Vegetarian Star

Jack Hanna and animal rights activists aren’t best friends forever.

More recently, he and PETA’s president Ingrid Newkirk shared words over the value of holding dolphins captive in places like SeaWorld.

Another area where he and activists may differ is the area of zoos, where animals are restricted to small spaces versus being free to roam for miles in their natural habitats.

Hanna thinks this is something that’s unavoidable, as some animals cannot be released into the wild.

“I’ve tried working with animal rights groups, and some of those people are just plain nut cases,” Hanna told Northern Express. “You can’t just put all the animals back out into the wild. That’s why we have zoos – good zoos, not bad ones. We have 220 of them in this country. Ninety nine percent of our animals come from other zoos – animals that are born in captivity. Not everyone has the means to travel like I do, and this allows people to see these animals up close. People leave learning something.”

With animal rights activists like PETA, it’s not necessarily the wild they’re recommending, but sanctuaries.

These environments would offer the larger living spaces that more closely mimick an animal’s natural habitat.

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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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Stephanie Izard

Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard received criticism from PETA for hosting a veal dinner in a series of meals titled “Wandering Goat.”

“We’re writing today because numerous individuals—including fans of yours—contacted us to let us know that they were shocked to see you promoting veal and even displaying a photo of a skinned baby calf—Guillermo, as you named him—on your Twitter. Please know that the veal industry is cruel and inhumane and will remain financially viable as long as influential people like you continue to refer to the meat from sick, malnourished baby cows as a delicacy. It doesn’t matter where you purchase the meat—if you support the veal industry, you are supporting cruelty.”

Izard responded to PETA’s letter on her blog, explaining she sought veal that was raised locally and by what she considers humanely.

“In the past I have rarely used veal due to the inhumane treatment of calves. However, I was contacted by a local farm that raises free range veal in a very respectable way. While many people shun veal, the greater culinary community will continue to have veal be a part of their menus. All I am trying to do is get people to look at these local farms as refuge from larger meat-processing plants.”

Although the Kilgus Farm in Fairbury, Illinois does let goats feed on the pasture in the spring and fall, switching to homegrown hay in the winter, the baby calves, of course, are fed mother’s milk before quickly being taken to slaughter.

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“To truly “go green,” we must start with what’s on our plates. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, 30 percent of the Earth’s ice-free land is now involved – either directly or indirectly – in livestock production. As the world’s appetite for meat increases, countries around the globe are bulldozing huge swaths of land in order to make more room for animals and the crops that feed them.”

“Then there’s the energy required to operate factory farms, feedlots, slaughterhouses and trucks that transport animals and the amount of water that is squandered on animal agriculture (it takes more than 4,000 gallons of water per day to produce food for a single meat-eater compared to 300 gallons needed for a vegan). And don’t forget the edible crops that are used to feed animals instead of hungry, malnourished people. If we are ever to halt climate change and conserve land, water and other resources, not to mention reduce animal suffering, we must celebrate Earth Day every day – at every meal.”

—Ingrid Newkirk, president and co-founder of the animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, in an Earth Day article at the Sacramento Bee titled “There’s No Such Thing as a Meat Eating Environmentalist.”

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling for manslaughter charges to be filed against the Orlando, Florida marine park SeaWorld, in relation to several deaths, including the recent one by trainer Dawn Brancheau by Tilikum the killer whale.

PETA’s General Counsel Jeffrey Kerr sent a 12-page letter to Florida State Attorney Lawson Lamar asking him to consider charges for both the park and its executives, saying they are “culpably negligent” for continuing to allow trainers to interact with animals despite previous events and a government warning three years ago.

There have been six publicized attacks on trainers since 2002, and an investigation by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health after an orca attacked its trainer in 2006 concluded it was “only a matter of time” before someone was killed.

“SeaWorld has shown reckless disregard for the lives of its trainers by paying them to be in close contact with massive, powerful, wild animal who can kill them in a flash,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement.

“Corporations must be held accountable when their greed causes suffering and loss of life.”

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Kim Kardashian

After receiving much criticism for holding a cat by its neck for a photo on Twitter, Kim Kardashian has issued a statement explaining she’s not an animal abuser and the kitty is just fine.

What she didn’t say is that it probably bit the crap out her once the cameras were off.

“So yesterday I was doing a photo shoot with an adorable black kitty cat and I Twitpic’d this picture,” Kim wrote. “I have been getting negative comments regarding the way I was holding the kitty, but rest assured, the owner and vet were on set and showed me how to pick him up. The cat was not harmed in any way and is perfectly fine! I love animals and would never do anything to harm any animals.”

Two animal rights organizations responded differently to the situation.

PETA insisted only a mother cat knows how to handle a cat this way and Kim should have supported the cat’s bottom while holding it up.

RSPCA said the rear support is necessary for adult and big cats, but maybe not so much for smaller cats.

The cat’s opinion, however, has failed to be put on record.

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Glee star Lea Michele has recorded a new PSA for PETA on the topic of fur.

Shot on the scene of a high school hallway, Michele says in the video, “Everyone wants to fit in and feel like they belong. But sometimes you have to take a stand and step away from the crowd….With so many fashionable, cruelty-free options available, there’s really no excuse for joining a club that wears someone else’s coat.”

Michele is also a vegetarian, thanks to reading Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.

“I do not eat meat. And after reading that book it completely changed my mind about the dairy industry as well,” Michele reveals in a separate Q & A session that can be viewed here.

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There’s nothing more uncomfortable for the rest of the friends and family than when bachelor Cassanova invites the girl he met two nights ago to a wedding or family reunion.

On a recent episode of How I Met Your Mother, titled “Say Cheese,” Josh Radnor‘s character, Ted Mosby, is painfully reminded by Lily (Alyson Hannigan) that he has a tendency to bring wacky girlfriends to important events.

Specifically, Lily doesn’t want any more random skanks in the group photos and she forces Ted to take a trip down “Random Skank Lane.”

One random skank was a vegetarian hippie girl named Strawberry who threw red paint on the chef at the dinner table and yelled, “Meat is Murder,” when Marshall (Jason Segel) passed the bar exam.

Strawberry had good intentions.

Words of wisdom for a potential date if you might not yet be promoted from the ranks of random skanks.

Kindly say “I’m a vegetarian,” and be prepared to politely answer any questions about your lifestyle without belittling anyone or staining their shirt.

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