Extreme Race Day: A Trifecta of Animal Abuse

Ostrich racing7/28/16 Update: Many caring people wrote the lottery, explaining why the Extreme Race Day exploits animals and asking them to stop supporting it. The lottery sent the following email back saying they would no longer sponsor this event; we are excited that the lottery listened to feedback and decided to make this change. Every local victory like this helps to create a greater environment where abusing animals will no longer be considered acceptable:

Thank you for the email about the Lottery’s sponsorship of Extreme Race Day at Canterbury Park. Your concerns about the races have been heard and discussed. The Lottery will no longer sponsor Extreme Race Day. We appreciate your feedback about the event. – Minnesota State Lottery

Original post: The Minnesota Lottery recently sponsored “Extreme Race Day” at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota on June 16. Ads for the event read “Camel, Ostrich & Zebra Races. It’s Going to be a Real Zoo.” The MN Lottery is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Please ask the lottery on their social media sites if promoting an event that abuses animals is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds. You can also email the lottery at lottery@mnlottery.com. Encourage the lottery not to sponsor any more events that abuse animals.

ARC at Fridley Middle School

Chelsea and Yasmin at Fridley Middle SchoolARC Program Director Chelsea Youngquist recently spoke to six classes at Fridley Middle School about veganism and speciesism. She reported: “The students were attentive and engaged. They asked all sorts of questions and made great connections.” ARC intern Yasmeen assisted and the students all got to sample Chao vegan cheese. Please email chelsea@animalrightscoalition.com if your school would like to schedule a speaker.

Hennepin County Medical Center: Stop Using Live Animals to Teach Human Medicine

PCRM HCMC2As part of World Week for Animals in Labs, ARC is partnering with Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in asking Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) to stop using live animals to teach human medicine to emergency medicine residents. HCMC is using live rabbits and sheep for procedures including making incisions into an animal’s throat to insert a breathing tube, inserting needles into the chest to remove fluid surrounding the heart, splitting open the breast bone to access the heart, and drilling holes into the skull. If the animal dies while on the operating table, the procedure continues. If the animal survives, he or she is killed following the training session. HCMC is approved to use up to 300 rabbits and sheep per year.

This animal use is at odds with current standards of practice. According to PCRM, today 88 percent of surveyed emergency medicine residency programs in the U.S (119 out of 135) use nonanimal training methods. Please take action and ask HCMC to end this educationally inferior and inhumane practice by making the switch to simulation – because Minnesota deserves better.

ARC volunteers will be leafleting at HCMC, 730 S 8th St. in Minneapolis on Thursday, April 28 during prime rush hour from 4:00-6:00 p.m. Please join us! Leaflets will be provided. If you’ve never leafleted, it’s a quick and easy way to reach a large number of people in a short time.

8th Annual Global Vegan Waffle Party

Vegan wafflesIt’s time for the 8th Annual Global Vegan Waffle Party on Saturday, May 7 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Fuller Park Building at 4800 Grand Ave. in Minneapolis. Each year, the waffle party allows us to begin new conversations about where our food comes from and the effects of our food choices. It’s also a chance for ARC to say thank you to our wonderful supporters and volunteers for your dedication and hard work for animals.

Here’s how it works: the ARC staff and Board of Directors make lots of delicious vegan waffles. You come to the party with a plate to pile high with waffles and a vegan topping to share. (Some topping ideas: fresh fruit, maple syrup, chocolate chips, peanut butter, fruit sauce, Just Like Honey, coconut, vegan whipped topping). So please join us for some delicious vegan waffle fun!

8th Annual Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale

Bake sale cupcakes***Update: Thanks to everyone who donated treats to the bake sale and all the folks who stopped by the sale! We saw lots of new visitors, gave out a ton of info about plant-based eating, and will be able to send People and Pets Together a $450 donation for their pet food shelf. People and Pets Together is Minnesota’s first fully dedicated pet food shelf and resource center, and one of the nation’s first companion animal surrender prevention programs, offering assistance to families during economic hardship to enable them to keep their companion animals.***

It’s that time of year again! The Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale-Twin Cities Style is a delicious and fun way to introduce friends and family to vegan baked goods. Stop by Ethique Nouveau, 317 West 48th St. in Minneapolis from 1:00-4:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 and stock up on vegan goodies.

Bring a container to haul your loot home because we’ll be charging for boxes to make the event as waste-free as possible.

Please email chelsea@animalrightscoalition.com if you would like to donate baked goods. Make a list of the ingredients to display with your goodies so that allergy sufferers are well-informed. Items should be pre-wrapped or cut so that they’re easier to divvy up. You can drop off baked good donations between 12:00-12:45 a.m. on the day of the sale or between noon-6:00 p.m. the day before the sale.

And the Hotdish Winners are ….

Sadie Schrader and Mary Montoya-winnersFun times and great food were enjoyed by all at ARC’s Fourth Annual Vegan Hotdish Cookoff. From dal and curry to brinner and lasagna, there was a little of everything for everyone!

Thanks to all our contestants: Betsy Born, Eric Burnham, Henry, Eric Johnson, Larisa Lisinovic, Shaun McClay, Mary Montoya, Sadie Schrader, Barbara Stasz, and Colleen Williams.

This year’s winning recipes were Judges’ Choice Zen Pizza Hotdish by Mary Montoya (two time winner!) and Audience Favorite Fresh Veggie Casserole by Sadie Schrader (who also won for Best Church Lady Attire). Mary and Sadie each received a custom casserole with their winning titles etched into the casserole lid. Recipes are here.

Thanks also to our awesome panel of judges: Megan Duke, 2015 Audience Favorite Winner, Unny Nambudiripad of Compassionate Action for Animals, and Arwyn and Teresa of Glam Doll Donuts.

Photo credit: Gina Easley Photography

Countdown to the Fourth Annual Vegan Hotdish Cookoff

Hotdish cookoffJoin us for a delicious time at the Twin Cities Vegan Hotdish Cookoff on Sunday, March 20 from 1:00-4:00 p.m at the Fuller Park Recreation Center, 48th St. and Grand Ave. in Minneapolis. Local cooks will compete for Audience Choice and Judge’s Choice prize categories. Our judges are Glam Doll Donuts owners Arwyn and Teresa; last year’s Audience Choice winner, Megan Duke; and Compassionate Action for Animals Executive Director, Unny Nambudiripad.

Come and support ARC while tasting a variety of delicious hotdishes for only $1 per sample. Free beverages will be provided and there will be lots of great door prizes. Your best Church Lady attire is welcome, but not required, and we’ll even have a prize for the Best Church Lady Attire. We have a few contestant spots still open so enter to show off your down home hotdish cooking skills for a chance to win one of several fabulous prizes! All contestants will receive a limited edition hotdish cookoff coffee mug and a $10 gift certificate to Ethique Nouveau. Email Chelsea at chelsea@animalrightscoalition.com if you’re inspired to enter.

#Not Your Trophy

Trophy huntingThis past fall, trophy hunting came to the startled attention of Minnesotans with the killing of Cecil the Lion by a Twin Cities dentist. Death by Safari may seem like a nightmare from our colonial past, but it is very much alive, and coming (back) to the Twin Cities. On February 26 and 27, the Minnesota Safari Club International is holding a convention at the Minneapolis Marriott Northwest in Brooklyn Park that celebrates trophy hunting as an animal-loving conservation movement. Huh? All of Safari Club’s “BIG 5” are on the endangered or threatened species list, and supporting the Safari Club supports the slaughter of the last of our elephants, lions, rhinos, leopards, and water buffalo.

If the thought of nature’s most majestic animals gunned down for game and glory makes you angry, please join the Animal Rights Coalition, Minnesota Animal Liberation, and CompassionWorks International on the sidewalk outside the Marriott at 7025 Northland Drive North for a legal protest on Saturday, February 27 from 10am to 1pm. (The local authorities have asked us to park in the warehouse parking lot just across Northland Drive from the hotel.) You don’t have to say or do anything; just stand with us, hold a sign if you are able. (Signs will be provided.) Let the Minnesota Safari Club and big game hunters know that there is nothing sportsman-like about killing animals to make wall hangings.

For Pete’s sake, we live in Minnesota. Exotic animals should only come to our homes on the pages of National Geographic. Trophy animals – hung above the mantle? That’s just carnage. It’s sad indeed that our own Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has a booth at this festival of killing.