The Victoria Vegan
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Dave Shishkoff, Editor

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Event: Save Our Seals Sprint!

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The SOS Sprint is a fun, 5k run or walk, inspired by ‘Zombie Runs’ – where along the course you may encounter ‘zombies’, but given that you’re a ‘seal’, you’re going to want to watch out for the ‘seal clubbers’! Participants all receive a ‘Save Our Seals’ event headband to identify them, and the ‘clubbers’ (hidden on the course to ambush seals for their fur!) will be easily identified, piloting their boats among the ‘ice floes’ searching for fleeing seals. Each year tens of thousands of seals are slaughtered off the coast of Newfoundland, and this event is to raise awareness and help bring an end this travesty. The course is a scenic loop along the beautiful waterside pathways from Clover Point to just before the breakwater. Please arrive by 11am, parking on Dallas or at Clover Point. All are welcome, bring your kids and dogs! $5-10 sliding scale entry…

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Activism

Poster Party for National Anti-Fur Day

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= Example of Poster = National Anti-Fur Day ‘Poster Party’ in Victoria at Vshoen Friday, February 8th, 12-2pm Vshoen, 620 Broughton Street   Friends of Animals and Vshoen invite you to assist in defending fur-bearinganimals at our Poster Party for National Anti-Fur Day on Friday, Feb. 8. We’recoordinating with the Fur-Bearer Defenders in Vancouver, who have a similaraction planned, and we’ll be joining dozens of other cities across Canadaholding events and demonstrations.   We’ll provide posters and vegan snacks while you display posters downtownwith anti-fur messages such as ‘HAVE A HEART, DON’T WEAR FUR!’   More than 3 million animals are brutalized and killed for their skins inCanada each year by trapping, ranching, shooting and clubbing. While full lengthfur coats are less popular, fur trim is shockingly common in Canada. Look aroundnext time you’re in downtown Victoria. A surprising (and deplorable) number ofgarments include fur from coyotes, wolves, foxes, rabbits,…

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Activism

Friends of Animals Joins B.C. Wolf Protection Pack, Letters Needed!

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    Friends of Animals Joins B.C. Wolf Protection Pack,Letters Needed! Friends of Animals has joined a growing coalitionof groups in speaking up for wolves, as the BC government works to reduce oreliminate the already few measures protecting wolves in BC. These wolves arequickly running out of habitat, and are scapegoats for human-caused animalcommunity decline, as we’re seeing with caribou. The BC Government maintainsthat wolves are responsible, despite the fact that BC Government ‘management’has been an abysmal failure, and caribou populations continue to decline.Clearly it’s our use of caribou habitat, with projects like the oil sands beingthe real culprit.   Below is an Action Alert from coalitionorganizer Sadie Parr – let’s tell the BC Government that wolves needprotection, and that we humans need to contain and limit habitat destruction.   ACTIONALERT   The BC government released a draftmanagement plan for wolves on November 14th that is heavy onmanagement but lacking…

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Events

2012 World Vegan Day Bake Sale Report

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What better way to celebrate World Vegan Day than to show off amazing vegan goodies with a bake sale fundraiser? Goodies were brought down to Sarah’s Place, a really big thank you to vegan bakers Kiley, Cara, Lisa, Jordan, Hayley, Jenn and Diana – there were cupcakes, cookies, muffins, rice puff squares, candy apples, energy bars and Nanaimo bars! The fundraising goal is to print up more Friends of Animals’ Vegan Starter Guides to distribute in the city – in May 2011 we printed up 4,000 (money also raised from bake sales!) and have given most of them out! So we’re planning to raise another $3000 to print up even more. We’ll be featuring more bake sales, and other fun events. $347 was raised at this one, thanks again for all who came down, and for the generous donations from our bakers! Contact us if you’d like to be added…

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Events

Save-A-Turkey Trot 2012

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The 3rd Annual Save-A-Turkey Trot on Sept 29th, co-sponsored by OrganicAthlete Victoria and Friends of Animals featured the best weather yet, sunny and warm, and even a visit from a few passing orcas in the Juan de Fuca Strait!Thisyear featured a record 34 participants, and split down the middle withabout half running, and half out for a pleasurable stroll in support ofturkeys and veganism on the scenic 5km route along the paths along thewaterfront.Wealso set out informative route markers this year, and as always, a hugesupply of prizes distributed by draw. We also had three Top prizes, aField Roast Celebration Roast donated by Sarah’s Place, and our Top runners were: Top Male: Danny Taylor, 17’26 (2012)Top Junior (U19): Etta Degnan, 19’57 (2012)Top Female: Etta Degnan, 19’57 (2012) (Note: Top Female prize awarded to 2nd place Female, Jenn Marr, 20’04) Theseare also our new Course Record times – Glenn Jasechko had…

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Events

Thanksgiving Activism 2012

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Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, and is extra early this year! We’ve got two events, and hope you’ll join us – first up is the 3rd Annual Save-A-Turkey Trot, co-organized by OrganicAthlete Victoria and Friends of Animals on Saturday, September 29th at 11am: It’s a fun 5k walk/trot/run on the beautiful trails that run along the Dallas Rd waterfront. All are welcome, bring along your doggies, and your $2 entry helps support this event, and also enters you into the draw for tons of great prizes, all the details here: http://victoria.organicathlete.org/turkeytrot The following day (Sunday, September 30th), FoA supporter Susan will be leading a leafleting session at noon outside Market on Yates downtown, giving out our Vegan Starter Guides, and encouraging people to go for a vegan Thanksgiving (and every meal!) Please send a note if you’d like to join us, this will be a positive event encouraging people to…

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Carriages

Aug 7th, Noon: March & Demonstration for Victoria’s Carriage Horses

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There’s been another tragic incident in the city involving the carriage industry, with a horse clipped by a bus, spooked, ejecting the driver, and a runaway carriage with a terrified passenger. We’re marching on August 7th at Noon to protest this dangerous and antiquated tourist trap, we hope you will meet with us at Sarah’s Place, where we’ll march down Wharf to Belleville and Menzies where the carriages are, and continue the protest there until 2pm – join us any time. There has been a lot in the media, and CTV has done an excellent job covering the issue, here is their initial report: Here is their second report, and exclusive interview with the passenger, as she explains how she feared for her life: Lots more coverage, including the Victoria News (accepts comments via Facebook), Times Colonist, and CBC (also accepts comments). Sarah Kramer also has a great blog entry…

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Wildlife

Highly Endangered Sturgeon Need Protection

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Time Is of the Essence Baltic sturgeon Image from: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/230/0 Friends of Animals and WildEarth Guardians are working hard to ensure protection for the members of 15 species of sturgeon at the very brink of annihilation. In addition to having to cope with treacherous dams, run-off from animal farms, and marine dead zones, they’re threatened with the trade of their eggs as caviar and their flesh as meat, and their bladders are used to make isinglass, a filter applied in the processing of certain cask ales and wines. Aquaculture also threatens them, as it sustains demand, and motivates further capture of free-living sturgeon. We cannot emphasize enough the risk to these populations and communities! Some are still in the hundreds, but others are down to a few dozen breeding pairs, or even just a few individual representatives such as the up-to 8’ long Acipenser mikadoi (Sakhalin sturgeon) found in waters…

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Activism

ACTION: Letters Needed For Seals, Write A Canadian Senator NOW!

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There has been some much-neededprogress with the Harb Seal Bill, calling for an end to the commercial sealslaughter. This year is the third year it’s been introduced by seal supporterSenator Mac Harb, and for the first time it’s been passed in the first round,and debate on the issue will be permitted. In all the past efforts, it hasn’teven made it far enough that the Senate would even discuss theissue!   Senator Mac Harb posted this onTwitter today: Some senatorscomplained , the past 2 days,thousands of emails,jamming their computer,provingseals voices are being heard,loud and clear. ( https://twitter.com/#!/mharb20/status/198018785779793920) This is a critical time to writeletters to Senators, and encourage them to consider the bill, and support a banof the commercial seal slaughter. Let’s fill their inboxes with emails aboutseals so they have NO DOUBT where Canadians stand on thismatter.   Here is the complete list ofCanadian Senators: http://sen.parl.gc.ca/portal/canada-senators-e.htm   Below is a…

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Events

Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale Wrap-Up

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Friends of Animals, Sarah Kramer and the Victoria Vegan Fest volunteers would like to thank all who came out to our April 28th Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale Day event, the third time we’ve done this! (In the previous two, we raised nearly $2500,  which has printed 4,000 of our Vegan Starter Guides for distribution in the city!) Thanks to a small army of generous and imaginative bakers, we had three tables full of goodies, and while we fell short of our ambitious goal, by my count we raised $1039.98, which will go towards the Vegan Fest. (Total raised is now $1160, with the previous Purple Rain movie night!) This included a raffle, with a ton of amazing prizes donated to us, organized as usual by the Victoria OrganicAthlete chapter. A big thank you goes out to super-star volunteers Paulina, Paradox and Ashley, and a special mention of Jon K who…

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