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.
Should We Recognize “Birth Rape”?
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.”
Cats Tormented and Pigs Stabbed in the Heart at University of Michigan, please send one message
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.
States Look for Creative Ways to Kill Protected Wolves
From Change.Org
By Pamela Black
It appears that every possible way to kill wolves is being explored across the United States. Desperate to circumvent the recent rulings that placed gray wolves back on the endangered species list, a number of new proposals are being made by state governments to kill wolves under the guise of management.
Immediately after wolves regained their endangered status, Montana suggested “research” hunts, where they used circular logic to claim wolves needed be hunted to study the effect of hunting wolves. Now, states from Idaho to Michigan look to use aerial hunting, gassing pups in dens, sterilization, as well as the research hunts, to replace the cancellation of public hunting. If you live in a state where wolves live, your tax dollars are funding these control methods.
Sterilization programs are the most humane method of population control proposed, but may be the least popular among wildlife managers since it comes with a hefty price tag and doesn’t allow immediate results of decreased population numbers.
The renewed urgency to kill off wolves lends us the same arguments heard many times before: Wolves kill livestock and big game and therefore need to be managed lethally. It is well known that a variety of other factors (disease, coyotes, bears and dogs to name a few) kill more livestock than wolves, but wolves remain Public Enemy No. 1.
Regardless of any debate over wolf population, these proposals are downright hostile and irresponsible, with a particular focus on aerial hunting in some areas, a brutal method where wolves are chased by aircraft to the point of exhaustion, then gunned down from the air. As we have seen throughout the years in Alaska, aerial hunting has been approved time and time again by politicians even after the public voted against it.
Dogfighting kingpin is paroled after serving less than 6 years of 40-year sentence
From Kentucky.Com
By Sammy Fretwell
When a judge sent pit bull breeder David Tant to prison in 2004, South Carolina prosecutors hailed the harsh 40-year sentence as an important milestone in their war against the bloody sport of dogfighting.
On Wednesday, the state parole board agreed to let Tant out of prison after serving less than six years of his sentence. Authorities once called Tant the nation’s No. 2 breeder of pit bull dogs, but the North Charleston resident told the parole board he is a changed man.
Wednesday’s 5-2 vote prompted heavy criticism from South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster and animal welfare activists, who said Tant’s crimes were too heinous to release him in the first year he was eligible.
“We had this man in our hands, and for this parole board to set him free – on his first request, in his very first parole eligibility date – I think is outrageous,” McMaster said after the parole hearing. “It is a bad day in South Carolina law enforcement.”
Tant, who pleaded guilty to dogfighting and assault charges in November 2004, should be released from prison by the end of September. As conditions of his parole, Tant will be subject to strict supervision, won’t be allowed to own dogs and must show he has income to support himself, said Peter O’Boyle, a spokesman for the state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.
Parole board members did not say why they agreed to release Tant, but the decision was unusual. About 15 percent of nonviolent offenders such as Tant who were up for parole last year were granted parole, O’Boyle said.
McMaster’s office prosecuted Tant, a nationally known breeder who activists said has produced hundreds of dogs for fighting across the U.S. and around the world. The 2004 sentence is one of the toughest ever in U.S. history for a person guilty on dogfighting charges, officials on both sides of the dispute agree.
Tant’s arrest and eventual guilty plea came at about the same time McMaster’s office was ramping up efforts to prosecute illegal dogfighters. Dogfighting attracts a criminal element to South Carolina, where fans bet thousands of dollars at clandestine matches, McMaster said.
The Not-So-Sweet Side of Honey
Immediate, please sign:
Save Endangered Bumblebees, Save the Ecosystem
From change.org
By Stephanie Feldstein
Tonight marks the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. For those who aren’t familiar, honey plays a big role in the holiday tradition: Apples are dipped in honey to ring in a sweet new year.
Honey, of course, comes from bees. Though not the cuddliest members of the animal kingdom, they’re still animals (although the vegan community is divided on the question of eating honey). Whether you’re an omnivore or on the anti-honey side of the vegan debate, unless you eat a strictly local diet, commercial beekeeping plays a role in your life.
The “liquid gold” only accounts for a small percentage of the bee economy; in the U.S., honeybees are primarily used to cultivate plant production, including fruit, vegetables and nuts. You may imagine bees freely coming and going from hives, pollinating nearby crops and keeping ecosystems healthy. On a local level, that’s true. But in a world of concentrated animal feeding operations and genetically modified crops, Big Ag has managed to make the poor little honeybee just another cog in the factory farm system.
Beekeepers who want to squeeze as much profit as possible from their colonies don’t want to share the sweet stuff, but if they take all the honey, what will their bees eat to keep producing more? So, they pull a bait-and-switch, taking the honey and replacing it with sugar water or high fructose corn syrup.
If you thought high fructose corn syrup was bad for humans, there’s evidence that it’s just as bad (or worse) for bees. Last year, a study found that, in warm temperatures, high fructose corn syrup can form a substance that’s deadly to bees. Some researchers believe this contributes to Colony Collapse Disorder, the mystery disease that’s killed off at least one-third of America’s honeybee population. But it’s cheap. And like any other factory farm, the opportunity to cut corners gets commercial beekeepers buzzing.
Without bees to pollinate crops, we’d lose about 1/3 of the food we eat.
And Off to Court We Go: please help me save the dogs!
From Let’s Adopt Canada
By Janette
This afternoon my husband and I must attend the provincial courts and defend our dogs. Let me explain. We live in a city that thinks pet limit laws make responsible pet owners. Barrie Ontario has limited the number of dogs a person can own to three. I have eight dogs. Eight dogs no one else wanted, eight dogs who are alive because we do not believe they deserve to die. Now five of those dogs are in danger once again. The city wants to remove them from our loving home and place them in the shelter system. In other words they wish to take dogs with loving homes and make them homeless.
The city would do better to concentrate on complaints about pet owners who are not caring for their pets, there are enough of them out there, such as my neighbor across the street who tie their hound mix out in the yard and allow him to howl all day. Or the gentleman (I use the term loosely) three blocks away who beats his dog every time it barks at a passing stranger.
Our dogs are vetted regularily (I have the vet records to prove it) they are well fed well, exercised, and well trained, after all I am a dog trainer. I have been rescuing and rehoming animals at my OWN expense for years. I have the vet bills to prove that too. No animal leaves my care until it has been spayed or neutered, also at MY expense. Two years ago an eleven year old rescue who had been thrown away by her backyard breeding owners because she could no longer have puppies was fixed and vetted at an expense of over $1600.00. We then placed her in a loving home at no cost to the new owner. Had this dog ended up in the shelter system she would have been euthanized as unadoptable because of her age and temperment before the surgery she required to fix her rotting teeth.
Undercover Investigation Documents Misery for Dogs, Cats, and Rabbits, please send one automatic message
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
Thank you so much to Shannon and Jessica for this information, please see below for original articles about the investigation.
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 Online , email 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
1. Please send automatic message HERE
2. Please sign petition HERE
3. Please call DA Monday and demand warrant so local sheriff Ed Web can go in and seize animals. Try this number to reach the DA: 252-331-4530, Nancy Lamb, Assistant DA.
From PETA
Please see pictures HERE
UPDATE (thank you, Shannon):
Email from Peta…
Please call DA Monday and demand warrant so local sheriff Ed Web can go in and seize animals. I have talked to Angel at local animal control that can house them temporarily until homes can be found.
Please try this number to reach the DA: 252-331-4530, Nancy Lamb Assistant DA.
If you’re giving the number to friends, please stress that we encourage polite and calm comments. I imagine they’re getting inundated with calls and they have so other important work to do as well.
Thanks again!
Chrissy Matthies, Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Department
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510 / 757-842-6730
BACKGROUND
A nine-month PETA undercover investigation found that hundreds of dogs, cats, and rabbits were subjected to vicious and abusive handling, neglect, and miserable living conditions at Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc. (PLRS)—a Corapeake, North Carolina–based contract laboratory that tests animal-companion products such as flea and tick sprays and spot treatments on animals. Industry giants—including Bayer, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Schering-Plough (now Merck), Sergeant’s, Wellmark, and Merial, the makers of Frontline flea and tick products—are among the corporations that have paid PLRS to force-feed experimental compounds to dogs and cats and smear chemicals onto the animals’ skin.
PETA’s investigation revealed that dogs, cats, and rabbits used by PLRS suffered from untreated illnesses, injuries, and burns and that many animals were covered in sores because they couldn’t escape the urine, bleach and water that pooled in the facility’s cages. Many animals at the facility frequently exhibited stress-induced abnormal behavior resulting from anxiety and boredom. Animals were often forced to sit in their own waste, and many were sprayed with bleach and other harsh chemicals when the cages that they were being kept in were cleaned while the animals were still in them. A PLRS supervisor said that the untreated sores were “just part of …life” at the facility.
Footage, warning: language
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Let’s take big cats off the menu, please send one automatic message
From Big Cat Rescue
- 1. Please visit HERE and “click here” on the second option, “Eating a lion burger or petting a lion cub…is there a difference? Let’s take big cats off the menu”
- 2. Input your zipcode at the top of page following ANIMAL ACTION ALERT/Enter Your Zipcode (or at the bottom of the page)
- 3. Use the sample message provided, or feel free to modify
- 4. Select FIVE recipients
- 5. Input your details (name, address, etc.)
- 6. Select a prefix (Mr., Ms., Miss, etc.)
- 7. Send message (you must scroll to the bottom of the area where you input your information in order to see the green “send message” button)
Just recently an Arizona restaurant was serving lion burgers and receiving loads of publicity for it. (See video below or click HERE.)
This has also been documented in FL, IL, & PA.
Though the idea of this is shocking to most, what’s really going on is much deeper. The FDA, not the USDA, is charged with the responsibility of inspecting suppliers like Czimer’s Game & Sea Foods, the butcher who sold lion meat to this Arizona restaurant. “FDA inspected” may reassure you, but it shouldn’t because this butcher served 6 months in federal prison and was fined for his role in a secretive, multibillion-dollar underground animal trading ring. Czimer was convicted of purchasing the carcasses of 16 federally-protected tigers, 4 lions, 2 mountain lions, and 1 liger that he sold as uninspected “lion” meat. These animals were all killed while confined in trailers or cages, not farm raised and free range roaming. While a lion burger may sound like something different to try, if you eat one – make no mistake – you are fueling this underground world of illegal exotic animal murder and trade.
Reward offered in Clark County, Ky., Dog Dragging Case
From HSUS
- The Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for dragging a dog behind a vehicle in Clark County, Ky., resulting in the pit bull’s death.
- If you have information, please contact Sheriff Berl Perdue or Detective Brian Caudill at 859-744-4390
The Case:
The Clark County Animal Shelter gives the following account: On Friday morning, a Clark County resident reported finding a seriously injured dog in their barn. The Clark County Animal Shelter director responded immediately and rushed the dog to the veterinarian, but the dog died shortly after his arrival at the veterinarian’s office. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office investigated the matter and discovered that the dog had been dragged behind a car for more than a mile—from an elementary school to a home on Calloway White Road, where his body was left in the street. In spite of his broken bones and other horrific injuries, the pit bull apparently crawled from the road to seek refuge in the barn.
Immediate, please sign HERE
BACKGROUND
Target: U.S. Senate
Sponsored by: National Women’s Law Center
Today, women on average make just 77 cents for every dollar a man makes — that’s $10,622 in lost wages every year. For many women and their families, ending the wage gap would buy a year’s supply of groceries, three months of child care, or six months of health insurance.
Polls show 84% of American voters support “a new law that would provide women more tools to get fair pay in the workplace.” The Paycheck Fairness Act would close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and deter wage discrimination.
It’s time to stop discounting women’s needs and paychecks. The House has already passed this bill and we need the Senate to do the same. Urge the Senate to help close the wage gap by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act now!
MESSAGE TEXT
Dear Senators,
I urge you to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 182) and help end wage discrimination for women.
The Paycheck Fairness Act, which was passed by the House in January 2009, would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their wages. The bill also allows women and men to receive the same remedies for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those who are discriminated against based on race and national origin.
[Your personal comments will be inserted here.]
In this tough economy, more and more families are counting on women’s earnings and unfair pay practices make things even harder. Congress should act quickly to provide women and their families with tools to end wage discrimination.
Again, I urge you to vote to approve the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 182) when it comes to the floor and to oppose any weakening amendments.
Please protest against bullfighting in Valencia de Don Juan: one sample message to one email
Exploitation times two: horses and bulls mutilated, tortured, and murdered …
By FFAR (Can only be viewed via Facebook account.)
From PRESENTACIÓN DEL CARTEL TAURINO English translation of page below
Valencia de Don Juan: On 12th September the Plaza de Toros will host a bullfight on horseback.
Please send the protest letter (provided by DECLARAR LEON CIUDAD ANTITAURINA).
Further down you will also find a direct English translation of the sample letter.
WHERE TO SEND SAMPLE MESSAGE:
SAMPLE MESSAGE (to send)
Contra espetaculos taurinos en Valencia de Don Juan
Recientemente he tenido conocimiento de que en su pueblo, Valencia de Don Juan, se celebrarán espectáculos taurinos, crueles y sangrientos, donde animales inocentes serán torturados en espectáculos de rejoneo y sueltas de vaquillas.
Quiero mostrar mi más profundo rechazo a esta cruel “fiesta”, y también quiero informarles de que mientras estas tradiciones tan crueles tengan cabida en las fiestas de su pueblo no volveré a visitarlo, difundiré y haré saber a otras personas los espectáculos crueles con los que se divierten en su localidad.
Pido que reconsideren la celebración de unas fiestas teñidas de sangre, y opten por un programa libre de crueldad, ya que sabemos divertirnos sin tener que maltratar animales.
El arte es construir, NO destruir.
NAME
ADDRESS
Please call on the IMF to freeze Pakistan’s debt
From ONE International
Please sign and send petition HERE
BACKGROUND
The sheer scale of the floods in Pakistan is staggering and the country will need all its available resources to help it recover from this crippling crisis and to fight long-term poverty.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) – the institution that oversees debt repayments – can play a key role in this: ensuring all of Pakistan’s debt is frozen for 2 years would mean an extra $6 billion available to help those affected.
PETITION TEXT
Dear Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF Managing Director,
Please help freeze Pakistan’s debt to ensure the country’s poorest people are able to recover from the devastating floods.
Italy Banned This Ad, Shouldn’t Everyone?
- 1. Please visit HERE and input your zipcode at the top of page following ANIMAL ACTION ALERT/Confirm Your Zipcode (or at the bottom of the page)
- 2. Use the sample message provided, or feel free to modify
- 3. Select FIVE recipients
- 4. Input your details (name, address, etc.)
- 5. Select a prefix (Mr., Ms., Miss, etc.)
- 6. Send message
From Big Cat Rescue
You see a picture of lion cubs and, for a moment, think, “how adorable!”
But, what you don’t see is the terror when they were pulled prematurely from their mothers, stuck in a cage, loaded up quickly for transport because their life as a photo prop begins and ends quickly. Legally, their photo prop shelf life expires in a matter of weeks, so more and more are bred constantly. The babies are pulled from their mothers so that she can quickly breed again.
We talk about fairs, malls, circuses, and traveling exhibits that use and abuse animals this way. Now, you see that even high profile celebrities and designers see them as nothing more than a marketing tool to sell products.
It’s up to you to make this stop!
Everyone hears when domestic animal shelters are overflowing with animals in need of adoption. The good news is that there is the possibility of a pet-loving home for them. But, what is the option for these cubs when they’ve outlived their “economic usefulness”? The exhibitors DO NOT raise and keep all these baby lions and tigers for 20+ years, shouldering the expense of food, housing, and basic care. So, where do they go?
Hundreds of Women And Children Raped While The U.N. Stood By
From Care2
By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux
Earlier this week, the U.N. revealed that 240 women, girls and babies were raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo after rebel forces took over the town of Luvungi. This number is up from the 150 rapes previously reported, and is accompanied by the disturbing revelation that U.N. officials may have known that the rapes were taking place much earlier than they originally said.
As Ximena Ramirez pointed out in an earlier post, rape as a systematic tactic of war is nothing new for the DRC; earlier this year, a U.N. official referred to the country as the “rape capitol of the world.” But the idea that United Nations peacekeepers might be getting so inured to horrors like these that they don’t mobilize until hundreds of women and children are being raped is, to put it bluntly, terrifying.
Originally, U.N. peacekeepers claimed that they did not hear about the attacks until 10 days later, even though they have a base about twenty miles away. During the attacks, which took place over several days days at the end of July and beginning of August, women were raped by two to six men, often in front of their families. The peacekeepers said that they were unaware about the attacks until August 12, when the atrocities were brought to their attention by the International Medical Corps (although the IMC claims that they told the peacekeepers on the 6th, not the 12th).
Now an email circulated on July 30, the day the rapes started, shows that although the peacekeepers probably did not know the scope of the attacks, they knew something was happening. The email, sent from U.N. officials to several other aid groups, read, “The town of Mpofi, 52 kilometers from Walikale, has just fallen into the hands of the F.D.L.R. A woman was raped there.”
When asked about this email, a U.N. representative said, “At the time, there was one alleged rape and no reason to believe that this was happening on a mass-scale as later reported.” His defense was, essentially, that one rape was so commonplace that there was no need to act. They knew that rape was happening on a small scale, but they just didn’t care.
Pledge to Be Vegan for 30 Days!
From PETA
Some people go vegan after looking an animal in the eye and realizing that there’s a “who,” not a “what,” looking back. Others avoid meat, eggs, and dairy foods to ditch unwanted pounds or because they want to help the environment. Whatever the reason, there’s never been a better time to cut the meat and other animal-derived products out of your diet.
Change your life for the better and save the lives of animals by pledging to be vegan! Click on the picture to sign the pledge.
Sign the pledge to follow a vegan diet, and we’ll send you an e-mail with our top tips on the best places to eat out, our favorite recipes, the tastiest animal-friendly snacks, and the most delicious prepackaged vegan meals. PETA has all the information you need to adopt a healthy and humane vegan diet!
With the huge selection of delicious vegan meats and alternatives to dairy foods and eggs available, there’s no excuse not to give a vegan diet a try.
If you’re already vegan, you can still help animals by becoming a “pledge recruiter.” Click here to ask your friends and family to take the pledge to be vegan!
More info, resources, details, recipes, health and nutrition advice can be found at:
Veg Cooking
Our Compass 