News from PETA: 1.SARS 2. Hamburg

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SARS Alert: Peta urges Asians to go vegetarian

 

SINGAPORE, April 28: An animal rights advocacy group urged Asians

today to go vegetarian amid fears that the SARS virus may have

originated from livestock in southern China

 

" Stop eating meat, " the USbased People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals (Peta) said in a statement sent with a mock medical mask

adorned with the pink face of a piglet and the slogan " Say No to Pig-

Farm Germs " .

 

The global death toll from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

is about 320 with some 5,000 cases reported, mostly in East Asia.

 

Peta, which advocates a vegetarian diet as the answer to many human

ailments, said " intensively confining animals create filth that

allows diseases to spread like wildfire " .

 

" As people in Asia eat more meat, they are putting the rest of the

world at risk, " the statement said, citing a " highly healthy " trend

in the West toward vegetarian diets. — (AFP)

 

 

Hamburg unmoved by animal group's name beef

 

Hamburg – 29 April 2003 - The German port of Hamburg has been offered

10,000 euros ($US10,500) to change its name to " Veggieburg " by animal

rights activists, who are unhappy about the city's association with

hamburgers.

 

The proposal has been made in a letter sent by People for the Ethical

Treatment of Animals (PETA) to Hamburg Mayor Ole von Beust on

Monday. " Hamburg could promote animal welfare and court sympathy for

animals by changing its name to Veggieburg, " the letter said.

 

The German chapter of PETA, which claims 750,000 members worldwide,

says the organisation would give Hamburg's childcare facilities

10,000 euros worth of vegetarian burgers if the city changed its

name.

 

But city officials in Hamburg, Germany's second largest city which

traces its roots the ninth century, were unmoved. " I cannot afford to

waste my time with this. I don't even want to look at nonsense like

this, " said Klaus May, a city government spokesman.

" But that doesn't mean we Hamburgers don't have a sense of humour. "

 

In its letter, PETA says the name " Hamburg " conjured up images

of " unhealthy beef patties made of pulverised dead cattle " . " Millions

of people fall ill each year with fatal ailments like heart disease,

cancer, strokes and diabetes from eating hamburgers, " PETA said.

 

The original " hamburger steak " , a dish made of ground beef, travelled

west with German migrants to the United States in the 19th century.

The first mention of " hamburgers " appeared on a menu in a New York

restaurant in 1834. Some historians trace its origins to a minced

beef sandwich once popular with sailors in Hamburg.

The city name " Hamburg " comes from the old Saxon words " ham " (bay)

and " burg " (fortress). PETA recently made a similar offer to the US

town of Hamburg, New York, but their $US15,000 bid was rejected.