Mercy for Animals launches Dallas office with vegan BBQ on Saturday

by Teresa Gubbins

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Organization hopes to impart knowledge about the abuse that occurs with farmed animals.

DALLAS — A surprisingly robust group of about 70 folks attended the official launch on Saturday of the Dallas office of Mercy For Animals, a non-profit animal rights organization that promotes a vegetarian diet.

The Dallas office is only the third Mercy For Animals, after its Chicago headquarters and a branch in Ohio. Dallas' branch will be staffed by Eddie Garza, who co-founded PegNews content partner Dallas Vegan in 2008.

In the past year, MFA has helped bring national attention to a number of farming animal cruelty cases including the destruction of baby chicks by Hy-Line International in Spencer, Iowa, and more recently a cruelty case involving an Ohio dairy farm in which cows were kicked and poked with pitchforks.

Garza combined the office launch with a vegan barbecue, with soy hot dogs and burgers provided by Bliss Raw Cafe; folks brought dishes such as baked beans and cole slaw. A handful of attendees brought their pets. One attendee entertained a group with her story about rescuing a pit bull and its seven puppies from an abandoned motel; another had a ridiculously tiny chihuahua. Two volunteers tended bar, and they had two exceptionally good DJs.

If Dallas -- where you can find a steakhouse on just about every corner -- seems like an unlikely spot for a vegetarianism-promoting group, it's exactly that unlikeliness that makes it so good, said Garza.

"[Places like] California or Austin already have many other groups who do similar things, while Dallas does not," Garza said.

For their most recent local campaign, the group handed out literature at the Lady Gaga concert at American Airlines Center on Friday and Saturday.

"A lot of people don't know about the abuse that goes on with farmed animals," he said. "If people knew, they might make more compassionate choices with the food they buy."

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