Doctors Endorse Vegan and Vegetarian Diets for Healthy Pregnancies

Mar 302009
 

WASHINGTON Well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets are healthful choices for pregnant women and their children, and vitamin B12 needs can be easily met with fortified foods or any common multivitamin, say doctors and dietitians with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). PCRM nutrition experts are available for comment in response to a new Pediatrics study showing that low levels of vitamin B12 may increase the risk for neural tube defects.

The Pediatrics study is based on analysis of stored blood samples originally collected during pregnancy from three groups of Irish women between 1983 and 1990. There’s no indication that any of the women were vegan or vegetarian, but the study clearly states that this population was deliberately chosen because vitamin supplementation and food fortification were rare at that time. The women lived in a region of traditionally high neural tube defects prevalence, suggesting a moderately high genetic predisposition.

“We did not have detailed dietary information on the participants in the study but the samples were collected 20 years ago in Ireland and I would suspect there were few, if any vegans,” explained Anne Molloy, the Pediatrics study’s lead author, in an e-mail to PCRM.

“Because of the way that the samples were obtained for our study, we were not able to determine whether or not the women were vegans,” study author James Mills explained in an e-mail responding to questions about the study. “At the time that the study samples were collected, I think it is safe to say that vegans were uncommon.”

Experts agree that pregnant women can thrive on vegan diets. The American Dietetic Association, the nation’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, states that “well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence.” Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat and cholesterol and higher levels of fiber, folate, and cancer-fighting antioxidants and phytochemicals.

“Women who follow vegan diets not only have healthy pregnancies, they are often healthier than moms who consume meat,” says Susan Levin, M.S., R.D., staff dietitian with PCRM. “By eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, and other healthful vegetarian foods and including breakfast cereals or other foods fortified with vitamin B12, mothers and their children can obtain all the nutrients they need to thrive.”

Choosing a vegetarian or vegan diet can also help women avoid the unhealthy hormones and environmental toxins found in dairy products, meat, and fish. Analyses of vegetarians’ breast milk show that the levels of environmental contaminants in milk are much lower than in non-vegetarians.

Vitamin B12 needs can be met easily with fortified breakfast cereals and soymilk, which are low in fat and calories. The most convenient and reliable B12 source is a daily multivitamin.

Stop Canada’s Cruel and Unlawful Grey Seal Slaughter

Mar 302009
 

Despite a vanishing market for seal fur and an international boycott of Canadian seafood that is costing the Canadian economy far more than the value of the sealing industry, the Canadian government decided to allow the commercial hunt of grey seals in Nova Scotia again this year.

In a violation of the province’s Wilderness Areas Protection Act, the slaughter began on Hay Island, a protected nature reserve. Last year’s Hay Island grey seal kill was one of the cruelest slaughters HSI has ever documented. Sealers herded seals into groups, then clubbed moulted pups just a few weeks of age with wooden bats and cut them open with box cutters just inches away from newborn pups and their mothers.

This year, it seemed briefly that the hunt might not go forward due to lack of demand for seal pelts. Then, hopes were dashed when 200 baby seals were taken after all.

Read Rebecca Aldworth’s thoughts, before and after the hunt began.

Read more on the Humane Society Canada Seal Campaign page.

Sign the Petition here to stop the slaughter

‘Compassion Over Killing’ MTV Ads Spread The Word

Mar 302009
 

COK Airs Ads on MTV: Empowering Viewers to Choose Compassion

Watch the advertisements here

Since 2004, COK’s hard-hitting commercials have encouraged and inspired countless viewers to stand up for animals every time they sit down to eat.

COK’s 2009 advertising campaign featuring two of their most powerful ads, “Exploring Your Food” and “A Side of Truth,” hit the MTV airwaves on February 23.

These ads will run nationwide for five straight weeks, offering today’s youth a 30-second behind-the-scenes tour inside the cruel world of factory farming and encouraging them to think about exactly what and who they’re eating.

Both ads direct viewers to COK’s resourceful website, TryVeg.com, where they can learn more and request a free Vegetarian Starter Guide.

NZ Campaign targets cat & dog fur imports

Mar 232009
 

Herald
6:00AM Tuesday Mar 17, 2009

A campaign to ban cat and dog fur imports was launched yesterday and Green Party MP Sue Kedgley said she had drafted a bill to amend the Customs Act and prohibit them.

The campaign was launched in Auckland by animal welfare groups.

Ms Kedgley said the European Union, Australia and the United States had all moved to prohibit imports of cat and dog fur.

“We need to do the same,” she said. “Otherwise we will become a dumping ground for this unethical trade as markets are closed in other countries.”

Ms Kedgley said a Humane Society investigation had uncovered a substantial unregulated international trade in cat and dog fur, based in Asia.

“Each year, more than two million cats and dogs are raised in appalling conditions and brutally slaughtered for their pelts,” she said.

“The fur is then used to make clothes, toys and trinkets.

“Dog pelts are even made into chew toys for dogs.”

She said there was no way for New Zealand consumers to be certain they were not buying products made from cat or dog fur. “Most cat and dog fur is deliberately disguised and sold using false or incorrect labelling,” she said.

“An inexpensive DNA test is available so that customs officials could readily identify cat or dog fur at the border.”

Ms Kedgley’s member’s bill would amend the Customs Act by adding cat and dog fur to the schedule of prohibited imports.

It will now go into the member’s bill ballot box in Parliament. Bills are drawn from the box when there is room on the order paper.

- NZPA

New Zealand Open Rescue
PO Box 37612
Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand

http://www.youtube.com/NZOpenRescue

Europe Leaps Ahead with Cosmetic Testing Deadline

Mar 162009
 

March 11, 2009
PHILADELPHIA — The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments, the animal protection organizations who administer the Leaping Bunny Program in the United States, Canada and Europe, join together to celebrate the end of animal testing for cosmetics in the European Union.

As of today, the EU has banned all animal tests for cosmetic ingredients, formulations and final products. In addition, the sale of cosmetics and ingredients that have been tested on animals, regardless of where the testing occurred, is also prohibited, with the exception of three test areas (repeated-dose toxicity, reproductive toxicity and toxicokinetics). The final three test areas will be banned in March 2013.

“This is an historic occasion and a significant step forward for animals in laboratories,” said Michelle Thew, chief executive of the ECEAE. “We are delighted that this ban has finally come into force. We will now continue our global campaign to seek an end to the appalling suffering inflicted on animals in the name of beauty worldwide.”

The EU cosmetic testing law will have an enormous impact on the cosmetics industry both in the EU and abroad as the law sets specific deadlines not just for the production, but also for the sale of products that have been tested on animals or contain animal-tested ingredients. In today’s global economy, companies based in the U.S. and Canada depend on profits from their European markets. This dependence will inevitably require these companies to more aggressively pursue non-animal alternatives for product testing.

“We are thrilled that Europe has taken a stand against cosmetic testing on animals,” said CCIC Chair Tracie Letterman. “We hope lawmakers in the United States and Canada will pass similar measures and put an end to this unnecessary cruelty.”

Companies certified through the Leaping Bunny Program in the U.S., Canada and Europe make a voluntary pledge to eliminate animal testing from all stages of product development. The company’s ingredient suppliers make the same pledge and the result is a product guaranteed to be 100 percent free of new animal testing.

The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics is made up of the following organizations: American Anti-Vivisection Society; American Humane Association; Beauty Without Cruelty, USA; Doris Day Animal League; The Humane Society of the United States; and the New England Anti-Vivisection Society. CCIC’s international partners are Animal Alliance of Canada and European Coalition to End Animal Experiments. On the web at LeapingBunny.org.

Animal Rights Song Released on YouTube

Mar 162009
 

‘Maybe JC (was a vegetarian)’

A non-religious, appealing song and video by Aussie/Kiwi songwriter Paul Seymour, about how some of the greatest people throughout history have been ethical vegetarians including, perhaps, Jesus.

“As well as the usual ethical, environmental and health reasons for being vegetarian/vegan, many people are unaware that there are spiritual reasons for it too. As you may already know, this is why Mohammed, Buddha and Jesus all promoted compassion for all creatures,” says Paul.

Paul’s motivation for this song and video is to promote the Vegetarian Ethic.

Please view the song and rate it on YouTube and forward it to everyone who may benefit from it or be able to use it to promote ‘the cause’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBsNlEXkHHQ

NZ Campaign Launched To Ban Cat- and Dog-Fur Imports

Mar 162009
 

From noon today a wide-ranging coalition of animal protection groups in New Zealand will hold a press conference to launch a campaign to ban the importation of cat and dog fur into New Zealand. High-profile fashion designer Denise Lâ Estrange Corbet will also attend to lend her support to the campaign.

International research has found that millions of cats and dogs in Asia are raised in atrocious conditions and brutally slaughtered for their fur. Undercover footage shows animals being skinned alive for their fur from which garments, toys and fur accessories are manufactured.

“The vast majority of fur from cats and dogs comes from countries where animal welfare standards are virtually non existent,” says spokesman for the coalition, SAFE campaign director Hans Kriek. “New Zealand must close its doors to cat and dog fur and take a clear, principled stance against a trade that violates our own animal welfare legislation.

At present New Zealand has no laws or restrictions that prevent cat or dog fur from being imported into New Zealand. Green Party MP Sue Kedgley is launching a private members bill at the press conference which will seek to amend the Customs and Excise Act 1996 and make it illegal to import cat and dog fur into New Zealand.

This will bring New Zealand into line with the rest of the OECD (including the United States of America, the European Union and Australia, which have already banned these imports) and ensure that New Zealand does not become a dumping ground for this illegal trade as dealers are forced out of other countries,” says Ms Kedgley.

While there are no official data about the quantity of cat and dog fur entering New Zealand Ms Kedgley says there has been a 44 per cent increase in the amount of fur imports from Asia over the past nine years.

“New Zealanders love their cats and dogs and would be appalled at the cruelty inflicted on these animals. Banning cat and dog fur would prevent consumers from unwittingly buying items made out of companion animals, and widespread community support for this initiative is expected,” says Mr Kriek.

CAMPAIGN LAUNCH FROM NOON TODAY

SPCA Education Centre Auditorium, Auckland Animal Village, 50 Westney Road, Mangere South, Auckland

Guest speakers: Hans Kriek (SAFE), Robyn Kippenberger (RNZSPCA), Sue Kedgley (Green MP), Bridget Vercoe (WSPA), and Denise L’Estrange Corbet (World).

Information and footage of the cat and dog fur trade will be available at the launch, as well as a photo opportunity with the speakers and animals at the SPCA shelter.

For more information contact Hans Kriek on 027 446 2711.

The campaign to ban the importation of cat and dog fur into New Zealand is supported by the following groups:

RNZSPCA

SAFE

World Society for the Protection of Animals

New Zealand Companion Animal Council

Cat’s Protection League

C is for Cats Charitable Trust

Cats in Need Trust

Cat Rescue Christchurch Charitable Trust

Albany Animal Doctors

CyberPets Ltd

American Activism Success – Dog Cruelty

Mar 092009
 

Your activism just made a huge difference. Six weeks ago we called on you to help end the cruel and unnecessary use of live dogs in the University of Michigan’s trauma training course. Thousands of you took action—and the school listened! Today, the University of Michigan announced that it will use only simulators in the Advanced Trauma Life Support course.

You have sent more than 20,000 e-mails to University of Michigan (U-M) administrators, asking them to use nonanimal training methods in their Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course. The school’s Graduate Medical Education Committee recently met and decided that it agrees with you. No dogs or other animals will be killed in the school’s ATLS course, according to a university statement.

Your hard work helped end animal suffering and improve medical education in Michigan. Now we need your help to do the same thing in New Jersey. While more than 90 percent of United States and Canadian facilities no longer use animals for ATLS training, University Hospital in Newark, part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), continues to use live pigs for its course, despite the availability of nonanimal alternatives like the TraumaMan System from Simulab.
The hospital’s next ATLS course is scheduled for March 13.

Please e-mail, call, or write to UMDNJ president William Owen Jr., M.D., and politely ask him to end animal use in University Hospital’s ATLS course. Being polite is the most effective way to help these animals. Send an automatic e-mail.

William Owen Jr.,
M.D.
President
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
65
Bergen St., Room 1535
University Heights
Newark, NJ 07107-3007
Phone:
973-972-4400
E-mail: wfowenmd@umdnj.edu

Learn more about the TraumaMan
System.

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