Vegan Prisoners Support Group
The Vegan Prisoners Support Group (VPSG) is an organization based in the United Kingdom that provides support for vegans in prison, primarily vegans who are imprisoned for animal rights activity.[1] There are around 800 vegans in British jails at any given time.[2]
It complements the work of the Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group (ALFSG), which offers moral and financial support to imprisoned animal rights activists. The VPSG is purely concerned with ensuring vegans in prison have access to suitable food, clothing and toiletries.[1]
The group was founded in April 1994 by British animal rights campaigner Jo-Ann Brown. She originally formed it to help Keith Mann, a prominent activist who was jailed for 11 years in 1994 for criminal damage and attempted arson.[3]
Since then, VPSG's work has grown, and it has been called upon to advise the prisons ombudsman on disputes between prisoners and the prison service relating to vegan diets.[4] The group succeeded in 2009 in obtaining for prisoners the right to place mail orders for vegan products from healthfood stores.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "About VPSG", Vegan Prisoners Support Group.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Allen, Nick. Vegan prisoners win right to 'cruelty free' products in jail, The Daily Telegraph, August 24, 2009.
- ↑ Fielding, Nick, and Walsh, Gareth. "Vegan bodybuilder funds animal extremists", The Sunday Times, March 13, 2005.
- ↑ "On the Case", Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, p. 5., retrieved 8 November 2007
