Blind commuter harassed on escalator because of guide dog - [Link]

Another day, another dimwit.

it wouldn't be an overnight change.... so there would be no mass excess of animals that we're confused about what to do with.

I had a lovely sirloin steak with all the trimmings

...and I'm now catatonic (just to keep it on thread context)

Edited by becky (13 Feb 2022 4.04pm)

A stairway to Heaven and a Highway to Hell give some indication of expected traffic numbers

Plant-based diets have absolutely exploded in the last few years within most Western markets, but also some developing ones, with sales of meat alternatives rocketing (excuse the pun). In the past it was always driven by concerns over animal welfare but with climate change concerns and healthy living coming to the fore more and more people are adopting vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets. The old "look at my tasty sausage" jokes are starting to look as out-of-date as tartan flares and those who forego meat are increasingly being taken more seriously; in some circles it is almost becoming somewhat embarrassing to be eating meat on a regular basis, which would be unheard of 10 years ago. Within a decade it is projected that around 1 in 10 people in the world will be vegetarian or vegan. It's already above the figure in the UK and growing at a dynamic rate with fridges and freezers filling up with an ever-expanding range of options. When I became vegetarian over 30 years ago the only significant range of packaged food we had was Linda McCartney's, with the joke doing the rounds at the time being "There's a little bit of Linda in every sausage".

Personally I think social media is having a big influence with the anthropomorphising of animals becoming increasing commonplace and thus putting a face, if you will, to the animals people eat. Of course in the case of Zouma it is entirely accountable for his downfall with social media being judge, jury and executioner these days. Sometimes I think people are quick to judge without the facts, but in this instance the guy was an idiot and deserves all the punishment he gets.

I bet the cats can’t wait to go home. Can’t be much fun in a hostel.
Once Zouma and bro has been trained by the very underfunded RSPCA they will be back. Probably a good idea if they leave social media alone too.

There is no definite answer on whether a vegan/vegetarian diet is better for you, but there is damning evidence that regularly consuming processed meat is pretty bad for you. Vegan and vegetarian diets are not automatically healthy as some people just eat plant-based processed rubbish rather than meat/fish-based rubbish. I know a vegan who pretty much only eats chips and baked beans and he looks terrible too. I also know a vegan in his 80s who looks 20 years younger. What does that tell you? Nothing really. Anyway, Zouma didn't eat his cats (that we know of), so none of this is really relevant.