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.
Urge Eric Pickles to Reject Application for New Beagle Breeding Unit
October 30, 2011
Please click on and sign:
Urge Eric Pickles to Reject Application for New Beagle Breeding Unit
From PETA
More than 4,000 beagles suffered and died in experiments in the UK in 2009, and tens of thousands more were used worldwide. A company which sells beagles into the vivisection trade has recently applied for planning permission to build a new facility in Yorkshire. Please write to the local council and ask them to refuse permission.
This summer, more than 2,000 PETA supporters contacted East Riding of Yorkshire Council to ask them to turn down an application by B&K Universal (which is owned by Marshall Farms, a huge US supplier of animals for experiments) to demolish existing housing for dogs at Grimston near Hull and erect new and larger breeding facilities. The council turned down the application, but the company has appealed and their appeal will now be considered by Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The government has pledged to “work to reduce” the numbers of animals used in experiments: giving the green light to this factory farm for dogs would therefore be not only immoral but also against their own policies.
It isn’t clear how many dogs would be kept in the facility, but the redevelopment is substantial and there is room to breed hundreds, maybe thousands, of puppies a year. The company’s planning application (11/01324/STPLF) also notes that current outside runs for the dogs would be replaced with “exercise areas, entirely inside the buildings”, ensuring that the animals never would be given the opportunity to even go outside. The new EU directive on animal experiments says that dogs should be provided with outside runs “where possible” but has yet to come into force – this application flouts that principle.
In Britain, dogs are primarily used in pharmaceutical and pesticide toxicity research. They are also subjected to surgery and veterinary research. Previous investigations of breeding “farms” in the UK have found scandalous conditions, including fighting, injuries and the killing of “surplus stock”. Dogs are transported all around the world for experimentation, and last year, PETA US documented terrified dogs confined to crates in a cargo plane who were being sent from the Marshall Farms facilities in the US to the huge Charles River Laboratories toxicity testing facility near Edinburgh.
A decision by Mr Pickles on the application is expected within weeks. Please contact him to let the government know how much opposition there is to breeding dogs for vivisection and to demand that he turn down the appeal.
This Is Animal Research
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URGENT: Tell the Government That You Support Regulations That Protect Chimpanzees – Sample Letter
October 29, 2011
BACKGROUND | FROM PETA
For too long, there has been a loophole in federal regulations that allows notorious animal abusers and inexperienced individuals to use endangered chimpanzees for purely commercial purposes and in horrific laboratory experiments. They have been able to get away with this for so long because, under current Endangered Species Act regulations, only wild chimpanzees are afforded the desperately needed protections that chimpanzees deserve.
Fortunately, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed an amendment that would remove this major exemption and protect both wild and captive chimpanzees, and the agency wants to know what you think by October 31.
PETA supports this new rule for the protection of both captive animals and wild populations. Such changes can help protect animals who currently are forced to perform confusing and unnatural tricks in the name of entertainment and who suffer at the hands of callous researchers. Furthermore, this correction would prevent future generations of chimpanzees from being exploited.
The FWS is asking the public for its thoughts on this proposed change to federal regulations and will accept comments until the end of the day on October 31. Such feedback is extremely important, as it influences officials when they are determining their course of action. Please speak up for chimpanzees everywhere by letting the FWS know that you support this important amendment!
Please take a moment to visit the comments page for this proposed regulation and politely urge the FWS to grant captive chimpanzees the same protections currently afforded to wild chimpanzees. Feel free to use the form letter below, but personalized comments are always preferred.
WHOM TO CONTACT
1. Click on regulations.gov
2. Enter your information (only the comment is required)
3. Copy the below comment, or compose your own, and enter it into the comment field
4. Click Submit
SAMPLE COMMENT
I am writing in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed amendment to the regulations of the Endangered Species Act that would grant captive chimpanzees the same protections currently afforded to wild chimpanzees (Docket No. FWS-R9-ES-2010-0086).
As it stands, this exemption has allowed breeders and exhibitors to indiscriminately harm, harass, and wound these animals. I agree with the proposed rule for the reasons stated by the FWS and support a prohibition on engaging in the import or export, sale or offer for sale, interstate or foreign commerce in the course of a commercial activity, or taking of endangered chimpanzees.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.
Sincerely,
RELATED | UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION AT RESEARCH LAB
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Take Action for The Free Speech 8
October 28, 2011
BACKGROUND | FROM FACEBOOK & DENIS HENRY HENNELLY
The Free Speech 8 are eight activists in Los Angeles who are being prosecuted for legal protest activity. They need a few minutes of your time.
This video will give you basic info about the case (see video below) –
Invite others to this event and spread the word!
And then write emails and call to support The Free Speech 8 as they battle government repression and animal exploitation. Their trial begins December 5th in Los Angeles.
There is suggested email text below, but feel free to write something in your own words!! Just be sure to reference the case number and The Free Speech 8.
As always, be polite and respectful when emailing and speaking with officials.
VIDEO
Vodpod videos no longer available.
WHOM TO CONTACT
TO:
ctrutanich@lacity.org
mayor@lacity.org
councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org
CC:
zev@bos.lacounty.gov
molina@bos.lacounty.gov
seconddistrict@bos.lacounty.gov
rvelasquez@lacbos.org
fifthdistrict@lacbos.org
TELEPHONE:
Carmen Trutanich – Los Angeles City Attorney – 213-978-8100
Antonia Villaraigosa – Los Angeles Mayor – 213-978-0600 or 213-978-0721
Eric Garcetti – Los Angeles City Council President – 323-957-4500
You can voice your concerns regarding the city pursuing criminal charges against the Free Speech 8, a group of activists who were legally protesting against UCLA vivisection, always within the rules of Los Angeles city ordinances and in front of LAPD, who judged their activity to be legal. Please view the video to familiarize yourself with the basics of the case before calling.
SAMPLE LETTER
Subject: Drop charges against The Free Speech 8! (case # 0CA01276)
To Whom It Concerns,
At a time when budget cuts are creating a “threat to public safety” in the city of Los Angeles (http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/20/local/la-me-0120-city-attorney-20110120), I’m disturbed to discover that the City Attorney’s office is prosecuting “The Free Speech 8” — citizens who did nothing more than engage in First Amendment protected protest activity, fully in compliance with federal and state law, as well as all relevant Los Angeles city ordinances. In fact, UCLA and LAPD police officers monitoring the protests affirmatively told protestors on multiple occasions that their conduct was lawful, which they, of course, relied on. Only later were charges brought for the very activities officers had for years sanctioned on the scene. Please take a look at this video – http://vimeo.com/28777156.
It seems that Deputy City Attorney Spencer Hart is pursuing this case to protect the interests of vivisectors at UCLA over the firmly established constitutional rights of other Los Angeles city residents. Considering the budget problems Los Angeles is having, do you really want to be spending tens of thousands on this prosecution? The City’s scarce resources would be better used protecting the public from actual threats to their safety, not prosecuting citizens who engaged in peaceful protest activity protected by the First Amendment.
Regardless of whether you agree with the interests advocated by The Free Speech 8, you certainly can agree that they have a right to lawful free speech, including a right to lawfully protest, which is exactly what they were doing.
The citizens of Los Angeles and the citizens of the United States are watching this case. We’re worried about the waste of resources and the clear attack on First Amendment rights.
You have the power to help right this situation. The trial is set to begin on December 5, 2011. It’s Case # 0CA01276.
Sincerely,
1. Previous alert, please also sign: Intermix & BCBG: Please Go Fur Free!
2. New alerts, please click on and sign: Honor your promise to not sell fur
BCBG Max Azria: Stop slaughtering rabbits
3. Letter campaign: please see below for instructions on mailing the sample Message Text as well.
Background | From IDA
High-end fashion brand BCBG has broken their promise concerning sales of fur. In 2008, BCBG signed a pledge to not sell fur, joining many in the fashion industry to go fur-free including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne, Stella McCartney, and Vivienne Westwood.
But BCBG’s 2011 holiday line has fur! We are disappointed that BCBG is moving in the wrong direction and has gone back on their word. Over 50 million animals a year suffer and die in an unnecessary industry and BCBG is contributing to the misery of fur-bearing animals. Please join IDA in asking BCBG to stand by their original compassionate choice and go fur free … again!
Message Text
Subject: Please honor your promise to not sell fur
To Whom It Concerns,
I am shocked that a reputable company such as BCBG would go back on your promise to be fur-free, with the introduction of fur into your 2011 holiday line. As a compassionate consumer, I will not support your company or buy your clothing as long as you sell fur.
Animals killed for fur suffer terribly on fur farms where they live short lives in filthy, tiny cages, exposed to extremes of weather. They are killed in nightmarish ways including gassing, bludgeoning, stomping, neck-breaking, and anal and/or genital electrocution. Some are even skinned alive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rinXw-Og6is
Please join industry leaders such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, and many others in making your clothing and accessories fur-free. I encourage you to please make the compassionate choice, pull all fur products from your line, and make BCBG permanently fur-free.
Sincerely,
Please also consider sending an email using the Message Text above or using a sample letter via the link below; feel free to also send a hard copy letter and/or make a telephone call
Email block
max@bcbg.com
Lalena.Luba@bcbg.com
Individual
Max Azria
CEO
BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP
2761 Fruitland Ave.
Vernon, CA 90058
Phone: 323-589-2224
Email: max@bcbg.com
Lalena Luba
Vice President of Public Relations
BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP
2761 Fruitland Ave.
Vernon, CA 90058
Phone: 212-704-4789
Email: Lalena.Luba@bcbg.com
Click HERE to see additional sample letters, there are numerous available.
Video | The Real Cost of Fur
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Two Actions: Boulder Prairie Dogs Need You & Help Protect Rhinos
October 28, 2011
Please sign petition and send letter supporting a prairie dog relocation during a stream restoration project in Boulder County Colorado. Please also take a moment to help rhinos by signing the additional petition below, thank you.
BACKGROUND | FROM HSUS
Boulder County Parks and Open Space is submitting an application to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife division for a prairie dog relocation to Rabbit Mountain Open Space near Lyons, Colorado. This is the first wild-to-wild relocation the County has applied for in 10 years—showing our support is critical!
The capture site is county-owned land called Alexander Dawson, which is east of Hwy 287 in the vicinity of Boulder Creek. Approximately 75 prairie dogs have to be removed because major stream restoration will take place there, impacting the prairie dogs during construction.
Take action by November 3.
Please send a brief, polite message to Boulder County Parks and Open Space in support of this prairie dog relocation to Rabbit Mountain Open Space. Your comments will be delivered to Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife for consideration during the review process.
PETITION
I support the Rabbit Mountain Open Space prairie dog relocation
WHOM TO CONTACT
SAMPLE MESSAGE
Subject: General Comment or Feedback
Dear Officials,
As a supporter of The Prairie Dog Coalition of The Humane Society of the United States, I am writing in favor of the proposed relocation of prairie dogs to Rabbit Mountain Open Space.
I applaud the county for working to implement non-lethal prairie dog management techniques and co-existence with our native wildlife. Additionally, I appreciate our taxpayer dollars being spent to improve our communities by creating healthy wildlife populations for future generations.
Wildlife Matters and prairie dogs are a key component to healthy wildlife populations on our prairies. Please accept my comment in support of the proposed prairie dog relocation to Rabbit Mountain Open Space.
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent message.
Sincerely,
NAME
RHINOS AT RISK
Vodpod videos no longer available.
PLEASE CLICK ON AND SIGN:
Help Protect Rhinos — Respond to New Government Consultation
BACKGROUND | FROM HSI
Rhinos are under great threat – from illegal poachers and legal trophy hunters – please speak up for them today.
Thanks to your help, earlier this month HSI delivered a 31,000 signature petition, calling for a rhino hunting moratorium, to the South African authorities. Now the government has launched an official consultation, and we need your help once more.
An alarming rise in demand for rhino horn as an ingredient in the illegal Chinese medicine trade is having a devastating effect on these wonderful, but threatened, animals.
In South Africa alone, 333 were killed by poachers in 2010; that number has already been reached this year, and is projected to exceed 400 by the end of 2011. Yet South Africa continues to issue permits to trophy hunters so rhinos can be legally shot: To date, almost 150 have been issued this year.
As South Africa is home to more than 70 percent of the world’s remaining rhinos, any action it takes to protect these animals is crucial to their survival.
But, despite its own suggestions that a moratorium was being considered, no action has yet been taken by the government, and now its newly-published public consultation doesn’t even mention introducing the measure.
A moratorium would give much needed protection to rhinos, threatened with persecution every day of the year—please write today. The deadline for comments is 30th October.
Read more…
Protest the use of real fur at Nauticalia: sample letter, phone, fax
October 27, 2011
BACKGROUND | FROM CAFT
Gift and card shops around the country are selling ornamental / novelty gift animals made of real fur. They come in various shapes and sizes and most are of cats and dogs.
One of the main suppliers of these is a Surrey-based company Nauticalia Ltd who sell cats that look as though they are sleeping. These are called Intrepid Ship’s Cats and are retailed at around £25 each. The company claims they are made from rabbit fur from animals killed in China.
Others, from other companies, are shaped as small cats and dogs in baskets, and sell at a few pounds. There are also a wider variety of animals standing at about 15cm high.
All of these ornaments claim to be made from rabbit fur, although investigations in the United States found a large number of similar ones to be made from the fur of domestic cats and dogs.
The Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade opposes the use of all animal fur. We believe that the suffering and death of animals cannot be justified to supply such a trade.
Rabbit fur comes from two sources – rabbits raised specifically for their fur, and rabbits raised primarily for their meat. The conditions in which the animals are raised (usually factory farming where they are crammed into bare wire cages and denied the ability to perform natural behaviours such as jump, run or dig) are similar, as is their death. Death is usually by neck-breaking or the throat being slit. The rabbits will also suffer when being transported between farm and market and / or slaughter, and are often roughly handled.
In Britain it is illegal to breed animals solely or primarily for their fur. Therefore most fur, including some rabbit fur, sold in Britain is produced in a way that would be illegal in this country.
Some people may think that if the fur is a ‘by-product’ of the meat trade then its use is acceptable. But one must consider the suffering of the animals whatever the purpose of that suffering. We don’t need toys made from real fur so how can the use of rabbit fur be justified? The use of real fur financially supports the ways in which the animals are raised and killed. It also promotes the general use of real fur – the fur trade kills 40 million animals a year worldwide, breeding them in barren cages where they go mad and mutilate themselves, or trapping them in vicious leg hold traps where many try to escape by gnawing off their own limbs. The use of rabbit fur for these toys is no different. By buying any real fur these are the acts that you are paying for.
With such an abundance of high quality synthetic materials there is no need to use real animal fur.
Some of the shops selling these toys, and many of the people buying them, do not even realise they are made from real fur until groups such as CAFT point it out to them.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Do not buy these fur animals. Check carefully before buying anything – if you are not 100% certain that it is synthetic then don’t buy it.
- Complain to any shop you see selling these toys, and send us their details so that we can contact them.
- CAFT contacts companies selling these and other real fur products. We provide them with information on the cruelties and ask them to stop selling real fur. If they refuse we publish their details and ask others to write polite letters to them. We also support protests outside shops selling real fur.
- Contact Nauticalia now expressing your disgust at them selling fur products. Ask them to stop selling them, and tell them you, your friends and family will boycott them until they stop!
WHOM TO CONTACT
Nauticalia can be contacted at:
Mr Lynn Lewis
Nauticalia Ltd.
The Ferry Point
Ferry Lane, Shepperton-on-Thames
TW17 9LQ
Tel: 01932 244396
Fax: 01932 241679
E-mail: mailorder@nauticalia.com
SAMPLE LETTER, COURTESY WSPA
To Whom It Concerns,
It is my understanding that your stores are currently stocking and selling fur products. This is of great concern to myself, family, friends, and colleagues due to the inherent cruelty involved in the production of fur –arguably the most indefensible of uses of animals.
All animals used for fur, whether they are trapped or farmed, experience intense suffering. Globally, 85 percent of fur used in fashion comes from animals raised on fur farms, 80 per cent of which are in China, where there is no animal protection legislation. The fur industry makes its huge profits by using poor conditions to keep production costs to the bare minimum, and millions of animals every year are forced to endure the most profound indifference to their suffering, dignity, and most basic needs – all in the name of fashion.
On fur farms all over the world, animals are kept in appalling conditions, crammed into row after row of tiny barren cages, and left to stand on metal bars for their entire lives. Such conditions fail to accommodate even their most basic natural behaviours. Even the methods of slaughter, including electrocution and live skinning, are designed to protect the pelts without any consideration for the animals’ suffering.
Please watch the following video illustrating the cruelty involved in fur farming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Cz8XLh5crDA
In light of the extreme animal suffering involved in fur production, many countries have already banned the production of fur. For example, an increasing number of European countries have introduced legislation to curtail or prohibit the production of all fur, including the UK, Italy, Austria, Croatia, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Additionally,the European Union and United States have already implemented bans on the trade in fur of dogs and cats. In addition to these great legislative achievements, many national and international retailers have ceased selling fur and have put their fur-free commitment in writing by signing onto the international Fur-Free Retailer programme.
It is my appeal to you to respond to the cruelty inherent in fur production by ceasing the sale of fur and signing up as an official fur-free retailer:
http://www.furfreeshopping.com/a_program.php.
You have the opportunity to send a vital message to the fur industry and to your concerned customers: fur is of a bygone age and to breed and kill animals just for fashion or luxury is at complete odds with contemporary understanding of animal sentience.
I hope you will decide to eliminate all fur from your stores after considering this information. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the points raised in this letter.
Sincerely,
2,000 Sharks Massacred in Colombian Sanctuary | One action
October 27, 2011
Related | Please click on and sign:
Protect Dolphins, Turtles, and Whale Sharks from Oil in Belize
From Huff Post
January Jones and Andrew Sharpless
Today is a sobering day for sharks. Colombian authorities have reported that as many as 2,000 hammerhead, Galápagos and whale sharks may have been slaughtered for their fins in the nation’s Pacific waters.
According to the Colombian president’s top environmental adviser, divers saw 10 Costa Rican trawlers illegally entering the Malpelo wildlife sanctuary, a UNESCO World Heritage site. When the divers swam down deeper, they found a shocking amount of sharks lying on the ocean floor, finless.
Related | Shark Finning
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Considering that sharks give birth to only a few young each year, the loss of 2,000 sharks is a significant single blow to the ecosystem. But 2,000 is a small number compared to the millions of sharks that are killed each year around the world for their fins. Sharks play a vital role in maintaining the health of ocean food webs; when the sharks are removed, the entire system can be thrown into disarray. Many scientists say that you can tell a marine ecosystem is thriving if it teems with sharks.
The Colombian shark massacre is especially shocking as it comes just a few short weeks after we cheered the sweeping U.S. West Coast ban on the trade of shark fins. It’s a reminder that while Oceana and our allies have made a lot of progress for sharks over the past few years, they are still being killed for their fins in appalling numbers.
It’s also a reminder that the global shark conservation movement is at a critical juncture. An increasing number of nations are recognizing the need to protect the ocean’s top predators. Take Chile, which passed a national ban on shark finning this summer. And more recently, Mexico and the Marshall Islands have announced plans for new shark protections. More governments are realizing the value of sharks to the health of their oceans and economies.
It’s encouraging to see the tide rising on global shark conservation, but it’s also important to note the role of illegal fishing in this tragic incident. Marine sanctuaries are wonderful places, but enforcement is key to keep out the illegal fishermen who aim to capitalize on the wealth of fish and sharks that make these areas so special.
Read more…
Please click on and sign:
Maximum Penalty for Animal Cruelty Charges for Pat Blevins
From Care2
Target: Honorable Judges of Rowan County KY District Court
Sponsored by: Concerned citizens
Patricia Blevins – Charged with 46 counts of Cruelty to Animals 2nd Degree (a Class A Misdemeanor) and 1 Kennel violation. Class A Misdemeanors in Kentucky are punishable by up to 12 months in jail and up to a $500 fine. 118 dogs were confiscated from her property on 10-06-11. Ms. Blevins was arrested and formally charged on 10-20-11.
The dogs were found both inside and outside the mobile home trailer, in filthy and dangerous living conditions, stacked in cages on top of each other.
According to the arrest warrant, many of the dogs suffered from dehydration, skin, eye, and ear issues, dental disease, flea Infestation, and overgrown nails.
Cage trays were found full of urine and feces. Dead puppies were found within the trays. Dead rats were found with some of the dogs as well.
Ms. Blevins was charged in 2004 with Cruelty to Animals, but these charges were dropped when her husband plead guilty.
It is inexcusable to keep dogs in these conditions for any reason. We, upon a guilty verdict, are asking for the maximum Class A Misdemeanor punishment for EACH count of cruelty Ms. Blevins is charged with, to be served CONSECUTIVELY, along with judgement that she is to never own or harbor an animal on her premises in the future.
TIMELINE Case# 11-M-00900
November 7, 2011 – Pretrial Conference 2PM.
October 24, 2011 – Arraignment. Entered plea of “Not Guilt”
Rowan County KY Puppy Mill Bust 10 6 2011
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Man walks free from court after eating baby rat: sample letter
October 26, 2011
Image | Daily Mail Online
BACKGROUND | FROM MAIL ONLINE
A man accused of animal cruelty has walked free from court after appearing on video eating a live baby rat.
Andy Ray Harris was arrested after chewing and swallowing the tiny, pink rodent during a sickening 45-second clip.
But despite eating the hairless animal and washing it down with a mouthful of beer, Harris, from Tooele, Utah, escaped punishment in court after a judge ruled rats are not a protected species.
The 31-year-old had been charged with aggravated animal abuse in April after police were alerted to the footage which had drawn complaints from horrified internet users.
The disturbing 45-second clip shows the small pink rat squirming on top of a notepad in a pub.
A spectator is then heard goading Harris, by telling him to ‘go on and eat it’.
He picks up the helpless creature, snarls at the camera and pushes it into his mouth before chewing for around five seconds and taking a drink.
Animal rights charity People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) reported it to police after a string of complaints.
Harris told police he ate the rat ‘on a dare from my friends’ but pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated animal abuse.
Prosecutors argued the baby rat deserved protection because it was not wild and was killed in a way that is ‘not an accepted fashion’.
But last week Harris went away from court unpunished after the judge dismissed the charges against him, declaring that rats were not a protected species.
Harris admitted his actions were ‘grotesque’ but was not cruel.
He’d also claimed his actions were not cruel because the rat was going to be eaten by a snake.
He added that ‘for centuries rats have been a scourge to humanity and should have no legal protections’.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Judge Robert Adkins
Tooele County 3rd District Court, 74 S.
100 East, Ste. 14
Tooele, UT, 84074
Phone number to the court is 435-833-800
Fax number is 435-833-8058
Send two free faxes per day from HERE
SAMPLE LETTER | RAT ASSISTANCE & TEACHING SOCIETY
To The Honorable Judge Adkins:
I am writing in protest of your decision to dismiss charges of animal cruelty against Andy Ray Harris because you feel rats are not a protected species. Originally, under the Federal Animal Welfare Act, only rats raised for research were excluded from protection, but an amendment passed in 2002—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 107-171—removed even that exclusion. Therefore there is not any legal basis for denying a baby rat the same protection afforded a kitten or a puppy. Chewing an animal to death is certainly cruel, and to allow a person to escape any consequences of this action is unconscionable. How is chewing an animal to death any different than beating him to death, cutting him with knives until dead, or dismembering him alive? It doesn’t matter if the baby rat was destined to be eaten by a snake or not, he was chewed to death by Andy Ray Harris.
There are over half a million households in the United States that own pet rats or mice, and we all understand that rats, just like any other pet, have the capacity to feel emotion and suffering. Our country’s laws do not allow people to kill pets in a cruel manner, so why should it allow someone to kill a domestic rat in a cruel manner? I hate to think that your decision in this case has set a precedent that might affect future decisions.
Please reconsider your damaging decision and charge Andy Ray Harris as you are legally obligated under the following Utah statute:
76-9-301 Cruelty to Animals.
(1) A person is guilty of cruelty to animals if the person intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence:
(d) injures an animal
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent appeal, your attention is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Tell Dover, Massachusetts, to Scrap Cruel Bowhunting: Sample Letter
October 26, 2011
BACKGROUND | FROM PETA
Dover, Massachusetts, has approved cruel bowhunting of deer populations in a misguided attempt to reduce the risk of Lyme disease. Your voices are needed!
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. Furthermore, studies have shown that killing deer has no effect on tick populations. Ticks can best be reduced by keeping vegetation trimmed back, removing wood piles, and refraining from feeding wildlife.
Please urge Dover officials to kill their bowhunting plans. If they insist on deer control, please share our tips (See below as well).
Please send polite comments to the contacts listed below.
Vodpod videos no longer available. Vodpod videos no longer available.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Email Block
selectmen@doverma.org
selectmen2@doverma.org
boh@doverma.org
Individual
David W. Ramsay
Town Administrator
selectmen@doverma.org
Board of Selectmen
selectmen2@doverma.org
Board of Health Lyme Disease Committee
boh@doverma.org
SAMPLE LETTER, PLEASE MODIFY, SHORTEN
Dear Administrator Ramsay and Board Members,
I have just learned that Dover, Massachusetts, has approved cruel bowhunting of deer populations in a misguided attempt to reduce the risk of Lyme disease. By recruiting bow-hunters using baiting tactics, you intend to decrease the deer population. 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. 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 lies and 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 Massachusetts I will be unwilling to consider it 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
Please click on and sign:
Judge Bill English: punish those who allowed this horse to starve to death
From Change
This is blizzard; he is a horse who lived on the same road as I. He was starved to death and passed away Tuesday. He was only four years old and had NO health issues whatsoever. The authorities will not step in and we are trying to get people to call Lee County, Alabama, authorities to make complaints to get the owner to court. We cannot get anywhere with our case and need the publics’ help. Please sign the petition to appeal to Judge Bill English to prosecute the guilty party who allowed this horse to starve to death. Animal cruelty is against the law:
Alabama Statute § 13A-11-14. Cruelty to Animals.
(a) A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if, except as otherwise authorized by law, he or she intentionally or recklessly:
(1) Subjects any animal to cruel mistreatment; or
(2) Subjects any animal in his or her custody to cruel neglect; or
(3) Kills or injures without good cause any animal belonging to another.
Please click on and sign petition HERE, thank you.
Read more…
Please click on and sign:
Tell Village Voice Media to Stop Child Sex Trafficking on Backpage.com
Background | From Change
By the time Norman Barnes was picked up by Massachusetts state troopers, he had made $19,000 forcing a 15-year-old girl to have sex with up to 8 men a day for 10 days.
He couldn’t have done it without Backpage.com, a classified website owned by Village Voice Media.
Backpage.com is reported to be the nation’s #1 online platform for advertising sex with minors. A recent letter from 51 Attorneys General to Village Voice Media’s lawyers cites over 50 cases (in 22 states) of trafficking or attempted trafficking of minors for sex using the site. Although such use violates Backpage.com’s terms of service, the site continually fails to identify and remove ads selling sex with children.
Driven by the universal moral imperative to end child sex trafficking, a new multifaith action network called Groundswell has started a petition on Change.org.
Village Voice Media executives are fully aware that their site is used as a platform for child sex trafficking, but have done close to nothing to stop it.
Instead, after executives were confronted by the Attorneys General, the Village Voice ran a shocking cover story ‘expose’ that smeared hard-working advocacy groups by presenting sensationally low (and poorly researched) statistics on child sex trafficking.
What the story didn’t mention is that Village Voice Media earns $22.7 million a year from its adult services ads on Backpage.com, which it may have to shut down completely (like Craigslist did last year after hearing from 10,000 Change.org members) to effectively prevent the site from being used as a platform for selling sex with children.
All Village Voice Media has done so far is throw up a smokescreen to try and hide how they’re providing a platform child sex trafficking on Backpage.com. Let Village Voice Media executives know that they can’t hide their complicity. Sign Groundswell’s petition to end child sex trafficking on Backpage.com now:
Thanks for being a change-maker,
Amanda and the Change.org team
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The widget contains news and actions from multiple sources including Amnesty International, ACLU, Center For Missing and Exploited Children, New York Times, The Innocence Project, Human Rights Watch, and Polaris Human Trafficking; please use the scroll bar on the right to view more; use the dropdown button on the top right to view the individual feeds. These are automatically, continuously updated.
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Urge Harlan to end its relationship with Primate Products
October 24, 2011
FROM FACEBOOK ACTION ALERT | SMASH HLS
BACKGROUND
A few months ago, Smash HLS started to receive reports that hundreds of monkeys at Panther Tracks were sick, and many had died, from bacterial enteritis (inflammation of the intestine), a serious but common illness among captive populations of nonhuman primates. According to the reports, monkeys were suffering from severe, sometimes bloody diarrhea. Most of the affected monkeys belonged to Harlan. Business partnerships don’t last forever. It’s time that Harlan and Primate Products split. The following Harlan employees are in regular contact with Primate Products. Please send them an email and recommend that Harlan end its relationship with Primate Products.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Email block
dcooper@harlan.com
hklein@harlan.com
dpitts@harlan.com
rcarter@harlan.com
tbheffner@harlan.com
lknarr@harlan.com
dschreiner@harlan.com
info@primateproducts.com
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Harlan Laboratories,
I am concerned about the many, many sick animals owned by Harlan who are housed at Primate Products in Florida. Have you considered that maybe the partnership between Harlan and Primate Products isn’t working out?
Primate Products has been mired in controversy for a long time, protests are continuing, and things are not going to get better for the company anytime soon. Primate Products needs you more than you need them! Like the illness that has sickened monkeys at Primate Products, controversy can be contagious. Does Harlan want to be muddied by the bad news that continues to come out of Primate Products?
Please, end your relationship with Primate Products!
Name
RELATED | THIS IS ANIMAL RESEARCH
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Stop the killing of dogs and cats for the European Football Championship | Petitions, Sample letter
October 24, 2011
Image | Pia Berrend: http://www.piaberrend.org
Background, letter, text from:
Pia Berrend Organization
The Ukraine is poisoning, shooting and even burning stray animals alive: the preparations for Eurofoot 2012 are running at full swing!
Several mass killings of animals have been conducted in preparation for the European soccer championship in 2012. Thousands of dogs are cruelly poisoned or shot in the street.
Stray dogs and cats are killed using an illegal poison called ditiline. The strays are shot with the poison and their respiratory muscles are paralyzed. In other words, their lungs freeze, collapse and fail to function. Others are locked up in so-called “killing stations”, where most of the animals die of starvation or lack of water. Some even start cannibalizing each other.
The city Lysychansk (eastern Ukraine) is even shooting and burning animals alive as part of the football preparations for Eurofoot 2012 which has been proudly announced in the following newspaper:
http://donbass.ua/news/region/2010/01/19/po-lisichansku-ezdit-peredvizhnoi-krematorii.html
The crematorium on wheels was bought by the town for a cost of 198,000 UAH (20,500 euros) – imagine the number of animals who could have been spayed and neutered for the same money!
In the following video you can see the mobile crematorium when it was presented on the national TV:
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The crematorium is operated by a driver, an operator and a catcher “armed” with a syringe gun. They paralyze the animals and throw them into the container. As soon as they collect 40 kilos, they burn the paralyzed dogs and cats while they are still alive. The municipality also lends the mobile crematorium to other cities and districts of the region.
The captured animals are thrown alive into the oven to 900 degrees Celsius.
According to locals, the dogs and cats are burned alive!
Ukranian animal rights activists have been protesting this practice for more than a year, and operations director of the UEFA, Martin Kallen, has publicly said that he does not approve of any methods of animal control that constitute animaly cruelty. However, nothing has been done to investigate the burnings. In fact, UEFA president Michel Platini visited the Ukraine in September 2011 and said he was pleased with Ukraine’s progress.
Petitions
Stop the killing of dogs and cats for the European Football Championship
Please help us, the mass murder needs to stop of dogs in Ukraine
- Letter Translation
Dear Madam Ambassador,
I was shocked to learn that homeless animals are killed in the Ukraine before Euro 2012 in the cruelest way.The overpopulation of homeless dogs and cats must not be fought with mass killings – these methods are inhumane and totally counterproductive, as the uniform population of dogs and cats in Ukraine proves.
The only humane and sustainable way to address the overpopulation is the neuter and release method. Here the animals are neutered and returned to their original location. With this letter I would like the protests of animal rights activists from Ukraine, Switzerland and connect from around the world, arguing for an end to the cruel treatment of homeless dogs and cats in the Ukraine.
Please make sure that Ukraine will stop the atrocities committed against the homeless animals, and instead show their fellow citizens and the world that a sensitive and effective solution to combat over population possible.
- Vorname: First Name
- Nachname: Last Name
- AbschickenReset: Submit
- Vielen Dank, dass Sie sich für die Beendung der Hundetötungen in der Ukraine ausgesprochen haben: Thank you for signing for dogs of Ukraine
Whom To Contact | You may get some returned addresses (four), but I kept them in case they are revalidated
Email Address Block
press@menr.gov.ua, hotline@mfa.gov.ua, elena@mincult.gov.ua, press@mincult.gov.ua, ministry@mon.gov.ua, press@mon.gov.ua, press@menr.gov.ua, yar@menr.gov.ua, post@dcssm.gov.ua, press_msms@ukr.net, themis@minjust.gov.ua, cos@pol03.gts.lg.ua, pcgz@gu.kiev.ua, postmaster@ribbon.kiev.ua
Individual
President Viktor Yanukovych
252008 Kiev Ukraine
Vul. Bankova, 11
Tel: 380-44-226-3265
Fax: 380-44-293-1001
Email: postmaster@ribbon.kiev.ua
Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine
Mister Movchan
35, Urytskogo Str. Kiev, Ucraina
03.035 YKPAIHA
press@menr.gov.ua
Foreign Office
hotline@mfa.gov.ua
Ministry of Culture and Tourism
elena@mincult.gov.ua
press@mincult.gov.ua
Ministry of Education
ministry@mon.gov.ua
press@mon.gov.ua
ministry alive. environment
press@menr.gov.ua
yar@menr.gov.ua
Ministers for Family and Youth
post@dcssm.gov.ua
press_msms@ukr.net
Ministry of Justice
themis@minjust.gov.ua
Interior Ministry Luhansk region:
cos@pol03.gts.lg.ua
End Kiev
pcgz@gu.kiev.ua
To contact FIFA:
FIFA-Strasse 20,
P.O. Box 8044 Zurich, Switzerland
Tel : +41-(0)43 222 7777
Fax : +41-(0)43 222 7878
Please send your message through the following link:
http://www.fifa.com/contact/form.html
To contact UEFA:
UEFA
Route de Genève 46
Case postale
CH-1260 Nyon 2
Suisse
Tel: +41 (0) 848 00 2727
Fax: +41 (0) 848 01 2727
Web : UEFA.com
Send two free faxes per day from HERE.
Sample Letter
Subject: Immediately stop the mass killings of stray animals in preparation for Eurofoot 2012
Mister President and Whom It Concerns,
For a few months, and within the framework of the Eurofoot 2012, international networks and various media have been protesting against the extermination of indigenous animals taking place at the moment in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian administration gave its support, and allowed the use of crematorium furnaces to exterminate animals. The whole world is wondering about the reasons that led your government to such a decision, a distressing solution, unworthy of a civilised country.
You cannot hide your acts: these crematorium furnaces, poisonings, and mass graves of animals are seen by people, including children, internationally.
This situation leads to increasing world-wide information campaigns and protests against the atrocities that are being carried out in your country.
You can thus expect boycott of tourism and commerce, advertising against Ukraine, demonstrations in front of your embassies, travel agencies, on the internet, and in various media.
Mister President, the international community asks you to collaborate with and so reassure your fellow-countrymen on the situation in Ukraine. Not doing so would be harmful to the beauty and values of your country, would reduce tourism, and increase the lack of consideration and interest for the Eurofoot 2012.
We diplomatically ask you to collaborate with well-known international animal welfare organisations that can advise you, and help your administration achieve a spay and neuter program right now.
Yours respectfully,
USDA pushes veggies, but subsidizes meat
October 23, 2011
Image | grist.org The Washington Post reports that the USDA's nutrition guidelines are seriously out of step with food subsidies. The government recommends people eat fruits and veggies as nearly half their daily intake, and protein as less than a quarter -- but they subsidize meat in totally different proportions. We whipped up this little graphic to compare what they think people should eat with what they encourage farmers to produce.
From The Washington Post
By Arthur Allen
Related | Glass Walls
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‘Thou shalt not’
In addition to the subsidies that USDA pays for commodity crops each year, it pays about $5 billion directly to commodity-crop farmers. You don’t have to till the land to get these direct payments. In fact, all you have to do to qualify for the payments is to own land on which commodity crops were growing in 1985.
The direct subsidy payments seem to have little to do with the original justification for farm subsidies, which was to help keep family farms from going out of business. Three-quarters of the direct subsidies go to the top 10 percent of commodity-cropland owners; $400 million of the total in 2010 went to individuals who live in cities with populations over 100,000 and hold the land as an investment. Millions more went to land-owning corporations, including real estate firms.
Although you don’t have to grow anything on these lands to get a subsidy, there are some restrictions on how you use the acreage: Growing fruits and veggies for the market on such lands automatically disqualifies them for direct subsidy payments. This restricts competition for produce growers but limits acreage available for such crops.
Related | Farm to Fridge
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No end to payments
USDA subsidies aren’t about food security, because they do little to lower the price of most of what people put in their mouths, said Ben Lilliston of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a group that opposes subsidies on the grounds that they promote the production of unhealthful food by big business.
Subsidies affect only a few human foods: Peanut butter, rice and bread are indirectly subsidized, as is high-fructose corn syrup, whose cheap ubiquity in the U.S. diet has been described as a cause of the obesity epidemic. A special program helps apple growers, and since 2008 about $50 million a year goes to other fruit and vegetable growers.
Debate on the subsidies sharpened this year amid growing concern over federal government spending. A House Appropriations subcommittee defeated an amendment by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) to cap direct payments at $125,000 per individual. Opposition to the measure was bipartisan.
The amendment was denounced by representatives from states where subsidies are common. “We cannot get safe food if we don’t allow our farmers to have the capacity to earn a living and to produce the highest quality, the safest and most economical food and fiber anywhere in the industrialized world,” said Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), standing up for his peanut farmers.
Democrat Sam Farr, whose coastal California district includes some of the most productive vegetable-growing farms in the world, noted that the farmers he represents “don’t get a dime of support from the federal government. If the market falls, they eat it. If a disaster comes in, they eat it. . . . They grow what they call ‘specialty crops’ — that’s the stuff you eat all the time.”
Automatic cuts to the direct payments and other subsidy programs could kick in next year if the congressional “supercommittee” created under the debt-ceiling deal fails to make specific recommendations, say those who follow the farm budget.
For critics, the subsidy program is fundamentally flawed because of which farmers it supports as well as the kind of eating it encourages.
Separate issues
USDA officials see the Myplate recommendations and the subsidy programs as different issues. “Myplate doesn’t promote any kind of food,” says Robert Post, USDA’s deputy director for nutrition policy and promotion, whose office designed the graphic. “It helps people make healthier decisions at mealtimes. It’s not supposed to be a prescription, but it gives you tools to allow you to assess your own intakes within these guidelines.”
Though commodity subsidies may seem to be incompatible with USDA’s eating recommendations, Post says basic commodity prices are a tiny percentage of what consumers pay at a restaurant or grocery store, where most of the expense lies in packaging, processing and marketing.
It is possible to eat healthfully on a limited budget, Post said. “You can eat more whole grains and fruits and vegetables without great expense.” Americans on average eat only 42 percent of the recommended two cups of fruit each day and 59 percent of the 2½ cups of vegetables, he said, adding that consumer habits have a much bigger impact than price subsidies.
“Still,” Post said, “we can do more to facilitate behavioral change in eating through government strategies, and those include making these nutritious foods more available.” One of the programs intended to stimulate healthful eating, he noted, is the Farmers Market Promotion Program. It provides grants of up to $100,000 to organizations setting up farmers’ markets.
The program’s budget for 2011: $5 million.
Allen is a freelance writer and author of “Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato.”
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