What a weekend!

Well, I had a great time at the conference. It was held in town, which was nice. We attended several sessions, although I always wonder if what I do is enough. One thing I'm determined to do is work with Compassion Over Killing to get foie gras banned in D.C. Chicago's done it. Philly's doing it. The state of California has done it (although it's taking eight years to phase out production?! Not until 2012?!). I'm sure the schmucko lobbyists will scream to Congress if this passes (a big if), but maybe we can get Humane USA, the Humane Society's Political Action Committee, to keep Congress from stomping on the District -- again.


We met the PETA chicken, their anti-KFC spokesbird:


I met Rory Friedman, coauthor of "Skinny Bitch," a pro-vegan book disguised as a diet book:


and I talked with tons of people (with whom I didn't get pics).

Sunday was the banquet, and it was not nearly as good as last year. We had a grainy thick lentil soup for our first course; thick hunks of poorly marinated, flavorless tempeh with a smattering of veggies for the main course; and a mediocre carrot cake for dessert. I am not the only person who was disappointed. When the servers were taking plates, there was a lot of tempeh left over. The entertainment however, was wonderful. Nellie McKay gave an excellent solo performance. In reponse to learning of how many Republicans had pro-animal votes (including one who won a Senate race versus a pro-cockfighting Democrat), she joked that she didn't know there were so many Republicans for animal rights and said it was as unexpected as angry lesbians for Buchanan. I'm surprised that Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has such a good record because he's objectionable in every other way. She has one of the sweetest demeanors on stage I've ever seen.

Patrick McDonnell, who draws the comic strip "Mutts" went through a series of his favorite comic strips. My boyfriend brought a whole bunch of stuff to get signed, which he did earlier in the day. And it turns out that every single book is a gift from me. I now have to make sure I know which books he has when I get him more Mutts stuff.

On Monday, the talks were divided into four tracks, but we sort of bounced a bit, concentrating mostly on Animal Issues. In a panel on companion animals, one woman talked about hoarders, people who keep incredibly large amounts of animals, and invariably providing poor care. I pointed out during the comment period that many of the people who do this are mentally ill, and the woman who discussed it said it was true, but they were concerned more for the animals. Now, it's not like I don't care about the animals in such a situation, but I'd like to think there's room in our hearts for the people who engage in this behavior--let's try to get them help--and the poor animals caught in these situations. And yes, let's make sure the people are never allowed to assume guardianship of animals again.

I was frequently kicking myself for not having bothered to bring a notebook. Next year, I intend to.

During a break (there's no way I can sit through more than two or three hour-long sessions in a row, so I skipped some), I chatted a bit with Nellie McKay at the Satya table and got a picture, which will not post. Snarl! We chatted about veganism and feminism, issues dear to our heart. I've been involved in feminism probably since I was a teenager, but it took me until my 30s to become a vegan. But hey, better late than never.

We also met Jake, the spokesdog, so to speak, of www.stoppuppymills.org. Jake is a former "stud" dog for a puppy mill and was entered in an Ugliest Dog Contest to bring people's attention to the horrors behind that cute little puppy (or kitty) in the window of a pet store. Jake is missing one eye, as you can see, and is blind in the other.

I tried to pat him, but when I touched him, he literally hissed, the only time I've ever heard a dog do so. But apparently, only his mom can touch him. It's why I had to sit behind him to get a picture. It wasn't as noisy in the exhibit hall as it was the previous two days, but it was probably enough to make the poor guy nervous.
I suspect I'm preaching to the choir when I remind people NOT to buy animals at pet stores, but to go to a shelter if they want a companion animal.

We finished the conference on a fairly positive note, with Alka Chandna of PETA talking about Compassionate Cooking. There wasn't a lot I didn't know, but after all the heavy stuff, this was a good way to finish out the conference. I hope to see some of you all at the conference next year!

I will absolutely attend the conference next year, and I hope to see some of you there.