News from our Member Societies

AUSTRIA:

OPEN LETTER by EVU member Dr. Helmut F. Kaplan to all animal protection and animal right organizations:

It is to be expected that most humans already suspect a very unpleasant routine in normal slaughterhouses. However, if they really found out about the mind boggling cruelties which are part of everyday business in abattoirs, they would be absolutely shocked. Hence it would stand to reason take advantage of this human disgust and turn it into animal benefit:

Illegal cruelties in slaughterhouses, for instance the lack of or insufficient stunning as well as sadistic tortures of animals, are well documented. However, a general, systematic and repeated publication of this material is lacking. This kind of information could suffice to mobilize people and lead to claims for the prevention of all these unnecessary and illegal cruelties. At the same time, all slaughterhouse operators ought to have an interest in shaking off the blame of constant law violation.

Permanent video monitoring would be a simple and effective way of ensuring the adherence to legal slaughterhouse regulations.

For this reason I call upon all animal protection and animal right organizations to passionately and uncompromisingly request permanent videoscreening of all abattoirs.

And, who knows: It could be possible that the knowledge of illegal cruelties in slaughterhouses eventually leads to a general questioning regarding cruelties permitted by law.

Helmut F. Kaplan, Arche 2000
Die Ethische Weltformel (Vegi-Verlag)
Tierrechte (Echo Verlag)
http://www.tierrechte-kaplan.org

CROATIA:

On 16 October, 2003, Animal Friends Croatia's organised a protest in front of McDonald's in Zagreb.

Banners with the following texts were displayed:
DID YOUR HAMBURGER HAVE A FACE?
STOP CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
IF SLAUGHTERHOUSES HAD GLASS WALLS, EVERYBODY WOULD GO VEGAN
LEAVE CARCASSES OUT OF YOUR PLATES...

Over 30 activists attended and there was wide media coverage.

Bernard V. Franolic
Animal Friends Croatia
http://www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr
prijatelji.zivotinja@inet.hr

FRANCE:

World Vegetarian Days in France

How do we French go about celebrating World Vegetarian Day? Well, first of all, we turn the “Day” into “Days” because we have found that our regional workers often like to organize several activities spread over the first week of October, especially the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Activities include meals in vegetarian restaurants, cookery competitions, lectures, food tasting and information stands.

This year the number of events organized and the amount of literature distributed more than doubled. We were present in around 30 cities and towns with distribution of pamphlets on an individual basis in lots of others. Requests from the public for our special free recipe brochure, and offers from our members to help put up posters, flowed in for weeks on end, keeping our volunteers busy sending out material. We combined World Veg Days publicity with promotion of our quarterly magazine and a special offer on a book about vegetarian catering which we encouraged members to offer as a gift to their company cafeteria manager or to the staff of a school canteen. We are lucky enough to have a member who manages a lot of Websites. He placed a World Veg Days ad on sites that total half a million pages visited per month. (This has since been replaced by a permanent ad giving the address of the Vegetarian Alliance.)

Radio and television coverage was our weak point this year, though the written press was supportive. We really need a volunteer to work full time on communication with the media. Next year we are going to try to find a veg pop star or other celebrity to help us attract journalists. We really envy the British their Sir Paul McCartney!

Of course France has a long way to go to catch up with countries like England and Germany. Only around 2% of the population is veg and the addition of vegetarian dishes to the menus of school cafeterias is still considered radical not to say revolutionary. Interest is growing, though and we plan to take every advantage of it.

Reports (in French) on the different events around the country can be found at : http://www.allianceveg/Asso/Actions/JMV/2003

Alliance Végétarienne
11 bis, rue Gallier
77390 Chaumes-en-Brie
Tél : (33) 01 64 42 38 19
contact@allianceveg.org

IRELAND:

REPORT of IRELAND’S 10th ANNUAL WORLD VEGETARIAN DAY FAIR (28 September 2003)

The tenth annual World Vegetarian Day Fair was held on Sunday 28th September, and coincided with the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Vegetarian Society of Ireland. With this in mind, the Organising Committee decided that the day should be an extra special celebration of Vegetarianism. Certainly, the day came around in the usual flurry of organisation, but with an extra publicity angle, which definitely paid off.

As in recent years, the Fair was held at St. Andrew’s Resource Centre, in Dublin, and was organised by the VSI Committee. The event was promoted nationwide, with special articles and plugs in various national newspapers and magazine publications as well as radio and television interviews. Also, an exciting promotional cookery demonstration was broadcast on morning television. (Morning Ireland, on TV3).

The day itself was fine and sunny - as one visitor at the Fair suggested “more like June than the end of September”. Through the length of the day, the Fair welcomed hundreds of interested and curious punters.

The types of stalls at the Fair were very varied - an important part of hosting a successful World Vegetarian Day Fair. An informative range of animalwelfare and animal-rights organisations and charities were present. Each year, we reaffirm our belief that this annual Fair offers an important platform to Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, Vegetarian and Vegan organisations, to inform people of their hard work and commitment to their beliefs and to attract new members. Several groups with an interest in environmental issues were welcomed at the Fair also.

A wide range of talks was scheduled throughout the day and started with a video presentation entitled ‘Not in My Name’* which shows clips of modern- day famous vegetarians discussing their belief in vegetarianism. Tracy Culleton gave a valuable talk with a deceptively simple title ‘Why be Vegetarian’, while Ms Tina Fox, the Chief Executive of the Vegetarian Society UK, spoke about positive marketing of vegetarianism in a talk entitled ‘Smiling our Way to Success’.

Promoting vegetarianism through sport was discussed in a talk by Peter Simpson of the UK Vegetarian Cycling and Athletic Club while Ita West took a yet another important angle in her presentation: ‘Vegetarianism and the Environment’. Dr Stephen Walsh discussed plant based nutrition and health and how the correct food choices can open up the prospect of a longer and healthier life. The talks were topped off by a very well attended and successful Cookery demonstration given by Tracy Culleton.

Many thanks go to all the people who kindly volunteered their services, coming up to the event and throughout the day itself, making jobs such as setting up the hall, the clean-up afterwards, raffle ticket sales and door-duty that bit easier.

Here’s looking forward to the 11th Annual Fair next September!

Maria Connolly

Website: http://www.vegetarian.ie
Email: vegsoc@ireland.com

(*) More information regarding the video NOT IN MY NAME

This powerful celebrity video/CD passionately attacks factory farming and will inspire any viewer never to eat meat again. The video includes interviews with actors Joanna Lumley, Martin Shaw and Jerome Flynn and musicians Sir Paul MacCartney, Chrissie Hynde, Jeremy Cunningham and others. The celebrities not only speak from the heart to demand that industrialised farming ends without delay but describe the health and vitality of a vegetarian diet. Their words are underscored by covert footage shot inside many of Britains's intensive livestock units by the animal group Viva!

Priced at only UK £ 2.90 (VHS video) or 5.90 (SVCD for DVD and CD players), “Not in my Name” is an absolute must for friends, family and your own video shelf.

Viva: 00 44 1 179441000 – Mon-Fri

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