punky-pie:

A dairy cow made the tough choice to hide one of her calves after giving birth to twins.

uglyuglyugly:

By Holly Cheever, DVM, reprinted from Action for Animals

I would like to tell you a story that is as true as it is heartbreaking. When I first graduated from Cornell’s School of Veterinary Medicine, I went into a busy dairy practice in Cortland County. I became a very popular practitioner due to my gentle handling of the dairy cows. One of my clients called me one day with a puzzling mystery: his Brown Swiss cow, having delivered her fifth calf naturally on pasture the night before, brought the new baby to the barn and was put into the milking line, while her calf was once again removed from her. Her udder, though, was completely empty, and remained so for several days.

As a new mother, she would normally be producing close to one hundred pounds (12.5 gallons) of milk daily; yet, despite the fact that she was glowing with health, her udder remained empty. She went out to pasture every morning after the first milking, returned for milking in the evening, and again was let out to pasture for the night — this was back in the days when cattle were permitted a modicum of pleasure and natural behaviors in their lives — but never was her udder swollen with the large quantities of milk that are the hallmark of a recently-calved cow.

I was called to check this mystery cow two times during the first week after her delivery and could find no solution to this puzzle. Finally, on the eleventh day post calving, the farmer called me with the solution: he had followed the cow out to her pasture after her morning milking, and discovered the cause: she had delivered twins, and in a bovine’s “Sophie’s Choice,” she had brought one to the farmer and kept one hidden in the woods at the edge of her pasture, so that every day and every night, she stayed with her baby — the first she had been able to nurture FINALLY—and her calf nursed her dry with gusto. Though I pleaded for the farmer to keep her and her bull calf together, she lost this baby, too—off to the hell of the veal crate.

Think for a moment of the complex reasoning this mama exhibited: first, she had memory — memory of her four previous losses, in which bringing her new calf to the barn resulted in her never seeing him/her again (heartbreaking for any mammalian mother). Second, she could formulate and then execute a plan: if bringing a calf to the farmer meant that she would inevitably lose him/her, then she would keep her calf hidden, as deer do, by keeping her baby in the woods lying still till she returned. Third — and I do not know what to make of this myself — instead of hiding both, which would have aroused the farmer’s suspicion (pregnant cow leaves the barn in the evening, unpregnant cow comes back the next morning without offspring), she gave him one and kept one herself. I cannot tell you how she knew to do this—it would seem more likely that a desperate mother would hide both.

All I know is this: there is a lot more going on behind those beautiful eyes than we humans have ever given them credit for, and as a mother who was able to nurse all four of my babies and did not have to suffer the agonies of losing my beloved offspring, I feel her pain.

brittanyvegan:

Did you know half of the Girl Scout Cookies Manufactured are Vegan, it just depends what your local GS council decides to sell through, ABC COOKIES or LITTLE BROWNIE. Little Brownie makes ZERO VEGAN GS COOKIES.. and unfortunately for my local vegan friends is what is sold around the NW, but ABC COOKIES (the original maker of girl scout cookies dating back to the early 1930s!) makes 5 VEGAN KINDS! and are sold mainly on the east coast, but some across california! I got mine mailed to me from NYC, and I of course ordered one of each kind, and then some :) 

Texas Girl Scouts uses ABC, at least around here. :D  THIN MINTS! 

meatless101:

High Protein Vegan Breakfast Burritos

click image for recipe

(via veganskinnybitch)

(via shellsrandomness)

missvegangoddess:

vegangirls:

“A Zoo is a park made to put the animals on display for the public, that is it’s purpose. It is an institution designed to exhibit living animals to the public in a park setting. While a Wild Life Sanctuary is a protected area reserved for animals to live a natural, undomesticated life without threat or intrusion by humans through hunting, trapping, etc. or otherwise disturbing their habitat, and protected lands. That guards the animals normal “wild” life. 

A zoo is designed around the concept of housing, tending, and controlling wild animals safely using enclosures, including the large areas used as ranges, sometimes many acres for some species, while still maintaining the visitors ability to interact with all the different species at the zoo. Some zoos are charity organizations, and do not have to compete out right for consumers spending money, but many zoos are strictly profit driven business. The profit driven zoos are designed to cater more to what they feel customers want or desire for a day out. Many zoos focus on providing the general environment that animals would live in naturally, allowing them to behave as though under normal circumstances, but they must also incorporate the customer’s general needs, and provide viewing, teaching, and some direct interaction with most, if not all species in residence. A wildlife sanctuary isn’t concerned with the need to support itself. Usually a sanctuary is run by a non-profit organization, single individuals or some type of governmental group. The main priority is the safety of the animals, concerns for human comforts, and desires aren’t taken into account. Most wildlife sanctuaries are focused on providing protection for animals, and the land that is important to the well being and growth of a specific species population. They will try to protect the ecosystem to a degree, monitoring the species, using whatever method possible including, long range observation, while giving the species a protected area to live without human disturbance. Some of these sanctuaries, or protected areas have been used for the release of rehabilitated animals, or as the first stage release of animals in breeding programs. This can give animals the advantage of close monitoring during it’s first days of adjustment to living in the wild.”

-Googling “difference between sanctuary and zoo”

Look at all the knowledge you can get from the internet with a simple search!

My short answer would have been sanctuaries don’t imprison or exploit the animals for profit. 

This isn’t a hard concept.

Reblogging because this is one of the best, articulate, clever and well put out argument against zoos/ sanctuary>zoo explanation i have ever seen.

Probably the best tbh

Well done Vegangirls. You are my new hero.

(Source: xvxavier)

(Source: officialteamgreen, via veganhealth)

bunnygamer:

pickledhappiness:

[Image: A deforested section of the Amazon rainforest. Text reads: “70% of the Amazon has been destroyed to produce meat.”]

theinformedvegan:

Is Meat Worth It?

This is my home, and by consuming meat, you are directly contributing to the destruction of it.

(via dapperdoll)

everycage:

anti-the-world:

a mother trying to protect her little baby..

Are you seeing this? I mean actually seeing this, not just looking at it?

(via beardsnotbeers)

We’re pleased to announce the first ever Texas VegFest on March 31, 2012, at Fiesta Gardens in Austin, Texas. The festival will be an opportunity to celebrate all the benefits of a plant-based diet—from improving health and protecting the environment to strengtheningour relationship with animals and our connection to the food grown in our community. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy a healthy and tasty diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

There will be great food, entertainment, children’s activities, vendors from our local and greater community, speakers, cooking demos, and interactive events to get you excited about the produce on your plate. We hope you’ll come away from the festival with a stronger desire to eat a healthy diet and the skills and knowledge to do just that.

http://www.texasvegfest.com/

(Copied from my Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook.)

Vegan Carrot Raisin Muffins

1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy or almond milk (or regular milk if you would like)
1/4 cup canola oil 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrot

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or lightly grease with oil.

Soak the raisins in a bowl of hot water. It makes them plump and juicy. Let them sit for 10 minutes while you are mixing up the batter. 

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking power, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, salt. Create a well in the center and add milk, oil and vanilla, mix until just combined. Fold in carrots. Removed raisins from water, fold in. 

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes (or 13 to 15 minutes if you are using a mini muffin pan) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy. 

Makes one dozen muffins or twenty four mini muffins. And oh so delicious! 

empatheticvegan:

thecaffeinatedvegan:

Everyone should watch this movie and be informed.

It is disturbing beyond imagining, but that is not the documentary’s doing, it is ours. 

All this movie does, is show us the truth about the complete debasement of humanity and just how backwards, twisted, immoral, and wrong, our relationships with nonhuman creatures are.

Earthlings, forever reblog.

Watch it online for free. Make sure you have tissues. It’s okay to pause it and take a break, but please go back and finish it. It’s worth it. 

(Source: glasswalrus, via veganmudblood)

fabricmonster:

megthemaggot:

yoshinoyosh:

waterfullofflowers:

HOLY FLYING FUCK CHICKEN. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS? NO, OF COURSE YOU DON’T, UNKNOWLEDGEABLE BITCH. 

THIS IS A RIVER, FLOWING FROM A MEAT PACKING PLANT IN TEXAS. THE PRETTY DARK ONE, BRO? YEAH, THAT’S FUCKING MEAT BLOOD. THEY POUR IT OUT BY THE THOUSAND-GALLONS DAILY. MMMMH, YUMMMEH. WELL, SEE,

THEY ARE LETTING THIS FLOW INTO PUBLIC WATER WAYS. HAHA, ENJOY THAT SHIT TEXAS.

AS FOR ME?

NEWFOUND VEGETARIAN!

I’m a Texan, but I’m equally repulsed by this. 

Not only is that objectionable by the common people’s standards, but it’s also a hit on the profits of the company. Don’t they know that diluted blood is beneficial to the health of plants? They could dehydrate all of that and sell it as fertilizer, make money, and keep it out of the water supply, and everyone wins!

BUT NOPE.

That is….disgusting.

If it’s used as fertilizer, it will still end up in the water supply. 

I’m actually not worried so much about the blood (except the chemicals they inject the animals with), but the animals’ waste that pollutes everything. How do you think E Coli ends up on vegetables?

Slaughter houses suck all the way around. 

(via bexelated)