Lean Santas call for meatless Christmas

A dozen lean Santas from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) gathered on Roxas Boulevard in Manila at noon yesterday to promote the campaign for a meatless celebration of the holiday season.

Twelve men wearing Santa suits, minus the large belly, arrived at the Baywalk area of Roxas Boulevard on board a passenger jeepney with a streamer "Peace on Earth for All. Go Vegetarian."

PETA Asia-Pacific coordinator Andrew Butler said Baywalk was the first stop of their vegetarian campaign for Christmas. It was held during the lunch break to convince restaurant patrons to change their eating habits from "all meat "to "all vegetable."

"We are trying to reach out to all the people that at this time of peace and goodwill to all men, they should also extend their good wishes to the animals and not to eat their meat during Christmas. They should go vegetarian instead," Butler said.

PETA is considered the biggest animal rights activist group in the world and has been fighting for the protection of animals in the last 25 years. The head office is located in the US, but it has more than 850,000 supporters all over the world.

Butler said they have established the Philippines as the base of their Asia-Pacific Region operations.

"The Philippines is a fantastic country with tremendous vegetarian food.

There is also a growing awareness about the hazards brought about by eating all meat meals," Butler said.

He said that while they do not have statistics on the number of Filipino vegetarians, he believes more Filipinos are turning to vegetables for their daily nourishment based on the number of people requesting for copies of their veggie kit forms.

"Now, we are getting hundreds of requests," Butler said.

The group also has celebrities supporting the cause, including models Isabel Roces and Chin-Chin Gutierrez, who have posed for several advertising campaigns.

PETA said excessive consumption of meat products often leads to heart ailments, strokes, diabetes and several forms of cancer.

The Philippine Cancer Society (PCS) advocates eating more fruits and vegetables to prevent debilitating diseases among Filipinos, while the World Health Organization WHO reports that inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables is among the top 10 risk factors for global mortality.

Local nutritionists are advising Filipinos to consume at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily to help protect against chronic diseases and increase resistance to infectious diseases, PETA said.

PETA also cited the inhumane conditions that animals have to go through before they are butchered.

PETA Asia Pacific director Jason Baker said: "We can never have true world peace as long as billions of animals are subjected to the violence of factory farms and slaughterhouses. Everyone can do their part to bring peace to animals and protect their own health simply by going vegetarian."

PETA said cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and ducks are often crammed into tiny stalls and cages, where they remain until they are slaughtered.

Most chickens are forced to spend their lives in crowded, filthy sheds and their beaks seared off with hot blades when they are only a day old.

Cattle and pigs are castrated without any painkillers.