I just wanted to put a link to this site.
Check it out! It’s a virtual 3-D representation of what life is like for a battery hen cage. The maker has a few other projects in the works to help people visualize the real impact of factory farming on the lives of animals.
Educate yo’self!
Archive for Environmental
Virtual Battery Hen Cage
Another Unpublished Letter
Surfing some new Vegan websites I am reminded of another letter to the editor (the last one was for closing the tragedy called the Utica Zoo) that I submitted on behalf of local animals, that again didn’t make it. But we keep writing.
This one is about horse racing, to the editor of The Observer-Dispatch (Utica NY):
Dear Editor,
I am glad to see that Vernon Downs had to cancel yet another horse race. The public is obviously wising up to the fact that animal racing is cruel and antiquated, as evidenced by the track’s financial losses. People just don’t want to participate in this cruel sport.
Every year, about 800 racehorses sustain a fatal injury on the track, and thousands more sustain serious injury on the racetrack but are forced to continue racing. Those that are “spent” are euthanized or sold to slaughterhouses to make glue and pet food. The industry itself is corrupt and animals are bred solely for certain ‘desirable’ traits which actually weaken the horses and make them more susceptible to injury.
Animals are not ours to use for entertainment. Let’s set an example in the Mohawk Valley by continuing to shut down Vernon Downs and look for other ways to generate revenue in our beautiful region. Please boycott local horse racing.Thank you.
Sort of funny story is that right after I submitted this letter, I was actually interviewing for a position in the newsroom when the managing editor who recieves these letters walked in. I introduced myself and watched the lightbulb go on as he made sounds of recognition. Now we just have to start printing them, Mr. D!
Speaking of Zoos, The Sun Magazine has some great articles right now about this sorry institution. Some very good points are raised in the feature article by Derrick Jensen. I don’t see how anyone can argue now that zoos are in anyway ‘natural’ or that they serve some purpose of education for our youth.
Vegetarian Video
I thought this video was cool because it promotes vegetarianism with positives rather than negatives about animals 
. Enjoy!
Runs on veggies …
I left work early today. (actually I am there on more of a volunteer basis now.)
So I biked over to the local public library to see if I could put up a poster for my first Wellness Workshop that hun and I are putting on in August. Found out, however, that they only allow non-profit orgs to post their stuff there.
As I walked in though, I noticed something I’ve never seen in Utica before, something which made me smile and was a bit serendipitous (spelling?) : “The Veggie Voyager” – a van with posters all over it explaining veg oil engines… turns out the owner is Jay Mankita, a rather well-known singer/songwriter who travels around doing children’s programs and concerts.
I talked to him for a few moments to see what his deal is — turns out he also writes for the blog The Jew & The Carrot, on “Jews, food and contemporary issues.” After noticing my anti-war button on my coat, he gave me a few CDs to possibly review, which includes some good-natured political criticism. It’s good to run into people who are really doing things they believe in and I definitely give press and props to those people. It is also affirming to me and happened just in time to keep me from losing heart …
I think I’m going to start putting a sign on my back when I bike:
“Runs on Veggies”
Cafe Gratitude
This is an awesome concept for a restuarant, and not unlike the idea that hunny and I had come up with [if we ever open a restaurant] – It’s Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco, a raw-vegan joint where all the menu items are named declarations like “I am Abundant,” “I am Generous,” “I am Loving.” Ah! I love it!! This is what food is about – positive energetic exchange, putting love and intention into your body. Good for them for taking it mainstream.
I have to add, they are graduates of Landmark Education, a phenomenal ontological inquiry/education company.
What I’m Writing TWO
Oh yeah. I sent this in to my local paper who was soliciting “Veiwpoint” pieces on the local zoo [*I've had one other piece in the Viewpoints section*]. I know I don’t have the most popular ‘opinion’ on this, but I gave it a shot. The topic was whether taxpayers should continue to fund the Utica Zoo. My response didn’t make it:
Since the Zoo has been struggling for so long to make ends meet, we have to keep in mind the quality of life for the animals. Zoos, and this one in particular, are an unfortunate byproduct of antiquated values about wildlife and conservation education. They are exploitative of animals and an insult to sensible humanity.
Rather than enable the mismanagement of this facility to continue, the Zoological Society should focus on making a plan to ethically shut down the facility as the animals come to the end of their natural lives. The Zoo could also focus on creating better conservation education programs like wildlife rehabilitation and release. A transition to this kind of education which does not use live animals in unnatural environments would be ideal. That way, kids and people learn respect for nature without the exploitation.
To people who say that zoos are fun because kids get to see live animals, I argue that conservation education can be even more fun; conservation programs would be constructive and encourage more critical and abstract thinking, without the passive activity of viewing caged animals.
I realize it is not popular opinion that zoos are exploitative, but they are. Slavery was thought normal until many people stood up and said it was wrong. It would be great if the Zoological Society took a stand on this issue and were really advocates for animals instead of perpetuating this self-interested drain on local economy.
