vegansaurus!
06/29/2011
WARNING: GRAPHIC AS FUCK. This is a new undercover video from Mercy for Animals. The footage was taken at Iowa Select Farms in Kamrar, Iowa. Sometimes people who don’t want to watch a scary video ask me to list what’s in the video; this is from the Mercy for Animals site:
Between April and June of 2011, an MFA investigator documented:
- Mother sows confined to barren metal crates barely larger than their own bodies—unable to turn around or lie down comfortably for nearly their entire lives
- Workers ripping out the testicles of conscious piglets without the use of painkillers
- Piglets suffering with herniated intestines, due to botched castration
- Conscious piglets having their tails painfully sliced into and yanked off with dull clippers
- Large, open, pus-filled wounds and pressure sores
- Sick and injured pigs left to languish and slowly die without proper veterinary care
- Mother pigs—physically taxed from constant birthing—suffering from distended, inflamed, bleeding, and usually fatal uterine prolapses
- Management training workers to throw piglets across the room—comparing it to a “roller coaster ride”
So sad. Man, I love pigs. Even though these guys are being tortured, you can still see how cute the little piglets are. How anyone can do this kind of thing, I’ll never know. And all this happens JUST so people can eat meat JUST because they “like the taste.” Fucking pathetic.
There’s a few things Mercy for Animals says you can do about this so check that out.
∞ posted at 13:03 by youtalkfunny 
06/08/2011
El Nuevo Mexicano has vegan food! Chicago, I’m coming back! »
Not to live, just a visit. I simply refuse to attempt to survive another winter in the Midwest. I don’t care how delicious the vegan food is, I cannot take it!
On a side note, Virgin America has just announced flights to Chicago! I can fly on the cheap and cush to go visit my old stomping grounds! On my most recent trip outta town, I discovered Plant Cafe at Virgin America’s new Terminal 2 at SFO. Vegan cupcakes at an airport? Who says airports are no fun?
There are so many reasons to visit Chitown—Old Style, friends, amazing falafel sandwiches, and now, El Nuevo Mexicano in Lakeview has announced new vegan options! I’ll take a pitcher of margaritas and the entire vegan menu, thanks!
Feast your eyes on a few of the selections, then buy your plane ticket. September is a really tolerable beautiful month for Chicago.
The peeps at El Nuevo Mexicano credit Mercy for Animals as the inspiration behind their new vegan options! Mad props, MFA!
El Nuevo Mexicano is located at 2914 N. Clark St. in Lakeview, Chicago.
[photos courtesy El Nuevo Mexicano’s Facebook page]
∞ posted at 10:52 by jennybradley 
05/27/2011
Patxi’s Chicago Pizza is opening in the Inner Sunset! »
So many incredible and amazing things come out of Chicago. Top 5: The Handlebar, Sultan’s Market, Mercy for Animals, me (I’m actually from the Bay Area, but I lived there for three years) and CHICAGO-STYLE PIZZA! I had it a few times before I went vegan, and man, is it decadent (by which I mean super, amazingly delicious)! Now that I live in San Francisco, I no longer have to go without, because everything is veganized here!
Although I haven’t eaten at Patxi’s Chicago Pizza yet, that my friends, is about to change. They are opening up a new location in the Inner Sunset! That’s almost right by my apartment! I can get some exercise walking over there before I gorge on a 5,000-calorie pizza (junk food is junk food—actually I’m TOTALLY in denial about that. The onion rings I just devoured were HELLA HEALTHY. My body is a temple and it is just thriving!).
Patxi’s is opening its fourth location late this summer/possibly fall, at Ninth Avenue and Irving Street. My apartment JUST SO happens to be conveniently located between Escape From New York and the future Patxi’s. I can get my daily serving of fruits and vegetables from pizza alone, can’t I? Yes? Goodbye outside world, I’m only leaving the house to eat pizza. Or pay the delivery guy. Or go to work to pay for said pizza. Actually, this is beginning to sound like the life I currently lead.
While trying to find vegan Chicago-style pizza IN Chicago, I stumbled upon this recipe from Quarrygirl. FUCK YES.
Patxi’s will be located at 822 Irving St. and its first East Bay location will open June 15 in Lafayette, at 3577 Mt. Diablo Blvd.! Lafayette?
OMG, how could I forget about OLD STYLE??? I wonder if Patxi’s can get a hold of this delicious beverage for the complete Chicago experience?
∞ posted at 12:30 by jennybradley
Bob Barker honored with prestigious Veg Award! You get a recipe! »
My friend Lena Fay is the UnOfficial president of the Bob Barker Fan Club. I interviewed her earlier today about her adoration of all things Bob Barker, and for a better understanding in general, via text message.
Vegansaurus: Can you explain in two or three sentences your love for Bob Barker and why you are the president of his fan club?
Lena Fay: Bob Barker made me understand the unparalleled charisma of dirty old men.
Is he a dirty old man?
Kind of. He hooked up with the Barker Beauties.
Who are the Barker Beauties?
The girls who run The Price is Right games who are always in swimsuits.
So there you have it! As it happens, Lena Fay isn’t the only fan of Bob Barker; so are vegan animal-rights advocates Mercy for Animals! MFA, along with Barker, are throwing a huge, fancy bash on June 4 in the Hollywood Hills! They will honor the “hidden heroes”—undercover investigators who risk their lives and safety to expose the horrific cruelty animals endure at factory farms, hatcheries and slaughterhouses—and Barker himself will receive an award! Bob Barker has spend the last 30-plus years as a crusader for animal rights, yo. He can put his Compassionate Leadership Award next to his 19 Emmys from The Price Is Right!
Lena Fay often uses her Facebook status to announce her obsession surrounding Bob Barker and The Price Is Right. One of those nights, not too long ago, I decided to to a little investigative, undercover work myself. And I stumbled across this recipe! A vegan enchilada bake that calls for a crushed Fritos topping, and side of vegan sour cream? I too, found myself loving Bob Barker.
(I totally would have posted the picture, but then I realized it’s probably a stock photo! With dairy cheese and meat! And we know what kind of shenanigans that leads to…)
[Photo via Hidden Heroes Party]
∞ posted at 11:10 by jennybradley
05/16/2011
I love Mercy for Animals. I volunteered to table for them once while I was living in Chicago. Man, it’s great having bros get in your face about WHY and HOW could you possibly be vegan?! Not to mention being told you “aren’t getting enough protein.” To which I would reply, “Do I LOOK sickly? Do I LOOK malnourished?” The answers were always “no.” Though you cannot see me right now, let me tell you, I am neither of those things.
But this post is about something else entirely! I know with all the videos about the mistreatment of pigs, elephants, cows and monkey-dog rodeos as of late, your weepy eyes and broken hearts CANNOT TAKE MUCH MORE! So I am presenting to you, on behalf of Mercy for Animals, a video about rescued calves! These calves apparently cost only $10 each, as they were of no economic value to E6 Cattle Company in Hart, Texas. We can all buy calves to rescue!**
These four survivors, now known as Roy, Ari, Mercy and Bob, are in recovery, loved and cared for at The Gentle Barn Sanctuary in Santa Clarita, Calif.
*It’s also great tabling for a non-profit vegan company you love, standing up for animals and showing the world what a healthy, happy vegan looks like!
**Totally illegal unless you have a farm, right? ‘Cause I do I a very nice backyard.
∞ posted at 09:22 by jennybradley
04/29/2011
Top 10 links of the week! A rollercoaster ride through veganism! »
[Your cute animal viral video of the week! OMG that duck is scary! I feel your pain, dog.]
There are 55 restaurants in NYC that serve shark fin soup, according to Gothamist, but there’s one that just gave it up! He says he decided to drop the item from the menu after encouragement from customers. Awesome!
Bittman commented on this bullshit situation with every state and their mom trying to outlaw undercover factory farm videos. It’s worth a read.
The SF Bay Guardian had a nice panel discussion on eating vegan in the Bay Area. It even includes our Laura! Damn, she gets around.
Some vegan teacher took a naked stroll in his school. Probably because he’s vegan.
Here’s an update on the impending wolf slaughter from the LA Times. I’m not pleased.
Has anybody been to a vegan waffle party? HOW COME I DON’T LIVE IN A VEGAN WAFFLE PARTY?!
This is a bit old but I forgot to tell you guys: Greyhound racing is going out of style! Huzzah!
This was probably the best news all week and it’s my discussion topic: Mac users are 80 percent more likely to be vegetarians than PC owners! How does that hold up with our Vegansaurus readers?! I’m totally allergic to PCs, the ugly hurts my eyes. What does everyone else have? Plus, what’s the connection here? Macs are for art people, right? Are art people more likely to be vegetarians? Who can say!
Here’s your weekly what the fuck: YouTube bans Mercy For Animals video. You know, the one from the Cattle Farm that was going around. I think that video opened a lot of people’s minds! God forbid!
Hipster Animals! I’ll let this picture do the talking:
∞ posted at 17:36 by youtalkfunny
04/28/2011
NYC Vegan Drinks tonight! »
Ya heard? It’s vegan drinks in NYC tonight and your friend Megan Rascal is PUMPED. I will be there and I will be fun and awesome as usual!
Info:
You’ll get an extra hour to drink, eat and donate to Mercy For Animals (MFA) at this week’s Vegan Drinks NYC on Thursday, Apr. 28 at Angels & Kings Bar in the East Village. We’ll get started at 7 p.m. and keep things going until 10. Draft beers and well drinks are $1 off all night!
Also!:
BEST PART OF THE NIGHT? An anonymous donor moved by MFA’s undercover footage of calves being bludgeoned with pickaxes at E6 Cattle Co. has agreed to match up to $2,500 of our donations to MFA. So, bring your wallets and give big so we can meet (and hopefully exceed) that $2,500 mark and turn our $2,500 into $5,000!
Dang! What is better than getting drunk for charity? NOT MUCH. If you missed the MFA footage at E6 Cattle Co., you are lucky. Plus, maybe you should check it out. It’s not pretty but it will sure get you ready to donate! And donating to good causes pulls mad chicks. That’s what we’re really after, isn’t it? Yes, duh.
So come! Say hi to me! Just look out for the super-attractive woman. You can also go by nametags if you want but really, just look for the hottest chick in the room.
∞ posted at 06:21 by youtalkfunny
04/20/2011
Get ready to cry forever: graphic footage captured at E6 Cattle Co. in Texas »
[Can’t see the video? Watch it on Vegansaurus.com]
Welcome to the dairy industry. This video was filmed over two weeks in March by Mercy for Animals at E6 Cattle Co., a dairy cattle ranch that raises calves for dairy production. The end of the video says “Go vegetarian” but that’s not going to help a dairy calf much, will it?
From Dairyherd.com,* “‘The actions in this video do not reflect the practices of the thousands of hard-working dairy farm families across the U.S. who care for their animals every day,’ the [Dairy Management Inc.] statement said. ‘Dairy farmers and their employees take this responsibility very seriously. Texas’ dairy farmers, as well as dairy farmers across the country, are as outraged by this video as the public.’”
Because that’s where we get our milk from, thousands of good old-fashioned dairy farm families. NOT.
From KCBD-TV** in Lubbock, Texas, “The owner of E6 Cattle Company issued a statement saying, ‘I take full responsibility for what happened in the video. I am embarrassed and disappointed. The four men in the video have been fired. This is not what we do at the ranch and it will never happen again.’”
“Embarrassed and disappointed” are not really the first words that come to my mind; more like “horrified and disgusted.” But this guy is disappointed. I’m sure before he fired the four men, he made them clap erasers in the back of the classroom.
What these four men did is appalling, but making them take the brunt of the blame irritates me. A company that is in charge of the life and death of living beings should be able to supervise and manage their own house. Know what I’m saying? But instead of cleaning up the industry, I’m thinking Texas might be the next state in line to ban undercover videos. It’s especially repulsive because this systemic abuse is revealed again and again, and it’s always blamed on rogue employees. Dude, you can’t put people in a factory farm or a slaughterhouse and not expect them to become a shell of a human being. Yes, I blame the workers who did this, but mainly I blame everyone who sits down to a tall cold glass of misery-mucus milk every morning. It’s the human demand for the milk of another animal (gross!) that leads to this kind of behavior—every asshole with their bowl of morning cereal is directly responsible for the gross abuse you see in that video. It’d be less gross to milk your dog and just drink that shiz. 1) PUKE and 2) You know it’s true!
For a little chaser, so we all don’t go crazy and start chopping heads, let’s watch the story of Billy, a little calf who was rescued from a similar fate by a very caring average Joe:
[Can’t see the video? Watch it on Vegansaurus.com]
*My new favorite news authority
**My new second favorite news authority
∞ posted at 12:20 by youtalkfunny
02/09/2011
How smart are animals? Find out tonight on PBS! »
The Nova airing tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 9 (8 p.m. on KQED, or check your local listings!) is all about animal intelligence. Think they’ll address the fact that most apes can probably correctly spell “intelligence” in fewer tries than I just did? WELL WE’LL HAVE TO WATCH AND FIND OUT! I mean, we already know how fucking brilliant and amazing animals are but it’ll probably be pretty interesting and you can watch it with meat mouths and afterwards, when they’re all, “WOW ANIMALS BE SMART DER DEE DER?!,” show them the new Mercy for Animals factory farming video. BAM! Done and done!
You guys. IT IS A BABY DOLPHIN MEETING A PENGUIN. Do you even understand this photo?? My brain can’t…it’s too much. I was planning on administering street justice via random public beatdowns and committing mail fraud until I saw this bullshit. This ridiculously adorable bullshit. Thanks to the multi-talented and extremely prolific Stephen Fry for RUINING MY DAY WITH CUTENESS. Of course, he shares equal blame with Livia because she sent it my way. Bitches.
∞ posted at 11:28 by laurahooperb 
Farm to Fridge by Mercy for Animals.
This is the most succinct picture of factory farming I’ve seen. It’s raised a question for me: I want to share it with non-vegan friends, but how exactly do I go about that? What do you guys do? Everyone knows I’m vegan and they know if they ask me about it, I will tell them about why I’m vegan and what really goes down in the meat and dairy industry, but I kind of try to refrain from that unless I’m asked. I feel like everyone who eats meat and dairy should HAVE to know how their food is made but at the same time, I don’t want to be “the annoying vegan” that omnivores so fear. I mean, you catch more flies with agave, right? At the same time, I think omnivores should be educated about the choices they’re making. What to do? What do you do?
∞ posted at 10:18 by youtalkfunny
