Victory! Teacher Commits to Keeping Animals Out of the Classroom November 16, 2009

Posted by Marta at November 16, 2009 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 ) | TrackBack

You may remember when Rachel told you about a high school teacher who allowed gerbils to starve to death in her classroom recently. Check out the update on this from PETA's Liz Graffeo below, and then head over to our Take Charge page to see what you can do to help animals right now!
-Marta

Classrooms are for students, not animals. This is the conclusion that Margaret Barthel, the head of the science department at Tampa, Florida's Freedom High School, has finally come to after an appearance in court this week (which PETA attended in full force!) resulted in Barthel being punished for cruelty to the animals she kept in her classroom.

In Barthel's classroom at Freedom High, several class "pets" were abused and neglected. Of the animals that suffered; nine gerbils died after they were deprived of food and water for more than two weeks, finches died of exposure, and a ball python froze to death. As a result of the cruelty citations, Barthel has relinquished her (still living) ball python to Hillsborough County Animal Services, paid $1,000 for the snake's care, donated $500 to Animal Services and committed to keep animals out of her classroom permanently.

We're hoping that in light of this incident Freedom High School Principal Chris Farkas will heed our calls and prohibit the use of animals in all of the school's classrooms. Please use this form to let him know that students can and do learn about responsibility, animal behavior, and hands-on science without keeping animals on display in their classrooms.

-Liz

peta2 + Florida Colleges = <3 (PICTURES!) November 3, 2009

Posted by Ryan at November 3, 2009 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

The peta2 College Campaigns division has really been running at full throttle over the past couple of weeks, so we figured it was time for an update! Sure, you've heard about our all-star campus outreach crews, dominating colleges from coast to coast, but what else have we been up to?

Well, for starters, I traveled deep into the heart of Swamp territory to visit the University of Florida. Working with the superstar student group at UF, called EnVeg, peta2 helped host PETA vice president Bruce Friedrich for an on-campus talk titled "Meet Your Meat." The event even featured free vegan ice cream!

Of course, as anyone who has ever seen our "Start a Buzz" video knows, it takes more than flyers to ensure a large event turnout. We had to pull out the sidewalk chalk! Enter the students of EnVeg, taking over the campus in the middle of the night ...



As expected, we caused so much of a stir that a packed room of UF students turned out to hear what all of the fuss was about!



The event even caught the attention of the student newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator, which wrote a great article, helping us to reach thousands more students.

Elsewhere in the state though, my buddy Adrianne was holding down peta2's Liberation display at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and the University of South Florida (USF). For those who haven't checked it out, Liberation is a traveling educational exhibit that draws the parallels between the abuses humans have inflicted on each other, with the abuses we currently inflict on animals.

While at UCF, our crew couldn't resist the opportunity to join the student group, BARC, at the legendary vegan hotspot, Ethos Vegan Kitchen. Here's our buddy Kortney enjoying a delicious curry tofu wrap ("one of the best things on the menu, next to Yo' Mamma's Lasagna").



At USF, we worked with the student group, SPEAK, to really focus on animal testing issues. Some students on campus even admitted to performing cruel tests on hammerhead sharks! Who does that?



Well, that's it for this week. Stay tuned for more updates soon. You never know where peta2 is going to pop up next!

Veganized the Dining Halls at USF! April 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 5, 2009 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

Written by Meg Malek, president of Students Protecting the Environment and Animals with Knowledge (S.P.E.A.K.)

I stopped eating at our dining halls a while ago, because they really didn't have the food I wanted to eat. I determined that if I didn't eat there, that I would save money and eat good veggie recipes that I actually wanted, or at least better ones than they were serving. So when a couple friends came to me to discuss a vegetarian/environmental club I was all for it, and soon we discussed our dining options. I emailed peta2 for support. In addition to the campaign pack we got, we heard that a peta2 crew would be passing through town, and they could help us petition for the better menus!

Together, we gathered more than 3,000 petition signatures from students!

When we talked to our dining services, things went incredibly well. They told us that their job is to hear our wants in the food service, and they were happy to respond to our requests. We stated our desires and showed them the thousands of signatures that we obtained over two days of petitioning. We discussed their options for vegans and vegetarians. They had choices, but they were uninspired and repetitive. They would frequently put out steamed corn or steamed vegetables and call it vegan, and although they would have several of these options, we explained gently that we still needing of sustenance, not just the side dish here and there to satisfy us. We gave them the recipes that peta2 recommended, as well as excerpts from other Aramark cafeterias of their success with obtaining more and better vegetarian and vegan foods in their menus.



Within three days, they started labeling the items they already sold that were vegan and vegetarian as such, and people were definitely reacting. The dining halls added veggie bacon and veggie sausages, and they're even looking into soy "eggs" for the omelet bar!

There is a very popular ice cream machine that everyone visits before they leave the food halls. It is and always has been vegan ice cream (something that we were unaware of before our meeting), but now it's clearly labeled!



They still serve a lot of the items they had before, such as a seared sesame tofu over rice, but now they're adding things to the dish to make them a more complete meal. In that case, they added sesame vegetables. Also, they implemented a program where students can go into any restaurant and ask for specific items to be combined in a "make your own meal" fashion. All the appropriate signage has been placed now so that everybody knows the new policies.

Quite a success for a group that's only three months old, huh?

FGCU is Officially a "KFC-Free Zone"! April 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 5, 2009 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

Power of One’s campaign to make FGCU a KFC-Free Zone

Written by Regina Bale, President of the Power of One student animal rights group at FGCU

Power of One (more affectionately known as POO) began planning to make Florida Gulf Coast University a "KFC-Free Zone" in late September. We decided on our goals for the campaign to get 1000+ signatures on our petition, to let the student body know about KFC's horrific practices when it comes to animal welfare, and to pass a resolution in the Student Senate by the end of the year banning KFC from the FGCU campus.

 

October is when we really got our feet wet. We created a Facebook group, sent out emails to our entire group, and tabled in the Student Union every Tuesday and Thursday from 2-4pm for the entire month of October. On the 6^th we had our annual event the Walk for Farm Animals to benefit Farm Sanctuary and asked all walk participants to sign our petition.

 

In our university’s news paper Eagle News we had a shout out published in the issue from Oct. 10^th stating “Kick the Bucket KFC Stinks.” On the 11^th the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education invited us to a student dialogue about food systems and climate change where we were able to talk about our university’s current and future food systems that would not include KFC. We were also invited to participate in the housing De-Stress Yourself event on the 16^th where we talked about healthy eating, brought out an awesome skateboarding martial arts chicken, and spread the word about our KFC campaign. By the end of October we had collected 330 signatures

 

Throughout November POO petitioned at all meetings and events including having POO members take time at the beginning and end of classes to ask for signatures. Our biggest event in Nov. was the Animal Shelter Benefit Concert which alone produced 140+ signatures for the petition and made for an incredible animal friendly night. We also tabled our Turkey Day events including our Gentle Thanksgiving potluck.

 

As November came to a close we had roughly 500 signatures and had many Student Government (SG) senators sign the petition and suggest we move toward writing a resolution to ban KFC officially. In December we met with the Senate President who introduced us to the senator on the food services committee. Over the holiday break we wrote the resolution and in early January put it through the senate. We also made packets for the senators and committee members with leaflets and DVDs chronicling the appalling treatment of KFC chickens. During the first few weeks of January we wrote the senators, the president of the senate, and the SG president with our concerns about KFC. Our concerns also went to the food services committee along with the signatures collected.

 

Eagle News published an article about our campaign titled “Animal rights group petitions to keep KFC off campus” in the January 16^th issue and published another shout out on the 23^rd stating “Keep KFC Out!” On January 29, 2008 the resolution was read, reviewed, questioned, and then voted on, passing 14 to 2!

Click the image to view the full article!

University of Florida’s Amazing Animal Activists April 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 5, 2009 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

Animal Activists of Alachua (AAA) is one of those campus groups that you want to join even if you don't go to the school. This University of Florida-based group does it all—from regular leafleting to holding free vegan cooking demonstrations. AAA’s copresident Beth Murdock recently had some time to answer a few questions about what makes the group so successful. Here's what she had to say, in her own words:

What are some of the most successful events that you have held on campus?

Every year, Animal Activists of Alachua hosts VegFest. We serve free vegan food (donated by local and national vendors) to over 600 students on campus. Students are offered animal rights literature, and AAA volunteers answer any questions they have. We also bring two speakers to the event to expose students to even more animal rights. Last year, we brought vegan bodybuilder Kenneth Williams and Farmer Brown [a vegan and former farmer who raises awareness about factory farming]. Another major event was Vivisection Awareness Week, which included tabling, an Animal Testing Film Festival, debates on the efficacy of animal experimentation, and a speaker. There was also a march through campus and demonstration against primate experimentation attended by over 50 people and covered by radio, TV, and print media.

What advice can your group offer to other student organizations looking to promote animal rights at their schools?

Be organized—plan events well into the future. Be persistent—with every failure, there is a victory around the corner! Learn from your mistakes; do not let them overcome you. I would say to have a plan: Know what you want to do and come up with milestone goals to meet along the way. One thing I would do differently is be proactive rather than reactive: Don't let others dictate your agenda, and don't react to every single animal issue on campus; you’ll spread yourself too thin too fast. Pick your battles and see them through to the end. Two things are important to building membership: social ties (people want to meet other kids with similar interests and feel like they are a part of the group) and a campaign with a foreseeable end. We had a bunch of people jump on board for the gestation crate initiative, and when it was over, we had this group of people who wanted to help animals with a lot of energy and nowhere to put it; this makes a great foundation for a visible campus/community AR organization.

How are the dining options for vegetarians and vegans on campus?

The Hare Krishnas serve vegetarian lunches, always with a vegan option, on campus every weekday for $3. The dining halls have a "Vegan Corner" that serves meals like Tofu Creole and Zucchini Lemon Couscous. Vegan Corner's options are limited, but we hope to change that soon!

What are your plans for the upcoming year?

We hope to increase awareness of animal rights issues to both students and community members by tabling and fliering more. We would like to encourage the University of Florida to use only cage-free eggs in its dining halls. We would also like to revamp VegGuide, a Web site that lists vegan-friendly restaurants across Florida. We want to increase the social bonds between members of Animal Activists of Alachua by holding more events to get to know one another. At the end of the year, we hope to compile a recipe book of our members' favorite recipes.

peta2 Continues Domination of FL Universities ... and Vegan Restaurants January 29, 2009

Posted by Marta at January 29, 2009 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 ) | TrackBack

Hey there!

Your peta2 touring crew is checking in again to give you an update on how our travels through Florida have gone over the past week. We've been continuing our work on college campuses, working with student animal rights groups and munching on some incredible vegan food.

Over the past few days we've visited Florida State University and Florida A&M getting the word out about animal rights to the students on those campuses. We worked with V.E.R.D.E., which stands for Vegetarians/Vegans Encouraging Responsible Dietary Ethics, to improve the veg options in their dining halls. They're a very impressive and dedicated group and we thoroughly enjoyed helping them in their goal of getting healthier food on FSU's campus. To find out how you can get better veg options at your school, check this out.

We also stormed the Florida A&M campus with our Meat's Not Green campaign to inform students there how the environment is being affected by the mass raising of animals for food. We received a welcomed response from many students who had no idea what our environment was going through because of the meat industry. To find out how you can be a part of amazing experiences like these check out peta2's job opportunities.

Before I go, I must, of course, clue you in on a fantastic vegan-friendly cafe in Tallahassee. It's called All Saints Café. We had some amazing vegan tiramisu cupcakes, black bean and sweet potato burritos, and vegan pasta salad with apples.




Well that's it from us for now. Keep animals in your hearts and minds!

Keep it vegan!

Joey

The peta2 Road Warriors in Florida January 22, 2009

Posted by Marta at January 22, 2009 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 5 ) | TrackBack

Hello Readers!

It's your peta2 Road Warriors checking in from our recent college tour. We've been in Florida for the past week rocking it on the campuses of the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida (which also happens to be one of our top 10 most veg friendly colleges).

While on the UCF campus, we worked with their student animal rights group to help ban the Shrine Circus from coming to their campus. We let people know that animals in the circus are beaten to "train" them to perform.

To find out more on the evil doings at circuses, just head over to Circuses.com. Also while in Orlando, we stopped by Ethos for some amazing soy cheese pizza—directly after helping the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) group protest the Ringling Bros. Circus.




To find out how you can be part of awesome experiences and journeys like these head to peta2.com/jobs.

Today marked our first day of college work at the University of Florida with our Meat's Not Green campaign. We hit up the campus to gain support and spread the word on how badly our planet needs us to take charge and change the global warming problem we face. The number one way to do so is to stop supporting the factory farming business, which, according to a study done by the United Nations, is the number one cause of greenhouse gases.


We were also treated to a great vegan lunch at UF's Broward Dining Hall. They have an all you can eat buffet that features some mouth watering vegan dishes, including vegan chili and penne pasta.

Well that's it from us for now, but make sure to keep an eye out for us and definitely come say hi. Keep our animal friends in your hearts and minds!

Keep rockin'!

Joey