Now that I’ve popped the Tofurky and fixings in the oven in preparation for The Feast, I wanted to sit down and comment on a few of the more thought-provoking stories I’ve found in the past couple days.

First the strange-but-true stuff. The Ugly Animal Story of the week is a tie. I have two! And they both include what I like to call “Silly Statements by Butt-Stupid Animal Killers”.

The first has to do with a Scandinavian restaurant in England serving reindeer just in time for Christmas. The comment from the restaurant manager is priceless: “It is one of the most ethical meats around because reindeer are allowed to roam free.”

Huh? This explanation is bizarre on at least two levels. First of all, where did we get the idea that it’s up to us generous humans to “allow” reindeer to run free? Like we get to call the shots for what wild animals do? Talk about patronizing! And what makes eating reindeer meat more ethical than, say, eating chicken meat? Meat is meat is meat. And killing is killing is killing.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/tm_headline=animal-rights-campaigners-furious-when-restaurant-served-up-reindeer&method=full&objectid=20992894&siteid=115875-name_page.html

OK, now for my number two outrageous story. It seems there’s a wounded doe on the loose in Elbert County, Colorado. Why? Because some brainless hunter shot at her (perfectly legally) with his bow and arrow but didn’t quite kill her. Officials are trying to find her to catch or tranquilize her (presumably to treat her wounds, because she has a fawn who will no doubt grow up to become the target of some other bowhunting nut’s arrow some day). This poor doe is wandering around, in agony, with an arrow through her nose, throat and neck.

Hunters like to imagine that bow-and-arrow hunting is somehow more “natural” and humane than using a rifle (as if either mode of hunting was justified), but don’t believe it, because bowhunting often results in precisely this tragic scenario: an injured, suffering animal slowly dying of her injuries. In fact, it's estimated that over half of arrow-hit animals escape hunters.

An official from the Colorado Bowhunters Association had this to say about the situation: "It's very unfortunate, but things happen that all of us wish hadn't happened, but how often do you drive by and see a deer in the ditch hit by a car? That's unfortunate, too. How many deer are mauled by mountain lions and wander off to die? . . . It's my experience that very few deer wander away, but when they do, they're quickly absorbed by nature, other animals consume the carcass. Nothing is wasted."

I can’t help but wish that somebody come forward to graphically demonstrate to this brain-dead bowhunting “expert” exactly what it feels like to be wounded by an arrow and then wander around in the forest slowly and painfully dying from the injury. How ignorant and insensitive is this guy? This injury is not the result of a close encounter with a wild cat or a car. It’s a deliberate, inhumane act by a so-called “sport” hunter with only one thought in his mind: destroying the life of a deer, and a nursing deer at that. The full story is here:

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_11305511

I’ve discovered yet another reason for going vegan. My husband, who is not a veghead although he’s cut down radically on his animal consumption, has been suffering from an inflamed gallbladder for the past couple weeks. I suggested that he try a vegan diet, and having nothing to lose but pain, he did. One week later, he tells me his pain is almost gone. Go vegan!

And lastly, you say you’re not ready to give up the hamburger, milk shakes, and bacon and eggs quite yet? Here’s an idea: How about starting out slowly by establishing just one day a week when you don’t consume animal products?

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health promotes “Meatless Monday”, which is “a national health campaign to help Americans prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. . . “. Here’s a sample of their educational material, in which they talk about the superior utritional benefits of soy and provide tips on how to consume it:

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/site/PageServer?pagename=giat_soy/

But if you still have your doubts about the efficacy of soy (and I know there are a few xombies who do), I found another article that talks about how soy in hormone therapy protects the aging brain. I should say that I have a problem with this article because the study uses rats, and I’m skeptical about the use of nonhuman animals in experiments for both scientific and humane reasons. Be that as it may, read more here about the results:

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/soy-mixture-may-be-alternative-hormone-therapy