I recently read a heart wrenching and eloquent article about a monkey boiled alive. I have no other words, just read the article and contemplate “mankind”.
Monkey Boiled Alive
November 13, 2008 at 8:25 pm (Animal Rights, Animals)
Tags: Animals, Labs, Monkey
If You Love Animals And The Environment….
September 3, 2008 at 6:00 pm (Random)
Tags: Alaska, Animals, Barack Obama, Bears, Caribou, Environment, John McCain, Moose, November Election, Oil Drilling, Polar Bears, Sarah Palin, Wolves
Then you need to vote this November! No, I have never gotten political on this blog before, but I felt with new events occurring recently in the election that I need to. Don’t get me wrong, I am very political off my blog (hey what do you expect from an opinionated person?). Now you not only need to VOTE, but you need to vote Democratic. I am not necessarily endorsing Barack Obama (although I do think he is a good candidate), but I am SEVERELY against the McCain-Palin duo.
I was under the impression for quite some time that McCain simply was not as bright as he needs to be. (See, I’m even being nice 
) And I never considered voting for him BEFORE, but then he went and announced that Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, would be his VP. Like most Americans, I didn’t know who the hell she was. Turns out, I liked it much better that way. Let me introduce you to Sarah Palin and the many reasons why you need to vote AGAINST her and McCain in November, if you love animals and the environment. Or if you generally just want future generations to see polar bears and not live under water.
Well for one, she is wearing a fur in this photo. Doesn’t she look classy! Nothing says class quite the way a dead tortured animal around your neck does.
She does not believe in Global Warming. “A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made,” said Palin to Newsmax.
She filed a lawsuit when the Bush Administration put Polar Bears on the threatened species list. Even Bush eventually realized (or thought it was good political move, which is more likely) what horrors are occurring to polar bears. But, apparently Palin’s greed for oil money is the most important thing (polar bear protection could interfere with oil and gas development).
Promoted the shooting of wolves and bears from aircrafts. Alaska, under her command, even offered an incentive to those who were shooting wolves in order for them to shoot more. Palin also spent PUBLIC money to advertise against campaigns (Measure 2 in Alaska, voted on this week and NOT passed) that were trying to stop the shooting of wolves and bears from aircraft.
She is a hunter herself (how impressive, she enjoys death.)
She has been going after natural predators of moose and caribou (such as wolves) so others of her hunting clan can go out and shoot moose and caribou till their hearts’ content!
She believes more drilling for oil is the answer to our energy crisis and future needs. She agrees with opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. “I beg to disagree with any candidate who would say we can’t drill our way out of our problem or that more supply won’t ultimately affect prices. Of course it will affect prices,” said Palin to Investor’s Business Daily. Apparently the here and now is the only thing that matters. 10 years from now? Eh, screw it!
I’m sure there are countless other things she has done that would horrify any environmentalist and animal rights supporter (or general animal lover), but these here should be enough to affect the way you vote. I dare say she might just scare me more than Bush, and THAT is saying something. I believe that electing her as a VP candidate is some oddball stunt move. At first I thought it was because she was a woman, then I realized it is just to make McCain more of the evil-idiotic-style of Republican. That is, afterall, the style they prefer it seems. I sincerely hope that any Hillary voters who were unsure of their voting status (or if they were going to vote at all), will NOT vote for McCain simply on the Palin is a woman and Obama beat Hillary thoughts. The pure absurdity that this woman could be running this country one day (lets face it, McCain is NOT a young chap) leaves me with nightmares. Well, if McCain were to be elected, I sure hope we all have our SCUBA gear, 200 SPF sunblock and our Encyclopedias (so we can recall all the species lost) ready to go.
For more information on Sarah Palin’s record with animals and the environment, go here:
Humane Society Legislative Fund-Michael Markarian Animals & Politics
Sarah Palin’s Piece for The NY Times (Oh this is a gem, apparently polar bear populations are UP, did you know that?)
Defender’s of Wildlife (Also has a link to videos.)
The Dinner Plate Disconnect
July 11, 2008 at 4:03 am (Animals, Random)
Tags: Animals, Beef, Cows, Farm, Jon and Kate Plus 8, Organic, TLC, Veganism, Vegetarianism
I occasionally watch the TLC show Jon & Kate Plus 8. Why I watch the show at all even perplexes myself as I am not one to oo and aah over children and in fact I do not want any of my own. Then add to that the fact that these children came from fertility treatment, which I am against since there are so many children in this world needing homes already, and it becomes ever so much more perplexing! I was ever so intrigured while watching an older episode when the family headed to an organic farm about an hour from them. I believe the name of the farm was Natural Acres Farm, but don’t quote me on that!
While the family was at the farm they were able to feed chickens, see cows and calves and horses. I was fairly surprised to see that the chickens were able to be running around in fairly open pastures, however the conditions inside the barn were not shown on camera. As a vegan I am always skeptical…… Whether the chickens were in open pastures or crowded in the barn(s) I am in no way legitimizing the eating of chickens. My main drive to write this blog about the show was the way the family acted with the cows and calves. They were very excited and thought the calves were absolutely adorable. Kate especially found the calves endearing and couldn’t get over how cute they were. Yes, I certainly agree that the cows/calves/chickens/horses and so on were absolutely adorable, its one of a plethora of reasons I do not consume them! However, the events that followed the family visiting the animals is what alarmed me so much.
Before the family was set to leave to head back to their home, they stopped at the shop at the farm to buy organic foods and get this, half of a cow. Yes, I said half of a cow. Even in the summary of the show it stated that Jon and Kate buy half a cow. Mind you it wasn’t a deal to have half ownership of a cow with someone else, no no no. This was in fact Jon and Kate purchasing box after box of organic beef from the farmer. This is where they lost me. How, after seeing the cows and calves in the fields and ooing and awing them, can you turn around not more than a few hours later, and buy one of the cows’ dead and mutilated cousin/brother/sister/mother/father etc?!?!!?!?! This epitomizes the disconnect most people have between their food and the animals it comes from. Sure, its quite possible that Jon and Kate see it for what its worth and do not mind, but it seems that in more cases than not that most people just don’t see a baby cow and think “oh thats beef”. I guarantee if the children knew they would not wish to eat the beef after visiting with the cows. It seems as though children are much more in tune with nature than we as adults are. Perhaps it is the lack of stress or knowledge of all the pressures of this world that make them able to possess closeness to nature.
All I know for sure is that in the moment that Kate paid for “half a cow” I saw glaring in my face a majority of the world’s disconnect between what is on the dinner plate and how it got there.
Quote Of The Day…errr…Week!
July 3, 2008 at 9:31 pm (Animals, Quotes)
Tags: Animal Rights, Animals, Quotes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Vegan, Vegetarian
I have been falling behind on my Quote of the Day blogs so maybe we should rename it Quote of the Week! I am finally filling your brains with ever more quote knowledge, here is another one of my favorites:
“People only see what they are prepared to see.”
Which was written by Ralph Waldo Emerson. A very fitting quote for everyday life, fits almost every situation you can think of when dealing with individuals on the “other” side of a debate. Take for instance vegetarianism. People KNOW that it is in fact a pig that was once living on their plate when they have pork or bacon, but do they ever really SEE it for what it is? Or how exactly the animal came to be on their plate? Most people do not want to think about the life that the animal may have lived, they just want to be able to eat what is on their plate. But, like many vegetarians I have heard the stories of, they come to the realization of what is TRULY on their plate, then and only then do they seek answers regarding the pig or the cow or the chicken. Its because they were PREPARED TO SEE it.
I am a great proponent of animal rights and I believe that in every effort we convey to the world that there is someone out there for the first time finally PREPARED to see why we struggle for animal rights. This is why we must always do the little things, because every little thing is not so little added up–especially if we help someone SEE. After all, people only see what they are prepared to see.
Yet Another Pet Food Recall
June 26, 2008 at 3:50 am (Animals)
Tags: Animals, Contaminants, Homemade meals, Pet food, Recalls, Vegan
Recently U.S. Marshals, on behalf of the FDA, raided a PETCO food facility and removed pet food that they stated was infested with rodent and bird matter. Apparently their main concern was the fact that the outward packaging would contain remnants of the rodents and birds and therefore possible disease and germ issues. This only affects 16 states, to see the complete list go here. Its alarming that so many pet food recalls have been occuring in recent years. It begs the question: how many should there have been years before that? I doubt that pet food companies have drastically changed their pratices from saintly to ill in just the last year or two. So how many poor animals have suffered from the ineptitude of these companies over the decades mass produced pet food has been popular? And that is only the tip of the iceburg!
As a whole commercial pet food is an inept and disgusting process. There are many things that go into pet foods that are not, well, real foods. However, what are the recalls most often about? Cheap ingredients from China, “potential” contamination and now rodent and bird infestation on the outside of the bags. But why does noone talk about other “ingredients” in the foods? Ones that may not cause short term ill affects but may have severe damage in the long run. Not to mention the fact that the never mentioned ”ingredients” are morally horrific, even to a staunch meat eater. These lovely “pet food” companies include such things as:
–Rendered road kill, euthanized dogs and cats from shelters and factory farmed animals that were considered too ill, cancerous or lame to be “human” food (what affect will the diseases and cancer have on the dog or cat consuming it?)
–Flea collars, ear tags and other items that may have been on the helpless creatures, that were either from an animal shelter or factory farm, which the rendering plants do not care to remove (chemicals in these collars are insecticides that kill fleas and eggs, and as we all know, insecticides are not safe to ingest)
–Meats removed from supermarket that were considered expired or not safe for human consumption for one reason or another (and they do not remove the styrofoam and plastic wrappings from the meats)
With these “items” and more contained in pet food, is there any wonder why pet food is recalled? I personally cannot believe that pet food is not completely banned from our supermarket shelves. Who truly wishes to persist in feeding their dog a polluted, chemical ridden, cannibalistic meal each day? I believe that if more people knew what was contained in those cans and bags they would think twice about their pets’ meal choices.
When pet food recalls like this appear in the news I am ever more grateful that I feed my two dogs home prepared vegan meals. At the very least, I know exactly what they are digesting daily!
For further information please refer to Obligate Carnivore by Jed Gillen. Its an excellent, informative book and funny to boot!
