Maternal Deprivation Studies conducted by Harry Harlow

They are sickening. I read about them in the book "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals" by Karen Dawn [which I highly suggest you all read, it's an excellent book].

Baby monkeys are taken from their mothers, locked up alone in "devices that would have trapped a Houdini" (Harry Harlow) and then kept there for months. It sometimes takes two lab workers to hold the struggling mother monkey down while a third pulls her baby away. These studies cause the babies to be permanently psychologically damaged, and in many cases, when they are placed with other monkeys, they sit staring through the bars as if they are alone. In one specific experiment monkeys were isolated for 2 years and "mentally destroyed." No amount of company, stroking, or any interaction could even get them to lift their heads. He found that the babies would cling to stuffed surrogate mothers placed in their cages, and that even when those surrogates blasted the babies with air, or stabbed the infants with spikes, they still clung to them. He then later found that if he inseminated those abused monkeys, they tortured their own babies, in some cases slamming them against or walls or chewing off their fingers.

"The only thing I care about is whether or not the monkeys will turn out a property I can publish. I don't have any love for them. Never have. I don't really like animals. I despise cats. I hate dogs. How could you like monkeys?"

-Harry Harlow

Harry Harlow spent millions, disposed of a great number of monkeys, and pyschologically damaged those who weren't disposed of to tell us something we already know; separation from mothers have a serious impact on young. These studies are not only cruel beyond words or belief, but they are also unnecessary.

-All facts and quotes taken from "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals" by Karen Dawn.

Top Ten Reasons to go Veg/Update

http://www.goveg.com/ lists these as the top ten reasons to go veg in 2009:

1. Slim Down While Feeling Good
Is shedding some extra pounds first on your list of goals for the new year? Vegetarians are, on average, up to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters. And unlike unhealthy fad diets, which leave you feeling tired (and gaining all the weight back eventually), going vegetarian is the healthy way to keep the excess fat off for good while feeling full of energy.

2. It's the Best Way to Help Animals
Every vegetarian saves more than 100 animals a year from horrible abuse. There is simply no other way that you can easily help so many animals and prevent so much suffering than by choosing vegetarian foods over meat, eggs, and dairy products.

3. A Healthier, Happier You
A vegetarian diet is great for your health! According to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarians are less likely to develop heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or high blood pressure than meat-eaters. Vegetarians get all the nutrients they need to be healthy (e.g., plant protein, fiber, minerals, etc.) without all the nasty stuff in meat that slows you down and makes you sick, like cholesterol and saturated animal fat.

4. Vegetarian Food Is Delicious
So you're worried that if you go vegetarian, you'll have to give up hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, and ice cream? You won't. As the demand for vegetarian food skyrockets, companies are coming out with more and more delicious meat and dairy product alternatives that taste like the real thing but are much healthier and don't hurt any animals. Plus, we have thousands of tasty kitchen-tested recipes to help you get started!

5. Meat Is Gross
It's disgusting but true: Meat is often contaminated with feces, blood, and other bodily fluids, all of which make animal products the top source of food poisoning in the United States. Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health tested supermarket chicken flesh and found that 96 percent of Tyson chicken was contaminated with campylobacter, a dangerous bacteria that causes 2.4 million cases of food poisoning each year, resulting in diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, and fever. Learn more.

6. Help Feed the World
Eating meat doesn't just hurt animals; it hurts people too. It takes tons of crops and water to raise farmed animals-in fact, it takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of animal flesh! All that plant food could be used much more efficiently if it was fed to people directly. The more people who go vegetarian, the more we can feed the hungry.

7. Save the Planet
Eating meat is one of the worst things that you can do for the Earth; it's wasteful, it causes enormous amounts of pollution, and the meat industry is one of the biggest causes of global warming. Adopting a vegetarian diet is more important than switching to a "greener" car in the fight against global warming.

8. All the Cool Kids Are Doing It
The list of stars who shun animal flesh is basically a "who's who" of today's hottest celebs. Joaquin Phoenix, Natalie Portman, Tobey McGuire, Shania Twain, Alicia Silverstone, Anthony Kiedis, Casey Affleck, Kristen Bell, INXS lead singer J.D. Fortune, Benji Madden, Alyssa Milano, Common, Joss Stone, and Carrie Underwood are just a handful of the super-sexy vegetarians who regularly appear in People magazine. Check out our recent "World's Sexiest Vegetarians" poll for more hot, compassionate celebs.

9. Look Sexy and Be Sexy
Vegetarians tend to be thinner than meat-eaters and have more energy, which is perfect for late-night romps with your special someone. (Guys: The cholesterol and saturated animal fat in meat, eggs, and dairy products don't just clog the arteries to your heart; over time, they impede blood flow to other vital organs as well.) Plus, what's sexier than someone who is not only mega-hot, but also compassionate?

10. Pigs Are Smarter Than Your Dog
While most people are less familiar with pigs, chickens, fish, and cows than they are with dogs and cats, animals used for food are every bit as intelligent and able to suffer as the animals who share our homes are. Pigs can learn to play video games, and chickens are so smart that their intelligence has been compared by scientists to that of monkeys. Read more about these amazing animals.

What are your top ten reasons to go vegetarian? I'd love to hear from you!

**update**
I know this blog has been slow so far, but I am going to try to get a new post up at least once or twice a week, more than likely on Saturdays due to trying to balance school and work. I am also going to post more original entries, [i.e. not just copy and paste facts, but my own research put it into my own words] but as I said, school has been just a little hectic lately! (:

Also, if you haven't done so, it would mean the world to me if you told your fellow AR/Veg friends about this blog. I plan on working really hard on it to get the word out about how meat simply is not green, and the more people that read this, the more that message will reach people.

Thank you again to those of you following this blog, you have no idea how much it means to me that you're willing to give a 16 year old girl a chance. Most people would automatically shrug it off because of my age, but I do believe I as well as other people my age have the ability to change things we are passionate about, and animal rights is something I will fight for for as long as it may take.

More to come soon, most likely Saturday so check back!

Since I can't say thank you enough;
Thank you,
Brittany

Purpose

Hey guys, I've just created this blog and I'd like to share with you my motives and purpose for it, and my hopes for what I might have the power to do. Plus a little about me :). I have been a dedicated Animal Rights Activist and Vegetarian for about 5 years. I'm an actice member of PETA2, I've volunteered at animal shelters, my local ASPCA, and I currently volunteer at E.P.O.N.A. (Equine Protection of North America.) Epona Horse Rescue is an organization based on the premise that all equine and other animals should live free from cruelty, neglect and abuse.* I urge you all to help this organization in whatever way you can.
http://www.eponahorserescue.com/index.html
According to the United Nations, raising animals for food generates more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, planes, ships, trucks, and trains in the world combined.** MEAT'S NOT GREEN. To learn all the facts and to sign a petition to get all meat labeled with a warning that clearly states that meat is the number one cause of global warming, head on over to:
http://www.peta2.com/meatsnotgreen/
This is it for now, more facts to come at a later time. I know this post wasn't entirely informative or interesting, but be assured there will be more to come. I plan on extensively researching the meat industry, the way they treat animals, how veg*nism helps the planet, etc. For any ideas, suggestions, comments, contributions, etc. send me an e-mail or leave me a comment. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to read this, and I sincerely hope you will continue to read.



*Taken directly from EPONA Mission Statement found on:
http://www.eponahorserescue.com/missionstatement.html

**Fact taken directly from:
http://www.peta2.com/meatsnotgreen/