Vegan Future

The 100 Reliance Delight out-lets, whose product rangeincluded fish and frozen chick-en, were closed down inresponse to complaints that thesale of meat went against thenon-violence ethos of Hindu-ism.

Many in India’s majorityHindu population do not eatmeat as it is considered a sin.

Vegetarian billionaire Am-bani's association with meatwas proving off-putting to con-sumers who were steering clearof not only Reliance Delightbut also other Reliance Retailstores.

“Despite this sensitive bal-ance of availability and con-venience, it was felt that certain

sections of customers were stillhesitant to shop at our otherstores,” a company statementoutlined. “Reliance Retail hastherefore decided to focus onvegetarian offerings only, with-in its retail portfolio.”

A former Reliance execu-tive added that “the Gujaraticommunity, which is predomi-nantly vegetarian, and to whomthe Ambani Family belong,was also critical of the sale ofnon-veg items.”

PETA welcomed the “com-passionate decision to stickwith animal-, health- andEarth-friendly vegetarianfoods” and has awarded Rel-iance Industries a Courage inCommerce Award.

PETA India CEO PoorvaJoshipura stated: “Millions ofIndians are proud of our cultur-al tradition of nonviolence, andits truest test is when it's app-lied to the most defenselessbeings on the planet, and thatincludes animals.”

“Eating animals can also bedeadly to humans,” she added.“Consuming meat and otheranimal products has been con-clusively linked to heart dis-ease, diabetes and obesity – allprevalent health problems inIndia.”

In 2013, Mukesh Ambaniwas ranked at number 37 in theForbes list of The World's MostPowerful People.

He is India's richest manand the 22nd richest in theworld with an estimated per-sonal wealth of $21.5 billion.

Billionair e magnate takes dramatic action afteracknowledging that meat is bad forbusiness

India’ s richest businessman, Mukesh Ambani,has shut a chain of meat-selling stores afterabacklash from shareholders and consumers.

VEGANISMRESCUEDME FROM

BLINDNESSOpen your eyes to the health

benefits of a plant-based diet

Issue 1, February 2014Choose Life | Save Animals | Go Vegan

Delightful Decision: Mukesh Ambani has pulledthe plug on meat-selling chain, Reliance Delight.

MEAT SHOPCHAIN GETSTHE CHOP

Meet the vegan maths wizardwith a mind-blowing abilityto recall 3841 binary digitsand 1266 playing cards

SWEDEMEMORIES

A STUDY conducted by theUS Department of Agricul -tur e has found that Amer-icans are consuming lessdairy products and the droplooks likely to continue.

The 2013 USDAEcon-omic Research Service report,“Why Are Americans Con-suming Less Fluid Milk? ALook at Generational Diff-erences in Intake Frequency”reveals that people in all agegroups are drinking less milk.Over the past 40 years, therehas been a more than one thirddrop in daily consumption.

The USDAreport outlinesthat between the 1970s and2000s, “people have becomeless apt to drink fluid milk atmealtimes, especially withmidday and nighttime meals.”

The share of adolescentsand adults who did not drinkmilk on a given day rose from41 per cent to 54 per cent,while those drinking milkthree or more times per daydropped from 13 to 4 per cent.

Among pre-adolescentchildren, the share that did notdrink milk on a given day rosefrom 12 per cent to 24 per centwhile the share that drankmilk three or more times perday fell from 31 to 18 percent.

“The majority of Amer-icans born in the 1990s con-sume fluid milk less oftenthan those born in the 1970s,who, in turn, consume it less

often than those born in the1950s,” the report states.

“Dif ferences across thegenerations in milk intakemay help account for theobserved decreases in percapita fluid milk consumptionin recent decades despite pub-lic and private sector efforts tostem the decline.”

“These differences willlikely make it difficult toreverse current consumptiontrends,” it adds. “In fact, asnewer generations replaceolder ones, the population’saverage level of fluid milkconsumption may continue todecline.”

The report's findings were

welcomed by CompassionOver Killing who said that“Americans are moving onand reaching for healthier andmore humane dairy-freeoptions.”

“Consumers are discover-ing the charade built up bymillions of dollars of savvymarketing,” the organisationcommented.

“They’re learning that,despite what they were taughtin school, milk and other dairyproducts are actually harmfulto our health. Not to mentionhow dairy factory farms arewreaking havoc on our envi-ronment while also causingtremendous cruelty to ani-mals.”

They invite people to visitTryVeg.com for dairy-freefood and drink ideas.

A QUARTER of people inGreat Britain have cut backon the amount of meat theyeat, a new survey hasrevealed.

The research carried out byenvironmental alliance, Eat-ing Better, also found that onein six young people do not eatany meat while over a third ofthe general population areopen to the idea of eating lessmeat. Meanwhile, just two percent admitted to eating moremeat now than in the past.

Ready meals containingmeat and processed meats aremost likely to be off the menu,the YouGov survey found.This is believed to be due togrowing mistrust of the meatindustry as a result of thehorse meat scandal.

Concern for animal wel-fare topped the reasons forconsidering eating less meat,ahead of saving money, foodquality/safety and health.

The survey results alsoshowed a more than doublingin awareness of the meat

industry's significant environ-mental impact from just one inseven people in 2007 to near-ly one in three in 2013.

The most dramatic changehas been in young people (18-24) with a five fold increase inawareness from eight per centin 2007 to 40 per cent now.

results, Vegetarian SocietyHead of Communications LizO’Neill said, “The findingsshould encourage chefs andcaterers to take stock. For fartoo long vegetarians havebeen expected to be gratefulfor pasta and tomato sauce!

“As more and more cus-

Those in this age bracketwere nearly 3 times more like-ly to say they don’t eat anymeat at all – compared to thesurvey’s average – with one insix (17 per cent) saying theydo not eat meat.

Responding to the survey

tomers choose not to eat meatit’s the restaurants with vari-ety, an imaginative menu andgood customer service thatwill survive.”

Britain's shift away frommeat is considered good newsnot only for animals but alsofor the health of the nation.

Around 228,000 of its citi-zens die every year from thethree major conditions con-nected to food intake - heartdisease, strokes and cancer.

Reduction, or elimination,of meat from diets couldextend the lives of many ofthese. Experts also say itwould help save the strainedNational Health Service(NHS) an estimated £1.2 bil-lion annually.

THE consumption of fish inthe United States has contin-ued to fall for the seventhconsecutive year.

The latest figures from theNational Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration showsthat in the past year, Amer-icans who eat fish, ate an aver-age of four per cent less thanin the previous year.

Relative to figures for2006, the drop amounts to aconsiderable 14 per cent.

The drop is being attrib-uted to the cost of fish and thedownturn in the world’s econ-omy.

Not entirely unexpected,says one seafood promotionbody with a representativeremarking: “I’m not surprised,I’m disappointed. I hate to seea number like that.”

Groups pushing for an endto fish eating find the figuresvery encouraging.

Mercy for Animals, whose2010 undercover investigationexposed horrific cruelty at afish slaughter facility, say thereduced demand for fish maypartly be due to more aware-ness of the suffering involved.

“Perhaps Americans arewaking up to the cruel reali-ties behind fish farming andkilling,” a spokesperson said.

“To hasten the decline ofUS fish consumption, visitChooseVeg.com and learnmore about adopting a cruel-ty-free vegan diet.”

It’s similarly good newsfrom Spain. It may record thehighest fish consumption inthe EU, but Europa Press hasreported that the Spanish arenow eating less “fresh” fish,frozen fish, canned fish andseafood in general.

Since 2008, the drop hasbeen over 8 per cent.

Eating offish down14% in US

ALTHOUGH meat-eating ison the increase in China, sotoo is vegan dining.

Pri’ s The World r eportsthat there is a growing vegantr end throughout the coun-tr y, including in many of themajor cities.

Interviewed on the show,pop singer turned vegan ad-vocate, Long Kuan, said:“The young generation,especially, they love to beeco-friendly, and they love tobe compassionate.”

Ar ound four to five percent of China’s population(more than 50 million) arethought to be vegetarian.

Veganismgrowingin China

25pc of Brits areeating less meat

Dairy decline: Americanow drinking less milk

Econom

ic Research S

ervice/US

DA

A third of British willing to considereating less meat. One in six youngpeople say they now eat no meat.

The variety of vegan alternatives to animal milks is everincreasing, making it easierthan ever to go dairy-fr ee.

Page 2

A BAN on the serving ofshark fin dishes at Chinesestate banquets will bringgreat benefits to sharkspecies, conservationistshave said.

Shark fin soup, consid-ered a luxury by China’swealthy, is responsible fordecimating global sharknumbers. Experts say thatpopulations have plummetedby 60 to 90 per cent in justthe last 15 years because ofthe shark fin trade.

It is also responsible forextreme suffering. An esti-mated 100 million sharks arecaught each year and havetheir fin cruelly sliced offbefore being thrown backinto the ocean to die.

Although the banquet banis primarily a governmentmove to tackle extravagantspending and “regulate theuse of public funding onreceptions”, it has beenwidely welcomed amongmarine conservation groups.

Quoted in the SouthChina Morning Post, SeaShepherd's Gary Stokes said:“The reason why they’redoing it mainly is austeritycuts but the ramifications it’sgoing to have on conserva-tion to the sharks is huge.”

Alex Hofford, executivedirector of Hong Kong-based marine group MyOcean applauded the moveas “hugely significant”.

“It’ s going to have a greatimpact on society, becausewhat the government doesshows leadership in societyand then the corporate sectorwill quickly follow suit,” hecommented.

“It doesn’t really matter ifit is for environmental rea-sons or for curbing officialextravagance, as long as thejob gets done.”

Also banned by Chineseauthorities is the serving atofficial receptions of bird'snest soup and wild animalproducts.

THE link between consum-ing animal products andcancer is as strong as thelink between smoking andcancer, according to an arti -cle in Nutrients journal.

Its author analyzed data on21 different cancers in 157countries and found that dietwas among the factors associ-ated with the risk of develop-ing certain cancers.

Possible mechanisms forrisk include animal products'promotion of growth and highiron and fat content.

The author notes that con-suming meat and other animalproducts has been recognizedas a cancer risk for over a cen-tury and needs to be actedupon in efforts to help preventthe disease.

Cancer risk -meat as badas smoking

Amazon.com is being urgedto stop profiting fr om suf-fering and end its selling ofcruel foie gras.

A campaign launched byMercy for Animals is aimingto do in the US what VIVAmanaged to achieve in the UK- convince the online retailerto drop ‘torture in a tin’, theliver of birds that have beenviolently force-fed.

An investigator for the LosAngeles-based organisationdocumented a “culture of cru-elty” at an Amazon.com foiegras supplier.

Captured video showsworkers grabbing ducks bytheir wings and necks andshoving metal pipes downtheir throats, tossing ducks bytheir fragile wings into trans-port cages and birds withbleeding wounds left to sufferin tiny wire cages.

Also filmed were ducksbeing shackled upside downand having their throats cut.

“Force-feeding animals toproduce foie gras is so cruel ithas been banned in Californiaand more than a dozen coun-tries,” Mercy for Animals out-lines on Amazoncruelty.com.“No socially responsible com-pany should be supporting thistype of blatant cruelty.”

Cruelty toducks onAmazon

Fight injustice to animals:Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“ OUR dominion over ani-mals is not supposed to bedespotism. We are made inthe image of God, yes, butGod – in whose image we aremade – is holy, loving, andjust. We do not honourGodby abusing other sentientcreatures. They deserve ourcompassion and respect.”

The words of ArchbishopDesmond Tutu in his firstmajor statement on animalwelfare in which he exortspeople to fight injustice to ani-mals.

In an introduction to thenewly published Global Guideto Animal Protection, theSouth African human rightsactivist and Nobel Peace Prizewinner says “I have spent mylife fighting discriminationand injustice, whether the vic-tims are blacks, women, orgays and lesbians an nohuman being should be thetarget of prejudice or theobject of vilification or bedenied his or her basic rights.But there are other issues ofjustice – not only for humanbeings but also for the world’sother sentient creatures.”

“The matter of the abuseand cruelty we inflict on otheranimals has to fight for ourattention in what sometimesseems an already overfullmoral agenda,” he continues.“It is vital, however, that theseinstances of injustice not beoverlooked.”

“I have seen firsthand howinjustice gets overlookedwhen the victims are power-

less or vulnerable, when theyhave no one to speak up forthem and no means of repre-senting themselves to a higherauthority.

“Animals are in preciselythat position. Unless we aremindful of their interests and

speak out loudly on theirbehalf, abuse and cruelty gounchallenged.”

Archbishop Tutu goes onto remark that “it is a kind oftheological folly to supposethat God has made the entireworld just for human beings or

to suppose that God is inter-ested in only one of the mil-lions of species that inhabitGod’s good earth.”

“If it is true that we are themost exalted species in cre-ation, it is equally true that wecan be the most debased andsinful,” he says. “This realiza-tion should give us pause.There is something Christ-likeabout caring for sufferingcreatures, whether they arehumans or animals.”

And the ArchbishopEmeritus of Cape Town emph-asises his desire to see church-es leading the way by “mak-ing clear that all cruelty – toother animals as well ashuman beings – is an affrontto civilized living and a sinbefore God.”

Edited by Oxford Uni-versity theologian, ProfessorAndrew Linzey, the GlobalGuide to Animal Protection isthe result of collaborationbetween the Oxford Centre forAnimal Ethics, a world-wideassociation of academics fromall disciplines, and theUniversity of Illinois Press.

Aiming to raise awarenessof human indifference andcruelty toward animals, theguide features more than 180articles.

It also includes inspiringaccounts of attempts by indi-viduals to challenge andchange exploitative practices.It is available to purchase inpaperback or as an ebook.

Ar chbishop Desmond Tutu says “It is vital that instancesof injustice against animals are not overlooked”

Shark fins cut from menuat Chinese state banquets

Fins, cruelly cut from sharks, drying on a sidewalk inHong Kong in preparation for being sold to restaurants

Page 3

Study links dairy to bowel diseaseANIMAL-BASED diets may con-tribute to the development of inflam-matory bowel disease, according to aHarvard study published in Nature.

Volunteers followed either animal-based or plant-based diets for fivedays. Those on the animal-based diethad an eight-fold increase in the gut

population of Bilophila wadsworthia, abacterium that may cause inflammato-ry bowel disease.

In contrast, it fell thr ee-fold in theplant-based diet group.

Growth of the bacterium may bestimulated by digestion of dairy prod-ucts, researchers believe.

In addition, gut concentrations of acompound linked to liver cancer,deoxycholic acid, rose in the animal-based diet group.

The authors note that diet may con-tribute to the development of inflam-matory bowel disease via changes ingut microbes.

Pigs freeze todeath on wayto slaughter

Photo: Jo-A

nne McA

rthur and TorontoP

igSave.org

Image: TorontoP

igSave.org

PIGS being transported to aslaughterhouse in sub-zeroconditions reportedly frozeto the death along the way.

Toronto Pig Save revealedon its blog that the animalswere “literally frozen to thefloor of the truck – perhapsdead on arrival, having frozento death en route – and werebeing cut off the floors by menwith knives”

Vegan campaigners whowere holding a vigil for pigsdescribed the horrendous con-ditions for the animals.

Eyewitness Paul York saidthat when a transport truckstopped at the traffic lights, itwas possible to see insidethrough an opening at the side.

“I could see pigs inside andwas absolutely certain theywere suffering terribly,” hesaid.

It later emerged that it wassome of these animals whofroze to death.

With temperatures believ-ed to have dropped to as lowas minus 30, it was a harshexperience for both pigs andactivists with the effects of thewind being compared to “arelentless knife on exposedskin of the face”.

“I very much empathizedwith the pigs who are short-haired,” Mr York stated. “It ispainful on our hands and feet.

JAPANESE conveniencestore chain, FamilyMart,has scrapped the launch of apre-packaged meal contain-ing cruel foie gras.

The retail giant - the thirdlargest in Japan - unveiled thetake-away product on January10th but after receiving 22customer complaints, decidedto shelve it.

The ‘bento box’, priced ataround five euro, was toinclude beef and a slice of foiegras - considered so cruel, itsproduction is banned in sever-al countries.

A FamilyMart spokesper-son said that the lunchboxlaunch was cancelled after“carefully considering opin-ions from customers, differentviews abroad on foie gras andthe production process of foiegras itself”.

“We don't intend to makeanyone feel uncomfortable,”he added.

Foie gras (fatty liver) is

produced by force-feedinggeese and ducks large quanti-ties of grain twice or threetimes a day. This causes theirdiseased livers to swell up toten times the normal size.

The feeding of the oftenconfined birds is not onlycruel but also damaging totheir health. When the grain isfunneled into the oesophagus,it often causes violent traumawhich leads to death.

Industry figures revealthat in France (where mostfoie gras originates) around amillion birds die during theforce-feeding stage.

The number of Frenchbirds that survive that ordealand eventually have theirthroats slit at slaughter standsat around 38 million.

With over 22,000 storesaround the world, including10,000 in Japan, Family-Mart’s rejection of foie gras isbeing celebrated by anti-cru-elty campaigners as a majorblow to the industry.

HIGHL Y RATED podcastprogramme, The VeganOption, has got itself anextra one million listenersafter joining the line-up of apopular London radio sta-tion.

Resonance 104.4FM isbroadcasting a 13-episodeseries, based on the show’sonline archive, every Tuesdayat 7.30pm, with a repeat at7.30 on Fridays mornings.

Anyone within 5km of thetransmitter at London Bridgewill be able to tune in to thehalf hour offerings of science,stories and analysis. They canalso be heard online via thestation’s webstream.

BBC-trained producer and

presenter, Ian McDonald, saysit is “a vote of confidence inveganism” that mainstreamradio is promoting the seriesas being of interest to every-body.

Issues explored include theethics of lab meat, veganismin politics and environmentaldestruction linked to palm oil.

Their ears, tails, feet andsnouts must go through aworse pain and they must feelthat desperation one feels asthe heat leaves the body, andyou know that being out theremuch longer will spell death. Ibelieve some of them did dieen route. Certainly, all of themsuffered.”

He added: “Even withinthe context of transport to theslaughterhouse - mass murder- this neglect is an addedcrime, another level of hell.There is no reason they shouldsuffer prior to their deaths. Itis animal cruelty.”

The truck will be reportedto authorities, he said.

Toronto Pig Save has pre-viously documented the suf-fering of pigs being transport-ed to a local slaughterhouse in110 degree heat during a sum-mer heatwave.

A video posted on Youtubeshows activists running up toa truck temporarily stopped attraffic lights and giving theseverely dehydrated pigsdrinks from bottles of water.

The group’s stated missionis to “erect glass walls atToronto’s slaughterhouses inorder to encourage people tochoose vegan, protect theenvironment, and supportfarm sanctuaries.”

A fr eezing pig looks out from a slaughterhouse truck inToronto. Below, activists give waterto dehydrated pigs.

22,000 storeschain cancelsfoie gras after 22 complaints

Cruelty concerns prompt Japanesegiant to ditch disgusting foie gras

Vegan show to reacha million Londoners

Page 4

Cockroach infestation halts

chicken killing operation“F Seaworld”,fumes F1 star

THE Movement for theAbolition of Meat has ann-ounced the dates forupcom-ing weeks of action.

They are 24th May to 1stJune and 20th to 28thSeptember.

The World Weeks for theAbolition of Meat are organ-ised to help focus attention onthe idea of abolishing the pro-duction and consumption ofsentient beings.

The movement's websiteputs the number of terrestrialanimals killed for meat everyhour globally at six million.The number of water animalskilled is even higher.

“Meat consumption causesmore suffering and deathsthan any other human activityalthough it is completelyunnecessary,” they state.

Details of planned actionsare listed at meat-abolition.org

ACTION TOBAN MEAT

THE UK's first raw veganfruit festival is scheduled totake place this June.

Organisers of Fruit Fest2014 say the 5-day event,from June 25th to 29th, willdemonstrate that a low fat,raw vegan diet is optimal forhealth and well-being.

Taking place in Devon's ExeValley, attendees are promiseda 24-hour fruit buffet, lecturesand daily activities such ascalisthenic exercises, weighttraining, tai chi, meditationand even frisbee games!

Speakers will include DrDoug Graham (an advisor toelite athletes), former proskateboarder and certifiedholistic nutritionist, ChrisKendell and Anne Osbornwho will talk about raising afamily on a fruit-based diet.

Festivalof fruitfor UK

THE poultr y company at thecentre of a salmonella out-break last year has finallybeen forced to shut.

The closure of FosterFarms in Livingston, Calif-ornia was prompted not by thepotentially deadly bug that left416 people sickened butbecause of a different breed ofbug. The cockroach.

After clocking cockroachesat the chicken killing facilityon five separate occasionssince September, the US

Department of Agricultureordered the plant to shut.

In a letter to the company,they stated that inspectors hadseen cockroaches while“slaughter operations were inprogress and exposed productwas present on the kill floor.”

“Pests are highly unsani-tary given that they can comein contact with decomposinggarbage [and] can transmit dis-ease-causing pathogens, incl-uding bacteria,” they added.

Reporting on the develop-

ment, the LATimes pointedout that “in addition to healthissues raised by the new infes-tation, consumers are con-fronted by the ick-factor ofcockroaches meandering neartheir future dinners.”

Unsanitary conditions arenot uncommon in slaughter-houses. In a statement, Com-passion Over Killing explain-ed that chickens raised formeat are “crammed insidesheds where they stand, eatand sleep in their own waste.”

FORMULA 1 star, LewisHamilton is fuming withSeaWorld after watchingBlackFish.

“I have just watched anincredible documentary aboutkiller whales,” Lewis wrote ina post on his Facebook page.“It has to be one of the saddestthings I have seen of recent.Please watch it.”

The former world champi-on Mercedes driver went on tosay: "It is inhumane what

humans do for money and Ithink each and every one of usshould help stop these ass-holes from hurting these beau-tiful creatures - not onlywhales but all types of ani-mals."

"#Fseaworld," he added.

The post has been liked byover 8,700 fans and shared atleast a thousand times.

Lewis also tweeted hisreaction to Blackfish to his 1.8million followers on Twitter.

A DECADE ago, VickyDeRosa was facing a life oftotal blindness. A rar e dis-ease struck without warningone morning and the wordsin a newspapershe was try-ing to read became a blur.

“Days later I was blind,”she recalls. “Later that year Iwas diagnosed with a raregenetic eye disease - Leber’sHereditary Optic Neuropathy -that damages the optic nerveand is, to-date, incurable.”

Eye specialists told her thedamage was irreversible andthat she would never seeagain. The best advice theycould offer was to seek helpfor living a blind lifestyle.

But Vicky had other ideas.Rather than accepting thediagnosis, she set her sights onseeing again and initiated herown special recovery pro-gramme. A system based on“good nutrition, exercise andplenty of faith”.

The result astonished doc-tors. She regained much of hersight and today, ten years on,it continues to improve.

Vicky, now the CEO ofonline health club V WellHealth [vwellhealth.com],says the vegan diet she adopt-ed was instrumental in theturnaround.

In a vegan success storyfeatured on Alicia Silver-stone's The Kind Life website,Vicky outlines that before herdiagnosis, her diet includedmeat and dairy and that herlifestyle was stressful - a fac-tor believed to have triggeredthe eye condition.

“I believe that healthylifestyle is medicine and,determined that my eyesightwould be healed, I set out tofind my own cure,” sherecounts on the site.

“I gave up red meat com-pletely, took a hard look at mydiet and started constantlyswapping out certain foods Iwas eating for the most nutri-ent-dense, sight-supportingfoods I could find. Over thecourse of a year and a half Iregained much of my eye-

sight. I then took my healthydiet further and gave up dairyproducts, fish, eggs, andbecame 100% vegan.”

She says she becamevegan for the overall healthbenefits but subsequentlylearned that it providesantioxidants crucial for eyetherapy.

Not only has her eyesight

improved but her sinuses areclearer and she now enjoyshigher levels of energy.

“All of these benefits I’msure are based on the fact thatI am a vegan and my life hasbecome less stressful andmore energetic because ofit,” she told The Kind Life.

“Specialists were as-tounded but agree that if it

hadn’t been for my healthydiet and lifestyle, I wouldhave remained blind. I’m100% vegan today and amhealthier than ever because ofit.”

A sentiment shared byAlicia Silverstone, describingVicky as “a prime example ofhow a kinder lifestyle cantruly transform and heal.”

VEGAN DIETRESCUEDME FROM

BLINDNESS

Page 5

Vegan meals for typhoonsurvivors in Philippines

THOUSANDS of hot veganmeals have been served tosurvivors of Typhoon Haiy-an in The Philippines.

Food For Life Global'semergency hunger relief teamhanded out the meals in someof the worst affected areas inthe weeks after the devastat-ing tropical cyclone hit.

“The response was over-whelming,” FFL team leaderBaladeva Dasa reported. “Somany people were starvingand rushing to grab the food.”

Volunteers worked day andnight to prepare and distribute

food such as rice, vegetables,soya and beans.

“I felt so much relief in myheart seeing their brightsmiles,” one helper comment-ed. “I see that our meals givethem a spark of hope and thatmakes us ready to cook formore and more people.”

FFL Manilla Director,Radha Lila conveyed the sad-ness felt at witnessing theplight of those struggling tosurvive.

“Seeing people who havelost their loved ones, who losttheir homes, money, basically

everything, and who werenow hankering for even oneglass of water with the mostdesperate emotion, broughttears to our eyes,” she said.“We are even more deter-mined now to go on and reachout to more people.”

Food for Life says its pri-ority now is to reach people inthe remotest places who donot currently receive supportfrom the government orNGOs.

Donations can be made toFood for Life Manilla atwww.ffl.org

Veganz chainto open 5 newsupermarkets

Advanced lifesaving surgeryfor dummies

EUROPE’S first vegansupermarket chain is set toexpand in 2014 with theopening of five new stores.

Located in London, Essen,Cologne, Leipzig and Buda-pest, the planned brancheswill bring to 12 the number ofstores in the Veganz chain.

The Germany-based com-pany - whose motto is “Wirlieben Leben” (We Love Life)- opened its first store inBerlin in the summer 2011 andwent on to launch a secondstore in the city as well as inFrankfurt, Hamburg, Munich,Prague and Vienna.

Customers can choosefrom an impressive range of6,000 vegan products from200 suppliers in 30 countries.

In an interview with TheAll Animal Vegan blog,Veganz marketing manager,Ivonne Meyer stated that theircustomers are “mainly peoplewho are highly eco-aware,people who are changing theirdiet for health reasons or aller-gies, people who want to loseweight and get fit, and ofcourse vegetarians and veg-ans.”

“Most new customers arevery impressed by the hugeproduct range and manythings they haven’t seenbefore (including meat, fishand cheese alternatives),” sheadded.

Veganz says it plans tohave a total of 21 stores acrossEurope by the end of 2015.

Miami mayor makes Mondays meat-free A RESOLUTION encourag-ing South Miami residents togo vegan forat least one daya week, has been passed.

“The City Commissionhereby dedicates and pro-claims all Mondays as‘Meatless Mondays’in sup-port of comprehensive effortsto protect the environment,our health and animals, andencouraging residents to par-

ticipate by choosing meat-free, plant-based meals at leastone day a week,” the success-ful resolution states.

Presented by mayor PhilipK Stoddard, it got throughwith a 3-2 majority.

“I decided this is a goodthing,” Mayor Stoddard said.“It allows us to suggest to peo-ple that they think about their

food and that they think aboutmore than just the cost at thecheckout counter. It's some-thing many people don't thinkabout at all - the land costs, thecarbon costs, the animal expe-rience costs. Those are allcosts.”

Quoted in the Miami NewTimes, the mayor added: “I'mnot a vegetarian but when Istarted working on this, I

began thinking more aboutwhat I ate. I began paying att-ention to when I eat meat andthe choices I have.

“I do consciously makemeals without meat or purch-ase meals without meat giventhe choice - it's a consciouschoice. People should be cog-nizant of what they put in theirmouth.”Mayor Philip K Stoddard

THOUSANDS of animal liveswill be spared with the intro-duction of sophisticated man-nequins to medical trainingprograms around the world.

People for the Ethical Treat-ment of Animals, who donated64 of the surgical simulators,say the move will shut crudeanimal laboratories and rep-place them with modern learn-ing environments.

The TraumaMan laboratorydummy replicates the anatomyand physiology of a real humantorso, including ribs, internalorgans and even layers of real-istic skin that bleed fake bloodwhen cut.

Approved by the AmericanCollege of Surgeons as analternative to live animals andcadavers, it is already theworld’s most widely used sur-gical simulator, with over30,000 medical professionalslearning from it every year.

But health budget limita-tions have prevented somecountries from adopting it.

PETA's intervention willbenefit medical courses inBolivia, Costa Rica, Egypt,Iran, Jordan, Mexico, Mon-golia, Panama and Trinidadand Tobago where trainees athospitals and universities werepreviously required to “cutholes into the chests, throats,

abdomens and limbs of thou-sands of live dogs, goats, pigsand sheep”.

“The TraumaMan simula-tors better represent humanpatients, allow trainees torepeat difficult procedures untilmastered, and have been shown

to teach lifesaving proceduresbetter than cutting into ani-mals does,” outlines a PETAstatement. “Moving scienceand medicine away fromarchaic animal use benefitsdoctors, their patients, andanimals.”

Simulab, the Seattle-basedcompany behind Traumamandescribes it as “the most flexi-ble training platform availablefor advanced trauma training”.

“There is no translationrequired from animal anatomyto human anatomy and all or-gans required for each proce-dure are included,” theyexplain. “The system allowsthe instructor to train in theproper ABC order, which can-not be done with an animal.”

And, surely important tothose training to save lives, nokilling is necessary.

“TraumaMan never dies,”the company points out. “Hewill continue to bleed andbreath for each and every stu-dent.”

A CRUELTY-fr ee cafe oncourse to close has been givena new lease of life thanks to amajor cash injection fromdonors.

Eden A Vegan Cafe inScranton, Pennsylvania wassuffering the effects of a down-turn in the economy as well asnew parking and traffic restric-tions in the area.

A January 8th announce-ment signalling imminent clo-sure sparked what owner andhead chef, Christian Pilosi,describes as a “humbling andinspiring outpouring of loveand support for us”.

An appeal for funds onIndiegogo has resulted in near-

ly 9,000 dollars in donations -cash for paying outstandingbusiness expenses and alsosome of Mr Pilosi's personalexpenses.

“I have not drawn a salaryfrom the restaurant in over ayear,” he says. “I lived off mysavings, which are now com-pletely depleted.”

The next phase of the sur-vival plan involves discussionswith potential partners and asecond fund-raising drive toraise additional capital.

With such an overwhelmingappetite for success, Eden Cafelooks likely to stay afloat andcontinue serving its generous,devoted diners.

Diners put moneywhere mouths are

Page 6

AWARDFOR ASIAANIMALACTIVIST

Bob asks kids tonot eat animals

Radio host, Bob Linden

20 million veganbooklets sent out

Military’s meatless menuto combat climate change

VEGAN Outr each is celebrating amajor milestone in its campaign tospread the word about the cruelty ofthe meat, egg and dairy industries.

The organisation has announcedthat it has sent out over 20 million edu-cational booklets as part of an effort topersuade people to go vegan.

In a press release, the non-profitstated: “From our initial 13,182 hand-folded and hand-stapled booklets in1994, to 2012’s 2,786,582 copies of‘Compassionate Choices’, ‘Even IfYou Like Meat’, and ‘Why Vegan?’,Vegan Outreach booklets have beenused by activists around the world toexpose the hidden brutality inflicted on

farmed animals, while making an hon-est and thorough case for sustainableand ethical eating.”

The booklets have been distributedacross America and around the worldat colleges, high schools, concerts andfestivals.

“Together, we will reach the next20,000,000 much more quickly, andcontinue to change lives every day,bringing about the new world we alldesire – a world where animals aren’tbrutalized and butchered to be eaten,”a Vegan Outreach spokesperson stated.

Copies of the booklets can beordered or downloaded online atwww.veganoutreach.org

NORWAY'S militar y hasgone vegetarian one day aweek in an offensive againstclimate change.

The Meat-Free Mondaymanoeuvre, aimed at combat-ting the global threat posed bygreenhouse gas, encompassesa menu featuring food that is“respectful of the environ-ment”.

It will be available to allarmy personnel - includingthose serving overseas.

In a statement to AgenceFrance-Presse, army spokes-person Eystein Kvarving said:“It’ s not about saving money.It’s about being more con-cerned for our climate, moreecologically friendly and alsohealthier.”

And according to PalStenberg, a Navy Commanderand nutritionist in charge ofthe catering division, initialfeedback from soldiers hasbeen generally positive.

The move is expected tocut the army's meat intake byan estimated 150 tonnes ayear.

Quoted on the Meat FreeMonday website, a represen-tative of Oslo-based environ-mental group, The Future inOur Hands, welcomed theaction, saying “the defenceministry deserves a lot ofpraise because it’s taking cli-mate and environmental iss-ues seriously.”

Meat and dairy producersare the worst climate changeculprits. According to theUnited Nations Food andAgriculture Organisation, thelivestock industry is “one ofthe top two or three most sig-nificant contributors to themost serious environmentalproblems, at every scale fromlocal to global.”

The sector is responsiblefor 51 per cent of all green-house gas emissions, accord-ing to some estimates.

How to Live to 100premiers on the

Cooking ChannelTHE FIRST vegan cookingshow on a majorcable net-work is now airing on theCooking Channel and theresponse, says its host, hasbeen “phenomenal”.

Billed as the “very firstsuperfood, longevity, plant-based cooking show in TVhistory”, “How to Live to100” is bringing the healthbenefits of vegan food to thebiggest ever television audi-ence.

Hosted by celebrity veganchef, Jason Wrobels, the newseries presents easy veganrecipes with an emphasis on“radical simplicity and artfulpresentation”.

In the show, Jason Wrobel- known as the “King ofSuperfoods” - focuses onpowerful ingredients provento increase longevity.

And the idea of living

longer through eating deli-cious healthy food is goingdown a treat with audiences.

On the day of its premierairing, the show topped theCooking Channel’s ratings.

Promoting the new series -which airs across America onFridays at 9pm ET- theCooking Channel says: “Jasonimbues his eclectic food cre-ations with the energy of freshand organic produce.”

“The healing propertiesand outrageous tastes of hisdishes have rendered his rec-ipes hands-down favoritesamong celebrity clients andregular folk alike.”

Among the famous fans ofthe Living Light Culinary ArtsInstitute graduate are WoodyHarrelson, Jeremy Piven,Robin Wright, SigourneyWeaver, John C Reilly, SteveBuscemi, Isabelle Adjani andRussell Simmons.

Launched in 2010, theCooking Channel is an off-shoot of the Food Networkand is currently available toover 60 million Americanhouseholds.

A DOG saved from slaugh-ter in South Korea is enjoy-ing a new life in Los Angelesthanks to the support ofactress Alyssa Milano.

The Jindo dog was beingraised for meat and was foundchained to a metal pole, suf-fering from mange and cryingout in pain. Puppies she hadgiven birth to were discovereddead nearby.

A local group who rescuedand treated the animal subse-quently called on California'sFuzzy Pet Foundation to helpsecure a new life for “Bomi”.

A TOP activist campaigningfor an end to bearbile farm-ing has won the Hong KongPeople’s Choice award.

Jill Robinson, the founder ofAnimals Asia, picked up theprestigious award at SouthChina Morning Post’s Spirit ofHong Kong ceremony.

“This shows that HongKong people are behind us andvoting for what we do to helpthe animal species of China andHong Kong,” a delighted Jillcommented.

“It’ s another indicator thatwe are on the right track,” shesaid. “It means the world to us,especially since the issue ofbear bile farming was raised somuch during the event and ourcampaign to end it is so clearlysupported by the people ofHong Kong.”

Over 10,000 bears are cruel-ly caged on Chinese bile farmsand painfully “milked” for theirbile which is used in medicineand household products.

“With generous help fromone of our staunch supporters,actress Alyssa Milano, Bomiwas flown on an airplane toCalifornia,” they announced.

“This has been a magicaltime for all of us who haveworked so hard to rescueBomi. We are truly humbledby Alyssa's support, and hon-ored to be in the position tosave these precious lives.”

“I am thrilled to havebrought Bomi to safety, andlook forward to the day shefinally gets adopted to a forev-er home,” Alyssa told RadarOnline.

“My heart goes out to thecountless other dogs and catswho are suffering from animalabuse, struggling to survive onthe streets, or waiting in ani-mal shelters for a qualityhome.”

Jason Wr obels: Bringingvegan dining to the masses

Alyssa is asaviour toJindo dog

GO VEGAN Radio host,Bob Linden, has toldkids that if they love ani-mals, they should stopeating them.

On his 29 December2013 show, Bob offeredthis message of compas-sion to youngsters:

“Kids – you love ani-mals. When you eat meat,dairy, fish or eggs, your

It’s very sad and scary forthe animals. You saw‘Babe’– how can you eatBabe? You saw ‘ChickenRun’ – how can you eatchickens? You saw‘Blackfish’ – love all fish,don’t eat them.

“Tell your parents youdon’t want to eat animalsany more. They don’thave to worry. You will

parents are paying someone to really bemean and hurt animals. To lock themup in prisons and cut their throats andkill them for you to eat.

“A ‘Happy Meal’ isn’t happy at all.

grow up big and strong and healthy.”

The show, and hundreds of others,can be downloaded from the GoVegan Radio website’s archive sectionat www.goveganradio.com

Page 7

AN undercover investigatorwho was facing up to 18months in prison for failingto report animal cruelty “ina timely manner” has beencleared of the crazy charge.

Taylor Radig, working forCompassion Over Killing,exposed shocking abuse ofnewborn calves in Colorado,but later found herself facing atrial alongside the abusers.

The bizarre situation aroseafter local police accused herof failing to report the abusesooner. The delay, maintainedCompassion Over Killing,was due to time beingrequired to “meticulouslyresearch the law and reviewall of the damning evidence ofroutine animal cruelty”.

Radig's video footage,showing calves being kicked,dragged and thrown roughlyon to trucks, was filmed atQuanah Cattle Company, afacility that takes in maledairy calves and keeps themfor a week before shippingthem out to be raised for theirmeat. It led to animal crueltycharges being filed againstthree company employees.

However, the additionalcharge against the investigatorfollowed with the Sheriff ofWeld County noting in a pressrelease that the filmed evi-dence was only made avail-able to authorities two monthsafter Radig's employment atQuanah Cattle Company cameto an end.

“The video footage waseventually provided to lawenforcement by representa-tives of Compassion OverKilling,” Sheriff John BCooke said. ”Radig’s failureto report the alleged abuse ofthe animals in a timely man-ner adheres to the definition ofacting with negligence andsubstantiates the chargeAnimal Cruelty.”

The move to punish thewhistleblower was slammedby Compassion Over Killingwho stressed that witnessingand exposing animal abuse isnot a crime and that the chargeagainst the investigator was“unsupported by the law”.

“She’s being punished fortelling the truth about the cru-elty that happened atQuanah,” the organisationsaid. “It reeks of politicalmotivation fueled by an agri-business industry that contin-ues to lash out in desperation,aiming to stop undercoverinvestigators from exposingthe truth.”

On January 10th 2014, theWeld County District Attor-

ney’s office filed a motion todismiss the charge, noting thatit “can’t be proven beyond areasonable doubt.”

“I want to take this oppor-tunity to express my gratitudeto everyone who helped makethis happen,” Taylor Radigsaid in a statement.

“Thanks to your phonecalls and letters to the DistrictAttorney’s Office, donationsto Compassion Over Killingand nearly 200,000 signatureson a Change.org petition, wesuccessfully stood together

against injustice on behalf ofthe animals.”

“We told the world thatanimal suffering matters, andthat their pain should never bekept secret,” she continued.“The motive behind mycharges spoke to how effec-tive Compassion OverKilling’ s undercover investi-gations are, and how impor-tant it is that we keep the cam-eras rolling.”

The dropping of thecharges also showed “just howstrong the movement toward

ending animal suffering reallyis,” she added.

Abby Spiwak, the Denverresident who set up the peti-tion welcomed the outcome,saying “the District Attorney'soffice knows she's no crimi-nal.”

Praising Radig for expos-ing the cruelty, she stated thatif it wasn't for her, “the abuseto baby calves at the QuanahCattle Company would still begoing on today - that fact isnot debatable.”

Also beyond debate is theongoing plight of calves atQuanah. Most are male, un-able to produce milk andtherefore considered worth-less by the dairy industry.

After being trucked in andunloaded, they are confined incrates or hutches for around aweek before shipped out else-where to be raised and slaugh-tered for their meat.

Marketed as veal or beef,these young animals are theoften forgotten victims of thedairy industry.

I REPORTED EGREGIOUS CRUELTYTO ANIMALS AND FACED JAIL TIME

Undercoverinvestigatoris cleared ofcrazy charge

Brave undercover investigator Taylor Radig exposed multipleacts of criminal cruelty. The thanks from local authorities? A charge of animal cruelty that was eventually dropped.

Page 8

A BODY TO NOT KILL FORThat’s because the former MrUSA and Mr Universe hassculpted his body on a dietfree from meat and dairy.

And in an uplifting newPETA advert, his powerfulmessage is: “Muscle yourway to better health - GoVegan.”

Encouraging people to“think before you eat”, Jimposes as Roudin's TheThinker and highlights that“eating vegan helps to preventobesity, heart disease, cancer,diabetes and strokes.”

Meat-free since retiringfrom competition nearly threedecades and vegan for thepast 13 years, this 78-year-oldis a glowing ambassador forhealthy eating.

Speaking to PETA, hewarns about the damaging

effects of protein in animalproducts, saying it is ladenwith harmful fats and chemi-cals.

“When I was competingand stuffing down all of thatsort of stuff, I had lots ofdigestive problems,” herecalls. “I was constipated andbloated and just miserable allthe time. I don't concernmyself about protein any morebecause I know there's enoughprotein in what I eat. There'sprotein in fruit, there's proteinin beans and protein in grains.”

Dealing with dairy, hedeclares that “milk is forbabies.”

“I think a lot of peopledon't realise that if they wouldstop drinking milk and all ofthe milk products, they wouldsay, 'Wow, I didn't realise Icould feel this good'. I know as

a fact I would not be here andI would not be in this condi-tion now had I continued eat-ing the way I was.”

After dropping dairy andtransitioning to a vegan diet, abonus benefit awaited.

“It kept me not onlyhealthy but I feel better aboutmyself in how I relate to othercreatures in the world,” Jimtold PETA. “Over the years,I've come to know these crea-tures as thinking, feelingbeings and I feel better aboutmyself as a vegan that I'm nothurting these creatures.”

Frugivore Magazine haspreviously quoted Jim as say-ing: “I believe every creatureis born with the inalienableright of freedom. Freedom tolive in its natural environ-ment, with its own kind, mak-ing its own decisions. Ibelieve the law should pro-hibit the enslavement of allnon human species for anypurpose whatever.”

He has got a body to kill forbut if you want afabulous physique like bodybuilding star, JimMorris, absolutely no killing will be necessary.

CARROTAWARDFOR 1ST

LADYMICHELLE Obama's effor ts topromote healthy eating habits haveearned hera special award.

The Physicians Committee forResponsible Medicine chose the FirstLady as the recipient of their 2014Golden Carrot Award in appreciationof her “exceptional innovation andleadership in promoting school gar-dens and physical exercise”.

“We commend you and your stafffor effective efforts to encouragechildren to eat more healthfully,”PCRM president, Dr Neal Barnardstated in a certificate issued to MrsObama.

The organisation says it hopes theaward will encourage her to furtherpromote plant-based foods.

The accompanying prize includesa packet of carrot seeds and beta-carotene activity packets for princi-pals of all DC public schools.

“Planting the seed about nutritiousfoods is a community-wide effort,”Dr Barnard outlines in a letter tothem. “We encourage each school inWashington to take time to talk to itsstudents about healthy school lunchesand disease-fighting foods.”

Established in 2004, the GoldenCarrot Awards recognise food serviceteams and individuals helping tomake school lunches healthier byencouraging the consumption ofmore fresh fruits, vegetables, andother plant-based foods.

Goody goodnews from

vegan candycompany

JANTASTIC! THE company behind Goody GoodStuf f candy has bid bye-bye tobeeswax in a move that will makeits entire range vegan.

The company says that they havebeen “fighting tooth and nail to findan alternative to beeswax so that thewhole Goody Good Stuff range canbe safe for vegans”.

Up until now, half the varieties inthe popular line of gummy sweetscontained beeswax, making themunsuitable for vegans.

Announcing the news that the waxwill be replaced with coconut oil, aGoody Good Stuff representativecommented: “We're all very excitedabout it and can't wait for our veganfans to try our entire range.”

The sweets are sold in over 5,500outlets in 21 countries, including theUSA, Canada, France and the UK.Among the chains stocking them are7-11, Whole Foods Market, Tops,Waitrose, Tesco and Superdrug.

Veganuary inspires thousandsTHE organisers of theVeganuary campaignhave announced thatover 3,200 individualspledged to go vegan forthe month of January2014.

The initiative whichencourages people to “eatdelicious, healthy food,save 10 animals and doyour bit for the environ-ment” has been hailed aresounding success.

Those embracing thecruelty-free diet are

helped along the waywith a 31-day samplemenu. Restaurant recom-mendations and productsuggestions are also pro-vided.

Speaking on BBC 5Live Radio, Juliet Gellat-ley, director of vegangroup VIVA said she hasseen massive changes inpeople’s attitudes and thatthe rise of veganism isattributable to a numberof factors.

“Obviously, there’s

the animal reason,” shesaid. “More people arebecoming aware of facto-ry farming and every sur-vey done shows thatalmost the whole popula-tion is against it.”

“On the health side,we’re just so much morewell informed,” nutrition-al therapist Juliet added,pointing to an increasedawareness about the linksbetween dairy and acne,heart disease and certaincancers including breastand prostate.

“Meat eating may becomerepugnant” to the masses

NOBEL prize winningeconomist Alvin Rothhas predicted that in thefutur e, the dominantdiet will be vegan.

The Harvard and Stan-ford professor declared ina Time interview that“meat eating may becomerepugnant” to the massesresulting in meat-baseddiets becoming the excep-tion, not the norm.

In a follow-up inter-view with Juhea Kim ofthe Peaceful Dumplingnetwork, Professor Rothexpressed his view that

movement away frommeat could be gradual.

“Our understanding ofcruelty can change,” hesaid. “So before we out-law eating chicken, it isfar more likely to see ban-ning of battery cages andthe worst treatments.”

Asked why meat-eaters viewed whale meatas repugnant and yetfound it acceptable to eatbeef, Prof Roth said thatpeople believe thatwhales have higher intel-ligence, and a capacity toanticipate and fear death

“With more studiesproving the intelligenceof cows, their anticipationof death and will to live,people may well changetheir attitudes towardthem, just as they did withwhales,” he added.

Professor Roth offer-ed this advice to thosepromoting veganism:“Instead of focusing onmaking people repugnantto meat, promote the pos-itive aspects of vegan eat-ing. Remember thatrepugnance can grow orfade.”

Page 9

Pig farmerwill not beprosecuted

THERE have been renewedcalls for a ban on Australia'slive export trade after videofootage emerged showingcattle being tortur ed.

The animals, identifiedthrough ear tags as havingoriginated in Australia, werefilmed being brutally abusedduring the Festival of Sac-rifice in the Gaza Strip.

Dozens of videos uploadedto YouTube show terrified cat-tle tied to poles, trees andvehicles, being stabbedrepeatedly in the neck, havingtheir legs bound before beingforced to the ground and'strung out' for slaughter andbeing beaten and dragged offtrucks.

And in the worst of the hor-rific footage, one bound ani-mal is seen being stabbed inthe eye while another is knee-capped with bullets from anassault rifle.

Independent Member ofParliament, Andrew Wilkie,described it as among themost shocking ever captured

lodged a legal complaintabout breaches of the coun-try's live export regulations -the third such complaint inrecent months followingbreaches of regulations inJordan and Mauritius.

“There are no words to ade-quately describe the carnagein these videos and the scaleof abuse endured by Aust-ralian cattle. It is shocking andcompletely harrowing towatch,” said Animals Aust-ralia Campaign Director, LynWhite.

“So acceptable is this brutaltreatment to locals that theyare cheering and filming it onmobile phones. This is whatAustralian exporters havebeen exporting animals to fordecades. It is time for everypolitician to search their con-sciences as to how they canallow this trade to continue.”

Every year, Australiaexports millions of animals toover a dozen countries wherethere are no laws to protectthem from cruelty.

and said that the barbarictreatment of Australian live-stock in overseas markets hadto stop.

“Gaza is just the latest in along line of revelations whichshow clearly that Australia'sso-called supply chain assur-

ance is failing,” Mr Wilkie isquoted as saying in the Syd-ney Morning Herald.

He has condemned the gov-ernment's response to the cru-elty, saying it “doesn't give atoss” about animal welfare.

“If the government doesn't

have the backbone to stop thetrade altogether, then it shouldat least commit to ban orrefuse permits to all compa-nies that have demonstrated acontinuing disregard for ani-mal welfare,” he said.

Animals Australia has

Australian cattletortured in Gaza

“Shocking and completely harrowing to watch”

One of the animals violently abused and killed in Gaza in what has been described assome of the worst everscenes of cruelty. Image: Animals Australia / Banliveexport.com

Hens in enriched cagessuffer poor conditions

A NEW investigation into“enriched” egg industrycages has revealed that hensare continuing to suffer mis-erable conditions, despitepromises of higherwelfare.

Filmed by Animal Aid atan egg production facility inLincolnshire England, thefootage shows row upon rowof multi-tier cages crowdedwith hens. Many of the birdswere found to be in a “verypoor condition”.

So-called enriched systemsreplaced battery cages in 2012following a European Unionban but as this latest footageshows, little has changed formillions of jailed birds.

Animal Aid notes that des-pite the claims of improvedconditions, compared to tradi-tional battery cages, enrichedcages only provide an addi-tional 50 square centimetres ofspace per hen - that's less thanthe size of a beer mat.

Pointing to the horrendous

conditions filmed, they stressthat “the only enrichment pro-vided in these cages is ascratching area - often consist-ing of a piece of Astroturf thatsoon becomes covered in excr-ement - and a ‘nest-box’whichmay simply be a screened-offarea of the cage.”

There is no requirement toprovide any form of beddingor comfort to the creatures.

“Many people now believethat cramped, barren cages area thing of the past, but they arestill very much a part of mod-ern chicken farming,” AnimalAid says. “Half of all eggs laid

The RSPCAhas kicked a pigfarm of f its so-called“Fr eedom Food” schemebut will not be prosecuting.

Hillside Animal Sanctuary,who reported Cheshire's WoodCommon Farm after filmingpigs living in “awful condi-tions”, has expressed dismay.

“After a 5 month RSPCA'investigation' during whichan inspector described condi-tions on the farm as 'totallyunacceptable', they have nowinformed us that their vet willnot support a prosecution,” aHillside spokesperson stated.

Defending its decision, theRSPCAstated: “On the basisof this evidence, the vet wasunable to conclude that anyanimals had suffered or thatthere was evidence of anybreaches of legislation.”

Responded Hillside: “Wefind it incredulous that therecould be any doubt that thesepigs were suffering.”

View the video footage atwww.tinyurl.com/wcpigfarm

in the UK come from hens inenriched cages, with manybeing used in processed foodssuch as cakes, quiches andpasta.”

The group is calling on thepublic to help hens by boy-cotting the egg industry andgoing vegan.

Page 10

Image: A

nimal A

id

A 22-year-old vegan fromSweden has been crownedthe new World Memor yChampion.

In a truly memorable win,Jonas Von Essen scored amind-blowing 8,534 points -the highest ever in the cham-pionship's 22-year history.

“I'm really pleased withmy score,” he said after hiswin at the Croydon Confer-ence Centre in London. “I'vebeen training for 4 to 5 hours aday and now I just want to do

some sightseeing and find avegan cupcake shop!”

In an interview withPETA, Von Essen - who isstudying to be a maths teacher- credited his vegan diet withhelping sharpen his memory.

“Looking at my results inmemory disciplines, I canonly say that since I becamevegan, I have won six out ofseven international competi-tions,” he said.

Asked what prompted himto go vegan, he stated that he

“didn’t want to contribute tothe suffering and killing ofother living beings.”

“Unfortunately, it took myviscous human mind 20 yearsbefore it got sane enough todecide to go vegetarian and ayear and a half longer before itunderstood that if it reallywanted not to contribute to thesuffering of animals, veganwas the way to go.”

Jonas has vowed to returnnext year to defend his number1 position.

Jonas’s remarkable winningachievements in numbers

105 names committed to mem-ory in 15 minutes and recalled.

3841 binary digits committedto memory in 30 minutes andrecalled.

2280 random digits commit-ted to memory in 1 hour andrecalled.

459 abstract images commit-ted to memory in 15 minutesand recalled.

322 random digits committedto memory in 5 minutes andrecalled.

106 dates committed to mem-ory in 5 minutes and linked tocorrect fictional events.

1266 playing cards commit-ted to memory in 60 minutesand recalled.

211 random words commit-ted to memory in 15 minutesand recalled.

200 single digit numbers spo-ken out loud in 1 second inter-vals recalled.

42.57 seconds to commit tomemory and recall a singlepack of 52 playing cards.

IF THE idea of a zombie-themed recipe book doesn’tmake you shuffle excitedlytowards a book store, checkyour pulse now.

Billed as a “must have cook-book for all your survivalneeds in any zombie apoca-lypse”, Vegan Zombie Cookand Survive fearlessly goeswhere no cookbooks havegone before.

Featuring 85 mouth-water-ing recipes using easy to findingredients, the book alsoincorporates a graphic novel.

A spin-off from the popularonline cookery series, it givesreaders the opportunity to taketime out from cooking toenjoy the Vegan Zombie’sillustrated adventures.

Available as a paperback ore-book, it can be ordered nowat www.theveganzombie.comSwede Success: Jonas with the 1266 playing cards he committed to memory and recalled

Recipes for disaster

THE LA TEST shocking rev-elations of dairy industrycruelty have uncovered thevicious beating of cows.

Footage filmed by Mercy forAnimals at Wiese BrothersFarms in Wisconsin - a cheesesupplier for DiGiorno Pizza -includes sickening scenes ofworkers kicking, stabbing andviolently whipping cows inthe face and body.

Also filmed were cows suf-fering from open wounds andinfections and workers drag-ging cows by their legs usingchains attached to a tractor.

The investigation also docu-mented baby calves beingdragged away from theirmothers immediately afterbirth and having their tailsdocked without painkillers -common industry practice.

DiGiorno Pizza parent com-pany, Nestle, has reportedlysevered ties with the farm butwith cruelty inherent in thedairy industry, the suffering issure to continue.

MFA’s sliceofcruelty.comwebsite is urging consumersto “help end the needless suf-fering of cows and otherfarmed animals by choosingvegan alternatives to milk,cheese and ice cream.”

Dairy cowsbeaten and

whipped

ACTIVISTS in Germanyhave rescued six hens from afr ee-range egg operation.

Representing vegan organi-sation, Animal Equality, theygained access through anunlocked door and uncoveredterrible conditions for thethousands of hens crammed into the facility.

“Our images clearly showthat these animals are not welland that they are suffering,”the pair of rescuers comment-ed in a video posted online.

“It is important to see thatthe animals here are only val-ued for their productivity.There is usually no alternativefor these animals. They eitherdie during their confinementor they are sent to slaughterlater on.”

“We wanted to share theirstories and show their faceswhich would otherwise re-main anonymous,” they con-tinue. “We want you to seethese unheard victims ofspeciesism which suffer anddie in our society.”

“Whether they come fromfree-range, organic or cage-free farms, none of these ani-mals will live once their levelsof productivity go down. Nomatter what type of life they

have had, this will be irrele-vant as all of these animalswill be sent to slaughter oncethey stop laying eggs.”

The activists did not hidetheir identities while filming.This open rescue approach,says Animal Equality, is sothat the individuals involvedcan take full responsibility fortheir action and its legitimacy.

The six rescued hens werelater examined by a vet andrelocated to a sanctuary wherethey are enjoying freedom.

“As in all open rescues wecarry out, we always comeaway filled with a sensation ofsadness and impotence whenwe have to close the door andleave behind thousands ofother animals,” Animal

Equality said in a statementpublished on their website,www.animalequality.net.

“We are simply unable torescue all of them, but togeth-er we can end their suffering,this depends on each one ofus, by choosing ethical alter-natives to animal products andremoving our financial sup-port from these industries.”

Free-range birdsfreed by activists

Page 11

JONAS VON ESSEN: ANAME TO REMEMBER

the other dogs we leftbehind,” Animal Equalitysays. “We have worked hardto ensure the footage we tookinside the slaughterhousewas covered by the mediaworldwide and we will con-tinue to work to ensure thattheir suffering wont be for-gotten.”

Since the rescue, AnimalEquality has continued fight-ing the dog meat trade. Itslatest efforts have led to theclosure of 33 dog and catmarket stalls and a dogslaughterhouse.

A major result, even if thepolice response was basedlargely on health and foodsecurity fears - the owners ofthe stalls and slaughterhousewere found to have no validanimal vaccine certificates.

Help end the dog meattrade at voicelessfriends.org

MEAT IS MOTHERA DOG rescued from thejaws of China's horrific dogmeat industry has givenbir th to eight puppies.

Vita was saved from cer-tain death by Animal Equalityinvestigators who, in a joint-operation with Last Chancefor Animals, were in China todocument the horrors of thedog meat trade.

“We found Vita in Zhan-jiang in one of the thousandsof dog slaughterhouses acrossChina,” one of her rescuersoutlined. “As soon as wearrived, we noticed her plead-ing eyes and trembling body.Her eyes begged me to gether out of there.”

And so, as the slaughter-man was brutally killing otherunfortunate dogs, the rescueteam gained the trust of aworker and tricked himbefore successfully smug-gling Vita out.

Vita is one of the very fewlucky ones. There are nohappy endings for over 18million dogs killed every yearin China for their meat or fur.These animals spend practi-cally their entire lives incages, surrounded by dirt andfaeces, and fed a poor qualitydiet which causes them tobecome weak and diseased.

At the slaughterhouse,dogs are typically clubbedand beaten before being hungupside down and stabbed orelectrocuted.

Most of the dogs inChina’s meat trade have beencaught from the streets whileothers have been bred on ille-gal farms or even kidnappedfrom loving homes.

“It pains us to remember

TESCO has again been con-demned for appalling cruel-ty in its branches in China.

Despite giving assurancesover the past five years thatanimal welfare would be pro-tected and promoted, animalsare continuing to suffer horrif-ic deaths in the company’sstores.

An investigation carriedout by the Daily Mail revealedthat turtles are being beheadedand suffocated by Tesco staff.

A reporter from the news-paper visited a Tesco store inBeijing and witnessed a mem-ber of staff catching a pur-chased turtle with a metal

tongs and wrapping the crea-ture in three thin plastic bags.

The reporter describedhow the turtle “desperatelyfought to get out ofthe bag until itwas returnedto the cus-tomer serv-ice desk”.

At a dif-ferent Tescobranch, an-other memberof staff was seenhacking at a turtlefor seven minutes in aneffort to chop its head off. Hetold the undercover reporter

“Look, I’ll let you know whenit’ s done. The head won’tcome out.”

A few minutes later,he returned with

dark bloodspeckles on hisapron and theturtle’s sev-ered head.C a m p a i g ngroup, One

World Wild-life is pushing

for Tesco to stopthe suffering and

end its sale of live animals- not just turtles but also frogs,terrapins and fish.

Quoted in the report, groupspokesperson Dominic Neatestated: “This is incredible for acompany that claims to havehigh standards of animal wel-fare. Just because it’s inChina, doesn’t make it right.This must stop now.”

In an online petition[tinyurl.com/tescoturtles] , thegroups says Tesco is responsi-ble for “all stages of the tur-tles’ tortured existence frombeing farmed in terrible condi-tions, packaged in boxes tolive on supermarket shelvesgasping for life, to their cus-tomers' random slaughteringtechniques.”

Moments from death, trembling dog rescued from slaughter

Life and death: Vita with her puppies and, below, behindbars moments before being saved from a brutal killing.

MORE than a dozen majorretailers have dropped an-gora after PETA r eleased avideo showing a tied-up rab-bit screaming as fur is vio-lently ripped fr om its body.

The sickening undercoverfootage, filmed in China,exposes what rabbits are rou-tinely subjected to in the coun-try’s depraved fur industry.

“Ninety percent of angorafur comes from China,” PETAsays. “When you buy asweater, hat, or other productthat contains angora, the ango-ra fur most likely originated inChina, even if the finishedproduct was assembled else-where.”

Reacting to the shockingscenes, more than a dozenclothing companies have com-pletely banned angora. Theseinclude ASOS, Boden, Deben-hams, H&M, Limited Brands(including Victoria’s Secret),Marc O’Polo, Marks &Spencer, Next, Primark, PVHCorp (including Calvin Kleinand Tommy Hilfiger), TedBaker and Whistles.

The Chinese Governmentis now being urged to outlawthe live plucking of rabbits.

Retailersreact torabbit

outrage

A COW which tried to stayalive by escaping from aMexican slaughterhouse waspursued by local police andshot dead.

The animal made a bid forfreedom after jumping overthe railing of a pen and run-ning through the streets of aneighbourhood in the city ofSan Luis Rio Colorado.

The Yuma Sun newspaperreported that a man also losthis life after being hit by thefleeing cow and tragically suf-fering fatal injuries.

Escapedcow shotby cops

WATER around the FaroeIslands was turned blood redas its latest marine massacreleft 392 whales dead.

The Environmental Invest-igation Agency which cam-paigns against the hunt said:“We can only guess how mucheach whale suffered, not onlywhile being dragged ashoreand slaughtered but also whileit was in the water.”

Hundreds of dolphins arealso believed to have beenkilled by barbaric islanders.

Whale meatmassacre

Condemnation of Tesco’sdecapitation of turtles

Page 12

Tributes paid to veganauthor and historian

Ghana to host Africa’sfirst world veg event

THE world has lost one ofits most passionate veganpioneers with the death onJanuary 9th 2014 of histo-rian, author, lecturer andactivist Rynn Berry.

Rynn was a historicaladvisor to the North Amer-ican Vegetarian Society andthe author of several influ-ential books, including‘Hitler: Neither Vegetariannor Animal Lover’ (in whichhe demolished “the seemingparadox that a genocidaltyrant could have been ananimal lover and an ethicalvegetarian”), ‘Food for theGods: Vegetarianism and theWorld's Religions’ and‘Famous Vegetarians andtheir Favorite Recipes’.

He was also responsiblefor the popular Vegan Guideto New York City. Affection-ately dubbed by the NewYork Times as “more than aguide - a portable con-science”, it was updatedannually with its 19th edi-tion published last year.

Confirming 68-year-oldRynn's death on Facebook,close friend Martin Rowedescribed him as a witty,erudite figure and “the epit-ome of the kind of unherald-ed grassroots activist with-out which any movement forchange cannot grow”.

“Rynn’s impact was liter-ally incalculable, given howmany met him, bought hisbooks, or talked with him atthe Union Square greenmarket over many years,” hesaid. “He will be missed

greatly, even by those whonever met him, but his workwill live on.”

Among the platformsfrom which he imparted hisknowledge over the yearswas Go Vegan Radio, onwhich he was a guest fivetimes.

Most recently, on the22nd December 2013 show,he told listeners that Jesuswas a vegan and explainedhow inappropriate it is forpeople to feast on ham andturkey at Christmas.

“[Jesus] would be app-alled at the manner in whichpeople are celebrating hisbirth,” he said. “He was des-tined to be an animal libera-tor and to reform the dietarypractices of the elite. Theymade a travesty of every-thing he stood for.”

Asked about the com-monly held belief that Jesusate fish, Rynn outlined thatthis was a misinterpretationof the truth.

“In my book, Food forthe Gods, I debunk the myth

that Jesus fed the multitudeswith fish,” he said. “I trans-lated the passage in theGospel of John in which hesupposedly fed multitudeswith fish and the word that isused for fish is opsaria. Thefirst meaning of the wordopsaria is 'relish' and onlythe fourth meaning is 'littlefish'. So it was really mis-translated. That would makefar more sense for him to bemultiplying loaves of breadand relish. That's how peo-ple dined in the ancientworld - they would takebread which was very nutri-tious and tear off a piece, dipit into the relish (for exam-ple, pickled olives or tahini)and eat it.”

Responding to news ofthe death, Go Vegan Radioshow host, Bob Linden paidtribute to Rynn, saying “hemade an enormous and valu-able intellectual contributionto our vegan education andwas a one-of-a-kind whowill be greatly missed.”

The sentiment wasechoed by vegan chef andauthor Mary Lawrence.

“This is an unfathomableloss to the vegan communi-ty,” she wrote. “He was trulyone of those rare individualswho, simply by his pres-ence, made the world a bet-ter place knowing he was init. I will miss him tremen-dously.”

Rest in peace, RynnBerry (1945-2014).

Villainousvegan rolefor JCVD

MARTIAL arts icon Jean ClaudeVan Damme returns to the bigscreen in the rare role of a villain-ous vegan drug lord.

In the action-packed EnemiesCloser, the high-kicking Musclesfrom Brussels takes veganism whereit’s never been before.

Directed by Peter Hyams (whopreviously gave us Van Damme inTimeCop and Sudden Death), thefilm follows Xanders on a meat-freemission through the wilderness as hepunches, kicks and kills his waytowards the cargo of a crashed plane.

Van Damme’s character shunsleather, cares about the environmentand is concerned about carbon foot-prints but, unlike most vegans, fre-quently chooses killing over compas-sion. This meat-free mercenary hasno aversion to inflicting pain anddeath on animals (of the human vari-ety).

Although not a vegan in real-life,Jean Claude Van Damme has, in thepast, acted to help animals and spo-ken out against abuse.

He has rescued and homed aban-doned dogs, condemned the crueltyof the fur trade (“I fail to see what isattractive about walking around in ananimal skin”) and appealed to theSouth Korean president to stop thetorture and killing of dogs and cats.

Referring to his canine compan-ions, he has said: “You know, whenwe respect animals, we tend torespect human beings. I encouragepeople to adopt abandoned animals.It's a beautiful life story which leadsto a beautiful love story.”

Fruit fight: Van Damme’s vegan ina scene from Enemies Closer

already has a banner dis-played which urges peopleto follow a vegetarian diet.

Praising Ghana as a hostcountry, IVU Representativefor Africa, Emmanuel Eyoh,said the country has thestrongest vegetarian associa-tion on the continent.

“The Vegetarian Assoc-iation of Ghana was foundedin 2005 by vegan nutritionistNathan Adu who runs a suc-cessful vegetarian restaurantin Accra central,” he said.

“He is assisted by thesecretary Emmanuel Awun-yo, a senior government off-icial and many others. Theirpatron is the former chiefjudge of Ghana and theywork in partnership withvarious groups.”

Some of the increasing numberof vegans in Ghana,where the IVU World Vegfest will be held in October

AFRICA will host its firstever world vegan eventthis October.

The International Veg-etarian Union's 42nd WorldVegfest is to be held inAccra, Ghana with the aimof inspiring more Africansto live a healthy and com-passionate lifestyle.

The Vegetarian Assoc-iation of Ghana, which isorganising the six day event,says all food served will beplant-based and “all aspectswill be consistent withvegan philosophy”.

Running from October1st to 6th, the festival willfeature food fairs, seminars,talks, films and health prod-uct exhibitions.

There will also be a visit

to local orphanages to do-nate food items, an introduc-tion to traditional Ghanaiandishes and a Vegan YouthDay dedicated to the upcom-ing generation.

During the week, thecountry's Health Ministerwill be presented with a let-ter outlining the benefits ofpromoting a plant-baseddiet. The Ministry of Health

Pam pressesPM to ban furACTRESS and animal activistPamela Anderson has called on theIsraeli Prime Minister to back aban on the sale of fur.

In a letter to Binyamin Netan-yahu, Pamela wrote: “I urge you todo everything in your power to helppass this historic bill, which has beensigned by forty members of theKnesset.”

The bill, submitted by Knessetmembers Ruth Calderon and NitzanHorowitz, states “In Israel, there is abroad public consensus that thekilling of animals for their fur is anact contrary to morality.”

Page 13

A JOURNALIST whoexposed illegal fishing inCambodia has been beatento death by fishermen.

Suon Chan, 44, who wrotefor the Khmer language news-paper Meakea Kampuchea(Cambodia’s Way) wasreportedly confronted by agang of 10 fishermen as hewas leaving his home.

Four of the thugs beat himunconscious and he was laterpronounced dead after beingsent for medical treatment.

The brutal attack tookplace in the Cholkiri district ofKampong Chhnang province.

“He had stones thrown athim and was beaten with thebase of a bamboo stalk by agroup of people while he waswalking alone out of his housein order to buy cigarettes froma shop in the village,” aspokesperson for the localpolice told the Phnom PenhPost.

“He was hit and seriouslyinjured on his head and neck,and lost consciousness at thescene.”

The paper also reportedthat relatives of Mr Chan werealso beaten when they rushedto the scene after hearing hiscries for help.

Police believe the journal-

ist's killing may have been inrevenge for articles whichexposed illegal fishing in theregion and sparked a policecrackdown.

The Cambodian Center forHuman Rights (CCHR) hascondemned the attack, sayingit was “yet another affront tofreedom of expression, and inparticular to freedom of thepress, in the Kingdom ofCambodia where journalists

are regularly targeted for theirwork and where a culture ofimpunity for these crimesreigns.”

CCHR Human RightsDefenders Project Coordin-ator Chhay Chhunly is urgingthe authorities to ensure that“a full and impartial investiga-tion into Suon Chan’s death isconducted and that the perpe-trators are brought to justice,not only to ensure justice for

Suon Chan’s family but alsoto promote a culture of respectfor and protection of journal-ists and their work”.

Marine conservationgroup, The Black Fish praisedSuon Chain, saying “heworked to expose illegal fish-ing through his reporting,which has now cost him hislife.”

“Our thoughts are withSuon's family and friends atthis tragic and difficult time,”they added.

Police say they have iden-tified the four suspects and areplanning to make arrests.

REPORTER KILLEDAFTER EXPOSINGILLEGAL FISHING

Human ri ghts group calls for “fulland impartial investigation” intobrutal attack by fishermen thugs

Brave newspaperreporterSuon Chan who was brutallyattacked by fishermen thugs

Whalesdying

for pettreats

Marine conservation organi-sation, The Black Fish, is setto launch a new initiativeaimed at exposing illegal,unreported and unregulatedfishing in European seas.

“The new programmebrings together a broad civiccommunity and helps developinnovative technologies tomonitor for illegal fishingpractices in a multi-discipli-nary way,” Black Fish founderand vegan, Wietse van derWerf explains.

“It facilitates enforcementof existing laws and regula-tions, through the collection ofevidence, with the long-termaim to directly secure prosecu-tions.”

What makes the new pro-gramme unique, he says, is

that it is centered around com-munity-led enforcement ofconservation legislation.

It will employ new tech-nologies and aims to inspirepolitical action to safeguard afuture for the world's oceans.

Among the technologiesemployed by The Black Fishare camera-equipped drones.

A fleet of these crafts wereused in a campaign to detectillegal drift net fishing in theMediterranean, a practicewhich kills thousands ofwhales, dolphins, sharks andfish every year.

The Black Fish was found-ed in Amsterdam in 2010.Among its achievements arethe cutting of nets in Taiji har-bour, resulting in freedom forten dolphins who swam backout to sea and escaped lifelongcaptivity.

Activists also successfullyreleased over 1,000 endan-gered bluefin tuna back intothe Adriatic Sea from cages ata fish farm in Croatia.

here and questions must beasked, amongst them whetherthis is the first time that whalemeat has been on sale at thisor similar events: or was thisjust the first time that the sell-ers have been caught red-handed?” he said.

The case has now referredto state prosecutors whichcould lead to the Norwegianstall holders being fined orimprisoned for five years.

Commercial whaling isbanned by the InternationalWhaling Commission butIceland and Norway reject thisand continue whaling. In2013, the Norwegian killquota stood at 1,286 whales.

The creatures are cruellykilled using grenade-tippedharpoons which are fired intotheir bodies and explode.

GERMAN customs officialshave seized whale meatbeing sold at Berlin's GreenWeek trade fair.

The meat - thought to befrom minke whales - wasbeing sold from a Norwegianstall for 2 euro per plate,despite being illegal inGermany and most of theEuropean Union.

Around 4kg of the meathad already been sold to fairvisitors before customs wastipped off and officers arrivedto confiscate the remaining3kg.

Astrid Fuchs of the Whaleand Dolphin ConservationSociety pointed out that boththe importation and sale of thewhale meat is illegal.

“Laws have been broken

Community-led effortto stop illegal fishing

Whale meat isseized at fair

Activist Wietse van derWerf

Endangered whales slaugh-tered by Iceland are beingturned into pet snacks, it hasbeen revealed.

An Icelandic businessmanhas been slammed for drivingthe slaughter of 134 finwhales, the second-largestcetacean on the planet, andmarketing the meat for peopleand pets.

The Environmental Inves-tigation Agency says that withno market for fin whale meatin Iceland, whaling kingpinKristjan Loftsson and his com-pany Hvalur last year exported386 tonnes to Japan.

Some of this is being man-ufactured in to snacks forJapanese dogs.

The EIA, along with otherconservation NGOs, con-vinced a major pet food com-pany to cease production of thefin whale ‘jerky’ treats. Theyare calling on other businessesto follow suit.

Loftsson has also been con-demned for going “one stepfurther into the realm ofgrotesque irony” by poweringhis whaling fleet with a ‘biofu-el’ partly made of whale oil.

“It is deeply disturbing thatthe UK and other EU memberstates are not diplomaticallyblasting Iceland for breakingtwo international treaties,”commented EIAcampaigner,Clare Perry, pointing out thatcetaceans are completely pro-tected in European waters.

Page 14

Photo: D

APN

ews

Hoppy ending for toads SELFRIDGES DROPCRUELTY COFFEE

A CALF killing plant in NewJersey has been ordered tosuspend its operations fol-lowing the release of a videoshowing harrowing cruelty.

The closure of CatelliBrothers - a kosher and non-kosher slaughterhouse inShrewsbury - comes after theHumane Society of the UnitedStates presented its footage toauthorities as part of a legalcomplaint.

Revealing “serious andsystematic violations of theHumane Methods of Slaught-er Act”, the footage includessickening scenes of calvesstruggling while hangingupside down on a conveyorbelt, calves being shot numer-ous times before going uncon-sciousness, a truck driverdragging a downed calf with achain around his neck andemployees shocking, hitting,and spraying calves withwater.

Also filmed were plantmanagers twisting calves' earsand tails when they were tooweak to stand, lifting theentire weight of some calves

by their tails, and tellingemployees never to do thesame if inspectors are present.

“Our investigator wit-nessed animal abuse time andtime again, including calveswho were still fully consciousup to two minutes after havingtheir throats cut,” Paul Shapiroof the HSUS stated.

He referred to another calfwho remained conscious afterbeing shot with a captive bolt

gun. “The calf had to be shotwith a bolt gun five timesbefore he was effectively ren-dered unconscious,” he said.

And in another incident,infuriating to anyone with anounce of compassion, a calfwith a broken leg is accused ofbeing lazy when he refused tostand up and follow hisdoomed companions out of atransportation truck.

The animal who suffered

the injury during a 10 hourjourney to the killing plant is“derided for not being willingto stand and walk to his ownslaughter”.

In the undercover footage,the driver of the truck can beheard saying “he just wants toplay lazy now”. He later adds:“I know he's got a broken leg.”

The United States Depart-ment of Agriculture's FoodSafety and Inspection Service

KILLING PLANT SHUTAFTER RELEASE OFHARROWING VIDEO

reacted to the complaint bywithdrawing its inspectors,which are required for slaugh-ter operations.

The HSUS is now pressingthe Department of Agricultureto finally close a loophole thatallows the slaughter of“downed” veal calves, that isthose too sick or injured towalk on their own. Slaughter-houses are already required toeuthanize downed adult cowsbut this does not apply tocalves.

“Downed calves are stillsuffering the sort of appallingabuses that we exposed in2009 at another calf slaughterplant in Vermont,” HumaneSociety CEO Wayne Pacellestated.

“We commend USDAfortaking action to shut down theoperation at Catelli Brothers,but it's long past time to closethe loophole in the downedanimal rule that perpetuatescontinuing cruelty to calves.”

The HSUS is remindingthe public that every time theysit down to eat, they can helpstop the suffering.

AN impor tant toad habitaton the shores of Lake Eriehas been saved from dest-ruction thanks to a two-yearcampaign.

A controversial decision toallow the construction of a 12-story waterfront condo com-plex over the area was revers-ed after thousands of activistsswamped the developer withcomplaints.

Officials in Fort Erie,Ontario had originally giventhe go-ahead to the companyto “damage and destroy” thearea and to “harm, harass, killand collect the toads”.

Campaigners, led by con-servation group Save theFrogs, argued that the CrystalBeach project would drive oneof Canada’s last Fowler's Toadpopulations to extinction.

On New Year’s Eve, townbosses announced that thedeveloper had abandoned theplan and “offered no reasonfor their decision”.

Save the Frogs founder, DrKerry Kriger, welcomed thenews, declaring it a victory forthe Fowler’s Toads.

Only three populations ofthe endangered species sur-vive in all of Canada.

UK department store chain,Selfridges, has stopped sell-ing a variety of coffee linkedto animal cruelty.

Civet coffee (Kopi Luwak)comes from beans that havebeen eaten and excreted by theAsian palm civet.

A BBC documentary airedlast September exposed the

suffering of factory farmedcivets - permanently cagedand force-fed the beans.

Responding to a WorldSociety for the Protection ofAnimals campaign, Selfridgesas well as Dutch companySimon Levelt, Sweden’s Tek-nikmagasinet and Denmark’sWinther’s Kaffe have droppedthe disgusting product.

A calf is mercilessly hit on the head at Catelli Brothers slaughterhouse in New Jersey

Page 15

“MANY PEOPLE HAVE TOLDME THEY STOPPED EATINGFLESH BECAUSE OF SOME-THING I SAID. I CAN'T ASKFOR HIGHER THAN THAT”

~ MORRISSEY ~MORRISSEY has said thatthe achievement he is mostproud of is inspiring othersto stop eating meat.

Responding to questions onthe True-to-you.net fan site, hesaid: “Many people have toldme that they stopped eatingflesh because of something Isaid. I can't ask for higher thanthat and I wouldn't aim forhigher than that.”

Asked about what motivat-ed him to stop eating meat, the‘Meat is Murder’ lyricistpointed to videos exposingslaughterhouse horrors.

“If you have access toYouTube, you should click onto what is called ‘the video themeat industry doesn't want youto see’,” he told followers. “Ifthis doesn't affect you in amoral sense then you're proba-bly granite.”

“If you believe in the abat-toir then you would supportAuschwitz. There's no differ-ence,” he added. “People whowould disagree with this state-ment have probably neverbeen inside an abattoir.”

He continued: “I see no dif-ference between eating ani-mals and paedophilia. Theyare both rape, violence, mur-der. If I'm introduced to any-one who eats beings, I walkaway. Imagine, for example, ifyou were in a nightclub andsomeone said to you 'Hello, Ienjoy bloodshed, throat-slit-ting and the destruction of life,'well, I doubt if you'd want toexchange phone numbers.”

In reply to a fan who asked

A NEW ad campaign is en-couraging commuters to becompassionate and quit con-suming animals.

Eye-catching PETA post-ers are on display in 25London Underground stationsand feature a photo of a pigalongside the message “YouCan Live Without Those Ribs- I Can't!”

The organisation says thatthe cute tube ads aim to chal-lenge people to think criticallyabout their meat consumptionfrom the perspective of theanimals killed for food.

To help spread the veganmessage, a dozen activists inanimal costumes travelledthrough King’s Cross stationencouraging travellers to“Love me, don’t eat me!”

what action he would like tosee being taken to protect ani-mals from cruelty and killing,Morrissey listed a ban on zoosand circuses, the appointmentof Animal Protectionist Mem-bers of Parliament in everygovernment and the Queen tostop wearing “an electrocutedbear-cub on her head”.

He went on to criticise thepromotion of meat on televi-sion, suggesting that every TVcommercial that promotes

“flesh-food” should be fol-lowed by one showing, step bystep, how the living pig andthe living cow become thesupermarket commodity.

Next to be criticised wereso-called celebrity chefs whoeagerly encourage millions ofviewers to eat meat and“believe that animals shouldhave no right to live”.

“If Jamie 'Orrible [Oliver]is so certain that flesh-food is

Go veganby train

Microsoftsite helpsbile bearsIT giant, Micr osoft, is sup-porting the campaign to endbear bile farming in China.

The company has devel-oped an interactive websitethat will explain to millions ofChinese school kids the plightof the abused animals.

Entitled “Exploring MoonBears”, the Internet Explorer-enhanced site presents threestory books which relate thepast, present and future ofbears that have been rescuedfrom bile farms.

Wei Qing of Microsoft saidthe company is pleased to becollaborating with AnimalsAsia on the site. He said ithelps stop bear bile farming“through a more vivid andinteractive online experience”.

Animals Asia founder andCEO Jill Robinson added:“We can’t thank Microsoftenough for their help. We aretruly inspired by their contri-bution and commitment toending bear bile farming.”

In China and Vietnam,over 12,000 bears are held incaptivity on farms and“milked” regularly for theirbile, which is used in tradi-tional medicine.

Make adonation

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tasty then why doesn't he stickone of his children in amicrowave?” Morrisseyremarked. “It would taste thesame as cooked lamb.”

He went on to question thementality of singer CillaBlack - “she recently appearedon television telling us howshe was preparing leg of lambfor dinner, and since a lamb isa baby, I wondered what kindof mind Cilla Black couldpossibly have that would con-vince her that eating a baby isOK.”

World leaders, includingBarack Obama, were alsolambasted for their silence onthe environmental destructionand human disease and deathbeing caused by the meatindustry.

“I would also like to askmeat-eaters why they are socertain that animals deservesuch barbaric and horrifictreatment,” Morrissey con-cluded. “I would like to askmeat-eaters why they believethat animals should not haveany rights to live their ownlives, whilst humans fiercelydemand a god-given right tolive as they wish simply byreason of their birth alone.”

Morrissey’s best-selling“Autobiography” book is cur-rently available. Its successhas inspired him to work on anovel which is now half-com-plete. He is also soon to beginrecording his 10th solo album,the follow-up to 2009's 'YearsOf Refusal'.

THE CEO of vegan meatalternative company, BeyondMeat, has declared that a dietchange is the best way totackle climate change.

Ethan Brown said in a CNNMoney interview that “how weproduce protein is the mostimportant environmental ques-tion facing our society today.”

He set up the company,whose plant-based productrange includes grilled andSouthwest-style chicken-free

strips - to help reduce consump-tion of animals and lessen thelivestock industry’s negativeenvironmental impact.

“I try to encourage people toshift to plant protein,” he said.“I think that's the number onething that people can do in theirlifetime to positively impactclimate change.”

Beyond Meat products canbe purchased in Whole FoodsMarket stores.

CEO says change diet totackle climate change

Vegan hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons encouraging com-muters to “Get on Board - Go Vegan” in a new PETA cam-

paign running on the Tide light rail in Norfolk, Virginia.

KEEPING IT RAIL!

Page 16

VEGANS RUN INTO THERECORD BOOKS WITH

366 MARATHONS

The pair, who on New Year’sDay, completed a record-breaking 366 consecutivemarathons, fuelled theirfabulous feat on a wholly rawvegan diet.

The healthy variety of fruitand vegetables consumed arenot only life-sustaining butalso life-saving.

In 2001, Janette was toldtime was running out for herafter being diagnosed withbreast cancer. Determined toprove the doctors wrong, shewent vegan and soon reversedthe prognosis - a turnaroundshe documents in her book,“Raw Can Cure Cancer”.

“I wanted to do somethingto change [the prognosis] andI just made a lot of really con-scious lifestyle choices, espe-cially with food and eatingonly 100 per cent nutrient-laden food which is fruit andveg,” she recalls. “I stoppedcooking it so I wasn’t losingany of it. That helped the bodyto rejuvenate and reverse the

situation.” It’s a diet that hascontinued to serve the couplewell.

In preparation for theirmonumental Running RawAround Australia adventure,they calculated how manycalories their bodies needed tocomplete each leg of the15,000 km journey.

This was covered by con-suming 10 bananas, a grape-fruit and a date smoothie forbreakfast, another 10 bananasand a large green smoothielater in the morning and a fruitsalad in the afernoon followedby three oranges.

When each run was com-plete, they enjoyed a rejuve-nating dinner of veggie juice,avocados and a huge veg-etable salad.

Their days began at 03.50when the alarm sounded andafter the first of the morningmeals, they were on the road -usually before 5am.

Speaking to ABC Radio,

Alan said that they were soreduring the first few weeks asthey got used to the daily rou-tine.

“After that, it's actuallybecome easier every day,” herevealed. “I really don't thinkwe've had any days when wedidn't think we could make it.But we had a few longer daysthrough extremes of heat. Wehad some 44 degree daysgoing up into Canberra.”

The pair also had to con-tend with freezing tempera-tures, a cyclone, hailstones,floods and a bushfire.

So what’s next for theseawesome athletes? They saythey will continue to run andspread the word about the rawvegan diet.

Planned for 2014 is aspeaking tour of Australia andan appearance in August atNew York’s Woodstock FruitFestival. They are also writinga book about their experiencesand will be featured in a spe-cial documentary.

Donations to their chosencharities may be made atwww.runningrawaroundaus-tralia.com

THE decision to adopt a raw vegan diet helped savethe life of Janette Murray-Wakelin, the NewZealanderwho, with husband Alan, have won world-wide acclaim for their sensational running record.

It’s Sochigreat dietRaw vegan power propelsAlexei Voyevoda forward

RAW vegan powerhouseAlexei Voyevoda is astrong candidate for amedal at the WinterOlympics in Sochi.

Voyevoda, a three-timearm wrestling world cham-pion and a two-time Olym-pic bobsleigh medalist is amember of the 2014Russian bobsledding teamand says he wants to wingold.

“My role on the team isto stop the bobsleigh,” hetold the Moscow Times. “Ido this with the strength Ihave acquired through armwrestling.”

Voyevoda maintains his

foods that are cooked.

The Sochi native is onrecord as saying that whenhe switched meat for fruitsand vegetables, he felt bet-ter and experienced “in-creased speed and streng-th”.

“You just need to eat theright foods, among whichthe meat is not included,”he is quoted as saying onXSportNews.com.

it. I encourage you to try ahealthy lifestyle. Maybe youlike it. I like it.”

As an official ambassadorof the Sochi Games taskedwith encouraging people toadopt a healthy lifestyle,Alexei is a powerful rolemodel.

See him and the Russianbobsleigh team in action atthe Winter Olympics onFebruary 16 and 17.

“I've experimented withdiet a lot,” he explains in avideo interview posted onYoutube.

Comparing his perform-ances on various diets, hereveals that on the meat anddairy diet, he “lacked ener-gy” while the raw vegan dietis “very effective”.

Asked about dairy prod-ucts, he said: “At first I atedairy products and drankmilk. Then I stopped.” Askedif he is vegan, he replied“Yes, I am.”

While adjusting his dietin winter to eat some cookedfoods, his preference is clear-ly for raw foods.

impress i vestrength on avegan diet -raw most ofthe year ex-cept in winterwhen he sayshe eats some

“In the summ-er we have theopportunity toeat fresh veg-etables andfruits and tobe raw veg-ans,” he stat-ed. “Just tryCheeke is favourite veg athlete

BODYBUILDING supremoRobert Cheeke has beenvoted favourite vegan athletein an annual online poll.

The “Vegan Bodybuilding& Fitness” author took thetop spot in the 2013 Go VeganStay Vegan survey of “thevery best that the veganworld has to offer”.

One of the world’s mostrecognised bodybuilders,Robert Cheeke is a former

International Natural Body -building Association Champ-ion and the founderand pres-ident of Vegan Bodybuilding& Fitness.

“A vegan diet is very con-ducive to success in athleticsbecause plant-based wholefoods provide the best sourcesof nutrition, coming fr omtheir original forms,” he says.

“Whether we’re referringto running, swimming, foot-

ball or bodybuilding, all ath-letes and non-athletes alike,can benefit from a plant-based, whole food vegandiet/lifestyle.”

Vegan since the age of 15,Robert Cheeke was previous-ly praised by VegNews Mag-azine as one of the 15 mostinfluential vegan athletes.

He appears on the coverofthe current edition of VeganHealth and Fitness Magazine.

Page 17

Elite marathon runner smashesseven continents world record

Olympicssilver forDuhamelRAWESOME!

A RAW vegan couple from NewZealand has set a stunning worldrecord by running 366 consecutivemarathons around Australia.

Janette Murray-Wakelin, 64, andAlan Murray, 68, began their plant-powered journey on January 1st 2013near Melbourne and ran into the recordbooks a year later after clocking up over15,000 kilometres.

The pair, who previously completed50 marathons in 50 days along thelength of New Zealand, took on the newchallenge to raise money for charitiesand promote the vegan diet.

Janette said that their aim during theround-Australia journey was to conveya message of kindness and compassionto all living beings, to show that any-thing is possible and that you’re nevertoo old and never too young!

“We hope that what we have donewill bring great inspiration and motiva-tion to people worldwide and we knowthat we have touched thousands of peo-ple by what we've done,” she said. “Wefeel blessed to have been part of bring-ing that message forth.”

Cancer survivor Janette is livingproof that the raw vegan diet not onlynourishes the body but can also heal ittoo.

She explains that 13 years ago, shewas diagnosed with highly aggressivecarcinoma breast cancer and given sixmonths to live.

Turn to page 17 to read more

Record-breaking performanceby plant powered partners

VEGAN figur e skater,Meagan Duhamel, is cele-brating after winning a sil-ver medal at the WinterOlympics in Sochi.

Meagan and pairs partnerEric Radford, along with theCanadian team, won themedals in the team skatingevent, finishing ahead of theUS and behind host Russia.

This is the latest major suc-cess for Meagan and Eric whopreviously won gold at the2013 Four Continents champi-onships and for the past threeyears in a row, have beencrowned the Canadian nation-al champions.

On their way to a win earli-er this year in Ottawa, theyachieved a stunning newnational record with a totalscore of 213.62.

Ontario native Meagancredits going vegan in 2008with making her spectacularjumps “more effortless”.

“I have a better balance inmy body. I sleep better. Myskin is better. My energy lev-els are better. I feel stronger,calmer, and more at peacewith everything,” she has said.

In an interview with Vivala Vegan, she revealed thateveryone is supportive of herlifestyle.

“The other athletes love thetreats I bring to competitionsand often ask me for recipes,”she said. “I try to talk to any-one who is interested. I am notsurrounded by any other veg-ans in my life so I'm advocat-ing alone for veganism!”

VEGAN running star FionaOakes has smashed a worldrecord after completingseven marathons on all sevencontinents in less than 26hours.

Vegan Society patron,Fiona, recorded an aggregatetime for the gruelling chal-lenge of 25 hours and 54 min-utes - that’s nearly three hoursless than the previous femalerecord.

She has also become thefirst vegan to finish the sevencontinents plus north polemarathon challenge.

Achieving this over a periodof 225 days, she well and trulydemolished the previousfemale record of 324 days.

Her aggregate time for theSeven Continents and PolarIce Cap marathons is also aworld record at 31 hours and12 minutes.

Among her other remark-able feats is running the 153mile Marathon des Sables in2012.

Considered the toughestfoot race on earth with temper-atures as high 50 C and stagesas long as 50 miles, Fiona

completed the Sahara coursein just six days.

A retained firefighter and acarer of hundreds of animals atTower Hill Stables, the Essexanimal sanctuary she foundedin 1993, Fiona enters theendurance events to raisemoney for animals and also topromote veganism.

With her boundless dedica-tion to animals and awe-inspir-ing achievements in athletics,there can be no doubt that this“Queen of the Extreme” is oneof the greatest ambassadors forcompassionate living.

I Want to Win GoldVegan bobsledder Alexei Voyevoda