VIVA! EMAIL NEWS ALERT: February 2007



Viva!

8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH, UK

Tel: +44 (0)117 944 1000 Email: info@... <mailto:info@...>

Web: www.viva.org.uk <http://www.viva.org.uk/> www.factoryfarming.org.uk
<http://www.factoryfarming.org.uk/> www.savethekangaroo.com
<http://www.savethekangaroo.com/>





Please do not reply to this email. Contact us at: info@...
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In This Viva!City: National Day of Action for Pigs
Why You Don't Need Dairy Talk

Incredible Veggie Roadshow Comes to Reading
Move Over Bridget!

Legal Chicken Liberation!

Tell the VVF About It ...
Dog Fancies!

Veggie Wife Swap!
Your Viva!City




National Day of Action for Pigs
Saturday, 17 March 2007

Join us on the day before Mother's Day, when hundreds of Viva! supporters will
distribute specially prepared flyers outside Marks & Spencer stores up and down
the country. We are calling on the chain to make Mother's Day a little more
bearable for many of their sows, incarcerated in metal cages for weeks on end -
despite more humane options being available.



The farrowing crate is a metal-barred cage in which a pregnant sow is locked a
week before she gives birth and up to four weeks afterwards - the cage is only
inches bigger than her body. M&S have already made some concessions to animal
welfare by ensuring that the meat they sell as 'fresh pork' comes from pigs that
were farrowed outside. Yet what their PR machine doesn't tell their customers is
much of the other pig meat they sell still comes from pigs born indoors in the
farrowing crate.



Despite M&S' assurances to their customers that: "We know it's as important to
you as it is to us that our animal welfare standards are second to none.", this
image conscious company still uses an instrument of farmed animal torture so
barbaric it should be condemned to the history pages.



Help us change their mind. Read all about the Day of Action here
<http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/pigs/msdoa.html> and find out how to order
your free campaigns materials. If you can't make it on the day, we have plenty
of other ways to keep the pressure on
<http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/pigs/msdoa.html> - everything from our
1-click campaigner virtual postcard to M&S to plenty of other quick and easy
(but potentially powerful) ways on how to fight for British pigs!




Why You Don't Need Dairy

An inspirational talk by Viva! founder & director, Juliet Gellatley



Sunday, 25 February 2007, 7pm - 9pm. The Basement, 24 Lever Street, Northern
Quarter, Manchester M1 1DZ (very close to Piccadilly Gardens)



All welcome! Free entry



Juliet Gellatley is an author and founder and director of Europe's largest
campaigning vegetarian/vegan organisation. Her compelling talk asks: is it
natural to consume milk after weaning? Indeed is it natural to consume cow's
milk at all? What is the life of a dairy cow? Why has dairy been linked to
cancers - especially breast and prostate? Why is milk full of hormones and how
do they affect us? What are the links to other diseases? Do we - and especially
our children - need calcium from dairy?



There will be a Q and A session. Free Going Dairy-Free booklets and colour
recipe guide plus a range of other Viva! and VVF materials available on the
night.





Incredible Veggie Roadshow comes to Reading!



Viva!'s Incredible Veggie Roadshow <http://www.viva.org.uk/reading> will be
rolling into Reading on Saturday 21 April 2007.



Only £1 entry for adults (under 10s free). A brilliant family day out, there
will be cookery demonstrations, talks, veggie stalls, competitions, cruelty-free
fashion, beauty products, vegan food products, books, information and campaign
news. And free nutritional advice will be available all day.



Our 2007 roadshows - which will also be held in Chepstow, Glasgow and Leeds -
follow the success of the 16 roadshows we have held across the UK since October
2004, which have been attended by over 27,500 people, converted hundreds upon
hundreds and saved literally millions of animals' lives! Also, for a sneaky peak
at our next national show (the biggest veggie event in Europe!) check out here
<http://www.viva.org.uk/london> .



Find out more about it and see the full list of shows here
<http://www.viva.org.uk/reading> . If you can offer us help for any shows - we
would especially like to hear from you if you can help out publicising the event
locally by putting up posters or handing out invites, or if you can help out on
the day itself - please get in touch <mailto:angie@...> . It's
incredibly rewarding to see so many people interested in vegetarianism and the
shows have proved so busy so far that we really need all the help we can get!





Move Over Bridget!



Bluebell, a porcine Bridget Jones, is the star of our new Adopt a Farm Animal
website - well she's always been the centre of attention! From Chez Bluebell
(OK, the sty in the top yard) she has a full view of everything going on at Farm
Animal Sanctuary. Read her online diary at www.adoptafarmanimal.org.uk/bluebell.



Competition! Are you under 16 and a dab hoof with a felt pen? Then create a
portrait befitting our pig Bluebell for Mother's Day. As the grand Dame of the
sanctuary and a wonderful mum your picture should show her at her greatest! Send
a scan of your entry to bluebell@... or post a hard copy to
Bluebell, VVF, 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH.



Prize: One year's adoption of Bluebell + a selection of vegan sweet treats!

Deadline: Sunday March 18.



Adopt a Farm Animal gives you the chance to give one (or more!) of eight
adorable rescued farm animals the gift of life, as well as donate to Viva! and
the Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation. For only £18 a year (or £2 a month by
standing order) you'll receive two updates, a certificate and photo. Go to
www.adoptafarmanimal.org.uk or call 0117 970 5190 for more info.



Legal Chicken Liberation!



In April 2007 Brighton Animal Action has been given permission to spend six days
legally liberating 13,500 chickens. At the end of day six the slaughter vans
will arrive. They need homes, boxes, drivers and vehicles.

For more info on how you can help visit:
http://brightonanimalaction.org/Legal%20Liberations.htm or contact 077791 28239
or email us at info@...



Tell the VVF About it...



Have you eliminated eczema, arrested acne, cured your constipation or livened up
your libido by simply changing to a veggie diet? Have you noticed a huge
improvement in your health after going veggie or vegan? If so, the Vegetarian &
Vegan Foundation would like to hear from you. The VVF would like to include your
story in their colourful and informative magazine Veggiehealth. We also want to
hear your story if you are already veggie and have spent time in hospital. Was
the provision of vegetarian or vegan foods satisfactory? Let us know and we may
be able to improve things; we have already persuaded one health authority to
introduce wholemeal bread and increase the numbers of veggie meals provided! We
can only change things with your help, contact us at info@... or
telephone 0117 970 5190.





Dog Fancies!

Hotfoot it over to the Viva! shop <http://www.viva.org.uk/shop/dogtreat.htm>
and find out how to become every dog's best friend with the new range of Dog's
Gold treats! Developed by a dog nutritionist, all Dogs Gold products are made in
small batches in Devon.





Veggie Wife Swap

Are you part of a veggie or vegan couple with young children and would like to
help spread the word about why our diet is the best for saving animals, the
planet and ourselves? Then Channel 4's Wife Swap would like to hear from you!
Contact Lucia Bartolo at lucia.bartolo@... or on 0207 0134593.





Get Involved: Local Events



For more details on events happening in February (and beyond) check out Viva!'s
online events diary here <http://www.viva.org.uk/events.html> .



Your Viva!City



This email alert reaches thousands of people but we'd like your help to make it
even better. At the moment we have just one list of addresses which means that
we have to send the same email to everyone. From time to time we'd like to let
people know about things happening in their area or get in contact with our
younger supporters but we don't want to fill everyone else's mailboxes with
information that isn't relevant to them. What we'd like to do is compile email
lists separated into different regions so that if we do have something we'd like
to tell people in Scotland or Yorkshire about, we can send them the information
without bothering anyone else.



The simplest way for us to identify which area you live in is to know your
postcode and so we'd be grateful if you could take a minute to fill in our
online questionnaire <http://www.timetogoveggie.com/emailconfirm01.php> . We'd
also really like to know your age if you're under 18 - you can fill in your date
of birth on the form. You won't receive any postal mailings (unless you want
them and fill in your other details) and the information will be used only to
sort your email addresses. You don't even have to give us your name if you don't
want to.



As ever, if you would like any more information about any of our campaigns,
check out our website www.viva.org.uk <http://www.viva.org.uk/> or get in touch
with us directly - contact details at the top of this email. Please don't click
"reply", however - your email won't be seen at that address.



Thanks again for all your support.





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