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Attn: Anyone Who Knows Anyone in New Hampshire

If there’s any issue that has a chance of being tackled by the legislative process it’s greyhound racing, which I personally am committed to ending in the United States in my lifetime. (The UK, Australia, and some very-disturbed people in…

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Barbaro, The Final Chapter

As you may recall, I started Animal Person on May 22, 2006, with a post called, “Barbaro Made Me Do It,” meaning I’d planned to begin writing much later (more like 2007), but couldn’t resist. There were several posts on…

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Michael Pollan’s “Unhappy Meals”

Michael Pollan’s “Unhappy Meals” in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine was not supposed to be about morality. But I think it begs the question because he does talk about our lifestyle, including the way we exercise, whether we fast, and…

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On Veganism and Acne

In case you need another reason to stop eating dairy products, permit me a personal story. I stopped eating eggs and milk and butter (alone, not as an ingredient in something) a while ago, however I wasn’t a vegan, as…

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Gray Matter: Whole Foods

If John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, weren’t a vegan, I’m not sure this would be such a Gray Matter for me. But he is someone who has evolved, over time, to the realization that he shouldn’t be eating animals….

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On Gestation Crates and Your Conscience

The animal welfare community is all abuzz over Smithfield Foods’ decision to phase out gestation crates for pregnant pigs. We banned them here in Florida, and Arizona recently followed, but this is the first time a slaughter company has volunteered…

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23 Greyhounds Die in Alabama

On about January 11, 23 greyhounds died due to a heating malfunction in their kennel at the VictoryLand Greyhound Park in Shorter, Alabama. There was no back-up system at the track, and the dogs probably died hideous deaths from heatstroke,…

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Cattle Ranching: A Life of Denial and Contradiction

Because I haven’t deconstructed an article in a while, I was especially please to see”On Snowbound Plains, Grim Fight to Save Calves,” by Kirk Johnson in this morning’s New York Times. The premise is: Due to blizzards and unusually cold…

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WHY BUFFALO DANCE, by Susan Chernak McElroy

Susan Chernak McElroy’s books about animals, nature, and spirituality are beautifully written and they stir the mind and soul alike. Her latest, WHY BUFFALO DANCE: Animals and Wilderness Meditations Through the Seasons (New World Library 2006) is no exception and…

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Sharks are Victims, Not Villains

When I read “Conservationists Rally to Support Sharks” (AP), by Tara Godvin, I experienced deja vu. Godvin reports that sharks are dwindling in number–20% of the population is threatened–and conservationist want people to stop fearing them, stop attacking them, and…

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Worst Commercial Contest has a Winner!

Back in October, Animal Person wrote about Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine’s (PCRM) contest for the worst commercial of 2006. Well, the wait is over, and the winner is Burger King’s “Eat Like a Man” badvertisement, that sends the accurate,…

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Of Pink, Animal Rights and Animal Welfare

Pop star Pink recently called for a boycott of Australian wool because of the hideously-mutilating practice of mulesing (hacking chunks of skin from the back end of the sheep to discourage flies), and then she more recently apologized: My message…

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Of Racism and Speciesism

Dave and I were given what his family calls the “Martin Luther King” china. His grandfather was a bishop in the Methodist Church, as well as the President of the Council of Bishops, and a powerful man in his day….

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What do the Cleveland Clinic and Ringling Bros. have in common?

There I was, forced to make a right turn out of the Aveda Spa yesterday (coloring my gray roots, if you must know), which put me on the path to the railroad tracks. They warning lights were blinking and I…

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Of Dogs, Neurosurgeons, and the Cleveland Clinic

As you may know by now, a neurosurgeon used a dog at a sales training session at the Cleveland Clinic. He induced a brain aneurysm in the large, mixed breed, demonstrated how his company’s (Micrus Corporation) medical device could stop…

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