THE VEGETARIAN BLOG

Tribe of Heart has announced that it has completed Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home. The film has undergone a process of audience testing and refinement and the organization says that it has received “thoughtful and positive feedback from early test viewers”.

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LGBT, a San Francisco-based group, has released a warning about the horrid treatment of animals at San Francisco markets.

Live animal vendors at San Francisco’s farmers’ markets overcrowd animals in direct sunlight with no water, cram animals upside-down in paper bags inside plastic bags, and set aside injured birds for later sale or eventual dispatch. Customers then take them home (often in their car trunks, after carrying them around shopping) and kill them when and how they wish (for food, ritual sacrifice or fighting), unsupervised and unregulated - these “spent hens” (worn-out egg-laying birds) and “small game birds” are exempt from California’s poultry slaughter laws, and these birds (along with rabbits) are exempt from federal slaughter laws.

A video on YouTube (no disturbing imagery) gives an idea of what’s going on in the city’s markets. It is so sad that such gross behavior is being frowned upon by the authorities.

You can help by contacting the San Francisco District Attorney’s office (email erica.derryck@sfgov.org and districtattorney@sfgov.org) and politely ask that Kamala Harris pursue prosecution of live animal vendors whose cases have been turned over to them by Animal Care and Control.

Of course, going vegan is the best way to help all animals. Please consider banning animal parts and derivatives from your diet and life. It’s easier than you might think. And the health rewards are immense.

Friends of Animals is protesting today against the planned removal and slaughter of thousands of Canada geese New York City owned properties near JFK and LaGuardia airports as part of a “strategy” to keep the birds from interfering with flights, in response to the 2008 air incident that made global headlines.

Friends of Animals says that “destroying geese is a quick fix that offers no enduring solution since after a significant sector of the flock is removed, new animals will eventual migrate in.”

Violence begets more violence and surely non-violent means to reduce flock grown should be pursued including researching new technology to protect plane engines from bird hits. What a sad uncivilized message to send by our mayor – if someone becomes inconvenient or gets in your way - just wipe them out.. The roundup is being planned for molting season when the geese cannot fly.

Coexisting peacefully with wildlife requires diligence, creativity and an open mind …. Something that appears to be sorely lacking with this administration.

Ditto!

Everyone loves Thai food -  well, almost everyone - with its creative use of flavor and delicious ingredients. If you’re lucky enough to make it there, even better. Vegans and vegetarians can have a good time at meal times in this southeastern Asian country as this podcast tells us. Tune in and veg out!

(Thanks Bill for the information!)

Text source: AnimalAid Today is World Oceans Day, an opportunity for people to think about their connection to the oceans and how we as individuals can help to protect them and the diversity of species that live within them. Until we realise that the oceans do not exist to provide us with an everlasting source of food we will continue to plunder (and destroy) one of the Earth’s most essential ecosystems. The oceans generate most of the oxygen that we breathe, regulate our climate and clean the water we drink. Research suggests that at the current fishing rates, in less than 40 years there will be no more fish left in the sea, which would have a devastating impact on the health of our oceans and therefore the planet and us!

Seventy five per cent of the world’s fisheries have been identified by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation as being either, fully exploited, overexploited or significantly depleted. Tuna, cod, swordfish and marlin populations have declined by 90 per cent during the last century. There may still be fish populations that are sustainable, but for how long? Those species that are now on the unsustainable and depleted lists were also once sustainable.

Whenever action is proposed, those who make their living from catching fish claim their position will be dangerously compromised, even though present practices are leading the industry to oblivion. To appease the industry the government introduced quotas. These don’t work, as many fishing fleets practice ‘high grading’, where they continue to catch vast hauls of fish and throw away ones they don’t want until they achieve their quota in premium size fish. According to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, 24,400 tonnes of cod were landed in the North Sea in 2007, 23,600 tonnes were thrown back dead and another 14,600 tonnes were unaccounted for as fishermen strove to keep within their strict EU landing quotas.

Late this year, the Scottish government will begin a trial of installing CCTV technology in seven volunteer boats. Just as in a similar Danish trial already under way, the fishermen will be given catch quotas rather than landing quotas, meaning that every fish caught will be counted rather than simply every fish brought back to shore.

But commercial fishing doesn’t just damage fish populations. An estimated 300,000 cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), 100 millions sharks, 100,000 albatrosses and other sea birds die in fishing nets or on long-lines every year.

And fish farming is not the answer. Many of the smaller fish species caught on commercial fishing boats are not for human consumption but are processed into pellets for factory farmed salmon and trout, where up to 250,000 fish can be kept in one underwater cage. It takes around five tons of wild caught fish to grow one ton of farmed fish. Disease is often rife within the cages and thousands of these fish escape into the ocean where they transfer lice and disease to wild fish populations. ‘Genetic pollution’ from farm escapees breeding with wild fish can also have a detrimental effect on the survival of wild populations, as farmed fish have been selectively bred for fast weight gain and are not adapted to life in the ocean. The removal of large numbers of small fish also leads to a shortage of food for their ocean predators.

There is now a scientific consensus recognising that fish are sentient creatures who can feel pain and yet no welfare standards exist for the handling and killing of ocean-caught fish. When hauled up from the deep, fish undergo excruciating decompression. Frequently, the intense pressure ruptures the swimbladder, pops out the eyes, and pushes the oesophagus and stomach out through the mouth. Factory ships slaughter and process the fish at sea. Most fish are gutted whilst still alive or are left to suffocate.

The only sustainable and ethical answer is to stop eating fish altogether. There are plant-based alternatives to all the nutrients fish can provide and they don’t come laden with PCBs, dioxins and mercury that are present in the planet’s polluted oceans. These toxins are regarded as some of the most dangerous known to man, and have been linked to cancer and birth defects in humans. Making small modifications to your everyday habits will greatly benefit the planet and, therefore, you.

Animal experimentation is one of the most hotly debated issues in the world of science. Some people accept it as a necessary harm without ever questioning the word ‘necessary’. Humans have a tendency to accept facts as legitimate simply because they have been around for a long time. Despite appearances, animal experiments haven’t been around for too long and they certainly have grown in number over the last few decades. You don’t have to be a scientist to know it’s wrong and examples of bad science.

With all these thoughts in mind, it was encouraging to see an article in the Times (UK) with views from an event discussing vivisection. Some scientists attending the event are hopeful that lab animals may become a thing of the past within a generation. Virtual humans, banks of living cells and cell scaffolds may become the norm. Besides freeing animals from scientific cruelty, it will haul science out the ethical dark age.

I really hope the view presented in the article is true and I hope that animal testing will be made illegal as soon as possible. This is the only way to guarantee that our animal friends will no longer become victims of bogus science.