Tag Archives: Mercy for Animals

Legal actions doomed to fail

Miyokos butter & cheese

The doomed-to-fail actions against makers of plant based foods and animal advocacy organizations continue. Many people see the ridiculousness of the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s bullying attack on Miyoko’s Creamery. The department has ordered the small Sonoma County company, which makes non-dairy, vegan cheese and butter, to stop labeling its products as such. Read more

Joaquin Phoenix really cares

Joaquin Phoenix looks set to break some records as star of the new movie “The Joker”. He has also starred in numerous other movies, including “Her”, “Inherent Vice”, and his highest grossing movie (so far) “Gladiator”.  But in contrast to the character he portrays in his most recent movie, he’s actually a really warm and caring guy, especially for animals. Read more

Mercy for Animals spotlight

17760220_10155392682712262_155660471774844749_nMany people have noticed the dedicated people who volunteer at the many animal welfare organization booths at Vegfest. One of them is Mercy for Animals. Mercy For Animals is one of the largest and most effective international charities focused exclusively on preventing cruelty to farmed animals and promoting compassionate food choices and policies.

It has often been said that if slaughterhouses had glass walls we would all be vegetarians. Outraged by witnessing the abuse of a baby pig, 15-year old Nathan Runkle founded Mercy For Animals and devote his life to advocating for animals. Eighteen years later, with a staff of over 100 and thousands of dedicated volunteers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, and China, Mercy For Animals is a global force for changing hearts and diets, and winning corporate policy and legal victories on behalf of billions of cows, pigs, chickens and other farmed animals.

According to Mercy for Animals, many farm animal abuses, which would warrant felony level cruelty charges if inflicted on a dog or cat, are sadly perfectly legal when inflicted on cows, pigs, or other farmed animals. While the challenge is significant, the tide is turning. Mercy for Animals is winning victories and improvements for farmed animals that were once thought impossible. By taking a pragmatic approach and creative strategies, Mercy For Animals is transforming laws, policies, and eating habits across the country and around the world.

Mercy For Animals has conducted more than 60 eye-opening undercover investigations of farms, slaughterhouses, and hatcheries across North America. These investigations have led to sweeping animal welfare policy changes by the world’s largest food companies, including Nestlé, McDonald’s, and Walmart.

Mercy For Animals’ corporate outreach has led scores of major food companies, including many of the largest grocers and restaurants in the US, Canada, Brazil and Mexico, to end the worst abuses in their supply chains. Collectively, these policy changes will reduce the suffering of over one billion animals each year across 90 countries. Many of these corporate policy changes were prompted by pressure generated from our hard-hitting undercover investigations.

By reducing the demand for animal products, Mercy For Animals’ education work has spared tens of millions of animals each year from a lifetime of misery on factory farms. Our team has inspired school districts and other major institutions to reduce their use of meat, motivated many people  to go vegetarian and provided personal support to hundreds of thousands of individuals to help them change their diet.

Meet Moby – musician, animal rights champion, environmental award winner

 

mobyMoby gained attention in the early 1990s with his electronic dance music work, which experimented with the techno and breakbeat hardcore genres, and has since sold 20 million albums worldwide.

But Moby (Richard Melville Hall) is also a devoted vegan. A big supporter of Mercy for Animals, Moby announced he will be  starting a vegan festival with Mercy for Animals on October 23rd at the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, with all proceeds going to the Mercy for Animals Foundation.

Moby has been a vegan since his late teens and has often spoken about his decision to avoid all meat and animal products. Moby became a vegan so he “could eat and live in accordance with my beliefs that animals have their own lives, that they’re entitled to their own lives and that contributing to animal suffering is something that I don’t want to be a part of.”

To help others experience the benefits of a plant-based diet, he recently opened a vegan restaurant in Silver Lake, California, called Little Pine, and now he’s been recognized with an environmental award from the Environmental Media Association (EMA).  Debbie Levin, President of the EMA, says, “It’s simply amazing what he’s been able to accomplish. From starting his own nonprofit, to advocating on Capitol Hill for net neutrality, to opening his own 100 per cent organic vegan restaurant, Moby uses his talent to bring good to the world. We’re proud to present him with the EMA Missions in Music Award.” The non-profit EMA was co-founded by TV writer and producer Norman Lear in 1989 to encourage green production and raise the public’s awareness of environmental causes.