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.
Intermix & BCBG: Please Go Fur Free!
Please click on and sign the following:
1. Intermix: Please Go Fur Free!
3. BCBG Max Azria: Stop slaughtering rabbits
1. Intermix Background | From Change
Intermix has every type of slaughtered and skinned animal for sale: Fox fur, rabbit fur, raccoon fur, and even coyote fur. Not only is fur disgustingly cruel, but it is totally unnecessary when there are so many fabulous faux fur options available. As long as shops like Intermix continue to sell fur, the fur industry will thrive, and the senseless killing of fur bearing animal will continue. When the public speaks, the industry listens. If we put pressure on Intermix and express our feelings about their sale of fur, we can make a change. Any shopping at Intermix is supporting this bloody industry, so I encourage everyone to cease shopping at Intermix until they go fur free. Please help the animals by signing our petition and together we can put compassion back in fashion.
Facebook group can be viewed and joined HERE.
2. BCBG Background | From PETA
Luxury fashion brand BCBG has reneged on its very important pledge to be fur-free, despite knowing that animals suffer in cramped, filthy cages before they are bludgeoned, gassed, and electrocuted in the fur trade.
BCBG lags behind other fashion industry leaders that have ditched fur, including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, and many others. Not only has a long list of celebrities, including Eva Mendes and Lady Gaga, sworn off fur, first ladies Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy also recently announced that they are fur-free.
Please contact BCBG and urge the company to keep the promise it made by permanently removing all fur from its collections. A small amount of your time will make a huge difference for the animals who suffer and die for their skins.
3. Background | From Change
Why This Is Important
In 2008, BCBG Max Azria pledged to go fur-free. Not any more.
BCBG’s present Fall/Winter collection includes rabbit-fur ponchos and earmuffs. How are these items made? Well…
–Rabbits raised for their fur are kept in cramped, unsanitary cages little bigger than a shopping basket. There is no room for the animals to perform natural actions such as hopping forward or raising their ears; this lack of space leads to severe physical problems such as painful spinal deformities and to abnormal behaviors such as self-mutilation, cage-gnawing and fighting.
–Rabbits bound for slaughter are often handled roughly and endure broken bones and lesions as a result of carelessness during transportation.
–Slaughter consists of stunning with either a blunt object or electric shock, followed by slitting of the throat. The UK Farm Animal Welfare Council recommends that the interval between stunning and slaughter be limited to 15 seconds; however, at one Spanish slaughterhouse that processed over 9,000 rabbits anually, investigators from Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade found that rabbits were often left unattended for long periods after stunning, with one animal left hanging by the ankles for all of ten minutes before having its throat slit while still conscious. Rabbits awaiting slaughter were kept stacked in crates one on top of the other, with excrement from the animals above dripping down onto those below, and live rabbits could clearly hear the squealing of those being killed.
Civilized, sophisticated consumers have no need for fur garments or accessories. Let’s send BCBG Max Azria a clear message: Cruelty leads only to boycotts.
Related | Whose Skin Are You In?
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Dressing Cruelty Free: Vegan Companies
Shopping Guide to Compassionate Clothing- Quick Reference Guide
Read more…
Please send Sample Letter to listed Contacts below
Background | From Kinship Circle
Can Someone Introduce The Environmental Protection Agency To 21st Century Science?
EPA has invested millions in its ANIMAL-FREE Computational Toxicology Research Program, ToxCast™, for development of “new and innovative methods.” EPA recognizes “quantitative high-throughput screening (qHTS) assays” as key in the evaluation of toxic pathways. It provides “Data Sets & Published Research” to support non-animal assays. ToxCast™ Factsheet
So why will EPA torture and kill 80,000 animals over a span of years for its Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP)? The agency has rejected 90 percent of pesticide company requests to use in vitro tests in place of animals.
Politely demand that EPA permit use of animal-free ToxCast to screen chemicals for endocrine disruption. In addition, copy your comments to these collaborative agencies: Office of Research and Development of the U.S. EPA; National Toxicology Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; NIH Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC) of the National Human Genomics Research Institute. Use our automated petition or send comments directly from yourself.
Whom To Contact
jackson.lisap@epa.gov
ellis.heidi@epa.gov
anastas.paul@epa.gov
webcenter@niehs.nih.gov
birnbaumls@niehs.nih.gov
bucher@niehs.nih.gov
niceatm@niehs.nih.gov
austinc@mail.nih.gov
Sample Letter
Dear EPA Administrator Jackson, USEPA, and Collaborative U.S. Agencies,
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tests chemicals for their capacity to act as endocrine disruptors. This is a good idea. Some chemicals disturb hormone function, potentially damaging animal growth and reproduction.
EPA chemical screens will also kill 80,000 animals over a span of years. This is a bad idea. I urge EPA to update its protocols. Some tests — like “lethal dose 50%” to measure how much chemical kills half the animals dosed with it — date back to the 1920s! Draize tests from the 1940s still drip toxins into a rabbit’s clipped-open eyes or smear corrosives on shaved skin to assess eye-skin irritation.
Please replace old-fashioned animal models with human-focused research tools for EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP).
Reactivity assays can gauge endocrine disruptors and reproductive toxicity — without subjecting tens of thousands of animals to pain and death. In fact, EPA has already invested millions in development of these “innovative methods” for its Computational Toxicology Research Program, ToxCast(TM). EPA recognizes “quantitative high-throughput screening (qHTS) assays” as key in the evaluation of toxic pathways. It cites published research about the efficacy of animal-free assays.
Yet rather than embrace its own program, EPA has turned down 90 percent of pesticide company requests to utilize ToxCast in vitro tests in place of animals. The agency prefers to duplicate the same old animal tests in what amounts to an enormous waste of time and money. Animal experimentation is unlikely to help EPA safeguard humans or the environment.
Please let chemical testers use ToxCast to screen for endocrine disruption. If nothing else, ToxCast should rank chemicals according to significance and cut animal use to a bare minimum. Starting now.
Thank you for your time to read this urgent appeal.
NAME
Related | This Is Animal Research
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Breaking News – Convicted Nebraska Wild Mustang Murderer Up for Parole: send sample letter requesting parole be denied
Image | Straight from the Horse's Heart
From Straight from the Horse’s Heart
Sources close to SFTHH have verified that Jason Meduna, convicted of 145 counts of felony animal cruelty carrying a sentence of 5-10 years, is up for parole on October 26th, 2011 after barely serving 20 months of his sentence. Meduna shocked a Nebraska court and the nation in April of ’09 when dozens of wild horses were found dead from starvation on his Nebraska 3- Strikes Ranch with hundreds more sick and dying.
Over 200 animals were removed from the ranch in April, 2009, by the local Sheriff’s Department and awarded to the care and custody of the Texas based Equine Protection Agency, Habitat for Horses. The surviving horses were taken to the Morrill County Fairgrounds in Bridgeport were they were provided food and medical care. Habitat for Horses, Front Range Rescue, the HSUS and many local volunteers helped in re-homing the starving mustangs for rehabilitation.
Upon the early 2010 conviction the judge divided the sentencing into two categories, for the animals that died and for those that were sick and injured. Of the 31 felony counts charged on the animals that had died, the judge sentenced Meduna to 20 to 60 months on each count, and then ordered the 31 counts to be served concurrent (or altogether) with one another. On the remaining 114 felony counts concerning animals that were sick or injured, the judge also sentenced Meduna to 20 to 60 months on each count, with the 114 counts to be served concurrent.
The judge then ordered the two 20 to 60 month sentences to be served consecutive to one another, totaling the 40 to 120 month sentence.
Under Nebraska law, Meduna is eligible for parole in 20 months.
Meduna’s hearing schedule may reviewed at http://www.parole.state.ne.us/schedule.html
Comments may be submitted to:
Board of Parole
Correctional Service Building
P.O. Box 94754
Lincoln, Nebraska
WHOM TO CONTACT
Because of time limitations, we are asking you to fax and email your letters. Faxing letters is so easy from HERE – you can fax two per day for free right from your computer, there is no registration or commitments, just enter the fax number and copy the letter into the text area, provide an email address and name, and send:
Fax
1. Click on http://faxzero.com/
2. Enter your name and email address (fax number is not required for you.)
3. Copy the Sample Letter or your own words into the text area.
4. Address the fax to Board of Parole
5. Fax numbers to use are: 402-471-2453 and 402-479-5804
6. You will receive an email to confirm your letter, you MUST click on the link provided for the fax to be sent: Please click on the URL below to send your fax to Board of Appeals at 4024712453
Board of Parole Chairperson Esther Casmer
Phone: (402) 471-2156
Email: esther.casmer@nebraska.gov
SAMPLE LETTER
RE: Jason Meduna
Dear Board of Parole and Whom It Concerns,
After serving 20 months of his 5-10 year sentence, animal abuser and killer Jason Meduna, convicted of 145 counts of felony animal cruelty, is a candidate for parole on October 26. Mr. Meduna was convicted of heinous acts of cruelty on horses, including dozens of killings via starvation, and hundreds of horses in the process of dying from lack of medical care and denial of food and water. With malice and intent, Mr. Meduna caused the intentional death of dozens of horses and hundreds of dying horses. After a review of this case and developing a better idea of the situation, I find it necessary to voice my concern along with an ever-growing national collective who share my disbelief and outrage regarding the utter depravity displayed in this case. I therefore respectfully request Mr. Meduna be denied parole and remain safely away from society and animals.
Although not required, I do feel it important to validate my concerns: when I try to imagine what possible motive animal abusers entertain for subjecting their animal victims to such malicious, heinous acts of brutality, I fail, but I am thankful for a lack of cognitive understanding and rationalization. To engage in such malevolent behaviour absolutely suggests sociopathic and sadistic tendencies and demonstrates an incontrovertible lack of morality regarding other living beings and a gross disrespect for the law. In fact, a person who shows such a remarkable lack of compassion towards animals has, disturbingly enough, the ability to show such indifference towards humans. This link between animal and human abuse has been established, and if we excuse or ignore these violent acts of abuse and killing, we would be serving an injustice to both animals and society.
It is my prediction that you may scoff at this message, disregarding it as the exaggerated rhetoric and embellished rantings of an animal rights activist. However, I have no motive, no potential financial gain, no physical profit, no commercial advantage; indeed, my only focus is to protect the innocent, sentient animals often regarded as mere sacrificial, expendable beings, objectified and disposable. This is a dangerous position and an absolute example of unprincipled endeavors and immoral behaviours. When animals are subjected to such brutality with no human accountability, our society inaccurately concludes that animals are not worthy of empathy, compassion, or rights. We become desensitized to the issue of animal abuse, and our children learn troubling lessons that are contrary to respect of and towards animals, which often evolves into a lack of empathy for humans. We must do everything in our power to allocate necessary resources to investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of animal cruelty cases. I understand that yours can be a challenging position, limited by vague and inadequate laws as well as insufficient funds; however, we are intelligent people with loud voices and tireless determination, and I believe we can make a difference or initiate change to better protect our animal friends as well as society. Please proceed with the most severe penalties, denying Mr. Meduna parole, and examine where existing legal mandates may be rewritten to address the current inadequacy of such sentences.
I know your time is limited and I thank you for your attention to this urgent issue and lengthy message.
NAME
ADDRESS
ATTENDING
If you live near and can attend Mr. Meduna’s parole hearing, that would be helpful. According to the following schedules found HERE, Mr. Meduna’s day of hearing will begin Wednesday, October 26 at 8:30 am. The address is:
Parole Hearings
Community Corrections Center
Lincoln, Nebraska
Directions are as follows as taken from HERE:
From Interstate 80, take Exit 397 (Hwy 77 South/Beatrice) and continue approximately 4 miles to the “Lincoln via Van Dorn Street” exit and turn right (west) onto West Van Dorn; continue on West Van Dorn for approximately 1.5 miles.
If northbound on Hwy 77 from Beatrice, exit at the “Lincoln via Van Dorn Street” / “Pioneers Park” signs and turn left (west) onto West Van Dorn; continue on West Van Dorn for approximately 1.5 miles. The facility is located on the right (the north entrance to Pioneers Park is on the left).
Save Oregon’s Struggling Wolf Population: automatic, sample letter
From Center for Biological Diversity
In 2008 wolves established the first Oregon wolf pack in more than 60 years with formation of the Imnaha pack. Since then two other packs have established.
But it hasn’t been smooth sailing for Oregon’s wolves. In response to pressure from the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife has been aggressively responding to a small number of livestock depredations by killing members of Oregon’s very small wolf population, including two wolves earlier this year. In part because of these killings, Oregon’s wolf population has swiftly dropped from 21 to just 14 wolves.
Now that the Center and allies have gotten a temporary stay on further killings of wolves, it’s time for the state to take a step back and reevaluate its approach to wolf management. Oregon’s wolf population is too small to sustain killings in response to depredations. Instead, more work needs to be done to help ranchers change their practices and reduce wolf-cattle conflicts.
In the rare cases where those practices are not effective, Oregon has a compensation program for livestock losses, which is not the case for loss of livestock to other predators or disease, both of which result in orders of magnitude more loss.
If you live in Oregon, please click and sign HERE
If you live outside Oregon, please take action as follows:
1. Please click on Governor Kitzhaber’s site
2. Enter your contact information
3. Use the following letter for your comments, or compose your own
Sample Text
Subject Selection: Animals
Subject Text: Please Chart a New Course for Wolf Management
Dear Governor Kitzhaber:
I was greatly relieved to see that a stay was issued stopping the killing of two wolves from the Imnaha pack by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
It is my sincere hope that you will use this stay as an opportunity to take a different tack in wolf management — one that emphasizes nonlethal measures to reduce wolf-livestock conflicts in combination with Oregon’s already extant compensation program.
With only 14 wolves in Oregon, I do not believe that these two wolves should be killed, nor should lethal control be a primary means for addressing this problem.
Please direct the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to rescind its kill order for these two wolves and refrain from issuing future kill orders.
Everyone: You can also contact Governor Kitzhaber’s office by phone at (503) 378-4582 or fax at (503) 378-6827. Two free faxes per day can be sent very easily from HERE.
Read more…
Urban Outfitters: remove the “Navajo” collection from stores
UPDATE, 10/28: After hearing a huge outcry and receiving a slew of negative press, Urban Outfitters has removed the Navajo name from its offensive line of “tribal” clothing and accessories.
The “Navajo Collection” included dresses, feathered dreamcatchers — even panties and a fabric-wrapped flask — that Native American and Change.org petition creator Tiffanie Wilson described as “cheap, vulgar knock-offs” of Native American culture.
16,000 people signed Tiffanie’s petition to get Urban Outfitters to pull their “Navajo” line. And now, Urban Outfitters has done just so.
You can start your own petition to stop discrimination or injustice where you see it happening. Start a petition — and find step-by-step instructions on how to build a winning campaign.
Thanks for being a change-maker,
– Weldon and the Change.org team
Please click on and sign:
Urban Outfitters: Remove the “Navajo” Collection from Stores!
Background | From Change
Please read the following message from Sasha Houston Brown, the inspiration for this petition:
Urban Outfitters “Navajo Collection” clothing and accessories is not only culturally offensive but also illegal. As a young Native American women from Minnesota, I find these items to be culturally offensive. Not just to the Navajo people, but to all people of color who find themselves starting at cheap, vulgar, knockoffs of ideas, dress, and culture that are a way of life. Despite the offensiveness of their line of products, Urban Outfitters has refused to remove these items from their stores or websites!
Not only is their line disrespectful and disgusting, it is also illegal! The Federal Trade Commission Act and Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, “prohibits misrepresentation in marketing of Indian arts and crafts produced within the United States” and states the following:
It is illegal to offer or display for sale, or sell any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian or Indian Tribe or Indian arts and crafts organization, resident within the United States.
None of the items on their website or in their stores are made by Native peoples. Nor do any proceeds go to the betterment of the Navajo Nation. No Navajo people were apparently consulted about this line of offensive material either.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Urban Outfitters has sold offensive products. In January 2004, Urban Outfitters offends Jewish people for selling a T-shirt that says “Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl” surrounded by dollar signs, perpetuating a negative stereotype of Jews. The company discontinued the shirt after a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League. In January 2007, Urban Outfitters pulls kaffiyehs from stores after a blogger criticized the retailer’s decision to label the garment an “anti-war woven scarf.” According to the New York Times, the blogger posted photos of terrorists wearing the tasseled scarves, and the company pulled them from stores with the explanation, “Due to the sensitive nature of this item, we will no longer offer it for sale. We apologize if we offended anyone, this was by no means our intention.”
As a Native American woman, I am deeply distressed by your company’s mass marketed collection of distasteful and racially demeaning apparel and décor. I take personal offense to the blatant racism and perverted cultural appropriation your store features this season as “fashion.” I find the actions of Urban Outfitters and indeed society’s desire for Native cultural genocide despicable.
So tell Urban Outfitters that it is NOT okay to blatantly disrespect Native cultures and perpetuate bias, stereotypes, and discrimination in this country and call for them to dismantle this line immediately!
Sincerely,
Sasha Houston Brown, Dakota
Santee Sioux Nation
Please click on and sign:
Ask Wayne State University to Halt Inhumane Dog Experiments
Background | From PCRM
PCRM recently discovered cruel, federally funded heart failure experiments that have been performed on dogs for more than two decades. In the experiments of Donal O’Leary, Ph.D., at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich., dogs undergo multiple surgeries, have catheters and medical devices implanted in their bodies, and are forced to run strenuous treadmill tests.
These experiments have been going on since 1990, and we need your help to prevent more dogs from suffering. Please e-mail the dean of the Wayne State University School of Medicine and politely ask her to stop these inhumane experiments today.
Not only does Dr. O’Leary conduct unnecessary and cruel experiments, he also purchases dogs from a notorious class B “random source” dealer who is currently under investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture. Michigan-based R&R Research obtains dogs who were once companion animals from shelters and has been cited many times for obtaining animals illegally and other serious Animal Welfare Act violations.
The veterinary records of Queenie, one of the dogs used in these experiments, are particularly heartbreaking. Queenie was a stray Dalmatian who, instead of going to a new home, ended up at Wayne State University. Veterinary technicians said she was friendly, gentle, and curious. Unfortunately, everything went downhill after her arrival.
Queenie was scared of running on the treadmill, but O’Leary and his research team made her run anyway. She went through two survival surgeries and had to wear a shirt, jacket, and Elizabethan collar to prevent her from tearing at the catheters sticking out of her body.
Recovery was difficult, and Queenie experienced severe pain and distress. She licked herself until sores appeared, did not want to move from her cage, and became aggressive. When the once sweet Queenie nipped at an experimenter, she was muzzled rather than comforted. She ran on the treadmill dozens of times until experimenters broke one of her medical devices, causing it to retract into her body. At that point, she was killed.
There is no excuse for allowing these inhumane experiments, which do not contribute to human health, to continue any longer. Please e-mail the dean of the Wayne State University School of Medicine today and tell her to halt these experiments immediately.
Related | This Is Animal Research
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URGENT, THIS IS WAR: Your signature is needed to BAN horse slaughter
Please click on and sign Support a Ban on Horse Slaughter
Background | From Persian Horse’s Blog
Certain Petitions at “WE THE PEOPLE“, the New White House Petition Site, will be considered by the Obama Administration upon reaching 5000 Signatures.
As of 10/20/2011, the PRO Horse Slaughter Petition has 5129 Signatures…. The Petition to BAN Horse Slaughter now has 5591 Signatures.
If we want to Save Horses, we NEED at least 5000 more signatures on OUR Petition to BAN Horse Slaughter within the next 3 days.
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK TO SIGN PETITION TO BAN HORSE SLAUGHTER
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/support-ban-horse-slaughter/q30gJg1k?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
Related | Horse Slaughter: There is only one choice
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Police Kill 12-Year-Old Golden Retriever Named Boomer
Image | Animal Connection Blogspot
Please click on and sign:
Educate St. Petersburg’s Police Officers in Animal Techniques
Background | From Change
When a police officer’s first line of defense in restraining an animal is to reach for a weapon, it is sending the wrong message to the community that they swore to uphold and protect. If the police officer is the first responder involving an animal, then the police officers should be trained in animal control techniques. The “uncooperative animal” that the police officer may kill could be someone’s senior pet who could be afraid, deaf, or in pain and not able to respond to the officer’s request.
Boomer, the dog shown in the photo has a Facebook page called Boomer’s Voice, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boomers-Voice/160030397422056 where you can find out more information (and view photos of Boomer’s life as the family pet). Here is another article about this tragic story: http://animalconnectionblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/police-kill-12-year-old-golden.html
Petition Letter
Police officers, attend a comprehensive animal handling training session.
Greetings,
I just signed the following petition addressed to: The Mayor of Saint Petersburg, Florida.
The police officers of St. Petersburg must be trained in animal handling techniques as evidenced by the fatal shooting of a 13-year old Golden Retriever, named Boomer, by police officer Misty Swanson.
According to this article, http://oldnortheast.patch.com/articles/police-kill-12-year-old-pet-golden-retriever Boomer did not die quickly and was in much pain, while his guardians had no clue what had happened to their dog, who had been killed just a block away from where they lived.
When a police officer’s first line of defense in restraining an animal is to reach for a weapon, it is sending the wrong message to the community that they swore to uphold and protect. If the police officer is the first responder involving an animal, then the police officers should be trained in animal control techniques. The “uncooperative animal” that the police officer may kill could be someone’s senior pet who could be afraid, deaf, or in pain and not able to respond to the officer’s request.
Sweet, old man Boomer will not be returning to the Glass family to live out his last few years. Let’s make sure this does not happen again to a poor innocent pet: educating your police department in non-violent techniques for dogs at large would be a first step.
Related | Earthlings
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Please click on and sign:
Gov.Kasich: Ban the sale, ownership, and harboring of wild & exotic animals in OH
Federal Ban on Exotic Animals as pets
No legitimate sanctuary takes wild animals to the mall
From CNN | By Will Tavers
CNN Editor’s note: Will Tavers is CEO and co-founder of the Born Free Foundation, whose mission is to end the suffering of wild animals in captivity, rescue animals in need and protect wildlife, including highly endangered species. The foundation includes Born Free USA, which runs a primate sanctuary in Texas for 500 primates rescued from laboratories, roadside zoos and private possession.
Exotic animals should live in the wild, not be exploited in profit-motivated zoos — or worse — as “pets” or backyard oddities by people who have a deeply misguided sense of dominion or ownership.
What happened in Ohio on Tuesday and Wednesday has drawn dramatic attention to the private possession of exotics, an issue that is a major component of Born Free USA’s mission to protect wildlife.
On Wednesday, 56 exotic animals — including lions, tigers, bears, giraffes and wolves — were freed from their captivity at a rural residence outside Zanesville. Police report the animals’ “owner,” 62-year-old Terry Thompson, let the animals out of their cages before he killed himself. Forty-nine of the animals — including 18 tigers and 17 lions — were shot dead by law enforcement officers.
Thankfully, other than Thompson’s death, no human injuries have been reported as a result of this situation.
Ohio has had a recent flurry of incidents in which exotic animals being held by private individuals in or outside people’s residences have been involved in violent encounters with humans. In September, an 80-year-old man was attacked by a kangaroo at an exotic-animal farm in Green Camp. In June, an escaped “pet” grivet monkey scratched two girls while he was on the loose in Fremont. In August 2010, a bear fatally mauled its caretaker on the owner’s property in Columbus Station.
Born Free USA tracks such cases in our Exotic Animal Incidents Database. We list 86 incidents involving exotic animals in Ohio in recent years, and probably many other such encounters have gone unreported. Nationwide, our database lists nearly 1,600 incidents.
There is no excuse for wild, potentially dangerous, exotic animals to be kept in private hands. Ohio is one of a handful of states with woefully few regulations on the books to govern such questionable close contact with wildlife, and Born Free USA has been pushing for years to get a stronger law enacted in the state.
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In 2006, the Ohio Legislature quickly introduced a bill to restrict private possession of exotics after an Ashtabula County woman was mauled by a 500-pound black bear that escaped a pen kept by a nearby neighbor. The bill failed, and just four years later in 2010, an emergency executive order was put in place after a 24-year-old man was mauled to death by a black bear kept in a Columbia Township compound. The order temporarily banned private ownership of big cats, bears, alligators, crocodiles and certain snakes. In April 2011, the order expired upon the promise by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the governor that a new rule-making process would swiftly be established in order to implement regulations regarding possession of exotics. This still has not happened.
France outlaws vegetarianism/veganism in schools – please sign petition in opposition
PLEASE CLICK ON AND SIGN:
Petition for the Right to Not Eat Animals in French Schools
All those who believe in freedom of thought and in the freedom of expression and observance of all personal convictions should sign this petition, whatever their personal stance may be concerning vegetarianism and animal rights.
A governmental order published on October 2, 2011, has outlawed vegetarianism in all French schools, whether public or private(1). All meals served in school canteens must contain animal products generally, and meat and fish at a certain minimum frequency.
For many children, eating at home is not possible, and bringing their own lunch to school is disallowed. This means that six million schoolchildren are now forced to eat meat, whether they like it or not.
Following a law voted last year by the French Parliament(2), similar decrees will be taken shortly regarding almost all forms of catering from kindergarten to hospital, prisons and retirement homes. Vegetarianism will then have effectively been banned for a large part of the population.
These measures ostensibly aim at improving the quality of the meals served in schools. The French public health authorities hold, in opposition to the findings of most medical authorities in the world, that a balanced diet is impossible without animal products.
No practical considerations warrant a blanket prohibition of vegetarianism even in those canteens where the management would be willing to offer vegetarian or vegan alternatives. These decrees are thus an arbitrary violation of the rights of the vegetarian citizens in France.
The public debate regarding animal rights and the moral status of animals is active in France as it is in many other countries. People are free to choose where they stand on these issues, and those who believe that they cannot, in conscience, continue to eat animals must not be discriminated against. The French agriculture minister, Bruno Lemaire, declared in January 2010 that the government’s aim in determining its public nutritional policy was to defend the French agricultural model and specifically to counter initiatives such as those of Paul McCartney calling for a reduced consumption of meat.(3) However, a government cannot settle a philosophical, ethical and political debate by restricting the rights of those who disagree with its own positions.
For these reasons, I demand that the French government rescind these unacceptable decrees.
1. Décret n° 2011-1227 du 30 septembre 2011; arrêté du 30 septembre 2011, published in the Journal Officiel on October 2, 2011 (http://tinyurl.com/DecretCantines).
2. “Law for the modernization of agriculture and fisheries”, published on July 27, 2010.
3. http://tinyurl.com/FlashLeFigaro
RESOURCES:
Vegan food, recipes, and more … Click on the upper right arrow to view the full tab names, scroll down to see all entries. There are approximately 19 Vegan Groups represented, please let us know if you would like one to be added.
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Farm to Fridge – The Truth Behind Meat Production
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Need a vegan grocery shopping list? Check out PETA’s:
Accidentally Vegan … Really, it’s vegan!
Guide To Cruelty-Free Eating: Vegan Outreach
Read more…
Please click on and sign:
Stop North Carolina Wildlife Commission from Killing Tame Deer and Fawns
From Change
Why this is Important:
On September 20th, armed North Carolina Wildlife Agents stormed a farm in Randolph County. The warden carried a warrant to kill 9 deer, including 7 fallow exotic deer that were owned by Mr. Kinley and 2 white tail deer that were still in rehabilitation from injury or abandonment. All 9 deer were slaughtered.
Wayne Kinley was given no warning, and there was no appeal process. The deer were peacefully living on the enclosed property of Wayne’s farm.
This is not an isolated incident. Earlier this summer, agents similarly stormed another North Carolina property and shot and killed 2 fawns. The property owner was not at home when deer were slaughtered.
These deer were killed to test for Chronic Wasting Disease, a disease that affects wild deer, that has never been found in North Carolina.
The State of North Carolina search warrant reads “If the property and/or person are found, make the seizure and keep the property subject to Court Order and process the person according to law.”
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WE SHOULD HAVE A RIGHT TO TRIAL BEFORE ANY ACTIONS FROM GAME WARDENS.
We demand an investigation and protection for tame, rehabilitated deer. The magistrate who signed the warrant and the commander of game wardens must be held accountable. North Carolina wildlife officials are out of control. They have too much power, and they are abusing it.
More news coverage:
Deer Shooting Petitions Ordered Taken Down, Store Clerk Says (VIDEO), MyFox8.com, September 28, 2011
Wildlife Officials Shoot, Kill More Deer for Testing (VIDEO), MyFox8.com, September 27, 2011
Wildlife Officials Shoot, Kill Nine Deer on Randloph County Farm (VIDEO), MyFox8.com, September 21, 2011
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Image | Google, not Andrea
Related, please click on and sign Affordable Spay/Neuter Bill for Cats and Dogs
From News Channel 5
Andrea the cat was picked up as a stray and brought to a Utah animal shelter. After no one came to claim her, she was euthanized — or at least, that’s what everyone thought.
After an employee ran the gas chamber, he opened the door and found that she was still alive. The employee decided to give it another shot, closed the chamber and ran the gas again.
After running the gas a second time, he thought she was dead. The shelter worker then put Andrea in a bag and stuffed her in a cooler.
About 45 minutes later, a couple of shelter employees came in to put a dog they had just euthanized in the cooler, and they heard a meow. They looked at each other and they heard the meow again, this time even louder.
They tore open the bag, and there was Andrea, looking at them terrified, wide eyed and very much still alive.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
The shelter’s manager finally handed Andrea over to the Community Animal Welfare Society. She’s doing well, and the organization hopes she becomes the “spokescat” against gas chambers.
Animal welfare groups have taken issue with the method of euthanasia used on Andrea, blasting it as cruel.
But shelter says, as bizarre as this incident was, they stand by their method.
“This is actually a recommended method by the American Veterinarian Association and we follow all the procedural guidelines that they give us,” said Aaron Crim, a West Valley City, UT Spokesman. “We’ve never had an instance like this since we started using this method so it does work. It’s actually very humane and it’s very quick. This is just an anomaly.”
Andrea the cat appears to be healthy with no ill after effects of the euthanasia.
She is now up for adoption: Community Animal Welfare Society
Ask Walmart not to sell aquatics: sample letter, phone call
Please contact Walmart and ask that they discontinue selling aquatic animals. Using the information below, send a letter via the internet as well as contact them on the telephone. Thank you.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Webform
1. Click on Store & Corporate Feedback
2. Select Company Feedback and Questions and Next
3. Enter your information including the below Sample Letter (or compose your own)
4. After selecting Next, you may be asked to Tell us where to send your feedback
5. Select Walmart Corporate Headquarters and Finish
Telephone
Walmart Corporate Office: (479) 273-4000
Please call the Corporate Office and inform them that you are calling to voice your opposition to the live fish department in a local store or as a general policy.
SAMPLE LETTER
To Whom It Concerns,
I was shocked to learn that Wal-Mart sells aquatics, and I am respectfully requesting you discontinue any commerce including such. Please allow me to elaborate. Animals are sentient creatures with the capacity to experience complex emotions; being subjected to noisy environments, loud noises, bright lights, and continuous interference from unconcerned and curious consumers causes untold suffering, including confusion, pain, and fear.
As such, as long as Wal-Mart continues to unnecessarily and selfishly capitalize on the suffering of animals, I will not financially support you and will promote a boycott by informing family, friends, and members of online communities.
Please make both the ethical and financially-responsible decision to discontinue selling aquatics immediately: join an increasing body of corporations who are listening to a concerned and attentive consumer population who refuse to be complicit in the inherently cruel industry of animal commerce.
Thank you for taking the time to read this important message.
URGENT: Ask the Army to Stop Poisoning Monkeys TODAY
Image | PCRM
Click on and sign Please End Use of Monkeys Today!
Background | From PCRM
Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) met with Army officials at Aberdeen Proving Ground and confirmed to PCRM today that they have agreed to end the cruel use of live monkeys in chemical casualty management courses and replace them with nonanimal training methods.
We could never have done this without your help. After hearing from their constituents, numerous members of Congress reached out to the Army and voiced their complaints. Furthermore, Army officials told us that they received more than 30,000 e-mails on this issue.
While Army officials have agreed to end this animal use, they have not committed to a specific timeline for the phase-out, stating only that the use of monkeys will stop in the near future. Please e-mail the Army surgeon general and other Army medical leaders and ask them to end the use of monkeys immediately.
By ending this live animal use, the Army has acknowledged that the use of animals is unnecessary and that human-relevant methods such as medical simulation provide a better learning experience for trainees. Since the Army already owns hundreds of medical simulators, there is no reason this transition cannot be made immediately.
Please e-mail Army medical leaders today and respectfully ask them to end the suffering of these monkeys immediately.
Thank you again for all that you have done on this issue. Together, we are making a difference.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
BACKGROUND | FROM PETA
Apparently hoping to convey the immense responsibility of parenting, Burke High School in Omaha, Nebraska, has assigned child-development class students their own goldfish to keep alive throughout bustling days. Defenseless, these docile animals have no opportunity to escape the bizarre and stressful ordeal. As if being jostled about and subjected to loud noises, bright lights, and threatening sights and sensations weren’t bad enough, some fish are reportedly being dropped or shaken in their containers.
Fish are complex, sensitive beings who have personalities, communicate with each other, form bonds, and even grieve when family members die. We’ve asked administrators to develop an alternative strategy for this course, rather than using live animals, but to no avail. We need your help now! Please join us in urging the school to replace this cruel assignment.
Send polite comments to the below contacts. You may use the sample text provided or compose your own letter.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Email block
deborah.frison@ops.org
charles.peterson@ops.org
nancy.burkhart@ops.org
andrea.burton@ops.org
cammi.jager@ops.org
Individual
Dr. Deborah Frison
Principal
Burke High School
deborah.frison@ops.org
402-557-3210
Charles Peterson
Curriculum Specialist
Family and Consumer Sciences
Burke High School
charles.peterson@ops.org
402-557-3234
Nancy Burkhart
Family and Consumer Science Instructor
Burke High School
nancy.burkhart@ops.org
Andrea Burton
Family and Consumer Science Instructor
Burke High School
andrea.burton@ops.org
Cammi Jager
Family and Consumer Science Instructor
Burke High School
cammi.jager@ops.org
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Principal Frison, Curriculum Specialist Peterson, and Family and Consumer Science Instructors Burkhart, Burton, and Jager:
It has come to my attention that you have assigned using goldfish as “materials” in your child-development courses, and I am respectfully requesting you discontinue with this idea for now and future classes.
Please allow me to elaborate. Fish are complex animals who experience suffering and joy, and who also have the capacity to nurture complex relationships and display grief upon separation. Furthermore, despite an almost-universal apathy towards their sensitivity, fish indeed experience pain and react negatively towards stressful situations including loud noises, lights, enclosures, and disturbed environments.
While many understand the importance of teaching child development, using non-human living organisms as alternatives to human children does not adequately convey species-species legitimacy with relation to such a critical area of learning.
Please take this opportunity to teach appropriate child-development courses by using non-living alternatives that will not be abused and killed for classroom folly. Millions of students benefit from a curriculum that does not include animal cruelty, and I hope you will demonstrate a commitment to protect rather than harm animals, especially in the core area of learning where your practice will be mimicked rather than your words.
I know your time is limited and I thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.
NAME
Our Compass 