The Scoop
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Attention:
No July Monthly Gathering!
Because of the Independence Day holiday, there will not be the usual first-Monday presentation on 7/7/08.
No Meeting!
Have a great holiday!!
Upcoming EVENt
The Vegan Lifestyle --- It's For Real!
Dr. John Gobble,
DrPh, MPH, RD, LD, CHES
Monday, 6/2/08, 7p, McNail-Riley House, 601 W. 13th (at Jefferson), Eugene FREE - Map
Veg Wisdom
I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't...The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further - Mark Twain
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Some people are still going to want to eat meat... we do agree though that vegetarianism is a healthier diet. - David Stroud of the American Meat Institute
The Scoop > Other
Is There Something You Don't Know About Pigs?
Do you know how pigs in the U.S. live their lives?
In the U.S., more than 97% of pigs—smart, social, interesting animals—are raised on factory farms. They spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy warehouses, where they never see the sun or breathe fresh air. Because of their hideous living conditions, more than 70 percent of the pigs have pneumonia by the time they are kicked and prodded onto trucks bound for slaughterhouses. As piglets, they are ripped away from their mothers when they are less than 1 month old and dosed with antibiotics, and they have their tails, teeth, and testicles cut off—all without any pain relief. But even that's not all that they go through.
Breeding sows are imprisoned (there's really no other word for it) in metal gestation crates so small that they can't even turn around or take a single step—many develop painful sores and bruises from being immobilized on a hard surface. Shortly after giving birth, they are forcibly impregnated again. This cycle continues for years until their bodies finally give out and the animals are sent to slaughter. After enduring these hellish conditions for years, squealing pigs are poked, kicked, and dragged onto trucks so that they can be sent to slaughter.
It doesn't have to be this way.
PETA is taking on the world's biggest pork producers and reducing the abuse of these poor animals. Please know this: PETA's work gets results! They've already successfully pressured giants in the industry to make important changes with regard to how they breed, confine, and kill animals:
Following more than 100 PETA demonstrations across North America and negotiations with PETA, Safeway became the first Fortune 500 company to make dramatic improvements in the living and dying conditions of farmed animals, including making unannounced audits of its suppliers, establishing a purchasing preference for suppliers that don't use gestation crates, and immediately purchasing a significant portion of its pig flesh from existing farms that do not confine animals to tiny cages. Safeway credited PETA with "turn[ing] on the light of an issue we need to address."
PETA's influence over its customers, including fast-food chains like McDonald's and Burger King, convinced Smithfield Foods—the largest pig-flesh supplier in the world—to agree to phase out all gestation crates on its company-owned factory farms within a decade. Currently, at any given minute, more than 1 million mother pigs are confined by Smithfield to these hideous crates.
Just a few days later, Maple Leaf Foods, the largest pig flesh-producer in Canada, announced that it would follow suit. Then, almost immediately afterward, another massive pig-flesh supplier—Cargill Foods—agreed to stop using gestation crates on half its farms immediately.
These decisions significantly reduce the suffering of pigs and have sent shockwaves through the entire meat industry. But PETA has much more to do, which is why they very much need your help.
PETA's high-profile protests and media outreach, consumer boycotts, and undercover investigations are doing what no one thought was possible: getting the world's worst abusers of animals to clean up their acts.
Source: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
The Truth About Fur…
We understand that you probably care about the treatment of animals. However, each year more than 40 million animals are killed in the name of “fashion” for fur coats and trim. These animals are either raised on crowded, filthy fur farms where cruelty is the norm, or trapped in the wild using inhumane and indiscriminate devices such as steel-jaw leg hold traps and strangulation neck snares. Every one of these animals died in a violent death through anal electrocution, gassing, neck breaking, drowning, clubbing, and/or strangulation. Like you and I, animals feel pain. Just by wearing fur, you promote cruelty. Please. Choose compassion. Don’t wear fur.
Number of animals used to make an average length fur coat:
Source: Animal Protection Institute