Open the Cages Alliance organizes many public events in the Baltimore and Washington, DC areas to help animals and encourage compassion, including leafleting, conferences, protests, fundraisers, feed-ins, vegan bake sales, and festivals. Here is a look at some of our current and upcoming efforts:

Presented by Open the Cages Alliance

Are you vegan-curious?
Want to be vegan but need a boost?
Or just want to learn more?

Check out the Vegan Living Program, an educational program presented by Open the Cages Alliance for those interested in vegan lifestyles!  The Vegan Living Program (VLP) is a series of educational events for individuals interested in vegan living who need some help getting started.  Through the VLP, the "vegan-curious" can have some fun and be part of a community while learning.  While our outreach and leafleting events focus primarily on why to live vegan, the Vegan Living Program deals with how to live vegan.  One component of the program is that participants may pledge to live vegan for one month.  Each Vegan Pledge is paired with a Vegan Coach to provide one-on-one advice and support.  

The 2012 Vegan Living Program is our second annual vegan educational/pledge program, and we are very excited to present a number of engaging speakers.  This year's educational sessions are open to the public, so please drop by (whether or not you're up for pledging just yet)!  The Vegan Living Program consists of five "core" educational sessions, and a number of "electives" on various topics.

Click here to learn more!

 

Vegtoberfest is our free, family-friendly fall festival to celebrate healthy, sustainable and compassionate vegan food choices and lifestyles.  OTCA's 1st Annual Vegtoberfest took place Sunday October 9th, 2011, and was attended by more than 500 people, exceeding our high hopes and expectations - THANK YOU all so much!

Vegtoberfest speakers Karen Davis, PhD, author and President/Founder of United Poultry Concerns, and Donna M. Beaudoin, author and "Sister Vegetarian" Blogger, spoke under the lovely gazebo which served as the mainstage at Riverside Park in south Baltimore.  Please check out this video of Ms. Beaudoin's talk if you have not already!  Live music was performed by The McTell Brothers, Margot MacDonald, Ron Kipling Williams, and Bravenoise. Jamie & the Magic Torch drew kids and families to the Vegtoberfest Kids' Tent, while  Dr. Don Sharpe's Magicomedy mobile show pleased audiences throughout the festival.  Attendees visited more than 50 nonprofit and commercial exhibitors, and enjoyed food from vendors such as We Call It Love Cafe, Land of Kush, and Raw Soul-icious Gourmet, plus vegan goodies for dessert from Goody Goody Gumdrops and Vegan Treats!  Thank you to ALL of the wonderful vendors who made the event fun and delicious; please find the full list here.

Vegtoberfest attendees crowded under the Vegan Chili Cook-Off Tent to sample delicious chili. Big thanks to all the talented chefs who entered the contest, and congratulations to winning Chef Dan, creator of Danny's Cuban Black Bean Chili!  We were thrilled to present Chef Dan with a copy of Ninety-Five: Meeting America's Farmed Animals in Stories and Photographs, graciously donated by publishers No Voice Unheard.

OTCA would like to thank our generous 2011 Vegtoberfest sponsors A Well-Fed World, Mercy for Animals, Farm Animal Rights Movement, Sister Vegetarian, United Poultry Concerns, and WayFare for their crucial support of Vegtoberfest.  And last but not least, thank you to every single one of our phenomenal volunteers who made the event possible!

Photos from Vegtoberfest are posted in several Facebook photo albums - check out photos from OTCA, The Roving House, Compassion Over Killing, and VSDC.  If you took photos you'd like to share, please email them to info@openthecages.org, or post your album to OTCA's Facebook Page!

OTCA was proud to hold Vegtoberfest in observance of World Farm Animals Day.
Stay tuned for Vegtoberfest 2012!

Visit our Vegtoberfest website!

 

Vegan Outreach Events

OTCA frequently holds leafleting and other outreach events to spread the word about compassionate, vegan lifestyles.  We predominantly leaflet after concerts and other events in downtown Baltimore.  OTCA tables at festivals and other public events during the warmer months, distributing free information and resources.  We also hold vegan bake sales as part of Compassion for Animals’ fun and delicious Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale project.   

At leafleting events, we engage people in conversations to help move them towards vegan lifestyles.  If you are already vegan, please consider leafleting with us, and see our upcoming events page for our calendar of outreach events.  If you are not yet vegan, please attend our Vegan Living Program (VLP), and consider pledging to live vegan for a month through the VLP!

 

Demonstrations and Outreach for Animals Used in Entertainment

When the circus or rodeo comes to town, we demonstrate on the behalf of animals used by these traveling acts.  In Baltimore, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus tends to come to town in the spring, and Pro Bull Riders holds “shows” in the winter.  At our demonstrations, we distribute information and about the intrinsic worth of animals' lives, and the tragedy of their oppression by these industries.  We engage patrons and passers-by in conversations, urging them not to buy a ticket.  Please see our upcoming events page for our calendar of outreach events.

 

Publishing

Open the Cages Alliance has produced informational literature for use at animal advocacy events and in other educational settings. Our Fashion Is Not Worth Dying For brochure details the exploitative practices of the fur, wool, down, silk and leather industries, and suggests specific vegan alternatives to buying and wearing these products. These brochures are distributed at demonstrations for fur-bearers during the winter months, and at tabling events throughout the year. We are currently revising this brochure, and it will be available for download and distribution in the spring of 2012.

OTCA has also produced a brochure called The Truth About Animals in Entertainment, which contains information about animal circuses, aquariums, zoos, horse racing and dog racing, and suggests fun, family-friendly alternatives to using animals for entertainment. These leaflets are used at our demonstrations for animals used by Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, at Pro Bull Riders protests, and at tabling events.

Open the Cages Alliance's Replacing Eggs and Dairy leaflet outlines problems with the egg and dairy industries from an ethical standpoint, and suggests a number of delicious vegan alternatives to eggs and dairy in cooking and baking. This brochure is distributed at our vegan bake sales and tabling events, and at our feed-ins where we hand out free vegan baked goodies. We hope you will help us distribute these materials at our events, and/or download and use these materials in your organizing for animals.

 

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If you would like to volunteer for any of our events, or would like more information, please get in touch with us by email at info@openthecages.org, by phone at 443-478-3074, or fill out our contact form. Thank you!