It is rare...

that we encounter reference points that are impossible to ignore. Those points can consist of different things......events, experiences, pictures, words....

Once Upon A Vegan wrote an entry for February 14th containing  words that are so true they should be repeated far and wide, often and strongly...again and again and again. She wrote:

"It doesn't matter if it's a horse's heart, a goat's heart, a dog's heart, a human's heart, a pig's heart or a cow's heart.   Each heart has a right to beat for it's own sake."

Occasionally imperfect beings can approach perfection...to me this quote does that.....combining eloquence and truth in a graceful and concise way....it blows me away.

Treat yourself to a well written and wonderful piece of writing, read the post....heed the message...and please do your part to help each heart to be able to beat for its own sake...live vegan.

Publicizing companion animal adoption...part 2

I ran across this video because of a post over at the Mehitable Days blog (lots of great pictures and writing and recipes there) and, with the exception of the use of the word "pet", thought it was a well done spot promoting companion animal adoption. Pretty clever really...take a look:


Now that you have maybe had a laugh, you can "cool down" with a smile from watching this next video from Tanja Askani...many folks have never had the pleasure of knowing a pig personally...they can be just as interesting and as fun as the movie Babe suggested they might be.


You can help all living beings by going vegan.

I am somebody...

I feel joy, just like you.
I feel pain, just like you.
I feel love, just like you.
I feel fear, just like you.
I play, just like you.
I have friends, just like you.
I feel sorrow, just like you.
I love my life, just like you.
I am a cow.
I am a chicken.
I am a pig.
I am somebody.

(the video contains no graphic images)


Causing those who have done you no harm to suffer and die is wrong. Their lives belong to them, not to you. Begin to live a live free of causing others to suffer...of causing others to die. Please begin your journey toward living as an ethical vegan and do your part to rid our world of unnecessary suffering and death.

"By-product".....

this video (no graphic images) came from Farm Sanctuary and shows three baby cows who were the result of the "artificial insemination" (rape - penetration without consent) of their mothers who were dairy (previous post) cows.

Their mothers were impregnated (against their will and for the benefit of the dairy owner) so they would continue to produce milk. The babies were not wanted and were immediately taken from their mothers and sent to a place where they were to be sold. The Farm Rescue folks happened to be at that particular place and saved these three cow children.

For you who continue to use cow milk, cow cheese, cow milk ice cream, etc (or any milk product from an animal)...take a look at your victims...these are the babies you condemn. Without the intervention of Farm Sanctuary they would be dead by now. For you who are more compassionate...take a look at some delightful cow babies.



You can read more about Blitzen, Lawrence and Alexander here.

Dairy is simply a code word for suffering and death, a code word for mothers impregnated against their will and mothers who have their children taken from them, a code word for the killing of babies for profit or convenience......You have been lied to.......Milk is not harmless, butter is not just "tasty", ice cream is not just sweet...each means that mothers and babies are crying and grieving, separated by force, babies chained and living briefly in darkness and with inadequate nutrition (veal), death, "artificial insemination" (rape).

Dairy is pleasure for no one with any sense of decency or compassion. Dairy is a word that should evoke repugnance and disgust.

Changing how you eat is a pitifully small effort to make to halt the enormity of the suffering and misery endured by Blitzen, Lawrence, Alexander and the millions of other cow babies and cow mothers. Is that too much to ask? Please, go vegan, and stop participating in this unspeakable cruelty.

The graph...

I couldn't resist..........

January 4th, 2011....

.....early morning of that date marked the birth of 11 babies by a bunny that had been running loose and was captured and brought to Heartland Rabbit Rescue by the director and a dedicated volunteer. The new mom had only arrived at the shelter a few days earlier.

Instead of one new refugee, the population of the south warren was now increased by about 15%. While 2 of the babies did not survive....the remaining 9 are beautiful and cute and fun and wonderful.....but.....each baby born in a shelter means some other bunny cannot be rescued.

Some bunny, or cat, or dog facing execution in a municipal shelter will possibly not be accepted by a shelter that does not practice the killing of healthy animals.......because of lack of space due to births by animals that came into that shelter already pregnant.

If that bunny or cat or dog was pregnant, that meant some human that was responsible for them.....failed them....and failed any other animal that couldn't be rescued because of unanticipated shelter births. Think of it this way, every shelter birth means somewhere some other animal will die. Every animal purchased from a breeder means.....some animal in a shelter somewhere dies because they weren't adopted.

Make no mistake, humans fooling around with the lives of others by domesticating living beings and making them dependent on us also makes us responsible for those lives......and for those deaths. Get it?

Enough growling from me..........now for the cute part. First is a still photo of the tiny one of the bunch, he/she is bracketed by yellow arrows. This little one, right now is less than half as large as the siblings.  The white fuzzy stuff surrounding them is fur that mom pulled off of her chest to make a nest for the kiddos.

The tiny one.......age 1 week

Next is a video taken on January 13th, when the children were 9 days old and shows them and mom after they have been transferred to their brand new enclosure. All of the fur from the old box was (after the video) used to cover them back up....all snug and warm.

So far mom has been doing a great job of caring for her babies.....domestic mom rabbits do not hang around their youngsters except when nursing and cleaning them. It is speculated that the reason for this is a reduction in chances that a predator will find the babies. Rabbit babies have almost no scent and mom staying away reduces chances that a predator will be able to locate the babies by smell.  Notice the round tummies....mom is doing her job admirably.

The babies are terrific, yet this situation exemplifies ambivalence......because of their unexpected arrival and the resources and time needed to care for them....somewhere, sometime some other bunny animal(s) may well not be rescued.

Spay and/or neuter companion animals, please. Urge others to do so....and begin living as an ethical vegan....please.

Saving our home....

....the "collateral undamage" that accompanies a vegan lifestyle is considerable. In addition to the obvious and immediate effect of reducing the unnecessary suffering (and death) of innocent beings,  eschewing the use of animals and animal "products" quite likely improves your health and is beneficial for the environment.

Lots of folks are unaware of the horrendous damage to the environment done by the farming of animals. Watch and increase your awareness:



Curiously, the environmental benefits of a vegan lifestyle are rarely mentioned in the popular media. For instance, Al Gore, in the very well known (and oscar winning) environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth......conveniently didn't mention the fact that the single greatest impact one individual can have on their contribution to greenhouse gases is to quit eating/using animal products.

Think about it.....arguably the most well known environmental documentary...ever....avoids telling its audience the single most effective step they can take to reduce their damage to the environment. This is a wonderful example of cultural brain-washing (by omission).

Wait, wait you say.....An Inconvenient Truth came out over 4 years ago, now folks know better...right? Nope, if you go to the website of the Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA), the agency of federal government charged with "protecting" the environment....to their section on climate change ...... you will find no mention of the vegan lifestyle as a step an individual can take to reduce their contribution to greenhouse gases. If you visit About.com for their take on the "Top 10 Things You Can Do To Reduce Global Warming" you will find no mention of avoiding the eating of animals.

The University of Chicago knows that avoidance of meat is the most effective way an individual can reduce their contribution to greenhouse gasses, they say: " Human diet has a profound influence on the release of greenhouse gasses (CO2) into the atmosphere. A red meat diet is has the most per capita impact on the atmospheric load of greenhouse gasses." But....on the page where they make this statement....they place it at the bottom right of the page....in small print.

If you want an education in how uncomfortable or unprofitable information.....vital information...is suppressed or avoided or minimized....just start looking into the subject of environment, diet and the individual. The gyrations and avoidance maneuvers are a hoot (in a tragic, depressing sort of way).

There is a terrific full-length documentary available for watching online that doesn't avoid reality, you can watch Meat The Truth by clicking on the link associated with the title.

The ethical vegan lifestyle has an astonishing number of positives and a paucity of negatives....if you haven't already....go vegan....save other lives, maybe improve your health, make your contribution to being green and saving our home.

A year-end apology...

...to each of the cow animals, sheep animals, chicken animals, pig animals, dog animals, cat animals, rabbit animals, turkey animals, duck animals, geese animals, wild animals and all other animals made to suffer and die needlessly this year because of the greed, cruelty, carelessness and thoughtlessness of human animals.

Apology is too weak a word to convey the sorrow and regret appropriate for the terror, pain, misery and death experienced by each sentient...innocent being.

Each of you deserved to live your life...to live on this earth...to run, play, fly and love....and that was stolen from you.

While those that think of you and will not forget you are few in number, we exist.

I am sorry, I will do more to try to stop this horror.

You can help too, if you are not vegan, please begin your journey now, help make this new year a better one for all.

Why she became vegan....

...this recent (March, 2010) interview of Ellen DeGeneres by Katie Couric touched on the question of why vegan? The video came to my attention because I saw it over at  We're All Animals .  I think it is a good one for as many folks as possible to watch because Ellen DeGeneres is articulate and clear in her presentation of the experiences and thinking that led her to choose a vegan approach to living.



In the interview she references a documentary called Earthlings.  You can watch the complete film online.

If you haven't seen it, do so, especially if you are not living the vegan lifestyle.....simply because you want to know what you are doing to sentient beings, the environment and the earth.....you do want to know, don't you?  Or maybe you think ignorance (deliberate and willful) absolves you of responsibility. Does it? Hmmm.....

We are all one....

Below I quote one of the most truthful passages I have ever read.

The fact that animals are voiceless is a relief to us, it frees us from feeling much empathy or sorrow. If animals did have voices, if they could speak with the tongues of angels - at the very least with the tongues of angels - it is unlikely that they could save themselves from mankind. Their mysterious otherness has not saved them, nor have their beautiful songs and coats and skins and shells, nor have their strengths, their skills, their swiftness, the beauty of their flights. We discover the remarkable intelligence of the whale, the wolf, the elephant-it does not save them, nor does our awareness of the complexity of their lives. It matters not, it seems, whether they nurse their young or brood patiently on eggs. If they eat meat, we decry their viciousness; if they eat grasses and seeds, we dismiss them as weak. We know that they care for their young and teach them, that they play and grieve, that they have memories and a sense of the future for which they sometimes plan. We know about their habits, their migrations, that they have a sense of home, of finding, seeking, returning to home. We know that when they face death, they fear it. We know all these things and it has not saved them from us. Anything that is animal, that is not us, can be slaughtered as a pest or sucked dry as a memento or reduced to a trophy or eaten, eaten, eaten.

Joy Williams, The Inhumanity of the Animal People

Change begins with you, if you are not now vegan, begin your journey.

Ineffably sad............

.....no bloody or violent scenes are shown, just the story of Jenny being told.


Their lives are their own, we have no right to interfere with, use, confine, hurt or kill any of our fellow animals. We must stop, for their sake.....and for our own. Living as a vegan is the only way to live a life with a minimal amount of harm.....please begin your journey there as soon as you can.

Thanks to Patty over at the Animal Liberation blog for finding the video.

For those......

who need tv to tell them when something is "real"......and for those that are unfamiliar with some of the environmental consequences of eating the "standard american diet".

Do it for the animals (their lives belong to them, not you), do it for the planet, do it for your health.....go vegan. Or, at the very least, begin your journey in that direction.

Turkey rescue.....

Karan Dawn, author of Thanking the Monkey, shows how she purchases a turkey every year at this time. If we all did this, the holiday could become a time of joy instead of a frenzy of death.

Note at about 1minute and 40 something seconds into the video there is a period of 20 seconds or so showing turkeys hung upside down in shackles and then some footage of someone punching the helpless animals....for "fun". Turn away at this part if you must, then watch the remainder of the video.

All animals have the right to their own lives......to live according to their own natures.....without abuse, exploitation,  or enslavement by anyone. Human animals do not need to eat the flesh of other sentient beings to live. Please begin your vegan journey as soon as possible. Lives are at stake.

Briefly.........

It is mid-term time, hence this is a week that is a little more busy and intense........

I ran across an article titled "Not Your Regular "-ism""  that tied in very well with my previous post.  In part it reads:

......Veganism calls for dissemination of the truth and an end to ignorance. Animal agricultural industries pay a lot of money to hide the gory goings-on inside the walls of slaughterhouses and factory farms. But how can consumers be expected to make conscientious choices if they aren’t educated? This is where the efforts of animal advocates come in – they inform people about animal agriculture and the exploitative practices involved in the production of meat, eggs and dairy. (Granted, some people may prefer to remain ignorant about these things – but when one person’s ignorance results in the torture and death of another being, denial is no longer an option.)

The writing comes from the University of Wisconson - Milwaukee student weekly. An interesting read.

Halloween is coming up, why not make your treats animal-friendly?  While being gruesome is all in the Halloween tradition, don't make the occasion horrid for the other animal people.

Continuing on a Halloween theme, if you live in the Norman area, drop on by Main Street Photo-Video if you are looking for some totally unique Halloween cards.  The owners are bunny people and animal rescuers as well as pleasant and creative human animals. The Dracula bunny card they created is a hoot.

Bunnies, humidity and Benson

Benson, September morning, 2010

The remarkable run of humid, muggy, sort of yuck days finally ended here in central Oklahoma, this past Sunday brought a cool front and some version of fall weather.  I saw a notation in the newspaper that this past Monday night marked the lowest temperature the area has seen since May the 11th (about 4.5 months).

Cooler temperatures mark the onset of bunny weather. These animal folks do not thrive in warmer temperatures, once 85 degrees or so is reached their risk of heat stroke rises right along with the temperature/humidity ......so.....now begins the good times outside for the rabbits at Heartland Rabbit Rescue. Jeannie and Brad (and the volunteers) work at not only doing all the daily tasks that must be done for bunny care.......but also at setting up safe areas outside so each of the resident bunnies get the opportunity to spend time hopping, sniffing, running, digging or lallygagging.....in the great outdoors.

Fun times. Benson, the hermit rabbit, is not neglected when it is time for his neighborhood to migrate outside for some play time. Yesterday morning I took time to supervise him on a foray around the sanctuary grounds.  He took off once placed in the grass and made a tour half-way around the warren building and back.

He continues to be somewhat reclusive, but accepts handling without much fuss. Benson probably weighs around 2.5 lbs. I weigh (roughly) 80 times what he weighs.....my size is as much larger than Benson as a 16,000 lb creature would be to me (8 tons is a little larger than the largest elephants).  You or I would be a little intimidated, I suspect, if we were being handled by (or even in the vicinity of) some being 80 times bigger than we are.

Last week he actually did a small binky in his living area......which is pretty rare behavior for Benson.  Note that Benson's eye does not typically look quite as fierce at it appears to be in the photo, the morning sunlight caught it just at the right angle or maybe the inner Benson was just shining through.......

Here is a video of a cat person hanging out with a bunny person. The cat person is named Timothy and the bunny person is named Bunny. According to the info with the video, Bunny hopped up on the bed and lay down beside Timothy. As you can see, Timothy decided to provide some grooming. We humans aren't the only animals that can provide comfort and care to those who are different than ourselves.

If possible adopt from a local animal shelter, if you can't adopt, foster, if you can't foster, volunteer, if you can't volunteer, donate......do all of these things if you can.

Finally.....remember, it is almost impossible to eat the flesh of an animal or something produced by an animal without being responsible for suffering and death. Begin your journey toward a vegan lifestyle and you begin your journey toward not harming those who have not harmed you.

One of the positive aspects of the World Wide Web is.............

......that it makes possible accessing the writings and thoughts of others so astonishingly easy.  I am not sure that is always a good thing, but often it seems to be so.  I ran across an essay that had a quote in it referring to avoiding eating animals that is eloquent and potent:

"....Every time I sit down to eat, I cast my lot: for mercy, against misery; for the oppressed, against the oppressor; and for compassion, against cruelty. There is a lot of suffering in the world, but how much suffering can be addressed with literally no time or effort on our part? We can just stop supporting it, by making different choices...."

Bruce Friedrich's complete essay is well worth reading.  Support compassion with your choices....go vegan.

Domestic vs Wild.......

Domestic rabbits are not native to the western hemisphere, they are all descended from European wild rabbits.  Hence, the stories one might hear regarding domestic rabbits being released to the wild and then having offspring as a result of breeding with native American wild species of rabbit are likely untrue.  I say likely because it seems to be the case that domestic and wild rabbits will have sex, but if pregnancy results..the offspring are born dead.  I wouldn't rule out offspring surviving, but this probably would result in a situation similar to that of the breeding of horses with donkeys where the offspring (mules) are sterile.  More information can be found here or here.

Domestic rabbits, like non-Native Americans, did not originate in North America.  European humans arrived here in numbers large enough to be significant a little over 500 years ago, domestic rabbits are more recent Europeans, arriving here in the 19th century.

Therefore, the not unusual situation where a unwanted rabbit "pet" is released into the wild in the United States usually results in a short miserable life and the former "pet" becomes the victim of starvation, lack of shelter or a predator.  Their often striking fur colors make them easily visible to predators.

Domestic rabbits are not adapted to living here, they have not been raised in the wild, they have not been  taught how to survive by their parents and thinking they will magically acquire such skills and adaptive behaviors is almost criminally ignorant.  Their European origin is one reason that domestic rabbits are so susceptible to heat-stroke.  Any temperature above 85 degrees puts them at risk, hence Oklahoma summers are potentially deadly for domestic rabbits.

The mere existence of domestic rabbits exemplifies human interference with and exploitation of other animals.  Rabbits were manipulated (in their choice of breeding partners) by humans so they could be eaten or for fur, or because we thought they were amusing, or pretty or interesting or useful.

The mother rabbit and her babies highlighted in the previous post are appealing and sweet and a pleasure to interact with.  The fact is though, that she and her children are doomed to being dependent on humans for any sort of reasonable, comfortable (to whatever degree possible) life.  The mere existence of "domesticated" (substitute human-dependent for domesticated) species of any kind exemplifies human arrogance, insensitivity and exploitation.

What is difficult to understand about the notion that a living being has a right to live her or his own life....however they might choose to live, to have sex with whomever they wish, to choose their own friends, raise their own children, live wherever they find suitable?  The majority of humans would wish for autonomy in their own lives but most appear to find the idea of according such to our fellow Earthlings an astonishing thought.

It is phenomenal when you think about it, choosing to live your life in a way wherein one avoids, wherever possible, exploiting or doing violence to other living beings is considered peculiar, strange, unusual, weird.  There is even a specific name for it (vegan) where there is not a specific designation (although Melanie Joy's recent book takes a stab at naming this type of living) for conducting a life where it is routine to do violence and killing and controlling of other sentient beings or to pay someone to do these things.

The incongruousness involved in someone saying they care about or "love" animals while eating a hamburger, or eggs or cheese is profound, tragic and sad.  Perhaps a child could make such a statement innocently, but for most such a contradiction can be maintained only through the assiduous exercise of denial and avoidance.

Cultures are powerful vehicles for managing human thought and behavior, there can be few greater examples of that power than believing that behaving violently or paying for violence to be done is a normal, good and desirable way of living.....and that ignoring this reality makes it not exist.

The power of the propaganda and thought distortions that are foisted upon us from birth are potent and effective, I fault no one for succumbing to them (myself included), however, one of the primary responsibilities of adulthood is to give up believing in fairy tales and to begin to see the world and ourselves as it is and as we are, not as we want it to be. This, however, is difficult and scary and sometimes painful, hence, many do not progress far on the journey.  The problem with not doing taking this journey is that we then condone, albeit silently, the lies, distortions, suffering and violence.

So, I absolutely and totally enjoy the presence and company of momma bunny and her babies, but, if I had the power, she would not exist....not in her current manifestation...there would be no "domestic" beings, no need for Heartland Rabbit Rescue or other shelters.  Momma bunny and her children would be living their life in their own manner of choosing (in Denmark or somewhere) and would be highly unlikely to want anything to do with me or any other human.....or maybe not (see the post "It ought to be like that").

If we humans can ever grow up and quit acting like spoiled 2 year old children who believe everything revolves around us, if we can begin to interact with and respect other earthlings and our planet like we ourselves wish to be dealt with....then maybe momma rabbit or one of the children might not mind hanging out with me for a bit....until they had rabbit doings to take care of.