by Keith Akers Lantern Books (128 2nd Place, Garden Suite Brooklyn, NY 11231), 2001. 260 pages, paperback. $20.00. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Denver vegetarian advocate Keith Akers, perhaps best known for compiling A Vegetarian Sourcebook (1983), earned his B.A. in philosophy 45 years ago at Vanderbilt University. Akers turned to computer programming to make a living, […]
Did the Gadhi Mai Temple Trust renege on deal to quit animal sacrifice?
Were leading animal charities scammed? KATHMANDU, Nepal––Could the Humane Society of the U.S., Humane Society International, and leading Indian and Nepalese animal charities all have been scammed by the July 28, 2015 alleged agreement of the Gadhi Mai Temple Trust to discontinue animal sacrifice? Was there some misunderstanding about the nature of the […]
Gadhi Mai sacrifices stopped
HSUS & HSI victory claims omit mention of those who won it KATHMANDU, Nepal––Under pressure of a Supreme Court of Nepal injunction won on November 24, 2014 by the Nepal Animal Welfare & Research Center, “We have decided to completely stop the practice of animal sacrifice,” Gadhi Mai Temple Trust secretary Motilal Prasad on […]
No karmic bridge links the Nepal earthquake to Gadhi Mai
Editor’s note: Jan Salter, a legend in Himalayan humane work, offers a second perspective and further detail about the Nepal earthquake relief effort at “Nepal earthquake update from Jan Salter, founder, KAT Centre,” and Animal Nepal’s post-earthquake report. KATHMANDU––“The Nepal Animal Welfare & Research Center now is critically suffering from the [post-earthquake] financial crisis and can’t operate […]
Beauty Without Cruelty-India exposes Gadhi Mai scam
PUNE, India––Gullible opponents of the Gadhi Mai mass sacrifice in Nepal have inadvertently helped the priests behind it to scam some of the poorest people in the world, a multi-year investigation by Beauty Without Cruelty India has discovered. Held approximately every five years in Bariyarpur, Nepal, 26 kilometers from the border with Bihar state, India, […]
Makar Sankranti cuts birds out of the skies
MUMBAI, PUNE, AHMEDABAD––Preliminary estimates indicate that fewer birds were killed or injured by kite strings during Makar Sankranti 2015 than a year earlier, but the annual Hindu “Festival of the Sun,” observed on January 14 this year, remains perhaps as deadly to birds over western India as opening day of hunting season in nations where […]
Jurist V.R. Krishna Iyer, 100, fought for captive elephants
Vaidyanathapura Rama Krishna Iyer, 100, among India’s most distinguished jurists, advocates for animals, and advocates in particular for improving the lives of temple elephants, died on December 4, 2014 from the combination of renal and cardiac failure. Though of Tamil Brahmin family background, V.R. Krishna Iyer was born and raised in the Malabar region of […]
The toll from Gadhi Mai 2014: 750 buffalo sacrificed, 1,000 devotees in attendance
Debate about the numbers of buffalo sacrificed at the November 27, 2014 Gadhi Mai sacrificial festival at Bariyarpur, Nepal and the numbers of human participants and sacrificial devotees present should be ended by this drone photo of the corrals where the sacrifices were conducted: the toll was significantly lower than the numbers of cattle […]
Ignoring Thanksgiving massacre, HSUS president Wayne Pacelle denounces animal sacrifice in Nepal
Editorial by Merritt Clifton Denouncing one of the largest animal sacrifices in the world at Thanksgiving 2014 would have been thoroughly appropriate for Humane Society of the U.S. and Humane Society International president Wayne Pacelle––if only he had done it. Any cruelty to animals is worthy of denunciation. The larger and more conspicuous the cruelty, […]
Supreme Court of India ruling covers tracks on Gadhi Mai sacrifice
DELHI––Did a two-justice bench from the Supreme Court of India on October 17, 2014 strike a mighty blow against animal sacrifices at the Gadhi Mai festival, to be held in the village of Bariyarpur, Nepal, on November 28-29, 2014? Or did the Supreme Court justices just hand the government of India and a coalition of […]