While many undercover photos and videos have already started to reveal the gruesome reality of the egg industry, helping the public become aware that their eggs instead come from hens crowded in tiny cages, the group “Anonymous for Animal Rights” is leading the way towards an even greater awareness of the suffering of egg laying eggs. By installing a hidden camera inside a battery cage in a chicken shed, we are provided with the live broadcast, 24 hours a day, of the life – or should we say total lack of – of three egg laying hens locked in a cage 40 cm long, 33 cm wide and 45 cm high. Unable to stretch their wings, dust bathe or peck at the ground, forced to lives of daylight deprivation and toxic fumes, these sentient beings, enslaved by the egg industry, have nothing to do.

More than anything before, this live video allows us to watch the hens’ miserable life of stress, pain and boredom, minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day.

We can choose to close our eyes on this terrible injustice and horrific cruelty, because it is convenient and because eggs taste good. Or we can refuse to support a system that treat other sentient beings in a way we would never want to be treated ourselves. Options for cooking without eggs abound. Please don’t be a part of this suffering and choose a vegan diet.

Please think of holding a free screening of this powerful, moving documentary in your community.

For more information about The Witness, or to order the DVD, please visit:

http://www.witnessfilm.org/home.htm

Most of these birds are shoved into filthy and over-crowded factory farms (2). As an alternative to factory-farmed turkeys, people may look to “free range” birds in hope of a more humane choice. “Free range” simply means that the birds have an opportunity to access the outdoors; there are no other requirements (3). Free range certification does not protect the birds from over-crowding or de-beaking (4). In most cases, the opportunity for thousands of birds to access the outdoors is one small exit leading to a very small, filthy area (5). In many cases, these “free range” birds are shipped for long periods of time (without food or water) to the same slaughter houses where factory farmed birds are killed (6). The “free range” alternative is just as inhumane and cruel as the situation for factory farmed birds is.

There is no vital imperative for us to eat turkeys, or any other animals. We can all celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving without bringing harm to any animal- human or non-human.

Letting turkeys live and replacing your turkey dinner with a vegan meal doesn’t mean all vegetables and no gravy! You can have a great Tofurky dinner that will satisfy your taste buds and fill your belly. Here are some recipes we have collected:

You can make your own homemade Tofurky if you are feeling adventurous and creative (although we suggest to make your own stuffing from scratch).

For a recipe, please visit:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tofu-Turkey-I/Detail.aspx

Alternatively, you can buy a Tofurky (7).
Make a savoury stuffing to go with your homemade Tofurky (try using half of the recipe inside the homemade tofurky and bake the other half in the oven for a crispier stuffing).

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup diced onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 cups soft bread cubes
1 cup chopped apple
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup cranberries
1 cup vegetable broth
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large skillet, heat the oil and then sauté the onion and celery until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Pour the sautéed vegetables into a casserole dish. Add the remaining ingredients, bread cubes through seasonings. Toss well, making sure all of the bread cubes are soaked in the vegetable broth. Bake for 45 minutes.

We couldn’t find a recipe online that we loved as much as the recipe from How It All Vegan (8):

Mighty Miso Gravy

6-10 mushrooms chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1 tbsp. Olive oil
2-3 tbsp. Braggs Liquid Aminos or soy sauce
Cayenne pepper (to taste)
Dried basil (to taste)
Dried dill (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
1/3-1/2 cup of flour
1 1/3 cups vegetable stock or water
1 tsp. miso

In a medium saucepan, saute the mushrooms and onions in oil on medium high heat until onions are translucent and mushrooms are tender. Add the Braggs, cayenne, basil, dill and pepper and stir. Remove from heat and slowly stir in the flour, mixing together well. It will become past and dry. Slowly start adding the stock a little at a time until everything becomes well mixed and there is no lumps. Place back into medium heat and simmer until sauce is thickened, stirring often. At the last minute, stir in miso and serve.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, look around your table and be thankful that you can have compassionate, animal-free harvest feast, and most of all have fun!

References:
1: http://www.goveg.com/f-hiddenlivesturkeys.asp
2: http://www.humanefood.ca/pdf%20links/Turkeyfact%20sheet.pdf

http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming_turkeys_farms.asp

3: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/LDP/2006/12Dec/LDPM15001/ldpm15001.pdf
4: http://www.free-range-turkey.com
5: http://www.veganoutreach.org/freerange/
6: http://cetfa.com/images/stories/The__Life__of__a__Turkey__Food__Facts.pdf
7: http://www.tofurky.com/
8: http://www.govegan.net/

Electric prods/shockers are easily concealed, but videos taken in Halifax (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnA_zK7gk08) and elsewhere (see for example http://www.sharkonline.org/) show the reality. Although small, the device can deliver 5,000 volts of electric shock. Cattle are particularly sensitive to electricity, and rodeo participants use that to their advantage to make bulls appear to be wild killers. Despite so-called “humane regulations”, rodeo workers often shock their victims secretly and repeatedly before releasing them, having driven them wild with torment.

The buck strap, as it name suggests, is the foundation of the bucking events. The strap is loosely fitted like a belt around the bull’s abdomen, just in front of the hind legs. When the gate is opened, a person behind the chute pulls on the buck strap as the animal departs, automatically tightening it around this extremely sensitive flank area. This is similar to an unrelenting sharp squeeze in the groin area of a human being. The animals struggle and buck violently in a futile attempt to escape. As a result, they can sustain severe bruising, pulled tendons, broken bones, and internal bleeding; some are even paralyzed from spinal cord injuries.

Rodeos maim, injure and kill untold numbers of animals every year. They victimize and abuse animals for profit. If these animals were “born to buck,” they wouldn’t get blasted repeatedly with thousands of volts of electricity, they wouldn’t have tormenting straps tightened around their flanks, and they wouldn’t have to be raked with spurs.

Please help us stop rodeo events at the Maritime Fall Fair. Patronize only non-animal events like festivals and sporting events, and express your opinion on bull riding competitions by sending a polite letter to the Maritime Fall Fair event manager, Randy Johnston, at:

rjohnston@tradecentrelimited.com

As of September 21, 2009 our new website address is:

www.asap-online.info

Please check our site and blog regularly for information on animal rights issues, veganism and upcoming events!