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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.

Join the Campaign to Ban Devocalization

September 13, 2010
by

From Animal Law Coalition
& The Big Blend

On July 21, 2010, the landmark Logan’s Law sponsored by the Coalition to Protect and Rescue Pets (CPRPets), a coalition of grassroots activists, and supported by the Animal Law Coalition–takes effect in Massachusetts, banning the cruel practice of cutting vocal cords to suppress a dog’s or cat’s voice. It is the first effective legislation to ban devocalization of dogs and cats.

Risky and painful, devocalization does not ensure animals a home. And it’s more common than most think, particularly among breeders and show dog exhibitors.

With your help, that could change soon!

Logan’s Law has inspired an exciting federal bill, H.R. 5422, filed by U.S. Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, D-MD. HR 5422 would make states that ban canine and feline devocalization eligible for federal grants of up to $1 million to prevent all forms of animal cruelty. If passed, HR 5422 would motivate more states to ban devocalization. CPRPets has joined with Animal Law Coalition, to provide free materials for groups that want to file similar legislation in their states.

HR 5422 would prevent other forms of animal abuse too. States could use the grant to fund humane education and help shelters and rescue groups.

PLEASE ACT NOW! Lobbies that profit from cruel devocalization already are weighing in.

Breeders order devocalization when they–or authorities–don’t tolerate the sound of the many animals they breed and sell. Veterinarians profit from this cruel convenience surgery even more directly. It’s disappointing but not surprising that Mass. Veterinary Medical Assn. joined the state dog breeders association in lobbying against Logan’s Law. Don’t let lobbies that profit from devocalization win or animals will lose.

Read more…

Lesbian Couple’s Home Burned Down in Possible Hate Crime

September 13, 2010
by

From Care2
By Steve Williams

A lesbian couple from Vonore, Monroe County, Tennessee, are afraid to return to the charred remains of their home after it was burned to the ground and the word “Queer” was spray painted on the side of their garage in what is being investigated as a potential hate crime.

Lesbian Couple Subjected to Threats and Intimidation
The couple in question, Carol Ann Stutte and partner Laura Stutte, were on a visit to Nashville when the incident happened on Saturday, September 4.

They were celebrating the anniversary of their having moved to the state.

Carol Strutte’s adult daughter from a previous marriage, would have been in the house at the time had she not been unwell and made other arrangements.

From Wate.com:

The couple feels they’re victims of a hate crime, and were targeted because they’re gay. They’ve been together for more than 15 years.

Carol Stutte has an adult daughter from a previous relationship who also lived with them.

At the time of the fire, they were in Nashville celebrating their fifth anniversary in Tennessee.

“My daughter was supposed to be here. She was sick,” Carol Stutte said. “I was grateful my baby girl didn’t get killed in this fire. She would have been trapped in the basement.”

The couple moved to Vonore from Oklahoma.

Carol Stutte says her partner is too afraid to come back to the property since the fire. She says they’ve been harassed all five years they’ve lived there by one neighbor.

The couple alleges that the neighbor had reportedly threatened to kill them and burn down their house. They filed a police complaint following the most recent threat in August, although the exact details of the complaint have not been released.

Read more…

GOD IS A VEGAN

September 13, 2010
by

By Arthur Poletti

GOD IS A VEGAN
THE MERCIFUL CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE
HAS ALWAYS BEEN
AND ALWAYS WILL BE
A VEGAN
TAKE HEED ALL RELIGIOUS LEADERS.
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!!
WHICH MAY DETERMINE WHERE YOU WILL SPEND YOUR AFTER-LIFE!!

Isaac Bashevis Singer once wrote, “There is only one little step from killing animals to creating gas chambers a la Hitler. For animals EVERYDAY IS A HOLOCAUST.” About the same time the German Jewish philosopher Theodor Adorno made a similar point: “Auschwitz begins whenever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they’re only animals.”

TAKE HEED, and beware all religious leaders like THE POPE who eat animal flesh, or dairy products, or eggs while professing to be doing God’s work.

Your sacrilegious deeds of openly condoning and supporting the completely unnecessary insidious cruelty, torture, and mass murder of God’s precious creatures throughout the world make you guilty of the WORST kind of cardinal SIN.

 

Do religious leaders who have an affinity for devouring the flesh of animals REALLY BELIEVE that any God worthy of being worshipped would arbitrarily and cruelly authorize the worldwide HIDIOUS TORTURE AND MASS MURDER of precious and beloved animals so that hundreds of millions of misinformed and delusional humans are able to eat their flesh, dairy products or eggs?

Do religious leaders who use their throats as garbage cans and their stomachs as graveyards for the decaying flesh from God’s precious beloved creatures REALLY BELIEVE that condoning and supporting the worst kind of torture and MASS MURDER of animals will be rewarded with kindness, love, and nirvana in their next life?

download

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Star Dogs

September 13, 2010
by

From
For the Love of the Dog Blog

By Andrea Rosebrock

50 years ago, on August 19, 1960, two stray dogs named Belka and Strelka started their flight aboard the Russian spaceship “Sputnik 5”. They became the first living creatures from Earth to spend over 24 hours in space before safely returning to Earth.

Soviet Scientists believed that stray dogs were the best animal for the missions. The hard life of a stray dog was preferred because scientists believed them to have better survival techniques to cope with the stress of being launched into space along with the confinement in a dark capsule.

They also preferred stray dogs over pedigree dogs. Pure-bred dogs, in their opinion, were not sturdy or intelligent enough for space travel. They had to be small – between 13 and 16 pounds. The early rockets were not powerful enough to carry heavy loads. They had to have light fur because movies were made of the dogs in flight. It was easier to see a light-colored dog in a dark capsule. They also had to be between 2 and 6 years old.

Female dogs were preferred because they had a better temperament and fit better in the specially designed space suits (complete with acrylic glass bubble helmets) and capsule restraints. Not because they had better figures, but because they didn’t need to lift their legs to empty their bladders.

The first order of business was getting all the dogs together in a social setting so they could be named. They were named according to their personality. Belka means “Squirrel” and Strelka means “Arrow”. The observation also determined which type of flight they were best suited for. Dogs with nervous personalities were chosen for sub-orbital flights. Short flights that reach space but never overcome the force of gravity. The capsule drops back to Earth. Dogs with a calm personality were used for orbital flights. Flights that overcome the force of gravity and orbit the Earth.

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Toro de la Vega – A Bloody Tradition, Please send one message

September 13, 2010
by


Protest story in Spanish:
Cientos de animalistas protestan en Tordesillas

Protest story in English, please click HERE

From SHARK

The annual “Fiestas Mayores” in Tordesillas take place in the second week of September. The “fiestas” or “feast days” are in honour of the patron Saint of the town and surrounding area, Our Lady, the Virgin of the Cliff. The bloodiest day is the Tuesday when the famous “El Toro de la Vega” run takes place.

This yearly spectacle with a bull and lances has been going for centuries. In fact it is an example of one of the most ancient “taurine” rituals, unique to Spain : “The Lancing of the Bull”.

This was one of the star attractions during the bull tournaments, before the introduction of bullfights, as we know them, during the XVIII century. Thus the organizers place a great deal of importance on the choice of bull who must weigh more than 500 kilos, have procreated, be some various years old and must be handsome.

At about 11 o’clock on the Tuesday morning, traditionally in the main square of the town, but more recently in a nearby street called San Antolin, the “Toro de la Vega” begins. The bull is driven down the street and then, on crossing the bridge, the bull faces his “fate”. On the other side of the bridge he is awaited by men on horseback and others on foot who carry lances and will not desist until they kill him; this takes place in the area called the “vega” – a plain scattered with trees. The rules laid down by the Tordesillas Town Council, and which the present-day torneo must comply with, basically state that the bull must only be lanced once it enters the designated area and that no vehicles are allowed into this area.

The youth who manages to give the thrust of his lance which actually kills the bull has the right to cut off his testicles and proudly parade them around on the end of his lance. (For the last few years this practice has not been allowed although some have tried to do it). The Town Council presents the winner with a gold badge and a lance made of forged iron.

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US Friends, Please Urge Support for the Pet Safety and Protection Act

September 12, 2010
by

From AAVS
To send automatic message, please visit HERE

BACKGROUND
Past visitors to aavs.org may be familiar with Cruella, a shepherd mix from a small town in Michigan who was found wandering, wearing a purple collar and chain. Cruella was taken to a local pound and was later given to a random source Class B dealer, who, after holding her for six months, sold her to a university laboratory where she was killed after seven months. In reviewing her records, it was clear that Cruella had once been someone’s pet.

The American Anti-Vivisection Society was originally founded in an effort to prevent the sale of dogs like Cruella from shelters to laboratories, where they were destined to suffer and die in invasive experiments. Since then, AAVS has been advocating against such practices for over 125 years, and we have been successful in aiding in the implementation of pound seizure bans, including at the state level in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, pound seizure continues in some areas in the country, but there is now an opportunity to rid this practice of one group of particularly despicable players: random source Class B dealers.

Animal brokers who obtain dogs and cats from shelters and then sell them to research and education facilities, random source Class B dealers have a long history of Animal Welfare Act (AWA) violations, some of which include illegal acquisition of animals, improper record keeping, and failure to provide adequate veterinary care. Today, there are 10 random source Class B dealers operating in the U.S., and six are under investigation for AWA violations. Despite this, random source Class B dealers continue to reap huge profits from their unscrupulous business dealings.

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Please Call on ChevronTexaco to Address the Human Rights of Amazon Communities

September 12, 2010
by

From Amnesty International
Please send automatic letter HERE

BACKGROUND

For over four decades, Indigenous communities have witnessed multinational oil companies cut through their ancestral lands in search of the country’s vast petroleum resources.

According to the report ”Amazon Crude” by Judith Kimerling, from 1972 until it left Ecuador in 1992, Texaco intentionally dumped more than 19 billion gallons of toxic wastewaters into the region and was responsible for 16.8 million gallons of crude oil spilling from the main pipeline into the forest.

The report alleges that these actions contaminated both the soil and the groundwater of the communities in the area and will continue to threaten the economic and cultural bases of Indigenous peoples’ survival.

Send a message to the Board of Directors of ChevronTexaco that the company must take responsibility for its actions.

Read more…

Please Free Clementine from Research Lab

September 12, 2010
by

UPDATE, 9/17
Thank you to Jennifer for this updated information.
All animals (253) from the research Center in NC have been rescued by shelters and rescue groups.
If you want to adopt, you can inquire with:

DC: 202-726-2556
Cateret Co. NC: 252-247-7744
Guilford Co. NC: 336-297-5020
NJ: 973-824-7080
Norfolk, VA: 757-622-3319
VA Beach: 757-427-0070

Please only call the shelters if you are willing to drive there and adopt. THANKS for your help everybody! We did it. Lucy

UPDATE, 9/15: NC lab halts work after PETA video, animals to be released need forever homes, please help if you are able

**I have asked about Clementine specifically and will update here when I get the information as to where she is.

Thank you so much to Shannon and Jessica for this information, please see below for original article about Clementine.

These animals need to be adopted from PLRS Lab in North Carolina, and the cats in particular are looking for forever homes. If you are able to open your home, please contact Cathy with Animal Welfare Institute Onlineemail address below, or if you are a nearby shelter who can take some of the animals:

From Cathy, AWIO:

She said the animals will actually be going to shelters first and won’t be directly adopted.

What she needs most right now is to be contacted by any shelters in NC or VA (or neighboring states) that would be willing to take some of the animals! Any shelters that are willing to help should call or email her:

http://www.awionline.org/ht/d/OrganizationDetails/i/2/pid/212

She also said if people are interested in adopting any of the animals (especially people in NC or VA), she needs them to email her this information at:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Phone Number
  • What animal(s) or types of animals they’re interested in adopting.

If she knows what areas people have people willing to adopt one of the animals, she may be able to get the shelters to take 1 or 2 more of them.
Once she has shelters to take all the animals she will send out emails to those who emailed her letting them know where to go.

http://abernacky.tumblr.com/post/1132056366/update-animals-need-homes-from-nc-lab-how-to-help

Immediate, please sign:
Free Clementine From Research Lab

From Care2

Clementine’s Story

A gentle senior Dalmatian named Clementine has been imprisoned at Professional Laboratory and Research Services (PLRS) for as long as seven years. According to a PLRS supervisor, the laboratory bought Clementine in 2003 from a notorious animal dealer that has since been shut down for “severe mistreatment and neglect of a multitude of animals.” The dealer had acquired Clementine from an animal shelter. Clementine also referred to as “38902” spends her lonely days in a concrete and chain-link cell without exercise, affection, or attention. Every day, she is deprived of a home, a family, simple comfort, veterinary care, and enrichment.

Instead of living with a family in a good home, she endures the abuses of “life” at PLRS, where the floor’s poor drainage forces her to spend most of her days standing in her own urine and/or a bleach and water solution. Workers spray a caustic bleach solution into the cage while she is still inside it. Raw, open sores cover her limbs. Excrement is caked on her body.

When PETA’s investigator reported Clementine’s injuries, she was told that they were “just part of life at PLRS” and that she should not tell the veterinarian who visits PLRS once a week or so about them. According to a PLRS supervisor, Clementine was diagnosed with heartworm disease in 2005 but has never been treated.

Read more…

Chinese Zoos Routinely Beat And Abuse Performing Animals, Animals Asia Foundation Reports

September 11, 2010
by

From Huffington Post

Performing animals in Chinese zoos and parks are often trained using abusive practices, including routine beatings, and are housed in inadequate shelters, according to a report by a Hong Kong-based animal welfare group released Monday.

Bears are regularly whipped and beaten with sticks, elephants are prodded with metal hooks, and tigers and lions are defanged and declawed, causing them chronic pain, said the Animals Asia Foundation in a 28-page report.

The group surveyed animal performances and living conditions at 13 zoos and safari parks in China over a yearlong period until this August.

“The combined aspects of performances, abusive training methods and inadequate housing conditions are causing severe animal suffering for many thousands of performing animals across China,” the report said.

Earlier this year, the problem of animal mistreatment in China was highlighted with the reported deaths of 11 rare Siberian tigers at the Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in the frigid northeast over a three-month period. The tigers had reportedly starved to death after being fed nothing but chicken bones for weeks.

Last month, the State Forestry Administration ordered a crackdown against operations that mistreated wild animals for performance purposes.

The order criticized animal parks for being “obsessed about financial profits while not paying enough attention to protective measures. Illegitimate methods are taken in treating wild animals … This not only brings potential risk to the endangered wild species and the public health, but also tarnishes China’s role and reputation in protecting wild animals.”

The Animals Asia Foundation said black bears are the most popular animal performers, typically forced to ride bicycles, tricycles, and even horses. They were required to balance on balls, perform acrobatics, and even ‘box’ each other. The bears were regularly whipped or beaten with sticks by their trainers, it said.

Read more…

Plight of animals at Bangkok’s rooftop zoo above department store

September 11, 2010
by

From Guardian
By Ben Doherty

The ground floor of the Pata department store has cheap clothing: the polyester slacks for 200 baht (£4.20), the polo shirts for half that. Higher up is the electronics department: the fake Rolexes and the cheap TVs. On the seventh floor is the gorilla.

There are no trees in “King Kong’s” 15 x 10 metres concrete enclosure, just a tyre and a few ropes hanging from the low ceiling. He moves little, spending long hours sitting at the front of his pen, gripping the iron bars.

Ten metres away, a lone penguin stands in an air-conditioned pen, next to a pool of water, which is smaller than a bath and nowhere near deep enough for him to swim in. A few years ago, there were a dozen penguins, but only this one survives.

Bangkok’s Pata zoo sits atop the department store that shares its name, on a busy road in the northern suburbs of Bangkok. Crammed into cages and pens across the sixth and seventh floor of the ageing building are more than 200 species: a menagerie of pythons, turtles, flamingos, monkeys, leopards, tigers, bears, and even a Shetland pony. From the rooftop enclosures, you can see the advertising billboards and office blocks next door, while traffic roars past below.

The director of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, Edwin Wiek, wants the zoo closed: “Basically, it is an animal prison on top of a shopping mall. The space is too small, the animals have very little room, there is very little sunlight, the enclosures are dirty, they smell bad, and people are coming past all day, getting far too close to the animals, which makes the animals extremely stressed. In 200 steps you can see 50 different species. Most people know that this is not an acceptable way to keep animals. It is a hell for animals.”

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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If HR503 Dies, Horses Will Die, CALL NOW!

September 11, 2010

By Jude Love

The Bottom Line:

  • 1. Horse slaughter is illegal in the United States
  • 2. American horses are TRANSPORTED to slaughter in other Countries
  • 3. HR503 will STOP the TRANSPORT to slaughter in other Countries
  • 4. HR503 has to be PASSED to STOP the TRANSPORT to slaughter in other Countries
  • 5. HR503 cannot be passed until it is voted on.
  • 6. HR503 cannot be voted on until the SUBCOMMITTEE gets it OUT OF THE COMMITTEE TO THE FLOOR.
  • 7. If HR 503 DIES in the COMMITTEE this year, MILLIONS more Horses will Die due to Torture in Slaughter Houses.

AMERICAN HORSES ARE BEING TORTURED IN SLAUGHTER HOUSES IN CANADA AND MEXICO.  IT WILL NEVER STOP.  IT WILL NOT STOP UNTIL H.R.503 IS PASSED IN CONGRESS…..16 PEOPLE HOLD THE POWER TO MAKE IT STOP..WILL YOU CALL THEM PLEASE…IF THIS BILL IS NOT PASSED BY NOVEMBER 4, HORSES WILL BE TRANSPORTED ACROSS OUR BORDERS TO DIE AGONIZING DEATHS – SHOT IN THEIR EYES, STABBED IN THE SPINE, IT WILL CONTINUE – THROUGHOUT ALL ETERNITY IF H.R. 503 IS NOT PASSED…….CALL OR FAX THESE 16 FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES NOW…..ASK THEM TO PLEASE VOTE YES ON H.R.503 IMMEDIATELY.

BOBBY SCOTT, CHAIRMAN, VIRGINIA:
PHONE (202) 225-8351    FAX (202) 225-8354

PIER LUISI, PUERTO RICO:
PHONE  (202) 225-2615   Fax: (202) 225-2154  TOLL FREE  (866) 266-6678

JERROLD NADLER, NEW YORK:
PHONE  (202)-225-5635

ZOE LOFGREN,  CALIFORNIA:
PHONE  (202) 225-3816  FAX (202) 225-3317

MAXINE WATERS, CALIFORNIA:
PHONE  (323) 757-8900 Fax: (323) 757-9506

STEVE COHEN,  TENNESSEE:
PHONE  (202) 225-3265Fax: (202) 225-5663

ANTHONY WEINER, NEW YORK:
PHONE (202)-225-6616

MIKE QUIGLEY, ILLINOIS:
PHONE (773)-267-5926  FAX: (773)-267-6583

TED DEUTCH, FLORIDA:
PHONE  (202)-225-3001

LOUIE GOHMERT, RANKING MEMBER, TEXAS:
PHONE  (202)-225-3035   FAX  (202)-226-1230

BOB GOODLATTE,  VIRGINIA:
PHONE  (202) 225-5431  FAX (202) 225-9681

DAN LUNGREN, CALIFORNIA:
PHONE  (202) 225-5716  FAX  (202) 226-1298

RANDY FORBES,  VIRGINIA:
PHONE  (202) 225 – 6365   FAX (202) 226 – 1170

THOMAS J ROONEY,  FLORIDA:
PHONE (202) 225-5792  FAX (202) 225-3132

SHEILA JACKSON LEE, TEXAS:
PHONE (202) 225-3816  FAX (202) 225-3317

TED POE, TEXAS:
PHONE, (202) 225-6565 (202) FAX (225)-5547  TOLL FREE (866) 425-6565

Read more…

Please Urge President Obama to Take Action for Children’s Rights

September 10, 2010
by

Immediate, please sign and send:
Urge President Obama to Take Action for Children’s Rights

From International Rescue Committee

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child protects children. Only two nations in the world have yet to join the global community in ratifying this agreement: Somalia and the United States. Urge President Obama and Congress to ratify the convention without delay.

Message Text
We, the undersigned, support US ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We urge President Obama to submit the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to the US Senate for its advice and consent without delay. We further call on the US Senate to move swiftly to approve this convention.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child protects children by defining their basic human rights. It is the most comprehensive, accepted international agreement on basic protections for children. 193 countries have committed to support it.

Only two countries have failed to ratify this UN convention – Somalia and the United States of America. US failure to ratify the convention is an embarrassment.

Americans cherish our children and are generous in aiding boys and girls in need around the world. Now, with the advent of the 20th anniversary of the Convention, it is time to act. 2 countries in the world have yet to ratify. Let’s cut that number in half.

Read more…

Iran Lifts Stoning Sentence, But May Still Execute Ashtiani For Murder

September 10, 2010
by

Immediate, please sign:
Iran: Stop the Execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani

Please also send automatic letter from HERE

Please sign Stop Stoning! HERE

From Care2
By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux

We’ve been following the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to stoning for adultery who has attracted sympathy and outrage worldwide.  After pressure, most lately, from France and the Catholic Church, the Iranian government first commuted the punishment from stoning to hanging, and have now announced that Ashtiani will not be executed for adultery at all.

This is an enormous victory, not least for the 20,000 Care2 members who signed our petition to stop Ashtiani’s execution.  You are all part of a global effort to end human rights abuses like the fate that could have befallen Ashtiani, and you should be very proud.

However, sadly, this saga is not over.  The Iranian government charged Ashtiani with what they claim is her role in the death of her husband, and these murder charges could result in life imprisonment or another death sentence.  It’s unclear at this point what Ashtiani is actually guilty of since the only evidence is a “confession” aired on Iranian state TV, an unreliable source at best.

Certainly, the murder charges seem like an attempt on the part of the Iranian government to move away from the adultery charges, and to instead portray Ashtiani as a killer.  Ashtiani’s lawyers say that she only participated in the confession after being tortured in prison.

On Tuesday, the president of the European Commission described the death sentence as “barbaric beyond words.”  The European Union Parliament also passed a resolution declaring that a punishment like stoning “can never be justified or accepted,”

The number of public figures who have spoken out on Ashtiani’s behalf continues to grow, and if you haven’t signed the petition to save her life, we encourage you to do so.

Read more…

Should We Recognize “Birth Rape”?

September 10, 2010
by

From Care2
By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux

Apparently the phrase “birth rape” has been circulating among midwife and childbirth blogs for the past few years, but it recently burst onto mainstream blogs, where it’s causing quite a bit of controversy.  The term does not refer to unwanted sexual contact, but rather to violations experienced during childbirth.  Birth activists say that these violations can be equated with rape because the victims are similarly vulnerable and powerless.

Examples of actions that could constitute “birth rape” include “internal vaginal examinations without consent, breaking membranes without consent and inserting of forceps and other instruments into the vagina against the mother’s wishes.”

Blogging for the F-Word, Amity Reed elaborates, “Women are slapped, told to shut up, stop making noise and a nuisance of themselves, that they deserve this, that they shouldn’t have opened their legs nine months ago if they didn’t want to open them now. They are threatened, intimidated and bullied into submitting to procedures they do not need and interventions they do not want.”

Writers on these blogs are fully aware that the term is controversial.  More cautious writers point out the ongoing struggle to recognize sexual violence, and wonder whether including birth trauma is too ambitious.  Other proponents of the term cite similarities between the “at least he didn’t kill you” argument, which is too often hurled at rape survivors, and the tendency to silence women who suffered birth trauma by telling them that they’re “lucky to be alive.”

Read more…

Cats Tormented and Pigs Stabbed in the Heart at University of Michigan, please send one message

September 10, 2010
by

Immediate, please sign and send HERE
From PETA

BACKGROUND

Documents recently obtained by PETA reveal that the University of Michigan’s (UM) Survival Flight course for nurses has been tormenting live cats and pigs in cruel and deadly medical-training exercises, even though UM already uses state-of-the-art human-patient simulators to teach all but one of the same skills in other courses for nurses and physicians.

Cats—who in the past have been purchased by UM from animal shelters—have a hard plastic tube repeatedly forced down their delicate windpipes for intubation training and are frequently killed after the procedure. Pigs have holes cut into their throats and chests and are stabbed in the heart for trauma training exercises before they are killed.

Studies by leading medical experts have repeatedly found that in addition to saving animals, the use of simulators and human cadavers is superior to the use of animal labs for preparing trainees to perform lifesaving skills such as those taught in UM’s Survival Flight course. The American College of Surgeons and the American Heart Association recommend the use of simulators to teach these skills as well.

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