Society for the Advancement of Animal Wellbeing

I don't eat bacon cheeseburgers. About three years ago I gave up red meat and pork. I am American, and brother do I love bacon cheeseburgers. But I decided that as part of the imperfect project of trying to live a decent, moral life, I could no longer chow down on bacon cheeseburgers. I could not put my preference for the taste of a certain type of protein above the hunger of starving babies, or the imperative of tackling climate change.

It is one of the great failings of the environmental movement—and successes of the food lobby—that most people have no idea that bacon cheeseburgers have anything to do with starving babies, or climate change. Meat production is incredibly energy intensive. According to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, meat production accounts for 18% of annual greenhouse-gas emissions — more than transportation, which accounts for roughly 14%. What's more, millions of acres of rain forest are cleared each year for cattle ranchers and suppliers of animal feed, wiping out one of the world's great "carbon sinks" and further accelerating climate change. A simultaneous problem is that meat production is also incredibly energy inefficient. We feed far more calories to cattle in the form of grain than we consume from their flesh. In a world where hundreds of millions of people go hungry, we snatch food from the mouths of starving babies and feed it to plump beasts.

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Dear SAAW Supporters,

We have great news for you and everyone that cares about animals and the environment!

As the IWC meeting in Agadir is now over, we have found out that the proposal to reverse the whaling ban has been rejected. Thanks to your efforts and the hard work of many concerned citizens and NGOs, we have managed to persuade the IWC member nations to keep the ban on whaling despite opposition from pro-whaling nations.

However the battle is not over, the pro-whaling nations are still allowed to hunt whales for so-called scientific purposes. Even though the Australian government has clearly shown and indicated that whales do not have to be killed to be studied.

With your support we will keep up the pressure on the IWC member states.

Thanks again!

To read press releases from the IWC meeting please visit http://iwcoffice.org/meetings/meeting2010.htm

A new United Nations report entitled Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption and Production is the first of its stature to actually stress the necessity of moving away from meat and dairy. Specifically, the paper says that “impacts from agriculture are expected to increase substantially due to population growth [and] increasing consumption of animal products [...] A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products.”

For more information please click here http://greenyourdiet.org/unreport10.htm

During the past year or so, we’ve been pleasantly surprised to see Martha Stewart support a plant-based diet. Whether it’s hosting a vegetarian thanksgiving show or supporting vegan bakeries, it’s clear that Martha is happy to lend a hand to Team Veg!

In a recent column on HeraldNet.com, Martha was asked a question about preparing healthy foods for a vegetarian child. The reader asks, “My daughter doesn’t eat meat. What should she include in her diet to ensure she gets enough iron?”

Martha, having firsthand experience with her own vegetarian child, knew exactly what to say. She responded:

“There are plenty of iron-rich foods outside the animal kingdom, and a well-planned vegetarian diet can provide an ample amount. Spinach, kale, collard and similar leafy greens are all good sources, as are beans, nuts, eggs and whole grains, including quinoa and wild rice. Iron-fortified cereals and pastas are also worth seeking out.”

We like the way you think!

Want to read what else Martha has to say about getting iron with a vegetarian diet? Scoot on over to HeraldNet.com and check it out!

After being booted from Dancing with the Stars, Pamela Anderson turned her attention toward Washington D.C. where she hopes she can encourage lawmakers to support the Great Ape Protection Act, H.R. 1326.

In a letter penned to Congressmen Henry Waxman, D-Calif. and Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Anderson, who suffers from hepatitis C, urges the representatives to find a cure through human-based research rather than invasive chimpanzee experiments.

The buxom blonde writes, “As one of more than 3 million Americans living with hepatitis C, I am writing to ask that you take steps to end ineffective and cruel research using chimpanzees and direct federal funds to modern, human-based research methods that will be more effective at finding a vaccine and treatment for hepatitis C and other deadly diseases.

“The Great Ape Protection Act (GAP A), H.R. 1326, is an important piece of legislation that would phase out the use of chimpanzees in medical research. Decades of failed research have shown that chimpanzees are bad models for human disease. As a result, more than half of the chimpanzees in laboratories are not even used in active experiments-they are warehoused in cages at the cost of millions in taxpayers’ dollars each year.”

Anderson explains that while she has a personal interest in a vaccine for hepatitis C, she does not believe the harmful experiments are moving researchers toward a cure and would like the federally owned chimps to be released to sanctuaries.

To date, H.R. 1326 has more than 140 congressional co-sponsors.

Please visit here to read the original article

Songstress Leona Lewis discusses animals and advocacy in the latest edition of Modern Dog Magazine. A self professed animal lover, Lewis uses her partnership with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) to bring awareness to animal protection laws.

“WSPA has a lot of different issues that they’re tackling at the moment, but I’m really passionate about horses,” the singer told the magazine. “There are horses sent to slaughter that are perfectly healthy and I’m very passionate about trying to stop that. I’d love to have a sanctuary for horses, because they’re such big animals; they require a lot of work, a lot of space, so it’s very hard for charities.”

Lewis often draws inspiration for her songs from her love of animals and humans alike. Her affinity for animals began at a young age leading the singer to believe she must have been an animal in a previous life—probably a horse due to her deep connection with the hooved mammal.

“Remember the love the animals bring, and remember that they are vulnerable and they don’t have a voice. We need to help them in any way we can because they’re part of our lives and our history, and we need to be very aware and help protect them any way that we can.”

During the interview, Lewis also discusses the heartbreak she felt after losing a family dog, her admiration of Paul McCartney’s family, and the vegetarian diet she has followed since she was 12 years old.

To read the Leona Lewis interview in its entirety, visit Modern Dog Magazine.

Have we told you lately that we’re crazy about Emily Deschanel? Because we’re absolutely crazy about Emily Deschanel!

Besides being hella talented, the Bones actress is notorious for her outspoken opinions on animal welfare, human health and environmental sustainability. In a new video interview, Deschanel praises the work of Farm Sanctuary, saying:

“A few years ago I was able to visit Farm Sanctuary’s New York shelter — I had probably been vegan for over 10 years by then — and it was still a life-changing experience. You get to see all of these animals [who were] raised in factories and confined to crates and they’re living free on this amazing property. There’s just so much space for them to roam and they’re treated so well.”

We’ve also spent some time at the New York shelter and can verify its transformative powers!

Check out the video below to see more of what Emily has to say about Farm Sanctuary and veganism. As always, she doesn’t disappoint!

This week we launched a new website to campaign for better protection of whales at the upcoming IWC session in June.

The fact is that the Japanese “scientific whale hunting”, is a front for what is clearly a multi-million dollar black market industry, an industry of greed and false science. The IWC and we as a society, have a responsibility to achieve the conservation of the whale species and not the preservation of whaling by any nation. Please take action and support to ban whaling and presently help encourage the anti whaling nations in pushing forward the alternative proposal that would include the complete phasing out of whaling in the Southern Ocean this June.

Please let your voice be heard by taking action at www.whalingnomore.org

Here is a campaign alert for the seal hunt from HSUS, they have a really innovative campaign to persuade the Canadian government to stop the seal massacre. Please click on the link and support.

Dear Animal Lover,

Yesterday the Canadian government gave commercial sealers permission to start killing the few baby seals who survived this season's devastating lack of ice.

We asked the Canadian government to cancel the hunt, but instead it radically upped the number of seals to be slaughtered: 388,200 harp, grey, and hooded seals.

Seriously, Canada?

Click here to see how you can help.

Last night, The Cove, a documentary which details the annual killing of dolphins in a National Park at Taiji, Wakayama, in Japan, took home the 2010 Best Documentary Academy Award and we couldn’t be happier!

Earlier this week, we reported that Ben Stiller was pulling for the film, saying, “If the movie wins, it will make a huge difference. I’m pulling for it for sure.” Of course, Hayden Panettiere, who appears in the film, was also crossing her fingers for The Cove and recently promoted it in SELF Magazine.

In his acceptance speech, The Cove producer Louie Psihoyos said:

“I just want to say it was an honor to work on this film and to try make an entertaining film that also tries to enlighten everybody. I have to thank Jim Clark who financed the film and who was also kind of the guiding wisdom behind the film, Paula DuPre Presman, my producing partner, and my hero, Rick O’Barry, who is not only a hero to this species but to all species.”

We agree!

Shortly after the win, a few of our favorites took to Twitter to share their excitement, including The Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels, who said, “I AM SO GLAD THE COVE WON!!! Thank god. Please text Dolphin to 44144 to sign the petition to stop the slaughter of Dolphins from your phone.”

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