I find it hard to imagine, however, the recent controversial PETA billboard in Florida seems to have spurred one chef to take the vegetarian plunge.  The billboard shows an obese woman in a bikini (from rear view no less!) with the saying "Save the Whales, Lose the Blubber: Go Vegetarian." Your Daily Vegan choose not to cover what is now known as the "billboard scandal" because we didn't want to give PETA any more attention than the billboard was creating.  If you so choose, you can read about it here, or here, or here, or even here.  You get my point.  But maybe the most intriguing thing you should read about the billboard is right here.  It's hearing what it's all about from "the horse's mouth", so to speak. Anyway back to this chef fellow, Robert St. John.  According to the article, St. John is a "chef, author, restaurateur and [...]

The CEO for anti-animal cruelty group, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Richmond SPCA), Robin Starr has admitted to leaving her 16-year old blind and deaf dog in a hot car for four hours.  The dog, Louie, later died of kidney failure. Starr reports that she didn't realize that Louie was in the car until noon.  Her husband, Ed, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he had put the dog in her car as his wife was getting ready for work on August 19th, as she often took him with her to work. According to the National Weather Service, the temperature had reached 91 degrees by noon on August 19th.  The (Richmond) SPCA has come forward to say that they still support Starr, who has been the CEO since 1997.  She does not plan to retire. It is not clear at this time if charges will be sought in [...]

Judy Hill wants you to know that she has a response to the new pet regulations that the city of Sikeston, Missouri is talking about.  And, she wants you to know that it isn't just about Sikeston, it's about the country as a whole.  Here's what she had to say: "In response to the story "Sikeston seeks public input on new railroad, pet regulations": If this proposition to spay and neuter all dogs were to spread to the rest of the country, there would be no more service dogs, no more search and rescue dogs, no more dogs to help with cattle and other livestock. What are you thinking? Have you thought of the consequences? Have you been taken in by the animal rights movement of the Humane Society of the U.S. and PETA? By the way, if no one is breeding any more puppies, how are veterinarians going to [...]

So, the Oregon State Fair officials want to protect their pigs from sick people: "Help us protect the piggies," (from swine flu). I think a more real threat to the piggies would be the "pork producing" animal exploiters who torture "harvest" over 100 million of the intelligent animals per year in the United States. The issue that the pig torturers are fretting over is public perception of swine flu and how it may affect the swine- and therefore their profit margin.  “If you take those big opportunities (state fairs) away, it would have been devastating to the show-pig industry and the breeding industry,” said Darrell D. Anderson, the chief executive of the National Swine Registry. And this statement, "To keep illness from spreading back to home farms, some fairs discourage farmers from showing any animals that are not “terminal,” due to be slaughtered right after the fair", is disturbing at [...]

Being in prison isn't easy but life just got a little better for vegan prisoners in the UK.  Prisoners are now permitted to order approved vegan products including nuts, seeds, dried fruits, vegan chocolate bars, soap, shampoo, deodorant, sunscreen, lipstick and facial scrubs from two different eco-outlets. There are an estimated 800 vegan prisoners in the prison population at any give time and there is an extreme shortage of products in the prison system that can accommodate the lifestyle.  After a 15-year long battle, the Vegan Prisoners Support Group (VPSG) has gotten the Prison Service to allow vegans to order ethical food and toiletries by mail order.  That is, if none are present at the prison shop.  A spokesperson for the VPSG stated that it was "critical" for the prisoner's health that they have access to vegan (and suitable) food.  For example, vegans would not be able to get enough [...]