Living Without Meat

Yesterday, April 1, Mercy For Animals (MFA) released brand new undercover investigation footage and testimony that reveals unacceptable abuse at New England’s largest egg factory farm, Quality Egg of New England (QENE) in Turner, Maine.

What MFA Found
The farm in question, which was selected at random for this investigation, has despicable living conditions that are worsened by lack of vet care, insufficient killing methods that leave injured birds to slowly die in trash cans and manure pits, workers blowing cigarette smoke into the hens’ faces, rotting corpses in cages with hens still producing eggs for human consumption, lack of proper training for handling the birds, and much more. What’s worse: the owner, Jack DeCoster, has a long history as a notorious polluter and animal abusers, having been fined multiple times for his gross negligence for the environment and animals.

What MFA is Asking of You
Eggland’s Best, a company that boasts high standards, uses QENE as a supplier. MFA is asking all of us to use our money to help their efforts. MFA needs you to refrain from buying any Eggland’s Best products until they agree to stop using QENE. You can also contact Eggland’s Best and let them know that you will not stand for such inhumane production of your food. Furthermore, these conditions are, unfortunately, a industry-wide problem and going completely egg free will help immensely.

What is Being Done
MFA will continue discussions with Eggland’s Best and other QENE distributors. Additionally, the state of Maine is stepping up! Yesterday, the state received a warrant to raid QENE, based on the conditions being a violation of Maine’s anti-cruelty laws.

Learn More
* Get egg-free recipes at ChooseVeg.com
* Watch the undercover footage at MFA’s site
* Get facts about battery cages at Wikipedia
* View an animated Animal Visual to get an inside look at life in a battery cage

Nathan Runkle, the 24-year-old founder and executive director of Mercy for Animals who is openly gay, was brutally assaulted the morning of Saturday, December 27, in an apparent hate crime. The attack, which was reportedly unprovoked, occured at Masque, a gay night club in Dayton, Ohio.

Police are investigating, without any leads yet except that the attacker is believed to be a white male with no prior relationship with Runkle. According to Queering Animal Liberation, “Runkle was briefly hospitalized after sustaining two facial fractures, a broken nose, deviated septum, and severe facial bruising.”

Mercy for Animals is a national, animal rights nonprofit with offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Columbus, Ohio, was founded by Runkle in 1999, when he was only a teenager. The campaigns run by MFA over the past nine years have been profound, including free vegetarian starter kits, vegetarian feed-ins, undercover investigations, and an animal rights-minded writers’ group.

MFA made headlines earlier this year after releasing shocking undercover investigation footage of hens at a California egg farm crammed into filthy cages. The investigation resulted in grocery giant Trader Joe’s dropping the cruel farm as a supplier. The photo shown here is Runkle at a news conference in Sacramento, California, on May 6, 2008, talking about this investigation.

Runkle is a well-known name and face in the animal rights and vegetarian movements. He was recently named one of the world’s “25 Most Fascinating Vegetarians” by Veg News magazine.

Gay or straight, vegetarian or meat eater, there is no denying that Runkle has demonstrated incredible drive and compassion in his still young life. And for someone to attack him - or anyone - at random is a truly disgusting thing.

If you live in or around Columbus Ohio, you should check out Mercy for Animals’ August 31 Celebrating Compassion Party.

Mercy for Animals (MFA) is a large, vocal animal rights organization that is celebrating nearly eight years of hard work on behalf of the animals. On Friday, August 31 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Dragonfly Neo-V Gallery, MFA will serve vegan hors d’oeurves by the all vegan, Columbus restaurant Dragonfly. For a $20 advance donation, or $25 at the door, you can enjoy these tastes while sipping drinks, bidding in a cruelty-free silent auction, saying farewell to MFA’s Executive Director Nathan Runkle (who is relocating to the new Chicago headquarters), and welcome Freeman Wicklund - the new Ohio Director of Campaigns.

The event should be a blast! I am jealous of anyone who can go! It is supported by great vegetarian businesses including: Benevolence Cafe, Dragonfly Restaurant, Pangea Vegan Store, Primal Spirit Foods, Waldo’s Hair Salon, VeganEssentials.com, and VegNews Magazine.

Let me know if you go!

Image is MFA’s party pic for the event! Isn’t it adorable?!!!!

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I love free things. So I have hunted the Internet high and low for every sample, info packet, and more - “starter kit” turns out to be the buzz word. My first free vegetarian kit to arrive was from PETA, and included multiple pamphlets that featured recipes, fur industry facts, factor farming truths, circus sadnesses, and more on every aspect of animal rights because PETA believes that animals are not ours to use for any purpose.

But the PETA package had its day here in the Living Without Meat world. Today it’s Mercy for Animals’s (MFA)turn.

I was excited when my magazine-style freebie arrived, especially when I saw the catch phrase: “learn how going vegetarian has major benefits for our health, our earth, the animals.” But the first 10 pages are blood, guts, and shock factor.

The earth facts were excellent; the health needs incredibly informative; and the recipes were some of the best around, with a picture for each. But even I, someone who doesn’t eat meat and has seen these gory pictures before, barely made it through.

I do recommend checking out MFA’s free starter kit, but maybe start reading from the last page first, and rather than taking the first 10 pages in whole - take them one at a time with a recipe in between. The magazine is available delivered by mail in paper form (U.S. only), or downloaded in PDF.

Next up, find out who wins my award for best graphic design.

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Going veg*n, while certainly the purest form of animal respect, is not the only way to make improvements in your diet that will effect animals’ rights.

While animal rights activists may scoff at my saying this, I see it as it is good to cut out meat, better to go vegetarian, and best to go vegan. However, I certainly acknowledge and understand that not everyone is where I am, and not everyone will take this step today or perhaps ever.

If you are not ready, or are looking for a way to effect animals’ lives even more, here are some of my thoughts on the matter:

You can choose which distributor’s you patronize. For example, you can buy from local farmers for both produce and animal products such as eggs and chickens. Search online for farms, co-ops, online stores, and more.

You can also decide that you will not purchase from chains that have been exposed for using disturbing animal treatment practices, and will instead choose those that have either never used such practices or have changed when confronted. Some of these include: Kentucky Fried Chicken - exposed by undercover PETA investigators for torturing chickens in sadistic, illegal ways, contacted repeatedly since 2001 about changing their ways with no positive reactions. Denny’s and Arby’s were using the same turkey distributor that Mercy for Animals (MFA) recently uncovered as beating, punching, kicking, and throwing the birds. Denny’s immediately cut all ties with the company; Arby’s continues to use them.

And for more great ways to help animals by shopping smart, check out Caring Consumer. (I chose this cruelty-free consumer site not because it is sponsored by PETA, but because I feel that it offers more than its counterparts. But no company that sets out with these intentions is bad, so you can also check out www.CompassionateConsumer.com and www.CompassionateConsumers.org.).

Look for Amish-raised meat; buy products that boast no animal testing or products; don’t wear fur; enjoy animal-free circus such as Cirque de Soleil; lessen your meat intake; choose man-made over leather or suede; open your home to an animal in need of a family; spay and neuter. All of these are great ways to show that you care - and they do make a difference!

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