So everyone in the UK is (hopefully) aware the elections have just happened, and again the Conservatives have won. I personally voted for the Green party but due to our unfair voting system and people who did not use their right to vote, they only came out with 1 seat in Parliament.
One of the first things that David Cameron decided upon was to bring back the cruel fox hunt. Disgusting. You can learn more about the Fox hunt here.
If, like me you do not want this to happen here are a few things you can do:
Write to your local MP, let them know about how cruel and unnecessary the hunt is.
SHARE these petitions and your views with friends via social media!
Go to protests.
Please don't let Foxes suffer and be ripped apart just because a pompous man on his high horse thinks that it is acceptable. I personally can not stand behind somebody who believes in such barbaric methods of dealing with our native wildlife.
Long time no post, and I promise I'm going to be blogging more and about a wider range of things regarding veganism.
I saw the video of brave protesters speaking up for animals at Kim's book signing today and I had to share this reaction from Freelee, as she puts it exactly right.
What is wrong with the world?
She is aware of the cruelty involved and can easily afford good looking faux fur.
Why does she still continue to support cruelty?
Above: Kim supporting a coat made from the fur/skin of dozens of dead animals.
Hi!
Happy Easter,
Okay Easter is a really hard time to avoid unhealthy food (especially if youre trying to lose weight for a holiday! :@ )
Some people have been asking me what I do for Easter since I don't have dairy products... and it couldn't be simpler!
MOST supermarkets provide for people on a dairy free diet. Here is the Easter egg my parents got me along with 2 bars of chocolate! Kinnerton are a compant dedicated to bringing people dairy free dark chocolate confectionary and take special care to avoid cross contamination! If you couldn't tell already I've enjoyed over half of this egg.
Another amazing vegan friendly brand is Moo Free who have an amazing selection of chocolate bars, buttons and Easter eggs! They have a load of flavours and are avaliable in a lot of supermarkets and online stores.
Still struggling to find something at your local shop that's vegan? Sometimes people can't access supermarkets easily, and that's okay! Most corner shops sell Fry's chocolate cream, by cadburys. This chocolate is also vegan!
That's chocolate out of the way... but there is something else a lot of people might struggle with, since most people have a large roast meal on Easter Sundays with a large portion of dead animal ( meat!).
Vegans might struggle to find something to substitute the chicken, pig or cow on their families plates. There are so many vegan substitutes out there now, it's so simple!
I recently bought myself a nut roast to try, they are really easy to make and serve up a pretty large portion! Vegan friendly and include a load of vegetables, a source of protein and is high in fibre. Only £2.49 at Tesco!
If you have a Holland and Barrett nearby, you should be able to find a lot of amazing vegan meat substitutes,
I think living here in the UK we are pretty lucky and have a huge range of vegan food readily avaliable to us in local supermarkets! One thing that's pretty important for somebody getting into a vegan/cruelty free lifestyle are dairy free milks and yoghurts. Alpro has a pretty large range of things ALL of which are vegan and kind to the enviroment! Avaliable milks include coconut milk, rice milk, soy milk, oat milk and almond milk! Each of these also come in a 'light' version for those trying to diet.
Here are a few of the things I have stocked in my fridge right now:
For somebody who has recently given up milk I'd reccommend they try either soya or rice milk. They both taste amazing! They are both pretty sweet, however so the 'lighter' options might go down better with other people. Also rice milk is pretty watery (much better than pus filled cow milk though imo!)
Soya yoghurts taste amazing and go down well as a snack or breakfast sometimes. Unless you're going raw vegan, it's important to get supplements in for your diet and to make sure it's balanced.
The milks I think cost a decent price, in tesco they are £1 a carton. The smaller milkshakes are just over £1 for 3 in a packet. The yoghurts are around £2 too.
Another quick post from me, but I watched this video earlier and it summed up a load of pretty great facts and because I care about the health and wellbeing of any lurkers reading this, please watch the video! Be reminded I'm not trying to force my point of view onto anybody and it's your choice to watch the video or any videos that I will post on here. Freelee is awesome and you should watch her other videos if you enjoy this one!
I'll do my own post on eggs eventually and why I stopped eating them and how I feel morally wrong to consume them or support their industry. Also I love chickens!
Enjoy.. :)
Ive been pretty absent recently and I apologize! There are a few reasons why, first ive caught a few bugs this month and I cant cope well when im ill. Also it was my birthday at the start of the month and as a late present to myself I got a new samsung galaxy s4 which I am blogging from right now! Im sooo happy with it as my last phone was ancient and didnt even have the internet on it!
Last weekend me and my boyfriend decided to go to york, stay over and have a whole day shopping! It was awesome and I went out of my way to eat at Goji vegetarian cafe there... tasty isnt the word! They have so much vegan food including amazing vegan chocolate cake which I may have bought a slice of ;). I also got a vegan hot dog which was huge but so tasty! My boyfriend got sweet potato wedges which he seemed to enjoy. Unfortunatly it started raining and 20% of my hotdog ended up soggy buttt I ate it anyway!
vegan hot dog!
vegan cake!
Another place that we went to in york was the milkshack, I found their website and discovered they offer vegan milkshakes and ice creams. We obviously went here and I got an amazing peanut butter shake yum! You couldnt tell at all that it was dairy free.
So anyway im hoping now that ive got a new decent phone and the cold weather is being left behind I should be doing my posts more often again. I have still been petitioning, tweeting and keeping up to date with animal news via reddit and Facebook! Got a few ideas on upcoming posts so please visit again! :)
Sorry for no posts recently... Been busy busy busy! >.<
Anyway please take the time to sign these!...
1. Stop the spring bear hunt: Ontario
2. Tell Bindi Irwin to stop being an ambassador to Seaworld: Bindi Irwin
3. Pledge to stop illegal wildlife poaching: Poaching
4. Save Australia's bats: Bats
5. Protect pets from domestic abuse: Domestic abuse
6. Support stricter regulation of parrot trade: Parrots
7. Ban Halal slaughter in the UK: Halal
8. Stop baby animals being sold for easter: Easter
Hi!
My boyfriend got me a new camera for my birthday yay!! <3 <3
me + Rob
Because I've got birthday blues after just having turned 21,
I decided I needed to cheer myself up by buying some stuff from Superdrug...
I actually did need some of these things so it's okay! I ordered them off the website and it all came to a little over £10, making me eligable for the free delivery! :)
I love love the whitening range from Superdrug (I don't really like the colour of my teeth...) and they all smell great, the floss is especially minty which is ideal for after food. Very happy with these! And at 59p the toothpaste is a steal! Of course everything is also vegan/vegetarian friendly and against animal testing yay! Superdrug, I love you.
I also got:
Vegan/veggie/cruelty free face wipes 99p each, B. energised eye cream £4.47
I had to get the wipes when I saw them, I was running low anyway but 15% of the money goes toward cancer care! Also, the eye cream is due to the fact that I get really bad dark circles underneath my eyes, I hate them! I couldn't pass up the chance to buy cruelty free treatment cream when I saw it. I'm gonna do a blog post about how/if it helped after I've been using it a while.
Superdrug is awesome, their own brand smells great, works great and is cruelty free. I reccommend everyone to at least try it! Rachel X
Hey,
just as the hunting season for dolphins ends in Taiji, Seals in Canada are now under threat from humans.
It is the largest commercial slaughter of marine animals in the world, with at least 300,000 seals both babies and adults killed, between 2003 and 2005 at least 900,000 seals were slaughtered.
WHY? Fishermen back up the justification of this as they are trying to help stop overpopulation of seals, who then go on to eat their fish. However these seals are worth money, their meat and furs are sold on meaning this is mainly a money making scheme. The fish in question, cod is not even a part of the seals' diet. Another reason behind this is because of an apparent demand for seal fur. Killing seals actually leads to pollution which is a trigger for fish deaths due to the bacteria coming from the corpses.
Luckily a lot of people still do not wish to eat dead seals or wear them, but clothing companies and medicines can use the bits in things like oils.
A big question that people have regarding this hunt is whether or not the hunt is carried out cruelly, whether the seals are killed before they are skinned and how they are treat by the hunters. The DFO claims that 98% of all the seals killed are not skinned while conscious and are killed properly, they also state the tool used on the seals skulls is a quick and humane death for the seals.
Clubs used to 'humanely' kill seals
The fact that this mass killing is legal says a lot, baby seals are meant to be protected but are still in some cases killed. However a mass amount of Canadians are opposed to this and try to make it illegal. I believe that by providing the real facts and debunking myths that this CAN become illegal if enough people speak out for the seals. It is a bloody massacre and surrounded by false truths and money making reasons to continue it. The facts are that the hunters do not carry out every kill humanely and the animals are sometimes alive and conscious while being skinned. The hunt doesn't even warrant enough money for it to be called good for the revenues.
If you want to help please sign this petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/stopthesealhunt/
and look out for more that I will be posting in my weekly Petitions to sign this week.
1. Stop testing and killing animals in UK lab: Testing
2. Send letter to companies that sell fur to stop: Fur
3. Boycott Canadian Seafood and fur for seal hunt: Seals
4. Stop the Canadian seal hunt: Seal hunt
5. Urge Canada to stop Seal hunts: Seal Hunt
6. Petition against Seal slaughter: Seal Hunt
7. Stop the Canadian Seal hunt: Seal Hunt
(Yes there is going to be a theme this month!)
8. Close Taiji harbor: Close Taiji
9. Close baby monkey lab in the University of Washington: Monkey lab
10. Save the water voles! Water Voles
11. Ban Temple elephant torture: Temple elephants
12. Boycott Africa travel: Africa
13. Help save rare horseshoe crabs: Horseshoe crabs
14. Stop feeding dead piglets to their mothers: Pigs
15. Stop the export of sheep for cruel rituals: Sheep
16. Ban fur imports! Fur
17. Introduce Vegan UK school dinners! School dinners
18. Help horses neglected, beaten and run over on Dublin housing estates: Horses
19. Help US become cruelty free in cosmetics area: Cruelty Free
...His videos answer a lot of questions and criticisms that vegans get!
It's my 21st birthday tomorrow, so I might not be blogging as much... I'm getting quite a lot of new games and dvds! As well as other surprises:) I'll try to keep updating my petitions post though and I might post photos of what I get tomorrow at my birthday meal (I've booked a vegan pasta dish) Oh and I might post a birthday haul ;).
I really can't believe I'll be 21 tomorrow! I hope my year can be spent well trying to help animals and prevent cruelty and I hope that I can keep on top of this blog... it's nice having somewhere to write stuff down!
Hi!
Here in the UK, we normally hear a lot of good stuff about the reputation of our factory farms and how we treat our animals to eat their produce/flesh. Unfortunatly, what happens behind closed doors and the walls of slaughterhouses is just as cruel as anywhere else, we still have extremely cruel caged hens and pigs, animals are still mutilated and treated like dirt in some places.
I think it's important for people who claim to love animals to watch this video, also read the article on Viva!'s website: http://www.viva.org.uk/what-we-do/cruel-britannia-life-and-death-uk-factory-farms
Hi!
I woke up this morning and I couldn't breathe out of my nose, I have caught a cold. :(
I work in a school so it's not really a surprise... anyway that got me thinking about doing a post on what hand sanitizer I use at work since I'm always touching things that are covered in bacteria.
I use Enliven hand sanitizer as my go to...
100ml bottle, tends to last me a couple of months using it a few times a day :) It smells really fresh and like cucumber. Only costs £1 at most shops!
Another great hand sanitizer that I use occasionally is Body Shops, which is a little more expensive than Enlivens but comes in a larger range of smells including strawberry, mango and my personal favorite satsuma.
These smell amazing and I found these 60ml bottles do run out a lot faster than Enliven's. I still prefer to use Enliven at work as the smell is not strong for in my office and I find that it lasts a lot longer! I'm sure there are more cruelty free hand sanitizers on the UK market but these two I have found to be the most available especially nearby to me. Let me know what works best for you, happy shopping!
1. Help abolish the use of Beagles for animal testing: Beagles
2. Make sexual use of animals in Denmark illegal: Denmark
3. Stop live bulls being set on fire in spain: Bulls
4. Tell congress that animal testing is not needed for testing beauty cosmetics: Congress
5.Save the Axolotyl: Axolotyl
6.End the Faroe Islands whale/dolphins killing festival: Faroe IslandsFaroe Islands 2
7. Stop dog meat being sold in Nigeria Dog meat
8. Help goats at Santa Cruiz Biotech: Goats
9. Justice for Bryan, who was shot in front of his owners: Bryan
10. Tell South Carolina to stop using live animals in their pep rallys: Pep Rally Games
11. Ban cruel steel jaw leghold traps: traps
12. Keep wild animals out of the Circus in the UK: Circus
as somebody that watches documentaries on animal rights and vegetarianism pretty frequently, I was introduced to the documentary Blackfish late last year. The documentary focuses on Seaworld and how they treat their killer whales, and how their killer whales treat them.
Animals in captivity is always a tricky subject, but I have myself been to Seaworld in 2011 and did not think anything of the Orcas that were performing there. The instructors at the shows that I went to see where very clear that the animals 'love' to perform and that they are very happy doing the tricks that we see. I believe that this is an outright lie, and Blackfish also looks into this further.
The documentary tells us how Seaworld begun as a smaller park, named Sealand of the Pacific and held Orcas there to do tricks for the public (back then, seeing a killer whale would have been a very new experience). To get Orcas, they have to be hunted down and stolen away from their families (they are very sociable animals) this is how one of the present Seaworld Orcas, Tilikum was obtained. Tilikum has so far been held accountable for 3 deaths at Seaworld, however there are no records of humans being killed by Orcas in the wild... The reason behind these deaths is pretty plain to see. He went crazy. And who can blame him? Every single day of his miserable life he needs to perform tricks for dead fish, in a tiny concrete tank, none of which is natural behavior for these animals. Seaworld can try as much as they like but they will never be able to give him a suitable home, like the ocean where he would swim hundreds of miles everyday.
Photo from SeaworldOfHurt
The tanks are shallow and the animals can get sunburn, the music and crowds are noisy and this is made worse for the animals under the water. Food can be given to them in rations if they do not perform to a proper standard, before the first attack at Seaworld trainers would stand on the Orcas heads and show them no respect at all.
No matter what Seaworld or supporters of Marine Parks can say, there are no good reasons why these amazing, intelligent and beautiful animals have to spend their entire lives entertaining US. They do not belong in captivity and it is time that keeping them for shows is made illegal, it already is illegal to keep them here in the UK which I'm glad about. It's scary how much Seaworld are going out of their way suddenly to call Blackfish propaganda and to call anybody sticking up for Killer Whales as extremists...
I love animals. I love them more than being sources of entertainment, they deserve better lives than circus acts. I am not oblivious, I know that Seaworld does a lot to help conservation and rescuing animals and I believe this is what they need to concentrate on doing, build a sanctuary with larger pools and let the Orcas that can no longer function in the wild live and be looked after there in peace. Watch Blackfish and Whale of a Business and make your own decisions, these are my own opinions.
I work in an office, and I also get very peckish throughout the day, it's important not to snack on things like crisps or chocolate everyday and also try to avoid caving and eating your lunch really early. Here are some of my favourite snacks to have at my desk, enjoy!! :)
Small snack sized bags or berries & cherries, nuts and prunes are avaliable and pretty cheap at supermarkets!
Sunflower and Pumpkin seeds are great snacks, pretty filling too considering how small they are.
Of course I also enjoy fruits such as bananas, grapes and apples. :-)
Snacking at work is normally due to boredom for some people, especially a job in an office where you're not moving around a lot it's easy to bring unhealthy snacks to help pass time easier, plus when you're bored you will start to think about food more and how you're feeling hungry (even if you're not starving). By snacking on healthy things you'll definatly feel better about yourself and by snacking on cruelty free food, you don't have any guilt! ;) Rachel X
