Thanks to our generous members and energetic volunteers, APRL has had another extremely successful year! Our campaigns coordinator, Christina Tacoronti, moved to DC at the end of this year, where we are partially funding her salary at Compassion Over Killing, a group we have been working closely with.

Here is a rundown of some of the things APRL volunteers and staff have been up to for the past year, and you can also slideshow here!

• Handed out over 3,000 vegan food samples at several event and distributed over 60,000 pieces of literature on veganism.
• Convinced over 30 restaurants in several states to remove foie gras
• Passed resolutions against the sale of foie gras in West Hollywood, San Francisco, Berkeley, and Solana Beach, after we already did so in San Diego in 2008. Mayor Newsom of San Francisco signed our resolution personally, and his family removed foie gras from their Plumpjack Restaurants. Mayor Nichols of Solana Beach, himself a vegetarian, went door to door letting restaurants know it will soon be illegal to sell foie gras in California!
• Convinced over 500 San Diegans, including Councilman Todd Gloria, to take the Veg Pledge, a week long pledge to try vegetarianism or veganism. Gloria told us afterwards he has permanently reduced his meat consumption as a result!
• Worked with the Humane Society of the United States to enact a ban on the painful practice of cutting off the tails of dairy cows in California.
• APRL programs coordinator and UCSD student Kath Rogers led a successful campaign causing UCSD to implement a cage-free egg policy for all shelled and liquid eggs used by its dining services.
• Working with Compassion Over Killing and Mercy for Animals, we convinced Boca to completely phase out use of eggs in all of its products.
• APRL Sealwatch campaign manager Dorota Valli has maintained a regular staff presence at Casa Beach in San Diego to protect the seals and educate the 100,000 visitors per month who come to see the seals. The staffed booth is self-funded by donations made at the booth, which has t-shirts, stuffed animals, postcards, etc. Check it out if you are in the area! 850 Coast Blvd., La Jolla, CA 92037, at the corner of Coast and Jenner.
• Our attorney, Bryan Pease, obtained a federal temporary restraining order blocking an imminent state court order to disperse the San Diego seals. This led to a change in state law allowing the seals to remain, as reported in the New York Times.
• The APRL Thrift Store at 5497 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., San Diego, CA 92117 (at the I-805 intersection) continues to bring in revenue to support our program activities! Stop by to shop, donate used items, or volunteer!

Tax deductible contributions to our ongoing campaigns can be made here. Contribute Before Jan. 1 to get a tax write-off for 2009!