| Protest Exotic Animal Rides at the Minnesota Ren Fest
Join us on Sunday, September 10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.for a peaceful and legal protest of the exotic animal rides at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Help us educate the public about why they should skip these rides and instead enjoy the activities that don't hurt animals. Meet at the Highway 169 entrance at 3525 145th St. West.
While many people jump at the chance to get close to animals by buying exotic animal rides, they probably wouldn't if they knew about the suffering the animals endure.The violence that goes into training animals used for rides isn't seen by the public because the owners of these operations know that people would be enraged if they knew how the animals are beaten into submission. They have to make the elephants so scared and avoidant of the bull hook the handler carries that they will behave in front of spectators.
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Begging for water, the handler poked her with his bull hook and gave her a Coke. Photo by Captured by Brooke Photography at this year's MN Ren Fest. Read Brooke's moving post "The Sad Truth at Ren Fest" and see the rest of her heart-wrenching photos of the animals at the fest. | |
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| These animals are trucked around the country from site to site in small trailers or trucks. In the wild, they have extensive social networks and travel miles on foot every day. But when they're sentenced to being amusement park rides they plod in boring circles day after day with hundreds of pounds of their back, for hour upon boring uncomfortable hour.
The Ren Fest appears to ignore public safety too. Even the U.S. Department of Agriculture has gone on record stating "You always put yourself at risk when you go near an elephant, no matter how good the trainer/handler and elephant appear to be." This is because elephants are wild animals who are forced to comply with their handlers' demands by force and, sometimes, they will reach a limit, resist their captors, and revolt. Yet even with their knowledge of the inherent cruelty and danger, the MN Ren Fest continues to feature these rides, despite having stopped the elephant rides at the Kansas City Ren Fest, which is owned by the same company as the MN Ren Fest. See the Shakopee Valley News story on this issue and please take the time to comment on the Ren Fest Facebook page or to email the fest.
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|  | Chelsea and Colin wearing the new Feed Me Vegan aprons, which will be available for sale at the Animal Rights Coalition booth |
| Feed Me Vegan at VegFest
Feed Me Vegan hosts Chelsea and Norine are doing a cooking demo at the Twin Cities VegFest on Saturday, September 9 at 3:45 p.m in the big tent. Have an instant pot sitting in the box? Want to know what the buzz is all about? Join them for "Stress Free Pressure Cooking." THey will make a delicious Thai Peanut Curry with Rice and you'll get to try it!
In the meantime, watch Feed Me Vegan Episode 29 featuring Colin Anderson from Eureka Compass Vegan Food who will teach you how to make delicious vegan breakfast sausage. And check out all the other Feed Me Vegan episodes on YouTube.
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| Welcome Kelsey!
Give a warm welcome to ARC's new Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator, Kelsey Hambor. Kelsey replaced Katie Arndt, who recently started law school. You'll be seeing Kelsey at various outreach events and around the office. She's the person to talk to if you're interested in volunteering with ARC. We're excited about the energy she brings to our team! You can email her at kelsey@animalrightscoalition.com.
Kelsey has a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and Health Psychology and was inspired to become vegan by a friend and a speaker in one of her classes who explained the impact that animal agriculture has on our planet's water supply. Kelsey enjoys trying new vegan recipes, going on adventures outside, and educating people on about how to live a healthy and compassionate lifestyle.
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Vegan food samples, virtual reality, and recipes at the Duluth Superior Pride Festival. We handed out over 400 vegan food samples and had lots of folks view our virtual reality experience about the lives of animals used for food. | |
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|  | A great day of outreach
at City Center Market Co-op in Cambridge. We handed out over 250 vegan burger samples and lots of vegan starter kits. We'll be back to Cambridge on 9/21 to do a vegan cooking class at this new location. | |  | Our booth at Open Streets on Hennepin got lots of traffic.
Thanks to volunteers Shaun, Jessica R., Jessica B, and Dan
for your great conversations
with attendees about
plant-based eating. | |
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| Fall Farmer's Market Outreach
ARC will be at local farmer's markets and Open Streets events this fall where we will give out information about plant-based eating and sample food items such as Primal Strips vegan jerky.
Email Kelsey, our Volunteer Coordinator, if you're interested in volunteering. It's a great way to get the message out to a receptive crowd about how a plant-based diet is good for the animals, the earth, and one's health. We have openings at the 10/8 Kingfield Farmer's Market, the 9/16 and 10/14 Midtown Farmer's Market, and the 9/24 Open Streets Nicollet event.
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| Wanted: One Awesome Board Member
ARC is seeking a board member with fundraising experience and/or an interest in fundraising. This board member will focus primarily on helping to lead and grow ARC's fundraising initiatives, with input and support from the rest of the board and the Program Director. Board members participate in monthly meetings (in person and via email) and in strategic planning for the organization, and attend events as available. If you have relevant experience, please consider joining our committed and active Board of Directors in helping to make our part of the world a better place for animals. Email Charlotte if you're interested.
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| Dedications
In memory of my sister Mavon Thomasberg and my brother Richard Ostby – Ms. Daryl Ostby
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