Vegetarian Star

Jamie Oliver has praised a fast food restaurant known for greasy burgers for its quality of food.

Come again?

Yes, McDonald’s is one of the biggest producers of cow patties, but, at least in the UK, they have made efforts to step up their animal welfare standards–as much as possible while still using the animal product.

“McDonald’s in the UK is very different compared to the US model – the quality of beef, they only sell free-range eggs, they only sell organic milk, their ethics and recycling is being improved and improved,” Oliver said.

“And I can’t believe I’m sitting here telling you that McDonald’s UK has come a long way, but actually, it probably puts quite a lot of gastropubs to shame, the amount of work they are doing at the back end.”

Oliver frowned upon factory farmed, processed meat delivered to the Huntington, Virginia high school where he filmed Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

The U.S. is often slow to catch on when it comes to animal welfare.

McDonald’s representative in the UK, for example, agreed long ago that battery cages were cruel and UK McDonalds banned this practice before it was outlawed there.

Similarly, KFC in Canada offers a vegan faux chicken sandwich and is working toward more humane slaughter practices while the U.S. has yet to budge.

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Mafia Wars

PETA has declared war on Mafia Wars for allowing players to use dogs and other animals to fight.

The animal rights group wrote a letter to Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga Game Network, asking him to remove this feature from the Mafia War’s Facebook game.

“”Bully breeds” like your beloved late American bulldog, Zinga, are also the breeds of choice for dogfighters and thugs who want a “macho” animal to intimidate others, guard their property, or make them money by winning fights. Every day, PETA staffers meet dogs who have been trapped for years at the end of heavy tractor-trailer chains with nothing but bare patches of dirt and plastic barrels for shelter. These dogs are usually full of heartworms, emaciated, and scarred all over. They are often physically abused and starved, sometimes to death, for losing in illegal dogfights or for being “bad guards” or “not mean enough.” The people who acquire them do so because they have been taught that having one of these dogs is “cool” and “tough,” but they have no idea about the care and feelings of the animal they have enslaved.”

“Will you please reconsider perpetuating the image of pit bulls and other animals as fighting machines in Mafia Wars and decide against sending a dangerous message that it’s somehow acceptable to force animals to fight, keep them chained, and deny them everything that is natural and important to them?”

The entire letter from PETA to Pincus can be found here.

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Isabel Lucas is a vegetarian and animal rights activist who’s views have even gotten her arrested on occasion, such as the time she protested against the dolphin slaughter in Japan.

Years ago, she wasn’t as outspoken about her beliefs.

Until an incident with a frog changed that.

When she was 10, Isabel saw a boy torture a frog to death.

“I was shocked and upset with myself for not saying anything,” Isabel said. “I felt so guilty and furious afterwards.

“From then on, I thought if anything like that happens again, I’m going to say something. I’m grateful to him for that experience – that’s how you learn, through your mistakes.”

“I do feel I am in a unique position where I can use my public status to draw attention to things that matter to me and hopefully a lot of other people as well.”

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A creative PSA has been put together featuring the likes of vegetarian celebrities like Jason Mraz and Woody Harrelson, plus several others who care about the plight of captive dolphins.

The video starts out with facts about each celebrity’s “friend.”

After summarizing a slew of skills this friend has that humans don’t, it’s revealed the friend is in danger, threatened by both captivity and hunting.

The PSA was created by the people involved with the Oscar award winning documentary on the killing of dolphins in Japan that are later sold for meat and captivity, The Cove.

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Maria Menounos will host the first annual Ferdinand’s Ball, which kicks off the Kentucky Derby on Thursday, April 29.

Proceeds from the ball will directly benefit Old Friends, a non-profit organization that rescues retired racehorses from neglect, abuse and slaughter.

The event will feature a four-course vegetarian meal, athletes and local politicians, a silent auction, live entertainment and a presentation of an award to the Humane Society of the United States for their contribution to equine welfare.

For more information, visit the organization’s website.

Ferdinand was a 1986 Kentucky Derby winner who made millions and ended up in a slaughter house after being sent to Japan.

It’s fantastic that these horses can retire in comfort, but it’s questionable whether horse racing should be allowed to begin with.

According to In Defense of Animals, about 800 race horses die each year from fatal injuries on U.S race tracks and approximately 3,500 sustain injuries so bad they cannot finish the race.

IDA also states that many state governments are hesitant to prosecute abusers in the industry because they share revenue.

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Jimmy Kimmel featured a funny video featuring cats recording a “We Are The World” like song about the plight of their eviction.

Definitely worth the watch for some good afternoon humor.

The planned George W. Bush presidential library on the Southern Methodist University campus is also home to feral cats that will soon face eviction.

According to the LA Times, a feral cat program was started by the university in 2005 in an effort to control the population, which has dwindled dramatically since its inception.

It’s expected that the remaining cats will be relocated to a nearby woods area.

One effective way at reducing feral cat numbers and improving their lives (and the accompanying problems such as loud noise from fighting behaviors, flea infestations and odor from males marking territory), is the use of Trap-Neuter-Return programs.

TNR cats are spayed/neutered, vaccinated from rabies and surgically ear-tipped, which is the universal sign a cat has gone through the TNR system.

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Laura Benanti and Michael Cerveris will unite for a one night only reading of The Naked Genius by Gypsy Rose Lee to benefit the Mint Theatre Company at Caroline’s on Broadway in New York City.

According to the Mint Theatre, “The Naked Genius, tells the story of a burlesque performer named Gypsy Rose Lee — author of a recently published memoir entitled ‘I’ll Bare All.’ The cast of characters includes her manager, her mother, her publisher, four Chihuahuas and Ramona the Baby Chimp. It’s a sweet farce about the struggle Gypsy faces between her desire for respectability and her burlesque roots.”

Gypsy Lee may have been the original PETA poster girl, as she was active in animal rights, as well as took her clothes off as burlesque dancer before she began her career as a writer.

Unfortunately, as Mint points out, these parts of her life are only touched on slightly in the play.

For more information and tickets to the June 14 event, contact Mint Theatre.

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Temple Grandin, scientist who made contributions to the livestock industry praised by those in the business and animal rights activists, says dairy and egg farms need to step up their level of care for the animals.

The subject of a recent HBO movie chronicling her life, Grandin said farmers have gotten used to keeping animals and the conditions they’re kept in unhealthy.

At an organic food industry conference, Grandin said, according to the Des Moines Register. “The bad has become normal.”

Grandin said battery cages used to house hens aren’t large enough to allow the birds to continue their normal behavior, such as scratching, nesting and perching.

But she is concerned that too many regulations will cause farmers to take their business to other countries to save money, thus causing Americans to lose their jobs.

She’s also worried about low-income people being able to afford the price of the cage-free eggs.

One suggestion Grandin has is to use larger cage systems that Europe already has, which allows the birds to do normal behaviors.

Could America be on its way to adopting a similar practice?

Lee Kilmer, a dairy extension specialist at Iowa State University said, “California is five years ahead of the Midwest, and the European Union is five years ahead of California. I’m hoping we can get producers in the Midwest to deal with some of these practices that deal with animal welfare before we have legislation requiring it.”

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