The majority of diseases arise from eating animals and destroying the environment

The covid-19 virus came from the wildlife trade, farming and slaughter of animals in a wet market in Wuhan, China. Wet markets are places where live animals are slaughtered and sold on the spot to customers. They are gruesome places where diseases can breed, harbor and transmit to humans. You will often find distressed and sick animals of different species at these markets, many are kept cramped in tiny cages in unsanitary conditions and slaughtered in plain sight of other animals. In order for zoonotic diseases to transmit to humans, there needs to be close contact to the saliva, feces, blood, bodily fluids or consumption of infected animals. The current pandemic has brought international attention and scrutiny to wet markets and the whole wildlife trade. China issued a nationwide ban on the wildlife trade shortly after the outbreak as they recognized it to be a serious threat to human health and safety. This industry, as well as all slaughterhouses, factory farms, and all forms of animal exploitation needs to be  ended permanently to prevent future pandemics.  

Zoonotic Illness Kills Hundreds of Thousand of People

It has never been more urgent or necessary than now to globally shift our dietary habits away from an animal-based diet. The entire world is suffering from the current pandemic caused by the deadly novel zoonotic virus. The COVID-19 pandemic is crippling the global economy, healthcare systems, tourism and almost every industry, due to mandatory closures and quarantines being implemented to mitigate the spread of disease. 

Unemployment and loss of livelihood is happening at an unprecedented rate as businesses close down or let go of their employees. The most devastating effect is the vast number of victims which now number over 2 million infected and over 130,000 people killed (as of April 15, 2020). As well as humans, non-human animals have also been an indirect victim of the virus with millions of non-human animals being killed to reduce potential risk.

Covid-19 came from eating animals!

Expectations were high at the start of 2020.  It started out full of promise, but now less than halfway through the year, there are currently more than 400,000 cases worldwide - in almost every country of the world - from the new corona virus pandemic.  The disease now named Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus.  At the end of March 2020 there are almost 415,000 cases and almost 20,000 deaths worldwide.

What is the cause of this tragedy of biblical proportions?  It was first thought to have originated in a laboratory.  Now it is now believed to have started in a wild animal market.  The virus has evolved to its current pathogenic state by transmission from its non-human host to humans.  Previous coronavirus outbreaks have emerged from humans contracting the virus after exposure to infected animals.  Corona virus 2019 (Covid-19), as well as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), “Swine Flu”, avian influenza viruses (H5N1, H9N2, and H6N1 from poultry) and other epidemics are the result of Speciesism.

Animal-to-Human Diseases Kill 2.2 Million People Each Year.  Epidemics are the direct result of speciesism – the abuse of other species for the benefit of the human species.

The current outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to spread.  In January, the World Health Organization defined the outbreak of COVID-19 as an international public health emergency of international concern.  Another concern is the H5N1 virus infection which has proven fatal for chickens (and sometimes other poultry) as well as for human beings. With poultry and eggs now the major source of meat protein worldwide, this fact has implications for food supply and international trade.  It also raises the possibility that human beings and chickens can be cross-infected, and in the absence of tight biosecurity, the virus potentially spreading in pandemic mode.

It is time to rethink our priorities and stop eating animals.  Adopt a healthy, compassionate lifestyle.  Go Vegan!

What caused Covid-19. It did not need to happen.

What caused Covid-19?  It did not need to happen.

This virus has evolved to its current pathogenic state by transmission from its non-human host to humans.  Corona virus 2019 (Covid-19), as well as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), “Swine Flu”, avian influenza viruses (H5N1, H9N2, and H6N1 from poultry) and other epidemics are the result of Speciesism.

Animal-to-Human Diseases Kill 2.2 Million People Each Year.

Epidemics are the direct result of Speciesism – the abuse of other species for the benefit of the human species.

Currently in the world today, the non-human population outnumbers human population by literally billions.  This is not because of wild animal populations - species extinction and habitat destruction are causing these individuals to quickly disappear.  It is the individuals raised in the horrific conditions that breed disease and suffering – animals raised and murdered for human food.  Under these circumstances, pathogens appear which threaten the lives, health, and incomes of the worldwide human population who eat these individuals, and their eggs, and drink their milk.

About 60 percent of all human diseases and 75 percent of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic. 

This includes HIV which ignited the AIDS epidemic, and coronavirus responsible for SARS, and now COVID – 19.  According to researchers. most human infections with zoonoses come from livestock, including pigs, chickens, cattle, goats, sheep and camels. 

Zoonoses from the livestock sector, animals raised for human food, cause the most human deaths.  Researchers have found 13 so-called zoonoses are responsible for 2.2 million human deaths every year. 

The only way to avoid another pandemic in the future is to stop raising, and eating animal, and their eggs, and drinking their milk. 

GO VEGAN!

World Heritage Sites – Near and Far

There are World Heritage Sites in countries on all continents of the world.  Some are near, and some are far. 

The idea of creating an international movement for protecting heritage emerged after World War I.  The event that aroused particular international concern was the decision to build the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, which would have flooded the valley containing the Abu Simbel temples, a treasure of ancient Egyptian civilization.  In 1959, after an appeal from the governments of Egypt and Sudan, UNESCO launched an international safeguarding campaign.  Archeological research in the areas to be flooded was accelerated.  Above all, the Abu Simbel and Philae temples were dismantled, moved to dry ground and reassembled.

The campaign’s success led to other safeguarding campaigns, such as saving Venice and its lagoon (Italy) and the Archeological Ruins at Moenjodaro (Pakistan), and restoring the Borobodur Temple Compounds (Indonesia).  The idea of combining conservation of cultural sites with those of nature comes from the United States.  In 1965, a White House Conference called for a “World Heritage Trust” that would stimulate international cooperation to protect “the world’s superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry”. 

Two examples of World heritage sites, both here and abroad are Grandfather Mountain on the Blue Ridge parkway in North Carolina, and Virunga national Park in Africa.  Grandfather Mountain has some of the most spectacular views in the United States!  In addition to natural beauty, the park offers hiking on all levels of expertise from beginner to advanced. 

Virunga National Park lies in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the border with Uganda and Rwanda, and includes part of Lake Edward, the Semliki River valley, parts of the Rwindi, Ishasha and Rutshuru valleys south of the lake, the Virunga area within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and part of the Rwenzori range.  Lake Edward belongs to the Nile river system and Lake Kivu to the Congo Basin river system.  Virunga National Park is notable for its chain of active volcanoes and the greatest diversity of habitats of any park in Africa: from steppes, savannas and lava plains, swamps, lowland and Afromontane forests, to the unique Afroalpine vegetation and ice fields of the Ruwenzori Mountains.  The great diversity of habitats harbors an exceptional biodiversity, including endemic as well as rare and globally endangered species, such as the mountain gorilla.

Whether you choose to visit a World heritage site here in the US, or travel abroad to visit one, you are sure to enjoy an outstanding and memorable experience. 

WHY NOT LEATHER

How many people do you know who would never think of eating meat (and maybe dairy) but love to wear leather?  Maybe you wear leather!  Here are some facts to consider before you purchase your next leather article.

Slaughterhouse production lines move at breakneck speeds, so workers routinely skin and dismember fully conscious animals to produce leather.  Much of the leather sold in the U.S. comes from India, where workers beat and torture tired, thirsty cattle to keep them marching endless miles to slaughter.  In Asia dogs and cats are cruelly killed for their skin.  They are simply labeled ‘leather” and show up in products all over the world.

 

What about shoes, belts, and handbags?  Being leather free can be fashionable.  Products abound that are leather free.  Markets respond to consumer desires, so more choices are constantly becoming available as we shop for them.   For example, there is the vegan leather free Moo Shoes, that are very popular.  Payless Shoes has leather free shoes that are very popular.  If your taste is designer quality, consider Stella McCartney, daughter of Sir Paul McCartney, and one of the world’s top designers.  She makes designer leather free items.  

When I shop,  I often ask salespeople if a handbag is leather .  I make sure they are aware I want a cruelty-free product.  Their response is always positive as they assure me no animals were hurt to make this product.

Would you wear your dog or cat?  Shop compassionately!   Visit www.CowsAreCool.com for more ideas and to find everything from pleather pumps to synthetic biker jackets.  Enjoy your new faux leather goods.  Your friends the animals will thank you for it!

Vegan Is About Compassion

‘Vegan’ is about compassion’.  It is not just a diet.  It is about making the world a better place, not only for people, but for the billions of other inhabitants on this planet whose lives and well-being have been overlooked, habitats destroyed, some species driven to extinction, and used as vehicles for providing human satisfactions of all types. 

Vegan is about providing simple solutions to complex global issues.  The non-vegan lifestyle is a major contributor to Climate Change - the world’s current greatest threat to security and survival.   This is because methane from animal agriculture holds heat in the atmosphere more effectively than carbon dioxide.  In addition, forests are cut down to provide grazing land.

The meat and dairy based diet causes catastrophic health concerns - such as skyrocketing diabetes, cancer, heart disease, potentially devastating antibiotic resistance, along with accompanying rising health care costs. 

Then non-vegan lifestyle exacerbates world hunger since crops which could feed hungry people are fed to abused, incarcerated, soon to be slaughtered, animals while unfortunate people are hungry and starving.  The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.

Vegan is not a form of deprivation.  It is a lifestyle which embraces life, and life lived to the fullest.  Vegan holds the promise of a healthier population, a sustainable planet, and kindness and compassion for all.  Support Raoul Wallenberg Vegan International and Raoul Wallenberg Vegan Retreat.  www.VeganInternational.org and www.VeganRetreat.org.