With Statistics Like These Who Needs Friends?

by Kim W. Stallwood Posted on October 16, 2009

76% think that hunting wild mammals with dogs is cruel.

97% do not want dog fighting made legal again.

96% do not want badger baiting made legal again.

85% do not want hare coursing and hunting made legal again.

84% do not want deer hunting made legal again.

75% do not want fox hunting made legal again.

72% of people who live or work in the countryside do not want fox hunting made legal again.

59% of voters say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who backed repeal.

58% think that repeal of the Hunting Act should be the lowest Government rural priority.

3% think that Repeal of the Hunting Act should be a government rural priority.

From the League Against Cruel Sports InfoMail 16 October 2009. The Grumpy Vegan, along with every other thinking person, has to wonder why the Conservatives would want to repeal the ban if elected given such public opinion in support of it — other than it’s a symbolic issue for their most ardent rural supporters. Putting aside the animal cruelty issue, supporting the repeal of the Hunting Act is not a smart political position to be in.

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Killing Fields at the CIWF Web site

by Kim W. Stallwood Posted on October 15, 2009

Really good feature at the CIWF Web site about

A new investigation by the Ecologist and a coalition of pressure groups exposes the dark side of soy production for animal feed: deforestation, loss of biodiversity, depletion of natural resources and destruction of local communities.

It includes a film produced by Killing Fields: the battle to feed factory farms produced by Friends of the Earth, Food and Water Watch and with European coordination by Via Campesina.

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Idle Thoughts About Vegetarianism at the ASI Diary

by Kim W. Stallwood Posted on October 14, 2009

In an idle moment (admittedly not as a rare as I would like to think they are but still rare nonetheless) I found myself deducting the number 1974 from 2009 and thinking about the result: 35. This is the number of years I’ve been a vegetarian; 33 of which as vegan. Frankly, it surprised me. Of course, I know I’ve been a vegetarian for a long time but it seems so much longer now having done the maths. So, it’s true: as you get older time appears to pass more quickly than how it does when you’re younger.

Idle Thoughts About Vegetarianism

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Farewell Franzi

by Kim W. Stallwood Posted on October 9, 2009

If there’s one thing that the Grumpy Vegan thinks that differentiates those of us who care deeply about animals from the great unwashed, uncaring rest of what’s laughingly called humanity (well, yes, over the top but my defense is that it’s Friday afternoon and it’s true!) is how we react and our attitudes to when an animal dies.

As you read this animals are slaughtered by the billions throughout the world without thought or feeling. No moment of silence or touch of compassion for the 3,578th chicken slaughtered this morning in just one slaughterhouse or the life taken from the 173,834th rat killed in just one research laboratory so far this year.

So, when the Grumpy Vegan reads the account by Animal Asia’s Jill Robinson of her and her friends and colleagues saying goodbye to Franzi, I weep and wish that every animal killed by our stupid, selfish species will one day receive the same compassion.

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