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.
Wild animals can relax as hunting may soon be prohibited, please send another pro-ban/anti-fur sample message
From The Jerusalem Post
By Ehud Zion Waldoks
As part of new bill nearly all animals in Israel would be accorded protected species status instead of just some animals.
Audio
While fewer and fewer hunting licenses have been renewed each year for the past 10 years and no new licenses are granted at all, the sport could disappear entirely if a bill by the Environmental Protection Ministry passes into law.
On Sunday, the bill was approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, giving it government backing and paving the way for swift passage through the Knesset.
According to the bill, which modifies the Wildlife Preservation Law, instead of some animals in Israel being accorded protected species status, nearly all animals would receive that status.
Only in a few instances would hunting be permissible – to prevent ecological damage or a threat to people.
Additionally, spreading poison on the ground or selling animal furs would be prohibited. The fines and jail time for illegal hunting would also increase under the new bill.
There are about 2,000 hunters with permits in Israel and the types of animals that are permissible to hunt have been narrowing each year. At one point, there were 6,000 licensed hunters but the area could only sustain about 2,000 hunters. Even those 2,000 have been whittled down by the Nature and Parks Authority through nonrenewal of licenses.
These days, with the pace of urban development and the encroachment on open spaces, conservation agencies see little need for hunting.
The new bill would cancel the entire licensing process and in essence do away with hunting for sport altogether.
The original law was passed in the 1950s and doesn’t provide sufficient protection to wild animals, the ministry said. Whereas hunting was considered a normal activity in the 20th century, in the 21st century preservation of species and habitats has taken precedence.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel commended the bill.
“We praise the advancement of the bill, which includes banning sport hunting in Israel,” the SPNI said. “Development pressures already do a lot of damage to nature and therefore there isn’t room anymore for sport hunting.
There is a unique and rich biodiversity in Israel and it is our responsibility to protect it rather than damage it through unnecessary activities.”
Fur is Obsolete, Murder is Absolute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDZCKOzmMOA&feature=related
Entry for the 2010 Design against fur Internation animation contest. ‘Venari’- latin for ‘The Hunt’.
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Immediate, please sign: Stop killing of brown bears in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Targeting: Dr. Radivoje Bratic (Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede RS)
Started by: NOA Denmark / www.drustvonoa.org
According to the info from the press agency, SRNA’s website, the text announces the commercial hunting of a brown bear, one of the rarest species in the country and in the European region, allegedly because of the damage the bear made on the buildings and lifestock. The bears are usually hunted from hunting stands where the animals are lured by a bait and then viciously killed. These bears are only guilty of being alive and they are worth more dead.
The text from the press agency SRNA
ČELINAC, 25 October (SRNA) – Members of the hunting association “Fazan” from the town of Čelinac made final preparations for the hunting of a brown bear that in the past month on several locations, made the damage estimated at about 5,000 KM, said the president of the association Sveto Đajić.
“In the villages Dragojevici, Dzomba and Skatavica a bear killed 13 sheep, brakeing into cottages and abandoned buildings, and recently got eep into the villages, Lipovac and Popovac where it destroyed a beehive and tried to break into a barn,” Đajić added.
A game warden, member of the association, Zoran Orašanin states that the at the site Lipovac, where normally there are no good conditions for the habitat of brown bear, he spotted a bear with two cubs and two adult bears, one of which is a valuable trophy.
Based on the hunting plans, as well as damage caused to the villages, the hunting Association “Fazan” received approval from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Republika Srpska to organize capture and killing of one specimen of this rare animal.
Orašanin stated that on the site of Majstorovic garden, “where he observed frequent movement of bear hunting stand, a prerequisite for organizing the hunt, is prepared.”
“The law requires that a bear is hunted only from a hunting stand which means that the chase is prohibited. Hunting stand is made according to high standards, preparing a carcass that will attract the bear and we have already several interested parties of hunters who are willing to participate in this commercial hunt, which will come in handy for repairing budget of our organization, “said Orašanin.
In the hunting society “Fazan” they are considered that there are too many bears in their hunting ground, which means that there are conditions that the competent Ministry also “sentences to death” the other bear as already suggested.
Please remember to sign Stop killing of brown bears in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Protest letter in English
It has come to my attention that a particular brown bear is being hunted by a local group known as Fazan; this bear has been accused of killing sheep and damaging outbuildings, and I am requesting you provide immediate relief on behalf of this non-human animal so callously and brutally targeted for destruction. Although I have no evidence of either scenario, I suspect that to establish endorsement, pro-killing enthusiasts and supporters exaggerate potentially dangerous situations and exploit community fear, dispelling any measures to protect wildlife. Indeed, the human animal is deceptively clever and duplicitous in gaining support for the vicious killing of a non-human animal who is worth more dead than alive to calculating hunters.
Of utmost concern is the unethical agenda of this decision, and the goal of death by these hunters. Hunting is inherently cruel, yet this hunt is particularly savage, fundamentally cruel, and based on inequity and accommodating promoters, employing cheap baiting tactics to attract the bear, a decidedly unmerited and cruel strategy to lure this creature to his death. Although the desire to protect personal property is understandable, doing so via death and destruction by hunting aficionados reveals more of a selfish maneuver than a selfless endeavor. Indeed, manipulating the situation by labeling the bear as deadly destroys any recourse on behalf of the bear or diplomatic decisions. Furthermore, it is important that you are aware that the brown or grizzly bear, ursos arctos, is considered a threatened species in many locales, and is also listed by the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as at risk or endangered depending upon location, and that hunting them could be considered an international crime .
Therefore, I respectfully request that, based on the established brutality involved as well as the potentiality for facilitation of illegal animal commerce and trade, you please vacate any licenses provided and dispense with any further hunting operation against the one, or any other, brown bear and instead seek non-lethal interventions as necessary. Please leave your reputation free of such brutal, inequitable hunting enterprises, and do not allow economical benefits, hunting sympathizers, and distorted accusations to dominate over ethics and judicious resolutions.
I know your time is limited, and I thank you for your attention to this urgent concern.
NAME/ADDRESS
European Union Seal Ban Takes Effect & Coach refuses our messages
From Respect for Animals
The General Court of the European Union (EU) has revoked the temporary suspension of the EU regulation banning the trade in seal products. The suspension – now removed – arose from an application made by 16 parties, including the two leading buyers of Canadian seal products, and meant that the import ban was largely ineffective.
Director of Respect for Animals Mark Glover says: “We are delighted that the court has made this decision – the right decision – and lifted the suspension. Europeans have the right to say not to seal products that come from inherently inhumane hunts. No one needs to wear fur of any sort but many see the cruelty involved in seal hunting as a step too far.
“Most of the applicants in the court case were those involved with the cruel Canadian and Norwegian sealing industry to try to protect their vested interests. If the suspension had not ended, products from cruel seal hunts would, once again, have been available in Europe.”
Both Canada and Norway have indicated that they may challenge the ban at EU level and Canada has requested additional WTO consultations with the EU on the ban.
Dumb Animals
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From StrollerDerby
By carolyncastiglia
Clint McCance, the Arkansas school board member who made headlines this week for the outlandish anti-gay hate speech he wrote on his Facebook wall, has officially decided to resign from his position.
McCance told CNN’s (gay heartthrob) Anderson Cooper yesterday, “I’m sorry I’ve hurt people with my comments,” adding, “I would never support suicide for any kids. I don’t support bullying of any kids.” The school board VP had the nerve to suggest that he’s really a kind-hearted person deep-down, saying,” I give everyone a chance and try to love everyone.”
Mmm-hmm. So that’s what you meant when you said, “I like that fags can’t procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other aids and die,” right?
AC360: Arkansas school board member to resign over anti-gay post
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Many devastated after learning a husky is butchered … Few devastated that 2000 animals are butchered each second
I have experienced a number of emotions while reading about the canine victim Chico, who was butchered violently: anger, sadness, helplessness. And I suspect many feel similar: we embrace these emotions while clawing for answers and retribution, the pain of imagery and the vice of forgetfulness an impossibility. Chico is dead, the victim of a sociopathic monster with a grudge and the lack of decency, a small, weak, utterly impotent excuse of a person. And we will sign our petitions, we will call everyone, we will demand justice, and we will mourn Chico in the quiet of the night, warm tears and agonizing nightmares hidden by the darkness, thoughts of pain that are forced into heedless corners with the dawn and the adoption of metaphoric justice. Chico was a family member who was cherished and loved, and although we may not falter under the overwhelming burden of personal connection, we still feel rage and grieve along with thousands – even millions – who come together to demand justice on behalf of a beloved child barbarically killed by a person with a twisted mind and absence of soul.
Yet, what about those others who suffer in silence? The billions of Chicos who are neither mourned nor cherished? Globally, 2000 Chicos are butchered each second. Where is their justice, their fleet of warriors who will plow forward and refuse defeat?
Where are you?
Earthlings
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These victims, they have no names, no companionship, no comforts. They are not loved, they are not mourned, they are but meat, flesh, blood, and bones, a symbol of greed, a mirror image of distortion. But what is their crime? Why have you no tears for them? What have they done to deserve such an ignoble status, the misery of a label, the death of an ideal? Indeed, their fault lies in the ambition, the definition, and the hubris of human animals, those who manufacture them as products and numbers, statistics in the logistics of food. They are nameless, faceless beings, victims of social choice and speciesist mandates, a mass production of murder rendered ethical and necessary with pithy phrases and solicitous rhetoric, the lie of the emotion accepted with ease and gratitude by those who gladly refuse introspection.
“It’s legal! It’s necessary! It’s healthy! It’s god-given!”
All fabrications of an extended imagination, the shortcomings of an ethic.
Yet how do you reconcile what happened to Chico with your dinner, your habit, your shawl of disguise to conceal the reality of your contribution? What is the difference between Chico … and … Chico?
The difference is YOU.
The Billions Slaughtered US
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Missing Half of Husky’s Body Found
From NBC Philadelphia
By Dan Stamm, Denise Nakano and David Change
The SPCA discovered the second half of the severed body of a Husky dog that was left on a Philadelphia porch Monday.
The body parts were found along side the railroad tracks at Bustleton and Heldeman Avenues, officials announced Thursday.
The other half of the dog’s body had been found by Sherri Verdon on the back porch of her Somerton-section home Monday afternoon.
“It’s just frightening, it’s creepy,” she said.
It also devastated the owners of three-year-old Chico.
“Why my dog, why,” said an emotional Gabriella Ovadia.
Chico disappeared from the Ovadia’s family home — which isn’t close to Verdon’s home — on Sunday.
On Monday the family identified their beloved pet dog at the SPCA.
“It was horrible — the mutilation,” Ovadia said.
“The dog was literally cut in half,” Pennsylvania SPCA spokesman George Bengal said.
The horrific image of a dog cut in half was also something Verdon couldn’t get out of her mind.
“I just became hysterical crying,” she said about the gruesome discovery. “It was just very disturbing.”
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Verdon says that the same man who vandalized her home nearly a half-dozen times recently could also be responsible for this gruesome act of animal cruelty.
Immediate, please sign the following two messages:
- 1. Petition to the FDA About Alternatives to Animal Testing
- 2. R&R Research is a Repeat Violator of the AWA (For US friends only.)
BACKGROUND
1. Petition to the FDA About Alternatives to Animal Testing
PCRM needs your help! We want to demonstrate to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that there are many thousands of people who support alternatives to animal testing. Initially we set a goal of collecting 50,000 petitions to deliver to the FDA—thanks to our members and supporters who took action we have exceeded that number. Every name represents one more reason for the FDA to promote nonanimal testing methods to save human and animal lives. Act now and sign PCRM’s petition!
Please complete the petition by filling out the form HERE. This message urges the FDA to sanction alternatives to animal testing.
2. R&R Research is a Repeat Violator of the AWA For US friends only.
AAVS has renewed its call for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to revoke the license of R&R Research, a random source Class B dealer that has repeatedly violated the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), legislation designed to protect lost or stolen pets from becoming research subjects. Random source Class B dealers are animal brokers that obtain dogs and cats from shelters and others, and then sell them to research and education facilities, and they are only permitted to obtain animals from licensed dealers or individuals with animals who are born and raised on their property. This creates a paper trail that demonstrates legal acquisition of animals as well as mode to find a lost dog or cat. However, in July, R&R was cited for illegally acquiring a dog. According to a USDA inspection report, R&R obtained the animal from a person who “acquired the dog at six weeks of age from an individual…who was giving [it] away.”
This is the 6th time that R&R Research has violated this section of the AWA! There is no excuse for letting them flout the law continually.
The USDA is charged by Congress to uphold the integrity of the AWA, yet it has failed to penalize R&R for its repeated, blatant animal welfare violations. In September, the Government of Accountability Office (GAO) conducted an audit of USDA’s oversight of random source Class B dealers like R&R (below, too) , and concluded that USDA is failing to adequately monitor the activities of these animal brokers. GAO revealed that seven of nine Class B dealers have had one or more AWA violations, and that record keeping was at times so poor that 16% of original sources for animals could not be confirmed and 13% of tracebacks from 2009 remain incomplete, despite the fact that they should occur within 30 days of dealer inspection.
Further implicating random source Class B dealers, last year, the National Academies Institute for Laboratory Animal Research acknowledged concern over their controversial reputation, and stated that dogs and cats from such dealers are not necessary for federally funded research.
Would It Make a Difference? It Would To Them …
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School Official Wants Gays Dead
From Human Rights Campaign, please sign Clint McCance: Resign
From Change, please sign Demand Resignation of Anti-Gay Arkansas School Board Member
From Facebook group Fire Clint McCance, join HERE
From The Advocate
By Neal Broverman
Arkansas school board member Clint McCance believes “queers” and “fags” should kill themselves — that is, if they don’t get AIDS and die first.
While schools across the country are taking action against bullying and suicide, a board member of an Arkansas school district is using his Facebook page to encourage “queers” and “fags” to kill themselves.
Clint McCance is a board member in the Midland school district in northern Arkansas. Responding to a call to wear purple last Wednesday to support LGBT youth, McCance wrote the following message on his Facebook page: “Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers killed themselves. The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed thereselves because of their sin. REALLY PEOPLE.”
Initially, six people “liked” McCance’s message. He also received supportive comments, though some challenged his statement. A commenter wrote, “Because hatred is always right.” That led McCance to write, “No because being a fag doesn’t give you the right to ruin the rest of our lives. If you get easily offended by being called a fag then dont tell anyone you are a fag. Keep that shit to yourself. I dont care how people decide to live their lives. They dont bother me if they keep it to thereselves. It pisses me off though that we make a special purple fag day for them. I like that fags cant procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other aids and die. If you arent against it, you might as well be for it.”
Anderson Cooper discusses the anti-gay rant posted on Facebook by Clint McCance
McCance was again challenged on his statements — and his Christianity. Wrote one commenter: “YOU NEED TO STOP AND THINK FOR A SEC GREAT YOU BIG CHRISTIAN MAN ! SO KEEP ALL OF YOUR THOUGHTS TO YOUR SELF YOU DONT WANT PPL TALKIN ABOUT YOUR FAMILY SO DONT TALK BOUT OTHERS.”
McCance responded with, “I would disown my kids they were gay. They will not be welcome at my home or in my vicinity. I will absolutely run them off. Of course my kids will know better. My kids will have solid christian beliefs. See it infects everyone.”
Samsonite: capitalizing on blood and suffering … please send sample message of protest, sign petition
Please join us in our appeal to Samsonite to drop the offensive bullfighting advert: contact, sample message, and petition below. Thank you.
From Irish Council Against Blood Sports
Luggage company Samsonite has been urged to drop a new “Bullfight” advertisement which shows a matador baiting a bull with a red suitcase. ICABS has expressed disappointment to the company over the ad which features a real matador.
“It is very regrettable that Samsonite finds it appropriate to associate its brand name with the world’s most cruel and barbaric blood sport,” we stated in an email today. “Many would surely agree that using a bullfighting theme in a marketing campaign is in very poor taste indeed.”
[Bullfighting is] a nightmare environment filled with cut-up flesh, impaled muscle, severe pain, blood loss, terror and death.
We pointed out that matadors, similar to the one depicted in the ad, are responsible for the slow torture to death of thousands of bulls every year. Each bullfight event sees the merciless killing of six or more bulls. Horseback riders firstly weaken the bull by stabbing its body with sharp lances. To force it to drop its head, spears are then driven into its neck muscles. The cruelty culminates with a stabbing through the heart with a sword.
Samsonite’s Fluff & Folly
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The Bulls’ Global Reality
Is A Vegetarian Diet Actually Cheaper?
Editor’s Note: Ethical vegans base their “diet” on morals, and not low cost, superior health, or any other favorable variables; however, it is beneficial to share other facets as an extension of knowledge and support to those who may otherwise be deterred by inaccuracies. Furthermore, it is important to point out that poor health conditions, such as heart disease as caused via consumption of animal “products”, can be very expensive, in more than one way.
From Learn Vest
By Billie Hadley
Lots of vegetarians love to talk about how there are health benefits to eating the way they do, so we wanted to challenge them: Are there cost benefits to being a vegan or a vegetarian?
To find out, we performed a hypothetical calculation of the total cost of a day’s meals for various eating habits: meat-eaters, your standard omnivorous bunch; pescetarians, who eat like vegetarians but allow themselves fish; vegetarians, who don’t eat meat; and vegans, who don’t eat any foods derived from animal products, including butter, milk, etc.
The following sums were calculated using grocery store prices. While this is just one sample menu and therefore not completely indicative of any hard and fast truth—after all, there are ways to eat inexpensively regardless of your preference—we calculated one possible scenario for how the (organic, vegan) chips could fall:
During The Sample Day, The Vegan Saved $3.50 Over The Meat-Eater.
This is one hypothetical day out of many, but if the savings were consistent, the vegan would save nearly $1,280 over the course of a year. We recognize that it’s possible to lead a non-vegetarian life on a budget–and to eat expensively as a vegan–but we noticed one general, interesting trend. The most inexpensive foods are often plant-derived products, like carrots, oatmeal, and vegetable products. Plant proteins such as tofu or garbanzo beans, meanwhile, tend to be much cheaper than their equivalents in animal protein. The cheapest cuts of beef average about $3 to $4 per pound, while lentils and dried beans are generally less than $1 per pound and tofu is less than $2 per pound.
Australian Goat Races: Tormenting goats and harming children … and they call this “fun”?!? Please take action!
Immediate, please sign and send:
TORMENTED AUSTRALIAN GOATS ARE FORCED TO RACE, THOSE THAT FALL ARE BEATEN & DRAGGED TO THEIR FEET!
Terrorized Australian goats in outback New South Wales are used to pull carts carrying kids or adults; these terrified goats run into fences and sheds, they fall and are beaten and dragged back up, they end up bloodied and bruised: this sickening ‘sport’ is known as goat racing. It must be outlawed now.
This cruel ‘sport’ has gone on for 30 years, which is 30 years too long for these abused goats, and now it MUST END!
An Australian Current Affair programme, Today Tonight, aired an extremely disturbing story exposing the town of Walgett in NSW, for using terrified goats to pull carts carrying children and adults:
It’s one of the goriest blood sports imaginable, but few Australians knew about goat racing until our damning story last night exposing the appalling, cruel treatment of little children and feral goats, in what’s billed as a bonanza family tourist attraction.
Please view Today Tonight‘s story on the barbaric ‘sport’ of goat racing HERE -WARNING IT IS VERY UPSETTING.
Children, who could of course also be injured, should not be exposed to this kind of cruelty, and they should certainly not be taught that animal abuse is acceptable. Despite the outcry over this cruel ‘sport’, the town of Gatlett is planning to once again abuse and exploit terrified goats next year.
Feds give up video of country star killing tame bear in Minnesota
From The Star Tribune
By Paul Walsh
An animal-rights organization is claiming victory in a three-year legal fight to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to release a videotape of country music star Troy Gentry illegally killing a tame black bear on an enclosed game farm in east-central Minnesota.
The video, posted Monday on YouTube by SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness), shows Gentry smiling and giving the thumbs-up twice from his tree stand after shooting an arrow at close range into the side of a bear named Cubby in 2004 at the Minnesota Wildlife Connection near Sandstone.
Hell ya! … This is awesome. [We’ll] make sure he bleeds out good… Right now, it’s time to go celebrate …
“Wow, I can’t believe that,” Gentry, of the country music duo Montgomery Gentry, says while looking into the camera. “Hell ya! … This is awesome. Great black bear hunting up here in northern Minnesota.”
Troy Gentry Kills Tame Bear and Lies, Part 1
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Troy Gentry Kills Tame Bear and Lies, Part 2
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Decked out in camouflage, Gentry goes on to explain that “we’ll go down and get some coffee, go back to camp” and wait and “make sure he bleeds out good. … Right now, it’s time to go celebrate. I’m still shaking.”
Later, Gentry approaches the dead bear and notes how the carcass is “good and bubbly, which means we got a good blood shot.”
Then, Gentry is joined by property owner Lee Greenly kneeling behind the 600-pound bear as Gentry’s bow leans against the animal’s torso. “He didn’t even know what hit him,” Greenly said. “Perfect shot.”
Days left to stop mass extinction
At least 100 species go extinct every day … RARE
FROM AAAVZ.org
- Immediate, please sign HERE to encourage a global response to extinction.
BACKGROUND
A third of all animals and plants on earth face extinction — endangered blue whales, coral reefs, and a vast array of other species. The wave of human-driven extinction has reached a rate not seen since the fall of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
But there is a plan to save them — a global agreement to create, fund and enforce protected areas covering 20% of our seas and lands by 2020. Right now, 193 governments are meeting in Japan to address this crisis. But without public pressure, they are likely to fall short of the bold action needed to avert the collapse of ecosystems the world over.
This summit ends on Friday, October 29 — we have no time to lose. Let’s rapidly build a global public outcry urging governments to save all life on earth from runaway decline. Sign the petition below and it will be delivered directly to the meeting:
MESSAGE TEXT
To all parties of the Convention on Biodiversity:
One third of Earth’s species face extinction. We call on you to urgently agree to create, execute and fund the protection of 20% of our oceans and lands by 2020. Only bold and immediate action will protect our planet’s rich diversity of life.
PLEASE SIGN HERE
RELATED
Click on each picture to enlarge.
By Angela Adams (can only be accessed with valid Facebook account)
Chamberlin, a lab-mix, was abandoned and found tethered to a tree, emaciated, and too weak to stand. His frail body was discovered when someone attempted to mow the lawn. Chamberlin endured neglect that no living creature should have to experience. He survived two long, grueling months without food, little water, and no shelter. Nelli Brock and Wilbert Morrison, Jr., have been charged with 2 counts of felony animal cruelty and are expected in court on Friday, October 29, 2010. We have only three days to contact the district attorney asking for the harshest penalty. You may use the Sample Letter as a guide so that the DA receives a variety of messages.
The Case
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Chamberlin’s Story
Chamberlin’s Physical Therapy
We Need to End Non-Consensual Pelvic Exams
From Care2
By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux
How would you feel if someone told you, after coming out of anesthesia for a routine surgery, that medical students had performed a pelvic exam on you, without your consent, while you were unconscious? That seems like a no-brainer – it’s a pretty serious violation. Obviously, no one should be subjected to medical procedures without their consent, especially something as personal and invasive as a pelvic exam. But in fact, at least in the United States and Canada, it’s fairly common practice for medical students to perform internal pelvic exams on unconscious patients who have not consented to the procedure.
Andre Picard has a column in the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail about this “dirty little secret of medicine.” In it, he writes about Sara Weinberg, a Canadian doctor, who has been exposing the practice. Her story goes back to 2007, when she was a medical student and her “younger brother Daniel, also studying to be a doctor, phoned for advice: As part of his rotation in obstetrics and gynecology, he had been asked to perform a pelvic exam on a woman who was under anesthetic. He refused, saying doing so without consent would be unethical.” Weinberg said that she had performed internal pelvic exams on unconscious patients before, and that it had never occurred to her that it might be unethical. After polling her fellow students, she found that 72 percent had done exams on unconscious patients.
Trailer: At Your Cervix
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According to Picard, the long-standing argument in favor of allowing these exams to be done on unconscious patients is that it “provides a unique opportunity for students to practice the delicate, invasive examination without causing the woman pain or embarrassment.” Doctors also assume that conscious women would never agree to have pelvic exams done by students, so sneaking them in is not perfect, but necessary.
Our Compass 
