Feature Archives

In 1985, the first Great American Meatout was called for in reaction to the U.S. Senate's attempt at the time to endorse a National Meat Week. Starting from a single event that year, it has grown into an international action observed in all 50 states and 21 countries. It is now the world's largest and oldest annual grassroots diet education campaign. Activities include street theater, lectures, public dinners, food samplings, leafleting, and information tables called "steakouts." It is a day when vegetarians ask family, friends, and the general public to consider going meatless for a day, a week, or even a lifetime. People are encouraged to "kick the meat habit on March 20 (first day of spring) and explore a wholesome, nonviolent diet of fruits, vegetables and whole grains." Locally, for the 20th annual Great American Meatout, East Bay Animal Advocates sponsored a vegetarian feed-in in front of the Burger King at 13th and Broadway in Oakland. Information on the negative effects of modern industrial animal farming and the healthy and environmentally-sound option of vegetarianism was offered to the public, as well as samples of vegetarian turkey "deli slices". Reports & Photos: Oakland · Meatout.org

On Tuesday, March 15, In Defense of Animals (IDA) joined dozens of animal and environmental protection groups in a massive worldwide protest of the annual Canadian seal slaughter scheduled to begin just days from now. Every year, the Canadian Government sanctions the killing of 350,000 seals off the country's eastern shores, most of whom are just days or weeks old, and are shot, beaten, stabbed and often skinned alive. Many eyewitnesses have even seen hunters sadistically torturing seals with apparent pleasure and absolutely no regard for the animals' pain. Demonstrations were held in 50 cities in twenty-eight countries, including four Canadian provinces. Read More with Photos

For this year's "Great American Meatout", Bay Area Vegetarians have organized 4 events. The first happened March 6th, at the Red Vic Peace Center B&B in San Francisco. They sponsored a presentation by Erik Marcus, the author of Vegan: the New Ethics of Eating, publisher of vegan.com, a website dedicated to the vegan lifestyle, and host of the podcast show "Erik's Diner" that covers various aspects of veganism and animal agriculture. Erik Marcus spoke to a full house on his newest book, Meat Market: Animals, Ethics, and Money. He talked about the issues and problems with factory farming, and then discussed and critiqued the current vegetarian, animal welfare, and animal rights movements. He proposed a fourth movement called "dismantlement", a systematic approach to tackling the huge animal agriculture behemoth. He also emphasized the importance of outreach to youth and college students. When a young person transitions to a vegetarian or vegan diet, thousands of animals will be spared. After the presentation, Erik signed books and was available for discussion. Read More with Photos

East Bay Animal Advocates sponsored a vegetarian feed-in in front of the KFC at 470 Lake Park Avenue, right by the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland. As a farmers' market across the street offered an assortment vegetarian fair itself, volunteers served vegetarian "turkey" to passers-by and distributed pamphlets with information on the inhumane treatment of factory-farmed animals outside of the fast food restaurant. The 16-page pamplet on factory farming was provided by Vegan Outreach. A "feed-in" is a way for activists to engage passers-by in a friendly and inviting manner and offer vegetarian food that they might not have tried otherwise. In this neighborhood in Oakland, numerous people noted that they were already vegetarian including one man and both of his children. East Bay Animal Advocates holds frequent events throughout the East Bay and periodically performs "open rescues" of farm animals. Photos · EBAA website

Activists with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the DAAA Collective (Direct Action Anti-Authoritarians) protested Saturday against the use of rabbit fur at "hip" clothing store Wet Seal, and the fur trade in general at a heart of Modesto consumerism, the Vintage Faire Mall. Two police cars and the mall security force greeted the protestors, as 12-15 activists held signs and passed out information on Wet Seal. Several DAAA Collective members were asked if they were with PETA, or if they were the organizers. They were also told that they could not film outside. Mall security was in fact up to date with the Pruneyard rulings, which protect free speech in public areas that happen to be on private property, and in the end "agreed" to let the activists videotape outside. Leaflets on Wet Seal and their practices were handed out, and many passers-by said they were sickened at the murder of rabbits for the sake of their fur. Shoppers were educated on alternatives to fur, and some people even grabbed a sign to join in. Report · Photos

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is the world's largest animal rights group. Stretching the envelope of concern for animals further than traditional animal welfare groups that accept human uses of animals, PETA steadfastly advocates for animal liberation from human interference and maintains that animals are not ours to eat, to wear, to experiment on, or to use for entertainment. While they acknowledge there is much work yet to do to reduce the suffering of animals worldwide, PETA takes pride in the strides they have made toward improving the lot of many animals as the group celebrates its 25-year anniversary this year. PETA's and Ingrid Newkirk's contribution to the animal rights movement has spawned legions of animal advocates and pushed many animal welfare groups to take a more hardline stance against animal exploitation. In support of her new book, "Making Kind Choices", Ingrid Newkirk spoke and signed copies at her only appearance in San Francisco. She strongly encouraged everyone to make full use of all of PETA's copyright-free materials at their website and to request any printed materials they have to offer. From video at PetaTV to CD-ROMs, from pamplets to other materials, PETA offers information on virtually every aspect of the human use of animals and its ethical, health, and environmental ramifications. Photos and Full Audio of Speech

On February 12, animal rights activists protested at the KFC on Mission St. (Hwy 1) in Santa Cruz. About 25 people and two chickens marched from the health food store on Laurel and Mission to demonstrate at the KFC a half mile down the road. The same day another 30 activists in San Francisco demonstrated in front of the KFC at 4150 Geary Blvd (@6th Av). Both demonstrations intended to call attention to and eventually put a stop to abuses against chickens taking place in the factories and slaughterhouses that provide chicken to KFC. Chickens are routinely scalded alive, beaten and kicked. In addition, the chickens are pumped full of hormones and kept in crowded filthy conditions which frequently results in their inability to stand up or flap their wings. KFC has so far refused to implement comprehensive guidelines developed by its own animal welfare panelists to prevent these and other abuses. Until it does, activists everywhere are protesting and choosing to steer clear of the Colonel.
Santa Cruz Photos 1 | 2 & Audio report · San Francisco Photos