• Sep
  • 03

First Animal Welfare Law in Thailand is Dying!

After an 11-year struggle, Thailand’s first animal welfare legislation, currently pending review and approval by the Decree Office, is in trouble! The Prevention of Cruelty to Animal and Animal Welfare Bill is currently in limbo, and officials need a nudge to get back on track.Thai Animal Welfare Law is Dying

The current term of the current Thai government coalition is going to end soon, and concerned Thai activists believe that if the review process of the bill is delayed further, Parliament may not have enough time to act on the bill before the session ends. If that happens, the whole lengthy process will have to be repeated when the next session convenes.

Dedicated local activists—many of whom have been focusing on this issue for more than a decade—are hard at work to make sure that this doesn’t happen! Armed with more than 30,000 petition signatures collected over the past year, they’re planning to speak directly to the Thai parliament at the end of August to ask for immediate consideration of the bill.

The bill makes it a crime for anyone to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal and mandates welfare requirements for animals used in various industries. An English version of the bill can be found here. Without appropriate laws, it’s very difficult to combat cruelty and promote animal welfare. We all have the power to spare animals from suffering by making compassionate choices in our everyday lives, but legislation helps ensure that people who abuse animals are punished appropriately and deters them from doing so again.

You can help by joining PETA Asia’s activist network today. Stay tuned for more updates on the bill and actions to take to get it passed!

Posted by Agnes Tam

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  • Sep
  • 03

Foodie Friday: Johannesburg’s Greenside Café

Today, instead of writing about the scrumptious vegan recipes that you can cook at home, I thought I’d give you my take on one of my favorite South African restaurants—after all, after a hard day of work (or a night out on the town!), who really wants to cook anyway?

Greenside Cafe's Vegan Cupcakes

Vegan Cupcakes

When I was in Johannesburg recently, I happened upon the Greenside Café. I liked my first meal there so much, I went back for seconds the same day! The city was very vegan-friendly, offering an array of vegan frozen foods that I lived on most of the time as well as other great restaurants such as Spiceburg (it has a vegan menu) and Saigon (which has some great tofu). But Greenside stood out from the others.

Greenside Cafe's Soya Macciato

Soya Macciato

No matter what you’re in the mood for—whether it’s coffee and a muffin with a friend, Sunday brunch, or a romantic dinner—chances are Greenside has it! The menu ranges from healthy to decadent and includes everything from salads, raw delicacies, and nut bakes to pasta, tofu dishes, vegan desserts (my favorite was the chocolate brownie!) and indulgent drinks (Angelina’s Hot Chocolate “Paris style”, which is totally dairy-free, is a must-try!).

The Greenside Café
34 Gleneagles Road, Greenside, Johannesburg
+27 (0)11 646 3444
Open: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Tuesday to Sunday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 a.m.–9:30 p.m.

Posted by Jason Baker

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  • Sep
  • 02

South Africans Have Big Hang-Ups

We are not alone. No, I’m not talking about the existence of aliens.  I’m referring to the existence of other passionate anti-fur advocates such as the South African organization Fur Free. The proof of this group’s passion is in this winning poster from its recent anti-fur poster competition.

South Africa Fur Free Poster Contest

It’s a powerful poster that’s sure to compel people to hang up nasty old fur habits and pledge to purge their closets of animal pelts forever.

Continue reading to check out the other equally enlightening entries.

(more…)

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  • Sep
  • 02

Sri Lankan Designer Launches Compassionate Fashion Line!

Kudos to Sri Lankan model-turned-designer Nimesha Kahandagama for recently unveiling a chic, new fashion line that’s completely fur- and leather-free! This gorgeous and affordable line of shoes and fashionable accessories (including handbags) proves that you can have a killer fashion sense without killing innocent animals.

Kahandagama joins the likes of Stella McCartney and John Bartlett—both of whom have shunned the use of leather for fashion.

Leather is not simply a slaughterhouse byproduct—it’s a booming industry and an important part of the slaughter trade. The meat industry relies on skin sales because skin is the most economically important byproduct of the meat-packing industry.

Many people who care about animals refuse to buy leather because animals killed for their skins suffer all the horrors of factory farming, including extreme crowding and confinement, deprivation, castration without painkillers, branding, tail-docking, dehorning, and cruel treatment during transport and slaughter. If the leather comes from countries such as India or China, conditions are often much worse. Some leather imported from China is made from the skins of domestic dogs and cats who have been rounded up from the streets and barbarically killed.

Join Kahandagama in speaking up for animals, and take our pledge today not to wear any skin but your own!

Posted by Ashley Fruno

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  • Sep
  • 01

Balinese Government Killing Dogs With Strychnine

When I think of Bali, I imagine an island heaven: surf, sun, and miles and miles of beach! Recently, however, we received some horrible news—and there’s definitely trouble in paradise.

Bali Rabies Dog Cull

In a misguided effort to control a rising rabies epidemic on the island, Indonesian authorities have been using Bali Rabies Dog Cullstrychnine to cull the local stray dog population! Strychnine is a well-known poison, and its victims suffer for hours from seemingly endless convulsions, excruciating pain, and anguish before finally succumbing to exhaustion or suffocation. The use of strychnine poisoning on animals has been condemned by animal protection and public health groups throughout the world.

The only effective and humane way to control rabies outbreaks is through vaccination, and local group Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA) has been working tirelessly for mass vaccination of dogs throughout the island.

Please help us help dogs in Bali! Write to Idonesian officials and ask them to stop the inhumane killing of dogs in Bali immediately.

Posted by Jason Baker

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  • Aug
  • 31

Top 10 Tuesday: Not-So-Great Companion Animals

Every year, many people succumb to the temptation of purchasing a variety of “exotic” and not-so-exotic animals in order to keep them as “pets”. While we applaud those who aspire to responsible guardianship, all too often, these companion animals are resigned to a life in captivity filled with boredom and misery. For this reason, we’ve compiled a top-10 list of animals you probably shouldn’t even be thinking about as companions:

1.      Hermit Crabs
Hermit crabs are torn from their natural homes only to end up in featureless glass bowls. Suffering injuries and death from improper handling and transport, they’re often purchased on impulse and quickly released into non-native habitats. 

BERLIN - SEPTEMBER 13: A pet hamster enjoys a brief moment of freedom outside his cage on September 13, 2008 in Berlin, Germany. Hamsters are among the most popular pets for children. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

2.      Hamsters
Because of their size and cuteness, hamsters are perceived as being sweet and friendly animal companions, sometimes even a first pet for children. These nocturnal animals, however, prefer to be alone. Imagine how you’d feel if a 6-year-old (no matter how well-intentioned) woke you up at 3 in the morning!

3.      Turtles
Although some turtles are docile and will tolerate handling, most are solitary animals, and their care requirements are also too great for the vast majority of people to provide. 

4.      Iguanas
In addition to the immense space and equipment requirements needed, iguanas just don’t like to be handled. They are not social animals and are very often stressed by human handling.  

5.      Birds
In the wild birds are afforded a large amount of space—to fly, find mates, and hunt. Housing birds in cages denies them everything that is natural and important to them.

6.      Monkeys
Sure, they’re cute, but generally, primates aren’t good animal companions. In some places, they are illegal. Monkeys are intelligent and highly social animals who naturally live with their families. Because they are extremely active, messy, and destructive, companion monkeys often spend much of their time confined, alone, to cages—a far cry from their vibrant jungle homes. 

7.      Snakes
Snakes like to slither and enjoy the outside world with trees and lakes, not live in a glass tank in your basement. They like to live in tanks about as much as you’d like to live your bathtub.  

8.      Rabbits
As a prey species, rabbits are easily frightened by loud noises and sudden handling. When frightened, and if not handled properly, they can kick so hard that their spines will snap (I’ve seen in happen).

9.      Sugar Glider
Sugar gliders are very social animals and, if they are not given enough attention, may self-mutilate or die from the stress of loneliness.

10.      Fish
Fish confined in aquarium tanks are denied the ability to travel freely, languishing in glass bowls and continuously swimming in circles endlessly.

As exotic as they might be, these animals are better off left alone. Please, don’t patronize pet stores—go to your local animal shelter instead! Thousands of cats and dogs are waiting for the chance at a good home right now.

Posted by Rochelle Regodon

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  • Aug
  • 27

Foodie Friday: Spicy Kaldereta Recipe

PETA's Vegan Kaldereta Recipe

Kaldereta—a type of beef stew—is a common Filipino dish that traditionally uses meat, tomato sauce, and sometimes veggies. To make a tastier vegan version of this classic recipe, I used seitan instead of beef and coconut milk to provide a little creaminess.

Kaldereta

1 kilogram mock beef or seitan cut into medium-size cubes
3 Tbsp. canola oil
2 medium-size red onions, minced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. crushed black pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed dried chili
2 carrots, cut into half-inch cubes
1/2 kilogram potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
Soy sauce, to taste
2 Tbsp. potato starch dissolved in 1/4 cup water

  • If you are using gluten-based mock beef, wash the mock beef well, removing the starchy residue on the outside. Squeeze to remove excess water. Slice the mock beef into half-inch-thick strips. Marinate in soy sauce overnight.
  • Heat oil in a wok. Stir in the onions and sauté until transparent. Add the garlic and sauté until golden brown.
  • Add the black pepper, dried chili, carrots, and potatoes and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the mock beef and bell peppers and stir-fry for 3 minutes.
  • Slowly pour in the coconut milk, bring to a boil, and cook on high for 3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and soy sauce, bring to a second boil, and cook on high for 1 minute. 
  • Add more soy sauce if desired. Slowly pour in the potato starch one teaspoon at a time until the sauce acquires the desired thickness.

Makes 10 servings.

Posted by Jason Baker

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  • Aug
  • 26

The ‘Udder’ Truth: Ditch the Dairy and Celebrate World Breast-Feeding Month!

August is World Breast Feeding Month, a time to urge mothers to breast-feed their babies rather than giving them cow’s milk straight from the bottle.

Why drink only the finest breast milk? It comes ready-made, it needs no heating, and it’s free! Cow’s milk on the other hand, is full of plaque-building cholesterol and laced with yucky pus, and it can sometimes make babies sick.  Simply put, the diet that’s healthiest for any baby consists of his or her own mother’s milk. The breast is best!

PETA Says Milk is for Baby Cowshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/cordery/ / CC by 2.0

Their own mothers’ milk is also best for baby cows, but unfortunately, they rarely get to benefit from it. Calves born to cows used for dairy are ripped from their moms, and males are either killed outright or spend the next few months crying and terrified in a crate—all just to make veal. Females are kept alive, only to be kept perpetually pregnant in order to keep the milk quotas up, effectively reducing them to milk machines.

Ready to ditch the dairy products? Well pop that breast out and start feeding! Take our Pledge to Go Veg today!

Posted by Jason Baker

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  • Aug
  • 25

Miss Australia Universe Pledges to Fake It at This Year’s Pageant

While others may be judging her on her poise, on how she wears a swimsuit, or on her composure during the interview round, we’re only judging Miss Australia Universe Jesinta Campbell on one thing: compassion—and she gets high marks! In our hearts, Campbell won the moment her representatives sent PETA Australia the following statement about her national costume, which had previously included Uggs and a sheepskin shrug:

I am confirming that Jesinta Campbell Miss Universe Australia will be wearing only synthetic sheepskin on her National Costume, that will be televised. We appreciate you bringing mulesing to our attention.

When the beautiful gal who was chosen to represent Australia to the world opts to avoid supporting mulesing and other cruel practices of the sheep-farming industry, it might be time to look toward more humane methods. During mulesing, lambs are forced onto their backs, they have their legs restrained between metal bars, and then they have chunks of flesh cut from their backsides—without being given any painkillers—in a misguided attempt to prevent flystrike. An estimated one-fourth of Aussie farmers have already stopped mulesing, so we know that things are moving in the right direction.

Still have fugly Ugg boots or wool sweaters lying around your closet? Follow Jesinta’s lead and pledge that the only skin you’ll be in is your own.

Posted by Jason Baker

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  • Aug
  • 24

Top 10 Tuesday: Reasons Why Faux Is Better Than Skins

  1. Skins are toxic. To keep them from decomposing in your closet, fur and leather are loaded with dangerous chemicals—including mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and various oils, dyes, and finishes—some of which are cyanide-based.
  2. Fur hurts! Investigators discovered animals on fur farms suffering from anxiety-induced psychoses, such as neurotically pacing inside their cramped wire cages. Many animals are still alive when they are skinned, and some remain conscious for up to 10 minutes after their skins are ripped off.
  3. Leather wrecks the environment. Turning skin into leather requires massive amounts of energy and chemicals; in many cases, the chemicals are haphazardly dumped into nearby lakes, streams, and rivers.
  4. Leather keeps factory farms in business. Every time you buy a leather jacket or leather shoes, you sentence animals to a lifetime of suffering. Buying leather keeps factory farms and slaughterhouses in business, since the skins of animals are a profitable byproduct of the meat and dairy industries.
  5. You might be wearing Fluffy or Fido. Hundreds of thousands of skins from dogs and cats are traded in Europe each year, with an estimated 2 million dogs and cats killed in China annually.
  6. Pleather breathes better. Fake leather clothes won’t leave you sweating like real skins do. Faux materials can be made to be more breathable because they are made by humans, for humans.
  7. Synthetics keep you warmer. Fur and leather are only “natural” when they’re on the animal born with them. Synthetic materials are much more wind-resistant and durable than wool or fur.
  8. The dictionary says … Merriam-Webster added “pleather” to its Collegiate Dictionary’s Eleventh Edition because the term is so widely used. Pleather yourself—the dictionary says so!
  9. Hogs go faux. Harley-Davidson has released a full line of nonleather biker gear—now you can ride without hide!
  10. You get more bang for your buck. Synthetic materials are often cheaper than real fur, leather, and wool. Stylish faux alternatives will take a load off your conscience but not your cash flow.

With so many available alternatives nowadays, there’s simply no excuse to continue killing animals for their skin. You can still get a “killer look” without harming animals! There are many things that you can do to make sure that the only skin that you’re in is your own, including taking our Pledge to Be Fur-Free.

Posted by Jason Baker

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