Putting Virtual Seal Slaughterers in Their Place April 14, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 14, 2009 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 5 ) | TrackBack

This past Saturday, we joined many others in World of Warcraft to battle four Horde seal killers to bring light to the current slaughter that's going on in Canada. Many joined our fight, including the mother seals who killed a bunch of Horde to stop them from bashing their seal babies' heads in. It makes you wonder how many baby seals would be killed in Canada if the mother seals were an equal match for the seal murderers

Though many additional Horde members came to slaughter seals and at times the Alliance were outnumbered, the battle was overall successful. Because of this battle, there are so many more people who know about the seal slaughter and exactly what happens to baby seals.



So thank you to all of those who came out to try to stop the seal slaughter. To learn more about how you can help IRL (that's "in real life", n00bs), please click here.

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?

My Spring Break With peta2! April 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 5, 2009 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

Written by Kyler Hamilton, a student at Hofstra University

Over spring break I joined in alongside my veggie-eating and animal-loving comrades for part of peta2’s collaboration with the Taste of Chaos Tour, an expedition across the nation. Driven by the surfacing issues relevant to the time, peta2’s campaigns are dedicated to one central focus each year. Currently, the target is the inhumane acts being committed in the fur industry.

On Tuesday, I headed up to Portland, Maine from my home in Mass to meet up with the group. Once I arrived I met up with Cody, who gave me a run down of the event, and introduced me to the other peta2 Road Warriors. After chilling for a bit and getting to know everyone, we headed outside to begin petitioning the line that had formed in front of the Civic Center. Not thinking I headed outside in a T-shirt and a button-up. After gathering around a hundred signatures my extremities began to go numb. So, I grabbed my coat and returned to gather more. Most people were more than willing to sign after hearing the horrific details of the fur industry.

Once the doors opened we headed inside and returned to our table. The Taste of Chaos Tour was one of the most exciting places I have tabled thus far. People responded well to the cause and were shocked by the video. It was a long day, but as it came to the end we tallied up the signatures and found we surpassed our goal of 1,000 signatures ending up with over 1,300. My experience as a peta2 Road Warrior has been an awesome one so far, and I am looking forward to spending the rest of my spring break on the road!

"I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" Demo at the University of Oregon! April 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 5, 2009 1:37 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

Written by Ciara Thomson & Curtis Taylor

I decided to do the "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" demonstration after seeing footage of animals being killed for their skins. The idea that there are animals out there, suffering in excruciating pain for someone else's vanity is a sickening thought to me. Unfortunately, I noticed that my college campus was plagued with fur trim coats. Most of them faux, of course, but too many of them were real. I wanted people to realize that they were literally wearing their ignorance on their sleeves, or at least their hoods! By deciding to "bare some skin to save some skin", we were was able to bring awareness of the cruel fur industry to many people. Most people don't want to take the time to watch footage of animals being killed so that some people can wear animals' beautiful skins as fashion accessories.

The demonstration was a big hit. The University newspaper covered the story very well. We ended up on the front page, and this allowed us to reach thousands of more students who may have missed our hour-long demo. The reporter was awesome. We couldn't have asked for a more fair report. We made sure to get the facts out there, because we know the type of abuse in the fur industry is not supported by most students. The demonstration was very well-received by most students, as well. We had so many people tell us that we were brave and doing the right thing. It brought a lot of attention because people would wonder what we were doing naked, and then they would see our banner and signs, and Curtis would hand them a leaflet.

Click on the image to view the full article!

After the demonstration on campus, we were so pumped up that we decided to take the banner and signs and had to Valley River Center, a local mall that has one store, Wilson's Leather, that sells fur. We stood out front of their main sign, approaching afternoon rush-hour, and got a big response with car honks and thumbs up by passersby. The local news came out and did a story on us as well when we were out here and played it at 6 and 11pm.

I am so thrilled that we were able to effectively communicate the horrors of the fur industry to so many people and I hope that others are inspired by this success story to try it yourself!

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.

Students Protest "Call of Duty" Promotion of Cruelty March 24, 2009

Posted by Ryan at March 24, 2009 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 12 ) | TrackBack

Nobody likes video games more than us at peta2. So as you can imagine, we—along with gamers worldwide—were thrilled to see the release of the latest installment in the Call of Duty series last winter.

That is, until we actually sat down to play the game, which requires players to shoot dogs, and even offers the opportunity to unlock the "reward" of releasing a pack of attack dogs on enemies. I don't know about you, but in a world that already has so much cruelty to dogs and other animals, this is not exactly the way I'd prefer to spend my evenings.

Thankfully, we aren't alone. As the Lowell Sun is reporting, students at the Academy of Notre Dame high school are so outraged by the promotion of cruelty to animals in the game that they launched a petition to the Call of Duty publishers, Activision, which already has more than 100 signatures on it.

When asked why she wanted to make this issue public, the student animal rights group president, Breanna, told the paper (via GamePolitics.com):

"Killing dogs as a form of entertainment ... over and over again. That's one of the objects of the game," says Lucci, 19, a senior at NDA. "Parents need to know what they are buying their kids. Killing animals should not be a form of entertainment."

...

"My little 12-pound Pomeranian, Winnie the Pooh, is sitting next to [Lucci's brother as he plays the game], and I'm thinking, 'This looks horrible!'" Lucci says.

Lucci then adds, "My brother is a sweetheart. He won't be killing dogs after playing. But some people might."

We couldn't agree more.

What do you think? Post your comments below!

"Only Zombies Eat Flesh" at the University of Texas! March 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at March 5, 2009 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

Written by Kelly Sloan, President of Students Against Cruelty to Animals at the University of Texas.

Thursday, March 20th, is Great American MeatOut Day, a day devoted to spreading awareness about the effects of meat consumption on animals, humans, and the environment. The University of Texas animal rights group, Student Against Cruelty to Animals, held a rally on campus where we passed out free vegan food while dressed up as zombies to go with their theme of "Only Zombies Eat Flesh"!

People passing by were able to stop at the table, sample some delicious vegan sloppy joes, "beef" jerky, veggie burgers, and sign a pledge to go meat-free for a day, week, or a lifetime! We also left the table with tons of stickers and informational pamphlets.

Overall we felt the rally was really effective. Many people liked the food and chose to go veg for the rest of the day or try it out for a week. The costumes caught a lot of attention as we called out "Only zombies eat flesh, try vegetarian" and many found it hard to resist our leaflets!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! February 7, 2008

Posted by Marta at February 7, 2008 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 ) | TrackBack

On the Western calendar, today marks the first day of Chinese New Year, and guess what? It's the Year of the Rat!

Each year, countless rats are experimented on in cruel, ridiculous experiments, like for Mars candy. So to honor all of our little friends, please watch "Testing...One, Two, Three" below, and then pledge to buy only cruelty-free products.

So, Gung Hay Fat Choy (that's "may prosperity be with you" in Cantonese, FYI)!

♥ Marta

PS - If you haven't yet, enter to win some sweet cruelty-free lip balm!