Switch to green power
Buy locally grown food, and organic where possible
Buy fresh food over frozen
Buy less meat
Offset your impact on the planet’s resources by investing in renewable energy projects
It is significant that Al Gore includes in his list of action steps for people to take to help stop global warming the urge to consume less meat.
The remains of Gladys Hammond have been returned to her original grave in Staffordshire, England. She was related to the Hall family, who were targeted by animal rights activists because they bred guinea pigs for research. In 2004, Hammond’s remains were stolen from her grave. Earlier this month, three animal rights activists involved in the theft of her body were jailed for 12 years each. The guinea pig farm closed in 2005.
Also Britain’s Daily Telegraph reports that in a public opinion poll in response to the question, “Are these ways of protesting against the use of live animals in laboratory experiments reasonable or not?”:
93 percent agreed it is reasonable to “hold peaceful demonstrations in town centers”
88 percent agreed it is reasonable to “hold up placards showing the pain allegedly inflicted on animals”
15 percent agreed it is reasonable to “shouting abuse at people going to work in laboratories that use animals”
10 percent agreed it is reasonable to “threatening post on the internet names, addresses of people connected with firms that use animals”
2 percent agreed it is reasonable to “damaging, vandalizing property”
1 percent agreed it is reasonable to “issuing death threats”
1 percent agreed it is reasonable to “digging up, stealing the bodies of people allegedly connected with use of animals in research”
The case for animal rights is ours to throw away by our actions. The desecration of Hammond’s grave is our movement’s Abu Ghraib.
meat. Animal protein grown in a test tube for human consumption.
Now it’s the test tube rat. A microchip that uses clumps of cells from different organs linked by fluid-filled channels.
The former sounds to the Grumpy Vegan like the revolting meat analogues all the rage in an alarming, increasing number of vegetarian/vegan restaurants. But if the masses were to like it, well, who am I to complain?
The latter has the promise of contributing toward the demise of animal experimentation – claims, it should be noted, denied by Hurel Corps, Michael Shuler. “We’re not using this to replace animal studies. We’re trying to have more intelligent use of animals,” he said. (Nature, May 5, 2005)
Test tube meat. Test tube rats. What’s next? Test tube … answers in an e-mail, please.
Scientists at the University of S. Andrews in Fife, Scotland studying in Nigeria found that putty-nosed monkeys “share the uniquely human ability to string utterances together to convey messages.” Primate psychologists identified two call types – “pyows” and “hacks” – which the monkeys use to alert each other to danger. The BBC reported that a “string of pyows” warned of a nearby leopards while a “burst of hacks” warned of a hovering eagle.
Said one putty-nosed monkey, “If Descartes had visited us in the jungle we would have pronounced our ‘pyows’ and ‘hacks’ s-l-o-w-l-y and c-l-e-a-r-l-y to help him understand us.”
Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth (book and film) will deepen the public’s understanding of global warming and move the issue further into the political mainstream.
How should the animal protection movement react to these developments? First, we’ve yet to make the argument that frames animal protection centrally within the debate on global warming. Yes, we read about polar bears drowning in significant numbers as melting Artic ice forces them to swim longer and longer distances. Yes, we know that populations of Emperor penguins are significantly declining. But where are our statements positioning animal protection as a global warming issue?
What if there are going to be warmer winters, rising ocean levels and general disruption to ecological balances. How will they affect animals, particularly those animals bred, imprisoned and slaughtered for human use?
The animal protection movement reflects public opinion on global warming. We’re slow to catch on but waking up to the problem. Tragically, global warming presents us with an opportunity to position animal protection centrally as an environmental issue. International Fund for Animal Welfare, Greenpeace, The HSUS and others should be leading the charge.
The Grumpy Vegan was happy to attend Saturday evening’s (May 20) party in New York City. Standing out from the usual feast of celebrities rewarding each other for their goods deeds was Chicago alderman Joe Moore and U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). Joe was recognized for introducing the ordinance to ban the sale of foie gras in Chicago that eventually passed in 2006. As the only vegan on the Hill where the majority of his colleagues are over the hill, Dennis was appropriately recognized. Throughout the evening statements were made about expanding to other U.S. cities legislative efforts to ban the sale of foie gras. Such initiatives are, of course, to be applauded. But the Grumpy Vegan has seen the future. It’s England’s Leicester City Council, which recently adopted a policy committing itself to not purchase animal-tested cleaners, cosmetics, toiletries, soaps, and office supplies. What say you, Chicago?
