'La grandeco de nacio kaj sia morala progreso povas esti mezuritaj lau la maniero trakti siajn bestojn.' If we translate this Gandhi’s thought about greatness of a nation and its moral progress from Esperanto into English, we can see that fighting for animal rights happens regardless to national borders and that non-human animals don't understand the term of nationality. Now, let's take a brief look at actions that Animal Friends Croatia held for last month...

In this issue:
- Vegetarian barbecue draw great attention
- Greece wins the Olympic gold medal for shame!
- Don't kill, spay and neuter!
- A little bit of everything

Vegetarian barbecue draw great attention!

In several Croatian cities attractive activists and long-time vegetarians handed out vegetarian treats directly from grill. Scents of the barbecue lured passers-by who literally grabbed all raznjici (kabobs on skewer) and veggie sandwiches. While people were lining up waiting for veggie treats, we handed out info materials and the petition for introduction of vegetarian meals in public institutions was signed on our info stands. First barbecue took place in the center of Zagreb. Camera crews from all TV stations rounded up our attractive vegetarians Nina and Zeljka and our cook Mate, and their reports were broadcast in prime time news. People still talk about delicious barbecue our activists and cook Sinisa prepared in Varazdin, whilst pictures of the one in Rijeka can bee seen on our web page. You can also try out a recipe which can be found at the end of this newsletter.

With these demos, that were modeled on PETA's and our last-year campaign Lettuce Ladies, we brought to an end a very successful project 'Why Veg'. In this joint campaign of Animal Friends Croatia and FARM (Farm Animal Reform Movement) organization, which lasted during the last 11 months, we handed out over 100,000 leaflets, set 50 info stands and held 20 lectures with video projections on animal abuse in meat industry.

Greece wins the Olympic gold medal for shame!

On August 12, Animal Friends Croatia joined international demonstrations held in front of Greek embassies in New York, Barcelona, Bruxelles and other cities asking for boycott of the Olympics 2004 as well as Greek industry and tourism. On several occasions since September 2003 our organization warned of 'Greek tragedy' that ended up with mass poisonings and brutal killings of dogs and cats in the streets of Athens, as a result of Greek 'policy of beautifying of the Olympics'. On a demo in Zagreb, AFC president tried to personally present a protest letter to the Greek ambassador in Croatia, but no one from Greek embassy even bothered to open him the door. Therefore, the protest letter was left in their mailbox which was reported by all media and broadcast in all TV prime time news!

With this gesture and tens of thousands of corpses of killed dogs, Greece won the Olympic gold medal for shame and showed to the rest of the world the greatness and the moral progress of the people of Greece. Former cradle of civilization thus turned into a cradle of barbarism, and we hope that other nations won't follow this disgraceful example but to prove their greatness with more humane treatment of their own animals.

Don't kill, spay and neuter!

It's better to be safe than sorry! That was the message sent by Animal Friends Croatia's demos on August 19 in Zagreb and August 21 in Varazdin. Educational actions pointed out the advantages and necessity of spaying and neutering of dogs and cats as a humane and necessary solution to the overpopulation issue of unwanted companion animals. ''Guests'' on our info stands were spayed and neutered dogs and cats that attracted attention of numerous reporters and visitors who could also get advices from a veterinarian. Veterinarian Tatjana Zajec, manager of City Animal Shelter Dumovec, was talking about importance and purposefulness of spaying and neutering of companion animals. She also highlighted that all dogs in Dumovec shelter are vaccinated, spayed/neutered and marked with microchips while waiting for their new owners.

Flyers about spaying/neutering were also handed out and we urged citizens to adopt animals from the local animal shelter. Also, petition for support of new Animal Welfare Act which is waiting to be discussed upon in Parliament was signed.

A little bit of everything

:) In this issue we want to present you four new web pages concerning vegetarianism, factory farming, vivisection and animal rights. They provide very useful information and we believe you'll like them: www.saveaheartbeat.com, www.liveexportshame.com, www.LearningWithoutKilling.info, www.AnimalConsultants.org.

:) Once again we ask you not to buy animals, especially exotic animals, but to rather adopt a homeless animal from a shelter.

:) On September 7, a lecture about milk titled Milk - yes, but not from the animals will be held in Zagreb. In this lecture the word will be about hazards of animal milk for human consumption and health, its connection to destruction of environment, the unethical treatment of animals in a dairy industry. Also, various types of plant-derived milk will be discussed about together with their impact on our health.

:) We updated black and white list of cosmetics and cleansers producers and we have a good news that company Ismag, which doesn’t test on animals, is now introduced on Croatian market.

:) Besides new texts and pictures on our web page, we would like to recommend you an excellent PETA's video 'Chew on This', which sheds light on animal suffering and highlights many of the other reasons to choose a compassionate, plant-based diet. Our activists were again diligent and thanks to them 30 reasons why it is time to go vegetarian are now translated and can be seen on our Croatian web page.

:) Vegan Vans shoes from U.S. skateboarder and vegan Geoff Rowley are now available in stores in Zagreb, which clearly indicates ever greater popularity of ethical shoes in Croatia!

:) Ingredients for veggie raznjici (kabobs on skewer): 2 lbs button mushrooms, 1/2 lb soy (or seitan) chunks, 2 lbs eggplant, 2 lbs zucchini, 1 lb bell pepper, 2 lbs onion, soy sauce, crushed garlic, olive (or other) oil, salt and pepper. Wash the eggplants, cut them into cubes, salt them and sprinkle with garlic. Shortly cook soy chunks in salted water, drain and cut into cubes, add soy sauce and garlic. Cut button mushrooms, zucchini, onion and bell peppers. Put vegetables on wooden skewers, salt, pepper and oil them. Broil on the grill or in the oven.

And don’t forget: live compassionately, live vegan, and never stop working on raising collective awareness on protection, welfare and rights of all animals, wherever they are.

For the animals,

Your Animal Friends