May 4: Celebrate Respect for Chickens Day
The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than blacks were made for whites, or women for men. - Alice Walker
|
Our 'one thought' for meat-eaters this month: Pause, for just a few seconds, to reflect that a mother once loved the meat on your plate.
|
In this edition...
Top Stories |
 DawnWatch: Mourning and honoring vegan, animal rights star, Prince |
| A fave from the archives: A mother cow faced with her own 'Sophie's choice' |
Health |
| Meat-eaters twice as likely to have rage disorder |
| Video: The protein combining myth |
| Three myths about protein and a plant-based diet |
| Growing resistance to antibiotics fuels market for alternative livestock solutions |
Environment and World Hunger |
| Why going vegan for Earth Month can have a huge impact |
| A vegetarian world would be healthier, cooler and richer: scientists |
| Video: Sea Shepherd exposes the true toll of illegal driftnets |
| How the AP uncovered secret slavery behind the seafood in your supermarket |
| Reducing food waste could help mitigate climate change |
Lifestyles and Trends |
| Google says Australia is the most vegan curious, followed by NZ and Canada |
| Animal law quickly gaining momentum in Canada |
| Major Canadian retailers commit to 100 per cent cage-free eggs |
Animal Issues and Advocacy |
| Glasgow diner releases lobster into sea after saving it from restaurant |
| Animal cruelty or the price of dinner? |
| International respect for chickens day celebrates compassion for chickens |
| Animal sentience: What I learned from tickling apes |
| Bad news worse: Where Norway's whale meat ends up |
Books and Perspectives |
| Video interview: Bill Maher interviews HSUS president Wayne Pacelle |
|
|
|
Don't forget to visit:
|
|
Visit us on Facebook:
|
|
(Excerpts are included from current news stories. Click on the "Full story" link to read the full article.)
Top Stories 
|
DawnWatch: Mourning and honoring vegan, animal rights star, Prince
Full story: DawnWatch
We have all heard the shocking news that Prince has died. What much of the world has not heard is that Prince's extraordinary talent was matched by his compassion; he was a committed vegan animal rights activist.
The lyrics of Animal Kingdom, from the album "The Truth" ...
No member of the animal kingdom nurses past maturity
No member of the animal kingdom ever did a thing to me
It's why I don't eat red meat or white fish
Don't give me no blue cheese
We're all members of the animal kingdom
Leave your brothers and sisters in the sea
Read more... |
A fave from the archives: A mother cow faced with her own 'Sophie's choice'
Full story: Global Animal
Veterinarian Dr. Holly Cheever tells us about the dairy cow who briefly outsmarted a farmer in an attempt to save her offspring. This is not one extraordinary cow. This is every single cow forced to behave like a machine, delivering unnecessary and unhealthy milk for humans, while the baby she yearns to nurture with that milk is torn from her, to become veal on someone's plate. Dr. Cheever's ends by saying...as a mother who was able to nurse all four of my babies and did not have to suffer the agonies of losing my beloved offspring, I feel her pain. [Also of interest: Watch Dr. Cheever's relate the story here and adopt a Farm Sanctuary mom here.]
Read more... |
|
| Health
|
Meat-eaters twice as likely to have rage disorder
Full story: VegNews
A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry suggests that consuming undercooked meat is linked to Intermittent Explosive Disorder due to exposure to toxoplasma gondii-a parasite that, after initial infection, lies dormant in human brains. While it was previously believed that the parasite's dormant stage (called toxoplasmosis) had no physical effects, new research shows that the bug alters human brain chemistry, causing people to become more aggressive, reckless, and suicidal.
Read more... |
Video: The protein combining myth
Video source: NutritionFacts.org
 The myth that plant proteins are incomplete, necessitating protein combining, was debunked by the scientific nutrition community decades ago.
Watch video... |
NutritionFacts.org - April 25
|
Three myths about protein and a plant-based diet
Full story: VegNews
Protein has become widely recognized as a miracle macronutrient that, apparently, is challenging to acquire in effective doses. However, this is far from accurate. Let's clear up three of plant-powered protein's three most-common misconceptions...
Read more... |
|
Growing resistance to antibiotics fuels market for alternative livestock solutions
Full story: CTV
A hundred years ago, a small wound could result in death if an infection spread. That could become reality again as the world threatens to return to a pre-antibiotic era due to antibiotic resistance. Some have pointed to the widespread use of antibiotics in livestock feed as a culprit, resulting in urgent calls to quell their use and find alternatives.
Read more... |
|
| Environment and World Hunger
|
Why going vegan for Earth Month can have a huge impact
Full story: USA Today College
The average person consumes 7,000 animals in their lifetime, but according to the UN Environmental Program, the industry that supports that consumption is not sustainable. Here are the real, environmental benefits of a lifestyle free from animal byproducts, like meat and dairy...
Read more... |
USA Today College - April 14
|
A vegetarian world would be healthier, cooler and richer: scientists
Full story: Reuters
By eating less meat and more fruit and vegetables, the world could avoid several million deaths per year by 2050, cut planet-warming emissions substantially, and save billions of dollars annually in healthcare costs and climate damage, researchers said.
Read more... |
Video: Sea Shepherd exposes the true toll of illegal driftnets
Full story: Care2
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has released some heartbreaking footage showing the staggering toll the use of illegal driftnets is having on marine life.
Read more... |
How the AP uncovered secret slavery behind the seafood in your supermarket
Full story: PBS
An 18-month investigation into the use of slave labor in southeast Asia to bring seafood to American restaurants and supermarkets earned the Associated Press a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Since the report was made public, more than 2,000 slaves have been freed.
Read more... |
Reducing food waste could help mitigate climate change
Full story: ENN
About a tenth of overall global greenhouse-gas emissions from agriculture could be traced back to food waste by mid-century, a new study shows. A team from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research for the first time provides comprehensive food loss projections for countries around the world while also calculating the associated emissions. Reducing food waste would offer the chance to ensure food security, which is well known. Yet at the same time it could help mitigate dangerous climate change.
Read more... |
|
| Lifestyles and Trends
|
Google says Australia is the most vegan curious, followed by NZ and Canada
Full story: SBS
Aussies love their meat so news that Australia has topped Google's worldwide searches for the word "vegan" may come as a surprise. According to Google Trends, Australia ranks ahead of New Zealand and then Canada. It turns out that in all those "vegan" searches in Australia, it's Tasmanian residents leading the charge with Hobart topping the list (Newcastle, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and Canberra round out the top five locations).
Read more... |
Animal law quickly gaining momentum in Canada
Full story: BarTalk
Animal law may be a new kid on the block as an area of legal practice, but it's emerging as a fast-growing and respectable area of law. Most Canadian law schools now offer animal law courses, and many students are hoping for careers in animal law.
Read more... |
Major Canadian retailers commit to 100 per cent cage-free eggs
Full story: CTV
A slew of grocery members of the Retail Council of Canada, including Loblaw, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart and others have joined a growing list of merchants saying they plan to offer only cage-free eggs by the end of 2025 [a pity so long]. However, the commitment depends on farmers being able to meet the growing demand for eggs from hens not living in cages.
Read more... |
|
| Animal Issues and Advocacy
|
Glasgow diner releases lobster into sea after saving it from restaurant
Full story: Evening Times, UK
A lucky lobster has been saved from a boiling cooking pot at a Glasgow restaurant thanks to a kind-hearted diner. Iain Stewart, from Glasgow, refused to let Mercado Spanish Tapas Bar and Restaurant cook the crustacean, instead he bought it for £28 and released it back into the wild at Troon beach.
Read more... |
Evening Times, UK - April 11
|
Animal cruelty or the price of dinner?
Full story: NYT
This month a man in Orlando, Fla., dangled a dog by the scruff of its neck over a second-floor balcony, threatening to drop it 12 feet to the ground. Onlookers intervened and ... the arrest made news nationwide. Meanwhile, in the United States this year, almost nine billion chickens will be dangled upside down on conveyor belts and slaughtered; when the process doesn't work properly, the birds are scalded alive. Hmm. So scaring one dog stirs more reaction than far worse treatment of billions of chickens.
Read more... |
International respect for chickens day celebrates compassion for chickens
Full story: EarthTalk
On May 4, animal advocates celebrate International Respect for Chickens Day. Launched by United Poultry Concerns in 2005, International Respect for Chickens Day celebrates chickens throughout the world and protests their suffering and abuse in cockfighting, agribusiness, experimental research, and other cruelties. "We urge everyone to do a compassionate action for chickens, on or around May 4th," says Karen Davis, president of United Poultry Concerns which promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of chickens and other domestic fowl. [See also: How a chicken named Viva changed my life]
Read more... |
|
Animal sentience: What I learned from tickling apes
Full story: NYT
Tickling a juvenile chimpanzee is a lot like tickling a child. The ape has the same sensitive spots: under the armpits, on the side, in the belly. He opens his mouth wide, lips relaxed, panting audibly in the same "huh-huh-huh" rhythm of inhalation and exhalation as human laughter. Laughter? Now wait a minute! A real scientist should avoid any and all anthropomorphism... One reason this whole debate is as heated as it is relates to its moral implications. When our ancestors moved from hunting to farming, they lost respect for animals and began to look at themselves as the rulers of nature. In order to justify how they treated other species, they had to play down their intelligence and deny them a soul.
Read more... |
Bad news worse: Where Norway's whale meat ends up
Full story: Care 2
Norway's controversial commercial whaling just got more controversial. A new report reveals how two of Norway's cruelest industries have teamed up in the worst possible way for animals: minke whales being fed to mink locked up in fur farms.
Read more... |
|
| Books and Perspectives
|
YouTube/Bill Maher - April 29
|
|
|
Note:
|
Whenever possible, stories are linked to the original source. Some sites may require registration, and/or not archive the stories. All links were active at the time of publication.
|
|
|
|
| The VegE-News is prepared by: |
 |
3365 Harvester Rd., Suite 202, Burlington, Ontario L7N 3N2, Canada
|
|
|
To ensure that you continue to receive the VegE-News, please add the sender to your address book or safe list. This will help ensure that it doesn't get zapped by your spam filter and wind up in your JUNK or TRASH folder.
|
|
