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.
The High Cost of Animal Testing
From Care2
By Mac McDaniel
It’s always strange finding something I agree with John McCain about.
A couple of weeks ago John McCain and another Republican senator authored a report about projects funded with federal stimulus money that are what the senators called “questionable”, “poorly planned”, or “mismanaged”.
Among the more egregious projects in the report was one that it dubbed “Monkeys Getting High for Science” in which a research facility in North Carolina received over $71,000 dollars to feed cocaine to primates.
John McCain might not have moral objections to animal testing in general, but he definitely touches on an important point: that not only is animal testing ethically and scientifically unsound, it’s financially unsound. It doesn’t take an economist to see that we’re wasting money on experiments that teach us nothing.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader the $71,000 that went to the cocaine study is only the tip of the iceberg. Among several different institutes studying several different addictive substances, the scientific community has wasted $20 million taxpayer dollars exposing animals to drugs for a variety of arbitrary and pointless tests.
It would be hard to explain to the growing number of unemployed people struggling to survive — and the families losing their homes — that the federal government is still giving money to vivisectors to find out over and over again that drugs and cigarettes are still bad for you.
Between feeding monkeys cocaine, or nicotine, irradiating them to watch them die, or cutting their fetuses out of their stomachs to check for birth defects, we’ve not only entered into a morally reprehensible standard for scientific research, but we’ve also wasted millions of dollars that could be going to social programs or paying down the national debt.
No matter where you look, there’s another reason to end the scientific farce that is vivisection. Those not moved by the moral argument that it is simply wrong to experiment on animals, should be moved by the fact that vivisection is pseudo-science and the results can never be trusted definitively. And those not moved by morality or scientific integrity should be moved by the fact we simply cannot afford to waste money on these programs.
The more you read about the details of animal tests, especially those that center around addictive substances, the more you realize they would be comedic in their pointless absurdity if animals’ lives weren’t at stake in the process.
What do we gain by addicting animals to drugs? Nothing. What do we learn? Nothing we didn’t already know. What do we lose? Our humanity, our scientific integrity, and millions of dollars that could be spent on worthwhile programs.
RELATED:
- EARTHLINGS
- 2010 Humane Student & Educator Awarded at National Animal Conference in DC & CRITICAL ALTERNATIVES
- Directive on Vivisection: the European Shame
- University of Wisconsin Cited for Animal Welfare Violations
- Pharmaceutical Roulette
PHOTO COURTESY OF: http://www.hassidout.org/page_derniere129.htm
Kapparot (kaporos) is not consistent with Jewish teachings and law. Repentance and charity can be better accomplished by using money instead of a slaughtered chicken.
– Former Israeli Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren
- FROM Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos
- PLEASE SIGN Petition to Replace Chickens with Money in Kaporos Rituals
- UPCOMING RALLY: Sept. 12, Brooklyn, NY – see BELOW for details or click HERE
BACKGROUND
What is kaporos?
Kapparot (or kaporos or kaparos), meaning “atonements,” is a custom in which a chicken or money may be used. Kapparot using chickens is practiced by some Jews shortly before Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. First, selections from Isaiah 11:9, Psalms 107:10, 14, and 17-21, and Job 33:23-24 are recited. Then a rooster (for a man) or a hen (for a woman) is held above the person’s head and swung in a circle three times, while the following is spoken: “This is my exchange, my substitute, my atonement; this rooster (or hen) shall go to its death, but I shall go to a good, long life, and to peace.” The chicken is then slaughtered and may or may not be given to the poor for food.
History of kaporos
Kaporos is not mentioned in the Torah or the Talmud. It was first discussed by certain Jewish scholars in the ninth century who claimed that since the Hebrew word gever meant both “man” and “rooster,” punishment of the bird could be substituted for that of a human. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, other Jewish scholars strongly opposed kaporos. The 13th-century scholar Rabbi Solomon ben Abraham Aderet considered kaparos a heathen superstition. Rabbi Joseph Caro called it a “foolish custom.” Others have pointed out that kaporos does not remove sins, and if it could, what would be the need for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement?
Continue reading the background of Kaporos HERE
Veterinarians Speak Out Against Using Chickens As Kaporos HERE
WARNING: GRAPHIC
Vodpod videos no longer available.
In this video, the animal rights activist group PETA documents abuses inconsistent with Jewish ethical laws in an attempt to convince the Jewish public that the ritual should no longer be practiced — especially considering that Jewish law permits that money be used (and donated) as a substitute for a live animal.
ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE AS PROVIDED FROM HERE
Vodpod videos no longer available.
RALLY DETAILS
WHEN: Sunday, September 12, 2010, promptly at 12 to 3 pm.
WHERE: 12 noon to 1:30 at 792 Eastern Parkway (between Kingston & Albany Avenues), Brooklyn, NY, and 1:30 to 3 at President Street & Kingston Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.
WHAT TO WEAR: The Kaporos ritual takes place in the period between the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rather than “swing” chickens, most Kaporos observers expiate their sins symbolically by swinging coins over their heads and donating the money to charity. The Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos is not protesting the holiday, just the ritual of using chickens as Kaporos (ritual sacrifices). Please show respect for the holiday by NOT wearing shorts, t-shirts, or bright colored clothing. We encourage men to wear shirts and ties and pants other than jeans. We encourage women to wear beige, brown or black skirts below the knees and jackets covering their arms.
WHAT TO BRING AND WHAT NOT TO BRING: Bring posters that ask practitioners to use money instead of chickens. Posters can have pictures or photos of chickens being swung or money being used. Posters can be held in your hands or tied around your shoulders with cord. Write respectful slogans in English or Yiddish. WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BRING SIGNS ATTACHED TO STICKS OR POLES, OR STICKS OR POLES OF ANY KIND. Please do NOT write “Meat is murder” or “A holocaust is on your plate” or anything on your poster other than directly dealing with ending chickens as Kaporos. No audio effects are permitted.
HOW TO GET THERE BY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: The following is the MTA planning site for public transportation (the address of the first demo is 792 Eastern Parkway; the second demo is a couple of blocks away, so the public transportation directions are the same for both demonstrations. http://tripplanner.mta.info/_start.aspx
CLICK HERE FOR MAP
A Wing and a Prayer: the Kapparot Chicken-Swinging Ritual
I am a member of the religious Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York. This year I took pictures of the deplorable conditions in which the birds were kept. I believe they receive no food or water for the week or so that they are in the possession of the retailers. They certainly receive no food or water over the Shabbat. One kapparot station had the birds outside exposed to the rain on a Shabbat through Sunday. I saw birds dead in their crates. Birds were crushed. Birds were opening and closing their mouths, probably out of thirst. The retailer who sold me my birds [to live in a sanctuary] tossed them into my box as if they were loaves of bread. The fact that most retailers didn’t even question me when I took pictures means that no one has made life difficult for these retailers. It’s time to make life difficult for people claiming to be religious and doing this to animals.
David Rosenfeld (2006)
Rabbi Zusya used to travel around the countryside collecting money to ransom prisoners. One night he came to an inn in which there was a large cage with all kinds of birds in it. Zusya saw that the creatures wanted to fly free through the spaces of the world. He burned with pity for them and said to himself, “Here you are, Zusya, walking your feet off to ransom prisoners, but what greater ransoming of prisoners can there be than to free these birds from their prison?” Then he opened the cage and the birds flew out to freedom.
Rabbi Everett Gendler, The Life of His Beast
Mandatory Reporting of Students Who Abuse Animals: please sign, additional important information
Editor’s Note: Animal abuse as isolated events should NEVER be forgiven or tolerated regardless of “escalation” potentiality as defined by behavioural experts: an animal who is abused is deserving of the same attention and justice even absent the established association between violence inflicted on non-human animals and violence inflicted on human animals. Unfortunately, even though the dangerous fact that animal abuse is considered socially forgivable, as established by the large, wealthy welfare organization HSUS, to whom people seek guidance, the case remains that these “people” with sadistic tendencies have the capacity, and often the unrealized desire, to harm human animals as well and often begin their criminal careers on animals because IT IS EASY.
Animals exploited and killed for food, fun, fashion, and pharma make animals as companions vulnerable prey to those with deviant personalities: it is culturally acceptable to maim and murder billions of animals each year, and given such an unethical tenet, abuse towards other animals is not characterized as socially grave, how could it? When you condemn the acts of these animal terrorists, do you do so while eating steak and eggs or drinking milk? How does it differ?
Violence against any animal, regardless of species, should ALWAYS be given the utmost legal attention and associated penalty and NEVER tolerated or diminished. And although many people consider these particular animal victims deserving of justice, until ALL animals realize freedom from exploitation and suffering, NONE will ever be judicially represented equally. In other words, as long as people eat cows, Oreo, Blazer, Louis Vuitton, Mima, and the millions of others abused, neglected, and tortured “pets” will never enjoy any legal designation, rights, or protection. SR
Immediate, please sign:
Mandatory Reporting of Students Who Abuse Animals
A teacher in Kentucky was recently fired for reporting animal abuse on school grounds to an outside agency. She was later reinstated when an independent tribunal determined that school officials were trying to sweep the incident under the rug and she had acted with the best of intentions. Teachers should not only be protected when they report animal abuse to the proper authorities, but they should be required to do so.
Teachers are required to report signs of child abuse. The same should be true when they have reason to believe children are abusing animals.
Animal cruelty perpetrated by children cannot be ignored. It can be an indicator of domestic violence in the home, as well as a warning sign for a litany of other violent and delinquent behaviors.
The American Humane Association has compiled research (below) showing the link between violent acts toward animals and violence toward people. Here’s a sampling of the results that involve children:
– Children exposed to domestic violence were three times more likely to be cruel to animals than children from nonviolent households.
– In a Wisconsin study, 75 percent of battered women reported that pets had been abused in front of children. A New Jersey study found, in pet-owning families being investigated for child abuse, that one-third of the children had abused animals, using them as scapegoats for their anger.
– Sexually abused children were five times more likely to abuse animals, and 20 percent of children who sexually abused other children had histories of sexually abusing animals.
– The FBI identifies animal cruelty as one of the juvenile behaviors associated with increasingly violent behavior.
– Fifty percent of school shooters have histories of animal cruelty.
Teachers are on the front lines when it comes to observing behavior in children. It should be just as important for them to report signs of animal abuse as it is for them to get involved when there’s evidence of domestic violence or any other crime, and they should be protected when they do so.
RELATED:
http://www.lex18.com/news/teacher-fired-for-reporting-animal-abuse-on-school-grounds-reinstated
American Humane Study
Link Between Animal and Human Abuse
RELATED:
Cruelty Connections by Pet Abuse
According to a 1997 study done by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and Northeastern University, animal abusers are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against people and four times more likely to commit property crimes than are individuals without a history of animal abuse.
Many studies in psychology, sociology, and criminology during the last 25 years have demonstrated that violent offenders frequently have childhood and adolescent histories of serious and repeated animal cruelty. The FBI has recognized the connection since the 1970s, when its analysis of the lives of serial killers suggested that most had killed or tortured animals as children. Other research has shown consistent patterns of animal cruelty among perpetrators of more common forms of violence, including child abuse, spouse abuse, and elder abuse. In fact, the American Psychiatric Association considers animal cruelty one of the diagnostic criteria of conduct disorder.
If you break it down to its bare essentials:
“Abusing an animal is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend itself.”
Now break down a human crime, say rape. If we substitute a few pronouns, it’s the SAME THING.
“Rape is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend themselves.”
Now try it with, say, domestic abuse such as child abuse or spousal abuse:
“Child abuse is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend themselves.”
Do you see the pattern here?
The line separating an animal abuser from someone capable of committing human abuse is much finer than most people care to consider. People abuse animals for the same reasons they abuse people. Some of them will stop with animals, but enough have been proven to continue on to commit violent crimes to people that it’s worth paying attention to.
Virtually every serious violent offender has a history of animal abuse in their past, and since there’s no way to know which animal abuser is going to continue on to commit violent human crimes, they should ALL be taken that seriously. FBI Supervisory Special Agent Allen Brantley was quoted as saying “Animal cruelty… is not a harmless venting of emotion in a healthy individual; this is a warning sign…” It should be looked at as exactly that. Its a clear indicator of psychological issues that can and often DO lead to more violent human crimes.
Dr. Randall Lockwood, who has a doctorate in psychology and is senior vice president for anti-cruelty initiatives and training for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, states “A kid who is abusive to a pet is quite often acting out violence directly experienced or witnessed in the home,” Lockwood said, adding that about one-third of children who are exposed to family violence will act out this violence, often against their own pets.
Others either abuse pets or threaten to abuse them as a way to control an individual.
“So much of animal cruelty… is really about power or control,” Lockwood said. Often, aggression starts with a real or perceived injustice. The person feels powerless and develops a warped sense of self-respect. Eventually they feel strong only by being able to dominate a person or animal.
Sometimes, young children and those with developmental disabilities who harm animals don’t understand what they’re doing, Lockwood said. And animal hoarding – the practice of keeping dozens of animals in deplorable conditions – often is a symptom of a greater mental illness, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Just as in situations of other types of abuse, a victim of abuse often becomes a perpetrator. According to Lockwood, when women abuse animals, they “almost always have a history of victimization themselves. That’s where a lot of that rage comes from.”
In domestic violence situations, women are often afraid to leave the home out of fear the abuser will harm the family pet, which has lead to the creation of Animal Safehouse programs, which provide foster care for the pets of victims in domestic violence situations, empowering them to leave the abusive situation and get help.
Whether a teenager shoots a cat without provocation or an elderly woman is hoarding 200 cats in her home, “both are exhibiting mental health issues… but need very different kinds of attention,” Lockwood said.
Those who abuse animals for no obvious reason, Lockwood said, are “budding psychopaths.” They have no empathy and only see the world as what it’s going to do for them.
History is full of high-profile examples of this connection:
- Patrick Sherrill, who killed 14 coworkers at a post office and then shot himself, had a history of stealing local pets and allowing his own dog to attack and mutilate them.
- Earl Kenneth Shriner, who raped, stabbed, and mutilated a 7-year-old boy, had been widely known in his neighborhood as the man who put firecrackers in dogs? rectums and strung up cats.
- Brenda Spencer, who opened fire at a San Diego school, killing two children and injuring nine others, had repeatedly abused cats and dogs, often by setting their tails on fire.
- Albert DeSalvo, the “Boston Strangler” who killed 13 women, trapped dogs and cats in orange crates and shot arrows through the boxes in his youth.
- Carroll Edward Cole, executed for five of the 35 murders of which he was accused, said his first act of violence as a child was to strangle a puppy.
- In 1987, three Missouri high school students were charged with the beating death of a classmate. They had histories of repeated acts of animal mutilation starting several years earlier. One confessed that he had killed so many cats he?d lost count. Two brothers who murdered their parents had previously told classmates that they had decapitated a cat.
- Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer had impaled dogs? heads, frogs, and cats on sticks.
More recently, high school killers such as 15-year-old Kip Kinkel in Springfield, Ore., and Luke Woodham, 16, in Pearl, Miss., tortured animals before embarking on shooting sprees. Columbine High School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who shot and killed 12 classmates before turning their guns on themselves, bragged about mutilating animals to their friends.
As powerful a statement as the high-profile examples above make, they don’t even begin to scratch the surface of the whole truth behind the abuse connection. Learning more about the animal cruelty/interpersonal violence connection is vital for community members and law enforcement alike.
Read more: Pet-Abuse.Com – Abuse Connection – The Link Between Animal Cruelty and Interpersonal Violence
From Care2
By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux
**Update: The Tanzanian government did indeed act swiftly in this case; a court sentenced Mutei to 17 years in jail and a fine of $50,000 after he pleaded guilty to human trafficking. Whether this will deter other traffickers remains to be seen.
As soon as I saw this headline in my Google reader this morning, I felt sick to my stomach. According to the BBC, a Kenyan citizen, Nathan Mutei, was arrested in a sting operation conducted by Tanzanian police for trying to sell another man. The police were pretending to be businessmen interested in buying albino body parts, which are highly prized in Tanzania for their alleged healing properties.
People with albinism, a condition characterized by complete or partial lack of color in the skin, hair and eyes, are under constant threat in Tanzania from people like Mutei, who see them as a business opportunity. And indeed, the human trafficking of people with albinism is very lucrative – police say they struck a deal equivalent to more than $250,000 for the 20-year-old man.
An article from 2008 sketches out the plight of people living with albinism in Tanzania in more detail. At the time of the article’s publication, 25 albinos had been killed in the past year, a figure that can only have grown since then. People with albinism have gone into hiding, fearing stories like that of Nyerere Rutahiro, who was attacked and mutilated while eating dinner with his family.
Albinism affects about 1 person in every 20,000, and the Albino Association of Tanzania says that although 4,000 albinos are officially registered in the country, they believe the actual number could be as high as 173,000. I can only imagine that the racism that these people must experience is severe, if others can dehumanize them to the extent where they can be sold for body parts. However, there was no mention of this in the BBC articles.
The Tanzanian government has promised to take action, but they have been slow in bringing these cases to trial. Hopefully Nathan Mutei’s actions will be a catalyst for ending this appalling practice and bringing the people who would traffic in human body parts to justice.
Immediate, please sign:
STOP THE MULE HIGH-DIVING SHOW
From News of the World
Two mules are forced to make terrifying high-dives into a tank of water in the name of entertainment.
Crowds cheer as the helpless creatures, called Smokey and Dipsy Doodle, are sent plunging from a 22ft high platform into the 6ft deep pool.
Billed as the world’s only high-diving mule show, it is the climax of a rodeo in the tiny ranch town of Pipe Creek, near San Antonio, Texas.
The animals’ ordeal will horrify readers. But the show’s boss Bill Rivers claims they ENJOY it. He said: “If they didn’t like it, they wouldn’t do it.”
Their Aqua Mules act draws crowds of 300 at a time. The beasts, a cross between a donkey and a pony, are brought out to perform after a two-hour rodeo featuring sheep-riding kids and cowboys.
Lightning Ranch owner and rodeo organiser Bill leads them to their splash one at a time. Dipsy Doodle, the brown mule, always goes first.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
As the crowd, paying six dollars a head, bray, they are made to climb a steep ramp, flanked by the American and Texas flags.
They are clearly hesitant on the flimsy-looking structure. Smokey in particular will inspect the scene for up to 30 seconds. Then, like a scene from TV’s Jackass, comes the shameful sight as each mule, legs splayed, dives awkwardly head-first to hit the water with an almighty splash.
Incredibly local cops have ruled that the act is NOT cruel. And Bill, who has trained animals for movies including Ace Ventura, says the stubborn animals have done the jump thousands of times and like it.
But TV vet Dr Scott Miller, a regular on ITV1’s This Morning, said yesterday: “This is animal cruelty. It’s ridiculous.
“Lobbing themselves off a 22ft high platform and going underwater is totally unnatural to them. The potential for injury to these animals is massive.”
Immediate, please sign:
STOP THE MULE HIGH-DIVING SHOW
Justice for Journalist Anna Politkovskaya
Immediate: please sign Justice for Journalist Anna Politkovskaya
- Target: Prosecutor General Yuri Yakovlevich Chaika
- Sponsored by: Care2.com
Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya wrote to fight injustice. She covered stories of violence, corruption, and abuse, including the human rights situation in Cechnya. Her articles were published in foreign media, and her books translated into many languages.
Although her work was internationally revered, she was critical of the Russian and Chechen governments, and it also brought her many enemies.
Politkovskaya was detained and her life endangered many times, including one case in which she was poisoned on her way to cover a school hostage crisis in North Ossetia. In 2006 she was murdered outside her home in Moscow.
In 2007, four men were charged with Anna’s murder, but acquitted. The Russian Supreme Court has ordered further investigation into the case, but nearly four years later her murderers remain unidentified and at large. Urge Russia’s Prosecutor General Yuri Yakovlevich Chaika to to find and bring to justice Politkovskaya’s killers.
Please sign: Justice for Journalist Anna Politkovskaya
From CAS International
Immediate, please send the protest email now by clicking HERE or on the picture, thank you.
Animal protection organization PETA India recently alerted CAS International on the following: film makers from India traveled to Pamplona to film bull running scenes in this Spanish municipality. Three Bollywood actors (Hrithik, Farhan en Abhay) took part in the bull runs for the film Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara.
The media in India reported on a planned visit to a bullfight, but the producers assured PETA that bullfights would not be filmed, since their production company “Is a very responsible company” and that they “Understand your concerns about how the depiction of cruelty of animals in the film is often misconstrued as allowed and accepted”.
We do not understand why bull running is not considered animal abuse by the producers, also because the bulls used during the bull runs are slaughtered afterward, in the local bullring.
The bull runs have already been filmed, but the film still has to be edited. PETA India and CAS International sent emails to the producer and director of the film asking them not to use the images of the bull runs, because we fear that the interest in ‘bull festivals’ in India might increase.
As you might know, many foreign tourists take part in the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. These are mainly Americans, Australians and British, but since more and more people from India have the opportunity to travel, we fear that they too will be contributing to this animal suffering. In India, bullfights are also organized, but during these ‘fights’, two bulls are staged against each other.
Because CAS International sympathizers always very actively participate in our protest campaigns and since we have accomplished several successes (such as preventing bullfighting in China), PETA India contacted us.
We are now asking you to help us by sending a protest email to the producer and director of the film.
Send the protest email now by clicking HERE or on the picture above, thank you.
RELATED:
Message To The Pope: “His Compassion Is Over All That He Has Made.” ~Psalms 145:9
Help stop EU subsidies for the bullfighting industry
$5,000 Reward Offered: Justice for victim of severe abuse
From Pasado’s Safe Haven
Blazer the dog was a healthy, happy, and youthful seven-year-old Border Collie who was deeply devoted to his owners, the Roller family. Last week, Katie Roller was involved in a serious car accident that severed an artery in her right leg. Katie had to be transported to a trauma center and when she didn’t come home, loyal Blazer went looking for her – but he didn’t return. When Blazer had been missing for several days, 10-year-old Daniel Roller was mystified; and when he found Blazer near a Port Orchard elementary school, he was distraught.
The family had been putting up flyers when they were approached by a man who had seen Blazer and mentioned that the dog had been bound with wires. After the man pointed Katie to the area where he had seen Blazer, she was stunned by the condition of her dog: Blazer had zip-ties bound tightly around both of his left legs. “The zip-ties were so tight that his back left leg had to be amputated to save his life,” she said. “Someone intentionally tortured and mutilated him. His foot was black and the size of a softball.” Ten-year-old Daniel concurred. “His paws were spread out; it was all purple,” Daniel said. The cost of the life-saving surgery was a staggering $3,000, but the Roller family couldn’t afford the expensive procedure. The family pulled together to pay for their beloved dog’s operation. Daniel tried selling his video games to the neighbors. “The video games I have are really good, like Halo and Crackdown,” he explained. Katie sold her computer and her wedding ring to pay for the first half of the surgery.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
From KING5
“The wedding band doesn’t meet me at home every day, waiting for me…it doesn’t swim with me, it doesn’t bark,” Katie stated. But Katie wasn’t sure how they would come up with the second half of the surgical fee, as her car had been totaled in her recent accident.
A local paper ran the tragic story, and thanks to the generosity of the community, $3,000 was donated to the Roller family. Calls and donations came in from across the country. The Roller family was stunned by such generosity, and late on Wednesday evening, Blazer was reunited with his loving family.
The Kitsap County Sheriff’s office is currently investigating the injuries that Blazer sustained and they are treating the incident as an animal abuse case. An account has also been set up at all Kistap Bank branches for Blazer’s rehabilitation costs.
Pasado’s Cruelty Investigator has been in contact with the Kitsap County Sheriff’s department regarding this case. They are welcoming any help that they can get to bring justice to this case.
- If you have any information regarding this cowardly act, please call 1-800-222-8477.
- ALL TIPS WILL REMAIN ANONYMOUS. NO NAMES WILL BE DIVULGED.
- Donations are accepted HERE
From Port Orchard Independent: “Blazer” was reunited with his family on Wednesday after his leg had to be amputated due to a cruel act of violence. The family’s dog was found with zip ties around his legs causing its back left leg to have to be surgically removed. Dr. Dennis Christman at the Kitsap Veterinary Hospital in Port Orchard performed the surgery that saved Blazer’s life. Click on picture for story ...
RELATED:
Good Samaritans come to aid of dog found zip-tied
An account has been set up at all Kitsap Bank branches for Blazer’s rehab costs. It’s under the name: “David T. Roller Donation Account.”
Blazer’s owners touched by public support
“Oh, I know animals suffer, but I love my steak”: The self-serving resolution of the “meat paradox”
Photo courtesy of Lorna Devious: http://lornaatwaar.wordpress.com/
Shocking, isn’t it? But why love one yet eat another? Demonstrate love by being compassionate towards all, otherwise none will ever be free from human-engineered speciesism, suffering, and depravity. Go vegan, click on the picture …
From Psychology Today, Animal Emotions Blog
By Marc Bekoff
Many people continue to eat animals knowing they’re consuming misery …
There’s no doubt that billions of factory-farmed and other animals suffer for our gustatory delights, most of which are unnecessary. Now, a new study shows just how far people will go so that they can continue to eat animals who needlessly wind up at the end of their fork. Steve Loughnan of Kent University in the UK and his colleagues discovered that “people who wish to escape the ‘meat paradox’ i.e. simultaneously disliking hurting animals and enjoying eating meat, may do so by denying that the animal they ate had the capacity to suffer.”
While some people stop eating meat when they learn that animals suffer, an overwhelming majority do not, and continue to enjoy their steaks knowing well that they’re eating pain and misery. They simply deny moral status to the sentient beings who wind up on their plates as if all’s just fine. This very important study shows, “when there is a conflict between their preferred way of thinking and their preferred way of acting, it is their thoughts and moral standards that people abandon first – rather than changing their behaviour. ‘Rather than change their beliefs about the animals’ moral rights, people could change their behaviour,’ Loughnan said. ‘However, we suspect that most people are unwilling to deny themselves the enjoyment of eating meat, and denying animals moral rights lets them keep eating with a clear conscience.'”
I wonder just how clear their conscience is. When I was writing my book The Animal Manifesto I continually talked with people who told me, “Oh, I know animals suffer, but I love my steak.” They went on to offer lame excuses such as, “I just can’t stop eating meat even when I think about the misery for which I’m responsible.” Sure they can. It’s so easy it’s laughable to think that they not only deny sentience to the animals they consume but also deny that non-animal alternatives are readily available, even “fake meats”.
And it’s also essential to remember that cows, pigs, and sheep who are unrelentingly tortured on their journey to and when they temporarily reside on factory farms are no less sentient than companion dogs or cats. Most people – likely all people – would not let their companion animals trade places with these most unfortunate beings.
We always must remember it’s not a matter of “what’s” for dinner but “who’s” for dinner as we routinely and wantonly slaughter sentience for unneeded meals to the tune of billions of animals per year. Surely we can do better and it’s really easy for most of us to stop consuming pain and misery.
RELATED:
Compassion
Vegan Guides
Earthlings
We need an Executive Order to save the horses!
By Judy Levy
After sending thousands of emails, letters, and faxes to BLM and DOI, America’s Precious Wild Horses are STILL being terrorized, tortured, and rounded up. Families are being broken up. Stallions are Fighting each other in closed areas. Baby Horses are screaming for their Mothers…the Mothers are screaming back for their babies from whom they have been separated. Our Poor Horses have been banished to HELL…What was their CRIME?
- CALL PRESIDENT OBAMA ONE MILLION TIMES FOR THE NEXT 5 DAYS PLEASE DEMANDING AN EXECUTIVE ORDER TO STOP THE BLM WILD HORSE ROUNDUPS
(202) 456-1111 9-5 EST, M-F
- EMAIL PRESIDENT OBAMA ONE MILLION TIMES THIS WEEK ASKING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EXECUTIVE ORDER TO STOP THE BLM ROUNDUPS OF AMERICA’S WILD HORSES
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
- Use this SAMPLE LETTER if you wish to write to President Obama:
Mr. President…..YOU promised the American People CHANGE. Is this the change you promised? Killing Wild Mustangs and Mares with their BABIES? Is THIS the CHANGE you promised the American People in the time of Election? SIGN AN EXECUTIVE ORDER TO STOP THE BLM WILD HORSE ROUNDUPS NOW, PLEASE.
RELATED:
Two-Week-Old wild horse shot and killed before California roundup
From IndyBay, Cloud Foundation
The body of a wild horse foal was found near the site of the Twin Peaks roundup Wednesday by Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist and Cloud Foundation Board member, and Chrystie Davis, wild horse advocate. Davis, an experienced horsewoman, examined the foal for any broken bones. What she found was an apparent rope burn on a rear leg as well as a gunshot wound. Killing American wild horses is against the law in the U.S.
Bear-Bear the Siberian husky was shot and killed at an Anne Arundel County dog park. (Baltimore Sun / August 3, 2010)
- Immediate, please sign Justice for Bear-Bear petition HERE
- For additional and current information, please visit the official Justice for Bear-Bear Blog HERE
- Please join Facebook’s group Justice for Bear-Bear HERE. The group membership numbers are being followed by a local news station.
- Send a message, feel free to use the SAMPLE LETTER
From The Baltimore Sun
By Jill Rosen and Brent Jones
Stunned dog owners and residents of a Severn neighborhood are shocked that authorities won’t be charging a federal police officer who shot and killed a Siberian husky Monday night at a community dog park.
Bear-Bear, a brown and white husky that was about 3 years old, was playing in the Quail Run dog park at about 6:30 p.m., running off leash inside the fenced-in area, when the officer and his wife arrived with a German shepherd, who was kept on a leash. When the dogs began to play roughly, the federal officer asked Bear-Bear’s guardian, his owner’s brother, to call off the dog. But before he could do anything, the officer pulled out a gun and shot Bear-Bear, according to the husky’s owner.
Bear-Bear, who belongs to Rachel Rettaliata, died of his injuries a few hours later. County police did not name the federal officer.
“I’ve been bawling my eyes out since 7 p.m. last night,” Rettaliata said. “It’s grief mixed with anger. We’re so angry this guy was able to take our animal for what we feel was no reason at all.
“We still don’t believe that he’s gone. We just want so badly to be diligent about this. [The officer] has to pay some sort of consequence for his foolishness.”
From Iran.Bahai.US
Today, August 11, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom joined the international outcry on behalf of seven Iranian Baha’is recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for their beliefs.
From the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom statement:
The five Baha’i men and two women had been charged with several baseless and unsubstantiated crimes which carry the death penalty, including espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, and spreading “corruption on earth.” Their attorneys are in the process of filing an appeal.
“This is an outrageous miscarriage of justice and one more example of how the Iranian regime is a gross violator of human rights and religious freedoms,” said Leonard Leo, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) chair. “The prosecutions and sentences are, pure and simple, politically and religiously motivated acts, and the Commission calls for the unconditional release of these seven individuals.”
Secretary of State Clinton says, “We have not forgotten the Baha’i community in Iran.”
On Thursday, August 12, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton issued the following statement concerning the seven Iranian Baha’i leaders who have each been sentenced to 20 years in prison for their religious beliefs. According to new reports, the seven prisoners have been transferred from Evin prison in Tehran to Gohardasht Prison – also known as Rajaishahr Prison – in Karaj, some 20 kilometers west of the Iranian capital.
From Secretary Clinton’s statement “Persecution of Religious Minorities in Iran”:
The United States is deeply concerned with the Iranian government’s continued persecution of Baha’is and other religious minority communities in Iran.
This week, seven Baha’i leaders, who were incarcerated and held for nearly two years without due process, were each sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. The United States strongly condemns this sentencing as a violation of Iran’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Freedom of religion is the birthright of people of all faiths and beliefs in all places. The United States is committed to defending religious freedom around the world, and we have not forgotten the Baha’i community in Iran. We will continue to speak out against injustice and call on the Iranian government to respect the fundamental rights of all its citizens in accordance with its international obligations.
Please visit HERE for a summary of the case.
A Very Important Birthday Wish & PCRM’s Healthy School Lunches
Our Compass’s Arthur Poletti has an upcoming birthday and birthday wish! Please visit HERE for information and a very important message to help animals and what you can do to participate!
Also, please sign President Obama, You And Your Family Should Stop Eating Animal Flesh
From PCRM’s Healthy School Lunches
CAMPAIGN UPDATES:
- Bob Harper Urges Congress to Pass Healthy School Meals Act
- Doctors Call On Congress to Seize Historic Opportunity
The Healthy School Lunch Campaign, sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), is dedicated to improving the food served to children in schools by educating government and school officials, food service workers, parents, and others about the food choices best able to promote children’s current and long-term health.
The campaign’s key message: Foods served in schools should promote the health of all children.
Menus in most school lunch programs are too high in saturated fat and cholesterol and too low in fiber- and nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (see PCRM’s 2008 School Lunch Report Card). Major changes are needed to encourage the health of the nation’s youth and to reverse the growing trends of obesity, early-onset diabetes, and hypertension, among other chronic diseases, in children and teens.
The Healthy School Lunch Campaign encourages schools to offer more healthy low-fat, cholesterol-free options, including reimbursable meals and beverages, a la carte items, and vending machine items. The PCRM Healthy School Lunch Team works with school districts across the country and organizes meetings and presentations for school boards, PTAs, and student groups. We can provide marketing materials, meal planning and recipes ideas, and other resources upon request.
If you are interested in having The PCRM Healthy School Lunch Team work with your school district, start by taking these easy steps.
Please join us to become a Healthy School Lunch Advocate and ask your Member of Congress to support H.R. 4870, the Healthy School Meals Act of 2010, which makes it easier for schools to offer healthful plant-based options and gives them an incentive to do so. Anyone can be a school lunch advocate!
Want to Do More?
Host a call-in party before or after school for students, parents, and concerned citizens in your area.
Questions about becoming a School Lunch Advocate? Contact Ruby Lathon, Ph.D., PCRM’s nutrition policy manager, at rlathon@pcrm.org.
Immediate: Please sign
Stop the Trade in Bear Parts
or click on the picture.
*Please remember to select “Click to Finish” after you complete the fields and hit “Send Message”
From Born Free
Background:
Across North America, black bears have been found with gallbladders removed, paws chopped off, and bodies left to rot, all to satisfy a demand in Asian communities both here and abroad. A gallbladder might fetch thousands of dollars on the black market, making it as valuable by weight as gold or illicit drugs.
In the U.S., the current patchwork of state laws that addresses the bear parts trade creates a wildlife law-enforcement nightmare. Thirty-four states prohibit trade in bear gallbladders and bile; five states allow it freely; and the others either have no regulations or restrictions that prohibit trade in bear parts from bears taken within the state but allow commercialization of bear parts if the bear is killed elsewhere. Since it is fundamentally impossible to tell a California bear gallbladder from a Pennsylvania bear gallbladder, this regulatory inconsistency makes national bear protection extremely difficult.
The Bear Protection Act, H.R. 3480, would prohibit the import, export, and interstate commerce in bear viscera and products that contain or claim to contain bear viscera.
If passed, this bill would assist wildlife law-enforcement efforts while creating a sound national policy against the trade in bear gallbladders and bile. Although twice passed by the Senate in recent years, the bill has been stymied time and again by the National Rifle Association and its associates who defiantly resist any positive movement to protect American wildlife from poachers’ bullets — yet this is an issue not about sport hunting but about poaching and commercializing wildlife. H.R. 3480 has again been introduced into the House.
To voice your support of this very important piece of legislation, please write your Representative and urge him or her to co-sponsor this bill.
Important Note:
Congress is now out of action until after Labor Day for its annual August recess. This makes it the perfect time to meet your Senators and Representative in their District offices where you live. Contact adam@bornfreeusa.org if you need help identifying these locations.
Material girl Michelle Obama is a modern-day Marie Antoinette on a glitzy Spanish vacation
From NY Daily News
By Andrea Tantaros
Sacrifice is something that many Americans are becoming all too familiar with during this economic downturn. It was a key theme in President Obama‘s inaugural address to the nation, and he’s referenced it numerous times when lecturing the country on how to get back on its feet.
But while most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing summer sojourns – or forgoing them altogether – the Obamas don’t seem to be heeding their own advice. While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in southern Spain with 40 of her “closest friends.” According to CNN, the group is expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms, more than a third of the lodgings at the 160-room resort. Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times.
Reports are calling the lodgings of Obama’s Spanish fiesta, the Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella, “luxurious,” “posh” and “a millionaires’ playground.” Estimated room rate per night? Up to a staggering $2,500. Method of transportation? Air Force Two.
To be clear, what the Obamas do with their money is one thing; what they do with ours is another. Transporting and housing the estimated 70 Secret Service agents who will flank the material girl will cost the taxpayers a pretty penny.
Perhaps it could be that the Obamas, who seem to fancy themselves more along the lines of international celebrities than actual leaders, espouse a different view of sacrifice. When Michelle Obama accompanied her husband to Copenhagen along with best buddy Oprah Winfrey, she billed the trip – an ultimately unsuccessful bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago – as follows: “As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or Oprah or the President to come for these few days, so many of you in this room have been working for years to bring this bid home.”
Our Compass 