✌️ VEGAN VICTORIES MONTHLY #14
Thousands of Hens and Beagles saved from exploitation, and more!
Hey, teammate! ✊
I'm excited to welcome 58 new subscribers to our growing Vegan team! Every other day of the month, we watch our burning world commit mass atrocities to animals. Genocides like this June’s Yulin Dog Meat Festival leave many of us feeling hopeless, burnt out, and like we’re losing.
We’re not.
Escape hopelessness and defeat Vegan burnout in 15 minutes or less by reading the only free source for all of this month’s most positive Vegan news from around the world! 👇️
Older teammates may recognize that this series was previously called the “Monthly Hopium Injection.” Rest assured, nothing has changed except the name, style, and format. Let me know if you like it!
🇩🇰 World’s 1st Tax on Cruel Animal Farming
The tax rate will roughly amount to $100 per Cow per year. Farmers are now disincentivized to raise and kill more animals. What's remarkable is that there are plans to progressively raise this tax rate, help framers transition out, and use a portion of the revenue to fund the reforestation of 250,000 hectares of farmland!
More taxes leads to higher prices. Higher prices leads to less demand. Less demand leads to more animals spared. Slowly but surely, we are removing animals from our global food system!
🇨🇷 Costa Rica Bans Archaic State-Run Zoos
Costa Rica’s last two state-owned Zoos, Simón Bolívar Zoo and Santa Ana Conservation Centre, shut down. Future openings of state-run zoos have also been banned.
Jaguars, Crocodiles, Spider Monkeys, and Sloths are just some of the nearly 300 animals transferred to local sanctuaries.
With plans to release them back into the wild, I’m hopeful these animals will finally feel peace away from Humans. A true victory for the animals!
🇨🇦 Canada Pours Millions into Plant Agriculture
Canada - the largest exporter of pulses in the world - double downs on plant-based proteins with a fresh $11 million allocated to increase the production of pulses like beans, peas, and lentils.
More pulses means less nitrogen fertilizer use, less greenhouse gas emissions, less public disease risks, and most importantly, less money available for animal agriculture.
This is a big win, as it’s another step towards a more sustainable and ethical food system.
🇩🇪 German Nutrition Society Promotes Veganism
After reevaluating its official position on plant-based foods, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung (DGE), says Veganism is more climate-friendly than the average German diet and represents a health-promoting diet.
Here’s what Anna-Lena Klapp, International Nutrition and Health Lead at ProVeg, has to say about it,
“[this change] takes Vegan diets out of the shadows of the policy debate and places them front-and-center instead. We are delighted that this position has been published and we expect it to influence similar bodies around the world.”
Let’s go!
🇺🇸 All City Events Vegan by Default in Hollywood, CA
In a major win for non-human animals, human health, and our planet, the City of West Hollywood in California has decided that Vegan food must be served as the default option at all its city-run events.
Just a few months ago, I reported that Los Angeles did the same for hospitals and schools. Imagine pulling up to one of these events or places and never having to worry about what to eat? With enough activism, that will be our reality!
🌲 Vegan Land Movement Reclaims Land from Dairy Farm
The Vegan Land Movement (VLM), a UK-based collective, uses crowdfunding to purchase monoculture grazing land. Through rewilding efforts, they restore depleted fields into biodiverse landscapes, effectively returning land to our Earth.
Previous successes by VLM include converting a plot intended for chickens into a fruit orchard. This month, VLM acquired an 11-acre dairy pasture, marking their sixth successful land buyout! Here's their perspective on the latest acquisition:
"When we remove land from animal agriculture, it's a victory for ALL life."
They’re damn right it is.
🌱 Vegan Nuggets Rank Best in Largest Taste Test
1,150 American omnivores evaluated 45 plant-based meat products across five categories and ended up rating nuggets from Impossible Foods, MorningStar Farms, Quorn, Rebellyous Foods, and SIMULATE, higher than their slaughter-based alternatives!
When we advocate for animals, we can bring some Vegan nuggets to confidently win more non-Vegans over! This small win can have big cascading effects.
🥇 Vegan Runner Wins 32 Marathons in 10 Days
Budjargal Byambaa, a 5 year Vegan, won the ten-day, 817.5 mi (1315 km) race by 74 miles. Woah. He’s simply inspiring:
“Long-distance running is different than any other type of running. It needs not only physical strength, [but] inner strength. Becoming vegan helped me find my inner strength.”
Truth.
Here, we celebrate everyone who is pushing the boundaries of what’s capable as a Vegan. Let’s channel this inner strength to keep fighting for a VEGAN WORLD!
📉 UK Meat Production Drops for 1st Time in Years
A new government report found that the total number of animals raised and slaughtered in the UK decreased by 4.1% in 2023, marking the first decline in production in over a decade.
Driven by declining demand and adverse weather conditions, this reduction spared thousands of animals from a life of suffering.
Additionally, this month saw Animal Rising’s release of the largest exposé of RSPCA-Assured Farms in the UK. With more people becoming aware of their humane-washing lies, it's likely we'll see similar victories next year too! I'll be here to report on them as they unfold. :)
🍍 Pineapple Leather May Become Best Leather
Scientists at Thailand’s Mahidol University have developed a new pineapple-based leather that is stronger than PU Leather and not significantly weaker than Cow skin leather!
Other alternatives from apples and bananas aren’t fully biodegradable, as they contain trace amounts of synthetic additives. Not this leather - it’s made from pineapple leaf waste and natural rubber!
With the bio-based leather category expected to grow 47.5% by 2027, this is a big win for our Earth and many precious Cows.
🍳 World’s Largest Omelet Producer Adopts Animal-Free Eggs
Grupo Empresarial Palacios Alimentación, the world’s largest producer of Spanish omelets, will use the EVERY Egg — the world’s first liquid egg product made using precision fermentation — in its flagship Spanish omelets!
Last December, I reported that EVERY’s Chicken-less “Egg” was unveiled at a three-Michelin-star restaurant and was said to taste indistinguishable...
Just 7 months later, we’re back with another big win. The amount of Hens spared by this partnership alone will be astronomical!
💥 Cultivated Meat Breaks Through Bottleneck
This is a huge victory for Vegan innovation.
Cultivating meat in bioreactors relies on using expensive growth factors to make the cells grow. This has been the major bottleneck in bringing cultivated meat to market.
Not anymore!
✊ Activists from 170 Cities March on Animal Rights Day
On June 2nd, National Animal Rights Day (NARD), thousands of animal rights activists held dead animals and silently marched across cities in memorial of the trillions of non-Human animals who are killed each year by Humans.
Following the march, there were countless speeches and celebrations of the progress towards animal liberation. It was a big display of compassion and a massive victory for bringing awareness to animals exploited around the world!
🐔 435 Hens Saved From Exploitation
A cage-free, organic egg farm in Oregon was selling “their” Hens and shutting down. With not enough buyers, the farm eventually invited people to take as many Hens as they could catch, with no money involved.
This was a big opportunity for local animal rights activists, who organized an effort to save as many Hens as possible.
In total, activists rescued 435 Hens! 435 individuals who now get to live out their lives free from exploitation. 435 individuals who now get to experience peace for the very first time. 435 individuals who now get to feel loved.
What a blessed win for them :)
🌾Dog Meat Supplier Transitions to Selling Seeds and Fertilizer
After years of tolling on his heart and mind, Hậu, a former Dog meat supplier, said this to the International Humane Society’s Model for Change Program Coordinators:
“I no longer want to be involved in the dog meat trade.”
With this simple resolution and help from the IHS, 50 puppies were relocated to a shelter, Hậu closed his shop, and began his new life selling seeds and fertilizer. His goal is to eventually harvest sweet potatoes!
For every year the Yulin Dog Meat festival continues, there will be stories of people fighting against it, and I’ll be here to share each of those stories with you. For now, let’s take this win!
🐶 4,000 Beagles Saved From Animal Testing Lab
After an undercover PETA investigation into a beagle factory farm, U.S. officials were prompted to cite the facility for dozens of violations of law and execute a search warrant. Envigo was found guilty for conspiracy to violate the federal Animal Welfare Act and the federal Clean Water Act.
These first-ever federal convictions of a supplier of animals for experimentation leave Envigo facing more than $35 million in penalties!
Following the conviction, the Humane Society of the United States coordinated the placement of these dogs with rescue partners so they could become loved companion animals.
A criminal conviction, a massive fine, and thousands of animals saved? A textbook Vegan Victory that makes me feel hopeful about our future!
I hope I’ve made you feel revitalized!
I write for who I believe are the most important group of Humans in the world: those who stand up for the animals. If that’s you, I’m honored you’ve given me your attention. You could have given it to the animals, and you chose to invest it with me. I take it in the highest regard.
If I’ve made you a positive return on your attention, please consider sharing this with a fellow Vegan! It’s a free, 30 second, fun surprise gesture of goodwill that will help make their day a little more hopeful and our movement a little more positive. :)
Thank you.
Until every cage is empty,
Dani ✌️
Always love reading these monthly digests; they are rays of sunshine! Thanks for putting these together, Dani. I dig the new name and graphics :)
If I used my new RD credential to write more about Vegan nutrition, what burning questions would you want answered?