No matter where you look, vegetarianism certainly is on the rise. Bay Area Vegetarians is among the most active of the groups nationwide.

If dogs or cats burned up in a fire like this, you can bet there would be a thorough investigation. Chickens deserve equal consideration, and if Green Valley Poultry Farm ? or anyone else ? was responsible for the unimaginable suffering of these animals, then it becomes the responsibility of law enforcement officials to prosecute the perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law.

It's not a health food. It's not something anybody needs to eat. These animals are pulled out of the environment, transported, denied sustenance, kept frustrated with their claws locked, and boiled alive. These animals are put through felony-level cruelty, just to give some diner a moment of gastronomic pleasure.

I don't suppose we could have asked for better than Disneyland and southern California, ... They'll have mental and physical stimulation as well as proper care and a nice climate.

Our expectation after the McDonald's campaign was that the corporations would trip over themselves to make similar changes. Instead, the corporations took a wait-and-see attitude.

Executives at these companies are often isolated from the horrors of what the farm animals have to endure. The resolutions will raise the issue because they are printed in the companies' proxy statements and mailed to the shareholders. This way, our campaign moves into an actual agenda, and companies will have to address it and argue their case.