ARC In Action meetings are held on the second Saturday of the month from 10am to 11am at our office at 2615 E. Franklin Ave. in Minneapolis. Everyone is welcome - you don't have to be a member to attend. Upcoming topics include:
August 9 - summer break; no meeting
September 13 - How to Win an Argument About Vivisection

Dealing with Stress & Grief – A Free Workshop for Activists presented by pattrice jones
Wednesday, July 23, 7 pm
ARC office, 2615 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis
All social change activists encounter stress, grief, or depression but few feel comfortable talking about those feelings. Even fewer know what to do to keep themselves and their fellow activists from being overwhelmed and burning out. To promote self-care and nurture relations among Minneapolis activists, pattrice jones, author of Aftershock: Confronting Trauma in a Violent World: A Guide for Activists and Their Allies, will offer a workshop on dealing with stress and grief. pattrice is a nationally known ecofeminist educator and activist, helps operate the Eastern Shore Chicken Sanctuary in rural Maryland, and teaches speech at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Animal Rights 2008 National Conference
August 14 - 18, Washington, DC
World’s largest animal rights conference with 100 sessions on activism, organizing, and outreach, and featuring 90 speakers from 60 animal protection groups in 9 countries. ARC's Program Director, Dallas Rising will be giving presentations at the conference on "Making of an Activist," "Nurturing Activism," "Activist Support," and "Status of SHAC and Other Prisoners."

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Circle of Compassion (ARC blog)
ARC on MySpace
Chicken Run Rescue
fast & furless vegan emporium
HumaneMyth.org
Rhymes With Vegan

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If an animal is in immediate danger, call 911. Read this section for more information.

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If you need to find a new home for your companion animal, read the information in this section.

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Grilling and Chilling
Host a vegan barbecue this July or August and have the most fun promoting veganism you'll have all year! ARC has teamed up with the makers of Tofurky, Amy's veggie burgers, Veganaise, Yves veggie dogs, and Whole Soy & Co., to support you in sharing great vegan food with the omnivores in your life. Our BBQ host packet includes:

*10 stylish postcard invitations to send to your guests
* A suggested menu list to help you plan your event
* FREE Veggie Burgers from Amy's Kitchen and
vouchers for FREE Tofurky Brats for your BBQ
* Coupons from Turtle Island, Yves, Whole Soy & Co., and Follow Your Heart for you and all of your guests
* Information about veganism/animal issues to share with guests

Our goal is to support 20 BBQ hosts in entertaining 10 guests each for a total of 200 omnivores having a tasty, relaxed introduction to vegan eating this summer. Email ARC's Program Director, Dallas Rising to request a host packet and sign up for this fun volunteer opportunity.

Calling All Tofu Tots for VegKins Meetups!
Come and play with other veggie kids while your parents hang out and talk about grown-up stuff. ARC's VegKins is a social group just for families raising young vegan and vegetarian children, 5 years old and under. For more information, email ARC's Program Director, Dallas Rising.

Getting the Word Out about Pound Seizure at the Pride Festival and Parade
ARC's participation in the Minneapolis Pride festival was a great success! We had hundreds of people visit our booth to learn more about pound seizure (the sale of cats and dogs from municipal pounds or shelters to research labs) and to pick up info on going vegan and our new Humane Farming Myth brochure. Here's the ARC contingent marching in the parade and Warren, our littlest marcher, showing off his Ban Pound Seizure doggie tee (more tees in various sizes are available for purchase at the ARC office). (photos by Tricia Elsen)

ARC Unveils New Brochure Challenging the Myth of Humane Animal Products
As the media pay increased attention to the cruelties and abuses commonly occurring in large-scale, industrial animal farming operations, compassionate consumers are increasingly seeking alternatives. Labels such as “Cage Free,” “Free Range,” “Humanely Certified,” and “Grass Fed,” suggest that those who are willing to pay a higher price can enjoy eggs, dairy, and meat from small-scale “humane” farms that treat animals with compassion and respect.

But is the public being misled?
ARC's new brochure "The Humane Farming Myth" answers this question and is a compelling resource to share with family and friends. Preview the brochure here and then contact ARC for copies to share with others.

Also visit the new web resource HumaneMyth.org, which is an initiative being carried out by an international coalition of individuals and grassroots organizations, including, among others, Tribe of Heart and all seven subjects of the film Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home.

Rhymes with Vegan
Activists and authors pattrice jones, Gene Bauer, Hillary Rettig, and Karen Dawn stopped by ARC to share their thoughts and stories about their recently published books (photo by Tricia Elsen).

One of the most exciting parts of the evening was that the event was catered by local Minneapolis vegan chef, Meagan Holtgrewe. ARC is sponsoring a new vegan cooking show that Meagan is in the process of producing called, "Rhymes with Vegan." ARC looks forward to having Meagan cater many events to come.

CityPages (5/21 edition) Publishes ARC's Letter
Click here to read ARC's Letter to the Editor about "humane" meat, dairy, and eggs in response to a 5/7 CityPages article entitled "The best way to help animals may be to eat them".

Animals & You - An Educational Event for Kids
Animals & You, sponsored by ARC's Compassionate Kids program and Pet Haven drew an excited crowd of kids who discovered we're really not that different from animals after all. This fun event featured ARC's humane educator, Amy Barankovich, Bubba the pit bull and Bennie the basset puppy from Pet Haven, and a Pet Haven alum named Dodger, a black lab mix who was adopted a year ago and is also a therapy dog. A presenter from Canine Coach talked about safe ways to approach dogs and the kids learned how to behave around animals so everyone has fun!

What a Weekend!
This year's May Day parade and festival and Living Green Expo, both held on the same weekend in May, were very successful for ARC. We had a tremendous number of people visit our booths at both events and people were genuinely interested in our message of compassion. Thanks to everyone who supported or visited ARC at these events!

Meet Dallas Rising: ARC's New Program Director
Dallas Rising, pictured with her husband, Brandon, and dog, Max

Chances are, if you’re involved in the Twin Cities’ animal rights and rescue communities, you recognize her dedicated and hard-working face. Dallas is the new Program Director for ARC, and we're thrilled to have her with us! “It’s more than a job to me,” Dallas said. “It’s a calling.”

Dallas, 28, went vegetarian in the 4th grade, after she made the connection that eating animals meant they were being killed. By 15, she had dropped the cheese and dairy products too, and become a vegan. In high school, she started an animal rights group that worked to get veggie burgers in the lunchroom and vivisection out of the classroom. Dallas has been active in many local and national animal groups and in addition to ARC, she currently volunteers for the companion animal group, Small Dog Rescue, as well as Friends of Kevin Kjonass.

A big part of her decision to come work for ARC was her belief in animal abolitionism, rather than animal welfarism. As an abolitionist, it was vitally important to work for an abolitionist organization, like ARC, whose values regarding animals, are in line with hers. She explains: “I am of the belief that it is critical that we not compromise our values as animal rights activists in the name of a short term "victory" for the animals. Running campaigns based on getting universities or restaurants to go cage-free, for example, is a hot trend in our movement right now. But in the end, I think it is wrong to give the impression that cage-free eggs or meat labeled "free range," are okay to purchase and eat. Whether directly or indirectly, any promotion or endorsement of this "happy meat" is not only a betrayal to the animals (who are still kept in horrible conditions, transported in the same way that most farmed animals are, and end up being slaughtered in the same brutal, violent ways that all farmed animals are), but also to consumers who are concerned about the way farmed animals are treated. We cheat both parties when we stop short of advocating for anything other than veganism.”

Dallas is also aware of the divide these different philosophies are causing in the animal rights community: “This [abolitionism] is not a very popular attitude to have right now in our movement's history. It took me a while to get over feeling like the bad guy for "raining on a cage-free parade,” but I am unwilling to compromise my values in the name of a short-term gain. I would rather march forward toward total liberation, no matter how slowly, than to perpetuate the myth that any animal products can be produced in a humane way. They cannot. Period.”

Dallas hopes to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved in animal issues, be active, and feel satisfied with their involvement. She intends to focus much of her work with ARC on educating and involving young people. She firmly believes that if young people are given the opportunity and education to make the connection that eating animals means killing them, they will make the choice not to eat them. “I think kids are naturally compassionate.”

Dallas understands the huge challenges in our culture when it comes to educating people about compassion toward animals. But she also has great hope. “We are pulled in to being complacent and unconscious. But, if you think about who you really want to be, most people don’t want to be contributing to cruelty.”

For Dallas, the best way to get the animal rights message across is to ask people if they really want to know. “If they say yes, then they will listen.” She favors a more relaxed approach to animal rights education, and feels it is extremely important to be approachable and available for people. Welcome to ARC, Dallas!

Grand Opening Draws a Crowd!
We're happy to report that the grand opening for the ARC and fast & furless new storefront was such a success that people were literally pouring out into the street. There were lots of new faces and lots of familiar faces--all in all, a great crowd!

The vegan dessert buffet was delicious, Peace Coffee provided their great java, and vegan musician Matt Larson provided live music. The silent auction inspired lots of bidding and we're happy to report that we raised over $1,000 from the silent auction to benefit Chicken Run Rescue and Red Lake Rosie's Rescue. To view photos of the event, visit ARC on myspace.

Pound seizure is the sale of cats and dogs from a pound or shelter to research labs. Only three states, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Utah, still have laws requiring that publicly funded pounds and shelters turn over unclaimed animals for research.

The ultimate fate of these former companion animals is death. But before they die, they may suffer greatly. Visit Minnesota's Shame and Ban Pound Seizure to find out more.

Petting zoos at malls and fairs allow children to feed, ride, or have their pictures taken with the animals. Children who visit petting zoos often bring home much more than their parents bargained for as petting zoos are notorious for infecting children with potentially lethal bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella. Click here for a fact sheet with more details on petting zoos.

Hearing a lot about violence in schools? You can do something to help: Cut out dissection! Every year, millions of animals are killed and shipped off to schools, where young people are given scalpels and told to slice up the animals’ bodies. What does dissection teach? Not much, except that it’s OK to chop up animals.

Contact ARC for advice on how to object to dissection at your school. Or call the toll-free Dissection Hotline for information and support for students, parents and teachers who object to dissection.