Recent Noteworth Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor are great way for communicating ideas and messages, here are two recent ones.

The first comments on the recent demonstration from PETA here in Victoria:

Sexist and sexy are not the same
By Laura Filipovic,
Times Colonist
August 21, 2010
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/letters/Sexist+sexy+same/3426796/story.html

I was dismayed to see the Times Colonist giving credence to the nearly naked female PETA activists on display Monday by publishing their picture.

Replicating the same image that Pamela Anderson did with her controversial PETA ad a month or so back, these women once again proved that PETA seems to only stoop to sexist ploys in order to gain attention.

By reducing women to animals and body parts, the nudity of these women becomes reductive; meant to titillate as opposed to educate. If the point is that animals should not be thought of as a product to be consumed, then why try to say that by comparing animals to women who are nearly naked and posing in a way that implies objectification?

I do not question these women's individual agency to use their bodies for a purpose they see fit; I call into question why we as a society give PETA as much credibility as we do when their approach does not liberate animals, but serves to offend and objectify already marginalized groups.

Laura Filipovic
Victoria
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

The next letter is in response to a comment/grade given by Monday Magazine the previous week, where they 'fail' UVic because they're allowing rabbits to be sent to a shelter in Texas instead of dealing with (read: kill) them as any other 'pests' such as rats. I would argue we humans much more accurately fit the description of 'pest' than any rabbits.

Screw the U
Re: “Report Card,” August 25-September 1
http://mondaymag.com/articles/entry/letters-september-2/

Giving an F to the University of Victoria for sending their pest problem to other areas is another example of the ignorance of Victoria’s media. Would they ship rats or termites? Are rats or termites the third most popular house pet in North America as are rabbits? Are rabbits disease carriers or vermin? Nope, not even rodents.

The rabbits at UVic are descendants of domestic rabbits that were thoughtlessly abandoned by uncaring owners. And many of these rabbits will not be lucky enough to be moved out as a cull is still in the works. Frankly giving UVic an F is probably the right thing. An F for not neutering these creatures years ago when suggested and an F for trying to blame the rabbits for UVic’s mistakes.

William Jesse, Oak Bay

Thanks to these authors for expressing their thoughts and concerns, and I hope these letters inspire you to speak up on an issue important to you as well!

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals
Web Site: http://FriendsofAnimals.org
Victoria: http://TheVictoriaVegan.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2496490922
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/FoA_Victoria
FoA Vegan Starter Guide PDF: http://bit.ly/foa-vsg

Dine-Out: Pizza Pi

You're invited to join other Victoria Vegan readers for another of our fun Dine-Outs, this time at Pizza Pi (1412 Douglas Street, www.pizzapi.ca) this coming Friday, August 20th at 7pm.  They make their own cashew cheese, and I, for one, am eager to try it out.

As a group, we'll be getting 25% off, and apparently that works out to around $2 per slice.

If you're on Facebook, feel free to RSVP here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139985222703861

Otherwise, please send us a note by noon on Thursday to let us know to expect you! We'll want to reserve seats.

Hope you can join us!

Also, on Wednesday night is our monthly meeting/discussion group, where we talk about various animal rights and vegan issues, please do join us! It's at Green Cuisine (in the 'side' room) at 6:30pm. Come at 6pm if you're getting a bite to eat first, there's usually several of us having dinner beforehand.

Hope to see you there!

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals
Web Site: http://FriendsofAnimals.org
Victoria: http://TheVictoriaVegan.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2496490922
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/FoA_Victoria
FoA Vegan Starter Guide PDF: http://bit.ly/foa-vsg

Restaurant Review: Kissako Green Tea Cafe

 As mentioned earlier, the Victoria Vegan blog is accepting submissions from readers, here's the first of hopefully many pieces from "Chris-the-Vegan-Fifty-Something"! Send us a note if you'd like to contribute something. =)

KISSAKO GREEN TEA CAFE
2027 Oak Bay Avenue, Victoria BC
Tel: 250.370.5195
Web: http://www.kissakogreenteacafe.com/

Superb.  One word to describe the delicious vegan delights that the scrupulous owners of this Oak Bay cafe painstakingly and consistently prepare every day, Monday through Saturday. 

While this cafe is not vegan, the owners, Hiroshi Shibata and Tamae Yoshizawa, have specialised knowledge of macrobiotic cooking.  Hiroshi is a sushi master, and his fresh vegan sushi selections all feature brown rice.  I have taken several Europeans and well-travelled visiting guests to this place, and each one remarks:  "this is the best sushi place to which I've ever been, in all of my world travels!"  Echoing that, I have never visited a sushi place that offers more superb vegan sushi, miso soups, gobi salads, exquisite green teas, tofu and veggie dishes, vegan udon noodle soups, and vegan deserts. 

Even if you're not a vegan, you will enjoy their vegan offerings, and they are all easily digested.  A vegan meal at the Kissako Green Tea Cafe just leaves you feeling wonderful, and Victoria is lucky to have this delightful little gem.

Reviewer: Chris-the-Vegan-Fifty-Something

Thanks Chris!

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals
Web Site: http://FriendsofAnimals.org
Victoria: http://TheVictoriaVegan.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2496490922
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/FoA_Victoria
FoA Vegan Starter Guide PDF: http://bit.ly/foa-vsg

Summer 2010 Act*ionLine Magazine Online

Hey everyone, the latest issue of the FoA quarterly magazine Act*ionLine is online. If you'd like a copy to read at your leisure (and to share with friends afterward), just send me a note with your address!

Summer 2010 Table of Contents

A Fistful of Dollars: Understanding BP and the Gulf Disaster

In My View

Peter Wallerstein and the Marine Animal Rescue Team

Cheers and Jeers

Movement Watch

Photo Essay: March for Mustangs

Saving Wild Horses: An Interview with Ginger Kathrens

Becoming Raw: The Essential Guide to Raw Vegan Diets by Brenda Davis, RD and Vesanto Melina, MS, RD

Getting Active for Cats

Create a Sustainable Style Revolution

Letters

Merchandise Catalog

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals
Web Site: http://FriendsofAnimals.org
Victoria: http://TheVictoriaVegan.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2496490922
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/FoA_Victoria
FoA Vegan Starter Guide PDF: http://bit.ly/foa-vsg

Follow-up On The Carriage Accident

It was a busy week on the carriage front, on Thursday we saw some more media, and coverage included this great clip from A Channel:



Long-time supporter Heather Steel also had her excellent letter published.

As well, there was a story from the Interior of 30 horses from a thoroughbred breeder's ranch who were destined for slaughter because he couldn't afford to keep them.

This exemplifies a core issue: the keeping, collecting and breeding of horses. Not unlike cats and dogs, horses are treated much the same, and the same over-population issues arise. Similarly, if the breeding were to stop, we'd see an end to all horse exploitation, including the carriages; as well as an end to these unfortunate situations where a horse is sent to a slaughterhouse (or a cat or dog 'put down'). Further, is this really just an ultimatum? Isn't the message here 'buy my horses or I'll send them to slaughter?' Feel free to discuss this, or post any of your thoughts in the comments section.

Also, Friends of Animals has started a Facebook page called Carriage-Free Victoria on this issue, join us here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carriage-Free-Victoria/142240729127464

Concluding last week's activities, our volunteers were out on Thursday and Friday, collecting signatures for our petition, handing out leaflets, and speaking to people who are concerned with our city's treatment of animals. Thanks to Sarah Kramer for joining us on Friday and bringing delicious cookies no less! Here's her report on the action including some photos.

Further, on Friday in the Times Colonist there was a piece on City Council reviewing animal bylaws, but there was no mention of the carriages, so we sent the following letter to Mayor Fortin and Councillor Thornton-Joe.

ACTION: please do take a moment to write them as well: mayor@victoria.ca and cthornton-joe@victoria.ca

Dear Mayor Dean Fortin and Councillor Charlayne Thornton-Joe,

Thank you for bringing animal bylaws to the forefront. Friends of Animals will support several of the proposed measures described by Bill Cleverley in the recent Times Colonist  piece, “Victoria to rein in animal care with review of control bylaw.” Notably, we see no mention of the horse-drawn carriages in the article, although they necessitate immediate action from the council. Horse-drawn vehicles should be banned from the streets of Victoria, as an accident last Monday shows: there is inherent danger, as well as an ethical problem, in having horses in Victoria’s streets. It was dumb luck that no people were injured. In a stunning show of insensitivity, the carriage owner said Wes the horse would be back on the street working in a day or two -- after being dragged along Dallas Road by another horse attached to the carriage. What a horror show for visitors of Victoria to have to endure, and what terrible news for the international media to report about our city.

Nor are such scenes unusual when horses and traffic mingle.  A few weeks ago in Iowa, two carriage horses broke free, killed one person, and injured dozens, including children. In New York City last year a horse was killed after being startled and breaking into traffic, and several more horses were injured over the summer. Right now they’re forced to pull tourists around in the heat wave, apparently oblivious to temperature regulations and basic standards of decent treatment.

Victoria would not be the first city to ban the carriages, and could be an example of enlightenment by ensuring the horses are places safely in sanctuaries. Effecting these changes would raise the status of Victoria, and ensure that neither horses nor people can be injured or killed in this ridiculous and antiquated shtick.

On behalf of the international advocacy group Friends of Animals, I request that you address this in your proceedings, and I would also like to know if there’s any way I or the public can participate.

Very truly yours,

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals
Web Site: http://FriendsofAnimals.org
Victoria: http://TheVictoriaVegan.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2496490922
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/FoA_Victoria
FoA Vegan Starter Guide PDF: http://bit.ly/foa-vsg

Discussing Animal Group Fundraisers That Serve Animals

James LaVeck, from Tribe of Heart (producers of the wonderful films The Witness and Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home) was approached by someone concerned about an animal advocacy group hosting a fundraiser event that was serving animal products.

This is not an uncommon dilemma, I have personally withdrawn support from the BC-SPCA because of this, as has Sarah Kramer (open letter from Sarah, and a follow-up.) They continue to host these types of events, and will have vegan 'options'.

James is very eloquent in how he approaches this dilemma, and I encourage all to watch:


Silencing the Lambs from Tribe of Heart on Vimeo.

Hopefully these other groups will begin to listen, and we can all work towards real, meaningful animal advocacy together.

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals
Web Site: http://FriendsofAnimals.org
Victoria: http://TheVictoriaVegan.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2496490922
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/FoA_Victoria
FoA Vegan Starter Guide PDF: http://bit.ly/foa-vsg

Monday Night Carriage Accident on Dallas Road

On the evening of Monday, July 19th, there was an accident with the horse-drawn carriages down on Dallas Rd., highlighting the public safety risk inherent when horses are forced to pull carriages in urban environments.

I've been campaigning specifically on this issue for four years now, and spoken with hundreds of people from James Bay, and one thing is clear: these are not rare events - and occur nearly every month, although they’re rarely covered or reported on. Check out our campaign page with lots more info on the subject. 1/3rd of the people I surveyed in James Bay had personally witnessed some kind of incident, or a horse in distress. Have you?

Back to Monday's accident: you can read a very short (and rare) Times Colonist report here (another report here) and the TC also features a couple photos from the crash:

Photo credit: Bradley Pompu

I'm told that Chester, one of the two horses pulling this carriage, was spooked and started running, dragging Wes (pictured). There's a CHEK TV video report on as well, visit www.cheknews.ca - see 'Carriage Horse Crash'. (I'm disappointed they left out my name and credentials in the report.)

This is an awful event to hear about, and will reoccur so long as there are horses on the street - which is no place for them!

I can certainly imagine a much better life for them than this, and Friends of Animals is calling on the carriage companies and City of Victoria to see these horses retired to sanctuaries, where they can live out their lives in peace. You can read the inspiring story of one such horse, Bobby, who was rescued from a slaughterhouse, and is now assured a safe and happy life.

Please help out by making this a topic of conversation! Take some time to talk to people about the issue; one common remark I hear repeatedly is 'oh, I've never thought about this...'

City Hall needs to hear from you as well. Send an email to councillors@victoria.ca and tell them what you think. They have been very lax in responding, so be sure to tell them you want to hear back on this. Keep writing them until they do. These horses need your voices. Tell your friends as well, feel free to send them this link, and post this (and your own thoughts) on Facebook and Twitter. Write Letters to the Editor to the Times Colonist, Victoria News and Monday Magazine.

Finally, we distribute leaflets and collect signatures for our petition nearly every week down on Belleville, across from the carriages. If any of our activists have a spare hour during the week between 11am and 2pm, we'll meet up and give out info. Email me if you'd like to join us! I can provide signs and literature:

Also check out Horses Without Carriages International for lots more info on this subject, and thank you for helping us to achieve a carriage-free Victoria!

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals
Web Site: http://FriendsofAnimals.org
Victoria: http://TheVictoriaVegan.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2496490922
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/FoA_Victoria
FoA Vegan Starter Guide PDF: http://bit.ly/foa-vsg

First Post!

Greetings, and welcome to the new blog edition of The Victoria Vegan!

We hope to offer the same great stories, reviews and updates, all from the convenience of your browser! And with the Comments section, readers are welcome to post their comments and interact.

Be sure to 'follow' us on the right, new items should begin to appear soon.

Peas out!

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals