Vegan Candy and Conversation at the Howl-O-Ween 5K

Posted on by NHARL in In the News

On October 22, 2022, the New Hampshire Animal Rights League took part in the Animal Rescue League of NH’s annual Howl-O-Ween 5K with table featuring vegan Halloween candy and literature.

During this popular event, where costumed dogs and their people run a 3-mile race, we brought attention to less fortunate animals — those raised and killed for food.

Using Halloween candy as a starting point for talking about veganism, we explained why gelatin is gruesome and dairy is scary, while offering up a list of cruelty-free candy options.

vegan Dog Treats

For our canine visitors, we had two kinds of pumpkin treats — both very popular with the dogs who stopped by our table.

Why Do We Love One and Eat the Other?

Unfortunately, people who love dogs do not necessarily extend that care and concern to cows, pigs, and other animals considered food. To illustrate, among the dog lovers we met at the 5K event was a butcher, a turkey farmer, a pheasant hunter, and a woman who swears by her “paleo” diet.

While these folks haven’t yet recognized that all living beings should be spared unnecessary suffering, we also met quite a few vegans and vegetarians at the event.

Everyone went home with a bag of vegan candy and some vegan literature (shown below), in hopes of planting seeds.

Thank you to our volunteers and to everyone who stopped by our table.

Happy and cruelty-free Halloween!

Oct 21, 2023 – Howl-o-Ween 5K

Posted on by NHARL in Events (Passed)

NHARL will have a table at the Howl-O-Ween 5K hosted by the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire. If you would like to help out at our table, please send a message to info@nhanimalrights.org.

Run/Walk with the NHARL Team!

New this year, we have organized a NH Animal Rights League Team to do the 5K and help raise money for the Animal Rescue League.

This is a great opportunity to get out and be active with the whole family, including your dog(s). Join in the Halloween spirit and wear your favorite costume!

You can also donate to support one of our runners/walkers and visit our table at the event.

Join Team NHARL!
Donate to Support the Walkers

900 Degreees Pizzeria Fundariser

Posted on by NHARL in Events (Passed)

On Monday, September 18, 2023 New Hampshire Animal Rights League is partnering with 900 Degrees Pizzeria to “raise dough” for our organization!

Join us at 900 Degrees on the 18th, anytime from 5:00 pm to closing, and be sure to mention you are there for NH Animal Rights League!  The restaurant is generously offering us a percentage of total dining sales for our event.

900 Degrees Pizzeria offers an extensive and delicious plant-based menu:

900 degress menu

So grab the family or a group of friends and treat yourself to a Monday night out. Let’s show the pizzeria that plant-based pies are in demand while also raising some dough for NHARL!

If the weather is nice, bring your four-legged friend and enjoy outdoor dining on the patio.

900 Degrees Pizzeria Fundraiser
Monday, September 18
50 Dow Street, Manchester, NH
603-641-0900

Record turnout for Annual Summer Outing

Posted on by NHARL in In the News

After two missed summers due to the pandemic, the New Hampshire Animal Rights League’s summer outing returned on August 21, 2022 at Four Tree Island, Portsmouth with a record turnout!

It was a perfect day to be by the water, enjoying delicious vegan food, greeting old friends and making new ones, and learning about how we can protect the ocean and all sea life.

Vegan picnic fare was provided by Common Roots, a cafe, market, and yoga studio located in Rye, NH. President James Glover spent the day behind the grill (thank you, James!), serving up plant-based burgers and hot dogs. 

The Vegan Pirates proved to be indispensable, jumping in to work the food line, doling out sides of pasta salad, potato salad, vegan lobster rolls, and chips.

Dessert was a decadent platter of mouthwatering vegan brownies and chocolate chip cookies.

Special guest!

Just when it seemed things couldn’t be any more perfect, Ariel the Little Mermaid showed up! 

Ariel from Precious Parties by Kayla quickly had a line of children trailing her as she gave out hugs and shared tales of her underwater adventures.

During story time, Ariel read some books about compassion for animals, including sea animals, who are often overlooked. 

Speaking up for sea life

As the Little Mermaid can attest, fish are intelligent animals who feel pain just as we do. Because no U.S. law regulates the treatment of fish, both the commercial fishing industry and fish farms treat fish in ways that would be criminal if they were dogs or cats. 

Fishing is also bad for the environment. Bottom trawlers, commonly used in commercial fishing, drag nets larger than football fields along the ocean floor, scraping up everything in their path, including dolphins and sea turtles, and destroying entire underwater ecosystems in the process.

Posters were on display with information about the harm caused by fishing. (Scroll down to see the quiz questions and answers.)

Quiz

Lobster poster Q: In which three countries is it illegal to boil lobsters alive? A: Switzerland, Norway, and New Zealand

Fish poster Q: Every day the commercial fishing industry sets enough “longlines” to wrap around the entire earth how many times? A: 500

Shark poster Q: What is the best way to help sharks? A: Don’t eat fish. The commercial fishing industry kills more sharks than any other activity.

Turtle poster Q: What is the best way to keep plastic out of the ocean? A: Don’t eat fish. The commercial fishing industry is responsible for 46% of the plastic waste in the ocean.

Recipes

We also handed out delicious fish-free recipe cards. If you would like these recipe cards, just drop us an email at info@nhanimalrights.org and we’ll mail them to you!

Raffle

Lastly, we had a raffle, with the lucky winner taking home a treasure chest containing movie night snacks, 4 movie tickets to Chunky’s, and $20 toward vegan movie fare (yes, Chunky’s has the Beyond Burger!).

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who came out for this bigger-than-ever summer outing, to all our helpers, and to those who made donations. We couldn’t do this work for animals without your support.

Speaking Up for Chickens at the Market Days Festival

Posted on by NHARL in In the News

Winner of the Ninja Air fryer

Thank you to everyone who entered to win the Ninja Air Fryer and accompanying plant-based air fryer cookbook. Our lucky winner was Jesse Cote!

New Hampshire Animal Rights League is pleased to share the news of our successful outreach efforts at the Market Days Festival in downtown Concord, NH. 

During this three-day event (June 23- 25), we spread the word about the work we do for animals and answered the question: What’s Wrong with Eating Eggs?

Visitors to our booth learned that there is a great deal of suffering and death involved  in the production of eggs. Whether raising caged or free-range chickens, it is standard practice in the egg industry to:

  • Obtain hens from hatcheries that kill all male chicks at birth. (All American hatcheries kill male chicks.)
  • Cut or burn off hens’ sensitive beaks to minimize how much they can damage themselves and others.
  • Crowd “free-range” hens so densely most never find their way outside.
  • Send hens to slaughter when their egg production decreases and the shells thin, around age 7-12 months.

Eye-Opening Video

We enticed approximately 200 people to watch the following 1-minute video from Farm Sanctuary founder Gene Baur answering the question, “What’s Wrong with Eggs?”

Those who watched the video received a free can of vegan cold brew coffee from RISE Brewing Co. along with some conversation about what they had seen.

“Male” Chick Toys

We gave out “male” chick toys to draw people in so we could tell them what happens to the male chicks at the hatcheries that supply hens to egg farms as well as backyard chicken keepers.

 

On the tag, we wrote, “I lived only hours, because I was male — I had no worth, since I would never lay eggs.”

We included a QR code (with warning label) that opens a video of chicks being dumped into a macerator.

Goodie Bags

We handed out close to 200 “goodie” bags containing vegan literature (sampling below), vegan protein cookies from Munk Pack, and meatless jerky from Primal Spirit Foods.

Brochure

We showed visitors some of our favorite egg substitutes and handed out a brochure with more information.

The future is vegan

While much of the food at the festival was not vegan, encouragingly many vendors did offer a vegan option. Deadproof Pizza jokingly called theirs the “Obligatory Vegan Item.”

Free advertising space

On the backside of our tent, we displayed a heartbreaking illustration of speciesism drawn by friend of NHARL Holley Ackerson.

Thank you

Thank you to all our supporters and to everyone who stopped by to learn what’s wrong with eating eggs.

We hope to see you again next year!

Jun 22-24, 2023 – Concord Market Days 2023

Posted on by NHARL in Events (Passed)

From Thu, June 22 through to Sat, June 24, 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, NHARL will once again have a tent at the Market Days Festival in downtown Concord. Our exhibit will focus on promoting a vegan lifestyle — by sharing information about the harms of fishing and eating fish.

We are looking for volunteers to help with handing out treats and literature and talking to visitors. You can volunteer for a full shift — or just an hour or so.

Market Days is lots of fun, and you can walk around and enjoy the festival before or after your shift. Bring along your family or a friend!

Review volunteer opportunities and sign up

Market Days Festival 2022

Successful Outreach at NH SPCA PAWS Walk

Posted on by NHARL in In the News

New Hampshire Animal Rights League was on site at the NH SPCA’s annual PAWS Walk Fundraiser to answer the question: “What’s Wrong with Eating Eggs?”

Chickens make wonderful companions, and we encourage adopting birds from an animal shelter, such as the NH SPCA. But there are a number of problems with keeping chickens for the purpose of eating their eggs.

We explained to visitors that there is a great deal of suffering and death involved in producing eggs — even those from “free-range” farms, which are increasingly becoming the target of law suits for deceptive marketing.

Whether raising caged or free-range chickens, it is standard practice in the egg industry to:
  • Obtain hens from hatcheries that kill all male chicks at birth. (All American hatcheries kill male chicks.)
  • Cut or burn off hens’ sensitive beaks to minimize how much they can damage themselves and others.
  • Crowd “free-range” hens so densely most never find their way outside.
  • Send hens to slaughter when their egg production decreases and the shells thin, around age 7-12 months.
We showed visitors some of our favorite egg substitutes, gave away samples of Black Salt (Kala Namak), which can be used to add an “eggy” flavor to dishes, and handed out a brochure with more information, along with vegan starter kits.

Overall, it was a very productive day for NHARL, with lots of meaningful conversations and a bunch of new names for our mailing list.

Jun 6, 2023 – PAWS Walk 2023

Posted on by NHARL in Events (Passed)

Jun 4, 2023 — NH SPCA PAWS Walk

NHARL will have a table at the NH SPCA’s annual Paws Walk on Sunday, June 4. If you would like to help out at our table, please send a message to info@nhanimalrights.org.

Join Team NHARL

New this year, one of our members has also organized “Team NHARL” to do the PAWS WALK and raise money for homeless animals.  So grab your companion animal and come join us for this fun event! Team NHARL T-shirts will be available!

Join Team NHARL!
Donate to Support the Walkers

Letter: Using pandemic federal money for hatcheries is a misuse of funds

Posted on by NHARL in Articles & Letters, In the News

Letter to the Editor
The Conway Daily Sun
May 13, 2022 

Using pandemic federal money for hatcheries is a misuse of funds

New Hampshire Fish and Game has a fish hatchery problem. It is being sued by the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental advocacy organization, for polluting the Merrymeeting River with wastewater from its Powder Mill Fish Hatchery. According to Fish and Game, they cannot keep pollutant levels within EPA limits because the hatcheries, where staff raise millions of fish each year for “put and take” fishing, are old and in disrepair.

Despite taking in millions in fishing license revenue, which is matched by millions from the federal Sport Fishing Restoration Act of 1950, Fish and Game has somehow not managed to maintain and upgrade the hatcheries appropriately.

Recently, Fish and Game saw an opportunity to receive money for its polluting hatcheries in N.H.’s share of the federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. First, the department asked for and received $1 million in federal funds for a study to rebuild Powder Mill Hatchery. Then last month, they were back, asking for and receiving $55 million more to rebuild two other of the six state hatcheries.

Those in power think the unnatural process of farm-raised fishing is so important to New Hampshire that it warrants spending a huge chunk of pandemic recovery funding on it.

We each have an executive councilor who represents us and approved this expenditure. Express your outrage that N.H. fish hatcheries are getting money that should be used for pandemic relief. The hatcheries should be downsized or closed if license sales can’t pay for them.

LINDA DIONNE
Raymond