. Blossom (left) and Minnow out on a walk. Photo: Abbie Hubbard.
Abbie recalls once being asked by a reporter in South Korea what it was like to have a dog that was different from other ‘meat’ dogs. She explained that Minnow is no different, and that her heart is the same as all other dogs. “I often think about that question in regards to Blossom,” she says. “My response would be that she, too, is no different — her heart is the same as all other beings.” Blossom the turkey and Minnow the dog have something in common — they were both once thought of only as “food.”
Minnow was rescued from a South Korean meat farm in 2015, and Blossom was saved last year from a commercial turkey farm in West Virginia. Today they share a home with Abbie Hubbard, and are like any other family. They go on hikes together, snuggle on the sofa and greet Abbie at the door. “When I put the keys in, I hear Blossom make loud chirping sounds in excitement,” Abbie, who is the Animal Rescue Responder for Humane Society International, tells LAIKA. “She always comes running, and it makes my heart do flips of joy.” Read more
Susan Hargreaves is the Founder of Animal Hero Kids, a charity that empowers youth by providing them with school presentations that highlight animal rescue, advocacy, and promotes a cruelty-free existence by youth. She has been an animal advocate for over 40-years and has been revered by World Leaders and Celebrities across the globe.
Susan Hargreaves of Animal Hero Kids
FWM: What does activism mean to you?
Activism runs the gamut of speaking to the person at the grocery store looking for lactose-free milk, why cows milk dairy is the product of animal cruelty, educating at schools, protesting animal abuse, and speaking up at every opportunity you can, where it may make a difference.
Empathy is the first building block of kindness. Compassion is fostered in the “Animal Hero Kids Voices for the Voiceless “ book and education programs. I present stories of animal rescue and advocacy by youth. These stories, like all well-told stories, put you in the other’s place; understanding of another’s situation is vital-today more than ever.
Compassion being taught to youth is cruelty prevention, bullying and violence prevention. When empathy and kindness are taught at an early age it has the power to change the world. My life’s challenge is to increase compassion for all beings on a large scale. Read more
On the morning of Saturday, July 4th, one day before we were scheduled to welcome our five rescued cows to VeganLand, we arrived to discover that eight of the condemned cows who graze on our neighbor’s land had somehow made their way onto our property.
Our first thought was that we must have left a gate open, but a quick look revealed they were all closed.
We could hear their herd mates calling from the field next door, and as we tried to understand how they had managed to get through, eight dispirited and mistrustful mothers stood staring back at us, with what we confirmed, in retrospect, was accusation in their eyes.
Leigh Sanders is the Founder of the Art of Compassion Project, an international art collective of vegan artists from all over the globe and across every continent. The art collective raises funds through various art projects and donates 100 per cent of profits to a variety of vegan non-profit organizations, at least one large and one small organization every year.
When she started the Art of Compassion Project, Leigh had a mission. “I wanted to build a strong international network of vegan artists that all share the same vision–to use their art to spread the vegan message. I also wanted to effectively use the art as a means of touching people’s hearts and opening their mind to living life the vegan way. Sometimes we can be surprised just how much a painting, poem or piece of music can affect us. Art speaks to the soul even when the mind doesn’t quite grasp what’s being said.”
Beginning January 1, 2021, the streets of Chicago are going to look a little more animal-friendly. Gone will be the horse-drawn carriage operators who have been plying their cruel trade in the Windy City for 150 years. On April 24, the Chicago City Council voted to ban them. Chicago joins other cities in banning horse-drawn carriages, including Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; Salt Lake City, Utah; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Biloxi, Mississippi; Camden, New Jersey; and several cities in Florida. (Despite years of protesting, horse-drawn carriages still operate in New York City.)
Instrumental in getting the ban passed was the Chicago Alliance for Animals (CAA). For more than three years, this grassroots animal advocacy organization frequently documented horses being denied water and forced to pull carriages in heavy traffic through extreme heat, thunderstorms, and blizzards. Read more
You sacrifice eating from dawn to dusk. To show how strong your faith is. The point is to remind people of the need to be humble. Through the fast, you feel the hunger and remember poor people. You realize what it means to not have food. It brings you down to the ground.
At the end of the one month fast, you donate 4% of your money to poor people at the end of the fast. It isn’t just faith, but also charity. You celebrate observing the fast in the correct way it should be done.
After the prayers are said, you make friends with your enemies. You shed everything that’s between you two and hug that person, thereby finish any grudges and bad blood. It’s an overflow of emotions, and I end up feeling very light at the end of it.
Eid is about sacrificing something you love the most. People buy animals and sacrifice in the name of God. I don’t see the connection at all. Read more
As we have written about in the past, conditions for those working in abattoirs are horrendous.
It was inconceivable to think this situation could become worse, however, that’s indeed what has happened with COVID-19, and the scientific community is in consensus that what was an appalling situation is now so much worse. Slaughterhouse workers are being exploited at unprecedented levels due to this pandemic.
Early in the spread of COVID-19, it was clear in many places throughout the world that slaughterhouses were a magnet for the spread of the virus. In May 2020, Bloomberg published an article showing that many of the communities that have a slaughterhouse in the vicinity were experiencing the spread of COVID-19 at twice the national average. Read more
About Nation Rising: It’s time for an agricultural revolution!
Nation Rising is a political advocacy group that is bringing together individuals and organizations across Canada who are concerned about the environment, health, and animal rights to rally on Parliament Hill to demand the government shift subsidizing away from animal agriculture and towards healthy, sustainable, organic food for the good of the planet, the people, and the animals. Read more
I’ve had the wonderful opportunity recently to spend time and absorb a bit of the brilliance of systems engineer Sailesh Rao, PhD, who spent most of his career developing a little thing we’re all familiar with: the Internet! When Dr. Rao, a lifelong vegetarian, learned about the climate/agriculture connection, he went vegan immediately and left his high-status engineering position to devote himself full time to saving this planet. He founded ClimateHealers.org and has joined the production teams of several vegan documentaries, including Cowspiracy, What the Health, and A Prayer for Compassion, set to debut in October. Read more
This past July, Dan and I flew east to our hometown of Ottawa, Ontario. Dan was born in Ottawa and I had moved there with my family when I was in Grade 2. We grew up in the same neighbourhood, met and got married in Ottawa in 1989, before starting our life together in British Columbia. So while all of that history might have been enough to lure us back for a visit 29 years later, we made the journey for a reason much bigger than ourselves.
Sheanne and Dan Moskaluk in front of the Peace Tower.
On July 14th, we had the privilege of participating in the first annual Nation Rising March and Rally. Dan and I, along with 500 other Canadians, marched through the streets of downtown Ottawa, arriving on Parliament Hill. At the foot of the Peace Tower, we all delivered a list of demands to our Federal government: Read more
image: Brodie Frehlich Photography. Led by Liz White, the Animal Protection Party of Canada (APPC) is Canada’s only federal political party that gives the animals and the environment a political voice – the powerful, national voice needed to secure protection for all animals and the environment. Jordan Reichert is the APPC West Coast Campaign Officer. Vote for Jordan Reichert October 20th for Victoria Council. A win in a municipality will have positive ramifications far beyond the city, since many federal and provincial legislators begin their careers at the municipal level. Jordan’s work as a Victoria city councillor would show voters across Canada that legislators like Jordan can both advance animal and environmental protection issues and be tireless advocates of the best kind for the constituents. See his platform of public policy that reflects the values, needs, and diversity of Victoria here.
The Animal Protection Party of Canada is committed to the promotion and adherence to veganism. All of our team is vegan as are a great number of supporters. However, you don’t have to be vegan to support us. We are an inclusive political party that is just as dedicated to being compassionate and welcoming to those who are not vegan as we are to the animals whose interests we have in mind when expressing vegan values. Read more
Why are you vegan? Why do you promote veganism? Why is vegan activism important?
I am vegan because I believe that all beings, human and nonhuman, are entitled to a life free of oppression and exploitation, and a life of bodily integrity and moral agency. I promote veganism because I believe that what is and has been happening to nonhuman animals for thousands of years for food, clothing, entertainment and research is wrong, it is immoral. I promote veganism because most people are either unconscious or don’t care about the brutality done to animals in our names, and someone, such as myself and other vegans and animal activists, are obligated to be active for them. Vegan activism is important because it takes our attention and focus off of our own selfish and individual needs and lives, and puts it on helping those being oppressed and exploited. Living a moral and ethical life requires speaking up and doing whatever we can do to change the situation for nonhuman animals. Read more
Dominika Piasecka Talks About Her Life As A Vegan Activist And Shares Her Stories From The Front Line Of Demonstrations Across The UK.
For many vegans, eradicating animal products from their diet and lifestyle is simply not enough in the effort to save animals from pain and suffering. Even after fully committing to veganism in 2012, student and campaigner Dominika Piasecka felt as though she could, and should, be doing more. She told Vegan Life: “I didn’t want to be a person who was content with how things currently are, so I turned to animal rights. We must actively intervene to stop violence, not just say we don’t want to participate in it.”
After initially getting involved with animal rights and campaigning when she was still a vegetarian, Dominika was encouraged to watch a speech by activist Gary Yourosfky, and was instantly hooked on the idea of veganism.
“Every single sentence he said made sense to me, and veganism became logical. I watched the whole speech and excluded cow’s milk from my diet right away. I could not believe that I was living a lie for so many years – I had no idea about the dairy and egg industries and in the past I never understood why people became vegan.” Read more
Vegan Psychologist Dr. Clare Mann Interviews Dr. Michael Klaper, a gifted clinician, internationally recognized teacher, and sought-after speaker on diet and health, on the concept of her book, Vystopia.
Below read about Vystopia: The Book by Psychologist Clare Mann: Read more
Hi, I’m Chloe, the founder of VegYouth. I started VegYouth when I was 16 years old and in the eleventh grade (in August 2013).
Path to veganism:
My story dates back to when I was 3 years old. I had just finished watching the movie Chicken Run and came to the shocking revelation that chicken indeed does come from chickens. I put away the thought for some time.
This thought resurfaced when I was 6 years old, when a book of fun facts about pigs sparked on obsession of them. I read Charlotte’s Web, fiction books about pigs, and one where the main character was a pig who did not want to be slaughtered as well as many other pig books and movies. I decided to never eat pork again, even though my family never ate pork anyway, so this obsession did not really change my eating habits. I also like to say that I became an activist when I was six, because I cried whenever anyone even talked about eating pork and even wanted to start a pig appreciation club. Read more
Robert Grillo is the founder and director of Free from Harm, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that promotes farmed animal rescue, education and advocacy. Free from Harm strives to be a leader in online activism by building a strong online community and publishing content that empowers and informs activists as well as institutions and the general public. Grillo has a professional background in marketing and communications and leverages his 20 years of experience to strengthen his animal advocacy work. A typical day involves organizing events, coordinating rescues, writing articles or a letter to the editor, brainstorming ways to enhance the Free from Harm website and looking for the next viral video idea. He enjoys the outdoors, hiking, biking, gardening, cooking and the company of good friends.
EVEN: How did veganism become part of your life?
Robert: For me the turning point was identifying with the victim. Or, should I say, recognizing that a victim even exists, since we are conditioned all our lives to believe that animals can’t be our victims.It took time for me to see how our animal-eating culture teaches us to block our awareness of the suffering of the animals we consume, to deny the existence of any problem, and,worse, to stifle any critical thinking on the subject. Read more
“Without an emotional, heartfelt grappling with the source of our own oppression, without naming the enemy within ourselves and outside of us, no authentic, non-hierarchical connection among oppressed groups can take place. . . . I am a woman with a foot in both worlds, and I refuse the split.” – Cherrie Moraga, 1979
As a vegan transsexual, I have found myself suspended between two worlds, two spheres of activism, two separate communities committed to justice and equality. I believe that the time has come to break down the barriers between these intrinsically connected anti-oppression movements. Naming suffering as our common enemy, I am proposing a trans-vegan alliance.
Trans people know what it is to be perceived as different, judged as inferior, and denied rights (or worse) on the basis of that difference. Yet we ourselves use this same corrupt equation to oppress animals. How can one form of oppression end without the other? Read more
Since going vegan in 2013, my view of animals has changed so much. I used to be that person who thought of animals as “just animals” and that eating cows, pigs, and chickens were “just the way things are”, never giving them any thought beyond that.
In June of this year, Julian and I adopted our first dog, something I know I would never have done had I not been vegan. Even the animals we are conditioned to love and care for and not eat, I viewed as more of a nuisance or obligation; I didn’t really “get” the love that people had for their pets and I certainly didn’t see those pets as individuals or companions, mainly because I’d never experienced it before. We had a dog when I was about 4 or 5 who was returned to the shelter when she tore the kitchen curtains up. We had a cat when I was in grade school who was given away when we moved cities. This attitude of animals being disposable if they inconvenienced us continued when my brother was old enough to get a dog (I don’t know what happened to his dog because I had moved out of the house by then. All I know is the dog did not stay long). By the time I was on my own, I knew I never wanted pets, which, on one hand was good because I still viewed animals as expendable but it was also–to use an expression I’ve learned from therapy–a missed experience. Had I developed a better understanding of animals and a proper empathy toward them, I could have provided a loving home to one for many years. Read more
We hear Gary’s Yourofsky’s personal story and a second part of his powerful and brilliant speech at Georgia Tech. In this excerpt, among other topics, you get loads of information about healthy vegan foods, personally taste-tested by Gary. Full Speech is here .
Vegan Smythe’s song, “Human Milk Dairy.”
The Audible Kitchen – Vegan Creamy Mushroom Soup for Two. ▪ 4 ounces dark, over-ripe mushroom caps, cleaned and diced
▪ 1 tablespoon safflower oil
▪ 2 gloves garlic, peeled
▪ 1 medium russet potato, peeled, cleaned and diced
▪ 1 1/2 cups water
▪ 1 tablespoon tamari
▪ salt and pepper to taste Read more
We feature an illuminating question-and-answer segment with Gary Yourosfsky from his life altering Speech: His Website contains all you need to know about Veganism.
The late 60’s and 70’s were a time of social unrest and some songwriters used their words as a guiding light for the collective international consciousness. I feature three songs from that era.
It’s almost Halloween and we have our usual fabulous songs and recipe on our popular Audible Kitchen.
Vegan Smythe from Melbourne, Australia. Hear his song, “Vegan Parent”
The Audible Kitchen – Halloween Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies (adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s “Vegan with a Vengeance”).Read more
Hear Chelsea Pinkham, the incredible fifteen year old vegan animal activist, today and tomorrow’s leader who rescued a Turkey bound for slaughter on Thanksgiving.
Today’s Song by Vegan Smythe“ Chicken Man”
The Audible Kitchen – Thanksgiving Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Leigh Sanders is the Founder of the Art of Compassion Project, an international art collective of vegan artists from all over the globe and across every continent. The art collective raises funds through various art projects and donates 100 per cent of profits to a variety of vegan non-profit organizations, at least one large and one small organization every year. 
wanted to build a strong international network of vegan artists that all share the same vision–to use their art to spread the vegan message. I also wanted to effectively use the art as a means of touching people’s hearts and opening their mind to living life the vegan way. Sometimes we can be surprised just how much a painting, poem or piece of music can affect us. Art speaks to the soul even when the mind doesn’t quite grasp what’s being said.” 
streets of Chicago are going to look a little more animal-friendly. Gone will be the horse-drawn carriage operators who have been plying their cruel trade in the Windy City for 150 years. On April 24, the Chicago City Council voted to ban them. Chicago joins other cities in banning horse-drawn carriages, including Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; Salt Lake City, Utah; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Biloxi, Mississippi; Camden, New Jersey; and several cities in Florida. (Despite years of protesting, horse-drawn carriages still operate in New York City.)
I’ve had the wonderful opportunity recently to spend time and absorb a bit of the brilliance of systems engineer Sailesh Rao, PhD, who spent most of his career developing a little thing we’re all familiar with: the Internet! When Dr. Rao, a lifelong vegetarian, learned about the climate/agriculture connection, he went vegan immediately and left his high-status engineering position to devote himself full time to saving this planet. He founded 
Why are you vegan? Why do you promote veganism? Why is vegan activism important?
For many vegans, eradicating animal products from their diet and lifestyle is simply not enough in the effort to save animals from pain and suffering. Even after fully committing to veganism in 2012, student and campaigner Dominika Piasecka felt as though she could, and should, be doing more. She told Vegan Life: “I didn’t want to be a person who was content with how things currently are, so I turned to animal rights. We must actively intervene to stop violence, not just say we don’t want to participate in it.”
Path to veganism:
