. It fosters violence and "othering".

There's nothing wholesome, healthy, normal or kind in slaughtering victims. We need to stop condoning butchery - Not hold classes with hands on methods of doing such!

So - In lieu of all the above, Karen Davis founder of United Poultry Concerns, along with HERO Humane Educators Reaching Out, is organizing an effort to get Florida Schools to enforce statutory mandates of humane treatment toward all beings and to end the slaughter of animals in schools. Having spoken to dozens of education officials here in Florida - I can confirm that most haven't even ever heard of the statute: Title XXVII, Part IV, Chapter 1003.42 let alone follow it's rule.

You know... I can't do very much about the institutional slaughter of 57 billion land animals a year in the world... But I sure can do something about the brutalization in my own back yard!

Join us on March 31 from Noon to 1PM outside the Orange County Courthouse . Be there- if not in body, but in mind, spirit and intent! Oh... And you'll know who we are - We're the ones not wearing uniforms or badges... And not killing.
Thanks.

Upcoming events: United Poultry Concerns

Florida Videos of World Peace and Amazing Raw Nut Milk

2011-03-07T20:06:00.003-05:00

Recently I wrote about a proposed law that may be implemented here in Florida, prohibiting the filming of certain subject matter... And that would be sad and wrong to restrict freedom of speech and personal liberties of private citizens.

But here's a short video Will and Madeleine Tuttle also took here in Florida last February. Apparently this was taken just days before Will's presentation that I was fortunate enough to attend. The theme of his talk, and his lovely piano compositions, leave no doubt that he is guided by a loving and compassionate light.

Celebration by Madeleine Tuttle

I was also very happy to have spoken to Madeleine again... As an artist in transition, I admire her ability to capture images of our fellow creatures in such a tender way.

Finding the video posted below I also learned she is an accomplished flutist as well. The talents of both Will and Madeleine certainly reflect the abundance that they know the world offers. Our movement and the message of extending respect to the animals is blessed to have such voices of enriching reason on our side...

I'm so glad they came to Florida and also happy they filmed Madeleine's preparation of her awesome raw nut milk... Enjoy!

Want a Soyabella of your own?
Want to read The WORLD PEACE DIET book?
Want nonviolence in your life? Go Vegan! :)

Pork The Other Dead Meat - Be Inspired To Go Vegan!

2011-03-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

Have you heard the pigs-as-food-people are changing their pitch to get consumers to eat more "pork" by changing their "white meat" slogan to "Pork - Be Inspired!" ?

As great a new ad as they think they may have... They're still open for suggestions either at the site above. Or you can submit directly as I did.

I'm certain my entry will provoke and inspire!

If you're motivated towards compassionate and healthy food choices - please know you're doing the right thing!

Arrest Me! I've Filmed Florida Cows!

2011-03-03T14:33:00.002-05:00

Writing on this blog I normally stay away from personal issues... That's why I created Once Upon a Vegan --- For less generically political, more intimate "me" subject matter.  But this proposed bill initiated by Florida state senator

Jim Norman strikes close to home on not only a personal level but a political one as well.

This bill states that:

(1)A person who enters onto a farm or other property where legitimate agriculture operations are being conducted without the written consent of the owner, or an authorized representative of the owner, commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in sections: (blah, blah) Florida Statutes.
(2)A person who photographs, video records, or otherwise produces images or pictorial records,digital or otherwise, at or of a farm or other property where legitimate agriculture operations are being conducted without the written consent of the owner, or an authorized representative of the owner, commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in (blah, blah) Florida Statutes.

(3)As used in this section, the term “farm” includes any tract of land cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production, the raising and breeding of domestic animals, or the storage of a commodity.
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011

Of course this bill is absurd... But as Erik Marcus at Vegan.Com points out, there are other states that may follow in proposing this kind of ridiculous legislation.

So... Not wanting to be a refugee of the law here in Florida... Where the sun always shines and the chads are always hanging - I thought I'd save the (drained and unrepresented) tax payers a little dough and turn myself in by confessing to my criminal mis-deeds:

First is my guilt of compassion... You see, I really care that sentient beings are being used as things! I care that they are needlessly killed! I care... Well, because that's what I was taught some 50+ years ago... Who knew I was being instructed to be such a devious transgressor?

And the second violation that I wish to turn myself in for is for breaking some kind of future "rule" that says neither tourist or Florida home-owning resident, can stop by a roadside to take images of "production" animals.

There ya go! Guess I've throw myself at the mercy of the ~~corrupt~~ just legal system, to take whatever lashings are due...

30 years behind bars... Will fellow advocates please sneak in a vegan cupcake to me once and a while?
Mea culpa...

Mooving Along to Burned Cows - Cash Cows & Viral Video Cows

2011-02-27T03:59:00.003-05:00

Adding to the toll of animals burned alive I note the 100 dairy cows burned/killed in a Pa. barn fire. Apparently this wasn't the first fire either... A neighbor was grateful human lives were spared... Because every "thing" else can be replaced. And gosh she ought to know because her family operates a cow-slave facility too!

And apparently excess heat at the dairy cannot only kill "things" but also reduce profits... Now here's something I know the farmers will pay close attention to. It seems that cows will become less productive at temperatures exceeding 68 degrees... So it's recommended to cool "high-producing cows at a lower temperature." I find this extremely disturbing though, in record-breaking summer heat I know in my house and many others, we try to minimize the use of energy... As it's not only wasteful but expensive. Let's see, humans opt to live in 78 degrees and cows are kept in 68. Perhaps that's because the dairy industry makes so much money???

Whoa there! Now if that was the case - Why is it that budget strapped Wisconsin, that is now cutting back salaries and employment to teachers is also granting the dairy industries "Tax Credit Extensions"? Hum... They don't seem to have their priorities in order at all!

Okay... Let's take a break from the serious fatalities, global climate threats and political corruption for just a moment.
Take a look at the logo for National Dairy Producers Organization.
You know... Even Hugh Hefner had the decency to opt for less-offensive "bunny ears" as the "playmate" symbol. But I tell you these teat pulling cow-hands just have no shame!

I know they try hard... They really do! Mega-giant Dairygold explains all about their Corporate Social Responsibility. With 60 pages of stats, graphs and economic figures- there's 2 whole paragraphs dedicated to the very important issue of animal "welfare". Gosh sakes! Could they spare the ink???

Perhaps they are depending on world of mouth via YouTube to explain how it's so very important to remove the calves from their mothers immediately... All for the calves "welfare". For the calves "safety" they are taken from their mothers. For their "safety" they are fed milk "replacements." For their "safety" they are tethered so they cannot interact with other calves. Seems they forget very quickly about their "safety" when it's time to process their tiny bodies into veal. It's just nasty deceit, isn't it?

Finally, speaking of videos of cows - And humans speaking for the cows... The World Society for the Protection of Animals is launching a campaign "Not in my Cuppa" that intends to keep cows out of factory farms and on the fields. It would be a much more worthy campaign if the message was to leave the cow's (milk) alone altogether.

I could go on and on about how "Molly" would still be heartbroken having her babies stolen from her. How even in the field, she'd be "retired" after a fraction of her life. And how 3 of the 4 calves she'd give birth to wouldn't live much longer than a few months. I could tell you - But I think Shelley Williams speaks much better on the cow's behalf:

Go Diary Free and you can wash your hands from the whole ugly business of "cow's milk." :)

Some Steal Cows - Others Steal Cow's Lives... Flesh as Profit

2011-02-21T15:04:00.007-05:00

Stolen cattle abused in theft attempt. Clearly there is no honor even amongst thieves!

Whether it's rustlers, "livestock" producers or meat consumers -
All have a direct hand at stealing lives and causing suffering and harm to these gentle animals.

Please do not support crimes that perpetuate violence and greed:

Opt for a compassionate plant strong life instead...

Kill the Wild Cows... Slaughter the Docile Ones???

2011-02-20T00:36:00.002-05:00

A cow-slave transport truck toppled on a freeway, ejecting 16 beings into the air to land onto the asphalt of the highway... One cow died... Six had to be "euthanized" because they were "wild".

Makes you wonder though - What was the planned destination for all these unwilling, (peaceful and not so) captives? Surly it isn't only the gentle ones that meet their end at the knock box?

No... I think there are the frightened ones too... And the ones that panic... And desperately fight for their very lives!

I think there are even brave ones who plot and struggle with the intention of just turning around - So they might escape the terror and fear.

Might there even be sad ones... Because they suffer the treachery of it all?

No, I don't think it is the "wild cows" that we need worry about... But the savageness within us.

Should anyone doubt that our species is vicious in it's treatment to other living beings please watch Earthlings. Then EVOLVE.

Beyond Vegan: Compassion is the New Intelligence.

From Farm to Fridge and Fire Along the Way - Got Mercy For Animals?

2011-02-18T01:22:00.001-05:00

Such a tragedy... So much for "humane" milk or dairy:
40 cows died in a fire in Iowa... And 150 in a blaze in NY

Or "humane" "pork", eggs or "chicken."
Barn Fire Kills 1000 Hogs
1400 Pigs Died in the Fire
10,000 Chickens Burned Alive in Factory Farm Fire
Factory Farm Burns Thousands of Live Chickens
Turkeys Die in Fire - Inhumane Animal Agriculture
800,000 Chicken Inferno - Birds Burned Live - Factory Farm Hell
Christmas 2010 - Livestock Roasting on an Open Fire... A Burning Question

Nope... I don't know that there's any death that could be more inline with "the devil" or "hell" than one of being burned live!

And if you support these industries - You might as well be the one lighting the match...

Instead - Why not enlighten your life? Know the truth and respond appropriately:

Please opt for a truly "humane" and compassionate life.
Thank you Mercy for Animals for the production and free offer of the video Farm to Fridge.