Vegetarian Star

"Oh My Dog" Beth Ostrosky Stern

Beth Ostrosky Stern‘s new book on choosing and caring for a dog, Oh My Dog,  may appear to have a mixed message about animal welfare.

The wife of Howard Stern who has been both a volunteer at animal shelters and a North Shore Animal League America spokesperson, wrote that although her family had always taken in rescue pets from shelters, for some reason, she and Howard were set on finding a breed-an English Bulldog.

When she arrived at the breeder, she fell in love with a Bulldog that was a former show dog, but developed a wiggle and was of “no use” anymore in her former profession.

The dog went home with Beth and was named Bianca Romijn-Stamos-Ostrosky-Stern.

While adopting a shelter dog is the best way to reduce the millions of animals euthanized every year, like Beth’s story, some adoptions of breeds can prove just as beneficial, especially if the breed was “rescued” from a dangerous or unhealthy situation.

Like a bred dog suffering from the genetic mutation of missing or disabled limbs due to generations of inbreeding.

Retired racing greyhounds are another example of taking in a breed otherwise likely to be euthanized or abandoned.

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a stop by the Franz Josef Land, an island where scientists capture polar bears to collect data and tag them for surveillance before release back into the arctic.

While examining the giant creatures (a photograph of which can be found at The Guardian), Putin had this to say of the bear’s paws: “They’re heavy.”

Global warming has threatened several species on the island, including polar bears.

The tracking devices placed by researchers will allow them to monitor the extent the environmental change has had on the species.

According to Treehugger, the deputy director of Russia’s Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Vyacheslav Rozhnov said, “The reduction of the ice sheets, caused by climate change and human activities, is bringing about a global redistribution of polar bears, but no one knows how it is happening.”

Compounding this is barrels of discarded fuel left behind after the Cold War, a matter Putin says makes the arctic in need of a “general clean up.”

“From 40,000 to 60,000 tonnes of fuel and lubricants are being stored under inappropriate conditions, and the pollution exceeds maximum permissible levels by six times,” Putin said, according to The Guardian.

Rozhnov fears the pollutants from the leaking barrels of oil will threaten more animals, including whales and walruses.

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Previously we reported on the use of real animal parts in the zombie football movie about a team of dead players coming back for the championship title, Play Dead.

While we wouldn’t exactly call the post written, “angry,” the director of the film, Doug Sakmann, has since responded to the criticism on the film’s website.

“Real meat and guts were incorporated into the makeup FX—which elicited an angry post over at the Vegetarian Star website, which complained, “Completely disgusting and uncalled for, especially considering how easy it is to make fake flesh props for the screen.” Sakmann’s response: “They don’t know how much it costs to make fake parts. If they want to pay for them, by all means I’ll use them, but until then I’ll just go to the Asian market and buy them for $3. I think it looks better anyway. It’s not like I killed anything to make the movie; they were already dead!””

The clip above shows how the dead parts were put together to resemble a horse corpse.

Unlike meat used for food, dead animal props isn’t a common requirement for most films, so the industry probably isn’t spending millions of dollars on it.

What do you guys think?

Should we not make such a fuss of using real meat this way in movies and instead focus energy on ensuring live animals aren’t being abused or hurt in the entertainment industry?

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Georges Laraque, former hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens, protested with the Concordia Animal Rights Association (CARA) and PETA outside the Fur and Fashion Exposition of Montréal (NAFFEM) to let every fashionista know that fur is not green.

Far from it. It’s red. And bloody.

While advocates of the fur industry have given their data on why they feel fur is environmentally healthy and sustainable, according to PETA’s blog, it takes 15 times as much energy to produce a fur coat from a farm that raises animals for fur than to make a fake.

There’s also the chemicals involved with the finishing process that have been linked to poor human and environmental health.

The only fur fit for a human is the five o’clock shadow look.

It’s time to get your fake on.

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Stephanie Pratt is the cover girl for PETA’s new iphone application, Be Nice To Bunnies, that allows you to search for products and companies that do not test on animals.

Besides animal testing, Pratt is also campaigning for pet adoption and wants puppy mills wiped off the face of the Earth.

And it bothers her that she can’t make the jump to being a vegetarian.

“No, it really kills me. I was actually talking about this at dinner last night with people,” Pratt told Pr.com. “I do want to make it clear that I love fashion and I love wearing faux fur, but I will never wear real fur. Any fur I’m wearing, it’s fake.”

Maybe Pratt should get her feet wet with Meatless Mondays, as at least eating less meat will reduce her guilt and carbon footprint.

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Lea Michele recently interviewed with Popeater when she was asked if she’d every go, “full PETA.”

After the interviewer had to explain he wanted a naked Rachel Berry protesting against fur, Michele had this to say about getting naked for the cause.

Basically, she feels she can be effective in telling people to wear their own skins without showing much of hers.

“I think that you can get the word out there without a huge billboard of taking your clothes off,” Michele said.

But she hasn’t ruled it out for the future.

“I got a couple of years ahead of me to do stuff like that.”

You can watch the interview at Popeater.

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Pamela Anderson took a walk on the wild side this weekend, when she hiked 3 miles in Malibu to benefit the California Wildlife Center.

Anderson was also given the honor of releasing a pelican back into the wild that was rehabilitated by the center.

According to its website, the California Wildlife Center is a “nonprofit organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of a wide range of native species: from raptors and songbirds, coyote and deer, to marine mammal emergency response for the Malibu coastline.”

Since 1998, the center has cared for over 20,000 wild animals.

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Rain and muddy track conditions may have dampened the spirits of Kentucky Derby goers (which some activists are more than happy with), but the Ferdinand’s Ball, a charity event to raise money for retired horses wasn’t anything but sunny.

The event hosted by Maria Menounos featured vegetarian food with local ingredients–including a raw food bar with marinated mushrooms stuffed with cashew cheese–and local wine and biodegradable dishware.

According to Louisville.com, five months ago sisters Aimee Wulfeck and Kim Boyle were astonished to find out no Derby ball actually raised money for the horses.

Ferdinand’s Ball was conceived to help “Old Friends,” a group that rescues and retires Thoroughbreds that no longer race.

This year’s ball raised $30,000 dollars, which is enough to help 13 horses for one year.

Old Friends has 70 horses in Georgetown, Kentucky and has recently opened a new farm in Saratoga, New York.

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