Vegan Brighton (1)

[Gorilla]

it was yummy especially considering the pub is quite old-fashioned and not the sort of place you'd expect to find vegan food at all :)

i think that Bud was the only vegan lager they had, nothing on tap but Stella, Carling etc...

[Troutina]

Mmm... Budvar...
Mmm...Roast...

[aubergine]

I didn't realise Budvar was Vegan.

[Corum]

I know Grolsch is...

[Gorilla]

according to the vegan alcohol thread and other vegans i've spoken to Budvar is ok but if i'm wrong on this please let me know. it's not my first choice of lager but it was literally the only lager this pub had that i thought was vegan.

[Corum]

Budvar's better than most - quite a few real ale drinkers drink it when they can only get lager because of its purity compared with the rice-strewn equivalent.

Beer brewed on the Isle of Man is even more pure than German or Czech lager.

[Troutina]

As far as I know its fine; I'm like 99.99999999% sure it is!!
And I'm 100% sure its delish!!

[sproggie14]

I don't know anything about the Brighton rodent rescue people, they might be OK, but I can state for certain that the Croydon/Coulsdon people, Emma and Sarah, are very judgemental and anti-vegan (for animals that are omni in the wild that is - I don't know that they are anti-vegan for humans)!

They rejected my offer to take some of the spiny mice they were looking for homes for (I think these were from the same source as the Brighton ones), on the grounds that I was vegan and not willing to give them animal protein!

Just crazy, considering that I spoke right after they rejected me with a woman from Brighton Animal Action, because she was promoting this rescue on the BAA website, and she herself has rodents including spiny mice and also does not give them animal protein!! She could understand I was genuine and that I was taking advice from other vegans who had experience with rodents, and that I would be conscientious about keeping them healthy and fed with a good variety of suitable foods, just vegan that's all, but it's not as if vegetable protein is useless!

I really hope the Brighton rodent rescuers have a better attitude than those in the Croydon area. I was all set to take a few mice and had forked out over £50 on a cage, so I have to warn vegans (that is those who will feed their animals vegan also), not to bother with Emma or Sarah who do rodent rescue in the Coulsdon/Croydon area, when it comes to spiny mice as they insist on only rehoming these mice to people who would give them an omni diet.

I am so angry, how dare these people judge I am not good enough to have spiny mice just because I will not have anything killed for them?

Lesley

I am saddened and surprised to read this and your email to Emma. As I recall, the last time we spoke we discussed the issue of diet, I explained things to you and you were happy to give a home to a hamster or other more suitable animal.

I can assure you that Emma is not anti vegan and has no problem with homing animals to vegans or to those who wish to feed animals an adapted diet where this suits the needs of the animal concerned. I know this for certain as I myself have been a very strict vegetarian, almost a vegan, most of my life. The rats and dogs which I foster for and adopt from Emma are fed on a vegetarian diet and Emma is aware of this. As I explained to you last time we spoke the difference is that there has been considerable research into the dietary needs of rats and dogs and it has been found that non meat sources of protein can meet their dietary needs. However, there has been absolutely no research into the dietary needs of spiny mice and little is known about them. In this situation we can only try to mimic their natural diet as closely as possible and this includes animal protein. It cannot be a case of feeding them a vegan diet and waiting for proof that they cannot survive on this – this would essentially be animal experimentation and we will not risk the health of our animals in this way. Should proof be found that they can thrive on a diet free from animal based food then we would be able to consider this lifestyle for them but we cannot take chances on their future health.

You need to understand that these mice have had a horrible start in life and as a result are not in the best physical condition. It is imperative that their dietary needs are met in the future if they are to improve and thrive. As an animal rescue Furry Friends’ number one priority has to be making sure that the animals they home are properly cared for in every way. It would be incredibly irresponsible of us to home an animal to someone who could not meet their every need.

I appreciate fully your objections to including animal protein in an animal’s diet and I personally choose not to have animals that require animal protein for this reason. You were offered the option to home an animal which could be fed a vegan diet so I’m not sure why you have refused this?

I am deeply saddened by the threats made in your email to “make sure that lots of other vegans are warned about you” and I’m not sure what service you think this will do to animal welfare? Emma works tirelessly to help animals in need. Nobody else would help with these mice and if it weren’t for her most of them would be dead. Would you really have an animal rescue operate in any other way than to do everything they could to secure the best possible homes for the animals in their care? Do you honestly think that you would be helping the many hundreds of animals she helps each year by turning people against her?

As I say, I fully understand your objections to feeding companion animals with animal based food as I am a strict vegetarian with vegetarian pets myself. However, I deal with this by only offering homes to animals which research has proven can thrive on a vegetarian diet. I truly do not understand why you have refused to consider this option which would enable you to rescue an animal whilst not compromising your ethics. It is a terrible shame that you have instead chosen to launch an attack against Emma. Rescuing animals is an incredibly difficult and stressful thing to be involved in and Emma sees terrible abuse and neglect every day. The last thing she then needs is to be abused by the very people who ought to be the most supportive of what she is trying to achieve.


What strange women. If anyone else contacts them it will be better not to mention veganism or even vegetarianism. Thanks for trying.

That is just shocking! How can you possibly encourage people to lie when offering a home to a rescue animal? Trying to assess homes is by far the most difficult part of trying to run a rescue. We constantly have people trying to pull the wool over our eyes and dupe us into homing animals with them which they intend to breed from, abuse or just plain neglect. Trying to separate these from the genuine people is so incredibly difficult. Can you even begin to imagine how difficult it is to trust the welfare of an animal you have raised or nursed back to health to a stranger, yet know you have to take that leap of faith in order to free up the space needed to help more like them? In encouraging people to lie to us all you have done is make that job vastly more difficult and ensured that these mice are condemned to spend longer in rescue while we are extra careful about assessing home offers. Which is not nice for them and means we can't help more animals in the meantime.

If we make a decision about criteria for homing an animal it is not random, it is not through prejudice, it is not just for the sake of it. We do this purely because we love these animals, we work hard for them and we want nothing but the best for them. Is that not what an animal rescue is supposed to do?

If you don't want an animal which eats animal protein I sympathise entirely. Adopt a rabbit or a guinea pig or another creature which will survive well without animal protein. Please do not offer a home for an animal which needs animal protein, lie to us, or fling abuse at us when we are just trying to do our best at an already incredibly difficult job.

[absentmindedfan]

This thread makes me sad. You all live in places where cake can be made by someone else and spontaneously consumed :(

[Gorilla]

sorry AMF :o it's not good for my waistline though!!! :p

[horselesspaul]

cake can be made by someone else and spontaneously consumed :(
Cake.
It's the drug that's sweeping the nation.
Just say no.

[Hemlock]

Hahahahahaha!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0GxUxKZdHk

[horselesspaul]

My Shatner's Bassoon is a right mess.

[Gliondrach]

Lesley

That is just shocking! How can you possibly encourage people to lie when offering a home to a rescue animal? Trying to assess homes is by far the most difficult part of trying to run a rescue. We constantly have people trying to pull the wool over our eyes and dupe us into homing animals with them which they intend to breed from, abuse or just plain neglect. Trying to separate these from the genuine people is so incredibly difficult. Can you even begin to imagine how difficult it is to trust the welfare of an animal you have raised or nursed back to health to a stranger, yet know you have to take that leap of faith in order to free up the space needed to help more like them? In encouraging people to lie to us all you have done is make that job vastly more difficult and ensured that these mice are condemned to spend longer in rescue while we are extra careful about assessing home offers. Which is not nice for them and means we can't help more animals in the meantime.

If we make a decision about criteria for homing an animal it is not random, it is not through prejudice, it is not just for the sake of it. We do this purely because we love these animals, we work hard for them and we want nothing but the best for them. Is that not what an animal rescue is supposed to do?

If you don't want an animal which eats animal protein I sympathise entirely. Adopt a rabbit or a guinea pig or another creature which will survive well without animal protein. Please do not offer a home for an animal which needs animal protein, lie to us, or fling abuse at us when we are just trying to do our best at an already incredibly difficult job.

Of course, you are right. I thought mice were seed/grain eaters. It just goes to show that anyone adopting any animal should make sure about diet and housing requirements. Apologies.

Good luck.

[Gorilla]

i had the pleasure of visiting the George with Marrers on Friday :D

the menu seems to be pretty much the same as before and the place is very similar apart from being painted a different colour. the staff seem to have new clean uniforms and our food arrived really quickly. not much change in the toilets although they were cleaner. hopefully it's back to how it used to be. :)

i also have to tell anybody living nearby about some gorgeous chocolate i tried in Infinity Foods this afternoon :D they're selling Easter eggs made by a guy who's just started a vegan chocolate business in Lewes. the eggs come in either plain, ginger or blueberry flavours, with truffles including vanilla, orange and peanut butter flavours. they're really good but the only place you can get them so far are Infinity, or May's General Store in Lewes. the eggs cost £15 so i couldn't afford one :( but the samples i had were gorgeous so if you can afford it i highly recommend it - my favourites were the blueberry egg and the peanut butter truffles :D they're called Dark Secrets i think. (btw all the cellophane packaging used is bioderadable too!)

[Troutina]

Mmm I want to try these yummy things!!

[Gorilla]

i went to the George for lunch again today, but it seems they haven't quite sorted out all the problems they were having... they'd run out of Carlsberg, and i ordered garlic bread with vegan cheese, and the vegan enchiladas. they brought me garlic bread with cow cheese, and fajitas :rolleyes: i sent them both back and then they said they'd run out of vegan cheese, so i had to have plain garlic bread and enchiladas without vegan cheese, which took quite a while for them to prepare. it was ok but i was hoping they'd get these things sorted out by now.

[Risker]

That's very disappointing :(

I don't think I can eat comfortably in a restaurant/pub where they make mistakes like that.

[Gorilla]

yeah, it's lucky their vegan cheese doesn't look anything like cow cheese, otherwise i might've eaten the garlic bread without realising. i don't know why they're still having so much trouble getting things right. it's been really quiet in there every time i've been recently so i wonder if a lot of people have been put off the place :( it's such a shame.

[Risker]

I wonder if the Manager is even vegetarian, perhaps that could be the problem, if they had no interest in the 'theme' of the pub.

[Gorilla]

yeah, i don't know about the manager, you have a point there.

[Marrers]

Not great news Gorilla. :(

We must have been lucky when we went. I meant to post at the time.

Most of the specials were suitable for vegans and our meal came quickly and was very nice. I enquired about the Sunday Lunches and was told they did not have a menu but would be writing things on the boards each week. Apparently there will always be a vegan nutroast but the pastry strudel which was always vegan previously will now normally contain cheese. :( They will also have a few other options on the menu for those who don't want a roast dinner, such as the sausage bagette.

Another disappointment was them marking the 'v' wines on their new board as vegetarian (rather than vegan as previously). We were told they were all vegan but it doesn't inspire the same confidence and shows a lack of attention to detail.

[Risker]

Perhaps it's worth contacting the chain that owns it if anyone knows who that is?

[Lilac Hamster]

That's bad Gorilla, I did get spiked with cow cheese there a few years ago, after asking for the vegan option on something. They were very apologetic, I had eaten a tiny bit, and they just gave us some of our food free for getting it wrong.

I'm still surprised to hear that they have not really improved and are still being forgetful about people asking for the vegan option. Certainly it does not inspire trust and confidence.

[Marrers]

I's Pies, 24 Gardner Street (in the North Laines) do about 4 vegan pasties. They are nice because the are served warm from the oven but so far I've tried two flavours and found the filling a bit dull. They are also expensive at £3 each.