I’m pretty sure everyone else has moved past this subject, but I’m going to continue my trend of talking about issues after everyone else.

A couple weeks back, Josh posted a pair of entries about the anti-kid sentiment he was seeing amongst many vegans he knows.  I thought the entry was well thought out and made good points, but it really stirred up a shitstorm.  I was honestly surprised at the vitriol I saw on other people’s sites. it was like they’d read a completely different post.  I figured I’d throw in my two cents as a dad of a vegan kid.

Let me start by saying this: if you decide not to have kids, that’s completely cool.  I fully understand the reasons and respect all of them, whether it’s concerns about overpopulation, not having the maternal/paternal instinct, not being comfortable around kids, or just plain old not wanting kids messing up your well-organized collection of vintage LPs.  I promise you I’ll never tell you, “Oh, you’ll change your mind” or say anything like “You never know real love until you have your own child” because that’s just obnoxious.  Parenthood isn’t for everyone and I think we are each fully capable of making the decision to parent or not to parent for ourselves.

That said, I think one important thing to remember is that the kids are on our side.  They shouldn’t be viewed as enemies and even if you’re staunchly anti-breeding, don’t hate the kid. it’s not their fault they were born.  You don’t have to be their best friend or even talk to them, but reserve your hate for something else.  Honestly, as a parent, I’d rather you hate me and snub me for having a kid rather than taking it out on my daughter.  Thankfully, I’ve never had to deal with that, but then again, I’m not really around vegans very often.

Another thing to keep in mind is that these kids are at a point in their veganism that most of us didn’t reach until high school or much later.  I look at 5-year-old kids that are happy vegans and have a grasp of animal rights concepts that I didn’t have when I was in college and it’s amazing to me.  Kids deal with much more peer pressure than we do as adults, and if they can keep their vegan edge at a point in their lives where all they want to do is fit in, more power to ‘em.

I’m also constantly amazed (and inspired) when I hear about kids that aren’t even teenagers that decide to give up meat even when no one else in their family does.  Often, these kids get their friends or families to go veg with them.  That’s some realness right there.

Kids are a huge influence on other kids.  Strong, confident vegan kids are going to influence their peers over time.  So, maybe it would be better to think of those kids you “hate” as advocates for the future generation.  We’re going to have a tougher time as adults reaching eight-year-olds than one of their classmates is, so let’s give those vegan kids all the support we can.  And if “support” for you just means showing a little more tolerance to a kid and not hating him based solely on the fact he’s a kid, that’s fine by me.

OK. that’s all I have to say about that.  Now can I share a couple of pictures?

This is my daughter.  She turns two in less than two weeks.  Earlier this week, she was visiting a fruit farm that also sells eggs.  Their chickens are kept in cages, as seen in the first photo.  In the second photo, she’s making her sign for “sad” or “crying” because the chickens are in the cage.  A few days earlier, she and I were in Petco to look at some kittens that a local rescue group had brought in.  After petting the kitties, we looked around the store a bit and I pointed out the birds for sale.  I said very simply to my daughter, “Those birds are probably sad because they’d rather be outside flying around, right?”  She didn’t respond at that moment, but she was clearly processing it, comparing the birds in the cages to the birds she’s seen in our backyard.  When we got back in the car a few minutes later, she made the “sad/cry” sign and said “birds,” reminding me that the birds we saw in the store were sad.  And then, a week later, she applied the same idea to the chickens she saw in the cage.  Amazing.

I suspect some people would criticize my decision to bring up something depressing like that to kid that’s not even two yet, and believe me, I thought about it a lot.  But I stand by what I told her; while I think it could do some damage to start telling kids about the horrors of slaughterhouses before they’ve even gone to pre-school, I think that it’s very important as parents to instill the idea in kids that animals are sentient beings that want to be free every bit as much as we do as human animals.  I think one of the primary reasons that otherwise intelligent adults aren’t vegan is that the cognitive dissonance is so strong and so ingrained that people have a very tough time overcoming it.  If we can gently teach our kids this lesson early on, they’ll grow up to be adults that don’t have to learn about the sentience and inherent self-worth of animals that are traditionally consumed, it’ll be a completely normal concept to them.

What’s the deal with Republicans and their VPs?  Apparently it’s a requirement that you support or participate in the most heinous of hunting practices.  Current VP Dick Cheney, when not shooting friends in the face, is a fan of the canned hunt.  Meanwhile, John McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin, has supported the aerial hunting of wolves and bears.  This practice involves chasing the animal by helicopter until the animal is exhausted, and then shooting her point blank.

Aerial hunting was outlawed by the federal government in 1972 in the Federal Airborne Hunting Act, but Alaska has been wiggling through loopholes to allow this sort of thing.  Governor Palin “actively opposed a ballot measure campaign seeking to end the aerial hunting of wolves by private hunters and approved a $400,000 state-funded campaign aimed at swaying people’s votes on the issue,” according to the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.  If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to read up over at the Defenders’ page about Governor Palin’s record on this and other wildlife issues.

The thing is, I can guarantee that a question about this will never come up in any of the vice presidential debates.  In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that no question related to animal use or even animal welfare will come up during any debate or be prominently mentioned by either campaign.  Sure, Obama’s got the Animal Rights Advocates for Obama on my.barackobama.com.  The group has, after all, raised $12 for Obama’s campaign!  Wonder if they did that selling lemonade on the corner.

And, sure, Obama’s been quoted as saying, “I think how we treat our animals reflects how we treat each other, and it’s very important that we have a president who is mindful of the cruelty that is perpetrated on animals.”  Which is good.  Really.  But it’s kind of a blow-off statement, especially considering his seemingly lackluster voting record on animal welfare.

What I’m getting at is a point that a fellow Poplar Spring volunteer made to me the other day at lunch.  He told me how, as a vegan and animal rights advocate, he felt completely distanced from either candidate.  He said that he had to pretend other issues were more important to him than animal issues for the sole fact that politicians never talk about animals when campaigning.  I had to agree.  This issue that is so important to us, one that we see tied so closely to the mainstreamed issues of human rights and the environment, is completely ignored during the campaign season.  It’s unbelievably frustrating.

I realize it’s likely the candidates ignore the issue because they would alienate much of their base if they were to discuss the rights of animals.  So, until the base changes, the issue won’t be raised.

I think all we can do is continue to work our best to advocate on the individual level, making people aware of the issues and getting people to go vegan.  We have to tie animal rights and veganism to the rights of the human workers in slaughterhouses and the environmental affects of meat, dairy, and egg production.  Once more people are protesting the use of animals in their everyday lives and can see how it’s not just “an animal issue,” then maybe politicians will start talking about the rights of all sentient beings.  Maybe then people like Sarah Palin will be questioned about her support of illegal, barbaric hunting practices.  And maybe then we can start to make some real progress for the animals.

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So much to write about (the whole anti-kid thing, a circus coming to town, site updates, tons of overdue reviews), but all I can manage right now is a picture of President Josh Hooten and me at AR 2008.  Oddly, the picture is labeled on the AR site as “Joshfriend8.jpg.”  I guess I’m “Friend.”

On Saturday, I went to the Animal Rights 2008 Conference to attend a few sessions and catch up with a few people.  I bumped into, and chatted with, more people than I expected.  Among them: Josh from Herbivore, the folks from Cosmos Vegan Shoppe, Melanie Joy (who was manning the Lantern Books table), Terry (and volunteer Steve) from Poplar Spring, Eric from An Animal Friendly Life, Gary from Animal Writings, Deb from Invisible Voices, Jonathan Balcombe, Chad and Emiko from Food Fight, and surely others I’m forgetting.

I attended a handful of sessions and thought I’d comment briefly on each:

How to Deal with Despair/Guilt? (dealing with the enormity of our mission and the extent of animal suffering) - pattrice jones

In this workshop, pattrice jones from Eastern Shore Sanctuary (and author of the very good coping guide for activists, Aftershock) facilitated a discussion amongst activists about the inevitable feelings of hopelessness, despair, and guilt that arise when doing animal (or any other social justice) activism.  This is one workshop that would definitely be served well by being given a full morning three-hour timeslot.  Take note, AR 2009 organizers.

Abuse Abroad (animal abuse in other countries) - Gorski, Marr, Vigo

What really struck me in this talk came during Rattle the Cage’s Tim Gorski when he discussed the things he’d seen while undercover in Southeast Asia.  I attended this talk because I really don’t know too much about the animal abuse that goes on outside of the United States and Gorski certainly schooled me.  Things I learned:

• The Medan Zoo in Indonesia houses an exhibit with orangutans addicted to cigarettes.  Tourists flick butts into the cages at the animals.  At the same zoo, stones and slingshots are sold.
• In the Philippines, there is an orangutan whorehouse.  Read that sentence again.  And, yes, it’s exactly what you think.
• In Northern Burma, gall bladders are carved from live bear cubs, shells are ripped from live turtles, live owls and eagles have their eyes cut out, and bear paws are cooked while still on the live bear cub.

He also discussed elephant trafficking in Thailand, where there are 3000 enslaved elephants that “work” for the tourist industry.  There are only 500 wild elephants in the wild in the country.

Speaker Maru Vigo of Derechos de los Animales discussed the connection between the Catholic church and the bullfighting industry in some Central American countries and Anthony Marr of the HOPE-CARE Foundation discussed the Alberta Tar Sands, another subject which I was completely ignorant about.

Perceptions of Animals (public perception of animals as food, companions, laborers, victims; role of language) - Davis, Prescott, Thompson

Eric covered the topic of our perception of animals’ roles and how those perceptions are reflected in the language we use.  Karen Davis discussed our perceptions of chickens and how those perceptions are challenged when people visit sanctuaries.  Good stuff, but each speaker definitely needed more than 15 minutes.

Engaging Ethnic Minorities - (African-Americans, Latin Americans, Asian-Americans) - Chang, Dalal, Ornelas

Lauren Ornelas of the Food Empowerment Project really stood out in this talk.  Hopefully she’s written more on the topic.

Does Welfare Bring Abolition? (should AR activists advocate welfare reforms as a path to abolition?) - Davis

I was expecting some chair-throwing in this workshop moderated by UPC’s Karen Davis, but things stayed relatively civil.  One thing that’s easy to forget when discussions like this happen is that no one is actively trying to do anything to hurt animals.  Welfarists aren’t trying to stunt the movement and abolitionists aren’t trying to put theory ahead of the immediate need for welfare improvements now.  However, it does seem to me that when these discussions get underway, those supporting the welfare stance tend to get defensive and take criticisms of methods personally.

Something else I noticed is that in defenses of welfare reform, it’s often taken for granted that these welfare changes are actually substantially beneficial for the animals.  According to people I know that have seen cage free egg facilities, they say that the differences are minimal or any improvements are offset by a new series of safety issues.  Critics of Prop 2 in California (a subject I am admittedly underinformed about) note that not only is the language of the initiative limp in terms of its timeline and actual protections for animals, but attempts to promote the proposition use misleading phrases like “prevent animal cruelty - vote yes on Prop 2.”  Can something that still allows the torture and death of food animals honestly be said to “prevent” cruelty?

Perhaps the most important point made during the entire discussion, though, came from someone who pointed out that there haven’t been any well-designed polls or studies that show the effect of welfare reforms on people’s attitudes towards animals and eating habits.  I, for one, would love to see some data on how many people avoid vegetarianism (or give it up) when so-called “humane” meat is available.  I suspect that a lot of people who aren’t involved in “the movement” look to groups like the HSUS when it comes to animal issues.  If the HSUS is supporting a certain welfare reform, many will assume without much critical thought that it’s good enough for the animals, so therefore, it’s still justifiable to use, kill, and eat the animals now that they’re being treated better.

I’m glad I took the time to attend some sessions this year.  Though I went to AR 2006 and TAFA 2007, in both cases I didn’t attend any talks (I just went to meet up with Josh and Isa for AR 2006 and to help out at the Herbivore table in 2007).  Animal rights supporters are an interesting bunch and getting more and more diverse every year.  It’s a good feeling to be around so many other people that are on the same page (or at least in the same book).

NBC4 in Washington, DC is featuring a really nice video featuring Poplar Spring sanctuary.  It’s primarily a review of Karen Dawn’s new book Thanking the Monkey (Really?  That’s the title?  And with a peeled banana on the front cover?), but it’s shot at Poplar Spring and features some great footage of the animals.  I thought the tone of this piece was particularly noteworthy, especially in contrast to the local FOX affiliates’s patronizing animal feature last month.  The NBC 4 piece doesn’t attempt any goofy wordplay, respectfully presents the issues, and even makes mention that “cage-free doesn’t mean cruelty-free.”

Of course, the sole comment on the story is completely trollish:

Franklin Wade (August 12, 2008 11:32 PM)

What a waste. Those animals could feed homeless people and other hungry humans. These animal "rights" activists should be ashamed of themselves. There’s a place in this world for ALL of God’s creatures — right next to the beans and mashed potatoes.

I submitted a reply, which hasn’t been approved yet:

You know what else could be used to feed homeless people and other hungry humans?  Money spent on pointless wars.

Compassion for animals and compassion for humans aren’t mutually exclusive.

I know, I know, don’t feed the trolls.  And the “pointless war” thing is kind of played out, but at its most basic level, it’s still true, no?

In addition, the station’s blog entry received its own trollish comment:

Adam Ortberg
Alexandria, VA

I can’t believe that in this day and age some people are still working for the “rights” of animals. My goodness — have they run out of CONSTRUCTIVE things to do? Next thing you know they’ll want legal rights for potted plants. This is what happens when overprivileged brats lose focus in life and forgot what’s truly important: watching out for the welfare of PEOPLE.

I replied to this one as well:

It’s always funny to me how people like Adam seem to assume that a person’s belief in animal rights somehow means they’re anti-human. Animal rights and human rights are inextricably connected, as they recognize (rather than ignore or capitalize on) the suffering of “the other.”

I’ve found that those that accuse others of “wasting” time on “unconstructive” things like animal rights really aren’t doing much of anything to advance any cause other than their desire to hear themselves talk.

Anyway, I’m happy to see Poplar Spring get such good coverage on local news.  And it sounds like Karen Dawn’s book has that Skinny Bitch mainstream appeal that will get new people thinking and talking about animal issues.

(For those in the DC area, two dates to mark on your calendars: First, on Monday August 18 from 5-8:30pm, Karen Dawn will be doing a signing for her book at the sanctuary. Then, on Sunday August 31, Great Sage restaurant will be donating 10% of the day’s profits to the sanctuary.  Go get some tasty eats and support the farm.)

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Hey, anyone planning on going to AR 2008 this week?  I’m planning on going on Saturday.  It’s a pretty long drive to get there from where I live, so I decided to limit myself to one day.

Anyway, if you’re going to be there and want to meet up for a few minutes, let me know.

• JS Online: Cow falls on slaughterhouse butcher
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This is the time of year where “county fairs” are popping up all over the United States.  These community events almost invariably center around animal exploitation, with 3/4 of the attractions in some way animal-related (not even including the food element).  I suspect that if animals and animal products were removed from most county fairs, you’d be left with a few rickety rides and a cotton candy machine.

The other day, Chad posted a link to this slideshow over at the Food Fight Blog.  It’s from a “hog wrestling” event in Wisconsin.  The following image is the first one displayed in the slideshow.  I’m showing it here in its original size to be sure it sinks in.

(Justin Connaher, Sheboyganpress.com) 

This picture’s been on my mind since I first saw it.  To me, it illustrates how far so many people are from the reality of animal suffering.

The event has its own web site at eldoradohogwrestle.org.  It’s sponsored by the Eldorado (Wisconsin) Fire Department/Lions Club and is “a timed competition where four person teams enter the “watery/mud” arena and try to catch-a-pig.”  Each pig is “used” one time and “treated humanely,” ensured by three people in the arena that “guarantee that no harm will come to the pig.”

The site then snarkily adds, “(At least not until it is taken to “market” on Monday morning.)”  Because as long as you treat them humanely while wrestling them for sport on Sunday, it’s OK to slit their throats come Monday.

Really, it’s pretty amazing how they go out of their way to describe how well the animals are treated during the event:

Hog wrestling is a timed competition where four person teams enter the “watery/mud” arena and try to catch-a-pig.  The goal is to catch, control and then carry the pig to the center of the ring, and then lifted up onto a padded barrel in 60 seconds or less.  Each hog is only used once!  Sixty teams try to “ham it up” in one way or another; but it is the slippery pigs that are the center of attention.  The porkers are clearly in the element, the competitors clearly are not.  The pigs are treated humanely; otherwise the entire team will get disqualified! We have two officials and a “hose man” in the arena with each team to guarantee that no harm will come to the pig.  (At least not until it is taken to “market” on Monday morning.)  The hogs immediately get hosed down with water, walked back to a shaded area to rest, which is more than our contestants get!  The whole thing ends up being a tremendous amount of fun as thousands of people look on under the blazing sun and temperatures (and beer) that make most people sweat like er, well..like pigs!

I don’t know about you, but to me, the picture above doesn’t depict a “humane” event.

Is it humane to drag these animals into an “event” that they obviously didn’t agree to?  Is it humane to confuse, scare, and hurt the pig by letting him be attacked and wrestled to the ground by groups of four (with names like “Team Deliverance” (pictured above), “P.E.T.A.” (how much you wanna bet that’s short for the oh-so-clever “People Eating Tasty Animals”), and “Bringing Home the Bacon”).

The picture above depicts a scared animal being tackled violently to the ground with what looks to be a bruised or bloodied leg.  Children and their families look on, smiling at this “silly” event.  To them, it might as well be a “kiss-the-pig” contest because, hey, the pigs are “in their element.” Yet, I doubt a single one of them could provide any reason why an event like this is either OK or necessary.

This is not a victimless event.  This is not fun for all.  This is not entertainment.

(Since my entry on hog-dog rodeos several years ago drew a slew of idiots, I’ll state right now that when the hog wrestling defenders arrive, any comments I deem trollish will be deleted.  Period.)