Vegetarian Star

Leona Lewis says she’s happiest when she’s sharing a smooch with her pets, a pig name Melrose, a horse named Goose, and a dog named Misty.

“I dote on them,” said Lewis. “I give them lots of kisses and cuddles.”

According to Contact Music, when Leona’s not singing on stage or in the studio or kissing her pets, she devotes a lot of her time to the World Society for the Protection of Animals because they “campaign to change laws to stop the cruel treatment of animals.”

Last year, Leona teamed up with WSPA to record a PSA, Animals Matters, which educated the public about some of the animal abuses WSPA campaigns against, such as cruelty to animals in the entertainment industry.

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Ellen DeGeneres is featured on the June 2010 cover of Tails Inc.

Inside, the magazine discusses the vegan talk show host announcing the United States Postal Service (USPS) Stamps to the Rescue campaign and its creation of Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet commemorative postage stamps on her daytime television show.

DeGeneres invited U.S. Postmaster General John E. Potter to her March show to unveil the stamps that produced a quarter of a million pre-orders a little over a month later.

“As one of the country’s most influential and high-profile animal advocates, DeGeneres’ willingness to jump in with both feet to partner on this important initiative is hardly surprising. It’s also not surprising Potter chose to focus this year’s USPS social-awareness cause on adopting shelter pets, as he’s an animal lover and enjoys spending time with his pooch at home. But he also might have been swayed toward promoting an animal-welfare issue given the popularity of USPS 2002 social-awareness Neuter or Spay stamp. A full 100 percent of all 200 million stamps were sold.”

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PETA has written a letter to Don and Becky Lansing, the owners of the farm the film Field of Dreams was shot on, in an attempt to convince them to convert the land into a pig empathy farm until it can be sold.

The display, titled, “Field of Nightmares: Pig Empathy Display,” would educate tourists by teaching them facts about pigs, such as intelligence, and allow guests to dine on faux meat pork products.

“We’d like to educate the 65,000 tourists who come each year to the Field of Dreams about how pigs feel pain and fear just as we do and are just as smart as 3-year-old humans,” PETA writes.
(more…)

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McDonald’s is living up to its McCruelty nickname by rejecting another offer to switch to cage-free eggs.

According to Organic Authority, at a shareholders’ meeting last week, the board urged a vote in the “nay” direction, arguing such a policy, “would not enhance our existing policies and practices regarding the welfare of egg-laying hens and is not in the best interests of shareholders.”

McDonald’s competitors, such as Burger King and Wendy’s, have either already gone cage-free or are in the process of phasing these eggs in. McDonald’s UK restaurants have already taken the plunge toward better animal welfare and the European Ronald McDonald is set to do the same soon.

And some unscientific polls indicate customers are willing to pay if the costs for cage-free translates into a more expensive Egg McMuffin.
(more…)

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Lyman VS. Niman

The debate over whether you can be a good environmentalist and still eat meat recently took place between former rancher and author of Mad Cowboy, Howard Lyman and Nicolette Hahn Niman, author of Righteous Porkshop and wife of Niman Ranch founder Bill Niman. The event was co-sponsored by VegNews magazine and Earth Island Institute.

Although both authors agreed that factory farming is devastating to the environment, their views differed, of course, in the impact of small farms on the planet and the ethics of raising and killing animals for food.

Michele Simon, author of Appetite For Profit, took the opportunity on Alternet to use her stance as a vegetarian to give counter arguments for how, regardless of environmental impact, eating animals cannot be justified and there is no “humane” meat.

She mentions Lyman’s argument that keeping animals in better conditions before slaughter does not make the killing any more acceptable, comparing it to keeping Jews in “5 star hotels” and feeding them “lavish meals” before being sent to death during the Holocaust.

Simon uses a similar ethnic argument, playing upon Niman’s opinion that it’s better to keep animals in good conditions on ethical farms than to have them fend for themselves in the wild.

“This sounded chillingly like the arguments for slavery. You know, blacks were really much better off getting free room and board and they weren’t treated all that badly were they?”

Read more at Alternet.

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You’ve heard of the hit Lady Gaga song “Bad Romance,” but have you ever been in a “Cat Romance” starring Lady Meow Meow?

This video with the San Francisco SPCA has Lady Meow Meow asking, “Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow. Want a cat romance?” and urging animal lovers to go adopt a cat.

The San Francisco SPCA not only takes in homeless cats and dogs, but educates the public about issues such as neutering and spaying to reduce the number of these animals.

Take a look at the adoption promo and compare it with Gaga’s below, which also features a cat around minute 2:38 and some creepy,  hopefully fake bear skin being dragged across the floor at minute 3:40.

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Einstein Bros. Bagels

Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, which owns several bagel and coffee chains, including Einstein Bros., has made the announcement it’s switching to cage-free eggs at its 680 locations in 36 states and the District of Columbia.

“We’re proud to be launching this initiative and believe that moving in this direction will help improve the treatment of hens,” said James O’Reilly, chief concept officer for ENRG.

The Humane Society of the United States commended ENRG for making the switch towards better welfare for chickens.

“Einstein Noah’s decision to phase in cage-free eggs represents an important step,” said Josh Balk, corporate outreach director of The HSUS’ factory farming campaign. “The Humane Society of the United States applauds the company for improving the lives of farm animals.”

According to the HSUS website, there are about 280 million hens in factory farm cages so small, they cannot even spread their wings.

Cage-free is not the most ideal environment, as birds may still have their beaks cut off and may be prohibited from going outside, but they have 2-3 times more space than caged hens, allowing them to perform normal behaviors such as walking, spreading wings and laying eggs in nests.

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Leona Lewis is one ambitious woman.

Besides being a multi-platinum selling artist and multiple Grammy nominee who’s working on her own line of ethical clothing, the vegetarian singer has expressed interest in running a horse sanctuary and feels she must have been one of the big creatures in a past life.

According to The Sun, Leona said, “‘I’d love to have a sanctuary because they’re such big animals – they require a lot of work and a lot of space.”

“I definitely think I was a horse in a past life – I feel a very deep connection with them.”

Is there a type of sanctuary you’d open if given the opportunity?

What kind of animals would you take in?

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