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OBJECTIVES

1. To promote and propagate ethical values in human lives.
2. To promote kindness and compassion towards all animals.
3. To promote Vegetarianism and Veganism amongst people.
4. To work for animal welfare and support Animal welfare organizations to prevent animal abuse and cruelty by way of education, campaign, participation and assist them in pet adoption programs and fund raising .
5. To bring about an awareness about conservation of environment and natural resources.
6. To propagate the message of simple lifestyle and stress-free living


Why we started this blog

Today our lives are on the fast lane. We are spending most of our time and energy in pursuit of higher education, a lucrative career and a luxurious life style. However, with our fast-track consumerist life style are we turning a blind eye towards the sufferings of others? Do we spare some thought as to how our thoughts and actions are impacting the life of others? Are we becoming indifferent and insensitive to what is happening around us? Are we that busy as to have no time to take care of our old parents? Do our families mean only our spouses and children? Can’t we give some time for our neighbors, the poor and the needy? Do we care for the animals that share this planet with us? Do we bother if they die of hunger, disease or accident? Do we really need to drive so fast, even it means risking the life of others and the poor animals on the street? Are we here just to live, enjoy and have a lavish life style?

Let us reflect a bit. Time does not wait. We get old. Our joints begin to ache… Our sight becomes blurred, our ears fail. Our health deteriorates. Our friends move away. Our children may dump us.. We feel helpless. We feel guilty of our past life. We feel we could have lived better, helped a few…but it is all too late by now. Life has come a full circle..

There is this conscience in all of us. In our heart we want to do good but we are lost in a world of our own. As children we are born with lots of compassion. We want to pick up that little puppy on the road and take it home as a pet. We want to help our grand Pa. We want to give food to that poor little boy… But all these qualities are lost over a period of time as we gradually get ‘conditioned’ by the society around us.

Through this blog we wish to remind ourselves that we are born as good human beings to lead a life on the righteous path. It means that we live in harmony with our fellow beings causing minimal harm. It implies leading an ethical life full of compassion, love, honesty, tolerance, patience, chastity and simplicity. We want to remind ourselves that the core values of all religions are the same-compassion being the very foundation of humane living. We wish to see the elegance of simplicity. We wish to feel the joy of giving and sharing. We wish to see the world around that is free of corruption, injustice and cruelty.

This forum is open to all castes and creeds, and to all those who believe in ethical values and humane living. This is a forum for discussion on ethical values that form the core of all religions.

Animal Welfare

Through this blog we wish to propagate the message of compassion to all animals. We wish to spread the message of non-violence and propagate the philosophy of happy and peaceful coexistence with all animals. We believe in animal rights and strive for their well being. We wish to convey that they are no ‘stray’ animals. Animals are very much like us –they have a mind of their own and experience hunger, pain and emotions just like we humans do. They are our best friends and highly trust worthy. They are not meant for our consumption.

There are a number of animal welfare organizations who are striving hard for the cause of animal welfare. The most noteworthy of these organization is PETA (People for ethical treatment of Animals) – http://www.peta.org . PETA has a global reach and its work in the field of animal welfare has been outstanding. PETA’s campaign against cruelty to and abuse of animals is reflected in the following statements:

• Animals Are Not Ours to Eat
• Animals Are Not Ours to Wear
• Animals Are Not Ours to Experiment On
• Animals Are Not Ours to Use for Entertainment
• Animals Are Not Ours to Abuse in Any Way

Please do visit these links to learn more.

In India too there have been several animal welfare organizations. A list of these organizations is available at:

http://www.weforanimals.com/animal%20welfare%20organizations/animal-welfare-organizations-2.htm

In Bangalore too there are several animal welfare organizations. Notable of them are CUPA (compassion unlimited plus action) -http://www.cupabangalore.org and Karuna Animal Welfare association of Karnataka http://www.karunaanimalwelfare.org

CUPA operates a regular 16-hour ambulance facility for picking up sick, injured and abandoned stray animals from within and around the city for treatment at the KVAFSU-CUPA Animal Shelter at the Veterinary College Campus at Hebbal.

For requesting the ambulance service, the nos. are 22947300/301.

Karuna Animal Welfare Association of Karnataka

Office : 2860205 / 3511329
Animal Shelter : 23411181.

When you find a sick or injured animal such as a street dog, please do call any of the above organizations. They will pick up the animal and give it the necessary treatment. It is just as simple as that.

Lets live together is yet another such animal welfare organization. They pick up abandoned puppies from the street and conduct adoption camps and awareness programs and put up stalls at public gatherings, events, etc. Please visit their website:

http://letslivetogether.wordpress.com/

Vegetarianism

Through this blog we wish to promote Vegetarianism and Veganism. We would like to remind here that killing animals for food is an extremely barbaric act and causes unimaginable pain and sufferings to the poor, innocent and hapless animals. This is not only unethical but also causes tremendous damage to the environment and one’s own health.

To understand the environmental impact just consider these statements found in

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_effects_of_meat_production

“The data we had indicated that a beef animal consumed 100 kg of hay and 4 kg of grain per 1 kg of beef produced. Using the basic rule that it takes about 1,000 liters of water to produce 1 kg of hay and grain, thus about 100,000 liters were required to produce the 1 kg of beef.”

“Significant negative effects of riparian ecosystems are also associated with meat production in the United States; in fact, 80% of stream and riparian habitats in the western US have been negatively impacted by livestock grazing”

“At a global scale, a 29 November 2006 United Nations report called the Livestock's Long Shadow - Environmental Issues and Options assesses the meat and livestock industry to contribute to about 9% of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, including 37% of methane and 65% of nitrous oxide emissions.”

Also, the following statement is found in

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism

“According to a 2006 United Nations initiative, the livestock industry is one of the largest contributors to environmental degradation worldwide, and modern practices of raising animals for food contributes on a "massive scale" to air and water pollution, land degradation, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. The initiative concluded that "the livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.”

It is now well established that Green house gases such as Methane are responsible for the alarming phenomenon of global warming.

A vegetarian diet usually includes cow milk and all milk-derived products. Such a diet is called lacto-vegetarianism. Sometimes eggs are also included in which case it is called ovo-lacto-vegetarianism.

Veganism

When it comes to compassion to animals a vegetarian diet (at least in today’s context) still falls short of meeting the ideal. Herein comes the vegan diet which is the most compassionate diet and is totally cruelty-free. A vegan diet goes far beyond the vegetarian diet and avoids all kinds of animal products. A vegan does not consume any animal based product or products that are tested on animals. A Vegan lifestyle completely avoids meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, honey, fur, leather, wool, and silk. Common animal products also include gelatin, lanolin, rennet, whey, casein, beeswax, isinglass, and shellac.

The inclusion of dairy products (cow’s milk and all its derived products such as curds, butter milk, butter, ghee, paneer, cheese etc) in this list may surprise many as traditionally drinking milk has been considered ethical and healthy. In olden days, cows used to be reared in houses for milk with kindness and care. But today's dairy industry is nothing but torture and brutality to the cows-all for the sake of milk. The cows are treated very badly, artificially inseminated, milked recklessly with machines, calves are abandoned, and all through their lives they suffer from constant pregnancy. Their life span gets shortened 3 to 4 times and the moment they become unproductive, they are sent to slaughter houses. This is the story of the holy cow that we revere and worship. It is the same in India too. For a full story of the Indian dairy industry take a look at PETA’s report:

http://www.petaindia.com/pdf/PTA_DairyReport_0212081.pdf

And we thought milk was good for our health? There is overwhelming scientific evidence that it is not so. Dr. Benjamin Spock, M.D., "Child Care”, 7th Edition, writes:

"Cow's milk has become a point of controversy among doctors and nutritionists. There was a time when it was considered very desirable, but research has forced us to rethink this recommendation... dairy products contribute to a surprising number of health problems..."

Also click the link here to see how hazardous cow’s milk can be:

http://www.notmilk.com/kradjian.html

Similar is the story with leather. It is a case of extreme brutality to animals. Moreover, Leather tanning is an extremely hazardous industry. We can easily avoid leather as there are so many alternatives to leather.

A vegan life style is most compassionate, environmentally friendly and healthy. Although veganism is still not well known in India, it is quite popular in several countries like UK and USA.

For more information on veganism you may visit:

http://www.indianvegan.com/
http://www.arfindia.org/
http://www.sharan-india.org/

Conservation of environment and natural resources

The need of the hour is to conserve our natural resources such as air, water, land, forests, seas, rivers, flora and fauna etc. Global warming is posing a real threat to mankind. Through this forum we wish to create awareness about these aspects. We will be posting articles about these topics at regular intervals.

Stress-free and simple life style

In today’s fast-paced, competitive world, stress has taken control of our everyday lives. It appears that these days stress is everywhere … whether we’re at office, home, school or on the road. Being able to recognize and manage stress is fast becoming an essential life skill.

In fact, being unable to mange stress has been shown to lead to a innumerable physical and mental problems, including cancer, heart disease, migraines, gastrointestinal problems, arthritis, insomnia, anxiety and depression just to name a few.

So what can we do to simplify our life, reduce harmful stress and protect our health? We will be posting articles about these topics at regular intervals.

Objectives :

1. To promote and propagate ethical values in human lives.
2. To promote kindness and compassion towards all animals.
3. To promote Vegetarianism and Veganism amongst people.
4. To work for animal welfare and support Animal welfare organizations to prevent animal abuse and cruelty by way of education, campaign, participation, pet adoption and assist them in fund raising .
5. To bring about an awareness about conservation of environment and natural resources.
6. To propagate the message of simple lifestyle and stress-free living

Join hands to make the above mentioned objectives a reality

Any queries and suggestions related to this group,let us discuss on

prevanka@yahoogroups.co.in

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