Whale Slaughter and "Culture"

There was an interesting commentary posted today by Tony Long in his "The Luddite" column in WIRED online magazine called, "Slaughtering Whales As an Expression of National Culture." The piece looks at Japan, and to a lesser extent, Norway, on how they attempt to use "traditional culture" as an excuse for whale hunting.

Be Happy, Healthy and Humane!

Elizabeth Pembleton, a sophomore from Atlanta, recently gave a protest speech for her public speaking class outside the Chapel on UGA's North Campus. In this speech, she addressed concerns about contaminants that are in meat, and how to avoid getting sick from them. Ways she suggested were to not buy from companies that are notorious for their haphazard manufacturing, to buy organic, free-range meats from local markets, or to not buy or eat meat at all. She also mentioned the University of Georgia student organization S.O.S. and encouraged audience members to try vegetarianism or, at the very least, Meat Out Mondays. Because she is vegetarian and a health promotion major, she attempted to sway people using the slogan, “Be Happy, Healthy and Humane”, and handed S.O.S. stickers out at the end to promote the distribution of the message of her speech. It seemed to work, as a few students commented how they would definitely try Meat Out Mondays.

"Green" not good for birds

There is an interesting article in the Novemeber 23 issue of the AJC about "green" buildings being a danger to birds. The article focuses on a green LEED certified building at Emory that was causing a high number of bird deaths. The building, as do many "green" buildings, uses a lot of glass, and the birds were becoming confused by the reflections and flying into the building. The deaths would have continued, had it not been for a faculty member who really pushed to find a humane solution, in this case seasonal nets. Shows how one person being a voice for animals can make a difference! (photo credit: FRANK NIEMEIR/AJC)

Pacelle & HSUS featured in Newsweek

Some of you may have heard Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States speak when he gave a lecture at UGA a year ago. The current issue (November 19) of 'Newsweek' features a column written by Pacelle talking about what motivated him to be a voice for animals. (photo by D.A. Peterson for Newsweek)

Cooking Class

It was a good time last night at the special Vegan Cooking Class presented by EarthFare for S.O.S folks. For those of you who couldn't be there, I'm posting the recipe for the Curried Lentils we all got to try last night. Enjoy!

Curried Lentils

1 med. onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 med. carrot, chopped

2 cups cauliflower, chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 cups cooked lentils

2 cups peas (frozen)

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable stock

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

In a large saucepan over med-high heat, saute the onions, garlic, carrot, and cauliflower in the oil until the onions are glassy, but haven't started to brown. Add the curry powder, cumin, turmeric, lentils, peas, salt, and vegetable stock. Stir and reduce heat to a simmer for 10-15 minutes until cauliflower is tender but still firm. Serve over rice. (when cooking the 2 cups of lentils before hand, be careful not to over cook!)

Dogs Need Your Help!

A little over a year ago, UGA law professor Steve Shi and his wife Betsy learned of nearly 150 abandoned dogs on a property in North Georgia. These dogs were left in filthy pens outdoors, exposed to all weather extremes. Steve and a few others helped transport most of the dogs to no-kill shelters around the country. The Shis kept seven dogs in order to rehabilitate them to be able to later adopt them out to their forever homes. These dogs are very fearful because all they have known from humans is abuse. In order to help rehabilitate them, it is necessary for them to be exposed to kind people who will spend time with them in a calm and loving environment.

The Shis have set up a system where people come to their house and spend time with the dogs, taking them on walks, feeding them, and simply petting these animals. The dogs are still fearful and don't jump around and play with humans like other dogs do. It is evident that they are still uncomfortable when new people come to the house, but after you spend a few hours with them, they will relax and even let you touch them. The experience is very rewarding and you get to spend an afternoon with these amazing creatures. If you are interested in volunteering some of your time, please email Betsy Shi at betsy@shilaw.com

Bear Rescue Worldwide

Listen to a hour long radio program that aired today, discussing the plight of bears worldwide and what is being done to rescue them from abuse and to preserve their habitat.

To learn more about bear rescue worldwide, join Speak Out for Species Monday, November 12, for an event featuring Kartick Satyanarayan and Geeta Seshamani of Wildlife SOS, an Indian non-profit organization, who will be speaking about efforts to save India's rapidly-vanishing wildlife including the "dancing bears" of India.

Year of the Dog

If you like dogs, or any animal, really, may I please recommend Mike White's film Year of the Dog. I heard it was Mike White's apology for not being vegan. Anyway, it's a sweet story of Peggy (Molly Shannon) and her beloved dog, Pencil. When Pencil dies unexpectedly, Peggy's life takes many other unexpected turns: she gets into animal rights, goes vegan, and starts saving animals left and right. Those of us who are already will likely identify with Peggy during scenes with her uncomprehending family, and her coworkers who are afraid to eat her vegan cupcakes. Those who aren't yet vegan will appreciate the humor and humility of the film--it's not preachy, I swear!

It does seem, though, that Peggy goes through a bit of everything, almost becoming a hoarder and the stereotypical "crazy dog lady" at one point, but that's not necessarily a low point: we do see that hoarding is wrong and that we need to only take in as many companion animals as we can care for.

And anyway, with a writer/director like Mike White, and actors like Molly Shannon, Laura Dern, Peter Sarsgaard, and John C. Reilly (who walked out of a stupid Lars Von Trier film in protest over a donkey being killed on set), you can't go wrong!

Red Lentils, Indian Style (Masoor Dhaal)

This lentil dish was one of the first dishes I made for my partner. He hates lentils, yet we're still together after 8 years. It must be that good.

Red lentils Indian style
(Masoor Dhaal with vegetables)

½ onion, chopped
3 green chiles, chopped (I used 2 fresh jalapeno peppers)
6 whole curry leaves (if you have them—if not, don’t worry!)
1.5 t ground coriander
1 t grated ginger or ginger pulp
1 t garlic pulp, or about 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
Some cayenne pepper, to your spice level
1.5 t salt
2 T oil

½ C red lentils
1 potato, coarsely diced

3 T chopped fresh cilantro
Some tomatoes, chopped (however many you want. The recipe called for 3, I used 3 cherry tomatoes and that was just fine.)
3 T lemon juice

Prepare all the ingredients (up to 2 T oil), and sautee them in the 2 T oil in a large saucepan on medium heat until the onion is at least translucent.

Chop the potato and wash the red lentils. Add them to the spices along with enough water to cover the ingredients. If I had to specify, I’d say at least 2 C water, because you definitely want to make sure those lentils cook all the way through. Bring to a low boil on medium heat, or lower heat if you need to. Cook for about, I don’t know, 20 minutes, until the lentils and the potato are done.

If you want to cook your cilantro, add it now. If not, just add the chopped tomatoes and lemon juice, and then add the cilantro as a topping to your final dish. I prefer fresh, not cooked, cilantro, so I added mine once I plated it.

I served this dish with some potatoes and cauliflower Indian style, as well as some brown rice cooked with a stick of cinnamon, 2 cardamom pods, and 2 whole cloves. (Do take those out before serving, though!)

Georgia Sea Turtle Center

Georgia now has a center devoted to the care of sick and injured sea turtles on Jekyll Island. Opening in June 2007, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center works to promote the conservation of sea turtles through rehabilitation, research, and education. Next time you are at the coast you should stop by and visit! More info on their blog about their activities.

Cage-Free Egg Campaign

The egg industry is one of the worst examples of animal cruelty in agribusiness. Millions of hens spend their lives in small battery cages packed so full that they cannot even stretch their wings, let alone engage in any other natural activity, such as nesting or foraging. Factory farm hen houses are made up of rows upon rows of these battery cages stacked one on top of the other. This set up results in waste from the chickens above falling on those below. These horrible conditions leave the hens in very poor health with hardly any veterinary care.

Cage-free facilities remove the cages and allow the hens to move about on the ground. The quality of life for these hens is so much better than those stuck in battery cages. They have more space to run around and socialize. Battery cages are so awful that the countries in the European Union, such as Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden are completely banning them. A few cities in the U.S., such as Cambridge, MA, West Palm Beach and New Port Richey, FL, are following suit. Big companies like Whole Foods, Earth Fare, and Ben&Jerry's have switched to exclusively using cage-free eggs. Over 160 universities are now serving cage-free eggs in their campus dining facilities.

SOS is trying to convince the University of Georgia Dining Services stop supporting the torture of these chickens in battery cages and switch to cage-free eggs. There are many things you can do to help: write a letter or an article for the Red&Black supporting cage-free eggs, write an email to the director of Dining Services J. Michael Floyd (mfloyd@uga.edu) requesting cage-free eggs or make the request on a Dining Services comment card located at all four campus dining halls. Also, you can make the switch in your own kitchen. Stop buying eggs that are the result of an inhumane practice. If there is a larger demand for cage-free eggs, battery-cage facilities will be phased out in favor of cage-free ones. We really can make a difference.

For more information on the Cage-Free Egg Campaign led by the Humane Society of the United States, go to http://www.hsus.org/farm/camp/nbe/

For those of you who missed Kelly's talk at SOS

NATIONAL FERAL CAT DAY SPECIAL EVENT

October 16, 2007


“Communities & Cats”
Presentation by: Kelly Bettinger
(“Campus Cats” Program Coordinator and Wildlife Biologist)

Learn how other communities have been successful at humanely reducing their feral cat populations, how a “Campus Cats” program is being implemented on the University of Georgia Campus, and what you can do to help in the efforts to combat feline overpopulation.

Date/Time: 10/16/07, Tuesday, 6:15pm-7:15pm
Location: Athens-Clarke Public Library, Baxter Street, Athens, Georgia
Admission : A donation to our Fall Cat Food Drive* would be appreciated! Suggested donation: 2 cans of wet/soft food or 1 bag of dry food

*For additional drop-off locations or to arrange for the pick-up of donated food, please e-mail Kelly at: feralcatcaregivers@yahoo.com

Event sponsored by the Cat Zip Alliance
www.catzip.org

"Person with Interests"

Interesting news item today out of Austria. It is about a chimpanzee, Matthew Hiasl Pan, who an Austrian group, Association Against Animal Factories, is trying to have declared legally a "person with interests" rather than a "thing without interests" in order to help provide for his future care (the shelter he has been living at has gone bankrupt) and to ensure he isn't sold to someone outside the country where he would no longer be protected by Austrian animal cruelty laws. The article notes that they are not trying to have him declared "human" just legally a person rather than a thing.

Help Stop Dogfighting in Georgia

The federal prosecution of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick on dogfighting charges has brought new attention to efforts by state Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) to put some teeth into state laws banning the practice.

Georgia is a dogfighting haven because it lacks tough laws. For example, Georgia is the only state where it's legal both to attend a dogfight and own fighting dogs.

John Goodwin, manager of animal fighting issues for the Humane Society of the United States, recently held a public meeting in Atlanta. "Now that the nation has been awakened to the horrors of dogfighting and its prevalence, states with weak dogfighting laws need to step up to the plate" said Goodwin. "Strong felony penalties for dogfighting, including being a spectator at a fight, are essential to controlling this criminal, multi-million dollar industry. No one who fights dogs or who is complicit in this horribly cruel activity should be able to escape the law."

Senate Bill 16, the dogfighting bill, passed the Georgia Senate by a unanimous vote of 54-0 last Spring. It awaits action in the State House. Please contact your State House member and ask them to support S.B. 16.

The 2008 Georgia General Assembly session will begin January 2008. Your Georgia Representative needs to hear from you now. Please urge your legislator to strengthen laws against this cruel activity!

You can find your state elected officials using the HSUS Legislator Lookup or at the Georgia General Assembly website.

Learn more about this urgent problem at Georgia's Dog Fighting Legislation. And check out the winners of the HSUS "Knock Out Animal Fighting" video contest selected by tens of thousands of voters!

Vegan Lasagna!

I love cooking and eating! And for some reason lately, I've been really into taking pictures of my food. So I want to periodically post some recipes with photos of my favorite foods. Some of them I came up with on my own (like today's lasagna), some are from cookbooks, and some are from vegweb.com--but I'll always give a recipe! So enjoy today's recipe. Who doesn't love lasagna?

Vegan Lasagna

Ingredients
--1 box lasagna
--1 jar marinara/pasta sauce
--a bunch of sauteed veggies (optional, but awesome)

“Ricotta” Filling:
--1 block firm tofu (usu. one pound), crumbled into small ricotta-like pieces
--about ¼ - ½ block Follow Your Heart Vegan Soy Mozzarella Cheese, grated
(Follow Your Heart, available at Daily Groceries Coop, is my favorite because it actually melts

and is vegan—no casein)
--about 2-3 T Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese (or other vegan cream cheese)
--about 2-3 T soy milk
--about ¼ C nutritional yeast
(the yellow flaky stuff you get in bulk, not “brewer’s yeast”)
--about ½ t – 1t each of:
garlic
basil
oregano
salt
pepper
dried or fresh parsley
--about ¼ t nutmeg

Crumble the tofu, grate the soy cheese, and mix all ingredients in a bowl. Sautee the veggies if you want veggie lasagna. I usually spice up the veggies, too. In the meantime, bring water to a boil and cook the lasagna. Rinse lasagna in cold water and set aside Lightly cover a baking dish with some pasta sauce, and place one layer of pasta in the dish. Cover pasta with the “ricotta” filling, sauteed veggies, some pasta sauce, and top with more grated Soy Mozzarella. Repeat pasta, filling, veg, sauce, cheese, etc, until you run out of ingredients! I also like to top the completed lasagna with a bunch of sauce and then some soy cheese, too. You can also use the ricotta filling to make stuffed shells, ziti, whatever you like.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-30 minutes, until sauce is bubbly. The cheese won’t necessarily be totally browned, what with it being soy cheese and all, but it will be melty. And delicious.

AthensPets Needs Your Help

Interested in helping out Athens homeless pets? Do you own a digital camera and have access to email? If so, read on! A network of volunteers updates and maintains AthensPets.net, a site dedicated to saving the lives of dogs at Athens-Clarke County Animal Control. If you are able to volunteer at least once every 4-6 weeks and visit animal control to take pictures and write stories for the dogs at the shelter, then email Allyson at ally99@gmail.com for more information. Thanks!

One Bite at a Time

On her blog, Kathy Freston offers some helpful tips for anyone interested in transitioning to a plant-based diet:

"I heard from a lot of people who wanted help in making the transition to a vegetarian (or mostly vegetarian) diet. Let's face it: If you've been eating meat all your life, this sort of a change can be daunting even just to think about, let alone act on. Happily, it's easier than ever today to make the transition from meat-eater to vegetarian, and the following suggestions should help even the most die-hard carnivores make the switch."

You can read Kathy's "Top 6" tips at One Bite at a Time: A Beginner's Guide to Conscious Eating. This is a great introduction for everyone concerned about improving their own health, protecting our environment, or reducing the suffering of factory-farmed animals.

Threatened Species

As a follow-up to last week's S.O.S/S.E.A. film "Planet Earth: The Future" you may be interested to see the newly released 2007 Red List of Threatened Species maintained by The World Conservation Union. The list is searchable and contains scientific as well as popular names for the listed species - both animals and plants. There is a brief overview of some of the notable animals on the list at Discovery.com newsfeed.

While we are on the topic of endangered animals...there is an interesting article out of the Sacramento Bee about how Sacramento State helped a potential donor get approved hunting licenses for "red listed" species in Tanzania. It is a really interesting article, and like the film "Planet Earth" shows 'conservation' is in the eye of the beholder.

Welcome to the S.O.S blog!

The S.O.S Leadership Council decided to create a blog to share information about S.O.S activities and other animal related news/information. Enjoy!