Come one, come all! We will have a table set up with lots of good information! Vegan starter packs as well as our own info sheets. Make sure to stop by and say hello!

When: Thursday, Jan 24, 10:30AM
Where: PSU Blocks

Aw tofu, the meat of the vegan world. With the ability to become and taste like almost anything and packed with nutrients; tofu is an important part of a vegan diet. My boyfriend who works at Whole Foods and keeps me up to date on new food and Portland staples I need to try. One of these Portland staple foods is Papa G’s.

The first time I bought Papa G’s... I was waiting in line, tofu in hand and the counterperson says “Isn’t that the BEST tofu ever?” suddenly the person behind me chimes in “OMG! I cant live without that stuff!” Before I knew it, I had learned Papa G’s is a local company, the original flavor is best, the seasonings is a secret recipe which isn’t listed on their packages and cold is the recommended way to eat it. Now if any of you know tofu, straight from the package and cold isn’t normally suggested. So I went home, sliced open the pack and took the first bite; I was in heaven! Everything I had known about the texture and taste of tofu was out the window, I kept trying to figure out what it tasted like and couldn’t come up with anything but “really good.”

Papa G’s is awesome cooked into things also, I have been known to cut it up and put it in rice, or pasta sauce! This really is the best tofu on planet and if you see me in the grocery store, I will most likely be holding several packages of Papa G’s. On a side note, I have heard they will be opening a hot bar in SE sometime soon. Ill attempt to keep everyone posted for that!

So many exciting things happening! During the Vegan Mini-mall opening I got to speak with Chad from Food Fight and they have now featured us on their blog! Food Fight is organizing and hosting an awesome event on Jan. 27th from 6PM-8PM, called AR Volunteer Roundup. Food Fight has graciously given us a table at this event and I’m very excited to spread the word about Vegans For Animal Advocacy! Everyone should stop by and say hello, buy some nachos and sign up for a couple organizations. As far as official club business, we will be meeting with the PSU advisor this week to officiate the club. If you are a PSU student and able to attend the meeting this week, please let me know we need to have at least 5 members present!

The Vegan Mini-mall is opening tomorrow the 7th! I am very excited for this event and will be attending. If you would like to meet let me know, we all should come out to support our local vegan shops! Sweet Pea has THE best-baked vegan goods (try their brownies!), Food Fight is much larger and now has a nacho cheese dispenser, Herbivore has the best vegan gear and you can’t forget about Scapegoat Tattoo with all of our favorite vegan tattoo boys! I’ve heard there will be different events at each shop, bands and of course just general vegan fun. Please come out, no excuses - work it around your schedule!

Our first unofficial meeting was a success! Three of us met at Blossoming Lotus, had a very nice dinner and discussed some club issues. What we have in the works so far is getting ready for the Party On The Blocks event this month, this will be a HUGE recruiting and tabling opportunity! What we need now are posters, people to man our booth as well as people to lend some vegan books to display at our table. If you are interested in helping with any of this please email me.

The winter term is upon us and I am so excited to finally get our club and website running! I have been getting great responses from surrounding organizations and have been able to set up a monthly volunteer day with the Portland Humane Society. It's important for us to remember why we choose to go vegan and who we are advocating for – the Animals! Please let me know what your available time is Monday – Thursday so we can get this awesome volunteer opportunity set up. I am aiming for this to start in February once we have gotten the word out about Vegans For Animal Advocacy.

I have also come in contact with the Director of Lighthouse Sanctuary here in Oregon who was very excited about our group! They have monthly work parties which I’m hoping we can start attending this term, if you haven’t heard about them please check their website out. Another idea I have is for members to pitch in and sponsor one of the Lighthouse farm animals, I think this would be a great monthly donation instead of paying normal club dues.

Our world is changing, greenhouse emissions are rising and with it come abnormal weather events, melting of glaciers, rise in sea levels, and widespread change in temperature. While some say the steady increase in temperature is linked to our interglacial period slowly coming to a peak; it is obvious that the level of greenhouse gases present in our environment are at a level not seen in a previous interglacial. The livestock sector produces four major greenhouse gases; nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, methane, and ammonia. In 2001 the USDA estimated the U.S cattle inventory was 96.7 million head and there were roughly 1.05 million cattle operations. This number is phenomenal when you realize each cow produces 350 liters of methane and 1500 liters of CO2 a day. Recently a University of Chicago study examined the average American diet and found that all the various energy inputs and livestock emissions involved in its production pump an extra 1.5 tons of CO2 into the air over the course of a year (LaTimes 1.) If you multiply 1.5 tons by the American population, it makes sense that ruminant production produces more emissions than the entire transportation sector worldwide.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, ruminant livestock are the largest source of human-related methane production as well as producing nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide (EPA.gov, 1). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports the livestock production as “…the single largest source of CO2 and overall GHG emissions from agriculture” as well as citing agriculture as the main source of methane and nitrous oxide emissions (IPCC, 11.2.2-11.3.2)

Methane is large contributor to the greenhouse effect, not only is it 21 more times effective of capturing heat and holding it in the environment than carbon; but once emitted will stay in the atmosphere for close to 9-15 years. Nitrous oxide is another greenhouse gas and although present in the atmosphere in very small amounts it is 296 more effective than carbon dioxide in trapping heat and has an even longer atmospheric lifetime than methane with 114 years (LEAD, 82). Carbon dioxide is the most obvious greenhouse gas produced by livestock and described by the BBC Weather Centre as currently responsible for 60% of the greenhouse effect and accounts for the largest amount of trace gases in the atmosphere. Another gas produced and released is ammonia, which is a cause of the potent smell that many livestock farms emit. According to a United Nations Study “Ammonia volatilization (nitrified in the soil after deposition) is among the most important causes of acidifying wet and dry atmospheric deposition..” i.e acid rain and unusable soil (LEAD, 83).

To better understand why ruminant livestock produce methane you must understand how their digestion happens. A ruminant is any animal that digests its food in two steps, first by eating the raw material and regurgitating a semi-digested form known as cud, then eating (chewing) the cud, a process called ruminating. Ruminants include cattle, goats, sheep, camels, alpacas, llamas, giraffes, bison, buffalo, European bison, yaks, water buffalo, deer, wildebeest and antelope. The ruminant stomach is a 4-chamber unit, capable of eating things most humans and other animals are unable to. Most of the microbial digestion happens in the rumen, with the breakdown of carbohydrates comes the release of methane gas; approximately 6-7% of the food intake is lost to methane. A ruminant is any animal that digests its food in two steps, first by eating the raw material and regurgitating a semi-digested form known as cud, then eating (chewing) the cud, a process called ruminating. Methane is released both by respiration and their waste.

Now Some Facts and Links:
When emissions from land use and land use change are included, the livestock sector accounts for the following 65% Nitrous Oxide, 64% Ammonia, 37% Methane and 9% CO2 from all human-related emissions WORLDWIDE!

Please download and read the United Nations Report on the Livestock Industry’s emissions called Livestock’s Long Shadow.

With winter upon us the epic journey to find the perfect jacket begins. Long, waterproof, soft, insulated, good price and most of all vegan friendly was the priorities I had when I set out to find my perfect coat. After searching online and off, my boyfriend suggested Spiewak jackets. Spiewak & Son's have been making jackets since 1904; it all started with mariner jackets in New York and then moved to supplying the military personals in WWI and WWII. While they still provide jackets for police and other agencies they have opened up a new line for civilians that is fresh, in-style all the while following the company’s commitment to durability and functionality.

The majority of Spiewak’s jackets do contain down material and wool, but there are several options that are vegan friendly. The Cunningham Parka was one of these, with two colors to choose from, brown and grey, you can’t go wrong. The coat specs are as followed; fabric is High-density oxford with the lining made of Taffeta quilted to Thinsulate. The jacket sports Permaloft, Permloft is as warm and soft as down, highly water resistant (will dry and not mold like down) and best of all none of our feathered friends were harmed in the making. With a long feminine cut, ample pockets (lined in felt), and hood there isn’t a better jacket out there! To view their collection you can visit their website at spiewak.com. To buy, check out Local 35 (3556 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland 97214) or check the Spiewak site for coat specific retailers.

I never liked candy bars before I was vegan, so when I found out most candy bars have animal products or made by companies who use animal testing I really wasn’t too upset. However, there seems to be something about knowing you can't have it that makes you crave it so much more. The solution to this dilemma is a candy bar named Peanut Chews. Six bite size pieces into one package, making them the best candy bar pre and post vegan. The peanuts are somewhere between mashed and chunky and dipped in dark chocolate (the milk chocolate are NOT vegan.) These babies can be hard to find so check out their website or buy them at the only place I could find in the city; Music Millennium.

Field Roast is a fairly new brand of faux meats; in 2006 they received the Proggy Award from PETA for the best new Faux-Meat Product. Some of you Portlanders may have seen their table at the Vegan Holiday Festival last month, and if you tasted one of their samples then you know how yummy their sausages really are.

I’ve never been a fan of Tofurkey brand sausages even with cooking them several different ways. The only way I really can stomach them is to cook them into something like lasagna or pasta (lots of sauce!) so when I came across the Field Roast brand of sausages I gave them a try. I choose to take the Italian Sausage out of the total of three fairly unconventional flavors to choose from; Italian, Mexican Chipotle, and Smoked Apple Sage. Over the course of the week, when I tried them on a bun they were awesome, when I sautéed them with bell peppers I loved them; this was the first vegan sausage I wanted to eat plain!

My only complaint was that the many of the flavors of sausages and even the celebration roast all seemed to taste the same, while my housemate’s complaint that they tasted too “grainy.” However, Field Roast labels their products as a grain meat which would describe the strong “grainy” taste and possibly the similarity of taste between products.

I have always loved macaroni and cheese, so when I went vegan... I was determined to find a good recipe. Nutritional yeast seems to be found in most vegan “mac and cheese” recipes, which I don’t care much for... so I decided to make my own vegan recipe from a more traditional mac and cheese standpoint. By making a roux, the “moms” home-style mac and cheese taste really seemed to come through. I use “Follow your Heart” cheese; it melts pretty well, tastes good and is probably my favorite of the vegan cheeses. The breadcrumb crust is also good to mix it up a bit and the seasoning adds a little kick. This recipe is perfect for Portland rainy days with its warm, creamy and rich taste.

What you will need:
6 tablespoons vegan butter of your choice
½ pound elbow macaroni
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups soy milk half and half
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne
2 cups grated “Follow Your Heart” Cheddar
2 cups grated “Follow Your Heart” Mozzarella
½ cup fine bread crumbs
Seasoning

Now for the seasoning:
2 ½ tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme


1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees

2. Boil macaroni according to package directions.

3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

4. Add the flour, and stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, being careful not to let the flour brown. Using a whisk, add the soy half and half in a steady stream and cook, whisking constantly, until thick and smooth, 4 minutes. (Just keep whisking, my arm felt like it was going to fall off!! Just keep going until you see the roux getting thick!)

5. Remove from the heat. Add the salt, pepper, cayenne, and cheese (Save ½ cup from each to add to topping) – Stir. Add the noodles, mix it and then pour into your casserole dish.

6. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of cheese with the bread crumbs and seasoning. Sprinkle evenly over the macaroni and bake until golden brown and bubbly, roughly 25 minutes.

7. Take out of oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes.

Enjoy.

Animal flesh comes to us in a nice neat package we call meat without the face attached, but each piece of flesh an individual consumes represents the death and misery of another animal. Their stomach essentially becomes the final resting place for a decaying corpse... a once living, feeling, being.

Every year, countless farm animals are murdered in the United States, usually in modern day factory farms, where the animals are treated like disposable machines. Like any other factory, factory farms are geared for mass production and use machinery and assembly line-type techniques to achieve it. This means disregarding any of the animals natural needs and tendencies, including genetics, diet, digestion, sexual behavior, and their ability to move about. In this system, animals have been reduced to tools, slaves, and commodities, that can be bought, sold, and simply tossed aside to rot when not profitable.

A Life Sentence Begins
On todays modern farms, death begins at birth for the majority of animals. The day after calfs are born, they are separated from their mothers so that they will not drink the precious milk nature intended for them and are instead shipped off to veal farms where they will spend their premature lives in crates too small to turn around in or they will face the same fate as their parents: the horrific dairy farm or the feedlot where they will be raised in misery only to be murdered.

In egg factory farms, so-called useless male chicks are literally weeded out and are thrown in plastic bags, as though they were garbage, and either die from suffocation or starvation. Then the useless chicks are ground-up dead or alive, decapitated, or put in a machine which causes the bodies of the baby chicks to explode. They are then used for fertilizer or feed. The female chicks have their sensitive beaks cut off without any anesthesia and are transported to a cage, slightly larger than a folded newspaper with four other egg-laying hens for the rest of their lives. After the chickens become useless, they are taken to the slaughter house where they are hung by their feet on a conveyor belt and await their fate as they systematically have their throats slit.

A large majority of the pigs born in the United States will spend their entire lives in cramped factory conditions from day one of life, never seeing the sun, until they finally meet their bloody death. Sows are forced into small slated stalls where they are injected with progesterones or steroids to increase the number of piglets in their litter. As soon as they are born, newborn pigs receive injections, their teeth are clipped, their tails are cut off, and their ears are notched, all without anesthetics, causing excruciating pain for the newborns. After the sows are no longer useful, they join their male counterparts in the slaughterhouse where they are either stunned with an electric rod or knocked unconscious with a hydraulic sledgehammer. They are then hung by their feet and have their throats slit to drain the life out of them.

Other species of animals are also meeting this fate. Sheep, rabbits, emu, turkeys, alligators, and even green sea turtles are raised in intensive conditions similar to these where the main goal is to make more money from more animals with less labor, time, and money spent. This is just where the misery begins for these animals.

These animals, living, feeling, breathing like people, are born with a natural need and instinct for companionship with other animals. But, in the industry where money is more important than life, and butchering innocent beings and then consuming their decomposing carcasses is the norm, these animals lives are completely regulated and destroyed. Their food, laced with antibiotics, is formulated to make them grow as quickly as possibly. Animals are artificially inseminated (RAPED, often mechanically) and fed chemicals to make them produce more offspring more often so that those babies may too be killed. All instinctive desires and needs are ignored, and the entire life of these animals is determined by machines controlled by the callous human who is claiming power over their lives.

Factory farmers simply call this management or maintenance, as if they are overseeing the production of machinery. The animals are kept in conditions so crowded and confined that the entire living space reeks of ammonia and other gases from the animals wastes. The animals are treated as a collective whole, not as individual lives that need specialized attention. Despite the fact that crowding the animals induces problems such as fighting amongst the animals and increased death rates, the profits still rise and the animals that arent profitable are simply sold to stockyard auctions, where their almost lifeless bodies are sold for a mere dollar. And the animals who remain unwanted are discarded and left to die.

After a short miserable life of crowding, physical abuse and deformation, and deprivation of natural instincts, farm animals are forced onto trucks via beatings, electric shocks, prodding, kicking, and dragging to be transported in extremely overcrowded conditions to a building where they will be hoisted upside down on meat hooks connected to conveyor belts and have their throats slit while fully conscious. Even if the animals are stunned (which is extremely painful) before they are slaughtered, they often remain conscious and are thus slaughtered as they scream and struggle in terror for their lives. Often times animals do not die for several minutes after they meet the knife wielding murderers and are often boiled or skinned alive or left to die in a pool of their own blood.

The entire slaughterhouse is filled with the stench of blood and death and the screams of animals struggling in vein for their lives echoes throughout. But the producers keep raising these animals in the same miserable conditions, the butchers keep murdering the animals, and the consumers continue to purchase and gorge themselves with the decomposing corpses of innocent animals despite the cries.

How can anyone justify reducing animals to mere commodities that we can simply force into miserable conditions and murder to satisfy the appetites of selfish human beings? How can we call this society and its inhabitants humane or civilized when we are engaged in so much misery and killing? Animals are not simply things or food. They can feel pain, stress, and fear.

The choice of consuming animals is of consequence: a miserable life and terrifying death for animals, poisoning of the Earth and her inhabitants (including you, the consumer), and the continuation of world hunger. Consuming meat is condoning the death of an innocent life for which there is no excuse.

The meat industry thrives off the worlds hunger for a bloody, cruel diet while 90 percent oats, 85 percent corn, and 80 percent soybeans grown in the U.S. are fed to livestock. Lets not forget about all the grains that are imported from poor and starving third world nations, grains that could have been used to feed the starving children of those poor nations. If everyone consumed plant foods instead of animals, there would be enough food to feed the entire world several times over.

Raising animals for food: consumes one-third of all raw materials, causes more water pollution in the U.S. than any other industry, consumes more than half of all water used for all purposes in the U.S., and consumes 87 percent agricultural land. Not only is an animal-based diet bad for the animals and the environment, it is harmful for people. The animals are pumped with antibiotics, hormones, and medication. And so as you consume their flesh, those chemicals go right into your system. We are pushed by the meat and dairy industries to believe that flesh is a natural and necessary part of our diet. These ideas are pushed on us by groups such as McDonalds, which thrives off the dairy and meat industries.

Ask yourself: when you are hungry, do you have the urge to, using your bare hands, kill and rip apart another animal? Does your mouth water at the sight of a screaming, struggling, animal being slaughtered? Eating meat is not natural or healthy for the human body. In fact, those who do choose a non-animal based diet have a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, some cancers, osteoporosis, obesity, and many other diseases.

When you consume the flesh of an animal carcass, you are consuming the drugs and hormones fed to the animal during its miserable life, as well as the adrenaline that surged through the body of the animal in its last moments of life before the slaughter.

In school and at home, we are socialized to believe that animals are a commodity, easily grown and harvested, just like the corn we grow and eat. But how many times have you heard a vegetable scream in pain? How many times have you seen a vegetable try, with all its strength, to escape a knife wielding murderer?
Animals in slaughterhouses can hear the screams, smell the stench, and often see those ahead of them being murdered. All of these animals fight for their lives and struggle to get away. But to no avail: societies bloodlust keeps the slaughterhouses thriving on death.

When you pick up a package of meat, think of the cruelty and suffering that comes along with it. That steak is not just another piece of food-it is a chunk of bloody flesh and muscle. It is edible suffering, pain, struggle, and misery of another being. We each have the capability to choose a vegan (animal free) diet and life-style and end the misery and suffering of countless animal beings raised in a miserable environment only to be ultimately murdered.

Veganism and Vegetarianism is nothing new. For over 120 years, the Seventh Day Adventist church has been promoting a vegetarian diet, not to mention many Hundus also believe in not eating meat. In 1847 the first meeting of the Vegetarian Society in England and the first meeting of the Vegan Society followed in 1944 (Davis, Meline 1-5.) Soon the trend reached America and in 1960 many longtime American vegans founded the American Vegan Society. With the expansion west came the combined effort of the vegetarian and vegan community to form the larger organization called North American Vegetarian Society (Davis, Meline 1-10). NAVS put together the World Vegetarian Congress at the University of Maine which was a 13-day event including vegan food, recipes and speakers from around the globe (Davis, Melina 1-5). This event was the momentum needed to bring worldwide attention to the vegetarian movement and bring vegetarianism into the main stream.

Vegetarianism was starting to reach the masses and it wouldn’t be too much longer before universities started to research the benefits of a plant based diet. In 1998 Cornell University and Harvard University worked together to compose one of the first Vegetarian food pyramids showing Vegetarians and Vegans are able to maintain a healthy lifestyle (Lang, 1). Vegetariansim and Veganism is now recognized by the USDA’s recommended diets complete with its own food pyramid, it is also recognized by the American Dietetic Association as a healthy alternative to a traditional meat eating diet (USDA.com Duyff 504-522). My thesis is that vegetarianism is like any diet; if correctly planned and executed it can be healthy and have many benefits to any lifestyle or life stage. I plan on showing in the following paragraphs that a vegan diet can be sufficient if not beneficial to children, pregnant mothers and the elderly. As well as showing how to easily obtain the same amounts of essential vitamins required for those particular and important life stages.

Most people show concern for a vegan diet when it pertains to pregnant mothers, children and the elderly on a vegan diet. These topics made me interested and determined to find information that would show that all three life stages could live and grow with a vegan diet. For pregnant women, the important nutrients for the development of the baby that commonly thought to be harder to find in a vegan diet are Protein, Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, iron and Zinc (Riley, Nelson, 90-98). While the elderly require fewer calories but an increase in Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, and Protein (Davis, Melina, 195). Children require Vitamin C, Protein, Iron, Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 (Shu, 118-120, Davis, Melina 175-194). In order to show that vegan diets are sufficient, I plan on showing how to obtain these important vitamins through a vegan diet with minimal to no supplementation.

Protein can be found in numerous vegetables with the possibility to replace traditional protein with that of soy protein. Vegans are able to sufficiently meet their daily requirements without an overabundance while most meat eaters actually have an excess of protein (Riley, Nelson and Davis Melina). Tofu is an excellent source of protein with a ½ cup of tofu yielding nearly 19.9 grams of protein while 2 oz. of ground beef yields only 10.6 grams of protein (Davis, Melina 46-47). The other issue that comes up with this comparison is the amount of calories, obviously the amount of calories for a ½ cup of tofu will be significantly less than that of ground beef so not only is tofu a larger source of protein but it is a much healthier source as well.

Another concern for many non-vegans is Calcium; many think that milk is the only source for Calcium, which is completely false. Calcium can be received through may vegetables, legumes, tofu, veggie “meats”, nuts, seeds, grains, fruits and juices. With a ½ cup of firm tofu providing almost 861 grams of calcium per serving and a ½ cup of 2% milk only providing 135 grams of calcium, its obvious who is victorious (Davis, Melina 100-101). Tofu is such a versatile food source that is referred to by many as the “meat” of the vegans and vegetarian and is an obvious source of essential vitamins.

Vitamin D is another vitamin recommended for children, the elderly and pregnant mothers. Just 10-15 minutes in the sun can provide your daily amount of Vitamin D, but it can also be achieved by drinking fortified soymilk or other alternative milk such as rice milk (Davis, Melina 135-139). In fact, since cows milk is also artificially fortified with Vitamin D the amount of Vitamin D in fortified cows milk and in alternative milk sources are the same.

During my research I discovered that Vitamin B12 is one vitamin that is hard to find in a vegan diet because it is caused by bacteria. Since we all wash our vegetables we are washing away the bacteria and the B12 in the food. Since meat and cows milk contain such high amounts of bacteria a high amount of B12 is also present, however there is an alternative. Luckily many meat and milk substitutes are fortified with Vitamin B12 such as Yves brand “Hot Dogs” and “Lunch Meat” (Davis, Melina 128). Another source of Vitamin B12 is nutritional yeast, which is used in many vegan and vegetarian recipes such as a base for cheese alternatives. 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast can provide up to 8mcg of Vitamin B12 while one cup of cows milk provides only .9mcg of Vitamin B12 (Davis, Melina 128). This is just another example of the availability of important vitamins in the vegan diet and I still have yet to find a vitamin you cannot obtain from a vegan diet.

Iron is out next essential vitamin and one that is viewed as hard to obtain through ha vegan diet. An important fact most of the meat-eating population is not aware of is eating and drinking milk significantly reduces the amount of iron absorption and because of this many vegans have higher amounts of iron in their systems. Large leafy greens are abundant in iron such as the several varieties of kale and collard greens. Many substitute meats have high iron contents such as Yves brand “Burger” patties, one burger has 3.6mcg of iron per serving while 2oz of ground beef has only 1.1 mcg of iron (Davis, Melina 109-110). Even as a vegan I was not aware how much of the food I eat is fortified with the things I need.

The vitamins I have discussed are commonly viewed as hard to obtain with a vegan diet; while all the sources I have given are available without supplementation. When the argument that a vegan diet is not natural since tofu and other alternative “meats” are processed and fortified the response is easy, are growth hormones, antibiotics and unnatural supplements fed to the animals before slaughter natural? Not only is a vegan diet the healthy choice but it is also one that has been linked to positively benefit or prevent many health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and even cancer (Dyuff 504). All of these reasons should be an example of how easy and beneficial it is to take a vegan lifestyle.

With the recent conviction of professional football player Michael Vick, the general public has come face to face with the underground world of dog fighting. Unbeknownst to many, this hidden world is nothing new and is only now gaining momentum. A savage blood sport running parallel to the Roman gladiator matches; although illegal in 50 states and a felony in most, the crime is often hard to prove causing law enforcement officials to not pursue cases. The only way to deal with this problem is to lobby for harsher laws, which will deter these activities and aid officials in the prosecution of the offenders. Dog fighting doesn’t just end with animal cruelty; these matches breed violence and are an umbrella for other illegal activities.

The current breed of choice by dog fighting owners is the American Pit Bull. Originating from the pit and bull breeds before it, the American Pit Bull comes from a long line of pit fighters. The American Pit Bull was bred to fight to the death and be able to withstand long grueling fights. Dog fighting can be traced as far back as the ancient Romans who brought it to England around 43 A.D. (Villavicencio, 1). As it rose in popularity it became a sport for the England nobility to attend. It reached the Americas shortly after the Civil War and has become an underground sport since (Villavicencio, 1). A recent study linking felons and animal cruelty stated of the three felons who admitted being involved with dog fighting all told similar stories of dog fighting being a neighborhood activity with people of all ages attending (Perez, Heide, 95). The subjects went on to explain that the dogs were violent and that they wanted to fight (Perez, Heide, 95). While the recent rise in popularity is unknown, one could attribute it to the fact that many rap videos are now showing pit bulls on chains lunging towards the camera glamorizing aggressive dogs as well as promoting the illegal sport of dog fighting.  

The American Pit Bull has gotten a lot of press recently, between dog fighting ring cases springing up all over the United States as well as the many dog attacks on people and other animals. One must understand that while the breed is known for its violent deposition it can be deterred by careful breeding and training methods. A dog cannot be locked up in the backyard on a chain and be expected to behave perfectly and ignore its internal instincts. While part of the pit bull problem may be its long linage of violence, owners can take precautions and steer their dogs away from violence by way of training. One of the sweetest, well trained dogs I have ever met was an American Pit Bull named Daisy. Her owner was a pit bull rescue President from Virginia and knew how to work and train this breed correctly.

The aggressive tactics that these dog breeders induce the dogs to make for a very violent, bloodthirsty opponent but what happens when this dog accidentally gets loose? Many of these dog fighting facilities are in neighborhoods all over the United States, could these attacks be attributing to the rise of pit bull attacks on humans and other animals? I believe so, many are kept in the backyard and can easily become loose and mistake a child for a fellow predator.

To better understand the truly horrific world of dog fighting you must understand what these dogs go through on a daily basis. These dogs are usually kept outside in the extreme heat or cold, chained up or in metal fenced kennels; deprived of contact with other animals and very little human contact. The deprivation of contact is to keep the dogs as close to its natural instincts as possible. There was one case in Lousiville, K.Y where a dog fighting kennel chained a pit bull by the name of Minnie to a tree who was repeatedly attacked by other dogs in a “training” exercise (Tuttle, 1). An interview with Detective Beals by Newsweek dived into the sick world of dog fighting. Detective Beals explains the many levels of dog fighting from gang bangers to “professionals” where one bust lead to the confiscation of $500,000 (Tuttle, 1). He goes on to explain how the “keep” is the weeks before a big match where dogs are trained heavily using treadmills with cats in cages attached to entice the dog to run, along with being on a strict diet and even being fed vitamins (Tuttle,2). When asked what happens to dogs who do not make the cut the Detective explains that most dog fighting enthusiasts believe if it isn’t going to make money it isn’t worth feeding and will either dump it at the shelter or kill it using various ways (Tuttle, 3). The biggest problem with dog fighting is that these dogs are looked at as poker chips when these animals are living, breathing, feeling and should be subjected to this life.

Illegal activities seem to attract others; dog fighting events promote illegal gambling, many times drugs and with high stakes money usually comes weapons. Several cases have arisen with dog fighting owners having their hands in drugs, such was the case here in Portland. August 1st 2007, Portland police raided the home of Robert Lee Seaheart a convicted felon, and confiscated 11 pit bulls along with other drug paraphernalia and is currently facing 13 charges most of them drug offenses (Crombie, Denson, C1). Another popular case is the one currently against football star Michael Vick whose house was raided on suspected drug charges but turned up a large dog fighting, breeding and training facility. Not only were 66 dogs found, but bloodstained carpets, a dog fighting pit and other items commonly used in the dog fighting world (Naqui, 1). With match purses averaging $10,000 the risk of being caught is well worth the pay out (Naqui, 2). Most crimes are charged depending on the amount of property is damaged, stolen or sold thus is not the case with dog fighting.

One would think that the charge should be assessed on how much money was found at the dog fighting match, how many dogs were found in the home, the amount of illegal paraphernalia confiscated but this is not currently happening. In the state of Oregon dog fighting is considered a Class C felony with the possibility of being convicted up to 5 years in prison and up to 100,000 in fines (Oregon Statues, 524). The current definition of dog fighting in the Oregon Book of Statues is fairly thorough with details including promotion of fights, assistance in forming dog fighting event, keeping, breeding or offering to sell fighting dogs (Oregon Statues, 524). However for spectators, persons selling dog fighting equipment or having dog fighting paraphernalia the charge is much less with the charge only being a Class A misdemeanor (Oregon Statutes, 574). This leaves the question of how many hard to prove cases are actually being made for the felony charge, when a Class A misdemeanor would be an easier conviction but a significantly lesser charge.

With the rising number of high profile cases I believe now is the time to act and implement new laws that will better prosecute dog fighting owners, breeders, companies that provide training materials and make dog fighting illegal in all 52 states. Not only is this activity animal cruelty but it breeds other crime which leaks out into our cities. Make the price too high to play and the amount of dog fighting activities will fall, along with the other many illegal activities associated with it.

Works Cited:
- Crombie, Noelle, Bryan Denson. “Police arrest felon in connection with suspected dogfighting” Oregonian Aug 2007, C+
- Legislative Counsel. Oregon State Statutes. Oregon Revised Statutes Official Edition 1953-2005. Salem: Oregon Legislative Counsel, 2005.
- Merz-Perez, Linda, and Kathleen Heide. Animal Cruelty Pathway to Violence against People. New York:Altamira, 2004.
- Tuttle, Steve. “Going for the throat.” MSNBC.com 7 June 2007. 1 Aug. 2007
- Tuttle, Steve. “An Ugly World.” MSNBC.com 18 July 2007. 1 Aug. 2007
- Villavicencio, Monica. “A History of Dogfighting.” NPR.org 1 Aug. 2007. 1 Aug 2007