Taking Action for Animals

I’m still catching up after being away last weekend when I exhibited at the Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington, D.C. It was great to share the exhibit hall with so many non-profits and businesses that are helping animals in one way or another. 

Juno, a beagle rescued from a laboratory where she was used for testing cosmetics and household substances, was in attendance. (Here’s Juno’s website) This is the one conference where it is not unusual to see people sitting on the floor giving a dog belly rubs. In fact, Juno and the other dogs who visited were probably inundated with attention from all the animal lovers who were away from home and missing their pets.

I tabled with my Joyatri wares. The proceeds of the sale of all the Indian crafts that I sell are donated to animal welfare groups in India and elsewhere.

As a result of last weekend’s sales, I donated $250 to Visakha Society for the Protection and Care of Animals in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. This organization has innovative programs to help both animals and people, including providing vegan meals for the poor and using manure to produce biogas, which provides sustainable fuel and energy for the Animal Care Centre.

I also donated $100 to Lega Pro Animale in Castel Volturno, Italy, which works tirelessly to spay and neuter animals in Italy.

Although I didn’t attend any of the presentations or workshops, it was inspiring being around like-minded people and hearing the rousing talks at the banquet.

Here’s the obligatory yummy vegan food pic of the banquet dinner.

Nellie McKay, a huge animal advocate, provided the entertainment.

This song was obviously a big hit with the audience.

A more recent video.

This video of NPR’s Project Song shows Nellie writing and recording an original tune in a few days -- quite a feat considering the complexity of the results!