Vegan Kombat: ★★★ PLEASE TAKE ACTION: The easiest and most immediate thing you can do to help reduce animal suffering is to go vegan. Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. PETA2 A vegan diet excludes meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and any other animal product. Cutting out animal products can seem overwhelming, but the benefit to your body, the planet, and our fellow earthlings well-being is worth it. Heres a couple great short FAQs on veganism (including the protein myth) – pcrm.org/health/veginfo/faq.html adaptt.org/veganism.html woodstockfas.org/faq.shtml Here is a list of animal ingredients. caringconsumer/resources_ingredients_list.asp As a vegan, you will read ingredient lists on the products you buy carefully. This will not only help you avoid animal ingredients, but will also make you a more conscious and healthy consumer. Vegans also avoid products that were tested on animals or use animal derivatives. These are usually called Cruelty Free products. Heres a great list of cruelty free companies and their products. search.caringconsumer/ Vegans dont wear leather, fur, wool or other clothing made from animals bodies. Heres a great list of compassionate clothing companies, many of which sell products online. peta.org/living/alt1.asp There are several specialty online vegan grocery stores as well. foodfightgrocery/ veganstore/ veganessentials/ cosmosveganshoppe Its important to eat a balanced diet in order to maintain good health. This is true for vegan or non-vegan diets. But as a new vegan, you may need help understanding how to balance your dietary needs. This isnt because a vegan diet is difficult, unhealthy, or unnatural. People of all ages, genders, and ethnicities thrive and prosper on a vegan diet. But like anything new, you need to educate yourself as you embark upon it. There are many great resources for new vegans. Check out the following. veganoutreach.org/ vegan.org/ vegforlife.org/index.htm There are also several great websites and blogs that offer support and information about veganism. Heres just a few to get you started! vegansoapbox/ vegansofcolor.wordpress/ thediscerningbrute/ FARM ANIMAL SANCTUARIES If Bold Native has made you want to help farm animals, you can volunteer for or donate to a farm sanctuary. These organizations save animal lives, provide lifelong comfort and care for farm animals, and do valuable work educating the public about the emotional and intellectual lives of farm animals. Following is a list of sanctuaries by state. If theres one near you, volunteer! If not, donate! veganpeace/links/farmanimalsanctuaries.htm ABOVE-GROUND ACTIVISM Several groups help coordinate animal activism. Check out the following for ways to help right now – peta.org/actioncenter/index.asp wspa-international.org/helping/action/ bornfreeusa.org/b_take_action.php humanesociety.org/issues/ aavs.org/takeAlerts.php shac.net/action/get_active.html cok.net/camp/leaflet/ uncaged.co.uk/uncagedaction.htm (UK) speakcampaigns.org/sitepages.php?a=9 (UK) One of the best ways you can help is to take action in your local community. Find your local animal rights group and work with them. If there isnt one near you, consider starting one! ANIMAL TESTING Here are a couple of great sites on the issue of animal testing, which is both cruel and unnecessary exploitation of individual animals who feel fear, pain, loneliness just like we do. These sites both debunk the myths that animal testing is necessary for human medicine explain why animal testing is wrong and help you fight against it. stopanimaltests/ pcrm.org/resch/anexp/faq.html PRISONER SUPPORT There are currently people serving jail terms for their work on behalf of animal rights. Some of these prisoners are serving time under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (as discussed in Bold Native), while others have been convicted under other laws. The individuals have made a selfless sacrifice of their freedom for the rights of the voiceless. They are people just like you… so think about what you would want if you found yourself imprisoned for your compassion. Help them maintain their spirits by writing letters and/or donating money to their commissary or legal defense. This site gives great advice on how to support animal rights activists in prison – strikingattheroots.wordpress/…/supporting-anima…/ Also check out Support Vegans in The Prison System and the Support Page for Daniel McGowan. Lists of political prisoners are here – directaction.info/prisoners.htm shac.net/features/prisoners.html ANIMAL RIGHTS AND DIRECT ACTION PHILOSOPHY Many of us feel that animals deserve consideration of their interests. But we may have difficulty explaining this feeling to others who seem stuck in a mindset that believes non-human animals are on this planet for human benefit. There are lots of resources online on animal rights philosophy that can be useful in talking to your friends about the issue. In order to effectively communicate your feelings to others, you need to read and understand animal rights philosophy. Within the animal rights community, there is an on-going discussion about the morality and usefulness of direct action. According to wikipedia, Direct action is politically motivated activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political goals outside of normal social/political channels. In the animal rights movement, direct action is non-violent. The Animal Liberation Front requires that any action taken not harm anyone, human or non-human. However, some animal rights activists criticize direct action. This criticism stems either from a belief that property damage is violence or that it is damaging to the image of the movement. Proponents of direct action contend that it both saves lives and makes business more difficult and costly for animal exploiters. Following are several places to begin study. Ask questions, explore the ideas, and educate yourself. voiceofthevoiceless.org/ challengeoppression/ animal-rights/arpage.htm animalliberationfront/ adaptt.org/animalrights.html drstevebest.org/essays.htm thomaspainescorner.wordpress/ INDUSTRY PROPAGANDA The meat and pharmaceutical industries are very concerned about the growing interest in animal rights. They fund several groups that issue anti-animal rights propaganda, the most well-known of which is The Center for Consumer Freedom (consumerfreedom/). Any news releases or information from this group should be read with the understanding that it was paid for by animal enterprises. Information on CCF is here – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Consumer_Freedom The CCF also runs a website called humanewatch.org that pruports to keep “a watchful eye on the Humane Society of the United States.” They celebrate things like Ringling Brothers suing HSUS for trying to prevent elephant beatings. They seem very threatened that people might stop killing and eating animals.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 12:22:26 +0000
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