News
The number of news found: 22.
08/30/2016 SLAUGHTERHOUSE WORKER JAILED FOR CRUELTY
Anthony Bagshaw of family-owned butcher shop S Bagshaw & Sons in Leek, England will serve 10 months in jail for 24 counts of animal cruelty. Bagshaw admitted to kicking a pig in the face, throwing sheep against a gate, and beating another sheep with a stun gun and metal shackle until the animal was unconscious. The key piece of evidence in the conviction was an undercover video pulled from a secret camera installed at the shop from August 2014 until March 2015 by animal-rights group Hillside Animal Sanctuary (HAS). In addition to his 10-month sentence, Bagshaw is barred from keeping any animals for 15 years.
08/29/2016 WASHINGTON STATE TO KILL WOLF PACK TO PROTECT PROFITS
The Department of Fish and Wildlife recently announced that they have authorized the killing of a group of endangered gray wolves called the Profanity Peak that are native to the state of Washington. The decision is influenced by local ranchers who have reported the deaths of five cows since mid-July. "The department is committed to wolf recovery, but we also have a shared responsibility to protect livestock from repeated depredation by wolves," Wildlife wolf policy department's Donny Martorello said. The wolf pack—which includes 11 members, five of which are pups—will be killed as a protection measure for what local cow ranchers see as a threat to profits. Cows are not native to the state of Washington.
08/27/2016 ONE IN 10 NEW PRODUCTS IN GERMANY IS VEGAN
According to a new report compiled by data analyst firm Mintel, one in every 10 new products released in Germany bears a vegan label. Moreover, the rate at which companies in the country are releasing vegan products is outpacing the development of vegetarian products—which account for six percent of new product launches. However, both vegan and vegetarian labels have grown immensely from their respective three percent market share in just two years. When compared to the rest of Europe, Germany accounts for 36 percent of all new vegan food and drink products, with the United Kingdom in second at 21 percent, and France and Italy following at seven and four percent, respectively.
08/26/2016 OPRAH URGES HER 33 MILLION FOLLOWERS TO GO MEATLESS
President of The Humane Society of the United States Wayne Pacelle appeared on Oprah Winfrey's show Super Soul Sunday this past weekend to discuss the connection of humans to animals. Winfrey credited Pacelle's new book The Humane Economy: How Innovators and Enlightened Consumers Are Transforming the Lives of Animals for raising her awareness about the connection between animal suffering and human consumption. Pacelle discussed the "schizophrenic" relationship we have with animals, proclaiming to love them while continuing to exploit them for food, fashion, and entertainment. Pacelle offered Winfrey advice on what small things people could do to have an impact on the lives of animals, telling her to go meatless on Mondays. After the show, Winfrey took to Twitter and urged her 33.5 million followers to go meat-free.
08/25/2016 FRANCE BANS TRADE IN IVORY TUSKS AND RHINO HORNS
Last week, France became the first country in the European Union (EU) to outlaw domestic trading in ivory tusks and rhinoceros horns. French Environment Minister Ségolène Royal signed a decree banning the trade in France and all French territories, far surpassing the EU's wildlife trade regulations, which sanction the sale of ivory that was obtained from an elephant before 1947. France's new law also makes it illegal to sell or restore ivory purchased before 1975, even if it was bought legally.
08/24/2016 DANCING VEGGIES WOW CROWD AT OLYMPICS CLOSING CEREMONY
At the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilians showed off their diverse musical talent and dance moves—including a large choreographed number with dozens of people dressed up as brightly-colored broccoli, bell pepper, raspberries, and other edible plants. Even at an event that featured a dance performed by clay people and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emerging from a giant green tube dressed as the classic video game character Super Mario, the fluorescent vegetable dancers delighted and mystified stadium spectators and television viewers. Amused Tweets flooded in to #ClosingCeremony expressing admiration.
08/23/2016 MILLENIALS DRIVING A RISE OF VEGANISM
Veganism is currently on the rise in many western countries, particularly for those under the age of 34. Berlin is considered the vegan capital of Europe with around 80,000 vegans, 10% of the total number of vegans in the Germany. Berlin is at the forefront of a vegan movement happening all over Europe, with Paris and London not far behind. Millennials are more health conscious and care more about the environment than previous generations, leading many of them towards a plant-based diet. In the U.S., the annual meat consumption per person has fallen 15% in the last year, according to The Star. Even those that aren't fully vegan or vegetarian are choosing to be meat-free at least several days a week, giving rise to the flexitarian moniker. Young people especially are becoming increasingly alarmed at the toll that meat production takes on our planet.Of course for many strict vegans, the main philosophy behind their lifestyle isn't necessarily land sustainability, or even health for that matter. They truly believe that animal husbandry shouldn't be practiced.
08/22/2016 EGYPTIAN MAKEUP ARTIST FIGHTS FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS
As Egypt's cosmetic industry grows, one make-up artist is on a campaign to raise awareness on the use of "cruelty-free" make-up. Mariam al-Khosht is dedicated to raise awareness about animal rights in the country by only using cruelty-free products in her work. The 31 year old make-up artist embarked on this journey after realising that most products are often tested on animals. "Bit by bit, I slowly started receiving clients, which wasn't my target at all. Nonetheless, clients have started calling me, asking for cruelty-free products, clients saying they love animals and that they want a makeup session using cruelty-free products. I really feel like hugging clients who care about animals. But I just never imagined that this would be my career, so I don’t market myself as a makeup artist," she said. Mariam's strong presence on social media has also helped her gain the support for her cause. She says she works only with clients who really care about how their cosmetics are made.
08/19/2016 BERLIN - VEGAN HAVEN AND FOREFRONT OF VEGAN MOVEMENT IN EUROPE
Since 2008, when there were just three completely animal-free restaurants, Berlin is adding another string to its bow as a vegan haven. Today, around 60 vegan restaurants on offer in the German capital makes it younger, more hyped, and more alternative than Munich, Paris or London. For example, Schivelbeiner Strasse in northeast Berlin, popular with startup workers and young parents, has become a "Vegan Avenue." Supermarkets, coffeehouses, clothes stores and shoe-shops makes this city comparable to New York in terms of options for vegans. Being vegan is no longer an abstemious practise over there. People are asking more and more questions about where the food on their plate comes from in order to eat more healthily or care a little more for the environment. Today in 2016, for 80,000 vegans living in Berlin, growth in what's on offer is the main reason this city became forefront of vegan movement in Europe.
08/18/2016 85% OF THE BELGIAN POPULATION WANTS TESTING ON DOGS AND CATS BANNED
The results of a recent survey conducted by Ipsos at the request of GAIA revealed that 85% of the Belgian population supports a ban on testing on dogs and cats. "GAIA asks the Ministers of Animal Welfare to abolish tests on dogs and cats, or at the very least to establish a concrete and effective strategy to gradually reduce these tests to zero in Belgium," says Michel Vandenbosch, President of GAIA. "The goal of our campaign is to end testing on dogs and cats - sensitive and vulnerable animals - which are obviously incapable of giving their consent, and with whom Belgians share a very strong bond." According to official statistics, 1,578 dogs and 120 cats were used in scientific experiments in Belgium in 2014. Broken down by region, 8 dogs were used in Brussels, 1,539 dogs and 90 cats in Flanders and 31 dogs and 30 cats in Wallonia.
08/17/2016 BRAVE ANIMAL RESCUERS BATTLE BATON ROUGE DELUGE
Baton Rouge, LA and surrounding areas were battered over the weekend by torrential thunderstorms that rained more than two feet of water in less than three days, leaving tens of thousands of homes and businesses flooded and residents scrambling for higher ground. At least 10 people and an untold number of animals have perished. However, more than 20,000 people and hundreds of animals have been rescued. A coalition of different groups—including the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), the Louisiana State Animal Response Team (LSART), local animal control agencies, and area shelters—is working together to rescue animals in distress from the floodwaters and take care of lost animals.
08/16/2016 FIRST PARTY DEDICATED TO ANIMAL RIGHTS LAUNCHED IN TAIWAN
The Taiwan Animal Protection Party, the nation's first political party dedicated to advocating animal rights, was on Aug 8 founded in Taipei, in a bid to make the animal rights movement a part of the political scene. Hundreds of people, including Buddhist monks and their followers, politicians and businesspeople, attended the party’s inauguration, at which a vote for a party leader was held. The party was founded with the support of Buddhist organizations.
08/12/2016 HUNDREDS OF STRAY DOGS POISONED IN CITY OF KARACHI
Officials have poisoned hundreds of dogs in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in the latest effort to curb a population of strays that attack thousands of people each year in the teeming mega-city of some 20 million. Bodies of dead dogs littered areas of the city where municipal workers gathered them for disposal. "At least 700 dogs have been killed only in two areas of Karachi's south in the last couple of days," said Sattar Javed, a spokesman for the municipal authority. The periodic culling of dogs using poison tablets hidden in chicken meat has drawn criticism from animal rights activists in Pakistan.
08/11/2016 ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS WANT TO CHANGE THE BAY'S NAME
Animal rights activists have urged Australian authorities to change the name of Eggs and Bacon Bay – an inlet on the island of Tasmania - to the more ''compassionate'' Apple and Cherry Bay. The bay's name has been labelled ''unhealthy'' by the Australian branch of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has written to the local Huon Valley Council to suggest a change. ''Considering the high levels of cholesterol and saturated fat in both eggs and bacon, the area might as well be called Heart Attack Bay,'' told Claire Fryer, from PETA Australia. ''Tasmania is known as the Apple Isle and the Huon Valley produces a lot of apples and cherries - and we think it's a much better, kinder, compassionate and healthy name for this particular area… This name change could be just what the doctor ordered.'' Peter Coad, the Huon Valley mayor, said the council will consider the change.
08/10/2016 GLORIA STEINEM AGAINST CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
In a united front against the drunken violence, growing numbers of rapes and sexual assaults, and cruelty to animals that allegedly occurred at this year’s San Fermín Running of the Bulls festival, feminist icon Gloria Steinem has joined PETA U.K. in signing a petition to Mayor of Pamplona Joseba Asirón calling for the event to be banned. The petition, which is also signed by women’s, children’s, and animal organizations—representing more than 5 million members and supporters—follows allegations of 11 sexual assaults, four rapes, and one attempted rape perpetrated against women, children, and men during the festival. Forty-eight bulls were struck and panicked as they were stampeded, slipping and sliding down the city’s narrow streets, only to end up in the bullring, where they were tormented, tortured, and killed.
08/09/2016 MORRISSEY DEMANDS FIVE AUSTRALIAN VENUES TO GO VEGAN
Singer Morrissey announced that he would play only at venues that do not serve animal products during his upcoming Australian tour. During an interview with Larry King, the former Smiths frontman - who released an album titled ''Meat is Murder'' - confirmed he was a long-time vegetarian but recently chose to go vegan. ''It’s the flesh-eaters that are the true cranks, and the farmers who look upon sheep and cows as their property,'' the singer said. ''It is morally wrong to make money from the death of any living being.'' Morrissey successfully had animal products banned from the general admissions area of Madison Square Garden last year, although meat was reportedly served to VIP guests.
08/08/2016 HILLARY CLINTON, TAKE A STRONGER POSITION FOR ANIMALS!
A Hillary Clinton rally in Las Vegas was briefly halted Thursday afternoon by a group of animal rights activists who accused the candidate of not sticking to her own platform. Direct Action Everywhere, the animal liberation network the activists are aligned with, issued a press release during the rally to further detail its platform, which called for ''Secretary Clinton to take a stronger position for animal rights and against the raising and killing of animals for food.'' Activist Kitty Jones released an open letter on behalf of the group that praised Clinton for having an animal rights platform but said the candidate’s support for the issue doesn’t go far enough. The letter called for an end to government subsidies for the meat industry and for ''affirmatively supporting legal personhood for nonhuman animals.''
08/05/2016 ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUP SHUTS DOWN LOBSTER BOIL AT INDUSTRY CITY
A group of animal rights activists disrupted a lobster boiling event at Industry City to call attention to animal abuse. Activists with Collectively Free — a pro-animal life group — protested The Great Brooklyn Lobster Boil event at Industry City by pouring fake blood on themselves, carrying signs, and addressed the crowd with messages about lobster cruelty. In one video shared by Collectively Free, security guards tried to remove the group as they began chanting, “Her whole life, your one meal, lobsters feel, lobsters feel,” and “If you want to get some peace, let the lobster torture cease.” Eventually, the group marched outside and continued protesting near the area where the lobster boil took place. As part of their demonstration, Collectively Free performed a reversal role skit called “Swap Speciesism.” In 2006, Whole Foods banned the sale of live lobsters and crabs in its stores — except those in Maine — citing that transporting, storing, and cooking live animals was inhumane.
08/04/2016 'ECO-SEXY' VEGAN SHOES TAKE ON LEATHER INDUSTRY IN BRAZIL
Insecta Shoes is an eco-friendly company in Brazil that turns recycled vintage dresses and plastic bottles into shoes. Despite the competitive leather industry and the continuing recession in the country, the firm - established in 2014 - has sold thousands of vegan shoes and earned its first million reais ($300,000; £230,000) last year. Owner and co-founder Barbara Mattivy says her shoes, which are made out of colourful patterns, sell well because they are "eco-sexy".
08/03/2016 VEGANS LIVE LONGER THAN THOSE WHO EAT MEAT OR EGGS
Vegans have substantially lower death rates than meat-eaters, a major study has found. The study has been published in the JAMA Internal Medicine Journal and reignites debate around increasingly popular vegan diets amid conflicting medical advice and evidence over their impact of proponents' health. The research was undertaken by scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital, who monitored health and diet records of more than 130,000 people over the course of thirty years. They found every three per cent increase in calories from plant protein was found to reduce risk of death by 10 per cent. The figure rises to 12 per cent for risk of dying from heart disease. The number of people in Britain who follow a vegan diet has increased 360 per cent over the course of the last decade.
08/02/2016 VEGAN 'BLOODY BURGER' HITS NYC FOOD SCENE
Impossible Foods, the Bay Area fake meat start-up that’s received millions in Silicon Valley venture funding, is now making a splash within the New York food scene. The completely plant-based burger that oozes a primal red color when squeezed tastes, apparently, just like beef. The company claims its burger uses 95 percent less land, 74 percent less water and emits 87 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than its cattle-derived counterpart. Impossible Foods is one of several fake meat start-ups that is scoring Silicon Valley buzz and dollars, while promising to disrupt the global food industry for the better. Beyond Meat makes a chicken breast alternative derived from pea powder and organic soy. And those meat alternatives can be served with a side of Just Mayo from Hampton Creek, a San Francisco-based food technology company that produces vegan alternatives and uses a varietal of yellow peas to mimic the creamy texture that eggs give to mayonnaise.
08/01/2016 GLORIA: THROWN IN A SKIP AND LEFT FOR DEAD
A chicken which was found alive in a skip full of dead birds at an intensive farm has been rescued by an animal rights group. ‘Gloria’ is now enjoying life as a family pet after she was found on the farm by Animal Equality. The campaign group had been collecting material for a film on the lives of factory farm chickens when they stumbled across the bird. UK Executive Director of Animal Equality, Toni Shephard, said: ‘The birds were just a few days old when we first filmed, and yet already the sheds and the bins outside them contained hundreds of dead chicks – so tiny, and still with their yellow baby feathers. Just a couple of weeks later, the skips were fuller still with the bodies of those who hadn’t made it, and many of the birds still in the sheds were showing signs of painful lameness. By our third visit, the skips were virtually overflowing with dead bodies.. Factory farming is a merciless business, but the biggest shock was yet to come: we found Gloria, a one-in-a-billion survivor.’
The number of news found: 22.
