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.
Dog viciously killed in hunter trap: please protest traps, sample letter
BACKGROUND
Please read the message below and please, please, please contact the officials.
My friend, Jacqueline, who lives in Kentucky (which is the worst state for NOT prosecuting animal abuses-email to follow) just lost one of her precious canine babies in a trap set out for wild life.
These traps should be outlawed.
I’m asking all the animal advocates out there to please let your voice be heard:
(1) prosecution of the person who set the trap (it’s in an area where children play and families walk/run their dogs
(2) push for KY to prosecute animal abusers
(3) get these traps outlawed.
I know we have many battles on our hands and it’s probably years down the road before we see progress on some, but we must push for change.
Billy Boy was a happy doggie in a home with a great person who loved him dearly.
My heart breaks and I am still in shock just thinking about his horrible death.
Thanks for caring about the animals.
MESSAGE
Since his death on Sunday, I find I am unable to feel much of anything.
Where once a heart as big as a city block swelled with beat after beat of passion, nothing sounds but hollow breathing. Shattered is the word that comes most often to mind.
Not until today have I been able to find the strength to face the screen before me.
Four days ago, on Sunday, December 11, 2011, my beautiful, loving boy was savagely killed by a steel trap laid for the purpose of snuffing out some poor, wild creature.
Fur from other victims, I later observed, was caught in its metal jaws.
I can’t feel much of anything. I should feel rage but no, nothing. After years and years of saving animals I find my heart has taken a beating.
Hours spent before his death were beautiful ones and like every day my lovable lug had on this embattled planet, Billy Boy was out and about following that Geiger counter nose that in the end drew him to his death.
Oh, how that boy loved life.
I could actually find myself smiling just by virtue of watching his face light up into a smile.
His very last moments were agony: From the moment he poked his head into that lethal device until he was gone maybe one minute elapsed.
As soon as I heard his cry of pain, I went running. Within seconds I was at his side. About all I can remember of the location was being in the creek, near the culvert located directly under the road. My muddy, bloody jeans still lie on the floor. I’m not sure if he was still alive.
I couldn’t first grasp what had happened. He was writhing so I thought he could still be saved. Not so. That dreaded glassy look that appears in the eyes of the dead was soon staring at me. Still I tried to free him from that steel deathtrap.
I kept screaming for help that did not come and even if someone had been there, it would have been too late.
On my hands and knees, I tried to lift him from the streambed onto the road but he was now 55 lbs of dead weight. I weigh 105.
The children I saw earlier playing next to the very same creek with their Boxer heard my cries. I suspect I frightened them.
No creature deserves to die like that let alone a member of the family.
Billy Boy was the embodiment of devoted love and loyalty.
The other four dogs with me at the time fled the scene, all except little Sassy. She alone stayed with her hysterical mother. Baby, Daisy Mae and Muchacho ran for their lives having witnessed what happened to their friend and frightened by the crumbled bodies of me and Billy Boy on the wet asphalt.
Tears that have long been a stranger to these cheeks are now streaming down my face.
I have witnessed too much cruelty in my life.
Not a day goes by that I am not reminded of my loss.
Last night, each night and for many nights to come I will miss the warmth of that burly body huddled next to mine.
He was the consummate Mama’s Boy who never, but never knew a stranger.
He was only three-years-old.
Yes, I dread going to bed.
Just the other night, I dreamt a dream of terrible sorrow. I dreamt of my lost boy. Somewhere in the darkness I could hear him crying for me but as much as I tried I could not find my darling Billy. I awoke from my nightmare and reached over to what had now become a place empty of my nightly familiar.
Billy Boy is gone.
I want his death to stand for something other than just another poor beast robbed of the life he loved.
The creek where he met his death either sits on or borders the sheriff’s property: It could have been one of his beautiful Shepherds.
Tina, up the street, has a gorgeous, white Spitz called Rooster, just yards from the place of death. It could have been her boy.
These traps do not discriminate.
Whatever luckless being ventures close to its lethal grasp is not long for this world.
That being the case, these coiled mechanisms of death have no business close to companion animals and children who play in these streams.
If it hadn’t been Billy Boy, it could have easily been Sarge, Rooster, Baby, Sassy, Summer, Daisy Mae, or Muchacho.
Billy Boy with his Labrador nose found it first and well, the rest you know.
This is my story.
Jacqueline Muth
859- 499-1920
WHOM TO CONTACT
***Please note the emails may not work, some people have had them returned.
Block
kevin.cockrell@ky.go, nik.fegenbush@ky.gov
Individual
The Montgomery County Attorney is Kevin Cockrell: kevin.cockrell@ky.gov
and his Assistant County Attorney is Nick Fegenbush: nik.fegenbush@ky.gov
Their phone number is 859-498-8713
The fax is 859-498-8714
Click HERE for access to free faxing from your computer. No fax machine, registering, or credit card required. Please remember to confirm the fax via your email after submitting.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Attorneys Cockrell and Fegenbush:
I am writing in response to a tragedy that occurred in which a loved family dog, named Billy Boy, died from capturing his head in a possibly illegal steel trap. Specifically I request the following:
(1) prosecution of the person who set the trap (it’s in an area where children play and families walk/run their dogs)
(2) push for KY to prosecute animal abusers
(3) outlaw traps
According to Born Free USA following their in-depth campaign to ban traps:
Our investigation proves that despite industry claims to the contrary, leghold traps and snares cause serious injuries and extreme suffering to trapped animals. We also revealed that archaic killing methods such as suffocation, drowning and chest crushing are widely used today — methods that in fact would be considered cruelty to animals (a felony offense in some states) if inflicted intentionally upon domestic cats or dogs.
The investigation also demonstrates that despite years of research, there have been no significant advances in reducing “collateral damage.” In other words, non-target animals still are captured in traps set for other species. No animal is safe from these diabolical devices — dogs, cats, squirrels, bears, hawks and even threatened and endangered species can become victims of vanity. (Find hundreds of examples of non-targeted animals being caught in traps and read about our Trapping Victims Fund.)
Our investigator documented that what few trapping regulations do exist are regularly flouted by trappers: They openly use illegal snares to capture animals, they leave traps out after the close of the trapping season, and they capture animals out of season.
The whole operation of trapping is built on a very weak foundation of trust, as there are no authorities present when traps are set or an animal is killed, and most states don’t even require trappers to report the number of animals they kill.
Please exercise your influence to ban traps so that no animal will be tortured and maimed by such archaic and barbaric contraptions.
I know your time is limited and I thank you for the attention to this urgent issue.
Read more…
Vodpod videos no longer available.
From Mercy For Animals
Butterball has become synonymous with turkey. But how do the millions of turkeys who end up in the grocery store, or served at restaurants, under the Butterball brand, really live and die?
A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation reveals the truth: extreme cruelty and violence is the harsh reality for birds on Butterball’s factory farms.
Between November and December of 2011, an MFA undercover investigator documented a pattern of shocking abuse and neglect at a Butterball turkey semen collection facility in Shannon, North Carolina.
Hidden-camera footage taken at Butterball reveals:
- Workers violently kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or into transport trucks in full view of company management;
- Employees bashing in the heads of live birds with metal bars, leaving many to slowly suffer and die from their injuries;
- Turkeys covered in flies, living in their own waste, with some unable to access food or water and suffering from severe feather loss
- Birds suffering from serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, rotting eyes, and broken bones; and
- Severely injured turkeys, unable to stand up or walk, left to die without any veterinary care, because treating sick or injured birds was too costly and time consuming, as the farm manager explained to MFA’s investigator.
After viewing the undercover footage, Dr. Sara Shields, research scientist, poultry specialist and consultant in animal welfare, said, “Turkeys are fully capable of feeling pain, fear, stress and of suffering, and the way they are treated in the video is clearly abusive.”
Dr. Debra Teachout, a practicing veterinarian with experience in farmed-animal welfare, agrees, stating, “The birds are not living a life remotely worth living. Their world is full of fear, distress, pain, injury and illness as witnessed by this video. A culture of blatant and severe animal mistreatment has been allowed to flourish unchecked, and for that reason, this facility should be shut down immediately.”
Following the investigation, MFA immediately went to law enforcement with extensive video footage and a detailed legal complaint outlining the routine violence and cruelty documented by the investigator at this Butterball facility. On Thursday, December 29, state law enforcement officials obtained a warrant and raided the facility on grounds of cruelty to animals.
Unfortunately, the lives of turkeys in Butterball’s factory farms are short, brutal and filled with fear, violence and prolonged suffering. While wild turkeys are sleek, agile and able to fly, Butterball’s turkeys have been selectively bred to grow so large, so quickly, that many of them suffer from painful bone defects, hip joint lesions, crippling foot and leg deformities, and fatal heart attacks.
This genetic manipulation creates birds that are so large they cannot even reproduce naturally, meaning that artificial semen collection and insemination have become the sole means of turkey reproduction at Butterball facilities.
Even though domestic turkeys have been genetically manipulated for enormous growth, these birds still retain their gentle, inquisitive and social natures. Oregon State University poultry scientist Dr. Tom Savage says that turkeys are “smart animals with personality and character, and keen awareness of their surroundings.” In fact, animal behaviorists, veterinarians, and scientists now agree that turkeys are sensitive and intelligent animals with their own unique personalities, much like the dogs and cats we all know and love.
While MFA works to expose and end animal abuse at Butterball and other giants of the meat, dairy and egg industry, consumers can help prevent the needless suffering of turkeys and other animals by adopting a compassionate vegan diet
Read more…
Ask Mission Inn to Cancel Cruel Reindeer Display: sample letter
BACKGROUND
The Mission Inn in Riverside, California, is exhibiting reindeer at the Festival of Lights through January 8, 2012. These undomesticated animals—their wild instincts still very much intact—are transported to and from the hotel each weekend and subjected to a constant barrage of strange noises and sights, flashing cameras, and crowds trying to pet them. PETA contacted the hotel’s owners and urged them to cancel this exhibit, but our request has fallen on deaf ears.
Animals used in such traveling exhibits are cruelly carted from one event to the next during the holiday season. Deprived of everything that is natural and important to them, they often become despondent and develop neurotic and self-destructive behaviors, including pacing, rocking, swaying, bar-biting, and self-mutilation. Their instinctual needs, such as seeking mates, raising young, and grazing, are completely stifled. Neglectful practices, such as withholding food and water to keep them from eliminating, are routine. Such events also pose risks to public health, as reindeer can transmit numerous diseases to humans, such as contagious ecthyma, brucellosis, anthrax, salmonellosis, rabies, toxoplasmosis, sarcoptic mange, and ringworm.
Please contact the Mission Inn and politely implore it to cancel this cruel exhibit.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Duane Roberts, CEO
The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa
3649 Mission Inn Ave.
Riverside, CA 92501
951-784-0300
concierge@missioninn.com
Shannon Mueller
Executive Assistant
949-500-7327
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear CEO Roberts and Executive Assistant Mueller,
It has come to my attention that Mission Inn in Riverside, California, is exhibiting reindeer at the Festival of Lights. Since animals used in traveling exhibits display many negative consequences, such as despondence and neurotic and self-destructive behaviors, including pacing, rocking, swaying, bar-biting, and self-mutilation, I am therefore respectfully urging you to help these reindeer and instead protect them from such destructive habits.
Please allow me to elaborate. Reindeer are complex animals who experience suffering and joy, communicate with each other, and who also have the capacity to nurture complex relationships and display grief upon separation. Furthermore, their instinctual needs are suppressed from the lack of a nurturing environment and are they are instead subjected to noise, strange sights, and flashing cameras. Additionally, food and water is routinely withheld so the animals won’t relieve themselves while on display.
This also proves medically dangerous to humans considering that reindeer can transmit numerous diseases to humans, such as contagious ecthyma, brucellosis, anthrax, salmonellosis, rabies, toxoplasmosis, sarcoptic mange, and ringworm. I would hope any organization that shares a core principle of human enrichment via entertainment, such as yours, would be equally concerned with any disease-spreading forms of exhibits.
Please instead take this opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to protect rather than harm animals, and be a model for other cities by discontinuing using the reindeer in your exhibit.
I know your time is limited and I thank you for your attention regarding this important message.
NAME
Read more…
I picked up a dead animal today …
By Sarah Kiser
I picked up a dead animal today. I did. I was driving home, and out of the corner of my eye on a small road, I saw a squirrel lying on the curb. He looked dead to me, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t see any obvious trauma on his body as I passed by in my car, he almost looked like he was just sleeping, so I thought maybe just maybe he’s alive and just slightly injured. I pulled my car over and I went up to the squirrel. His eyes were closed mostly, and glazed over just a bit, his body was still palpable and warm (but some of the warmth could just be attributed to the sun as it was a warm day today), but yet at the same time felt heavy and as though he was starting to stiffen.
I turned his body over so that he lay on his back so I could check his underside. That side also had no damage. I checked him for signs of life, but I couldn’t find any. His chest did not move, his belly didn’t move, his legs didn’t move, nothing at all…..there was no heartbeat, no sign of life. I watched him for awhile, and checked him again and again to just be completely sure. When I was sure that he was no longer alive, I picked him up gently and moved him to a spot away from the road, atop some mulch surrounded by bushes to kind of shield him, even though he was no longer alive, it felt like the least I could do for him. Surely nicer than leaving him on the curb by a road.
I figured what must have happened to him is that he ran out into the road, and perhaps ran right into the side of a tire as a car was passing. The impact of that could have killed him without leaving any visible signs of trauma or damage. I pet his sweet little head a few times, and left the scene with a heavy heart.
While I was there with the squirrel, many cars passed by me ( I was safely out of the road far off onto the grass by the sidewalk). I am sure there were at least some people who saw what I was doing that were perplexed by my actions. Possibly some people were aghast at what I was doing. I can imagine they must have been thinking something like “EWW she’s picking up a dead animal!”….But here’s the thing, most everyone picks up dead animals every single day. They pick them up at the grocery store, they pick them up at restaurants, they pick them up at the drive-through, they pick them up for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And these dead animals they pick up weren’t accidentally killed. They were killed intentionally and suffered beyond comprehension before they were killed. Funny, isn’t it, how our perception of things can be so different? ……..one thing, an act out of compassion, can be seen as so disgusting and strange and the other, eating animals who suffered unimaginable cruelty and died violently, can be seen as so normal……
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Bring Animal Killing “Artist”, Katinka Simonse, To Justice
Background | By Brennan Browne
A Dutch woman who calls herself a “performance artist”, Katinka Simonse (aka Tinkebell) believes that killing animals and displaying them in gruesome and controversial ways is performance art.
For one “performance”, Simonese actually broke her own cat’s neck and then skinned the animal, making it into handbags. She even provided a “how to” manual for those seeking to do the same with their own animals. The picture of her holding the cat as his/her skin is being taken from his/her body is revolting.
The pictures provided with this article are sickening. They show several of her exhibits at the galleries as well as her demonstrations on how she accomplished these exhibits. Simonse is very pleased with herself in the picture holding her dead cat as she pulls the skin off his/her body.
Also provided is a translated video, where this woman attempts to justify her art form, claiming it is not cruelty. There are numerous videos of her, which can be found at the link provided below that includes videos of visitors to various galleries with their reactions to her “art”.
The very thought of innocent animals having to die so this woman can earn money from their misery and murder is simply horrifying.
There are two petitions currently being circulated regarding this woman and her performance art.
The first petition is directed at Den Haag of the Ministry of Security and Justice in the Netherlands, asking that justice be served against the Torch Gallery and Simonse for these horrendous exhibits.
The second petition is directed at the Netherlands State Senate, and is asking that Simonse be brought to justice for her heinous acts involving these helpless animals in the name of “art”.
Please consider adding your voice to these two petitions. They are Change.org petitions, which can be signed by anyone. You can access them here and here, or at the links provided above.
The fact this kind of horror is allowed at all perpetuates the belief that it’s perfectly fine to murder an animal as long as you label it “art”.
This is similar to another situation where in 2007 Guillermo Vargas, another performance artist, chained a dog to a wall in a gallery and slowly starved him to death, again in the name of “art”.
Word had spread quickly through the animal advocacy community when it was learned that a gallery had asked the artist to “perform” this again. A petition was circulated regarding this and was recently closed. Hopefully the voices of advocates were heard and this atrocity was not allowed to be repeated with another dog slowly dying of starvation.
This type of horror must not be allowed to continue. As long as humans continue to pay to see this “performance art”, it will continue to go on. The suffering of an animal is never an art form, but is instead is the needless suffering and death for the amusement of humans.
Advocates need to speak up now to hopefully stop this horror from continuing and to keep any more animals from having to needlessly suffer and die for Simonse’s “art”.
Read more…
Protest human rights violations against the Syrian people: email the international criminal court
BACKGROUND
Shoot To Kill Commanders Named
Courtesy of Human Rights Watch
Related Materials:
(London) – Former Syrian soldiers identified by name 74 commanders and officials responsible for attacks on unarmed protesters, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The report names commanders and officials from the Syrian military and intelligence agencies who allegedly ordered, authorized, or condoned widespread killings, torture, and unlawful arrests during the 2011 anti-government protests. Human Rights Watch has urged the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and impose sanctions against the officials implicated in abuses.
The 88-page report, By All Means Necessary!’: Individual and Command Responsibility for Crimes against Humanity in Syria, is based on more than 60 interviews with defectors from the Syrian military and intelligence agencies. The defectors provided detailed information about their units’ participation in attacks, abuses against Syrian citizens, and the orders they received from commanders and officials at various levels, who are named in the report.
“Defectors gave us names, ranks, and positions of those who gave the orders to shoot and kill, and each and every official named in this report, up to the very highest levels of the Syrian government, should answer for their crimes against the Syrian people,” said Anna Neistat, associate director for emergencies at Human Rights Watch, and one of the authors of the report. “The Security Council should ensure accountability by referring Syria to the International Criminal Court.”
The defectors’ statements leave no doubt that the Syrian security forces committed widespread and systematic abuses, including killings, arbitrary detention, and torture, as part of a state policy targeting the civilian population, Human Rights Watch said. These abuses constitute crimes against humanity.
All of the defectors interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that their commanders gave standing orders to stop the overwhelmingly peaceful protests throughout the country “by all means necessary” during regular briefings to soldiers and armed units and prior to their deployment. The defectors said that they understood the phrase “by all means necessary” as an authorization to use lethal force, especially since they had been given live ammunition instead of other means of crowd control.
About half the defectors Human Rights Watch interviewed said the commanders of their units or other officers also gave them direct orders to open fire at protesters or bystanders, and reassured them that they would not be held accountable. In some cases, officers themselves participated in the killings.
“Amjad,” who was deployed to Daraa with the 35th Special Forces Regiment, said that he received direct verbal orders from his commander to open fire at the protestors on April 25:
For more shocking and outrageous revelations, click HERE.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Postal Address
Information and Evidence Unit
Office of the Prosecutor
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands
Email Address
otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int
Telephone Number
31 (0)70 515 8515
Fax Number
31 70 515 8555
- Click HERE for access to faxing from your computer. No fax machine or registering required.
- Be sure to click the fax confirmation link in your email so your fax delivery will succeed.
Click HERE for Chinese Embassy contacts
Click HERE for Russian Embassy contacts
SAMPLE LETTER
Information and Evidence Unit
Office of the Prosecutor
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands
Dear Prosecutor,
Pursuant to Article 9 Section 2. (c) of UN General Assembly, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (last amended January 2002), 17 July 1998, A/CONF. 183/9, please begin an investigation of the 70 individuals named in Appendix 1 – Structure and Command of Armed forces and Intelligence Agencies in the report “By All Means Necessary!” published by the nonprofit organization Human Rights Watch in December of 2011 for crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The Human Rights Watch report gives details of crimes defined in Articles 7 – Crimes against humanity, Article 8 – War crimes, and Article 8 bis – Crime of aggression of individual and command responsibility of Syrian military commanders and intelligence officials for these crimes. It is based on interviews with 63 defectors both from the army and from the intelligence agencies, generally known as the mukhabarat.
These violations continue as of the writing of this letter, or of the gravest nature, and necessary due to ineffective remedy by all other international bodies with the authority to stop them. Time is of the essence.
Please see the pdf report written by Human Rights Watch By All Means Necessary: Individual and Command Responsibility for Crimes Against Humanity in Syria
NAME
Read more…
Please help imprisoned Sea Shepherd activist – one petition
Please click on and sign:
Please release Dutch citizen Erwin Vermeulen from Japanese prison!
Background | From Vandaag.NL
On December 16th 2011, the Japanese police in Taiji arrested Sea Shepherd volunteer and Dutch citizen Erwin Vermeulen, while attempting to take photos of Risso’s dolphin being transferred between holding pens in the sea and the Dolphin Resort Hotel.
An employee of the Dolphin Resort Hotel merely accused Erwin of shoving him and this allegation was immediately acted upon. No witnesses saw Erwin shove the employee and Erwin was not even questioned. The Taiji police handcuffed Mr. Vermeulen and took him to the Shingu police station where he is currently being held. Recently his pre-arrest has been lengthened with 10 more days.
Out of compassion for the dolphins being slaughtered in Taiji, Mr. Vermeulen travelled to Japan at his own expense to devote his time and energy to the Cove Guardian mission. The Cove Guardian mission is to be ever present, recording every activity, and constantly on vigil in the face of the dolphin killers, day in and day out, for as long as dolphins are being killed. All Cove Guardians are cautioned that every move must be nonviolent and within the boundaries of Japanese law.
Erwin Vermeulen did not break any laws. But he was accused of doing so. Which law, we do not know, because the Japanese police refuse to divulge that information.
We, PiepVandaag and concerned citizens of The Netherlands, urge the Japanese ambassador in The Netherlands, Mr. Kazaki Koezuka to make any effort needed, to have Mr. Vermeulen, citizen of The Netherlands, released from prison immediately.
Read more…
Speak Out for 100 Fish Suffocating, Dying at Park in Utah
BACKGROUND
Upset residents in Brigham City, Utah, report that Pioneer Park Pond is being drained for dredging purposes and that hundreds of fish who call the pond their home have been left to die in agony. The water level is dangerously low, and the pond is freezing over. So the animals are slowly suffocating and freezing to death! This is entirely unnecessary.
Experts know that the nervous system of fish is strikingly similar to that of mammals and that fish are capable of great suffering. They are complex beings who have personalities, communicate with each other, form bonds, and even grieve when family members and companions die.
Please urge Brigham City officials to help these fish.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Email block
dfife@brighamcity.utah.gov,
bleonard@brighamcity.utah.gov,
dwrcomment@utah.gov
Individual
The Honorable Dennis J. Fife
Mayor of Brigham City
dfife@brighamcity.utah.gov
Brigham City Council
bleonard@brighamcity.utah.gov
Northern Regional Supervisor
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
801-476-2740
dwrcomment@utah.gov
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Honorable Fife, City Council Members, and National Regional Supervisor:
It has come to my attention that Pioneer Park Pond is being drained for dredging purposes and that hundreds of fish who call the pond their home have been left to die in agony due to low levels that are freezing over. I am therefore respectfully urging you to help these fish and liberate them from agony.
Please allow me to elaborate. Fish are complex animals who experience suffering and joy, communicate with each other, and who also have the capacity to nurture complex relationships and display grief upon separation. Furthermore, despite an almost-universal apathy towards their sensitivity, fish indeed experience pain and react negatively towards stressful situations including disturbed environments.
Please take this opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to protect rather than harm animals, and be a model for other cities.
I know your time is limited and I thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.
NAME
Read more…
Urge Texas Housing Authority to Stop Giving Away Glue Traps
BACKGROUND
The Gregory Housing Authority in Portland, Texas, has been handing out glue traps to its tenants for rodent control in their apartments. PETA informed housing authority officials of the extreme cruelty and disease risks inherent in the use of glue traps, but our concerns have apparently fallen on deaf ears.
Glue traps are some of the cruelest products on the market, causing immense and prolonged suffering. Panicked rodents often rip themselves to pieces in their frantic struggle to escape the sticky mess. Exhausted and terrified, they die from shock, dehydration, asphyxiation, or blood loss. Death can take more than 24 hours. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health Canada warn against using glue traps because of the disease risks posed by the many pathogens in the waste of ensnared rodents, who eliminate out of stress and fright. This should be a concern for any housing authority!
Please urge the Gregory Housing Authority to join the many agencies, companies, and schools that have sworn off glue traps.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Yvette Nieto
Executive Director
Gregory Housing Authority
Phone: 361-643-5014
Fax: 361-643-0281
- Click HERE for access to free faxing from your computer. No fax machine, registering, or credit card required.
- Be sure to click the fax confirmation link in your email so your fax delivery will succeed.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Director Nieto,
I have just learned of your organization’s, the Gregory Housing Authority, use of glue traps to capture and kill mice. Killing the mice is fundamentally cruel, but using glue traps to do so compounds the issue as it is an extremely painful and fearfully agonizing experience for animals. These animals are further traumatized trying to free themselves, causing skinning, tearing, ripping, and dismemberment, a profoundly agonizing ritual of attempting to escape for hours upon hours; death sometimes can take days.
This also proves medically dangerous to humans considering that, according to the CDC and Health Canada who both warn against their use, glue traps create optimal conditions to spread pathogens and cause disease. I would hope any organization that shares a core principle of human health, such as yours, would be equally concerned with any disease-spreading forms of rodent control. Interestingly, many agencies, companies, and schools have already discontinued the use of glue traps due to their cruelty and exorbitant cost.
Please consider, instead, using humane traps to capture and release mice in an ethical and painless manner. These can be found at hardware stores and local animal rescue groups, who would be willing to assist you.
Thank you for your time and attention to this important issue.
Read more…
BACKGROUND
Calls to the Assistant State Attorneys office were finally returned with the update about the December 13th hearing for Eugene Hickman, the monster from Defuniak, Florida who had starved and sexually abused the Pit Bull, Janey, for the first 3 years of her life.
The report from the office of Jennifer A. Lieb, the ASA is that Hickman has pleaded no contest to the charges of Cruelty to Animals. In Florida, this is a third-degree felony (828.12) with penalties of up to 5 years in prison (775.082), a fine of up to $10,000 or both. He will be sentenced on January 17, 2012.
Sadly, the new 2011 law in Florida against bestiality was not in effect at the time of Hickman’s arrest, so he couldn’t be charged with that offense. He faces a maximum of 5 years and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
For those unfamiliar with the story, Janey is a sweet, innocent Pit Bull who spent the first 3 years of her life being starved and repeated sexually abused by Hickman. He was caught in the act by his grandson, who reported the crime, resulting in Hickman’s arrest.
Janey was transferred to Noah’s Arks Rescue, who provided her with the medical care, multiple surgeries and emotional rehabilitation she so desperately needed. Janey now lives in her loving forever home and is safe from anyone ever hurting her again. You can read Janey’s original story here.
The suggestion now is that letters should be faxed to the Judge in this case, asking that he impose the maximum possible sentence for this horrible crime.
WHOM TO CONTACT
The Honorable Judge Kelvin C. Wells:
Judge Wells’s phone number(850) 892-8134
Judge Wells’s fax number: (850) 892-8377
- Click HERE for access to free faxing from your computer. No fax machine, registering, or credit card required.
- Be sure to click the fax confirmation link in your email so your fax delivery will succeed.
SUBJECT
Eugene Hickman, case #2011CF000369
SAMPLE EMAIL
Defendant: Eugene Hickman
Case number: 2011CF000369
Dear Honorable Wells
This is in regards to Eugene Hickman, who has pleaded no contest to the charge of Cruelty to Animals. His final sentencing will be handed down on January 17th.
As an advocate for the humane treatment of both animals and people, I strongly urge the court to give Mr. Eugene Hickman the maximum possible sentence for his horrific crime.
The dog who he so cruelly molested is still suffering from the effects of the experience and will continue to do so for a long time to come. As with human children who are raped and otherwise violated, the fear and emotional scars last long after the body has healed.
I appreciate that the court takes cruelty to animals as a serious crime and for holding Mr. Eugene Hickman accountable for his actions.
Thank you for taking the time to read this important message.
NAME
Read more…
Maximum 10-year sentence for man who sexually abused chihuahua
Image: Not the abused Chihuahua
From Examiner
By Bonnie Snider
Sacramento, CA: In a sign that perhaps the sexual abuse of animals will no longer be tolerated, a chronic methamphetamine user, Robert Edward De Shields, who strangled and sexually abused an 8-month-old chihuahua was sentenced to 10 years and must register as a sex offender. (Source.)
De Shields, who is confined to a wheelchair due to failing health, was found guilty last month of the offense of animal cruelty. His attorney argued that he had “only been convicted of animal abuse”, and should not be sentenced or treated as a sex offender. The fact that the judge saw otherwise is huge for animals everywhere.
De Shields had rented a property and when the homeowners returned, they found the little dog in shock and pain in the garage, unable to move. A veterinarian later determined that the dog had severe injuries to the rectum and internal organs from being raped.
De Shields was a repeat offender who had only been out of jail for a few months before being arrested on this offense. The judge stated that he was a threat to society, and that was the reason for imposing the maximum sentence.
De Shields was sentenced under “Jessica’s law“, which was created after the case of little Jessica Lunsford in Florida, who was kidnapped, raped and buried alive by a neighbor. The law allows for convictions of sexual abuse to cross species, and this is the first case in which that was done.
The little dog named Shadow, has been in foster care since being seized in this case. He has healed from his physical injuries, but even today shows fear of men. More than likely, he will never recover from the psychological and emotional trauma. It’s a shallow victory for the little dog, but at least for once justice was served when it comes to the rape or abuse of an animal.
Crimes such as this seem to be ones that humans would rather pretend don’t exist. But they do, and for the animals it’s a nightmare that no living being should have to endure. Unless and until we recognize these crimes and provide the maximum punishments under the law they deserve, they will continue.
At least for this one tiny dog, justice has been served.
Convict man who laughs after getting to run cat over second time: Sample letter, petition
Please sign petition HERE
Background
Target: Chief Prosecutor David L. Toska Toledo Municipal Court Building555 N. Erie Street Toledo, OH 43604
Sponsored by: Care2
R.k. Brescol, 23, of Lemon Creek Street, Toledo, OH, ran over a neighbor’s cat, got out of his car only to look at the cat, laughs and proceeds to run the cat over again in reverse. Brescol showed no remorse and was argumentative with witnesses, telling them cats should not be outside and if they didn’t like his running over the cat, they should get him evicted. All while on a Suspended License. He also has prior convictions that he pleaded down in a Domestic Violence case down to disorderly conduct. His sentence included anger management classes. His other priors include open alcohol, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving without a license, and disorderly conduct while intoxicated. He also was found guilty of driving without a license Nov. 8.
Whom To Contact
Toledo Municipal Court Building
555 N. Erie Street
Toledo, OH 43604
phone: 419.245.1975, fax: 419.245.1083
- Click HERE for access to free faxing from your computer. No fax machine, registering, or credit card required.
- Be sure to click the fax confirmation link in your email so your fax delivery will succeed.
Sample Letter
Dear Chief Prosecutor Toska,
I have learned of an extremely disturbing and malicious case of animal cruelty in which R.K. Brescol deliberately caused the suffering and death of cat by running her over two times.
Please allow me to elaborate. Our global communities share laws, moral and written, and when one person demonstrates such a gross lack of respect for both, our societies must react with concern for the innocent and potential victims, who include both non-human and human animals. It is our obligation to protect them from both manufactured and intrinsic cruelty, and although the distinction is often difficult to identify, the effect is not, and our priority is the innocent, in this case the cat. Nobody possesses such heightened intuitive ability to determine the thoughts of another, but past behaviours are indicative of future actions, and his callous disregard, so easily adopted as demonstrated by his unprovoked and lethal behaviour, needs to be regarded rather than dismissed.
Please respect the victims by penalizing the guilty and demonstrate your commitment to justice, responsibility, and integrity, attributes unquestionably necessary in a law enforcement setting: rejecting cruelty by maintaining an unyielding position towards it would be a model for all community members and would serve to characterize this type of behaviour as both impermissible and punishable.
I know your time is limited, and I thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.
Read more…
Fur Coats Banned At Some NYC Bars
From Girliegirl Army
An expensive fur won’t get you past the velvet rope at Johnny Barounis’ East Side bars — in fact, it will stop you in your tracks, according to a new article in DNAinfo. Barounis, who owns establishments on the Upper East Side, the Lower East Side and in the East Village, is refusing to serve patrons who come in wearing pelts.
The 51-year-old vegetarian has won many fans and a few critics with his anti-cruelty stance, which has vetted customers at his bars for more than ten years and also extends to bans on certain foods, like veal and foie gras. “It has been something I have done my whole life,” said Barounis, the 51-year-old Upper West Side resident whose bars include the Lower East Side’s Revision Bar and Gallery and the Back Room.“I was always anti-hunting, anti-fur.”
As the evening crowd roll into his trendy establishments, doormen question the pelts of patrons for their authenticity and even inspect the furs if there is any doubt. “We tell people you are welcome to come in, but the fur stays out” said Barounis, as he sat in Revision, on Avenue B and 14th Street, that is furnished with recycled materials.
Animals who are raised for their fur are often kept in small spaces like battery hens and meet there end by suffocation, electrocution, gas and poison, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal (PETA), of which Barounis is a member. While many regular patrons are aware of the rule, some have been caught off guard. Last winter at the Back Room one woman became irate when she was denied entry due to her coat.
“She called the police and they almost locked her up for the false alarm,” Barounis said, who also owns the Auction House and Fetch on the Upper East Side. Not only does the cruelty aspect to fur upset Barounis, but that the animal’s death is often worn as a status symbol only adds to the frustration. “I guess she felt entitled enough [to call the police] because she could not get into a bar with a fur coat,” he said, comparing it to “wearing a trophy.”
However, most patrons are graceful when their outfit is rejected. Another woman who also wanted to drink at the Back Room, a speakeasy with an unassuming entry at 102 Norfolk Street, simply took her fur coat off. “She rolled it up and stuck it in a dark corner in the alley,” said Barounis, adding that the woman fetched it after her night out. “She made no bones about it.” While Barounis sticks to his rule, he understands the conviction is a personal matter and is not interested in enforcing his views outside the walls of the bars he owns.“No radicalism here, there is no red paint, the fur thing is basically what I can do to help change some behavior,” he said.
Notorious Brazil Dog Killer Escapes Jail Time
Terror: By the end of the attack, the dog was cowering in the corner behind his basket, shaking and looking like he had been covered in liquid
Please click on and sign Assassina de cachorro deveria ter sido condenada à prisão!
(Dog killer should have been sentenced to prison)
Background
According to news sources, Camilla Corrêa Alves de Moura Araújo—a practicing nurse and resident of Formosa, Goiás, Brazil—was caught on videotape savagely abusing a Yorkshire terrier in front of her young child. The graphic video, which has garnered international outrage, depicts what seems like an endless attack, as the abuser repeatedly kicks and punches the tiny animal, throws him against a wall, then slams him to the ground where he struggles to escape—but his body is too broken. She then strikes him in the head with a bucket before covering him with it. The dog is later depicted cowering and trembling in a corner. He reportedly died two days later as a result of his injuries.
Despite facing jail time upon conviction, reports indicate that De Moura Araújo only received a fine and community service! Please politely urge the below officials to take cruelty-to-animals cases more seriously, and please share this alert widely!
The sample letter HERE has been translated into Portuguese for maximum effect, but please feel free to add your own comments. And please share this alert widely!
Text Translation
I was shocked and saddened to know that Camilla Alves de Moura Corrêa Araujo, who was filmed cruelly killing a Yorkshire terrier in front of her young son, received only a fine and community service. People who mistreat animals pose a risk to anyone. The safety of the community requires that these crimes be punished vigorously. Please treat cases of animal abuse more seriously in the future!
Footage | Warning: Graphic
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Please take action on five issues: sharks, consumer rights, greyhounds, fur-bearing animals
Please click on the following:
1. Take Action to Protect Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks
2. Tell Congress to Sign the Consumer Rights Pledge
3. Tell Skechers Not to Promote Greyhound Racing in New Ad
4. TJX Corporation: Stop Selling Animal Fur
5. Tell bebe to Ditch Fur!
1. Background | From Turtle Island Restoration Project
The scalloped hammerhead is a beautiful and mysterious
schooling shark that congregates by the thousands over underwater seamounts. This species is extremely vulnerable to targeted fishing by industrial longlines fishing for the shark fin trade. Because of this, its populations are experiencing drastic declines.
Adding this species to the Endangered Species Act will trigger new policies to protect these sharks and their habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) as endangered and warns of a very high risk of extinction for this species in the wild. Like all sharks, scalloped hammerheads play an important role in the health and balance of marine ecosystems. Threatened coral reef ecosystems seriously suffer from the removal of this top predator.
The photo on the right was taken in Cocos Island National Park, where the Sea Turtle Restoration Project and allies conduct research to better understand the habitat use and conservation needs of sharks and sea turtles. Even in this protected area, scalloped hammerhead sharks are illegally caught for their lucrative fins.
Take action today and send the letter HERE, then use the buttons above to share this important action alert with friends on social networks.
2. Background | From Public Citizen
In a set of decisions this fall, the WTO ruled against our country-of-origin labels on meat, dolphin-safe labels on tuna and our ban on candy- and clove-flavored cigarettes. These are the policies we rely on to allow us to protect children’s health and make informed decisions as consumers. Under current rules, the U.S. will have to water down or eliminate these policies, or face trade sanctions.*
Tell your members of Congress to get into the holiday spirit and sign the Consumer Rights Pledge.
Each policy was the result of a hard-fought, decades-long battle against corporations that wanted to deny consumers information and government officials who were in the pockets of Big Business. It is unconscionable that unelected WTO “judges” would impose yet another barrier to the public’s will.
The press and Congress have been asleep at the switch. In the past, when these outrageous WTO rulings were issued, everyone saw it in the press. Not this time. That means it’s up to you to raise a stink. We need to crank up the heat so the Obama administration and Congress do not just quietly follow these WTO orders and gut our laws.
And we need to make sure that they do not extend these anti-consumer rules in future trade deals, like the major Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement that the Obama administration wants to sign with a bloc of countries next summer!
It’s the WTO and our other corporate power tool trade agreements that have to change—not consumers’ right to know!
Contact your members of Congress and have them sign the Consumer Rights Pledge.
3. Background | From PETA
PETA recently learned that Skechers filmed an advertisement at a greyhound racetrack. The ad, which will air during the Super Bowl in February, features greyhound dogs in racing jackets and Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks.
We immediately contacted the company to provide information on how greyhounds suffer when used in the racing industry, and asked Skechers not to air the ad. The company has not been responsive and is moving forward with its plans to air the ad.
Greyhound racing is an industry fraught with cruelty. Greyhounds used as racers typically live their entire lives in cramped cages and are kept muzzled by their trainers at all times. These gentle dogs are extremely sensitive, yet they rarely know the comfort of a kind word or a gentle touch. When too old, injured, or tired to continue racing, the dogs are often discarded like garbage. Since 2001, more than half of American greyhound-racing tracks have closed because of the public outcry against the cruelty inflicted upon dogs. The remaining tracks have seen a decrease in ticket sales.
Using the form HERE, please contact the president and the vice president of media at Skechers and politely ask them not to run this commercial and to agree never to feature greyhound racing in future Skechers ads and promotions.
4. Background | From Change
85% of the world’s fur comes from factory farms where animals are kept in inhumane conditions and skinned alive. Companies that buy fur products to sell in their stores keep this industry going. TJX is one of those companies, selling fur boots, purses, vests, fur-trimmed coats and gloves in T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s stores. Join us in teling the CEO it’s time to go FUR FREE.
5. Background | From PETA
Cross bebe off your list of stores to shop at this holiday season! Despite knowing about the suffering that goes into every fur hat, scarf, and coat, bebe continues to sell fur. Animals on fur farms spend their entire lives confined to cramped, filthy wire cages that are so small they prevent animals from taking more than a few steps in any direction. Wire cages cut into rabbits’ delicate foot pads, and the animals are denied the opportunity to engage in natural behavior such as running and burrowing. Fur farmers use the cheapest killing methods available, including neck-breaking, suffocation, poisoning, and genital electrocution. Crude killing methods aren’t always effective, and sometimes animals “wake up” while they are being skinned. One of the best ways that you can help animals who are beaten and tortured for their fur is to tell bebe’s executives that you won’t buy while animals die.
Please don’t shop at bebe this holiday season, and let the company know why! Use the form below to tell bebe’s CEO to dump fur and let him know that you will not shop at bebe until all real fur is off the shelves.
Read more…
Our Compass 