I love Jorja Fox, now more than ever.

• One of my favorite people, Jenny Brown, is speaking at Jivamukti Café on Saturday, 11/12, from 7-9pm. In Peace Begins on Your Plate: Why Farm Animals Matter in Our Quest for Peace, the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary cofounder will talk about the way animals are raised for food and how we can be better advocates for our fellow critters.
• O Canada! Why do you get your very own vegan patty from Subway but we don’t? All in good time, I guess.
• Next Monday, 11/14, from 7-9pm, NY CLASS is hosting Happy Hour for the Horses at the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street. Join super SuperVegan Patrick Kwan to learn more about the campaign to put the horse-drawn carriages out of business. Drinks specials include the “Horseless Carriage Cocktail” for $3.50, and 2-for-1 beer, wine and well drinks, plus snacks courtesy of Sweet Cheeks Vegan Bakery. Check out these and other events on our NYC Events Calendar.
• I don’t have any ink, but I have a lot of friends who’ll be happy to see there’s a new vegan tattoo balm out there.
• Meatless Every Days is better, but Meatless Mondays is a good start. Share this video with the omnis in your life and get them moving in the right direction.
• Jorja Fox stars in a new ad campaign for PETA, asking people to investigate how their food came to be. How cool is it that the actress’s veg epiphany happened in the greatest borough of all?

• Today is World Vegan Day! There’s no end to the things you can do to celebrate.
• Two Boots fetes us with a new pie called V for Vegan. It’s available by the slice today through Saturday, and ever after by the pie. Get to Avenue A tonight for a free tasting from 6-8pm.
• Gardein wants to spread the love too: You can win $500 and a three months’ supply of meatless meals by liking Gardein on Facebook, taking a photo of yourself serving Gardein to friends and family (with the package in plain view) and posting the photo on their Facebook page.
• Even The New York Times is getting into the spirit with a post about turkey-free Thanksgivings.
• In other news, New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets has an alternative to the carriage horse industry: fully electric, vintage-replica vehicles. I think that’s a swell idea. Donate to the cause here.

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!

Avimorphism? (Photo via National Pigeon Day)

**Edit: Two late additions for Tuesday, June 16**

Be alerted of these and other events we think you’ll care about by subscribing to our calendar.

Events are free unless otherwise noted.

Now until June 14

Watch new documentary HOME free on YouTube. More info in our recent blog post.

Saturday, June 13

National Pigeon Day: Praise the pigeon at Central Park and all over the country. Our very own Patrick Kwan will be speaking.
12-4pm
Central Park, Pilgrim Hill

Get friendly with a neeeeighbor at A Horse of Course!, a walk and discussion with Kathy Stevens at Catskill Animal Sanctuary.
1-4pm
$15, or $5 for members. Register in advance by calling Julie at (845) 336-8447.

Woodstock FAS hosts its family-friendly Jamboree. Games, face-painting, animals, and food by Isa Moskowitz. That’s right–another chance to dose on Isa before she heads back to Oregon.
11am-5pm
$10. Register in advance at the website.

Tuesday, June 15

Protest against the netting and gassing to death of at least 2,000 NYC geese
12-2pm
Port Authority Headquarters, 225 Park Ave. South

Ingrid Newkirk’s book-signing for The PETA Practical Guide to Animals Rights: Simple Acts of Kindness to Help Animals in Trouble
7pm
Borders, Columbus Circle

Thursday, June 18

Mercy for Animals celebrates the opening of its New York office with vegan appetizers and drinks at MooShoes. And wait, it gets better than vegan food and booze: MooShoes will be donating 10% of that day’s in-store and online sales to MFA, so you finally have a scale-tipping reason to get that pair of Simples.
6:30-9:30pm
MooShoes, 78 Orchard St.

Friday, June 19

Join Mary and Peter Max for the kick-off party for the production of Standardized Testing. The film “follows PATH founder Kelly Overton…as he attempts to return his diplomas and get his tuition refunded in an effort to bring attention to the dangerous and wasteful biomedical research being done at the universities.” Food will be provided by 4 Course Vegan, BabyCakes NYC, Blackwell’s Organic Gelato, Candle Cafe, Frey Vineyards, The Power of Food, Tuthilltown Spirits, Vegan Treats Bakery, and others.
6:30-8:30pm
The Max Studio
37 W. 65th St., 7th floor
$100 and up. Purchase tickets here.

Isa’s in town!

Find these and more events in our calendar.

Monday, 6/1

Vegan Brunch release party: Celebrate the release of Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s latest and brunchiest cookbook with vegan sausage and pink grapefruit mimosas made by the lovely lady herself. Free.
MooShoes, 7 p.m.
78 Orchard St., between Grand and Broome streets

Two vegan cookbooks released today: The Vegan Table, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, author of The Joy of Vegan Baking, and The Vegan Scoop, by Wheeler Del Toro of Wheeler’s Black Label Vegan Ice Cream

Tuesday, 6/2

Brooklyn Botanic Garden free admission Tuesdays (recurring event)

Wednesday, 6/3

The New York City Bar offers a free program on puppy mills and puppy mill legislation in New York. Register before hopping over. Free.
6-9 p.m., New York City Bar
42 W. 44th St., between 5th and 6th avenues

The second episode of The Goode Family airs at 9 p.m. on ABC. I didn’t find the first episode to be overwhelmingly hilarious, but as a friend of mine said, “Considering this is a Mike Judge cartoon, it will get better if it manages to survive, because it will stop laying on the obvious. King of the Hill, for example, was never meant to be a laughing-out-loud affair, and it eventually managed to amusingly reconcile certain aspects of that particular culture war.”

Thursday, 6/4

Edible landscaping workshop at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Learn to grow things in your tiny Brooklyn apartment that you can eat! Free. Register in advance.
6-8 p.m., Brooklyn Botanic Garden
1000 Washington Ave.

Food, Inc. premiers in NYC at the Museum of the Moving Image
35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria

Saturday, 6/6

Rally for Worldwide Day of Protest Against Horse-Drawn Carriages at Columbus Circle with Friends of Animals, the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, HEART and mayoral candidate and current council member Tony Avella.
12 p.m., Columbus Circle

Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary‘s Spring benefit dinner for the NY Vegetarian Expo. $65.
5:30 p.m., The Women’s Club of Albany
725 Madison Ave., Albany, NY

Catskill Animal Sanctuary’s Shindig 2009 features six speakers, including Brian Shapiro of the Ulster County SPCA and Amie Hamlin of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food. $10.
12-6 p.m., Catskill Animal Sanctuary
316 Old Stage Rd., Saugerties, NY

• I know Mark Bittman’s “vegan until six” plan can help convince a lot of people who otherwise wouldn’t to skip animal products for at least two meals a day. So then why does he follow up Food Matters with yet more recipes—for breakfast!—that are chockful of meat and dairy? Adding insult to injury, he now says, “It’s beyond being a vegan; it’s being a vegan-plus.” WTF?
• Farm Sanctuary is encouraging people to hold screenings of Our Daily Bread, a narrative-free succession of images illuminating the horrors of factory farming and agribusiness. (If you’re nearby, there will be a screening at the Indianapolis Museum of Art on March 20.) Sounds like a good idea; I still haven’t been able to bring myself to watch my DVD of Earthlings on my own.
• Also on March 20 but within subway distance, there will be a screening of Blinders, about the abuses of the horse-drawn carriage industry. The 7pm showing at Village East Cinemas will be followed by a Q&A with director Donny Moss. Buy advance tickets here.

• Want to see an end to dogs being sold in pet stores? Me too. Join the NYC Animal Advocacy Network for the kickoff of Best Friends Animal Society’s Puppy-Store-Free NYC campaign on Friday, Feb. 20, at 6:15pm.
• I was bummed when Pumpkin’s went under; I like giving my money to vegan places, and how often does a vegan market come along? On its heels, the V-Spot is having so much trouble staying afloat, they’ve closed for lunch and are three weeks overdue on the rent. Help add to their coffers by attending a “rent party” on Monday, Feb. 23, between 6 & 10pm, with full menu and $3 beers.
• Another worthy vendor: Above and Below Herbals creates handmade vegan (and often organic) body care free from synthetic materials and other unecessary crap. I’m allergic to pretty much everything, but my skin loves, loves, loves their Body Butter, Moisturizing Cream and Lip Balm. And there’s free shipping within the U.S.! Place your order now at info@aboveandbelowherbals.com.
• Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the hearing on the carriage horse ban in January. But you can still help. Write to support Intro 658 and oppose Intros 652 and 653. And if you haven’t seen it yet, get to a screening or pick up a copy of Blinders.

If only the show were vegan, then they’d be cookin’!

• Okay, the Food Network would never turn Iron Chef veggie, but a live version with a vegetable as the secret ingredient is taking place this weekend in Billyburg. On Sunday, from 2 to 5, head to McGolrick Park for the 2nd annual Iron Chef Kohlrabi. Judging begins at 3, and the winner gets an Iron Chef prize pack, whatever that is. Brought to you by the Greenpoint-Williamsburg CSA
  and Garden of Eve farm.
• Two happy announcements this week about sellers going fur-free: the Home Shopping Network and Overstock.com. For info about other do-gooders in the biz, check out HSUS’s list of fur-free designers and retailers.
• Could it really be happening? After all the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages has done to get carriages banned in the city, it looks like Alec Baldwin might finally have legislators convinced to give it a go!

Victimless Leather, part of the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit at MoMA.

Some things that raise interesting questions have been collecting in my browser tabs bar. I thought I’d share them with you.

• There’s a thorough post over at U.S. Food Policy about the scope of meat in rising food costs. It takes into account the rising cost of animal feed (and competition from the biofuels industry) and also the dramatic increases in meat consumption, especially in developing nations.
• A turtle named Myrtle, who was well known in the backyards of her block in Williamsburg was painted pink, presumably by some construction workers. It became quite a local “human interest” story. It seems like Myrtle will be OK, which is great, but I’m sure that most of those sympathizing with her story would have no moral qualms eating turtle soup.
• I’ve been noticing a similar disconnect in regards to Eight Belles, the racehorse who was driven to her death last week at the Kentucky Derby. The mainstream seems sort of upset about the abuse and effective murder of Eight Belles, but not really enough to realize that horse racing can be just as evil as their favorite bugaboo, dog fighting.
• And finally, Paola Antonelli, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art has “killed” a piece by artists Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr called Victimless Leather. The tiny jacket-shaped object/creature was made of mouse stem cells and was kept alive via a nutrient tube. It (I actually feel OK using an inanimate pronoun here) grew faster than expected and clogged its own life-support system. Says Antonelli:
  

  [It] started growing, growing, growing until it became too big. And [the artists] were back in Australia, so I had to make the decision to kill it. And you know what? I felt I could not make that decision. I’ve always been pro-choice and all of a sudden I’m here not sleeping at night about killing a coat…That thing was never alive before it was grown.

  I wonder how Antonelli thinks other “things” become alive?

Last Thursday, protesters held a press conference and vigil for Smoothie, a NYC carriage horse who died on September 14.

Activists have been working for years to end the abusive carriage horse industry in NYC. The movement took a step forward at Thursday’s vigil, when NYC Council Member Tony Avella announced that he will sponsor legislation to ban horse-drawn carriages. This is the first time a politician has introduced legislation for a ban in NYC; other cities such as London, Paris and Toronto already have bans.

The vigil, organized by the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages and Friends of Animals, also featured musician Nellie McKay. Go here to view footage. And tell your city council member to support the ban.

Breaking: disgraced radio host and sometime-racist Don Imus doesn’t hate everyone! Vegan-friendly Imus and wife Deirdre run a free summer ranch camp for kids who have cancer or serious blood disorders. The kids stay in the main ranch house, and learn to ride and care for horses, and help feed cattle, sheep, buffalo, chickens, goats and donkeys. Not only that, but many of the kids who stay at the camp come from minority backgrounds. But this is the clincher: The menu of which the kids partake on Imus charity ranch is entirely vegan.

The whole thing seems to me like a contradiction in terms. The guy runs a popular children’s charity ranch (“fully functional,” by the way), serves vegan meals to the kids, and spouts racist humor on a nationally syndicated radio program. Strange, but absolutely true.

In “We Eat Horses, Don’t We?” in The New York Times, Christa Weil explains that contrary to what most Americans believe, our history shows that we have indeed sporadically used horses as food. And as you may know, other cultures, such as the French and Canadians, consider it a delicacy. Like most vegans, when I heard about this bill passed last week in the House, which prohibits the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros, I was ambivalent. Sure, it’s great that this year another 130,000+ horses won’t be slaughtered for human consumption. But what about the billions of farm animals who suffer each day of their lives and die hideous deaths? As Weil points out, “The ill treatment of slaughter-bound horses is bad, but it would be worse still if it made us pay less attention to the undue suffering of other food animals.”

We don’t eat horses because it’s not part of our culture. But eating cows, chickens and fish is. Culture can be defined as: the word we use to explain something that is otherwise inexplicable or unjustifiable.

The League of Humane Voters of NYC just released its 2007 Humane Scorecard. Sadly, even in an almost exclusively Democratic City Council, compassion seems to be the minority viewpoint. While big congrats and thank-you’s go to Rosie Mendez, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Sara Gonzalez, and Michael Nelson, each of whom got straight A’s, 14 members flunked out spectacularly, with absolute 0’s. You can’t get much worse than that.

Scratch that. In what can be seen only as proof of multiple personality disorder, Speaker Christine Quinn, who according to LOHV-NYC recently dubbed herself “a staunch advocate for animal rights,” not only got a zero, she sealed her score with a bloody kiss when she officially came out against banning foie gras in NYC. Quinn probably should have described herself as “a staunch advocate for animal rights, as long as those rights don’t interfere with the bankrolls of the food and restaurant industries.”

At LOHV-NYC’s Winter 2007 Membership Meeting, on Tues., Jan. 16, executive director John Phillips will discuss the Scorecard as well as a proposed ban on the use of wild and exotic animals in NYC. Click here to download a PDF of the 2007 Humane Scorecard.

Also speaking at the meeting will be Larry Kopp, about LOHV-NYC, Farm Sanctuary, and HSUS’s efforts to ban the sale of foie gras in NYC; councilman Tony Avella, who’ll give an update on the Pets in Housing Bill; Valerie Sicignano, to present the 2007 In Defense of Animals Guardian Awards; George Bliss of the Pedicab Owners Association, to talk about the Horse & Carriage Association of NY’s attempts to ban pedicabs from Central Park; and Peter Silvestri of Whole Earth Bakery & Kitchen, about what can be done to prevent the vegan eatery from losing its lease once and for all.

The LOHV-NYC Winter Membership Meeting will take place at 6:30pm at the LGBT Community Center, at 208 W. 13th St. in Rm. 101, with food provided by Whole Earth Bakery and Kitchen. To RSVP, e-mail info@humanenyc.org or call 212-889-0303.

Cingular: raising the bar on animal abuse

If Cingular provides your cell phone service, you’ve probably heard about the deal that will allow you to update your MySpace page right from your phone. Pretty cool, right? Well, before you sign up for it, you might want to consider switching to a new carrier.

It seems that the innovative folks over at Cingular also sponsor rodeos. In fact, they bill themselves as “the ‘Exclusive Wireless Provider’ for the largest rodeo-sanctioning organization in the world.” According to In Defense of Animals, the cell phone company—the largest provider of wireless service in the country— is in the pocket, so to speak, of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). And we all know how much fun rodeos are for the animals who are forced to perform in them!

Anti-rodeo org Showing Animals Respect and Kindness gave Cingular until Jan. 1 to give the PCRA the boot, and you can help them let Cingular know that supporting rodeos isn’t okay (Starbucks finally relented, so there’s no reason why Cingular wouldn’t too).

If you use Cingular, tell them you’ll take your business elsewhere if they don’t stop supporting rodeos. If you don’t, tell them you won’t even consider them when your contract is up. For more ways to put the spurs to Cingular, check out this page from IDA.

But that’s just me. The big baddies at the Horse & Carriage Association of NY are trying to keep pedicabs out of city parks. And yes, that includes Central Park.

Scroll to the bottom of this page on the League of Humane Voters of New York City’s website for info on Intro. No. 331, which would not only keep pedicabs out of the park but require them to have $1 million in insurance (sure, that’s logical—not to mention doable—especially when horse-drawn carriages need to have only $300,000 worth).

Above the resolution are two others of interest, Intro. No. 75, which seeks regulation and licensing of pedicabs, and No. 44, which would restrict horse-drawn carriages to Central Park, making the working horses’ lives a little less dreary (while they’re working, at least).

Want your say? Call your City Council member and ask him or her to oppose Intro. 331 (find out who your rep. is by entering your address here or by calling 212-889-0303). For help with what to say, check out LOHV-NY’s talking tips. Then get info on the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages and sign the petition to ban hdc in NYC.

Three worthy action alerts, courtesy of In Defense of Animals:

E-mail and call your senators and ask them to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.

Thank Governor Corzine for opposing the New Jersey bear hunt, and ask him to prevent the next one from taking place.

Contact your representatives and make sure the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act doesn’t pass in the House.

On Tuesday, head over to the No Malice Palace and help the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages raise money to get horses off the streets. Starting at 7pm, there’ll be vegan treats, an auction, a raffle, and entertainment. And if booze is your thing, you’ll be happy to know they’ll be serving vegan White Russians all night long. Entry is $20, which you can pay at the door or online. Or just make a donation—and be sure to sign the petition! The No Malice Palace is located at 197 E. 3rd St. between A and B.

On Wednesday, Farm Sanctuary holds the first meeting of the NYC Say No to Foie Gras Campaign. The meeting, which starts at 7pm, will focus on strategy as well as ways in which interested parties can volunteer. The launch will take place at Jivamukti, 841 Broadway, between 13th and 14th streets, 2nd floor. For more information, contact Wendy Berner at NYC@NoFoieGras.org or 646-369-6212.

And as Olivia pointed out last week, on Thursday, Moo Shoes hosts a book party for Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World—get there early if you want some treats!

On Friday, Oct. 20, the new film Flicka opens. Because two horses died during filming, a lot of people in a lot of cities are going out to protest.

If you’d like to participate, check out this site, where you can download protest kits and post a message (under “Have Your Say!”) to find others in your city. You can also download flyers to hand out here.

If you’re on MySpace, you can post your location and make plans to meet with other activists here and here.

If you’re not comfortable demonstrating but would like to take a stand for animals in the entertainment industry, tell everyone you know why they shouldn’t go see this film.

Thanks to Frank Language for letting us know about this.

Filming was not as idyllic as the poster would have you believe.

Two horses perished last year during filming of the My Friend Flicka remake, which is set to be released in a few weeks.

The deaths occurred under the supervision of the American Humane Association, which has been charged with overseeing the safety of animals in films since a horse died during shooting on the 1939 film Jesse James. But the organization has been accused of having a conflict of interest because it is funded by the Screen Actors Guild.

While the AHA said the Flicka-related deaths were unavoidable, one way to prevent such fatalities is to not use live animals in movies in the first place.

Because of the deaths, the AHA’s “No animals were harmed…” disclaimer will not appear at the end of the film, and the organization is said to be looking into stricter guidelines for animal uses in films, including the possible ban of rodeo scenes.

Tell the AHA that the deaths of animals for the sake of human entertainment is not acceptable, and ask everyone you know not to patronize the film.

Thanks to Frank Language for letting us know about this.

Fantastic news for those who have been following The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. The first half of the battle was won with the passing of H.R. 503 on September 7th. In order for the legislation to go into effect, however, the Senate must also pass S. 1915.

To assure that horse slaughter is finally brought to a halt in the US, groups such as Equine Advocates, Inc,. and Hoofpac are tracking the legislation with informative websites outlining the issue. Also check out the HSUS website to see how you can help urge the Senate to pass this humane piece of legislation.

Lots of folks are getting active to get justice for Juliet the Central Park carriage horse who died last Friday.

Edita Birnkrant, NYC Coordinator for Friends of Animals and a founding member of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, reports that the New York Times article on Juliet’s death contained many inaccuracies due to the fact that most of the information came from the carriage driver. Ms. Birnkrant says that a vet never arrived on the scene and advised the driver to beat the horse, as the article claims. In fact, the beating may have contributed to, or even caused, Juliet’s death.

The ASPCA is currently conducting an investigation to discover how and why Juiet died and if this is a case of criminal misconduct. The necropsy results are expected in a few days. Perhaps then we’ll have more answers.

Tomorrow (Thursday, Sept 21) PETA will host a protest of NYC’s carriage rides at City Hall. Activists will meet at Noon on Park Row between Spruce and Frankfort Streets. If you can attend, please call campaigner Matt Rice at 757-943-0340 and let him know you’re coming.

The New York Times reports on the death of Juliet, a Central Park carriage horse. It mostly reads as a tragic tale of a screwed up situation; Juliet’s “owner” seems to have done his best for her, given his circumstances.

This would be a good moment to check out the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, and perhaps sign their petition to ban the carriage horse industry in New York City.

It will be a great day when this cruel relic of tourist amusement is gone for good.

One surprising fact from the Times article: the cash value of a carriage horse is only $1,700. Maybe we can just buy them all up and put the industry out of business.

The Horse Slaughter Prevention Act may be heard by the House on Thursday, so your help is needed immediately. Willie Nelson talks about why this bill is so important.

If you haven’t already, e-mail your representatives and ask them to ban the killing of horses and the transport of horse flesh and live horses for the purpose of human consumption.

On Tuesday, join the rally in DC, then lobby the House to pass H.R. 503. And on Wednesday, take part in National Call-In Day for Horses by asking your legislator to protect America’s equines.

As if horse racing isn’t dangerous enough—between the excessive heat and the risk of injury (who can forget what happened to poor Barbaro?)—there’s the Omak Stampede and World Famous Suicide Race in Washington.

While some say that the “race” is a chance to take part in a Native American tradition, the event itself actually started in 1936 as a way to boost tourism. For four days and nights, riders force their horses down “Suicide Hill,” through a narrow passage down to the river, and finally, up a 500-foot hill. Since 1983 alone, the race—which takes place each August (this year’s starts on Thursday)—has been responsible for the deaths of at least 20 horses, not to mention countless injuries.

Join In Defense of Animals and the Humane Society of the United States and urge the organizers and sponsors of the Suicide Race to stop what is essentially the senseless torturing and killing of horses in the name of “entertainment.”