Thanks to The Cove and Blackfish, documentary films that expose the atrocities committed against wild and captive dolphins and whales, the public is rising up and fighting back against the worst offenders — Japan and Denmark. One protest at the Japanese embassy in England is six weeks away (Nov 7th at noon), and 277 people have already signed up to participate.  If you have any friends in or near London, please share this information.

In Taiji, Japan, thousands of dolphins are herded into the infamous “cove” each year and are either slaughtered for food or kidnapped for aquariums or swim with dolphin concessions. During each roundup, families are torn apart, and the besieged dolphins are tormented and held in nets with no food as their captors determine their fate.

In The Faroe Islands in Denmark, 1,000 gentle and intelligent pilot whales are driven into the shore each year and mercilessly butchered for meat in an annual ritual called “The Grind.”

In both Japan and Denmark, the government not only sanctions the brutality but also justifies these for-profit atrocities under the guise of tradition.

The Cove and Blackfish demonstrate the tremendous impact of documentation in general and undercover video in particular. These films, coupled with the direct action of Sea Shepherd and grass roots protests around the world, will assuredly lead to the demise of Japan and Denmark’s slaughter in the water. Following are the trailers:

THE COVE

BLACKFISH

In September, Chop’t, a chain of upscale salad restaurants in NYC, is donating a portion of its profits to Every Mother Counts, a global maternal health charity. And that’s great.

Chop’t

But, before printing “EVERY MOTHER COUNTS” onto their take-out bags, Chop’t should have considered the fact its servers would be filling those bags with thousands of mothers who were chopped up and tossed into their salads. And that all of those mothers had their babies torn away from them at birth. Let’s be honest, Chop’t! Those mothers do not count.

Eating a salad for lunch should be benign activity, but when you toss animals in with your lettuce, it becomes an act of violence. That might sound extreme, but what is in actuality extreme are the factory farms that produce the animals — factory farms that harm our health, the planet and, of course, the animals.

When making decisions about what to put in your salad, please keep this in mind: pigs, chickens and cows are not ingredients; they are mothers, fathers and children who wanted to live and did not want to be tossed into your salad.

Graveyard

Please keep this in mind too: plant-based ingredients are healthier, less expensive, cruelty-free and delicious. And some of them, like seitan, soy products and mushrooms, have a similar consistency to meat, if that’s important to you.

Chop’t veggies

You can live without meat and cheese. In fact, you can live better without meat and cheese. But the animals cannot. They need their own bodies to survive, and they need their milk secretions for their babies.

Like the “Every Mother Counts” campaign at Chop’t, eating animals is a great disconnect in modern society. Almost everyone says they love them, but only a few abstain from eating them, in spite of the well-documented cruelty.

An “ag gag” bill that was introduced in Southern Australia after undercover investigations exposed animal abuse on pork and wool farms has been voted down. The Surveillance Devices Bill would have penalized activists with up to $15,000 in fines or with imprisonment for releasing footage taken of factory farms.

What agribusiness doesn’t want consumers to see

The Sydney Morning Herald, which declared the vote “a win for consumer advocacy, workers’ rights, freedom of the press and animal protection,” cautioned that supporters of “ag gag” will push for legislation at the federal level.

Following is a two minute non-graphic video taken inside of a pig factory farm in Australia. As the Communications Director of Animals Australia describes the conditions, the intelligent pigs in the background attempt to escape from the intensive confinement of their cages:

As reported on TheirTurn in August, supporters of ag-gag in Australia attempted to disguise the bill as a measure to protect farm animals when its true intent is to keep the public in the dark. Most consumers continue to be unaware of the existence of factory farms and probably believe that the animals who they eat are raised on the green pastures shown on the packaging.

As activists, we must ensure that the work being done by undercover investigators is protected by law and distributed widely to the public. To that end, please share Mercy For Animals’ video  – Farm to Fridge – that takes viewers behind the scenes on modern-day factory Farms.

Photos of a Muslim woman in India who was mobbed while peacefully promoting a vegetarian diet have triggered worldwide outrage and sympathy — the type of response to an animal rights story that is usually reserved for an abused animal.

Activist Tries to Protect Herself (photo: PTI)

The victim, who wore a lettuce costume, asked worshippers to choose vegetarian instead of slaughtering an animal in advance of the Islamic holiday Eid al Adha (Festival of the Sacrifice).

Ironically,  but not surprisingly, the woman – not her attackers – was charged with a crime: “outraging religious feelings.” Also ironic is that the woman who was working to stop violence was made to suffer it, as pointed out PETA, which organized the costumed protest.

Police officer protects activist (photo: PTI)

Following is video footage posted by PETA. Who would believe that the presence of woman dressed up like romaine lettuce could trigger this kind of chaos?

Media outlets around the world are reporting on this story, which will bring this brave and terrified woman – along with her message of peace – into millions of homes. Perhaps those who can’t relate to the suffering on an animal will be moved by the look of despair on her face and connect the dots.

Like us, animals experience fear, terror and despair

Eight hours after an animal rights group asked its supporters to leave comments opposing foie gras on the Facebook wall of The Sopwell House, the well-known hotel and spa in England announced that it will remove foie gras from its restaurant’s menu. It was that easy.

“We have reconsidered our offerings, and this dish will now be removed by our Executive Head Chef. Kindly note that it will take a couple of weeks for our menus to be reprinted. However, please be reassured that we are no longer serving foie gras.”

Sopwell House to remove foie gras from menu

In response to the news, Hertfordshire Animal Rights spokesperson Tod Bradbury said, “We would like to publicly thank Sopwell House for listening to the concerns of the public. Foie gras does not belong in a civilised society – it is undeniably cruel. We hope Sopwell House can be an inspiration to other purveyors of foie gras in the area.”

Foie gras is produced by force feeding ducks and geese through metal pipes until their livers become diseased, swelling up to ten times their normal size.

Hertfordshire Animal Rights has stopped the sale of foie gras at five restaurants in England since August and intends to continue its campaign until the region is foie gras free. In the United States, the production and sale of foie gras were banned in California in 2012. A similar ban was passed in Chicago in 2006, but it was overturned in 2008.

In his 2011 book The Foie Gras Wars, Chicago Tribune reporter Marc Caro profiled the Humane League of Philadelphia’s multi-year campaign to stop the sale of foie gras in local restaurants. According to activist Nick Cooney, who ran the campaign, between 80% – 85% of the targeted restaurants ultimately removed foie gras from the menu.

As evidenced by the victories in England, California and Philadelphia, grassroots activism works. If you live near a restaurant that serves foie gras, then you can employ the same tactics used by Hertfordshire Animal Rights and the Humane League to campaign against the sale of foie gras. To learn more, please watch Farm Sanctuary’s undercover investigation of a foie gras farm.