Activists to Hold Vigil in Donegal as Part of World Day for the Abolition of Meat

donegal | animal rights | press release Monday January 25, 2010 13:56 by Donegal Veg Group

***Donegal Veg Group Press Release***

A Day of Action - Donegal Veg will be taking part in a peaceful and silent vigil as part of World Day for the Abolition of Meat at on 30 January, in association with the National Animal Rights Association (N.A.R.A., www.naracampaigns.org).

ACTIVISTS TO HOLD SILENT VIGIL FOR WORLD DAY FOR THE ABOLITION OF MEAT

WHEN: Saturday, 30th January, Main Street, Letterkenny Co.
Donegal. We will set-up across from Market Square off Main Street.

TIME: 1pm to 4pm

CONTACTS:

Donegal Veg: donegalvegan@gmail.com – http://donegalveg.blogspot.com

N.A.R.A.: naracampaigns@gmail.com - http://www.naracampaigns.org

A Day of Action - Donegal Veg will be taking part in a peaceful and silent vigil as part of World Day for the Abolition of Meat at on 30 January, in association with the National Animal Rights Association (N.A.R.A., www.naracampaigns.org).

All are welcome to join in and stand in silence in memory of the billions of animals that are killed every year! World Day for the Abolition of Meat is intended as a means of promoting the idea of abolishing the murder of animals for food. Meat is not necessary to live a long and healthy life and it is the cause of more suffering and death than any other human activity. It is also an environmentally destructive practice. World Day for the Abolition of Meat will be promoted by various countries including Ireland, Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, South Africa, Portugal, Bolivia, Brazil, USA, England and India via information tables, leafleting, street actions, and conferences. http://www.nomoremeat.org/
For FAQ, visit: http://en.m-eat.org/wiki/FAQ

"Billions of animals are killed each year unnecessarily. Many of these animals live in horrid conditions, and even if they lived in so called natural conditions, which free range and organic farms try to promote as "happy" and "ethical" meat, these animals still end up in the same slaughterhauses as animals that are factory farmed. Science has shown that non-humans are intelligent and sentient, so why is it that many continue to ignore this? You would not slaughter, cook, and eat your dog, so why would you do it to another species? In essence, these animals are their own individuals - they are neither objects nor property, said Donegal Veg spokesperson, Julia Feliz.

Ms. Feliz added that, "Our aim on the 30th will be to reach out to the general public in Letterkenny and get them to consider their part in the death of billions of animals that are used, abused, treated as property, and ultimately slaughtered for a meal. These animals cannot speak for themselves and we are here to give them a voice and make people acknowledge the billions of individuals that are killed and conveniently, forgotten. The medical community has acknowledged that humans do not need to eat meat or any animal product to live healthy lives. In fact, veganism has been shown to help in the prevention and reversal of now common diseases like cancer and heart disease, which have become the norm. Also, how can society continue to ignore the negative environmental impacts of animal agriculture and the fact that there are millions of people starving right now while the food that is fed to livestock could go directly to those that go to sleep on an empty stomach each night? In my eyes, meat is the equivalent of world suffering. Everyone can take a stand and do something about it. Each time you pick up your fork you are deciding whether to take part in that suffering or not."

Laura Broxson, spokesperson for N.A.R.A., commented that, "We are delighted to be supporting Donegal Veg for this important event. For all the suffering and death humans are responsible for, we hope this vigil will be a true eye-opener for passers-by. Animals are not ours to eat, and this murder must stop immediately. The voiceless will have a voice on January 30th, and it will be heard."

FACTS:

-Approximately 58 billion land animals are slaughtered worldwide.This figure does not include marine animals. http://faostat.fao.org/site/569/DesktopDefault.aspx?Pag...ancor

-Based on the above figure, it has been calculated (http://www.nomoremeat.org/) that the following number of land animals are slaughtered for food worldwide (this figure does not include marine animals, so the numbers in reality are even higher):

per day - 158,904,100
per week - 1,112,328,750
per month - 4,833,333,300
per hour - 6,621,004
per minute - 110,350
per second - 1,839

-Every year, billions of ocean animals are caught unintentionally. This is known as bycatch, a devastating issue that plagues the global fishing industry. Many will be simply thrown back into the ocean, dead or dying.The billions of marine animals killed needlessly include 100 million sharks and rays, approximately 300,000 whales, dolphins, and porpoises, 250,000 endangered turtles, and hundreds of thousands of birds. Shrimp fisheries are perhaps the worst offenders, with commonly more than 80 percent bycatch. Numerous species are facing extinction because of fishing and bycatch.
http://www.cetaceanbycatch.org/
http://assets.panda.org/downloads/bycatch_paper.pdf
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0250e/
http://animalrights.change.org/blog/view/animal_use_and...mbers

-It has been estimated that the total number of fish and other marine animals killed per year are up to 141,403,138,000 (figures were calculated by source according to data from the UN's Farming and Agriculture Organization, FAO on the following links).
http://masalladelaespecie.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/algu...e-168
ftp://ftp.fao.org/fi/stat/summary/summ_05/a-0a.pdf

- For more facts and figures, visit http://animalrights.change.org/blog/view/animal_use_and...mbers

-Adopting a vegan diet, saves more than 100 non-human lives per year. This figure is quite conservative, but it does add up to thousands during a lifetime. http://www.meat.org/

-Please note that these numbers do not represent the billions of animals further killed for fur/clothing, entertainment (zoos, hunting, racing, circuses, etc.) medical experimentation/testing, those abandoned/unwanted "pets" that die in shelters every year, etc. The numbers above ONLY represent those that are killed for food consumption.

Useful Links:

http://www.nomoremeat.org/

http://en.m-eat.org/wiki/FAQ

www.naracampaigns.org

www.vegansociety.com

http://www.chooseveg.com/

http://www.meat.org/