HighestWelfare.Humane.Assured.GoodPractices.Vegetarian. Regenerative.Flexitarian.Lies...
What is the difference between No Welfare, High Welfare, and Highest Welfare when they all require animals to die? Only human comfort, NONE protect the actual animals. The most humane, ethical, and honest Webster-defined "welfare" is NOT exploiting animals - not using, not wearing, not eating, not killing - animals. The only meaningful position is vegan, everything else is just how humans euphemize animals' required suffering and violent deaths: no human exploits animals because they honestly believe that NOT exploiting animals is UNethical or INhumane.
BACKGROUND
A youth fishing program intended to teach children to appreciate nature at Maguire Lake in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, is apparently backfiring. Reportedly, countless turtles have become tangled up in fishing line or have swallowed hooks! This can result in prolonged suffering and slow, agonizing deaths. Officials are considering extending the dock to persuade kids to fish offshore, but since the turtles don’t stay exclusively on the shoreline and are attracted to baited hooks, this expensive measure won’t solve the problem. Further, turtles are also reportedly being harassed by unsupervised children participating in this program.
Please politely urge officials to prohibit all fishing in Maguire Lake’s sensitive environment immediately. Tell them that kids can learn to respect the outdoors via wildlife watching, hiking, and community-based ecosystem restoration projects.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please note you will be requested to “reply/send” in order for your message to be accepted.
Email block
steve.maricle@gov.bc.ca
mbootsma@salmonarm.ca
dcannon@salmonarm.ca
celiason@salmonarm.ca
aharrison@salmonarm.ca
iidzan@salmonarm.ca
kjamieson@salmonarm.ca
Individual
Steve Maricle
Small Lakes Fisheries Biologist
Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
steve.maricle@gov.bc.ca
The Honourable Marty Bootsma
Mayor of Salmon Arm
mbootsma@salmonarm.ca
Please also e-mail the members of the Salmon Arm City Council: dcannon@salmonarm.ca, celiason@salmonarm.ca, aharrison@salmonarm.ca, iidzan@salmonarm.ca, and kjamieson@salmonarm.ca.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Minister Maricle, Honorable Bootsma, and City Councle Boardmembers,
It has come to my attention that you have assigned a course teaching youth how to appreciate nature by fishing, which, admittedly, confounds me: how does appreciating nature require killing it? Indeed, fishing in and of itself is an entirely cruel endeavor: fish feel pain and experience it excruciatingly when caught on hooks and then gutted. The point of this message is to request this program discontinued considering the high numbers of turtle who have also been hooked, killed, and even allegedly mocked by children partaking in the activity.
Please allow me to elaborate. Turtles are complex animals who experience suffering and joy, and who also have the capacity to nurture complex relationships and display grief upon separation. Despite these human-like conditions, they are still relentlessly and callously killed.
While many understand the importance of teaching nature to appreciate it, doing so by killing lacks legitimacy with relation to such a critical area of learning. Please protect the turtles, who, when caught, thrash and struggle frantic and futilely in an effort to escape.
Please take this opportunity to teach appropriate child-development courses by using non-lethalalternatives that will not be abused and killed for classroom folly. Millions of students benefit from a curriculum that does not include animal cruelty, such as learning to respect the outdoors via wildlife watching, hiking, and community-based ecosystem restoration projects, and I hope you will demonstrate a commitment to protect, rather than harm, animals
I know your time is limited and I thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.
NAME
US Friends, Support Historic Bill to Ban Use of Animals in Circus
The ruins of the moment, http://worldsenz.blogspot.com/2008/11/elephant-in-chains.html
BACKGROUND
Ten members of the U.S. Congress have agreed to sponsor a historic bill to restrict the use of exotic and non-domesticated animals in traveling circuses. The Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act, H.R. 3359, will end the use of wild animals in traveling circuses in the United States
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please contact your U.S. Representative by email or phone today to ask him/her to support this bill by clicking on the following link:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
SAMPLE LETTER, PLEASE MODIFY AND SHORTEN
Dear Representative ,
I am writing today to encourage you to support The Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act, H.R. 3359, which will end the use of wild animals in traveling circuses in the United States. These beings have been subjected to horrific enslavement, imprisoned, forced to endure inadequate space, inferior medical treatment and care, lack of companionship, and involuntary training, made to perform tricks to the delight of apathetic and ignorant audiences. As the result of a more attentive and compassionate group, individuals comprising a large global audience concerned with these animals have been respectfully offering scientific and medical evidence establishing the debilitating natures to which they have been exposed. Sadly, however, corporate greed and indifference have resulted in their deteriorating mental and physical states. By refusing to release them, the individuals involved have established their approval of animal cruelty, and I am appalled to learn of their deliberate involvement in the exploitation of animals.
Although they may assert that humane protocols must be followed in accordance with certain standards, the visual evidence validates the position that these directives are often ignored in favor of park management profit; nevertheless, establishing a threshold of humane treatment is ambiguous at best, these standards being implemented by those with questionable interests, its oversight managed by those who exploit animals for funds.
It is important to recognize that all animals, fundamentally valuable beyond monetary benefit, are being exploited in demonstrably cruel and unnecessary manners. Additionally, many of these captive animals still display behaviours typical of those calling to their family members while other animals continually languish as well.
I hope you make the compassionate decision to support H.R. 3359, The Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act,and reject complicity in the unethical industry that profits from animal suffering; extending such an ethical and empathetic gesture will surely be noticed by your constituents, who are increasingly recognizing and selecting those who support non-cruelty towards animals.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. I know your time is limited and I look forward to a positive response.
Sincerely,
VIDEO FOOTAGE
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Please protest bowhunting in Wisconsin
BACKGROUND | PETA
Distressed Wisconsin residents are calling PETA because they are outraged that officials in Little Chute have approved the use of cruel bowhunting to control resident deer populations. PETA recently informed village officials of the extreme cruelty of bowhunting, but the village intends to move forward with the hunt.
Bowhunting is among the cruelest forms of hunting. Bowhunters often spend hours following bloody tracks before finding wounded deer. Many are not found, and their deaths are slow and painful. It can take weeks for them to succumb to their injuries. Families are then torn apart, and young and weak animals starve or die of dehydration.
Please urge Little Chute officials to halt all bowhunts. And forward this alert widely! If deer control is insisted upon, please share our tips | below a well.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Michael Vanden Berg
Little Chute Village President
presidentvandenberg@littlechutewi.org
Please also e-mail the members of the Little Chute Board of Trustees using the following e-mail addresses:
trusteeberken@littlechutewi.org
trusteefrassetto@littlechutewi.org
trusteehietpas@littlechutewi.org
trusteepeerenboom@littlechutewi.org
trusteemahlik@littlechutewi.org
trusteesmith@littlechutewi.org
SAMPLE LETTER | PLEASE MODIFY, SHORTEN
Dear President Berg and Board of Trustees,
I have just learned that Little Chute has approved cruel bowhunting of deer populations in a misguided attempt to reduce the numbers of deer in populated areas. Although this proposal is inherently cruel based on its premise alone, it is important to recognize it is based on erroneous information and according to human-orchestrated circumstances. As such, it is imperative that alternative, non-lethal methods be employed to amend the deer over-population as defined by biased homeowners and residents using propaganda, hysteria, grossly exaggerated and even false claims.
Please allow me to illustrate a few of these concerns. First, ecologically, populations will fluctuate according to conditions and naturally-occurring food sources; it is the interference of humans that causes imbalance. To blame and slaughter the deer for human encroachment is both irresponsible and unjustified. Second, the deer would not benefit physically as has been proposed; starvation typically occurs in later winter months, not in the fall.
Second, killing deer would artificially increase food supplies to the remaining deer, the consequence of which would be increased reproduction and an ensuing greater deer population. In fact, studies have demonstrated that the continual cycle of seasonal hunting is responsible for larger herd populations in subsequent years.
Third, studies have shown that killing deer has no effect on tick populations, an illegitimate concern that some raise. Ticks can best be reduced by keeping vegetation trimmed back, removing wood piles, and refraining from feeding wildlife. Rumors of disease spread much faster than any realized and proven case; indeed, there is no evidence of disease outbreaks or increases of deer-related tick outbreaks.
This proposition is not factually justified. It is also not morally justified: animals are sentient creatures, capable of love, fear, pain, and suffering. As humans do, animals experience these emotions and have the desire to live free from exploitation and mass slaughter. I ask that you please consider your potential participation in this cruel plan. Please instead examine alternative options such as fencing, fertility control, and relocation according to established protocols when using these methods. As intelligent people capable of sound conclusions, you should recognize the importance of life over the exaggerations of unscrupulous plans. Additionally, this type of mass killing in such a central and visible location would certainly adversely affect both visitation and tourism; it would be financially detrimental to move forward with such a cruel and unnecessary killing, and although I do not currently reside in Little Chute I will be unwilling to consider it, or nearby, as a potential vacation destination if this deer cull transpires.
I know your time is limited and I want to thank you for your time and attention to this urgent matter.
Name
Related, Bowhunting Footage
Read more…
Hold Owners Responsible for ‘Pet Hotel From Hell’
Please click on and sign:
Hold Owners Responsible for ‘Pet Hotel From Hell’
From Force Change
Target: Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin, Head of the Malaysian Veterinary Services Department
Goal: Harsher penalties and psychiatric evaluation for the owners of the “pet hotel from hell”
Imagine returning home from vacation to find your beloved pet abandoned and starving. This is what cat owners found in what animal rights activists have called “the pet hotel from hell” right outside of Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia. Tell the Malaysian government to go above and beyond the maximum penalty for the owners of the pet hotel from hell for their shameful abuse and neglect.
When people finally entered the two locked and abandoned pet boarding sites outside of Kaula Lumpur in early September, they found over 300 neglected cats, nine of them dead. Authorities claim that the cats were hungry, dehydrated and trapped in disgusting cages. Some of them were sick; others were covered in urine and feces. The owners, who ran the business for Malaysians who traveled in observation of holidays, have yet to be arrested and the fine for animal cruelty in Malaysia is only about 65 U.S. dollars. Despite the fact that the head of Veterinary Services has announced plans to increase the fines to $36,000, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has recommended that the owners undergo psychiatric treatment and be banned from owning pets for life.
The stronger the punishment, the stronger the message that says, “animal abuse will not be taken lightly.” The owners should not only be held accountable, but their mental health should also be called into question. Sign the petition and demand a responsible punishment for the owners of the pet hotel from hell.
Related | Hundreds of Cats Suffer and Die at Hoarder’s Warehouse
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Michigan GOP Pass Bullying Bill Giving ‘License To Bully’
From The New Civil Rights Movement
By David Badash
Michigan Senate Republicans have passed a bullying bill — not an anti-bullying bill — that actually gives license to bully. In an Orwellian twist, the bill, which passed 26 – 11, with zero Democratic votes, allows kids to be bullied by anyone: teachers, fellow students, school employees, volunteers and parents, if they can provide a so-called religious or moral reason for their actions, giving the phrase, “the devil made me do it” sufficient validity.
The bill itself amounts to a white collar hate crime against all victims of anti-gay bullying motivated suicide, as it’s named for a Michigan teen who died by suicide as a result of anti-gay bullying. As one lawmaker, Michigan State Senator Gretchen Whitmer said in an impassioned speech (video below), “the saddest and sickest irony of this whole thing is that it’s called ‘Matt’s Safe School Law’. And after the way that you’ve gutted it, it wouldn’t have done a damn thing to save Matt!”
The bill is named for Matt Epling (photo.)
The Michigan Messenger reports:
In a floor speech Minority Leader in the Senate Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) slammed the Republicans over the amended language.
“Here today you claim to be protecting kids and you’re actually putting them in more danger,” Whitmer said. “But bullying is not OK. We should be protecting public policy that protects kids — all kids, from bullies — all bullies. But instead you have set us back further by creating a blueprint for bullying.”
“Shockingly, Senate Bill 137 will do more harm than good. Senate Republicans left our students behind in favor of partisan politics and passed a bill that actually allows more bullying. Students and parents expect lawmakers to lead the charge against bullying, but instead Republicans made ideology more important than school safety,” said Emily Dievendorf, policy director of Equality Michigan. “Research clearly shows that only states with enumerated bills see a reduction in bullying. We need a bill that mentions the most affected populations and requires statewide reporting of bullying and harassment. SB 137 simply does nothing to reduce bullying in our schools.”
“To the families of the ten reported suicides that were directly linked to bullying and the countless others that have gone unreported, this bill adds insult to injury,” said Senator Glenn Anderson (D-Westland). “I have been working for years to pass legislation to provide a safe school environment for all of our students. This bill goes in the exact opposite direction and in fact provides a license to bully.”
The legislation passed 26 – 11. It now moves to the Republican-controlled House.
“I am ashamed that this could be Michigan’s bill on anti-bullying, when in fact it is a ‘bullying is OK in MI’ law,” said Kevin Epling, an East Lansing parent whose son committed suicide as a result of bullying. His comment was posted on his Facebook page.
In an interview he had more to say.
“For years the line has been ‘no protected classes,’ and the first thing they throw in — very secretly — was a very protected class, and limited them from repercussions of their own actions. This line has no purpose within this piece of legislation except to incite ‘religious bigotry’ within our schools. Schools are trying to build more tolerant students and future leaders, not automatons blindly following misguided adult leaders who seek a return to a 1950′s America,” Epling said. “This will only cause unrest in schools and give schools one more thing to deal with rather than trying to solve a problem. Also it is not a very well thought out ploy, as in some areas of the state the tables might be turned on the ‘anointed ones’ they seek to keep from being punished. This is just very wrong and the way it was done was wrong as well. It was bullying at its best.”
The Detroit Free Press notes:
Kevin Epling, whose son Matt Epling killed himself in 2002 after being bullied, said that the added language will allow anyone to bully a student and cite their religious beliefs. He has worked with lawmakers for years to develop anti-bullying legislation.
“This is just unconscionable. This is government-sanctioned bigotry,” said Epling of East Lansing, who said he is “ashamed” that lawmakers added the language at the last minute.
The DFP also notes that the bill addresses cyber-bullying but only when school district owned devices are the tools of the bullying.
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Two Victories, Yay!
Image | As The Trucker
1. Albany County, NY Passes Nation’s Third Animal Abuser Registry Law | From ALDF
Related, please click on and sign: Expose Animal Abusers
The Albany County Legislature (New York) voted unanimously yesterday to establish an animal abuser registry, making it the third county in New York (and, indeed, the entire nation) to pass such a law. In the past year, Suffolk County and Rockland County approved similar legislation. With the passage of Albany County’s law, more than 2.1 million people (and millions of animals) now live in jurisdictions protected by animal abuser registries!
The publicly accessible registries allow communities to track the whereabouts of convicted animal abusers and prevent those offenders from acquiring new animals.
To these ends, the Albany County law includes the following provisions:
- Applies to misdemeanor and felony convictions for animal cruelty, animal fighting, sexual abuse of an animal, and harming service or police animals.
- Offenders remain on the registry for 10 years following a first offense and for life following any subsequent offenses.
- Offenders who fail to register are guilty of a misdemeanor and may be incarcerated for up to 1 year and fined up to $1,000.
- Any person or group selling, offering for adoption, or otherwise transferring animals must check the registry to ensure that the potential owner is not listed on it.
- Failure to check the registry is a violation and is punishable by a fine of $5,000.
By enacting an animal abuser registry, Albany County sends a clear and unambiguous message that animal abuse will not be tolerated!
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2. Victory for Tony! Court Rules Current Permit Must Be Revoked | From ALDF
Great news from Baton Rouge, where Judge Michael Caldwell has ruled in favor of the Animal Legal Defense Fund and Louisiana taxpayers in our lawsuit to free Tony the Tiger from the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana.
Judge Caldwell agreed with ALDF’s argument that the permit that allows Sandlin to keep Tony was unlawfully issued by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The judge ordered the Department to revoke the current permit and prohibited it from issuing any new permits to the Truck Stop. “We are thrilled that the court made the right decision,” says ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells. “We will continue to do everything we can to make sure Tony’s next home is a reputable, accredited sanctuary that can give Tony the life he deserves.”
Read more…
BACKGROUND | FROM SEA TURTLE RESTORATION PROJECT
Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal continues to allow the wholesale drowning of sea turtles in shrimp trawl nets. How? In a perversion of both responsible eco-system management and Federal statute, Jindal has let stand a Louisiana law forbidding his state’s wildlife agents from enforcing a federal requirement that shrimpers use turtle escape hatches in their nets. Jindal had the chance to repeal this cruel ban, but vetoed the bill which would have resulted in the saving of countless sea turtles’ lives. The Sea Turtle Restoration Project needs your help today to demand Governor Jindal halt the sea turtle deaths in shrimp trawl nets.
Expert Scientists Condemn the Louisiana Law
This week, over eighty expert scientists joined the Sea Turtle Restoration Project in calling for a repeal of the cruel law banning the enforcement of federal regulations requiring a turtle excluder device (TED) in shrimp trawl nets. This law, passed in 1987, is based on outdated science and old misconceptions that are now resolved after over 20 years of research and peer-reviewed reports. Click here to read more about and download a copy of the scientists’ letter.
Illegal Shrimpers are Killing Sea Turtles
When inspectors checked Louisiana shrimp nets late last year, most TEDs were found to be installed incorrectly in ways that would harm or kill a sea turtle, and some had the escape hatch sewn shut. These shrimp nets violate federal regulations. When shrimpers use nets with a poor TED, it is illegal and leads to thousands of sea turtles killed each year.
PETITION
Click on Demand Louisiana Governor Halt Sea Turtle Deaths in Shrimp Nets
WHOM TO CONTACT
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Policy Advisor Clark,
Federal regulations stipulate that turtle excluder devices (TED) be installed in shrimp trawl nets. In a shocking move, Governor Jindal has used obsolete data more than two decades old to allow the widespread drowning of thousands of sea turtles, which is directly contrary to federal regulation. Scientists have debunked the law banning the enforcement of the federal regulation requiring TEDs, yet Governor Jindal has cruelly and bewilderingly ignored such legislation that would protect sea turtles. Governor Jindal has also done nothing to enforce the law when observed by shrimpers who have improperly installed TEDs and even shown some escape hatches to be sewn shut.
It is impossible to contemplate supporting any commerce that blatantly allows the slaughter of sea turtles, especially when federal regulation deems it illegal. As such, until Louisiana discontinues the cruel industry of shrimping altogether, or until Governor Jindal takes the appropriate steps to maintain the safety of sea turtles by mandating TEDs as well as correctly-installed TEDs, I will boycott Louisiana and share this information with family, friends, and supporters of online social groups.
I am confident that Govenor Jindal would not want to continually be associated with the needless and cruel deaths of innocent sea turtles, and I therefore trust he will take the necessary precautionary measures to protect, rather than harm, them.
Thank you for taking the time to read this important message.
Stop Horrific Conditions at Cal-Maine Egg & Help Save Lizard
Please click on and sign the following:
1. Stop the economic subsidies for Cal-Maine egg facility
2. Help Save the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard
2b. We The People: Save the dunes sagebrush lizard
1. Background from ALDF
Some Texas egg producers have created breeding grounds for human health risks and state officials are letting them get away with it.
Every year, about 142,000 Americans contract salmonella from eating eggs. Texas agencies have been giving egg producers like the Cal-Maine egg-producing plant in Waelder, Texas — the nation’s largest egg producer — an unfair free pass by allowing them to operate in violation of state health and safety laws.
The Cal-Maine facility, where more than one million chickens are crammed into cages so small that the hens cannot even spread their wings, was packed full of live birds in various stages of illness and disease, covered in feces, and caged alongside dead, decaying corpses.
The government can no longer give these operators what amounts to economic subsidies at the cost of public health and safety.
Sign our petition to help stop the horrific conditions for chickens at Cal-Maine’s egg production facility.
Related | ALDF Lawsuit v. Cal-Maine
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2. From Center for Biological Diversity
Dunes sagebrush lizards live in the sand dunes of Texas and New Mexico under the shade of shinnery oaks, burying themselves in the white sand to avoid predators and stay cool.
But these lizards are slipping toward extinction as their last small pockets of habitat are destroyed by oil and gas drilling, herbicide spraying and other development. Because of that, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year proposed protecting the species under the Endangered Species Act — a proposal supported by independent scientists.
Now the oil and gas industry and its cronies in Congress are trying to block those protections by pitting the lizard against jobs. But the conflict is trumped up: The lizard occupies a small fraction of oil and gas leasing areas, in a region where many gas leases have gone unsold and existing protections for the lizard have had little impact on leasing in any case.
You can help save this vanishing species by asking White House policymakers to put in place the protections federal biologists have proposed.
Read more…
Dog Chained By His Genitals – Suspect Sought
Image unrelated to abused dog
Related action | Please click on and sign:
Puppy Beaten with Hammer, Throat Slit, Dumped while STILL ALIVE
From Fox 40 | Sacramento
See Video HERE
A $2,500 reward is offered for an arrest and conviction in a terrible case of animal abuse.
According to Gina Gnepp with City of Sacramento Animal Care Services, the owners of a small terrier mix contacted the shelter last month, saying their dog was badly hurt. Somebody had attached the end of a leash to the dog’s genitals.
Veterinarians at the shelter operated on the dog, named Geezie, and he is recovering. Now the shelter is hoping for some tips that will help bring Geezie’s abuser to justice.
An animal rescue group called Red Rover put up the $2,500 reward. Tips can be called in to City of Sacramento Animal Care Services at (916) 808-7387.
Related Video | The Link: Animal Abuse Tied to Human Abuse
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Jasha Lottin, Oregon Woman, Took Nude Photos Inside Horse Carcass
From Huffington Post
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the names of the woman photographed inside the horse carcass and her boyfriend. The woman’s name is Jasha Lottin and her boyfriend’s name is John Frost, according to police records.
WARNING: This story contains photos and material that are extremely graphic and may be disturbing.
After caring for a 32-year-old horse in declining health, Jasha Lottin and her boyfriend John Frost put it down with a single gunshot from a large calibre rifle.
What they did next has sparked “extreme emotional reactions,” and even death threats.
“People are shocked … horrified. It’s extremely shocking,” Washington County Sgt. Dave Thompson told The Huffington Post.
Once the couple shot and gutted the horse, 21-year-old Jasha took off her clothing, climbed inside the carcass and took photos. After posting them online, the couple was met with an avalanche of criticism that lead to a police investigation for animal cruelty.
As well as photos of Jasha inside the horse’s body, there are many others, one of which appears to depict the couple posing with the animal’s heart.
The couple’s explanation for the photos — and later eating the animal? According to authorities at the department, the pair wanted to feel “one with the horse” and nature.
“This is definitely number one on the oddity list,” Thompson said. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
According to the incident report obtained by The Huffington Post, detectives ruled no charges would be filed against the pair since nothing they did is technically illegal in the state of Oregon.
“The fact that this woman crawled into the horse between killing and eating does not constitute a crime,” Thompson said.
“If they had killed the horse just for the purpose of taking the photographs, then we would have had a case for animal cruelty,” he added
Jasha’s mother told KOIN that since the incident, they have received death threats and “hostile contact” from people countrywide, accusing Herrick of everything from Satan worship to perversion.
According to Thompson, both John and Jasha have currently left the state temporarily. While there are strict U.S. laws against desecration of human bodies, actions with animal bodies have little to no regulation.
WARNING: Graphic content
Take action to curb overpopulation: sample letters to the editor
IMAGE | Center For Biological Diversity
From Center for Biological Diversity
By any ecological measure, Homo sapiens sapiens has exceeded its sustainable population size. We use 50 percent of all freshwater, we’ve transformed 50 percent of all land, and we’ve changed the chemical composition of the whole biosphere and all the world’s seas, bringing on global warming and ocean acidification. As a result, other species are running out of habitat and struggling to survive — or not surviving at all. As the human population closes in on 7 billion, three species go extinct every hour.
To confront overpopulation head-on, the Center has launched a new national campaign 7 Billion and Counting to help people understand the devastating impact of the crisis on other species around the globe. We’re also giving away 100,000 free Endangered Species Condoms — with packages depicting six different endangered species — to people in all 50 states. You can sign up to be a local distributor here. One of the most important actions you can take is to get people thinking and talking about this critical issue. We’re urging residents in all 50 states to hold local events, write letters to the editor, chat online and help highlight the connection between global human population growth and the species extinction crisis.
Learn more about our 7 Billion and Counting campaign and take action with us today.
Just 1 hamburger from Costa Rican beef results in the estimated eradication of one tree, 50 saplings, seedlings from 20-30 species, 100s of insect species, and a huge diversity of microorganisms.
WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
A letter to the editor (LTE) is one way to reach large audiences — even writing to a small-town or city newspaper can have a big impact, because the letters to the editor section of the newspaper is read more frequently than any other. When published, letters are often perceived by legislators and other decision-makers as a highly credible expression of mainstream community and public sentiment.
Your letter to the editor can provide:
- An explanation of how your issue relates to other current news items.
- A chance to furnish insight on news and issues not being adequately covered by your local newspaper.
- A correction of facts after a misleading, inaccurate or biased letter or story.
- A response to other editorials.
- A rebuttal to a news or feature story.
- A chance to cover the local impact of national issues and raise public awareness of an issue in your city or town.
WRITING AN EFFECTIVE LETTER TO THE EDITOR
- Find out your newspaper’s policy for LTEs. Call the newspaper and tell them you would like to write a letter. Ask to whom you should address the letter, in what form you should send it, and what length or other restrictions the newspaper might have.
- Be concise. Even if the paper you’re writing to does not explicitly limit the length of letters it publishes, it will be to your advantage to keep your letter short and succinct.
- Stick to one subject. You’re much better off writing a widely read letter about one topic than writing a letter that touches on many topics but isn’t read — or, worse, isn’t published — because it’s too long.
- Be timely. Newspapers will rarely print letters about subjects that aren’t in the news. Use a recent news event or recently published article as a hook for making your letter timely.
- Don’t assume that readers will know what you’re writing about. If you are writing about pending legislation, explain what that legislation is, what its effects will be, and when it will be decided on. If you’re writing in response to an article or editorial, start your letter by saying which article you’re responding to and when it appeared.
- Use your credentials. If you have personal experience or expertise in the subject area, mention it.
- Concentrate on the local angle. Newspapers are community-based and the letters to the editor column is where they interact with the community most explicitly. Any local angle on the subject you’re writing about will increase the impact of your letter and increase its chances for publication.
- Follow up. Call to make sure the newspaper has received your letter, and then call a few days later if it hasn’t been printed to find out if it will be printed. If they tell you it’s not going to be printed, make sure to ask why so you can incorporate changes into your next attempt.
FINDING YOUR LOCAL AND NATIONAL EDITORS
Find any local media outlets HERE.
SAMPLE LETTER ONE
To the editor:
By the end of October, there was 7 billion people on the planet. And in less than 100 years, the world population will hit 10 billion.
Crowding that many people onto the planet comes with a cost, including the loss of plants and animals around the world. In fact, scientists tell us that species are going extinct 100 to 1,000 times faster than the normal rate.
This is the perfect moment to start talking about the best ways to curb population growth. For starters, how about providing more birth control? Around the world, more than 200 million women who want access to birth control don’t have it. That’s just one step for addressing this crisis – but at the very least, we need to get this conversation going.
Thank you,
Name
Address
Email
Phone
SAMPLE LETTER TWO
Dear Editor:
In the recent article, “XXX” I couldn’t help but notice that the connection to human overpopulation was missing. By the end of October, the world population reached 7 billion people. But it’s not just a global issue. It affects us right here in XXXX. As populations grow, impacts to plants and animals are enormous. The species extinction crisis is not something that is happening far away.
That’s why I am helping to raise awareness about this issue by holding an event to inform my friends, neighbors and family. I am also taking part in a campaign put together by the Center for Biological Diversity to distribute free condoms packaged in pictures of endangered species. The United Nations predicts that the world will have 10 billion people at the end of the century. The only way to stop that from happening is one conversation at a time.
Thank you,
Name
Address
Email
Phone
SAMPLE LETTER THREE
For this letter, use the Center’s interactive map to find out which species are listed as endangered in your area.
Dear Editor:
By the end of the October, the world population hit 7 billion people. Many news outlets have been covering this significant point in history, but there is still little recognition of what this means for plants and animals on the brink of extinction. The connection is undeniable. And even effects us right here in <>. In my county of XXXX, there are XXX species listed as endangered.
Our planet is in the midst of the sixth mass extinction. Hundreds of plant and animal species are disappearing from our planet every day, never to return. They’re going extinct because of us – humans. Population growth in our towns and cities has led to massive loss of habitat and interruption of natural processes. The United Nations predicts the planet will have 10 billion people in the next generation. There simply isn’t room for us to grow without having cataclysmic effects on species survival.
Thank you,
Name
Address
Email
Phone
SAMPLE LETTER FOUR
Dear Editor:
Is it getting crowded in here? Yep, you may have noticed. So did I. In fact, the world population hit 7 billion people at the end of October.
The burden of that many people – compounded by a staggering consumption of natural resources – is bound to come with a cost. Sadly, the price is being paid by plants and animals around the globe. Scientists tell us we’re in the midst of an “extinction crisis” – species are disappearing at 100 to 1,000 times the normal rate.
It’s time to start talking about human overpopulation. How many more people can this planet take, and what are we giving up in return?
There are good, common sense solutions out there, including providing birth control around the world for all women who want it. That’s just one step – but the first is simply to start talking about this problem.
Thank you,
Name
Address
Email
Phone
IMAGE | WEEAC
BACKGROUND | FROM WEEAC
Animals raised for their fur suffer from the time they’re little until the day they are killed.
Inside the breeder rooms, the farmer looked for babies to take away from their mothers. The babies squealed and squealed as he grabbed them and carried them by their tails to the “grower room.” Their mothers were distressed, too; one climbed and pressed against the front of her cage, frantically trying to reach her baby. My partner asked the farmer if the mothers got upset when he took their babies away. “I don’t ask them their opinion,” he said.
At feeding time, the farmer walked down the rows of cages checking if the chinchillas were dead or alive. Many were asleep, since they are nocturnal animals, but the farmer banged on cages to make them move. One chinchilla didn’t move. His hindquarters looked wasted away, completely denuded of fur. The farmer had already told us that his profit margins didn’t factor in veterinary care. He tossed the body onto the festering trash heap he called “Mount Chinchilla.”
Animals who had chewed at their fur (a sign of stress), making them unsuitable for pelting, were housed on a lower rack—”death row”—so that the farmer could scoot alongside the cages in an office chair, killing one after another without exerting himself. He kills these “trash” animals by breaking their necks.
We watched him thrust his arm into a cage, corner the frantic chinchilla inside, and pull him out by his tail. Grasping the chinchilla’s head and jaw, he arched the neck awkwardly backwards. The chinchilla squealed. The farmer then pulled sharply on the animal’s tail, breaking his neck. He tossed the jerking chinchilla to the floor, where the animal writhed in continuous spasms. We asked if he was ever bothered by the killings. “I don’t feel anything,” he replied, and moments later, added, “I could do this all day.”
Other chinchillas are electrocuted so that they won’t thrash around and ruin their coats. Carrying a chinchilla by her tail, the farmer pulled a rusty wire apparatus from a drawer, dipped the sharp clamps into a jar of water, and attached one clamp to the chinchilla’s metal ear tag and the other to her foot. He plugged the device into a wall socket and dropped the chinchilla to the counter. The surge of electricity stiffened her. Her tail stuck straight out, her chest heaved, and a minute later, a yellow trickle ran down the counter—she had lost control of her bladder.
Performed this way, electrocution sends a current through the heart and immobilizes the animal, but it does not stop brain activity. The chinchillas suffer the pain of a full-blown heart attack until their hearts finally stop beating. The farmer admitted that he had been told by a veterinarian to stun the chinchillas first. But he said he didn’t see why stunning them and then electrocuting them would be any different from just electrocuting them, so he doesn’t do it.
After unplugging the device, the farmer clipped the chinchilla’s arms and legs to a pelting board in a spread-eagled position. Slitting her open, he cut her face away from her skull and cut her hands off. Working her pelt away from her body, he pulled her arms out of her skin, which turned inside out like socks. Saying, “She doesn’t need these anymore,” he took scissors and cut off her whiskers, then her ears. Her tail and feet soon followed; they were dumped, along with her naked, skinned body, into a garbage bucket, like so much trash.
VIDEO | WARNING: GRAPHIC
Vodpod videos no longer available.
PETITION
Please click on and sign Brazil’s shame:
World’s biggest chinchilla killer for the fur trade
WHOM TO CONTACT
To Mrs. Rebecca Garcia, appointed by the brazilian Congress to evaluate PL-05956/2009
Email Link, click on http://www2.camara.gov.br/participe/fale-conosco/fale-com-o-deputado
- Você deseja: You want to | Solicitar: Request
- Campos obrigatórios: Required fields
- Destinatário(s) da mensagem: Recipient of the message – Select REBECCA GARCIA, in the R’s
- Nome: Name
- E-mail: E-mail
- UF: State (if not applicable, pick any)
- Mensagem: Message
- Código de Segurança: Security code
- Enviar: Send
- A Câmara dos Deputados agradece sua manifestação: The Chamber thanks you for your submission.
To Mr. Tripoli, author of PL PL-05956/2009
Email Link to Mr. Tripoli, click on: http://www2.camara.gov.br/participe/fale-conosco/ouvidoria
- Fale com a Ouvidoria: Contact the ombudsman
- Nome: Name
- Fale com a Ouvidoria: Message
- Como você quer receber a resposta? How do you want to receive the answer? | Por e-mail: By e-mail | Por carta: By letter | Por auto-consulta na internet: For self-inquiry on the internet
- Sexo: Gender
- Faixa Etária: Age
- UF: State
- Código de Segurança: Security Code
- Enviar: Send
- Informação, Mensagem inserida com sucesso. Protocolo: 3377102584686: Information, Post submitted successfully. Reference number: 3377102584686.
SAMPLE LETTER COURTESY WEEAC
Dear Representative Garcia | Dear Mr. Tripoli,
It has come to my attention that Deputy Rebecca Garcia has been appointed, by the Brazilian Congress, to evaluate the Bill that was introduced to BAN fur farming of chinchillas in Brazil. This Bill, presented in 2009 By Deputy Tripoli, if approved, will completely BAN the breeding and killing of chinchillas (Chincilla lanigera) in every state of your country.
I am writing this letter to inform you that I, along with many citizens from Brazil, as well as millions of people around the world, expect you to take a stand against this cruelty. By voting against this practice and forbidding it, by means of a federal law, would make it Illegal for any person or group to maintain such a business that is unacceptable to the vast majority of decent people worldwide.
At this very moment we are in the process of collecting signatures from people all around the world. Against chinchilla Fur Farming in Brazil:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/brazils-shame-worlds-biggest-chinchilla-killer-for-the-fur-trade/
The Brazilian Constitution, on its article 225, parágrafo 1o, inciso VII, clearly defines as an attribution of the Brazilian State, to expressly prohibit animal cruelty. Therefore, I believe it is reasonable to demand the BAN on such horrific cruelty, as is done in the breeding and killing of these animals.
They are bred in small filthy cages their entire lives only to face a cruel and painful death, all for the sake of profit for a few, on a totally non-essential item such as “fashion” that goes to a few rich and narrow-minded customers. The following footage, made in Michigan of the United States, clearly shows the horrific methods used by breeders, such as suffocation, breaking their necks, or anal electrocution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX_VkgVsUyc
Babies squeal as they are snatched away from their mothers by their tails and brought to a “grower room” where they are confined to a tiny cage. Mothers try frantically to reach their babies who were just stolen.
Killing via the electrocution method: the farmer pulls a rusty wire apparatus from a drawer, dips the sharp clamps into a jar of water, and attaches one clamp to the chinchilla’s metal ear tag and the other to her foot. He plugs the device into a wall socket and drops the chinchilla to the counter. The surge of electricity causes the chinchilla to stiffen, her tail stuck straight out, her chest heaved, and a minute later, a yellow trickle ran down the counter—as she had lost control of her bladder.
Following this barbaric procedure, the farmer clips the chinchilla’s arms and legs to a pelting board in a spread-eagled position. Slitting her open, he cuts her face away from her skull and cuts her hands off. Working her pelt away from her body, he pulls her arms out of her skin, which turn inside out like socks. Then with a scissors, cuts off her whiskers, her ears, her tail, and then also the feet; all are dumped, along with her naked, skinned body, into a garbage bucket, like so much trash.
The Brazilian people have asked for our help and support, to put an END to this brutal industry, which we have every intention of following through until we see that it has ended.
So I ask that you please consider your decision carefully. For the decision you make will affect you directly via the impact it will have on your personal political career. And it also will bring serious consequences _ either favorable or negative _ to Brazilian tourism, as we will not hesitate to boycott your country, over all, as well as the incoming international events on Brazil soil: Copa do Mundo and Olympic Games.
We already have Brazil targeted for its insane position in relation to the non-preservation of the Amazon Forest and its commitment to deny international claims against Belo Monte, of which, we have a petition going on that as well.
Please do not disappoint us, as we certainly do not wish to be forced to retaliate.
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent appeal.
Sincerely,
Ask Cherokee to Close Cruel Bear Pits: sample letter
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Using the sample letter, please take a moment to write to Michell Hicks, principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and politely urge him to help close Cherokee’s bear pits and retire the animals to sanctuaries, where they can live the rest of their lives in a more suitable environment.
Also write or fax a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack and urge the USDA to act on PETA’s 63-page bear welfare report documenting serious problems found at these facilities by a team of bear experts:
BACKGROUND | FROM PETA
Tucked away in the Qualla Boundary area of western North Carolina are three roadside zoos—Cherokee Bear Zoo, Chief Saunooke Bear Park, and Santa’s Land—that keep bears in grossly inhumane conditions. As though locked in a 1950s time warp, these Cherokee facilities display neurotic bears in desolate concrete pits and cramped cages, denying the animals the opportunity to carry out even the most basic natural behavior. The captive bears pace back and forth, walk in endless circles, cry, whimper, fight with one another, and beg tourists to toss them a morsel of food.
Surrounded by four solid walls, the bears in Cherokee’s bear pits cannot scan the horizon, gain a perspective on their surroundings, or make much use of their acute sense of smell. The barren, concrete cages lack adequate climbing structures, foraging opportunities, barriers for privacy, and substrate for digging, resting, and nest-building.
The USDA has cited these facilities for serious violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), including for unsafe handling, failure to provide veterinary care to sick animals, damp and moldy feed, feces caked into animals’ fur, and otherwise filthy conditions. But the agency has not taken action to remedy the bears’ cruel living conditions.
You can help ensure that this otherwise tragic saga has a happy ending for the bears languishing at the Cherokee bear pits.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Michell Hicks, Principal Chief
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
P.O. Box 455
Cherokee, NC 28719
michhick@nc-cherokee.com
Secretary Tom Vilsack
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Fax: 202-720-6314
Send two free faxes per day from HERE
- You do not need to send a file
- Please remember to click on the fax confirmation email so your fax is sent
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Chief Hicks and Secretary Vilsack,
I was horrified to learn about the conditions for captive bears in Cherokee. There has been no attempt to provide these animals with a natural habitat or environmental enrichment to satisfy their intense curiosity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has cited each facility with numerous and serious repeat violations of the Animal Welfare Act, and bear experts report that the animals are suffering.
When confined to barren enclosures without room to roam and with no opportunity to express natural behavior or make choices about their daily routines, bears quickly become stressed, frustrated, and bored. They often develop neurotic behavior. Captivity-induced neurotic behavior—such as pacing, circling, head-tossing, and begging—are signifiers of poor welfare and are displayed by virtually all the bears exhibited in Cherokee.
Please take action to help close the bear pits and transfer these animals to a sanctuary.
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent appeal for the Cherokee captive bears.
Sincerely,
BACKGROUND | FROM PETA
Hodo Soy Beanery, a company based in Oakland, California, that makes tofu, soy milk, and other soy products, is reportedly using glue traps for rodent control. PETA informed company officials of the extreme cruelty and disease risks inherent in the use of glue traps, but we’re apparently being ignored.
Glue traps are some of the cruelest products on the market, causing immense and prolonged suffering. Panicked rodents often rip themselves to pieces in their frantic struggle to escape the sticky mess. Exhausted and terrified, they die from shock, dehydration, asphyxiation, or blood loss. Death can take more than 24 hours. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Health Canada warn against using glue traps because of the disease risks posed by the many pathogens in the waste of ensnared rodents, who eliminate out of stress and fright. This should be a concern for any food business.
Please urge Hodo Soy Beanery to join the countless food-based businesses that have sworn off using glue traps. Remind the company that rodent control need not be cruel and ask that it switch to less cruel methods.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Email Block
minh@hodosoy.com
info@hodosoy.com
john@hodosoy.com
billy@hodosoy.com
Individual
Minh Tsai
Founder
Hodo Soy Beanery
510-464-2977
minh@hodosoy.com
info@hodosoy.com
John Scharffenberger
Director and Co-CEO
Hodo Soy Beanery
john@hodosoy.com
Billy Bramblett
Director and Co-CEO
Hodo Soy Beanery
billy@hodosoy.com
SAMPLE LETTER
To Whom It Concerns,
I have just learned of your use of glue traps to capture and kill mice, and I am respectfully requesting you cease using such barbaric methods of killing. In and of itself, killing the mice is inherently immoral, but using glue traps to do so compounds the vicious nature of such an extremely painful and fearfully agonizing experience for animals. These animals are further traumatized trying to free themselves, causing skinning, tearing, ripping, and dismemberment, a profoundly agonizing ritual of attempting to escape for hours upon hours; death sometimes can take days. If you had to experience such a barbaric form of torture and prolonged death, would you be willing to justify it?
This also proves medically dangerous to humans considering that, according to the CDC, glue traps create optimal conditions to spread disease. I would hope any food company that shares a core principle of human health and quality of life, such as yours, would be equally concerned with any disease-spreading forms of rodent control.
It is impossible to contemplate supporting any business that capitalizes on the brutality of animals, and when you utilize such horrendous accessories, you are indeed establishing your complicity and apathy in doing so, and I respectfully request you discontinue using glue traps. Indeed, I hope this letter finds you willing to scrutinize both your own involvement in the intentional exploitation of animals and your desire to therefore protect, rather than harm, them, and until such a time, as a vegan, I will boycott your store and products and share this information with friends, family, and online social contacts.
Please consider, instead, using humane traps to capture and release mice in an ethical and painless manner. These can be found at hardware stores and local animal rescue groups, who would be willing to assist you.
Thank you for your time and attention to this important issue.
NAME
Read more…
1. Please click on and send automatic message via PETA
2. Send sample message to the email addresses listed
1.FROM PETA
Every year on the weekend closest to November 13, a bizarre and nightmarish festival known as “Toro Jubilo” is held in Soria, Spain. During this horrible event, residents affix balls of flammable tar (or pitch) to the horns of terrified, restrained bulls. The bulls’ horns are then set alight, and the panicked animals—either tied to stakes in public squares or released to run madly through the streets—are left to burn in agony. For hours, the tar burns like a bonfire on the bulls’ heads, scorching their faces, eyes, and bodies. Many burning bulls reportedly crash into walls in agony and blind terror. Their carcasses are later divided among the participants for consumption—residents apparently believe that consuming the flesh of the tortured animals provides them with fertility and invincibility. Please learn more about this horrifying ritual by clicking here.
Please contact Soria officials and politely urge them to ban Toro Jubilo, starting this year! Remind them that Toro Jubilo is a sadistic and archaic event that has no place in today’s society, and let them know that you and everyone you know will boycott travel to Soria until this cruel ritual is finally brought to a halt!
VIDEO | WARNING: GRAPHIC
Vodpod videos no longer available.
2. WHOM TO CONTACT
Email block
presidencia@dipsoria.es
turismo@dipsoria.com
sotur@jcyl.es
Individual
City Hall of Medinaceli
Plaza del Ayuntamiento,1
42240 Medinaceli
Soria
Spain
Fax + 34 975326053
President of the Diputación Prov. Soria
C/ Caballeros, 17 Soria
SORIA 42071
Tel: +34 975 211089
Fax: +34 975 101091
presidencia@dipsoria.es
Turism of Soria
turismo@dipsoria.com
President de la Junta de Castilla y Leon
Plaza de Castilla y Leon,1
Spain
Fax + 34 983411269
Turism of Castilla y León
sotur@jcyl.es
SAMPLE MESSAGE
Please take action to immediately ban the horrifying ritual of Toro Jubilo. Toro Jubilo is a sadistic and archaic event that has no place in today’s society.
This event is considered a cultural tradition, a celebration of heritage and a demonstration to provide fertility and invincibility. While I would never embrace such an egotistical belief that my opinions take precedent over established and sacred customs, any “tradition”, however, that is built on a foundation of extreme animal cruelty, exploitation, and suffering, and which inflicts pain and fear on innocent, sentient animals, is neither justified, nor an expression of historical or family pride. There can be no honor amongst those who condemn animals to such depraved actions substantiating my disturbance that such animal cruelty is perpetuated by the inaccurate conviction that this ritual confirms fertility and manhood.
Until such a time as this sadistic ritual is condemned I will boycott travel to Soria, and I will also inform family, friends, and members of online social groups to boycott as well.
Our Compass 