Deep Roots: Animal Rights Blog

On June 14th, the Bleeding Heartland Rollergirls‘ All-Star team, the Flatliners, will kick off their 2008 season against the Cincinnati Rollergirls in the Scars and Stripes bout at the Bloomington Sportsplex.

Why do we care? Well, the BHRG have been supporters of us since we first bought land (not to mention one of the Flatliners, Unicoroner, is a core member of Deep Roots). In addition to individual support, we’ve been working with the BHRG to host a rollergirl workday here at Deep Roots. Now they are helping to spread the word about our work and are offering a discount on their great clothing for anyone who brings cat or dog food to the bout (you can also bring rat food, we’ll need lots of that soon).

You can buy tickets online at Brown Paper Tickets or off-line at any of the following Bloomington vendors: Sunrise Box Office, Amused, Landlocked Records, Plan 9, Be Hair Now, or The SportsPlex.

Erik Marcus over at vegan.com IM’em me yesterday to inform me that Oprah is going vegan for a 21-day cleanse. Here is what Oprah had to say:

I had recently come to the conclusion that after spending weeks reading and rereading A New Earth and being on line with Eckhart Tolle that bringing a higher level of awareness to my eating was the solution I’d been avoiding…

How can you say you’re trying to spiritually evolve, without even a thought about what happens to the animals whose lives are sacrificed in the name of gluttony?

So this 21-day cleanse gives me a chance to think about it differently and see what my attachments are to certain kinds of foods—and what I’m willing to do to change.

The Chicago City council voted yesterday to overturn its two-year ban on foie gras. The foie gras ban had been tauted as a big victory for animal rights activists, so what does this current decision mean?

I don’t really think it means much of anything, to be honest. Well, it means that thousands of waterfowl will once again be subjected to violent force-feeding and engorgement simply for the gastronomic delight of a select group of people. But I don’t think it means much in the grand scheme of the animal rights movement.

Backlashes to victories are expected. If the victory were an easy one, it would not have been tauted as ground-breaking. But it was ground-breaking, which also meant that we woke up some of the opposition that had become quite comfortable after so many years of fattening up on the unhealthy liver of others.

I just learned today that Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary co-founder Chris Alley-Grubb survived a heart attack last month. Although they don’t know it, Peaceful Prairie has served as a model for us as we’ve been getting started. Their work is inspirational and a true voice for animals everywhere. So we hope that Chris will have a full and swift recovery. Be sure to head on over to their site to see how you can help while Chris takes a much deserved (and doctor-ordered) rest.

via Animal Person:

Chris has been Vegan for 18 years, and doesn’t fit any of the usual heart attack profiles or risk factors, other than hereditary heart problems and having to deal with extraordinary levels of stress.

from HSUS:

Measures to protect pets from being sold for experimentation, and also from the horrors of dogfighting, are being considered right now for inclusion in the final Farm Bill. A small committee will decide the fate of these provisions, and you live in a district that has more influence than others in the country. Please take action right away to protect pets.

Both the House and Senate Farm Bills include provisions to stop the abuses of Class B Dealers, who acquire dogs and cats through methods such as pet theft and fraudulent response to “free to good home” ads. The Senate Bill also includes a provision to strengthen the federal law to combat the barbaric activity of dogfighting. These provisions are in jeopardy and we need your help right away to ensure that they are retained in the final Farm Bill.