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.
URGENT & IMMEDIATE: November 16 Deadline, Ban “Penning” in Indiana
Immediate, please click on the following to sign: Ban “Penning” in Indiana
From PETA & Indiana Coyote Rescue Center
BACKGROUND
The Indiana Natural Resources Commission (INRC) is considering a petition to ban cruel wildlife penning in Indiana. The commission will discuss this matter on November 16!
“Penning” is a blood sport that involves trapping and dumping foxes and coyotes into fenced enclosures and releasing packs of frantic dogs into the pens. The terrified wild animals are terrorized to the point of exhaustion, cornered, and often torn to shreds. Survivors suffer through this horror again and again, and the events can last for days. But the terror begins weeks earlier when the animals are snared and removed from their habitats and families and then transported.
Warning, the following contains graphic images and language:
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PRESS RELEASE FROM: Indiana Coyote Rescue Center
In September, Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to ban permanently penning, the practice of training dogs to chase and kill foxes and coyotes within enclosures. Several states including NC and SC are considering similar action.
It appears that Indiana’s captive wildlife may not be so fortunate.
On Nov.16, the IN Natural Resources Commission will address a proposal to establish regulations governing the one penning operation in the state, which has been investigated by the DNR and is expected to be licensed According to Linnea Petercheff, operations staff specialist with the IN Div. Of Fish and Wildlife, “Regulations will provide for the welfare of the coyote as well as provide for fair chase and prevent new pens from opening.” Opponents of penning see it differently. They point to photos, undercover videotapes and eyewitness accounts of captive coyotes and foxes being released into pens, chased, caught and torn to shreds by frenzied dogs.
Providing live bait for this sport are the trappers, some of whom claim to have been offered $200 for a live coyote while pelts may sell for $12. The trade in live bait is so lucrative that in 2008, a cooperative seven-state raid of traffickers illegally shipping animals across state lines to penning facilities resulted in 18 arrests, Animals confiscated in the raid included 25 coyotes, 55 foxes, and 2 bobcats Also found were 33 cardinals and a moonshine still. This defies trappers’ claims that most animals survive the hunt.Coyotes, foxes and raccoons are trapped alive; some injured in the process, caged, trucked and sold to penning operators. Traumatized, they cower in cramped pens until released before a baying mob of hounds. Comments on trapper websites indicate that the animals are sometimes wounded to ensure capture by the dogs. Field trials may last two and three days as the victims seek shelter in unfamiliar territory.
Two Actions for Wildlife: Pull Palin’s Discovery Show, Urge Congress to Act for Struggling Wildlife
Immediate, please click on and sign the following two petitions:
(Please note that the second message may only be open to US friends …)
1. BACKGROUND
- Target: David Zaslav President & CEO, Discovery Communications
- Sponsored by:Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund
Discovery Communications usually celebrates nature and wildlife, but by signing a deal with former governor Sarah Palin to host a reality show about Alaska, it will now pay millions to one of wildlife’s greatest enemies.
As governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin fought against protecting the Cook Inlet beluga whales and the dwindling population of polar bears. Plus, she escalated the bloody aerial wolf-killing campaign, and even planned to offer a $150 bounty for the severed forelimb of each killed wolf.
The same company that owns Animal Planet and is known for their stunning wildlife-focused shows has no business hiring someone as anti-wildlife as Sarah Palin.Tell Discovery Communications that Sarah Palin doesn’t deserve to host a show about “the powerful beauty of Alaska.”
Related, Aerial Hunting of Wolves in Alaska
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2. BACKGROUND
With an anti-conservation majority taking over in the House next Congress, this is our last chance for the foreseeable future to pass important bills — many of which have been waiting for years to pass — to help sea otters, lions, migratory birds and other wildlife.
This important omnibus legislation should include important measures for protecting vulnerable wildlife like sea otters, lions, jaguars, sea turtles and billions of migratory birds.
This critical package of bills should include:
* The Southern Sea Otter Recovery and Research Act (H.R. 556/S.1748): Provides vital funding for research and recovery efforts to save the struggling southern sea otter.
* The Great Cats and Rare Canids Act (H.R. 411/S. 529): Authorizes critical funds for vital efforts to protect lions and rare animals like snow leopards, Ethiopian wolves, jaguars and other imperiled wildlife struggling to survive.
* The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (H.R. 2213/S. 690): Ensures resources to conserve five billion birds that migrate between the North and Central America including some of the rarest birds on the continent.
* The Marine Turtle Conservation Reauthorization Act (H.R. 509): Makes resources available to protect sea turtles and the places they need to survive — more important than ever after the deadly impacts of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.
* The Crane Conservation Act (H.R. 388/S. 197): Provides resources to protect the most endangered family of birds in the world, including the North American whooping crane — the rarest of all cranes.
What if?
My So-Called “Life”
By Marie Couglin, Republished
My story……
I cannot remember ever being allowed to be a regular kid. As soon as I reached puberty, I was repeatedly raped until I became pregnant.
While horrified from the events, I instantly obtained mothering instincts. The joys of carrying my child for the next nine months were unexplainable. Then came the most joyous day of my life, the birth of my son. He was beautiful. I kissed him on the cheek and noticed he had my eyes. Then he was gone from my life forever, taken from me against my will by the same men who raped me. I thought my life could not get any worse. It was like I was stuck in an infinite loop.
The rapes continued until I became pregnant again. Another son….as I looked into his eyes I knew he would be snatched from me, as well. And he was. This was my life for the next five years. I have four children. Three boys and a girl.
I tried to get out. I tried to fight back. To make matters worse, I found out I had many diseases. How could I? I never asked for this? I was now damaged goods. What about the people who gave me these diseases? Unfortunately the same fate awaits my daughter.
My name is Suzy and I am a dairy cow on death row. I don’t know what is worse….you eating my veal offspring or enjoying the fruits of my pain by eating cheese and milk.
This is my body! You do not own it! VEGAN….the ONLY option!
Related, Industrial Slaughter
By Daniel Rigos
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Before you understood who the victim represents, you probably felt shock, anger, and sadness; please understand that, regardless of species, this type of victimization, exploitation, and suffering is unethical and wrong. Take one moment just to think, “what if …” What if it were you or someone you love? What would you do to change? Please start by rejecting victimization by speciesism.
Open Letter Protest: Heinous Crime Against Collie! Please sign petition.
On Friday 5th November 2010 a heinous crime was committed in Elounda, Crete, against a shepherd dog, who was wildly abused by his owner. Specifically, his eyes were extracted with the use of a pointed object. The poor animal was transferred immediately to a veterinarian, who unfortunately had to put him down due to the dog’s irreversible health. Much to everyone’s surprise, the district attorney, in spite of the peculiarity of the incident and the savagery of the crime, let the offender go without setting a date for a hearing, violating thus the procedural rules. (More below under Petition Text, English.)
PETITION TEXT, ENGLISH
To Mr. Head Prosecutor of Crete
NOTIFICATION Mr. Kastanidis, Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights
Subject: OPEN LETTER – PROTEST
Crete, 9th November 2010
On Friday 5th November 2010 a heinous crime was committed in Elounda, Crete, against a shepherd dog, who was wildly abused by his owner. Specifically, his eyes were extracted with the use of a pointed object. The poor animal was transferred immediately to a veterinarian, who unfortunately had to put it down due to the dog’s irreversible health. According to the veterinarian’s relevant opinion, Dr. John Sfakianakis, who addressed the incident, the perpetrator abused the dog in the eyes and head, using his bear hands.
As soon as the lawsuit was filed against the specific person by a witness at the police station of Elounda, the police doing their job perfectly well arrested the offender and sheep owner.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the district attorney, in spite of the peculiarity of the incident and the savagery of the crime, let the offender go without setting a date for a hearing, violating thus the procedural rules.
We would like to inform you that the alleged offender, as soon as he went back to his sheep, brought a new small animal, which he also tied like the one before it, as if nothing had happened. We are wondering what if tomorrow the same sheep owner did the same to one of his children?
We are also wondering whether or not the district attorney did the same if the crime was committed against a human. We have every reason to believe that the district attorney let the offender go because this heinous and barbaric abuse and death was against an animal.
Lawyers, journalists and animal welfare groups, all believe that the decision of the district attorney circumvented any aspect of legitimacy and justice, since she did not comply with the current legislation (Laws 1197/81 and 3170/2003).
The terrible and tragic living conditions of the stray animals and pets in Greece, the daily hundreds upon hundreds of poisonings, the barbaric abuse of thousands of animals, squashed on the Greek roads or thrown away alive into the garbage bins, etc are all well-known to everyone.
BECAUSE we strongly believe that the district attorney’s attitude is totally unacceptable and unfair.
BECAUSE, if anything, the district attorney should condemn the crime for pure ethical reasons and decide to set a trial date.
BECAUSE, the district attorney by the power vested in her should implement the state institutions against the culture of violence which thrives throughout the island.
BECAUSE the district attorney without even hearing the heinous crime which was brought before her, placed the prosecutor in a diminished position in relation to the european citizens of the other member states.
For all the above reasons:
We urge you as a superior authority to intervene promptly in order to implement the existing legislation so that the perpetrator of such an attrocious crime does not remain unpunished, show sensitivity on this subject, and take the necessary steps to ensure the immediate implementation of the provisions of the relevant legislation.
Sincerely,
The Pan-Hellenic Coordinating Committee of Welfare Societies
of 100 animal welfare groups
Contact Details:
Anastasia Bompolaki, lawyer
NOTIFICATION
Maria Politakis
District Attorney of the Magistrates’ Court in Lassithi Crete
Related, Violence Towards Animals Leads To Violence Towards Humans
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The deliberate sadistic abuse and murder of non-human animals is cause for investigation, prosecution, and imprisonment of the offender REGARDLESS of any potential tendencies towards abuse against human animals. Nevertheless, our speciesist society reacts primarily towards self-preservation, thus this link is explored, examined, and taken seriously in some cases (others forgive the “offense” labeling it as natural or understandable).
Got Dairy? Got Murder. How they use your money to kill billions while making you fat.
From The Washington Post
Republicans say their midterm election victory shows that the American people want to shrink the federal government and make it smarter. If that’s true, and if the new GOP majority in the House wants to deliver on its promises, we can think of no better place to start than Dairy Management. This little-known appendage of the Agriculture Department exists for one purpose: to encourage Americans to drink more milk and eat more cheese, so that dairy farmers can make more money. This is not our idea of an urgent national priority.
NY Dairy Investigation
There are similar entities designed to increase demand for other commodities such as beef and pork. The Supreme Court has called these programs “government speech” that does not violate the Constitution.
To the contrary, annual cheese consumption in the United States has grown from 11 pounds per person in 1970 to 33 pounds per person now, which may help explain the rise in obesity and related illnesses. Dairy Management supports this troubling trend by encouraging fast-food restaurants to market new products laden with high-fat cheese. Its efforts include helping Domino’s develop extra-cheese pizzas containing two-thirds of the daily recommended amount of saturated fat per slice, according to a recent story in the New York Times.
Behind the Mustache
And Dairy Management, which has made cheese its cause, is not a private business consultant. It is a marketing creation of the United States Department of Agriculture — the same agency at the center of a federal anti-obesity drive that discourages over-consumption of some of the very foods Dairy Management is vigorously promoting. NYTimes
Robo-Deer Protects (some) Innocent Wildlife From Poachers (ie, hunters who murder other species or during different days …)
Things that make you go, ‘hmmmm …’
From Treehugger
By Stephen Messenger
Wildlife in Florida have an unlikely new ally in the fight against poaching — a remote-controlled buck lovingly known as Robo-deer. Although he can do little more than flick his tail and turn his head, Robo-deer is so convincingly lifelike that some illegal hunters can’t help but take a shot at him. But when they do, those poachers end up getting served something a lot worse than steel veal — that’s because Robo-deer works for the cops.
No, Robo-deer isn’t a character from science-fiction — he’s actually the latest modern tool being used by Fish and Wildlife Conservation officers to nab folks who keep on killing deer after the close of hunting season, a time when animal and man should be able to live in peace. “We have a problem with people poaching in this area,” says officer Greg Stastay. “So, we’re going to set up a deer for them to shoot.”
That’s where Robo-deer steps in. He’s here to take a few bullets so his real-deer peers don’t have to.
Officers are able to control Robo-deer’s movements from up to 50 feet away with a radio-controlled device mounted its back. When the tempting target is placed in the brush along the roadside, folks driving by who have no qualms about hunting illegally will inevitably stop to shoot at the majestic, albeit mechanical, “animal” — giving officers justification to step in and arrest them.
“Anybody who shoots at that deer will be arrested for illegal method and hunting deer out of season,” says Stastay. Those who Robo-deer helps reveal as poachers can expect a severe punishment, too — maximum penalties range between 60 days and one year in the slammer.
Robo-Deer Protects Innocent Wildlife From Poachers
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Despite the fact that he is purely mechanical at heart, the robotic buck has been gaining a bit of celebrity in his own right. Robo-deer’s special crime-fighting skills are the centerpiece of tonight’s (November 12th | sr) episode of Operation Wild on Planet Green, a show which highlights some of the novel techniques law enforcement officials are using to protect nature’s most vulnerable animals.
Two Fur Issues, Two Automatic Messages, Two Minutes … Thank you.
Immediate, please click on the following two links and sign:
Started by: Annie Hartnett
Each year, furrier Saga conducts courses and contests at the Parsons School of Fashion. Fashion students are given free samples of fur and encouraged to use fur in their future lines.
Parsons has a lengthy sustainability manifesto on their website, encouraging students to be environmentally conscious and to “buy better.”
It isn’t consistent with Parson’s sustainability message to allow Saga to hand out free fur to students. If Parsons is truly serious about the ethics of their young designers, they won’t allow Saga to give out fur to their students.
TEXT
Greetings,
I recently read on Change.org that Parson New School for Design is still planning to conduct Saga’s annual fur contest.
Parson’s has an admirable sustainability manifesto on its website, but holding a contest sponsored by furriers isn’t consistent with this message. How can you ask students to “buy better,” and then hold a contest that promotes the torture and slaughter of thousands of animals?
I urge you to immediately discontinue the annual fur contest. I am aware that Parsons recently held a workshop conducted by The Humane Society of the United States. While this is a move in the right direction, Parsons should take a true stand against fur. The school helps shape the careers of young designers, and Parsons has a responsibility not to allow furriers to lure young students into supporting the cruel fur industry.
Thank you.
[Your name]
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2. BACKGROUND
Started by: Action for our Planet .com
A number of colleges (Central Saint Martins College, London College of Fashion, Royal College of Art & Wimbeldon College of Art) are currently using a significant amount of fur in their fashion and design departments. The amount utilised by the colleges is so significant that they even have their own fur suppliers. Not only is it offensive to use fur, as many students are against animal cruelty, it also sets a bad example by showing students it is acceptable and perfectly normal to use fur from skinned alive animals. When these students grow up, they may develop their own fashion collections and incorporate fur because they have learnt it is an acceptable fashion material. Many designers who have previously studied at these colleges, have gone on to become successful fashion designers who often use fur in their collections. The British Fur Trade even bribes students with free fur pelts to use in their end of year fashion show so as to promote the fur trade. Please sign this petition asking colleges to ditch fur and go cruelty free.
TEXT
I was horrified to learn that the design departments at your college uses a significant amount of fur. The amount utilised is so significant that the college even has it’s own fur supplier. Animals are kept in appalling conditions on fur farms where they are subject to isolation, psychological and physical trauma and even premature death. Once these animals are deemed ready for slaughter, they are skinned alive, anally electrocuted, bludgeoned to death, gassed, poisoned or suffocated. Once an animal has been skinned alive, it’s body is thrown into a pile where it faces an agonizing and slow death.
I invite you to watch this video depicting Norwegian fur farms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2i6pocxJO8
I also ask that you watch this video of animals being killed for their fur: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXygC9li_oE
Regardless of what fur farmers may claim, no fur is ethically sourced and all animals suffer immensely. Expecting your students to use fur is not only offensive to those that care about animals, it also sends a message to students showing them it is perfectly normal and acceptable to skin animals alive. Your college has been named and shamed on an anti-fur website because of it’s lack of compassion. I urge you to stop using fur immediately and utilise faux fur alternatives or other materials so as to stop directly funding the cruel fur trade.
Thank you for your time.
DNA Tests Disprove Key Evidence in Texas Execution Case
DNA tests obtained by the Innocence Project and partner organizations have proven that a Texas man was executed in 2000 based on hair evidence that wasn’t his. Claude Jones, above left with his mother, always maintained his innocence of the crime.
- DNA Test Proves Critical Hair Evidence in a Capital Murder Case Didn’t Match Man Executed
- General Counsel Memo to President Elect George Bush Hid the Fact that the Accused Sought DNA Tests That Could Have Spared Him from Execution
Contact: Paul Cates, (212) 364-5346 | pcates@innocenceproject.org
Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck called the case “another disturbing example of a miscarriage of justice in Texas capital murder prosecutions.”
Before Jones was executed in 2000, he requested a 30-day stay from then-Governor George W. Bush so he could seek DNA testing on a hair that allegedly tied him to the scene of a robbery and shooting. Bush was awaiting a decision from the Florida Supreme Court on whether the recount in the presidential election could continue. Although Bush had previously said DNA testing should be conducted when “it can be relevant as to the guilt or innocence of a person on death row,” the memo to Bush from the Texas General Counsel’s office recommended against the stay and failed to mention that Jones was seeking DNA tests. Bush denied the stay, and Jones was executed on December 7, 2000.
“It is unbelievable that the lawyers in the General Counsel’s office failed to inform the governor that Jones was seeking DNA testing on evidence that was so pivotal to the case,” said former Texas Governor and Attorney General Mark White. “If the state is going to continue to use the death penalty, it must figure out a way to build safeguards in the system so that lapses like this don’t happen again.”
The Innocence Project sought testing in Jones’ case since 2007. After the San Jacinto County District Attorney’s Office denied access to the evidence to conduct tests, the Innocence Project joined with the Texas Observer, the Innocence Project of Texas and the Texas Innocence Network in bringing a lawsuit that eventually led to the testing.
Related, The Innocence Project | After Innocence: Trailer
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At a press conference in Houston this morning announcing the test results, Claude Jones’ son Duane said the results “mean so much to me, my son in the military and the rest of my family.”
“I hope these results will serve as a wakeup call to everyone that serious problems exist in the criminal justice system that must be fixed if our society is to continue using the death penalty,” Duane Jones said. “We must be careful that all aspects of our law enforcement and court systems are always driven by justice, truth and logic – not vengeance, emotion or politics.”
Get more facts on the case and review the memo to George W. Bush, the DNA testing results and more. (Below)
(Houston – November 12, 2010) The Innocence Project today released DNA test results proving that crucial hair evidence found at the scene of a murder, the only physical evidence linking the accused Claude Jones to the crime, did not belong to Jones. Although he always maintained his innocence, Jones was executed for murdering Allen Hilzendager on December 7, 2000. George Bush, who was awaiting a decision from the Florida Supreme Court on whether the presidential election recount would continue, denied Jones’ request for a 30 day stay of execution to do DNA test on the hair sample. The memo from the General Counsel’s office that recommended against the stay did not tell Bush that Jones was seeking a DNA test of the hair. Evidence that the hair “matched” Jones was critical to the prosecution’s case at trial and proved to be the key factor in a narrow 3-2 decision by the Texas Court of Appeals finding there was sufficient corroboration of the accomplice who testified against Jones to uphold the murder conviction.
“I have no doubt that if President Bush had known about the request to do a DNA test of the hair he would have would have issued a 30-day stay in this case and Jones would not have been executed,” said Barry C. Scheck, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law.
Scheck noted that Bush had issued a stay for DNA testing just months earlier in another capital case and said at the time, “Any time DNA evidence can be used in its context and can be relevant as to the guilt or innocence of a person on death row, we need to use it.”
Related, The Innocence Project
Conviction: The Incredible True Story of Betty Anne Waters
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“It is unbelievable that the lawyers in the General Counsel’s office failed to inform the governor that Jones was seeking DNA testing on evidence that was so pivotal to the case,” said former Texas Governor and Attorney General Mark White. “If the state is going to continue to use the death penalty, it must figure out a way to build safeguards in the system so that lapses like this don’t happen again.”
In November 1989, Hilzendager was shot to death while working at a liquor store in San Jacinto County, Texas. Jones was arrested for the crime with two co-defendants, Timothy Mark Jordan and Kerry Dixon. A father and his 14-year-old daughter who were working on a car across the street were the only witnesses to the crime, and neither were able identify the perpetrators. At trial and later on appeal, the key evidence against Jones was a small hair sample that was found on the counter near the victim’s body. A chemist for the state, Stephen Robertson, initially concluded that the sample was not “suitable” for microscopic comparison because it was too small, but by the time he testified at trial, Robertson swore the microscopic characteristics of the hair on the counter “matched” hair from Jones and could not have come from Dixon, the victim, or the 12 other people who frequented the store. When asked in a separate civil lawsuit why he changed his mind and decided that he could analyze the sample, Robertson said he didn’t know. Subsequently, an independent hair analysis expert examined the sample and concluded that Robertson’s first assessment was correct — the hair was in fact too small for proper analysis. Download the hair analyst’s report. (Below)
A report released in 2009 by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) raises serious questions about the reliability of microscopic hair analysis. According to the report, “No scientifically accepted statistics exist about the frequency with which particular characteristics of hair are distributed in the population. There appears to be no uniform standards on the number of features on which hairs must agree before an examiner may declare a ‘match.’” Nearly one in five wrongful convictions overturned through DNA testing involved faulty hair analysis.
California Looks at Opening Wildlife Reserves to Sociopaths
Immediate, please sign:
Keep California Wildlife Refuges Free of Hunting
From Change.org
By Martin Matheny
Officials at the California Department of Fish and Game are mulling over a proposal to open as much as 1 million acres of protected wildlife habitat to hunters. The proposal, which would allow hunting of deer, bear, turkey, and other animals in some areas currently being protected, has drawn the ire of wildlife and environmental advocates.
The game refuges in question date back to the early 20th Century; they were created as a way to control overhunting and preserve viable populations. The California Fish and Game Department contends that the refuges are obsolete, and that restrictions on how many animals a hunter can “take” during any given year accomplish the same thing. Eric Loft, who heads up the CDFG’s wildlife operations, says, “We have regulations to prevent hunters from overharvesting wildlife.” (Note to Mr. Loft: “Harvesting” is what you do to corn and wheat. What you do to deer and doves is a different word entirely.)
Related, There is Just So Much Fun in Killing!!!
Animal advocates have two problems with this: the actual proposal itself, and the procedural side. Conservationists and others opposed to lifting the hunting ban say that the department has kept the potential change too quiet, and has failed to notify the public in a meaningful way.
Wildlife advocates also contend that there’s just no data to back up lifting the hunting restrictions. Marilyn Jasper, with the Sierra Club in Placer County, told the San Jose Mercury News, “Where is their proof? The department is shooting from the hip.”
A quick look at the CDFG’s website does show an attempt to gather public input. (You’ve got until December 1st to put your two cents in, by the way.) Of course, just putting out a notice isn’t the whole enchilada, if you’re serious about hearing from the public. Especially when the title of said notice is benign-sounding, like “Evaluation of the Status of Existing State Game Refuges.” While the CDFG may have done their due diligence, it’s pretty clear that they didn’t do much, if any, more than that to notify the public. That’s a shame, because this is kind of a big deal.
International Day of Action to stop the Belo Monte Dam Complex
From Save the Xingu River
Posted on Facebook by Isabella
International Day of Action to stop the Belo Monte Dam Complex
The license to begin construction on the disastrous Belo Monte Dam in the Brazilian Amazon could be issued as early as the week of November 15.
Please take a stand for the thousands of people whose communities will be sacrificed for the profit of mining, construction, and energy companies.
Let the Brazilian Embassies and Consulates around the world know that you are in solidarity with the Brazilian people fighting to save their communities and cultures from destruction.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. Call the Brazilian Embassy and tell them to stop the Belo Monte Dam Complex from proceeding.
Some talking points are:
- Belo Monte Dam would carve the world’s third largest hydroelectric dam into the heart of the Amazon.
- Belo Monte Dam will destroy over 100,000 acres of rainforest and uproot over 40,000 indigenous and local people.
- The Brazilian government should defend the Amazon, respect indigenous peoples’ rights, and invest in energy efficiency and alternative energy.
If you are in the US, please call (202) 238-2805 and/or (202) 238-2712.
If you cannot leave a comment, write an e-mail message to : embassador@brasilemb.org
Contact information for Brazilian Consulates can be found at :
- http://www.brazil-help.com/brazil-emb-consul.htm
- http://www.offshorewave.com/embassies_show.php?country_id=29
2. Sign the petition HERE.
3. Participate in an International Day of Action November 16.
For information on organizing a protest at a Brazilian Embassy or Consulate near you, contact:
To join Amazon Watch at the Consulate in San Francisco, contact:
And to participate in the event at the Embassy in Washington DC, contact:
4. Please also sign Defend the Amazon Rainforest, Stop the Belo Monte Dam
- Please note that this petition uses the same text, but please sign anyway for greater number impact.
Stop the Belo Monte Dam Complex
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Dog Wakes Up After Being Euthanized
From Click On Detroit | CNN
Redford Township, Mich. — A rottweiler who was supposed to be put to sleep will live the rest of her life frolicking in the country.
Mia, who survived a botched euthanasia, has been given a new home with other rottweilers on an 80-acre farm outside Hillsdale.
Mia was given a second lease on life through touched readers’ donations after news of her coming back to life spread around the world.
Mia’s owner, Matt Oliverez, 27, said because he was facing foreclosure and was forced to move to a small apartment in Detroit, and because his 11-year-old pooch had a myriad of health problems, he had decided to alleviate her suffering.
Last month, Olivarez said he took Mia to the Westcott Veterinary Care Center in Detroit.
Olivarez said he returned to his garage Sunday morning and noticed Mia missing from where he’d placed her on a pile of hay the day before. He’d planned to bury her in his grandfather’s back yard.
Instead, he turned to find her standing on all fours, staring at him.
“Are you still my dog?” he said, saying he felt like he was living a scene from one of the scary movies he enjoys. “It was like a scene from Pet Cemetery.”
Dog Wakes Up After Being Put To Sleep
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Olivarez said Westcott officials speculated afterward that the drug dosage wasn’t strong enough or had been watered down.
Now, Mia has undergone steroid injections paid for by animal lovers around the world and seems to be recapturing part of her youth.
Donations paid for Mia’s $1,000 veterinarian bill.
Image | Time by Pepey, Global Warming
From The Center for Biological Diversity
Imperiled Plants and Animals Relegated to “Candidate” List Where They’ll Languish for Years Without Protection
WASHINGTON— The Obama administration today denied Endangered Species Act protection to 251 plants and animals that government scientists have said need those protections to avoid extinction. Instead, the administration has placed them indefinitely on a list of “candidate” (below) species, where many have already languished for years without help.
“The Obama administration has no sense of urgency when it comes to protecting imperiled plants and animals,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “With extinction looming, imperiled species need more than promises of hope and change. They need real protection, and they need it now.”
So far, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Obama administration has provided Endangered Species Act protection to just 51 plants and animals, and only one of those occurs in the continental United States. By comparison, the Clinton administration protected 522 species; the George H.W. Bush administration protected 231. The average annual rate for the Obama administration is 26, while for the Clinton administration it was 65 and for the first Bush administration it was 58.
“The Obama administration has been abysmal when it comes to protecting our most vulnerable plants and animals,” Suckling said. “The Endangered Species Act can save these 251 species, but only if they are granted protection.”
Many of the “candidate” species have been waiting for protection for decades, including the white fringeless orchid, which has been on the waiting list for 30 years, and the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, which has been a candidate for 25 years.
Delays have real consequences. At least 24 species have gone extinct after being designated a candidate for protection, including the Louisiana prairie vole, Tacoma pocket gopher, San Gabriel Mountains blue butterfly, Sangre de Cristo peaclam from New Mexico and numerous Hawaiian invertebrates.
Related, Kierán Suckling on the Center’s mission | September 9, 2010
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Related, Save the Polar Bear | Please sign HERE
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The Center and other groups have an active lawsuit in Washington, D.C., showing that continued delays in protecting the 251 candidate species is illegal because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not making expeditious progress listing species as required by the Endangered Species Act.
Background on the Candidate Species
The 251 candidates include a wide variety of species, from shorebirds such as the red knot, which migrates along the Atlantic Coast during one of the longest migrations in the animal world, to the aboriginal pricklyapple, a cactus found in Florida, to the Pacific fisher, a relative of the mink and otter that is dependent on old-growth forests on the West Coast. Being designated as a candidate does not provide any formal protection to the 251 species, a number of which have been waiting for protection for almost as long as the Endangered Species Act has existed. On average, the candidates have been waiting 20 years for protection.
The current review includes five new species since the last review: the Kentucky arrow darter, a fish in danger of extinction due to surface coal mining and gas exploration in eastern Kentucky; the Rosemont talus snail, a highly endangered snail that occurs only in the footprint of a proposed copper mine outside Tucson, Ariz.; the Kenk’s amphipod, a crustacean threatened by urban sprawl around Washington, D.C.; Packard’s milk vetch, a plant in Idaho threatened by off-road vehicle use and invasive plants; and the Vandenberg monkeyflower, a plant threatened by development in Santa Barbara, Calif. One species, the Palm Springs round-tailed ground squirrel, was removed from the candidate list due to the development of a Habitat Conservation Plan.
Billionaire Steve Wynn changes will to benefit animal rights
From Mother Nature Network
By Michael d’Estries Blog
Vegas resort mogul and passionate vegan says he doesn’t want any more ‘concentration camps for animals that are cruelly treated.’
Back in August, Steve Wynn turned heads with the announcement that all of the restaurants within his Las Vegas Wynn Resorts would be required to offer vegan options. Taking things a step further, the 68-year-old gave every one of his executives, chefs and employees a book and a DVD on the subject.
“It’s very simple,” Wynn told Robin Leach of Las Vegas Weekly. “I’m killing two birds at once, so to speak. Animal-based food kills people. This way by going vegan … we get healthy and save animals.
I’m being selfish, too, because if I can get my employees healthier, we cut down on sick days and gain more productivity. Our plan to take care of ourselves this way has blended right in with our staff.”
Wynn says he’s lost 15 pounds since going vegan — but admits it’s not all about health. Just like “LOST” star Jorge Garcia revealed yesterday about his vegetarian transition, Wynn’s decision is more about the animals.
Related, Vegan Society’s Making the Connection | Chapter 8: A Few Thoughts
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“I don’t want any more concentration camps for animals that are cruelly treated, force fed to fatten themselves up for our consumption,” he told Leach.
Apparently, Wynn’s devotion to the cause is so great, that he’s recently updated his will to benefit animal rights organizations.
“I’ve become an animal rights activist. I’m taken care of myself for the rest of my life, so I decided to change my will the last few days in case I croak. I’m not about to, and I’m not planning on that for a long time. But I’ve changed my will to show my concern for animal rights.”
Tell the U.S. Supreme Court to Condemn NOM’s Abhorrent Tactics in Iowa
Please sign:
Tell the U.S. Supreme Court to Condemn NOM’s Abhorrent Tactics in Iowa
From:
Human Rights Campaign
Background:
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) set its political bulls-eye on three Iowa Supreme Court justices who were part of the unanimous 2009 decision which found that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. All three lost on Election Day.
This was a cruel and calculated warning shot to judges nationwide: Either rule according to our radical, anti-gay ideology or we’ll come get you.
Please add your name to our open letter calling on U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to condemn NOM and its allies – and declare that judges must not be intimidated into ruling based on biased special-interest politics. Please send an automatic message HERE.
Stop NOM
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Petition Text:
Dear Chief Justice John Roberts,
As you know, three of Iowa’s Supreme Court justices lost their seats last week in the judicial retention election. All three were aggressively targeted by a cynical political campaign run by the Washington, D.C.-based National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and its allies because of a single, unanimous ruling. In 2009, the full court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry in Iowa.
You might also know that the three justices, who faced a barrage of television ads, refused to mount a counter attack because of the message it might send to litigants who appear before them. The judicial retention election, established in 1962, was designed to address gross misconduct, not punish judges for one ruling. In fact, only four other judges have lost their seats and, until last Tuesday, none of them from the state’s highest court.
NOM’s non-stop campaign made voters believe that ousting the justices would destroy same-sex marriage in Iowa. Of course, same-sex marriage remains law in Iowa and will not be impacted by whomever the new governor selects for the bench.
In fact, NOM admits its Iowa campaign had nothing to do with Iowa. This one judicial retention election, the organization said, would “send a clear signal to the Supreme Court and other judges that they don’t have the right to make up the law out of thin air. If the people of Iowa… remove these judges, there will be reverberations throughout the country all the way to the United States Supreme Court.”
Nearly 1,000 dead pigs found on Fulton County farm
UPDATE, December 10 | Man who left pigs dead is charged with animal cruelty
Immediate, please sign automatic message:
Please Seek Justice for the Abandoned Pigs
From Public Opinion
By Jim Tuttle
Between 950 and 1,000 dead pigs were found Monday on a Fulton County farm where they had apparently been abandoned months ago to die of starvation.
Humane Society Police Officer Dennis Bumbaugh said he has never seen anything like it before. He said the incident may be the largest of its kind in Pennsylvania’s history.
“I was horrified when I opened the door and saw what I saw,” he said during a phone interview Tuesday.
Bumbaugh was on his way to the Union Township farm of Daniel and Kerron Clark to begin counting the carcasses and assessing the evidence. The carcasses were reported to authorities by Kerron Clark on Monday, and Bumbaugh responded to the Harmon Lane property for an initial look at the situation.
“All I know at this point is that I’m dealing with a heck of a lot of dead animals,” he said.
It was a horrible situation. They struggled and fought to get out …
The Clarks had separated in recent years, and Daniel Clark reportedly left the farm for the last time in August, Bumbaugh said. Based on the level of their decomposition, he estimates the pigs died sometime “in the last several months.”
Kerron Clark had not been to the farm since 2008, he said. She recently acquired the property, and has been completely cooperative with authorities.
“This lady is devastated,” Bumbaugh said.
On Tuesday, the 218-acre farm was listed for sale at a price of $1.2 million by Realtor Rebecca A. Glesner of Long and Foster Real Estate. According to the online listing, the farm includes two hog finishing barns, grain silos and a 1900s farmhouse that “needs work.”
Related, Investigation Reveals Cruelty at Pig Farm
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“I knew there were some (dead animals) up there, but not this many,” Glesner said in a phone interview Tuesday after being told about the discovery.
Glesner said she recently visited the property, which has been on the market for about three weeks, and did not see any carcasses while she was there. She said she is not concerned about how hundreds of dead hogs might affect the property’s salability. “I think this is very normal in a lot of farming operations, that you’re going to have dead animals,” she said.
Our Compass 
