Free Republic

Vegetarian alternatives to traditional holiday favorites are becoming increasingly popular and profitable by Rebecca Reisner With Thanksgiving upon us, the folks who make the vegetarian poultry alternative known as "Tofurky" have good reason to flap their wings. Having survived sitcom jokes and glacially slow initial sales, Turtle Island Foods is celebrating the sale of its 1 millionth Tofurky roast since the product was hatched in 1995. "At first, retailers didn't believe anyone was crazy enough to make a whole Tofurky roast for Thanksgiving," recalls Seth Tibbott, founder of Turtle Island Foods, located in Hood River, Ore. "The first one served...

London, England (AHN) - An animal rights activist in a small English fishing village prevented a contest in which fishermen hurl giant dead eel at each other by sending a threatening e-mail. The activist said he would film the contest to attract negative media attention to the village's annual tradition of "conger cuddling." Crowds have gathered in the village of Lyme Reggis every year for more than three decades to watch two teams of fisherman stand on wooden platforms and swing 25-pound dead eel at each other. The object of a conger cuddling match is to knock the opposing team...

Three animal rights extremists who attacked a terrified 75-year-old grandmother and her family for simply displaying a pro-hunting sticker on their car were today jailed for a total of three-and-a-half years. Natasha Avery, 39, Heather Nicholson, 38, and 19-year-old Daniel Wadham shouted 'scum' and 'perverts' at the grandmother who was with her 21-year-old grandson and his mother as they were stuck in a traffic jam in Richmond, Surrey. During the incident - branded "disgraceful" by the Judge - Nicholson and Wadham tried to drag the grandson out of the car by his legs and spat in his face before Nicholson...

The number of attacks by extremists on researchers using animals has decreased, according to figures released by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) yesterday. In the first six months of this year, 15 incidents were recorded at people's private homes, compared with 32 in the same period last year. The figures also show a drop in almost every area of activity by anti-vivisectionists, with demonstrations down from 670 to 424. "Good progress has been made ... in combating animal rights extremists," said Philip Wright, the ABPI's director of science and technology.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Greenpeace on Thursday said McDonald's was fueling Amazon rainforest destruction by using soybeans grown in the region as feed for chickens that end up served in the fast-food chain's European restaurants. In a reported entitled, "Eating up the Amazon," the environmental group said it has traced soy beans grown in illegally desforested areas of the rainforest to McDonald's Corp. restaurants, as well as other restaurant chains and supermarkets across Europe. "Fast Food giants like McDonald's are trashing the Amazon for cheap meat. Every time you buy a Chicken McNugget you could be taking a bite...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An animal rights group on Thursday appealed to the U.S. National Zoo in Washington to send its three remaining Asian elephants to an animal sanctuary and close its elephant exhibit. The appeal came a day after the zoo put down an arthritic Asian elephant who was said to have been in worsening pain. The elephant named Toni was 40. Elephants can live to be 60 or older. "Toni was clearly in bad shape and had been suffering for a long time. If she had been sent to a...