Kategorie: Animals

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It’s OFISHal PETA Names the 10 Best Vegan Seafood Brands

Now that 47% of Americans want to incorporate more vegan foods into their meals, a tidal wave of vegan seafood options is hitting the market—so with National Seafood Month (October) just around the corner, PETA took the opportunaty to rank the Top 10 Vegan Seafood Brands available nationwide.

  • Good Catch: Earlier this year, select Long John Silver’s locations tested and sold out of Good Catch’s crispy vegan fillets and savory vegan crab cakes! You can find them in freezer aisles—along with Good Catch’s “fish” sticks, burgers, and cakes.
  • Gardein: Its Golden Fishless Filets are great for tacos or in a basket with fries, and its Mini Crabless Cakes are ideal for sharing! Find them everywhere, from Target to Whole Foods to Kroger.
  • May Wah Vegetarian Market: This New York institution will ship out vegan versions of everything, including squid, salmon, and shrimp.
  • BeLeaf: Shoppers online and in Los Angeles can scoop up BeLeaf’s vegan shrimp, a replacement for the “real” thing that you’ll just have to see to believe.
  • Sophie’s Kitchen: Sophie’s Fish Fillets, Shrimp, Crab Cakes, Smoked Salmon, and Toona—all freezer aisle staples—can veganize an entire seafood buffet.
  • The Plant Based Seafood Co: This Chesapeake Bay company knows seafood—and its Crunchy Coconut Shrimp, Dusted Scallops, and Lobster Crab Cakes pack the flavor to prove it.
  • Kuleana: Shoppers at Erewhon Market on the West Coast can pick up Kuleana’s next-generation “tuna” and “lox,” and diners at all Poké Bar restaurants can build a fresh and healthy bowl around Kuleana “tuna.”
  • Plant Based Foods: Available online and in select grocery stores, Plant Based Foods offers Zalmon Sashimi and Notuna Sashimi, perfect for sushi; Crispy Lemon Shrimpz and Kalamariz, perfect for frying; and even vegan caviar called Cavi-art, perfect for any fancy spread!
  • Worthington: Its flaky and versatile vegan tuna, found at major grocery stores, goes great in vegan tuna salad, croquettes, ceviche, and other dishes.
  • Jinka: Shoppers online and at Whole Foods can grab all three of Jinka’s flavors of vegan tuna spread: Original, Lemon and Dill, and Spicy.

“We had fun tasting so many vegan items—today’s fish-free seafood options are off the hook,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s top brands will help anyone celebrate National Seafood Month while leaving sea life in the sea, where it belongs.”

The vegan seafood industry is booming—in the next decade, it’s expected to surge by 28% and be worth $1.3 billion. Vegan seafood is free of saturated animal fat and cholesterol and helps prevent fish from being gutted on the decks of fishing boats, live lobsters from being dropped into boiling water, and crabs from being dismembered while still conscious.

Each company will receive a framed certificate from PETA, which offers many vegan seafood recipes on its website.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post It’s OFISHal PETA Names the 10 Best Vegan Seafood Brands appeared first on PETA.

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Feds Slap Roadside Zoo With $7,500 Penalty Following Animal Deaths, Human Injuries

A newly released U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report obtained by PETA reveals that the agency has cited and fined local petting zoo Debbie Doolittle’s Animal Experience following the deaths of two animals and injuries to over six dozen humans.

Accordingly to the report, Debbie Doolittle’s acquired a tamandua (a type of anteater) and never quarantined him, acclimated him to his new environment, or had him examined by a veterinarian. He suffered from weight loss and was found dead just three weeks after arriving. A sloth named Malia died after falling from a climbing structure, and a necropsy revealed that at the time of death, she was suffering from severe emaciation, indications of chronic stress, and bruising, which were found to be “consistent with mishandling, neglect and ignorance of animal care.” And at least 79 members of the public were injured during interactions with animals, including a guest who was bitten and left bloody by an otter. The USDA issued a $7,500 penalty to the roadside zoo.

“This petting zoo is evidently almost as dangerous for visitors as it is for the animals trapped there,” says PETA Foundation Associate Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Michelle Sinnott. “PETA urges everyone to avoid this sleazy operation as though their safety depends on it, because it does.”

The USDA report also notes that Debbie Doolittle’s failed to secure a metal ramp adequately in an enclosure housing fennec foxes, one of whom consequently was injured so severely that her leg had to be amputated.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—previously called for cruelty charges over Malia’s death. For more information about PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Feds Slap Roadside Zoo With $7,500 Penalty Following Animal Deaths, Human Injuries appeared first on PETA.

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VIDEO: Horse Crashes in NYC—Carriage and Street Left Splattered With Blood

New York City tourists surely don’t visit the Big Apple hoping to see bloodied animals on the streets, and horses certainly don’t sign up to be used in the cruel and dangerous carriage industry. Yet here we are, disturbed and frustrated after yet another violent incident. This time, a gory crash left a Midtown street and the heavy carriage that a horse named Chief was forced to pull covered with his blood.

So, is this the tragedy that will finally force city officials to ban horse-drawn carriages? It’s the question that PETA, NYCLASS (New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets), and countless heated Twitter users are asking—and we need 10 seconds of your time to help ensure that the answer is “yes.”

Tell Officials to Ban Carriages in New York City!

Footage of the “[b]loody aftermath of yesterday’s horrific NYC carriage horse crash” is perhaps just as haunting as the video above showing the “[i]njured horse violently bucking and trying to get off the pavement.” According to the New York Post, the horse and a BMW sedan crashed near an intersection in Midtown. “The NYPD said the animal suffered a gash to [the] leg and was treated by a veterinarian,” the outlet reported.

Photographs of the aftermath, also posted by NYCLASS (a local nonprofit animal rights organization), show the street and sidewalk covered with large splotches of blood. “The carriage was heavily damaged and its shafts were also coated in blood”—further confirmation of the violence of the crash.

PETA and NYCLASS have been calling on the city to put an end to its cruel horse-drawn carriage industry for years. “How much more violence will it take for @NYCCouncil to end this abuse + danger!?” NYCLASS captioned its photos on Twitter. “We need to get these horse[s] OFF streets now!” If New York City continues to engage in speciesism by treating horses as machines—rather than the sensitive, social animals they are, ones who prefer to spend their time grazing in meadows, roaming at will, and playing—it’s not a matter of if another tragedy will strike but when.

Chief and other horses can’t wait for another administration to fail to take decisive action.

After you’ve joined us in urging New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to lead the council to ban horse-drawn carriages without delay, please consider sharing this post on Facebook and Twitter. Ask your family, friends, and other followers to speak out against forcing horses to pull heavy carriages full of tourists down busy city streets in all weather extremes.

If you’re visiting an unfamiliar city and you find yourself needing transportation, hail a cab, take the subway, rent a bike from a bike-share service, or simply walk. A carriage ride may be a fleeting moment of entertainment for tourists, but it supports a lifetime of torment and forced labor for horses.

Learn More About the Cruelty of Horse-Drawn Carriages

The post VIDEO: Horse Crashes in NYC—Carriage and Street Left Splattered With Blood appeared first on PETA.

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Vegan Seafood Brands Offer a Taste of the Ocean Without the Suffering

Each year, more fish are killed for food than all other animals combined. Scientists have proved that fish are smart, complex animals who feel pain, practice cultural traditions, and have cognitive abilities that often match or exceed those of their fellow vertebrates. In the fishing industry, these animals are subjected to extremely painful deaths—they’re impaled, crushed, suffocated, cut open, and gutted, often while still conscious. Commercial fishing is also a major contributor to ocean pollution—an estimated 46% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch composed of fishing gear.

In response to the unsustainable, inhumane practice of killing ocean animals for food, vegan brands are creating innovative, animal- and planet-friendly seafood products. We’re recognizing some of the best brands in the business and highlighting the delicious vegan seafood products that they’re creating.

1. Good Catch

Good Catch became the first vegan seafood brand to partner with a major chain restaurant in July 2021 when Long John Silver’s tested the brand’s Fish-Free Fillets and Crab-Free Cakes at four of its locations. We hope more chains will continue to partner with Good Catch, but until then, you can find its fish-free sticks, fillets, burgers, and crab cakes online or near you at select grocery stores. Crabs are caring mothers and courteous neighbors—they should be left alone, not ripped out of their homes in the ocean.

2. Gardein

In the commercial fishing industry, large trawling nets are used to target cod and other fish commonly used for fish and chips, but they don’t only kill the targeted fish—hundreds of tons of animals are squeezed into the nets, dragged across the ocean floor, and then ripped out of the ocean. Brands like Gardein are helping to put an end to this practice by creating fish-free fare, including its Golden Fishless Filets and Mini Crabless Cakes.

3. May Wah Vegetarian Market

May Wah Vegetarian Market is a PETA Business Friend that has more than 10 varieties of vegan seafood products perfect for all of your culinary needs. The Vegan Red Spot Prawns are one of the brand’s most popular and versatile items, but it also offers Vegan Lobster, Vegan Squid, and Vegan Abalone. Purchase them online at Lily’s Vegan Pantry, or visit the storefront in New York City.

4. BeLeaf

BeLeaf’s vegan shrimp is commonly served in restaurants, so you may have tried this brand already! It’s made from konjac, a starchy Japanese root vegetable that’s full of fiber. By choosing vegan shrimp from brands like BeLeaf, you help save these fascinating crustaceans, who are being fished to the brink of extinction. You can purchase these through various online retailers.

5. Sophie’s Kitchen

Salmon, like all fish, are smart and inquisitive. They have long-term memories and recognize and learn from each other, and some species even use tools. Sophie’s Kitchen is helping to save salmon and other sea life with its protein-packed vegan seafood. Try the Plant-Based Smoked Salmon on a bagel with vegan cream cheese, or snack on some crispy breaded Plant-Based Shrimp. Find these and other products at various grocery stores nationwide.

6. The Plant Based Seafood Co

Scallops flee when they’re threatened by predators, which demonstrates that they have the same instinct to avoid pain as humans and other animals do. PETA Business Friend The Plant Based Seafood Co is certainly blowing minds with its Mind Blown Dusted Scallops, which are perfect on their own or served on top of your favorite pasta. The brand also makes Coconut Shrimp, Dusted Shrimp, and Lobster Crab Cakes that give you the taste of the sea without the animals. Purchase them online or at select grocery stores.

7. Kuleana

Some tuna used for food are raised on crowded “farms,” where they often suffer from parasites and diseases. Kuleana is a PETA Business Friend that’s creating vegan sushi-grade tuna without the suffering and sickness. You can try it out at Poké Bar locations nationwide or Erewhon Markets in California.

8. Plant Based Foods

PETA Business Friend Plant Based Foods is the U.S. distributor of two vegan seafood brands, Vegan ZeaStar and Cavi-art. Vegan ZeaStar makes vegan salmon and tuna sashimi for use in sushi rolls, along with calamari and two types of shrimp. Cavi-art offers orange and black vegan caviar, which have a briny, salty taste perfect for garnishing. Find both through online retailers and select stores.

9. Worthington

Worthington’s textured meatless tuna is flaky and flavorful. Mix it with vegan mayo and your favorite spices for a tuna salad, or use it to make vegan crab cakes or tuna ceviche. Find it at select stores or purchase it online.

10. Jinka

Jinka’s spreads come in three different flavors: Original, Lemon & Dill, and Spicy. All are delicious enough to eat on their own or perfect on crackers or sandwiches. Find them online or at your local Whole Foods.

11. Honorable Mention: New Wave Foods

While it’s not available in the U.S. just yet, we had to mention New Wave Foods. This company will start distributing its New Wave Shrimp to retailers throughout the country by 2022, and it plans to add other vegan seafood items like lobster, scallops, and crab.

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Going vegan is the best thing that you can do to save animals and our planet. Take our 3-Week Vegan Challenge to jump-start your journey, and learn more with our helpful guide:

Find Out How to Go Vegan TODAY

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