Kategorie: Animals

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The Results Are In—Here Are the Winners of PETA’s National Vegan Roast Boast

Did you know that around 300 million turkeys are killed in the U.S. each year, many for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners? On factory farms, these kind, intelligent, feeling individuals endure short, stressful lives and are often unable to engage in natural types of behavior (yes, even on “humane” farms).

This Thanksgiving, make the compassionate choice to keep turkeys and all other animals off the table. To help with your search for the perfect centerpiece for your holiday feast, we’ve found restaurants, stores, and delivery services across the U.S. that can now boast about their vegan roasts. That’s because they’ve all earned a top spot in PETA’s national Vegan Roast Boast Awards. Here are the winners:

Vegan Holiday Roast (Three Girls Vegan Creamery, Guilford, Connecticut)

We love this savory and moist soy-free vegan roast, which features an Italian-inspired organic apple, sage, and “sausage” stuffing. The meal serves six to eight people and comes complete with an Organic Mushroom and Wine Gravy and Organic Cranberry Sauce. Just add nondairy mashed potatoes and a pumpkin pie and you’ll have your whole meal ready in no time! Three Girls Vegan Creamery even ships its holiday roast nationwide for out-of-towners to enjoy, but locals can pick theirs up until the day before Thanksgiving.stuffed vegan holiday roast from three girls creamery

Seitan Turkey Breast with ‘Giblet’ Gravy (Green New American Vegetarian, Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona)

Green’s ThanksLIVING meal features a crispy, crusted seitan “turkey” breast with a savory “giblet” gravy, and none of it contains any ingredients that harm turkeys or any other animals. It also comes with sides like Roasted Garlic Smashed Potatoes and Fried Brussels Sprouts as well as a Winter Berry Organic Oat Granola Cobbler for dessert.

vegan thanksgiving plate with seitan turkey breast from green new american

Shaved House Made Juicy Roasted Seitan Turkey (Parlor City Vegan, Binghamton, New York)

This juicy, roasted seitan turkey is part of Parlor City Vegan’s Thanksgiving Feast, which comes in individual and family sizes. You can also get some tasty vegan sides to complement the main dish (Creamy Truffle Mac & Cheese, please!). Meals are available for local delivery or store pickup on Wednesday, November 23. Add a Thanksgiving Treat Box or an apple, pumpkin, or peach pie if you really want to impress your guests.

seitan turkey holiday plate from parlor city vegan

Stuffed Holiday Roast (Love Again Local, West Chester, Pennsylvania)

Love Again Local is a vegan deli and sandwich shop offering a tasty stuffed roast that’s perfect when served over veggies and basted for extra moisture and flavor. It’s available for in-store pickup on its own with sides of your choice, or you can choose the Holiday Feast Bundle, which includes the roast, gravy, mac and cheese, and a heart-shaped pumpkin cookie cake.

love again local's vegan holiday roast

Crispy Skin Turkey (The Butcher’s Son, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California)

The Butcher’s Son has various vegan offerings, including a 1-pound vegan roast, sausage stuffing, shepherd’s pie, cheesecakes, and eggnog, available for local pickup at both its Berkeley and Los Angeles locations and for nationwide shipping. Its “turkey” roast uses a soy paper wrapping that crisps up just like skin, but no animal had to die for you to enjoy it.

crispy skin vegan turkey feast from the butcher's son

Nut Loaf (Lovin’ Spoonfuls, Tucson, Arizona)

Sometimes a savory nut loaf is exactly what you want for your Thanksgiving centerpiece. This cashew-based one from Lovin’ Spoonfuls uses simple ingredients packed with flavor. Plus, it’s on the regular menu, so you can enjoy it year-round.

nut loaf from lovin' spoonfuls

Stuffed Turkey (The Herbivorous Butcher, Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Vegan butcher shop The Herbivorous Butcher offers this 2.5-pound sage-spiced stuffed vegan turkey roast, along with 1- and 2-pound unstuffed roasts. The store’s Turkey-Free Feast, available for free nationwide shipping or local pickup, includes other vegan meats and cheeses, marshmallows, and a gravy mix.

vegan turkey feast from the herbivorous butcher

Smoked Tofu Chickwheat Roast (Monk’s Meats, Brooklyn, New York)

Monk’s Meats is a vegan barbecue spot that offers a special Thanksgiving menu, including its massive 5-pound Smoked Tofu Chickhweat Roast made with a proprietary blend of wheat, chickpeas, and tofu. It comes with chestnut fennel stuffing, is wrapped in yuba skin, and is rubbed with vegan sage butter before being smoked over hickory hardwood. Local pickup and delivery have been available since November 3.

monk's meats smoked tofu roast

Holiday Roast (Grass Fed, Rochester, New York)

Vegan butcher shop and deli Grass Fed has a stuffed and unstuffed Holiday Roast made from seitan with a mushroom, fennel, and leek stuffing. It’s also offering gluten-free Thanksgiving soy curls in a mushroom gravy, mushroom pâté, and a Sriracha-lime cheese ball for the holidays. Preorder is available with local pickup on November 17 and 18.

grass fed's vegan stuffed roast on a plate

House Made Whole Apple Cider Basted Vegan Turkey Roast (Planted Table, Oakland, California)

Bay Area delivery service Planted Table’s vegan turkey roast is made with savory roasted apples, carrots, and celery and covered with a crispy “skin.” You can also get several delicious sides, including Mom’s Cornbread Stuffing, Risotto Stuffed Acorn Squash, and a House Smoked Cauliflower Roast. Place your order for local delivery now through November 20.

vegan turkey roast from planted table

Honorable Mention: Tofu Turkey (Majani, Chicago, Illinois)

Majani’s Tofu Turkey is herb-crusted and roasted to perfection and can be ordered along with Cornbread Dressing, Mac & Cheese, Collard Greens, and a Sweet Potato Pie.

If none of these roasts are available near you, don’t worry! Most grocery stores stock vegan turkey and ham roasts for the holidays—you’re sure to find offerings from Tofurky, Field Roast, and Gardein available near you. Also, check with your local vegan or vegetarian restaurant to see if it’s offering roasts or other holiday meals for pickup.

Help animals year-round by going vegan! Order a free vegan start kit today to learn more:

Order Your Free Vegan Starter Kit

The post The Results Are In—Here Are the Winners of PETA’s National Vegan Roast Boast appeared first on PETA.

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‘No-Kill’ or ‘No Admission’? Limited-Intake Shelter Policies Implode

Across the country, headlines like these are making the news:

They’re exposing an alarmingly common scenario in which animals are being rejected, hoarded, neglected, and failed in countless other ways by the very facilities that should be protecting them, including public, taxpayer-funded animal shelters. The reason this is happening may surprise you: “no-kill” policies.

A cascade of disasters inevitably results when shelters implement dangerous “life at any cost” policies. PETA maintains a long, chilling, and ever-growing list of news reports that detail how animals suffer when shelters prioritize “live-release rates” (the number of animals they can move out of their doors, regardless of what happens them) over the well-being of individuals.

Here are just a few recent examples of how animals suffer when public, taxpayer-funded animal shelters prioritize “no-kill” status above protecting those who depend on them:

  • Broward County Animal Care and Adoption in Florida reportedly refused to help a “mortally injured dog with wounds infested with flies and maggots” and allegedly left a pit bull on the streets for four days after the animal fatally mauled a small dog who was being walked on a leash. (In 2012, county officials “voted to become a ‘no-kill’ community.”)
  • A dog who had been confined to a kennel at a Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS) shelter for over a year and reportedly hadn’t been walked in nearly a month attacked and severely injured a volunteer when she tried to take him out of the kennel. He was later euthanized. LAAS has been exposed for warehousing dogs for months with no walks, forcing animals to live in filthy cages and drink from moldy water bowls, and turning away animals. (In 2021, the city shelters reportedly “officially achieved ‘no-kill’ status.”)
  • The Animal Foundation (TAF) in Nevada routinely transfers hundreds of animals to self-professed “rescue” groups that often warehouse them, sometimes for years, at area boarding kennels. In September, it was reported that one of these dogs, Beast, was confined to a small room with a concrete floor and a sand pit on which he slept and relieved himself. The window to this room was smeared with feces. According to volunteers, Beast was “distraught from isolation and yearning for contact.” When a Las Vegas City Council member made an unannounced visit to TAF recently, she saw “horrible” conditions, including dogs in filthy cages, feces mixed in with dogs’ food, and dogs with no food or water. (In 2015, TAF, which has contracts to provide Clark County and Las Vegas with animal sheltering services, announced a plan to become “no-kill” by 2020.)

  • A TikTok video was posted that showed hundreds of barking dogs warehoused in cramped crates at Austin Animal Center in Texas. After the video went viral, the facility stopped accepting animals. One staffer said the dogs were caged for “23+ hours a day,” and a volunteer stated that dogs were “unfed, without water, and left to lay in their own waste in a small crate for anywhere from 24 to 48 hours.” The city has also warehoused, placed, or transferred dangerous dogs, including one who had a history of biting and had attacked a shelter employee who then needed to be hospitalized. Residents’ beloved animal companions have also been mauled, fatally in at least one case, by aggressive dogs released from the public shelter. (The city of Austin claimed it had become “no-kill” in 2011.)

There are hundreds more cases like these, from all over the country, affecting an untold number of animals.

In 2019, the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association spoke out against misguided “no-kill” policies: “The no-kill movement increases animal suffering and threatens public health with unintended consequences.”

After experiencing these harmful consequences firsthand, some communities have realized that, as PETA has long said, “no-kill” means no help for animals. They’re taking action to rescind inhumane and dangerous “no-kill” policies and choosing instead to implement safe, humane, open-door animal sheltering practices. That’s great news for animals and communities.

  • Sumter County, Florida, commissioners recently agreed that the county’s attempt to become “no-kill” has been a failure. The county animal shelter was reportedly at triple its maximum capacity, and at least 13 people had been bitten. Animals were being caged for years, including a dog named Noah who had been confined for 530 days. “In our efforts to be humane, we’ve not been,” one commissioner observed. The shelter will now adopt socially conscious sheltering—a humane, responsible model that puts the focus on animals’ quality of life instead of on numbers.
  • Big Spring, Texas, council members also recently voted to repeal a resolution that would have established a “no-kill” policy at the public animal shelter, because the shelter was operating over capacity and residents of the city were being attacked by stray dogs.

Communities must ensure that their publicly funded shelters remain safe havens for animals in need by accepting every animal, including those who require euthanasia. Shelters must protect community residents, including animals, by never releasing those who are dangerous or dumping cats outdoors to struggle for survival and terrorize and kill wildlife. And shelters must put animals’ best interests first, including by giving a peaceful end to those who would otherwise suffer and die miserably.

PETA implores everyone who cares to make a real difference by pouring their efforts into preventing animals from ending up homeless in the first place. Let’s work to pass and enforce mandatory spay/neuter laws, make low-cost spay/neuter options available everywhere, and inform the public about why becoming “no-birth” is the only humane way to become “no-kill.”

Learn more about how you can help here.

The post ‘No-Kill’ or ‘No Admission’? Limited-Intake Shelter Policies Implode appeared first on PETA.

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Meet Bua Noi and Kat—Two Great Apes Languishing in Barren Concrete Cages at a Thai Department Store Zoo

Located on the top floors of a department store in Bangkok is Pata Zoo—a tourist trap that’s recognized by many as one of the worst zoos in the world.

This nightmarish facility confines wild animals to barren cages that resemble prison cells for shoppers and tourists to gawk at. It denies animals sunshine, fresh air, opportunities for exercise, and meaningful enrichment, leaving them to resort to playing with trash.

A gorilla named Bua Noi has been suffering behind bars in a concrete enclosure at Pata Zoo since 1983. Gorillas like her are social animals who thrive in the company of other members of their species, but Pata Zoo thwarts this fundamental need. For decades, the facility kept Bua Noi all alone in these miserable conditions.

Then there’s Kat, an orangutan who should be swinging in a jungle canopy but instead languishes in a dark, dingy cage with little opportunity for psychological stimulation or physical exercise.

Pata Zoo Horrifies Visitors

Pata Zoo has received a barrage of negative online reviews from visitors who were apparently horrified by the appalling conditions. One TripAdvisor reviewer said, “Appalling cruelty. Ancient cages. The place stinks. The stuff of nightmares.” Another said, “This place is a prison, animals can’t live here, this is terrible.”

You Can Help Animals Like Bua Noi and Kat

If you want to help animals suffering at hellholes like Pata Zoo, you can start by never visiting roadside zoos, marine parks, or any other facilities that exploit wild animals for profit. Take action against some of the worst roadside zoos:

The post Meet Bua Noi and Kat—Two Great Apes Languishing in Barren Concrete Cages at a Thai Department Store Zoo appeared first on PETA.

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TODAY (Video): PETA Supporter Detained After Confrontation With UTHSC Chancellor Over Pig Mutilation Drills

Earlier today, a PETA supporter confronted University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center (UTHSC) Chancellor Peter Buckley at his meet-and-greet event at the C.P.J Mooney Memorial Library and urged him to end the school’s invasive emergency medical training procedures on live pigs. Before being detained by police, the activist demanded that the chancellor compel the school to switch to the superior, animal-free, human simulators used in the vast majority of comparable emergency medical training drills worldwide. Photos and video footage are available here.

The training sessions in question involve inducing collapsed lungs, cutting into an artery to induce bleeding, and cracking open the ribs if resuscitating the pigs fails. The animals who survive the painful drills are killed.

The activist’s action came after more than 87,000 PETA supporters wrote to leadership at UTHSC and its College of Medicine (UTCOM) to demand an end to the mutilation of animals in emergency medical training. Among other campaign actions, PETA sent letters to Buckley and University of Tennessee (UT) System President Randy Boyd and a PETA representative spoke at the UT Board of Trustees meeting on October 28. Emmy winner and star of Babe James Cromwell also sent a letter to Buckley urging him to “end this barbaric use of animals.” After hearing from PETA, UTCOM’s hospital partner, Erlanger Health System, announced a new policy banning its staff—as well as its emergency medevac provider, LIFE FORCE—from participating in the live-animal medical training drills at UTCOM.

Earlier on February 4, Buckley replied to PETA in writing, saying that he would “check into this going forward,” but he has yet to take action to end the maiming of pigs in these exercises.

“The University of Tennessee’s mutilation of sensitive pigs in crude emergency medical drills is a bloody stain on its reputation,” says PETA Vice President Shalin Gala. “PETA urges UTHSC Chancellor Peter Buckley to do right by students and animals by embracing superior, animal-free, human-relevant training methods.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points to an internal e-mail it obtained in which UTCOM leadership acknowledges that the public’s discovery of its animal drills “will be very damaging to the College of Medicine and [its] credibility.”

PETA opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post TODAY (Video): PETA Supporter Detained After Confrontation With UTHSC Chancellor Over Pig Mutilation Drills appeared first on PETA.