Animal Writings

Props to my friends at the Baltimore Animal Animal Rights Coalition. I did some leafleting with them last night at a "So You Think You Can Dance?" show. The sudden, unexpected cloudburst added to the excitement. Also, recently the group got two restaurants in Baltimore to stop serving foie gras -- and their anti-foie gras campaign has just begun. This is a very active and committed grassroots organization; if you're in the Baltimore area, check them out.

I parked in a garage last night, and on the way out, right after paying, I gave the parking attendant a Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) "Are We Good Stewards of Creation?" handbook. The attendant said "Thanks, I'll read this." It's one of those things that you play by ear, but the folks who have this job often have boring stretches where they don't have much to do, so they may enjoy something to read. With the caveat that you always have to be polite and gracious and so forth, if the person is wearing a cross, you could offer her/him the CVA booklet. Or you could offer a vegetarian/vegan starter kit. In the DC area, you could offer the Compassion Over Killing guide to veg-friendly establishments.

Finally, let me tell you about some new (I think) handouts from Farm Sanctuary:

• The Truth About Dairy
  
  Excerpt:
  
  
  With genetic manipulation and intensive production technologies, modern dairy cows typically produce 100 pounds of milk a day—ten times more than they would produce in nature. It is not uncommon to see dairy cows with udders so heavy and swollen that they are unable to walk properly.


• The Truth About "Humane" Meat, Milk, and eggs
  
  Excerpt:
  
  
  Given that males don't lay eggs, and because breeds used for egg production don't grow fast enough to be raised profitably for meat, male chicks are discarded shortly after hatching. The young chicks are killed by the cheapest and easiest means available, including suffocation in plastic garbage bags and dumpsters, or being ground up alive in machines.


• The Truth About Leather, Wool & Fiber
  
  Excerpt:
  
  
  Down...from the breasts of geese and ducks, is either plucked painfully from live animals or scalded off their bodies at the time of slaughter. The animals are forced to live in large warehouses, and two or three times a year they endure a painful de-feathering procedure. After a torturous life, the geese and ducks are sent to slaughter.

I promise I'll get back on track with my "message" series real soon.

Labels: activism, Christian Vegetarian Association, CVA, dairy, Farm Sanctuary, humane meat, leather, wool