Animal Liberation Victoria

Posted by nzvs 02-04-2008

http://www.alv.org.au/

This website has links to campaigns that New Zealanders can join- make your voice heard now.

Lifestyle changes can curb climate change: UN science panel chief

Posted by nzvs 03-03-2008

Full story: AFP Don't eat meat, ride a bike, and be a frugal shopper - that's how you can help brake global warming, the head of the United Nation's Nobel Prize-winning scientific panel on climate change said [January 15]. The 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), issued last year, highlights "the importance of lifestyle changes," said Rajendra Pachauri at a press conference in Paris. "This is something that the IPCC was afraid to say earlier, but now we have said it." A vegetarian, the Indian economist made a plea for people around the world to tame their carnivorous impulses. "Please eat less meat - meat is a very carbon intensive commodity," he said, adding that consuming large quantities was also bad for one's health.

Posted in Environmental Concerns

WSPA Campaign - Whales

Posted by nzvs 03-03-2008

Make Your Voice Heard For Whales Today

As Japanese whalers continue their cruel and bloody hunt in the Southern Ocean, I write to you with this urgent request to help protect these incredible animals.

WSPA is calling on our supporters to add their name to a global petition which asks the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to shift its attention to whales - not whaling.

The IWC, which manages whale populations worldwide, could then devote its time to protecting whales and encouraging whale watching rather than focusing on allocating kill quotas to whaling nations.

Thousands of whales will be slaughtered this year alone, and many will endure slow and painful deaths. So please, make your voice heard for whales today.

You can find out more about the cruelty of whaling and sign the petition here.

On behalf of the animals, thank you.

Posted in Animal Action

WSPA Campaign - Animals Matter

Posted by nzvs 27-02-2008

WSPA's Animals Matter Petition - spread the word about the plight of animals today, and sign the petition to make a difference

Posted in Animal Action, What Can You Do?

WSPA Campaign- End Live Export

Posted by nzvs 27-02-2008

Stop The Journey of Cruelty

Raised on large, remote farms, Australian sheep enjoy space to roam and very little human contact.
But due to Australia's live export industry, millions of Australian sheep suffer a fate far worse than death every year. They are destined for a horrific journey to slaughter overseas - herded onto a packed truck and driven across the country, sometimes in scorching heat.
It's then onto a ship where conditions are much worse. They're terrified and will spend up to three weeks on the crowded ship. With around three sheep to one metre square, there is little room to move and an unfamiliar diet of pellets means many animals may not eat for the entire journey.
Stress, heat-exhaustion, injury and disease result in the death of around 1,000 sheep on each ship of 100,000. Those that survive the journey arrive in countries with no or unenforced animal welfare legislation where they are often transported, handled and slaughtered in the most barbaric way.
It's just cruel.
It's also completely unnecessary. Australia already exports chilled meat to many countries it sends live animals to. Replacing live export with a growth in the trade of chilled meat, humanely killed as close to the farm as possible, will benefit both animals and Australia.
Together we can stop this appalling journey of cruelty. You can take action

Posted in Animal Action, What Can You Do?

Coming Home

Posted by nzvs 27-02-2008

I don't know how they experienced their arrival at the sanctuary – that moment when the van doors opened and the light of day filled their eyes for the first time in their lives – but I know that, for one breathless moment, when we first looked at the 100 souls safely tucked inside, we didn't see the tangled mess of soiled feathers, the open sores, the broken bones, the chopped off beaks, the mocked lives. All we saw – in one breath of infinite relief and elation – was 100 souls who will go on breathing. And, for one instant, the glow of their living presence obscured everything else – the wreckage we'd made of their lives for our amusement, the despair still engulfing the 50 billion left behind, the darkness of a humanity that imposes untold misery for a taste.

For one rich instant, we luxuriated in the sweetness of those 100 happy endings. Then, we embraced anew the toil of rising, standing, bearing, shouldering, suffering, nurturing 100 new beginnings.
Read more...

Joanna Lumley's 'The Times' Article

Posted by nzvs 17-12-2007

Holy cow! We’re crazy to farm livestock like this

I prefer not to eat food that has a face. But many of my nearest and dearest love their meat, and who am I to ask them not to eat so much of it? Until now, that is.

Having just discovered the huge impact of livestock production on global warming, I need hesitate no longer. Reducing our meat consumption is no longer an option but an urgent necessity. Here’s why.

Read more...

World Farm Animals Day Action Alert

Posted by nzvs 04-09-2007

It's Time to Speak Out for Farmed Animals

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

World Farm Animals Day takes place on or around October 2nd. It is a time for all to reflect on the suffering and death of the 50 billion sentient animals brutalized in the world's factory farms and slaughterhouses every year.

We need YOU to be the voice in your community!

Read more...

NZ Centre for Human-Animal Studies Report

Posted by nzvs 08-08-2007

Release of report on ethical consumption in NZ 

The NZCHAS is pleased to release a report on a nationwide survey on cruelty-free consumption. This study, conducted between August and December last year, was undertaken as part of a larger project on human-animal interactions in New Zealand, funded by a Royal Society of NZ Marsden grant. Volunteers completed 14-page surveys asking for their opinions on a range of topics including meat-eating, horse-racing, battery farming, hunting and fishing, and Wild Foods Festivals. Over 150 people participated from throughout New Zealand. The report provides detailed accounts of the experiences and perspectives of vegetarians, vegans and other ethical consumers living in New Zealand.
Read the report on the NZCHAS News and Events page  - scroll down to find the report.

Global Warming: Skip The Steak

Posted by nzvs 30-07-2007

Which is more responsible for more global warming: your BMW or your Big Mac? Believe it or not, it's the burger. The international meat industry generates roughly 18% of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions - even more than transportation - according to a report last year from the U.N.'s Food and Agricultural Organization.
Much of that comes from the nitrous oxide in manure and the methane that is, as the New York Times delicately puts it, "the natural result of bovine digestion".
Methane has a warming effect that is 23 times as great as that of carbon, while nitrous oxide is 296 times as great.
There are 1.5 billion cattle and buffalo on the planet, along with 1.7 billion sheep and goats. Their populations are rising fast, especially in the developing world. Global meat production is expected to double between 2001 and 2050. Given the amount of energy consumed raising, shipping and selling livestock, a thick T-bone is like a Hummer on a plate.
If you switch to vegetarianism, you can shrink your carbon footprint by up to almost 1.4 tons of carbon dioxide a year, according to research by the University of Chicago. Trading a standard car for a hybrid  cuts only about one ton - and  isn't as tasty.
B.W.

Posted in Environmental Concerns