On July 8, without any prior notice, the Feds rounded up hundreds of Prospect Park adult and baby geese into crates and suffocated them to death. The news of these covert killings prompted a furious outcry from members of the press, the public, and certain politicians.

And the slaughter will go on, as the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, the Port Authority, and the USDA announced their intention to kill geese off from city property within a seven-mile zone around JFK and LaGuardia Airports. This plan will exterminate two-thirds of the goose population from New York State, which is approximately 170,000 birds. This is the second year of geese killings, a response to 2009 US Airways Flight 1549 emergency landing,after the airliner flew into a flock of migratory Canadian geese. Animal rights groups have decried these killings as senseless, as there notable humane methods of controlling the geese population. In 2009, a proposal by HSUS and GeesePeace to help the city implement a humane plan was rejected by Mayor Bloomberg’s office, Port Authority, Parks Department and the USDA. As a further absurdity, In Defense of Animals has noted that “the Prospect Park geese, and those in other NYC parks and waterways, are not the same type of geese who flew into the US Airways flight in 2009. Those were migratory geese, traveling at 5,000 feet. Local geese (classified as resident geese) don’t fly as far or as high. The distinction was made using DNA analysis of the feather remains.”

You have an opportunity to voice your outrage alongside IDA Thursday afternoon on the steps of City Hall:

What: Demo in opposition to killing New York City geese. Join IDA President Scotlund Haisley, and City Council Members Brad Lander, Letitia James and Stephen Levin, plus State Senator Eric Adams.

When: Thursday, August 12, 12 - 1 p.m. (Please arrive about 10 minutes early, as you will need to pass through a security checkpoint to enter the City Hall area. The rally will end promptly at 1 p.m.)

Where: New York City Hall

RSVP on Facebook here.

On Monday, July 26th, a low budget animal lib film screening at Anthology Film Archives became a fascinatingly larger phenomenon. Animal welfare personalities like Moby and Russell Simmons appeared, tons of disparate vegan groups showed up to table across the entire theater (the star being a rescued beagle from Azopharma's animal testing laboratory who tabled for W.A.R.), and AR legend Andy Stepanian gave a speech in full ski mask gear about compassion in the face of animal testing horrors that made people weep openly. Needless to say, this type of thing doesn't usually happen when a low budget, non-distributed, independent film about animal rights screens in the East Village. So why did it happen this time? In a nutshell, people flocked to the sold-out show because they heard it was excellent enough to warrant such a turnout, and they realized it was way past due for a film like it to be made and seen.

Interestingly, there was never before a professionally-made narrative feature film about the growing world of animal liberation groups. Despite the sheer amount of political attention and defense budget that the Bush administration devoted to animal welfare groups, and despite the impressively unconstitutional nature of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act passed during the Bush era, scifi/horror movies like 12 Monkeys or 28 Days Later were the closest anyone's come to an ALF movie. Enter Bold Native.

New York City’s Anthology Film Archives will play host to both press event and open screening for the new animal-rights-themed film Bold Native. It's a full-length fiction feature that “takes on the issue of modern animal use and exploitation from several angles within the context of a road movie adventure story.”

The screenings will take place on Monday, July 26, 2010 at 7 and 9:15pm at Anthology Film Archives, which is located at 32 Second Avenue in Manhattan. The screenings will be hosted by Russell Simmons.

More details here.

Vegans think differently--really. Last month, an Italian-based research team published a study indicating that vegans and vegetarians use different parts of the brain in response to images of human and animal suffering than do meat-eaters. The team used MRI scans to investigate whether vegans and vegetarians who specifically made food choices for ethical reasons "might show brain responses to conditions of suffering involving humans or animals different from omnivores." Well, it turns out we do.

Using MRI, the brains of 60 adults (20 omnivores, 19 vegetarians, 21 vegans) were scanned while they were shown images of human and animal suffering, alternating with natural landscapes. Basically, when compared to omnivores, vegans and vegetarians used different parts of the brain associated with empathy and social cognition in response to images of suffering, especially of animals.

The article is titled "The Brain Functional Networks Associated to Human and Animal Suffering Differ among Omnivores, Vegetarians and Vegans". Check it out for all the fascinating details.

It's not exactly a gigantic Eureka! moment since most vegans are acutely aware that they respond differently to suffering than do most people. But when you wade through the alphabet soup of brain parts, this study is telling us that our ethical values change our neurological activity in such a way that makes it distinctive from meat-eaters. In other words: our world view and compassion for others, especially for animals, changes our brain chemistry. Wow.

I know that the human brain is about as well-understood as the universe and that MRI scans can be wildly imperfect (and extremely expensive). While I am also dubious that such conclusions are based on just 60 people, I am very impressed that a study investigating brain patterns of ethical vegans was even investigated. The paper also has an accurate and detailed description of the basic ethical principles of veganism. Surprisingly, the researchers really get it. I hope we'll see more such studies of vegan humans in the future. We might really be a different species.

For those of you who missed Chrissie Hynde's new side project JP, Chrissie & The Fairground Boys' benefit show at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary last weekend, they will be doing a show tonight at Brooklyn Bowl in W'burg. Doors at 6pm, show starts at 8pm. Admission is free but donations are encouraged; all proceeds collected at the door and from advance ticket sales will be donated to Stray From The Heart, a non-profit dog rescue organization that rescues, rehabilitates and places homeless dogs in good homes.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, lead vocalist for The Pretenders and animal rights activist Hynde joined forces with Welsh songwriter JP Jones and his bandmates and the result is down home, blues-influenced, folksy rock. They played a benefit show last week at Housing Works bookstore with singer and WFAS supporter Tracy Bonham, whose husband Jason Fine of Rolling Stone organized the WFAS benefit--the first of a series of concerts at the farm. Stay tuned for updates about future shows!

"If people were to eat the grain that you feed those animals, it could feed so many more people in the world and use so much less energy."

Tonight Animal Planet premieres a documentary about an undercover investigation of the largest puppy-selling retailer in the country, Petland.



Puppy mills are exactly that - factories that churn out puppies for sale and keep female dogs constantly pregnant and in miserable conditions. Watch the show, tell your friends, and sign the HSUS Pledge to stop puppy mills. And if you're looking for a new BFF, please, please adopt that special someone from your local shelter or rescue group.

Click for more air dates on Animal Planet. More about Working Dog Productions, the cool folks behind the camera.

Author and activist Mickey Z. will be the key-note speaker at this Sunday's Veggie Pride Parade. The parade begins at 11am in the West Village; he'll take the stage at 1pm in Union Square, where the parade ends. There will be additional speakers sharing the stage to educate the masses about the benefits of a veg diet but my vote goes to Mickey for being the most bad ass of the lot.

Mickey's books include The Murdering of My Years: Artists and Activists Making Ends Meet, 50 American Revolutions You're Not Supposed to Know: Reclaiming American Patriotism, and Self Defense for Radicals: A to Z Guide for Subversive Struggle--and he's published by some of the edgiest indie publishers around, such as Soft Skull Press, Disinformation Company, and PM Press. Oh, and Newsday called Mickey Z. a "professional iconoclast" and Time Out New York has referred to him as a "political provocateur."

SuperVegan: Well hello there Mr. Fancy Pants. How did you end up being the key-note speaker at this year's parade?

Mickey Z.: Wow, that's funny because I'm the furthest thing from fancy pants. I tend to wear my clothes until they fall off me. Anyway, I've known parade founder Pamela Rice for many years and she invited me to speak at the 2009 event. I ended up going on very late and reaching a much smaller crowd but Pamela said I still "stole the show." This year, well... I guess I got bumped all the way to the front of the line.

This weekend's going to rock your veggie world, if you're into that sorta thing! Veggie Prom is tonight, followed by a post-prom potluck picnic at Central Park. Finally, the Veggie Pride Parade rounds out the weekend Sunday starting at 11 a.m. in the Meatpacking district.

Hungry after all the parading, yes? Z Pizza's got vegan slices this weekend, starting today! That means no more staring in their window wishing you had friends to go in on a pie with you, and no aging pizza in your fridge. (But leftover pizza is the best, no joke!)

Jonathan Horowitz's art exhibit at a former meat locker in the Village called "Go Vegan!" looks brilliant. Have you been? What'd ya think?

At least two carriage horses have crashed in the last two weeks, Gothamist reports. It's been just a month since the City Council approved changes to the carriage horse industry that support more humane treatment of the horses, but the new legislation does nothing to protect horses from injury due to crashes. Hey, it looks like you can't make carriage-hauling safe or humane for horses unless you eliminate it entirely. News. Flash.

The LA Times blog's "L.A. Unleashed" column has a snappy animal round-up of its own: Labradoodle breeder's regrets, gray whale in Israel, and researchers hurt mice to see the looks on their faces. Guh.

The Humane Society of the United States gives us a peek into Richard Berman's absurdly shady lobbying tactics and how they threaten animals. You wanna read this!

Remember when Compassion Over Killing encouraged us to enter Dunkin' Donuts's "Create Dunkin's Next Donut Contest," and asked us to share our vegan creations with them? They've picked their favorite 12 contestants' dreamed-up sweets and will make one of those dreams come true! Vote for your favorite by next Friday, May 21 (and you'll be entered to win one of 10 prizes, too). Vegan Treats will produce the winning doughnut, which will be announced in June. I will take a box of each!

In response to the Supreme Court's decision Tuesday to strike the ban on the sale of videos depicting cruelty to animals, Representative Elton Gallegly (R-CA) and 55 other representatives introduced H.R. 5092, a bill to ban the distribution and sale of crush videos. The Humane Society of the United States reminds us that we can help by contacting our representatives asking them to support the law.

We added 27 new restaurants to the guide this week (Thanks, Cathy!), including Organic Village in Forest Hills, Victory Bhaven in Staten Island, and Sunlife Health Food and Juice Bar in the Bronx. See all the new restaurants here, and don't forget to leave a review if you've been!

This week on "Law & Order: SVU," the show whose following, I'm guessing, is rivaled only by Oprah's, a woman is murdered while filming "an unflinching expose of meat," NBC's description says. Did you catch it? If so, how much did they get into the business of slaughter?

KFC and Susan G. Komen for the Cure launched their "Buckets for the Cure" promotion. For every bucket of chicken sold, KFC will donate 50 cents to Komen now through 5/9. People are rightfully grossed out. I mean, shit is crazy! Since when is the relationship between fried dead chicken pieces and cancer-fighting a mutually symbiotic one? Never ever ever!

Quarrygirl let us know that Starbucks is going to sell vegan frappuccinos. I hate coffee, but whatever! Yay!

Do you like your shredded carrots raw? Birdbath Bakery has your hippie food right here: the Old School Vegetarian Sandwich.

A few reminders for ya:

Our very own Patrick Kwan will be a judge at Veggie Conquest Sunday. (Hint: toss some Daiya cheese on that shit and he will love it!)

The Sea Shepherd's flagship, the Steve Irwin is docked right here in NYC and you can go INSIDE it!

The bake sale to support Darwin Animal Doctors at Vegan Drinks is Thursday, April 29, 7-9 p.m. at Angels & Kings. Bring a to-go container -- Laura Dakin of Sea Shepherd will be baking some serious treats!

Looking for that special vegan with whom you can celebrate/not have to think about your lifestyle? Let us help. Check out Date This Vegan and you might just find the one.