CURRENT AND
UPCOMING EVENTS
Chip-In Event: Help This Loveable Pup Get Better!
via Empty Cages Collective:
Coffee (formerly A917748), a beautiful tan and white puppy, has had a rough start in this world. But Empty Cages Collective (www.emptycagescollective.org) is going to change all that! Coffee was abandoned by his former guardian at Manhattan Animal Care & Control where he quickly got sick. An adopter who was interested in adopting him from Animal Care & Control quickly lost interest when he was sneezing and coughing. Coffee was scheduled to be killed by the end of the night because he needed emergency veterinary care and had no one who loved him. Or so it seemed.Empty Cages Collective received a call from Manhattan Animal Care & Control asking if we could help. We were told we would need to answer quickly because he was sick and contagious and they wanted to kill him. We immediately arranged for him to be transported to 24-hour Veterinary Emergency & Speciality Hospital in lower Manhattan for critical care.Coffee had to be hospitalized for over a week! IV fluids, antibiotics, radiographs, bloodwork, the whole nine yards to help him! He tested positive for parvovirus, adenovirus, mycoplasma and two types of canine influenza which caused pneumonia. Without this care, he would have died. Without being rescued from NYC Animal Care & Control he would have been killed.Coffee is on the mend! Still on antibiotics and still with several return trips to the veterinarian, we need your help to raise money. It was very expensive to try to save Coffee. Please donate so that Coffee--and other needy animals have a chance to live! |
PAST EVENTS ARCHIVE
Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale Week (Continued From Home Page)
VegPress will be teaming up once again with Powers Street Cats this Saturday, April 30th, from 2:00pm - 6:00pm at Pine Box Rock Shop, NYC's first and only 100% VEGAN BAR, in Brooklyn, NY with TONS of vegan goodies; cupcakes, peanut butter cups, and a whole bunch of surprises await, so save some money and some room for a good cause and don't miss out! And if you come really, REALLY hungry, you can buy one of Pine Box's DELICIOUS vegan empanadas, and maybe even a refreshing happy hour drink! It's sure to be a good time had by all :)
If you host your own Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale event (or attend one) and want to send us pictures, we'd love to hear from you! Check out how to register and get all the info at www.veganbakesale.org - Good Luck! -vpo
If you host your own Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale event (or attend one) and want to send us pictures, we'd love to hear from you! Check out how to register and get all the info at www.veganbakesale.org - Good Luck! -vpo
First Annual NYC Vegetarian Food Festival: Cruelty-Free Food, Festivities, and Fun
Bunnyzilla, as we iike to call him, heralds in the fun that will take place this weekend as hundreds (or possibly thousands?) of vegans, vegetarians, and vegcurious folks get together for the vegetarian festival event of the season!
Food and fun enthusiasts who will be in or around NYC this weekend would do well to keep their schedule open for THE vegetarian event of the spring for the Big Apple; the first annual NYC Vegetarian Food Festival will kick off this Sunday, April 3rd, from 10am-6pm, with a whole host of activities, vendors, organizations, and restauranteurs in attendance. There will be not one but TWO stages offering both musical performances and guest speakers, tackling topics from the 21 Day Kick-Start to Vegan Parenting and all manner of things in between. Performances vary from folky songstresses to food demos and even festive bellydancing and yoga! And don't forget to set your watches (or Android alarms?) and wear elastic waistbands so you can take first place in the vegan donut eating competition! Come hungry as there will be lots of samples - oh and did we mention this event is FREE ADMISSION? That's right - free! Hope to see you there! - vpo
Vegfest 2010 Takes NYC By Storm!
Last month, New York lived up to its reputation as a city on the forefront of ideas and progressive thinking (although veganism is by no means a modern concept). Representatives from all walks of life and all manner of businesses and organizations came together to host and share a celebration of a lifestyle that supports compassion, empathy, positive thinking (and action), and, of course, love. We were lucky enough to have interviews with many of the vendors and organizations represented - please click on the videos shown here to see what thoughts people had to share and to get a (virtual) taste of what Vegfest NYC is all about! For more information on how you can get on board for next year's Vegfest, check out Vegfest NYC's Official Site!
VEGFEST NYC 2010 INTERVIEWS AND PHOTO GALLERY
Sea Shepherd
Bahkti Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant
"Ask Me Why I'm Vegetarian."
Mercy For Animals
A Powerful Thought.
Zen Soy - No GMOs!
POWERS ST CAT RESCUE TRAP AND RELEASE JOURNAL
Day One: Get Your Trappin' Gear Ready!
We set out having absolutely no idea what to expect - except for Rebecca, this was our very first TNR (Trap/Neuter/Release) operation, and we were all excited and nervous to see what would happen. As the sun went down, we began prepping our 16 traps with newspaper and plenty of (unfortunately non-vegan but VERY cat-friendly) bait. We cut old topsheets in half - each piece would serve to cover a cage after it had been sprung to keep the cats from freaking out (the cats can go completely BONKERS once they realize they're trapped, so its important to do this quickly - we were amazed to find the cats become calm instantaneously! Very handy trick). All of the weeks of planning that Amy had put into this project were finally coming together, without a hitch no less!
We set traps in various hotspots around the neighborhood - Dottie, a friendly neighborhood woman and self-proclaimed cat-lover, has been dutifully feeding the feral cats of the Powers Street neighborhood in Brooklyn for a long time and aside from it being a very sweet and loving thing to do, it made it a very easy location to trap in.
"Make sure you put some chicken out for Sylvester," Dottie said, referring to an adorable (and very tiny) little black-and-white tuxedo kitty that frequents her window looking for food and affection, "She's very picky."
We set most of the traps by Dottie's window and around her garbage cans, with other traps at the far end of the street by an area called Olive Garden (ahem, no relation to the fast-food restaurant of the same name - thankfully!). Then we split into groups with at least two of us in each location, and began to wait.
No sooner had we put the traps out at Dottie's house than we caught our first cat! As part of TNR, we had asked neighborhood "feeders" (like Dottie, people who leave food out regularly for feral cats) to forego feeding for a day so that the cats would be hungry and be interested in the food in the traps - and boy were they interested!
The night was full of excitement - we caught 9 CATS in our first go! we thought maybe we would catch two or three at best, with the forecast threatening a hurricane, and couldn't have been happier with the results. We placed the traps, now heavy with cats, in a large van and rode with them (some of us in the back to keep them company and also to make sure they were safe) to the recovery site/ shelter, hosted by the very awesome Neighborhood Cats.
Each cat was inspected and provided with clean newspaper, plenty of food and water. We made sure they were all settled in for the night, then headed home.
One day down, two to go - can't wait! <3
We set traps in various hotspots around the neighborhood - Dottie, a friendly neighborhood woman and self-proclaimed cat-lover, has been dutifully feeding the feral cats of the Powers Street neighborhood in Brooklyn for a long time and aside from it being a very sweet and loving thing to do, it made it a very easy location to trap in.
"Make sure you put some chicken out for Sylvester," Dottie said, referring to an adorable (and very tiny) little black-and-white tuxedo kitty that frequents her window looking for food and affection, "She's very picky."
We set most of the traps by Dottie's window and around her garbage cans, with other traps at the far end of the street by an area called Olive Garden (ahem, no relation to the fast-food restaurant of the same name - thankfully!). Then we split into groups with at least two of us in each location, and began to wait.
No sooner had we put the traps out at Dottie's house than we caught our first cat! As part of TNR, we had asked neighborhood "feeders" (like Dottie, people who leave food out regularly for feral cats) to forego feeding for a day so that the cats would be hungry and be interested in the food in the traps - and boy were they interested!
The night was full of excitement - we caught 9 CATS in our first go! we thought maybe we would catch two or three at best, with the forecast threatening a hurricane, and couldn't have been happier with the results. We placed the traps, now heavy with cats, in a large van and rode with them (some of us in the back to keep them company and also to make sure they were safe) to the recovery site/ shelter, hosted by the very awesome Neighborhood Cats.
Each cat was inspected and provided with clean newspaper, plenty of food and water. We made sure they were all settled in for the night, then headed home.
One day down, two to go - can't wait! <3
Preparing For ActionRebecca and Kiel show us some of the careful and extensive setup as they and the rest of the PSCR gang get ready for an unpredictable (and with fingers crossed, hopefully succesful) night of kitty cat wrangling for a good cause! Check out daily entries by visiting the PSCR Trap and Release Journal!
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Day Two/Three: Taking Care Of Kitties
amy makes instruction sheets for each cat
With two more full days of Trapping, the project was far from over. We went out each night to gather up the remaining kitty cats, but meanwhile back at the recovery space (graciously lent to us by Neighborhood Cats), there was plenty of work to do. Each cat had to have labels with instructions for surgery placed on their cages, and food and water changes twice daily, along with fresh newspaper replacements so the cats cages stayed clean and comfortable during their stay. We arrived at 9am to check on the cats and again between 6 and 7pm, before heading out to round up more cats.
The second and third nights actually proved most difficult for cat wrangling, as there were fewer and so they were more spread out. It was slow going, but eventually we rounded up the remaining cats, using a drop-trap (actually a very effective means of trapping) for some of the harder to trap cats. After three nights of steady work, the trapping portion of our adventure was not only finished, but a complete success! Having caught all the cats, we really couldn't have asked for a better outcome.
The second and third nights actually proved most difficult for cat wrangling, as there were fewer and so they were more spread out. It was slow going, but eventually we rounded up the remaining cats, using a drop-trap (actually a very effective means of trapping) for some of the harder to trap cats. After three nights of steady work, the trapping portion of our adventure was not only finished, but a complete success! Having caught all the cats, we really couldn't have asked for a better outcome.
Day Four: The Big Day (Surgery Day)
Day Four was probably the most important day of the whole operation; everything we had done, all the trapping and planning, had been leading up to this day, and it was certainly a big to-do. Fortunately, the ASPCA has a mobile unit that they were able to dispatch to the space (transporting 17 cats would have proven EXTREMELY difficult in NYC with no car to use, so we jumped at the offer!) - all the cats were brought on board, where each was treated in turn. Each cat was given some time to recover post surgery and then brought back into the space.
One of the saddest realities of TNR, as we discovered, is that cats that come into the operation pregnant must have the pregnancy terminated in order to complete the procedure. While there are mixed views on this, it is ultimately unavoidable if there is any chance of keeping the colony under control and preventing future harm/population outbreak amongst the cats. Two of the cats were discovered to be pregnant, but both made it through the surgery safely.
Post surgery, most of the cats slept - some were awake but very groggy, All the surgeries were a success and every cat came through with flying colors! Now it was time to rest up for a couple days in the recovery space, where the staff and the PSCR crew could keep an eye on the cats and make sure there were no post-surgery complications.
One of the saddest realities of TNR, as we discovered, is that cats that come into the operation pregnant must have the pregnancy terminated in order to complete the procedure. While there are mixed views on this, it is ultimately unavoidable if there is any chance of keeping the colony under control and preventing future harm/population outbreak amongst the cats. Two of the cats were discovered to be pregnant, but both made it through the surgery safely.
Post surgery, most of the cats slept - some were awake but very groggy, All the surgeries were a success and every cat came through with flying colors! Now it was time to rest up for a couple days in the recovery space, where the staff and the PSCR crew could keep an eye on the cats and make sure there were no post-surgery complications.
Powers Street Cat Rescue (PSRC) Donation Drive
The Powers Street Cat Rescue needs your help! Over the past few weeks, they have rescued 9 kittens who would have otherwise died on their neighborhood streets. 8 of the kittens are still with us and need desperately to find loving homes, but the problem doesn't stop there. These cute little kitties are only a small part of a much larger crisis...
In New York City, there are currently over 750,000 feral cats, a problem that stems from animal abandonment. Fending for themselves on the streets, these forgotten animals live harsh, often short lives, succumbing to starvation, illness, injury and the elements. Left unspayed and unneutered, these cats reproduce at an alarming rate, giving birth to litters frequently, many of which end up dying very young. Unless we get involved, this harsh cycle of animal suffering repeats itself.
With help from Neighborhood Cats, an NYC organization dedicated to education on feral cat colony maintenance and control, Powers Street Cat Rescue is going to be performing a TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) operation in the Powers Street Neighborhood. This compassionate method of animal control involves trapping the cats in cruelty-free traps, taking them to a certified vet for spay/neuter, providing recovery time for them in a safe, secure environment, and returning them to their neighborhood where they can live out the rest of their natural lives. This method helps to control the problem of neighborhood disturbance, phases down the feral population, and does no harm to the animal; in our opinion, its the best way to help solve the feral cat epidemic in NYC, and that's why we're showing our support.
But we can't do it alone - we need your help.
There are some 15-20 cats in this cat colony that need spay and neuter surgery, and PSCR has been paying out of their own personal pockets to cover costs for care of the kittens while they await adoption. Although total expenses will probably come to more, we hope to raise at least $1,000 towards their efforts. Every dollar counts, and whatever you can comfortably afford to donate is greatly appreciated. We will give updates on the project as it develops. Thank you so much for your time and wish us luck!
For more info on the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) method, or how to get involved if your neighborhood is facing a feral cat crisis, visit http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/
Be well, stay awesome, and thanks!
-VegPress.Org
In New York City, there are currently over 750,000 feral cats, a problem that stems from animal abandonment. Fending for themselves on the streets, these forgotten animals live harsh, often short lives, succumbing to starvation, illness, injury and the elements. Left unspayed and unneutered, these cats reproduce at an alarming rate, giving birth to litters frequently, many of which end up dying very young. Unless we get involved, this harsh cycle of animal suffering repeats itself.
With help from Neighborhood Cats, an NYC organization dedicated to education on feral cat colony maintenance and control, Powers Street Cat Rescue is going to be performing a TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) operation in the Powers Street Neighborhood. This compassionate method of animal control involves trapping the cats in cruelty-free traps, taking them to a certified vet for spay/neuter, providing recovery time for them in a safe, secure environment, and returning them to their neighborhood where they can live out the rest of their natural lives. This method helps to control the problem of neighborhood disturbance, phases down the feral population, and does no harm to the animal; in our opinion, its the best way to help solve the feral cat epidemic in NYC, and that's why we're showing our support.
But we can't do it alone - we need your help.
There are some 15-20 cats in this cat colony that need spay and neuter surgery, and PSCR has been paying out of their own personal pockets to cover costs for care of the kittens while they await adoption. Although total expenses will probably come to more, we hope to raise at least $1,000 towards their efforts. Every dollar counts, and whatever you can comfortably afford to donate is greatly appreciated. We will give updates on the project as it develops. Thank you so much for your time and wish us luck!
For more info on the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) method, or how to get involved if your neighborhood is facing a feral cat crisis, visit http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/
Be well, stay awesome, and thanks!
-VegPress.Org
Powers Street Cat Rescue Photo Gallery
New Haven Vegfest 2010
A fun day in the park celebrating veganism and community. Everyone in attendance brought a vegan dish for potluck. Various local vegan businesses and organizations hosted tables, including Elaine's Healthy Choice Restaurant, Kerin Eco-Boutique, the Queenie Foundation, and Little Monster Cupcakes. Raw Indulgence spon...sored the event by donating some samples of their yummy Raw Revolution Energy Bars. Local organic farmers from Ansonia, CT, gave out free tomato plants and shared some knowledge. Frisbee and a free stuff swap rounded out the day - a good time had by all :)
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