Worldlog Week 39 – 2008

Last week was a very busy one owing to the Parliamentary Debate on the Speech from the Throne. Consequently, I completely forgot to mention that I opened Marcellina Stolting’s unique cat behaviour centre in Amsterdam last week.

This centre offers the services of cat behaviour therapists for your troublesome kitty. They can also provide information on special cat behaviour courses. There is a special cat waiting room, a cat consultation room, cat admissions, a training course area, a cat-sitting service and cat behaviour therapy. The entire premises is devoted to the care of felines. This is certainly unique in the Netherlands!
Marcellina told me that many cats, even when provided with the usual creature comforts, are often unhappy. One of the biggest misconceptions around is that cats are solitary animals. Cats get lonely if left at home all alone! As the owner of two cats myself, I’ll soon be inviting Marcellina to come take a look at my kitties…

This week I tried out a new meat substitute produced by Veggiemaster. I’ve got to say that this product approaches the flavour of meat and fish so closely that it’s actually a little spooky… Click here to order.

While Dutch pig farmers are preparing for a weekend in which they open their sties to the public to show everyone just how “wonderful” things are for the pigs and the debate is heating up over why anaesthetised castration has not yet been mandated, the Dutch government is working all out not only to ensure that the Netherlands becomes Europe’s biggest butcher, but also to induce China to buy huge quantities of Dutch pork! Apparently, the message still eludes the Dutch government: we need to move to more regional and sustainable production that stresses vegetable protein above animal protein.

Meat the Truth premiers in Canada this week. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend (vegetarians also need to be thrifty with their airmiles). However, I will be attending the Hollywood premier of Meat the Truth on 3 October. Interest in our film is coming from all corners of the earth, from Cape Town to Beijing!