Forks Over Knives

I finally watched Forks Over Knives and it is provides convincing evidence and arguments of the health benefits of eating a whole-food plant based diet.  It also briefly discussed the environmental problems of eating animal products, and hinted at animal welfare issues. It wasn't much but it provides the seed for caring about farm animals.

I want one of these

I want one of these t-shirts and broaches!

Sue Coe is my hero

Sue Coe is an incredible artists who raises awareness of invisible social injustices. She's done powerful sketches about war, HIV, apartheid in South Africa and animals.  Please watch an interview with her here and a great video of her art set to music by Black Angels.

Sue Coe: Art of the Animal from Our Hen House on Vimeo.

Learn about pigs

Collean Patrick-Goudreau's podcast on pigs

The value of zoos

Here's a great little article by Marc Bekoff about zoos and their lack of conservation effectiveness and concern for the animals they house.  Here's a quote from the article, 


"... we need to accept that we humans are the reason these and numerous other animals are imperiled and keeping them in cages and flying them here and there allowing them to make babies does nothing for them or their (very few in some cases) wild relatives."

Fact about fish

Fish, like other animals sentient animals feel pain and there is scientific evidence to prove this.

Do fish feel pain?

Fish do feel pain.


If you're a scientist how can you over look these studies and continue to fish or eat fish?

I know that for most of my life I held a bias against fish. Somehow I believed that they were different and didn't really suffer as much as the rest of us.  I don't know what evidence I based this assumption on! None! It allowed me to eat fish occasionally during my "vegetarian" days. I've stopped finally.  There are no excuses for that.

I also recall as a young adult accompanying my dad and uncle when they went fishing on my uncle's farm. I was told to carry the live fish by hooking my fingers through their gills. I don't know why I agreed as my instincts told me right away that this was cruel and wrong.  How would you like to suffocate? Or be carried by your lungs?  I've come to realize that I am quite a passive person. I've also come to realise that as a young person, even though I loved animals tremendously, I was often quite oblivious to obvious wrongs being done to them in front of me. It must be true that our personhood, moral awareness and compassion develops as we get older. 

Ingrid Newkirk's great speech

I have had some misgivings about PETA, but Ingrid Newkirk's speech is compelling. 

It's called: Non-violence includes animals.

If you believe in non-violence, peace and kindness, it only makes sense to extend these principles to animals as well as humans, since they, like us, experience pain, joy, fear, and a totally subjective sense of self.  You cannot inflict violence on a rock, or other inanimate objects, since they have no self-awareness.  Violence requires a conscience and sentient being on the receiving end.  This is the reason why why violence is bad, since it harms a sentient being.  You could argue that the destruction of buildings, an inanimate object, is and act of violence, but I would say this is only the case since these structures support the well-being of humans through providing shelter, psychological meaning, etc.  Hence this kind of destruction hurts humans, but not the building itself.

This music video is sweet

Cruelty free companies

Check it out

Great speech

Take a look at this

France: Non-violent protestors protest just before a bull fight and are beaten by the crowds!

Deliberately distorted labelling and supression of democratic principles

This is a great interview with Will Potter who wrote "Green is the New Red."  It briefly explains how and why animal and environmental activists are increasingly labelled Eco-terrorists in the U.S.  Our Hen House also has an interview with Will which goes into the various ways the U.S. government tries to suppress freedom of speech and animal activism in the U.S.

It makes me absolutely furious to read these things. More evidence that government supports corporations, not people, nor the principles of democracy. If I were not in a foreign country I most definitely would join in the Occupy Wall Street protests.  Strength to them! I support them wholeheartedly.

Animal welfare versus abolitionist movement

Bruce Friedrich from PETA wrote an interesting article about why animal welfare movements are important and  can lead to the eventual abolition of animal slavery.  The comments following the article are for once not cringe-worthy and contribute to the debate. I am undecided on the issue. I am certain that we must strive for abolition, not just welfare reform, but decreasing the suffering of animals immediately seems like a worthwhile goal too.  It seems to me that most people will never go directly from being indifferent to food animals to veganism unfortunately. I didn't!  It took me years of increasing awareness and self-reflection to realize that veganism, rather than vegetarianism, is the right thing to do. Though I give credit to authors/bloggers like Erik Marcus and Gary Francione who helped me see that.  However, considering the opportunity cost, or the limited time and money available, what will produce the biggest changes, promoting veganism or animal treatment reform?  This is an important and empirical question!

Tolstoy quotes

"This is dreadful! Not the suffering and death of the animals, but that man suppresses in himself, unnecessarily, the highest spiritual capacity—that of sympathy and pity toward living creatures like himself—and by violating his own feelings becomes cruel. And how deeply seated in the human heart is the injunction not to take life! "

"What I think about vivisection is that if people admit that they have the right to take or endanger the life of living beings for the benefit of many, there will be no limit for their cruelty."

Riveting essay by Tolstoy

Who else could express the inhumanity of killing a living creature but Tolstoy himself? Why try to write about it myself when expressed so vividly and clearly by the master himself. Here is the piece. It is an extract from the larger article which is also fascinating. You can find here.

Meat Market Chapter One Audio

Erik Marcus reads his chapter 1 in Meat Market which provides a background to animals used in food and the expansion of modern industrial farming business. It's very interesting, give it a listen here

This is lovely

It's important to see how animals can be when they're not confined in miserable conditions. It almost tugs at the heartstrings more than watching heinous torture movies of animal suffering.

More videos from Animals Australia

Little Green Blackbird

This album is lovely.

Striking at the roots

Here's an excellent argument on why single-issue campaigns are ineffective at stopping widespread and systematic cruelty and abuse of animals.

Mercy for animals and veganism

I just came back from a both horrifying and inspiring talk by the Mercy for Animals founder Nathan Runkle. Nathan Runkle grew up on a small family farm surrounded by farmers and hunters and saw untold abuses of animals, including animals being skinned alive by trappers. As a teenager he started Mercy for Animals which has been growing strong for over a decade. He truly is remarkable. From the talk I gathered that Mercy for Animals does vegan outreach and education, tries to improve laws, and does intensive under cover work at animal farms and slaughter houses where they reveal the most appalling abuses. In fact he showed us a 12 minute video called "Farm to Fridge" made my Mercy for Animals which rapidly shows what really goes on in the animal food industry.

When he said that he was going to show the film, my heart sank in absolute terror. I knew it would be bad and I had been avoiding it for a while. So I bore witness to 12 minutes of terrible violence and murder, many were scenes out of a horror movie. I felt sickened and desperate to the core. If only everyone could see this, they could no longer berate the vegan lifestyle and surely they would seriously question their own. Yet it truly is so terrible to watch that most will probably turn away in seconds. But I think I must share it on Facebook. People can still make a choice not to watch it, but the animals have no choice. Nobody wants this kind of cruelty to occur! Watch for yourself:

On that note, it reminds me that I am still not a vegan. I want to be a vegan but the societal pressures are making me struggle the most. Living with a meat-eating (although reduced) boyfriend, and all the pressures of his family. We just had thanksgiving and his chef uncle cooked me a delicious vegetarian meal, while everyone had stuffed quail. However, I wanted to bring my own food, but it would have been an insult. As it was I was already teased mercilessly. If it were just me, it would be easier, but I don't want my boyfriend to feel uncomfortable either. But the animals! What horror the must endure. Every day I learn of new unthinkables. Today I learnt that baby pigs are not neutered fully conscious. I in fact knew this was the case with bulls, bulls but I didn't know how. I'll tell you now. While the little piglet is awake and writhing they slit his testicle sack, and then using their fingers rip out the testes! These guys are not vets, they are just poor farm workers doing a terrible job. The pigs bleed and scream, and many never recover. They simply die in agony. You may wonder, isn't this a loss of profit? Well, pigs (and other animals) are worth soooo little in comparison to paying staff, implementing standards, etc. that loosing a few pigs is far cheaper than improving it by any other means. There are so many standard practices that are absolutely appalling but accepted. If that weren't enough, brutal and brutalized workers torture animals in many ways. I won't go into the detail, watch the videos, or read the books yourself. It's hard not to be in constant despair thinking of this accepted atrocity which occurs at a scale like never before in the history of the world.

Remember this

"Every time we choose to do one thing, we are choosing not to do another."

Matt Ball

Interesting article on animal activism

This article by Matt Ball provides some interesting insights to inform your approach for animal activism. He's article on why the "health argument" does not promote vegetarianism and veganism is an important read too.

I love this guy too

Before I forget, Myq Kapan is a comedic genius with a great knack of playing with words. When I get around to it I'd like to purchase his "Vegan Mind Meld". Check him out here .

Bizarro

Check out Bizzaro, a whacky cartoonist, who cares about animals. I have to buy one of his shirts.

Great site for men who want to make ethical consumption choices

We definitely need more super cool, intelligent men, like Joshua Katcher, who promote ethical consumption. Why does society condemn men for caring and considering the effects of their choices on the planet and other living beings? Take a look for yourself:
The Discerning Brute. It's a fascinating and inspiring read for women too.

Share this on Facebook

This video shows some of the truth behind the dairy and veal industry. Although it includes some disturbing footage, it has a positive message which will make it more palatable to people are naive and not wanting to know the ugly truth.

How much should humane eggs cost?

Going vegan with Ellen

She's great: http://vegan.ellen.warnerbros.com/blog/

I want to be vegan! I know it's the right thing to do. I am utterly convinced, and yet I fail repeatedly despite trying. It's difficult when there is barely a vegan thing to eat anywhere. Also, I'm terrible with time management. I cannot find the time to do most of the things I want to do, so it's difficult to plans meals ahead, buy all the necessary groceries, and then cook, cook, cook so that I have the food I need during the week. On top of it, I'm a totally untalented cook so I seldom have inspiration for vegan meals using whatever's available in my kitchen. I have cut out all dairy and eggs at home, but I still struggle when I'm out with friends or, at work where there are so few options. I know it will be better when I'm in Toronto, but ideally I should stick to my convictions where-ever I am.

If I'm having a hard time as a non-mother, I can only imagine how hard it would be for a mother with a job or studies to try to convert to vegan cooking. It seems evident that animal activism, should include two goals : 1) to raise awareness about the terrible cruelties involved in any production of animals for profit, and 2)to provide affordable and convenient vegan alternatives.

I'm thinking that when I move to Toronto I will make an effort to increase vegan options in my community by requesting or suggesting vegan alterntives at restaurants, coffee shops, and grocery stores. It's not much, but it's a start. I'm new to activism. As my confidence and experience grows I hope to do more.

A video about where your meat comes from

If you eat meat, you have a responsibility to yourselves and the animals to know where it comes from. Warning: Movie has disturbing scenes.

Excellent podcast

Our Henhouse interviews Mercy for Animal undercover investigator of animal abuse on factory farms. The interview starts with a long discussion on Chicago food, but be patient, after that it goes into the interview.

Great music play list for animals

Here is the play list:

1. Prince - Animal Kingdom
2. The Colourfield - Cruel Circus
3. Luminous Frenzy - McEmotion
4. Robert Wyatt - Pigs (in there)
5. The Style Council - Blood Sports
6. The Playthings - Life in a Bowl
7. Howard Jones - Assault & Battery
8. Cerrone - Supernature
9. Poison Girls - The Offending Article
10. Cecil McCartney - Sacrifice
11. Paul McCartney & Wings - Wild Life
12. X-Ray Spex - Peace Meal
13. The Smiths - Meat is Murder
14. Consolidated - Stoned (Live Bass Mix)
15. Dead Prez - Be Healthy
16. The Playthings - Nursery Rhymes
17. Crass - Merry Crassmas

There are some great songs here. Love Pigs (in there), Sacrifice, Wildlife, and Meat is Murder

Give your opinion on animal tests

The University of British Columbia is doing a survey on public opinion of lab tests on animals. I'm going to fill it in and will definitely bare in mind the findings of this article which rigorously discusses the effectiveness of animals to predict human responses.

A list of companies that test on animals (or don't)

While I don't like many of PETA's publicity stunts and tactics, they have provided a list of companies that sell personal and household product that do or do not test on animals. It is quite shocking to see which companies test on animals for such benign products like tooth paste! Please consult and try to modify your purchases as much as possible. We vote with our money! Our purchases should reflect our values and ethics.

Is animal testing a useful predictor of human reaction?

Read this paper for a fascinating, compelling and thorough discussion on the predictive power of animal vivisection.

This excellent academic paper uses evidence from many decades of animal testing to argue convincingly that animal studies which test the effects of medicine and the toxicity of chemicals do NOT predict the performance of medicine or toxic effects in humans. The success of prediction is sometimes worse than tossing a coin, i.e., worse than random, and this is the case for even our closest relatives. Yet animal experimentation is on the increase in many places (The U.K. for example), and primates, dogs and cats are still used to this day in the US and Canada. Unfortunately, animal testing will probably increase with increased public pressure to test whether chemicals are carcinogens, as well as the toxicity of GMOs. While many top scientists have pointed out how ineffective animal studies are in predicting effects in humans, many scientists argue that they are "useful", especially when they can cherry-pick particular results to benefit their companies. This is a clear example of how so-called objective scientists who do "real" science, are completely blind to their own lack of objectivity and scientific credibility.

So if many scientists recognise how useless animal studies are for predicting human response, and considering that animal experimentation necessarily inflicts terrible pain and suffering to animals, why do they continue? I wonder if it is simply to whitewash the public, make us feel that the products and medicines we consume are safe.

It's hard to believe that I wanted to be a scientist. Of course, not all scientists have to be completely closed-minded, accepting of the status quo and unethical. Just a large proportion of them, like most human beings.

It's also completely bizarre to me how people can train to be vets, presumably out of some love of animals, and in the end be warped to support the status quo of terrible factor farming, slaughter houses, and medical testing. These vets supposedly do check-ups on these places, and turn a blind eye to the attrocities that they see there. The one thing that has become clear to me now is that people will generally just go with the norm, no matter how terrible and injust it is.

Conscientious carnivore

From The Atlantic on being a conscientious carnivore.

Tracking animal abuse

This is a web application that tracks where the latest animal abuses in agriculture have occurred in the U.S. It's an example of one animal activist activity that can be achieved geospatial web technologies. Any other ideas? Is there anyway I can use my boring GIS and mapping skills to help animals?

We love animals?

Needless suffering