NEWS OF THE WEEK:

Vegan Food For LA Shelter Dogs, Animal Protection For Sharks & More, Dec. 12 - Dec. 19, 2017

By Leslie Goldberg

VEGAN FOOD FOR SHELTER DOGS IN LA

The LA City Animal Services Commission is considering a proposal to serve vegan chow to the city’s 33,000 dogs in shelters -- no more kibble composed mostly of turkey, chicken and lamb byproducts. It would make LA the first city to feed its dogs vegan said the commission’s chief vet. The proposal is supported by feminist lawyer Lisa Bloom and Moby. BTW, please adopt a canine companion and feed them your own vegan dog food! (Washington Post)

MORE GOOD STUFF FROM LA

After a successful pilot project last year, 35 more schools in LA will get vegan lunch options. Why? The kids like it. “Students chose vegan lunch options on average 13% of the time, and on some days more than half the students chose a vegan lunch,” according to Ivy Marx, the district’s senior nutrition specialist, adding that one school even ran out of vegan options. The nutritionist said the favorites were vegan tamales and vegan teriyaki burgers. Makes you want to go back to high school again. (Just kidding.)  (Food Management)

NOT ONLY LA

Taiwan gets into the act, holding its first animal rights protest march this week. Some 150 protestors showed up. They chanted “Animals are not a number” and “Animals are our friends.” It was organized by Taiwan-based group, Vegan30.  The march was also attended by Taiwanese rapper Dwagie, who wrote the “Song of the Slaughterhouse” to raise awareness of the plight of farmed animals. (Plant Based News)

ON THE WAY TO YOSEMITE

Fresno is about to get its first vegan/vegetarian restaurant thanks to entrepreneur Tricia Louise Tracy. The eatery will be appropriately named “Love” and feature a mural by Idaho artist, Joshua Martel. It will be located out on “the 41.”  (It’s the highway which passes Fresno on the way to California’s national treasure, Yosemite.) (Fresno Bee)

ANIMAL PROTECTION FOR SHARKS!

While fishing is legal everywhere despite the cruelty implicit in the activity, three men have been charged with animal cruelty for dragging a live shark at high speed behind their boat. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stepped up to investigate and charge them with two counts of aggravated animal cruelty after they published a video documenting the atrocity. “ is flipping and tossing around, said a representative of the Florida Aquarium. “I mean this wasn’t just hooked on a line and accidentally dragged.” When the federal government and state governments fail to protect animals through legislation, it’s great to see local communities and agencies take action. (New York Post)

MASSACHUSETTS TO FIGHT BIG AG

Thirteen states are suing the State of Massachusetts for their newly-passed law banning the sale of eggs and meat from companies that confine animals in “too-small cages.” (Of course at DxE we don’t like cages at all!)  Lawyers for the states are arguing that the Mass. law which is to take effect in 2022 violates the Interstate Commerce Clause.  (They also tried this in California after Cal passed the famous Prop 2 that banned extreme confinement for farmed animals. It didn’t work.) (New England Public Radio)

KENYA AND INDIA BEST THE US... BY A LOT

Out of 50 countries the United States ranks 49 in its protection of farmed animals. FORTY-NINE! Compared to such well-to-do countries as India and Kenya. (Not!) The ranking was put together by an animal rights advocacy group based in Australia, called Voiceless. “ is an important tool in raising awareness of the global suffering of farmed animals,” said Odine Sherman, co-founder and managing director of Voiceless. For Americans, this means either it’s time to move or time to work harder! (Business Insider)  

MEAT TAX

Taxation on meat as a way to reduce greenhouse gas is on the table in Europe. A meat tax has actually been proposed in Denmark, Sweden and Germany, but, so far, has failed to pass. A giant investor group think tank based in the Netherlands released a report this week arguing, “...a consensus is emerging on two related issues: eating too much meat is bad for the environment and it is increasingly recognized as being harmful to health.”

A Dutch lawyer and professor Jonathan Verschuuren, agreed: “It seems inevitable that meat consumption needs to go down. The challenges are so big, and the changes that are needed so drastic, that all possible regulatory instruments have to be used, including a meat tax.”

Are you listening Berkeley and San Francisco?  (WPIX-TV)