Your Daily Vegan

A  Rhode Island gambling parlor will pay millions of dollars to greyhound owners as part of a deal to end dog racing.  Legislation, as part of the bankruptcy deal,  will prohibit greyhound racing at the Twin River parlor, in particular.

Seems to be all about money.  What will happen to the dogs?

Yes, overworked.  Nearly a thousand elephants in Kerala state are “rented” for parades and various festivities.

The animals have to endure long and noisy parades where fire crackers are set off, they must stand close to flames, travel long distances in ramshackle open vehicles and walk on tarred roads in the scorching sun for hours.

The elephants are stressed and get no rest before being forced to “perform” again.  Of course, the animals snap, and kill people or flee in manic desperation.  Kerala’s Elephant Lovers’ Association claims thousands have died as a result over the past decade.

Elephant “owners” say these claims are exaggerated.  They say the animals are loved.  One owner said, “It’s more of a matter of prestige for us and a family tradition.”

The human values of prestige and tradition seem to always override another’s desires and freedom.

Kerala may be the world’s worst for its treatment of captive elephants, but it happens everywhere- circuses, zoos, and I see them on cable TV, as props in Platinum Weddings.

Despicable.

“I think they should just shut them all down.  I’ve never been a fan of places like that.”

- Matt Damon tells Entertainment Tonight after Sea World employee, Dawn Brancheau, was killed by an orca whale during a show at the Sea World aquarium.

Damon joins others who have spoken out about their opposition to Sea World’s very existence- like us.

via uk.news.yahoo.com

Have you ever read an article so outrageous that you have to question it’s authenticity to ensure it isn’t a spoof?  Hip-Hop Cuisine – Rabbit for Dinner, is one such NY Times piece.  The article written by Kim Severson appears to be an article on a class on slaughtering, skinning, and dressing rabbits in a parking lot behind a restaurant in Brooklyn.

Severson starts out by saying:

“RABBITS are supposed to be easy to kill. The French dispatch them with a sharp knife to the throat. A farmer in upstate New York swears that a swift smack with the side of the hand works. Others prefer a quick twist of the neck.  It didn’t seem so easy at the rabbit-killing seminar held in a parking lot behind Roberta’s restaurant in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn in November.  The idea was to place the rabbit on its belly on straw-covered asphalt, press a broomstick across the back of its neck and swiftly yank up the rear legs. Done right, it’s a quiet and quick end. But it takes a little skill and a lot of fortitude, which some of the novices lacked.”

The NY Times sent someone to cover a bunny rabbit killing seminar- where there were (thankfully) only 9 participants, and then tells you not to “tell the kids.”  I mean, is this for real?  You know what?  I’m just going to quote from the article.

“For people learning to butcher at home, a rabbit is less daunting to cut up than a pig or a goat. And those who are truly obsessed with knowing where their food comes from can raise it themselves.”

And…

“Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn had rabbit on some menus shortly after it opened in late 2008. But after a table of guests walked out, it came off. Now the only rabbit served at the restaurant is disguised in a country terrine.”

Disguising it? Why disguise it, hmmm?

“Rabbit is also becoming popular among those with an interest in raising farm animals but without much space or experience.  Sure, rabbits can be fragile.  They get scared and have heart attacks. Heat or the cold can knock them off…But they breed like, well, you know.  That means they produce a lot of meat for not much money.”

Ah, yes.  The age old green light to exploit an animal because it’s “cheap.”

“Ever since the Victorians began keeping them as pets, the relationship between the rabbit and the table has been uneasy.”

I believe this is known as “Moral Schizophrenia.”

“I went from two to 2,000 in no time,” he said. Not that he butchers 2,000 rabbits every week. Usually, it’s about 100. But he is preparing to quadruple the number of breeding rabbits he keeps, making chefs in the Bay Area happy.”

And finally, my favorite…

“Angelina Lippert, the woman who took an Abercrombie & Fitch bag and her boyfriend to the class in Brooklyn…The killing itself was a little more intense than she had expected, she said.  “When I was the first person to volunteer to break the neck, it all seemed so easy and emotionless that I didn’t realize until after I’d done it that I was shaking,” she said.  But she recovered quickly. After all, there was a rabbit to dress.”

So, let me just ask one thing.  If there is nothing wrong with teaching people how to slaughter, skin, and dress bunnies in a parking lot of a restaurant- then it shouldn’t be a problem if we” tell our children all about it, right?

via nytimes.com

You know that animal rights issues are becoming more well-known when you read folks asking advice columnists about ethical problems related to buying down comforters.  Diggity!

The problem with products that come from animals is that they can be generally deceiving.  The general perception is that “the animal wasn’t killed for it’s feathers/eggs/milk/honey etc.,” but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  These products are still intertwined with the factory farming industries, it just isn’t as apparent.  Such is the case with duck and goose down.

Goose and ducks used for down production are plucked alive – four to five times in their short lives.  The birds legs are tied over their backs, or held between the legs of the “Ripper,” the person who removes the feathers.  The birds are scared, struggle and sometimes strain their muscles and/or break limbs trying to get away.  One large producer of down, Hungary, estimates that 50% of the down it exports contains 40% – 45% live-plucked feathers.  That’s a lot of cruelty.

Did you know that geese normally live in small family units?  They also mate for life- something even many humans have a hard time doing.  The average life span of a goose is 20 years, although “commercially produced” geese will live just 4 – 5 years.

But back to the question at hand- rather the answer at hand.  The columnist Umbra offered up some advice for our questioning compassionate by saying:

“It would be nice to think there’s just a flock of quiet farmers who wait patiently for the down to fall out on its own. However, here’s the real deal, according to the USDA: When the birds are slaughtered, they are first stunned electrically. After their throats are cut and the birds are bled, they are scalded to facilitate removal of large feathers. To remove fine pinfeathers, the birds are dipped in paraffin wax. Down and feathers are then sorted. Gosh, that doesn’t sound comfy at all.”

Nope, she’s right.  Sure as hell doesn’t, does it?

(PS. Umbra – there is no such thing as “humanely harvested wool.”  Treating an animal better before taking away their life is not humane.  And with so many great alternatives (such as- doubling up on blankets), there’s no need to use animals any further.)

via grist.org
additional information via USDA

Want to learn more about the animal ingredients in the products YOU buy?  Visit YDV’s Commercial Street and learn the real costs to life for the products we buy.

An attendant with the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been charged with animal cruelty after authorities say he killed two cats as they recovered from surgery at the agency.

Daniel Mann of Belmer, NJ has been charged.  He’s in jail in lieu of the $20,000 bail.  Maximum 3-5 years if convicted.

I won’t go into the details of the killings here, but I will tell you that this man needs a more severe punishment than 3-5.  Who knows what he’s done in the past to people or other animals- he already has a record- and this incident most likely won’t be his last.

The Monmouth County SPCA had recently begun running background checks on prospective employees.  Mann was hired 18 months ago, presumably before background screening implementation.

I could continue ranting about this…this…pathetic excuse for a human whatever he is, but I’m sure you share my thoughts.

A story in The Telegraph regarding horse racing has everything to do with making money and being entertained, and nothing to do with the horses themselves.  The writer had this to say about the 2nd most attended sport in Britain:

Two major things wrong with racing in Britain are that people leave our racecourses feeling ripped off – high admission, extortionate catering charges, etc – and officialdom’s flat refusal to acknowledge that the chance to win some money is what separates racing from other leisure pursuits.

Anything else “wrong with racing in Britain?”  You’ll notice that “horse” is mentioned nowhere in the article.  If you’re not familiar with the cruelty associated with horse racing, you may want to open your eyes and think about it from the horse’s viewpoint.

Is cat stew any different from chicken or rabbit stew?  Italian cooking show host Beppe Bigazzi doesn’t think so.  Maybe he’s right, although I find any meat stew disgusting.  It’s the “putting animals into moral categories” issue again, and again.

California legislation would require an animal abuser registry, similar to sex offenders and arsonists.  A move in the right direction for the Golden state.

There’s no doubt animal abuse can lead to people abuse,” Sen. Dean Florez said. “High-profile serial killers, like Jeffrey Dahmer, abused animals before moving up the chain to abuse or kill other humans.

The new law would require mandatory registration of convicted felons of animal cruelty laws, and community notification.  Felony abuse of animals in the State of California includes violence against animals, sexual abuse of animals, torture, mutilation, animal fighting and hoarding.

The bill’s funding would come from a levy on pet food- “about $1.50 a year for the owner of one cat,” he says.

Sounds like every state should be doing this, considering at least, the link between animal abuse and human violence.