Vegan News 4.8.13

6 Amazing Ways Animals Show Compassion. “If you’re a Christian fundamentalist, you probably believe that morality comes directly from God (via a download of the Bible, to be sure). And if you’re a law-and-order conservative, you likely think we need strict rules, and harsh punishments, to keep people in line and prevent their baser impulses from taking over. But if you’re a primatologist? In that case, your view of morality is radically different. You probably see indications of “moral” behaviors all throughout the animal kingdom, and especially among our primate relatives such as bonobos—who show high levels of empathy, have a female-dominated social structure, and use sex, rather than violence, to solve in-group social conflicts, and even when they encounter other, potentially hostile groups.”

Resistance was futile: True confessions of a fallen vegan. “Over the past 20 days, my vegan challenge team and I have had a fantastic time. Everything is great. Everyone’s feeling fine. No worries. OK, I’ll check back in next week. Ha! Not so fast. Did you really think four people doing the vegan equivalent of zero to 60 in six seconds wouldn’t run into a few potholes? Week three of our monthlong vegan experiment brought frustration, temptation, and outright rebellion for Laura, Matt, Ted, and me. Deep-seated weaknesses were exposed. Closely held beliefs were tested. In other words: Things got real.”

Animal cruelty whistleblowers targeted by chilling state laws. “Animal rights activists are at risk of losing their right to covertly film the abuse of farm animals in several states, reports The New York Times. Some state legislatures have proposed or enacted bills that make it illegal to videotape livestock farms, while others have sought to force activists to disclose their ties to animal rights groups when applying for a job. The American Legislative Exchange Council, a business advocacy group, has drafted many model bills on the matter, including one, The Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act, that would place activists who enter ‘an animal or research facility to take pictures by photograph, video camera’ with a view to ‘defame the facility or its owner’ onto a ‘terrorist registry.’ Iowa, Utah and Missouri have already passed bills that restrict filming, while Indiana and Tennessee are thought to be gearing up for a vote on the matter.”

In other “vegan news…”

E.coli Turned Carl Palmer Vegan. “His illness has changed his life for good. ‘I have become a Vegan,’ he reveals. ‘I don’t eat any dairy, cheese, milk, meat or whatever. My tastes have changed – fish and meat taste wrong to me. I don’t know why that is; it’s not a moral thing to me. I would have eaten all the cows you could send down the hallway to me. I just no longer like the taste; that’s the problem.'”

Photo credit: @ohoo_ via Flickr