A n i m
a l W r i t e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue #
07/28/02
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ Videography For Animal Causes by Greg Lawson
2 ~ Animal Lover by Michelle Rivera
3 ~ First Call For World Farm Animals Day
4 ~ Dignity by Sara Whalen
5 ~ Hands Up For The Clod With The Prod by Steve Hindi
6 ~ The Unpaid Circus Worker by June Bird
7 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
Videography for Animal Causes
By Greg Lawson - ParkStRanger@aol.com
(This article was derived from a workshop Greg did at Animal Rights 2002)
As
an audio/visual technician for the National Park Service, my duties include
shooting and editing digital video. I have learned that video can be an
important vehicle for communicating AR and AW concerns.
While many of us became vegetarians and AR activists from reading books,
magazines and other print material, television and videos have had a profound
impact as well, and have the potential of reaching vastly more people in our
post literate age.
A video of the inside of a slaughterhouse has an instantaneous and deeply
emotional effect, and can be more effective than reading a book such as Slaughterhouse
by Gail Eisnitz. While Gail's book can go into much more detail and give
more information, it is only read by those who want to read it. A video
can be sprung on the unsuspecting, and is short enough to appeal to our
attention deficiencies.
If you have seen the wonderful video, The Witness, you know how Eddie Lama
( http://www.oasissanctuary.org/ ) travels around with video
playback equipment mounted in his van, showing graphic slaughter video in the
valid hope that a few moments of visuals will change peoples lives. You
might be aware of the work of Steve Hindi of SHARK, Showing Animals Respect and
Kindness ( http://www.sharkonline.org/ ). Steve's Tiger Truck
sports 4 large screens and video projectors. He travels around the country
showing footage of bullfights, rodeos and other forms of animal abuse.
At the recent Animal Rights 2002 conference I had the privilege of meeting and
talking with Steve about video. I learned a lot. Unfortunately, I
don't have the six figures to equip a truck like his, but as he explained, many
of the national organizations do have the funds to set up a fleet of
trucks. In my opinion, they should consider this idea.
I stood with several ARAs in the parking lot, watching Steve's demonstration of
his Tiger Truck and we said to each other "Why are we wasting our time
standing on street corners passing out leaflets? This is the future of
the movement."
Steve had some footage of the annual slaughter of dolphins in Japan and one
night he drove his truck to the Japanese embassy in D.C. and showed that
footage from the street outside the building. The Japanese weren't happy
to see those images.
In the exhibit area of AR2002, Steve had a monitor and video playback machine
showing rodeo and bullfight video. I tried not to look as I passed, but
one day I stopped by his table and watched. Tears were flowing from my
eyes within minutes.
Many AR groups and vegetarian societies show videos from PETA and other
organizations at their meetings. These showings have converted many
people. Vegetarian societies can use digital video to produce their own
vegan cooking shows for their groups and for cable access TV. I plan to
do this next year for the Vegetarian Society of El Paso after I purchase some
equipment of my own.
It used to be that shooting and editing professional videos cost tens of
thousands of dollars and up. The cost has dropped so far in recent years
that well off individual activists and local AR groups can afford to produce
their own videos. National organizations really should have video
workstations. A broadcast quality digital camera now costs only two
thousand dollars, and a digital editing computer setup costs only a few
thousand more.
A year ago, my park set up a video editing studio with a top of the consumer
line Canon XL-1 digital video camcorder, an Apple G4, two digital video
recorders and some other peripheral equipment for under 15 thousand. That
same equipment can be purchased today for under ten thousand as the cost of consumer
electronics keeps going down. Entry level professional digital video, a
digital camcorder and a computer for editing, can be purchased for about 5
thousand. You can buy a digital camcorder for under 2 thousand.
This is quite a difference from the ten thousand dollars a minute that used to
be paid to professional companies for video production.
For professional applications a 3ccd camera gives the best resolution.
Most digital cameras under 2 thousand dollars have only one ccd. Sony
makes a couple of 3ccd models and Canon makes the GL1 for a bit over 2 grand
and the XL1 for around 4 grand.
Digital video can be system intensive, 5 minutes of footage takes up a gig of
hard drive space, so I recommend an Apple G4 with at least a hundred gig hard
drive. Apples come with a program called IMovie which is easy to use and
allows you to manipulate scenes, add titles and special effects. Video
footage can be exported back to videotape or turned into files and used on
websites.
A more professional video editing program for the Mac is called Final Cut Pro
and can be purchased for under a thousand dollars.
So why video for animal rights activities...?
*To document the abuses
*To protect yourself during protests
*To communicate with others in the movement
*To make the abusers hesitant to continue their activities.
You may be aware of the annual slaughter of the bison of Yellowstone National
Park. In 1997 the state of Montana killed 1083 bison, one-third of the
herd, because cattle ranchers see the bison as pests and competition for the
grazing lands just outside Yellowstone.
Mike Mease, a video activist who had produced documentaries for Indian tribes
and environmental activists, was so angered by the slaughter that he and
Rosalie Little Thunder, an elder of the Lakota Sioux, formed the video activist
group Buffalo Nations to try to stop it. The group was renamed Buffalo
Field Campaign in 1999. ( http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo ).
In 1998, Mease and his volunteers started filming every step of the bison
slaughter. Here is a quote from Mease..."I learned a quick lesson: I
could be out there with a video camera and they would not kill the herd.
They didn't want it documented." In the first year of Mike's
operations only 11 bison were killed.
I am sure that Mike and the volunteers of Buffalo Field Campaign have had a
tremendous impact on the bison situation, slowing down the annual
slaughter. Video shot by the Campaign has been used by all the major
networks, CNN and other outlets.
In 1999, Mike Mease, Dan Brister and two other activists were arrested when
they tried to keep Montana Department of Livestock agents from capturing two
buffalo. Brister was charged with negligent endangerment for "trying
to cause death or serious injury to a state official by hazing a buffalo at
him." The group's video footage absolved him of the charge, which was
dropped.
Many of us are unable to afford several thousand dollars for a good camera and
a digital editing workstation, but a decent video camera is affordable and is
an important asset to the modern activist.
Please support Buffalo Field
Campaign
in their efforts to save the Yellowstone buffalo
Buffalo Field Campaign
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
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~2~
Animal Lover
By Michelle Rivera - MichelleRivera1@aol.com
Do
you sit for hours and watch a cat sleep and wonder
about each twitch and tremor? Do you study a bird in a
freshly-made puddle as he cleanses his wings and his soul? Do you feel
the wonder of each little chick as she pecks her way into the world? Or race
home on the freeway with one thought in mind…
My animals wait for me there?
Do you rage at the TV when hearing of news of abuse a poor creature endured…
When the cop shot the dog or the dad killed the fish or the puppy was set all
ablaze?
Do you share funny stories of “When he was a pup….” Or what “Kitty did today.”
With like-minded souls who know “just what you mean” and laugh ‘til the cows
come home?
Do you study each e-mail, each alert and each plea for an animal issue in need?
Then spend all of your time writing letters and notes to the people who sit in
control?
Do you think your loved-ones who eat animals and things that come from within
Are confused and misguided and so puzzling that you just don’t get it at all?
Do you feel the pain in the pit of your chest when your heart breaks at
learning the truth
Of the things they go through each day at the hands of those who are so very
blind?
And then swear they will pay with their souls one day and you hope it will be
one day soon?
Can you look in the eye of a horse or a cow and reach so deep in her soul you
are one?
Can you lovingly lift little beings on the road who are dying, in pain and
alone,
and offer them comfort and tears and a prayer as they slip to the other side?
Or stop traffic to save a small frightened turtle or mom duck and her ducks in
a row?
Do you secretly wish you were with A.L.F. and could act out in rage, take
control
Of the labs and the zoos and the rodeos too and could set it all right once
again?
Do you cringe at the sight of a box on the street and believe there are kittens
inside?
Do you keep your dog close so that no harm will come ‘cuz you know just what
THEY might do?
Do you know in your heart and your soul without doubt that their rights are
inherent and just?
And that those in cages, tanks, chains, pits and ponds and pools and perches
and crates…
Will one day fly and run and swim and hop and crawl open and free?
Do you hate when they say you’re an “animal lover” because that’s just
not what it’s all about?
Do you?
Me too.
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~3~
First Call For World Farm
Animals Day
From FARM - farm@farmusa.org
We
would welcome your support of the 20th annual observance of World Farm Animals
Day on October 2 (Gandhi's birthday). Here are some ways:
1) Suggest a theme for this year's observance. Past themes have included
requesting a position statement on factory farming from candidates for public
office, demanding enforcement of the Humane Slaughter Act, or opposing export
of factory farming to developing nations.
2) Promote the observance in your newsletter by including an announcement or an
ad that we will send you on request and by referring people to the www.wfad.org
web site.
3) Plan your own event(s). Request materials and register your event(s) at
www.wfad.org/wfad_contact.html
Thank you in advance for your support.
Alex Hershaft
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~4~
Dignity
By Sara Whalen - petsaliv@warwick.net
Executive Director - Pets Alive Inc.
http://www.petsalive.com
Dignity
is the word that probably describes his demeanor best. He came to Pets
Alive today with his friend Bob who has nurtured him for 8 months since the day
his frail and sickly body was found tied to a fence in Plainfield NJ.
His history is unknown. Judging from the "clues" one would
guess that his previous family cared not at all that a loving soul stared out
at them from an ordinary black and dirty body. He was physically
traumatized - so much so that the nerves which govern his continence were no
longer working, his fur was dull and sparse. He weighed less than 30
pounds. Maybe he had been beaten, maybe hit by a car and not taken to the
vet, maybe just plain left out on a chain to starve. But still his tail
wagged and as Bob walked him home to shelter him, he tried to be jaunty.
Weeks of veterinary intervention determined that nothing could be done to cure
his incontinence, he would forever need to be cleaned multiple times in a
day. His pancreas does not function correctly and he needs to get enzymes
which digest his food for him. Every known parasite lived in his
intestinal tract and they needed to be eliminated. The medication further
debilitated him. But love and kindness and patience (the qualities that
Bob denies having) paid off and today Jude came home to Pets Alive. He
clung to Bob until he met all of the people here, then moved from one lap to
another, reveling in the affection that was offered and giving tons of kisses
in return.
Yes he has accidents and yes he will be a difficult management problem but YES
he deserves to LIVE. We will not play G-d and consign him to be
euthanized because there are other "normal" dogs that need
homes. He IS normal, he IS loving, he is a needy soul. He is just
as important as that cute and fuzzy purebred whose owners no longer have time
for him.
His dignity will be maintained here. He will live a happy life and all
those who meet him will learn that "perfection" has many
definitions. "Jude" is one.
UPDATE:
This morning, when the air was still fragrant with dew and the scent of wild
roses, I visited Jude in his new environment. He was fast asleep in his
house. I hesitated to wake him after his stressful move yesterday but
needed to assure myself that he was ok. I called his name and he looked
up at me with sleepy eyes. "Friend or Foe?" they seemed to
ask. Then he recognized me and he literally grinned, stretched and bounced
up to greet me!
He will be fine, he is already peaceful and already looking forward to making
new friends. I am so glad to be able to say "He is ALIVE and
WELL."
His buddy Bob is a member of a wonderful organization in New Jersey - People
For Animals. They are a 100% no-kill organization which relies on
volunteers to help them save the lives of so many dogs and cats. They
also operate a very inexpensive spay/neuter clinic in Hillside, NJ. If it
weren't for this great group of people Jude would not have been vetted and
cared for until we were able to take him. If you live in their area and
can assist them in any way by becoming a foster home or volunteering in some
way, please contact them (a special request from me) at:
People for Animals
433 Hillside Avenue
Hillside, NJ 07205
Telephone 908.964.6887
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~5~
Hands Up For The Clod With The
Prod
By Steve Hindi - SHARK - news@sharkonline.org
The
Kane County (Illinois) Fair rodeo was held yesterday (7/20/02), in spite of our
efforts to stop it following our bust of the rodeo stock contractor (Big Hat
Rodeo Company) three nights earlier for shocking animals in chutes.
But there were certain light moments to be found amongst the animal abuse and
boredom, and rodeos are, except for the cruelty, boring enough to nearly kill a
person with active brain cells.
The Kane County Fair Association, while not having the ethics to cancel the
rodeo, is just smart enough to realize what a public relations mess they are
in, and they know that Big Hat Rodeo owner Rudy Calzavara is the guy who put
them in that mess.
So they apparently required Rudy to hold his hands up just prior to each bull
leaving the chute, to make certain that his prod fetish was under wraps for the
day!
Now you have to take a moment to picture this. Rudy Calzavara is probably
somewhere between sixty-five and seventy-five years old. This is
certainly a time when a man wants to be shown some respect and to display
dignity, if he ever will. But then, we are talking about rodeo people
here.
So Rudy boy stood at the bucking chutes like some kind of circus freak, with
his hands high in the air, as each bull left the chute. I wish each of
you could have been there to see it - especially you rodeo lurkers! It
was about as low as I have seen any rodeo stooge taken, at least to this point.
Although there was a significant number of security personnel and police
officers keeping lookout for video cameras and still cameras with telephoto
lenses, we have both video footage and close-up still pictures. Sorry
Rudy boy, we intend to save your day of disgrace for posterity.
Those of you who aren't on our snail mail list should join, as we will include
pictures of Rudy boy with his hands up in our next newsletter. I'm going
to get one enlarged and framed.
All this has brought us to decide that Rudy deserves a fitting title, and I
feel we have chosen properly. So now and forever more, Big Hat Rodeo
Company owner Rudy Calzavara shall be known as, "The Clod with the
Prod."
On the serious side, the Kane County Fair rodeo left a bull hobbling on three
legs. We don't know what the nature of the injury is, or what will happen
to the victim.
There also was insufficient shade for the animals in spite of 90+ degree heat,
and some animals had no access to water in either of the two shows we
attended. We shall file appropriate complaints against the rodeo with the
Illinois Department of Agriculture on Monday.
It has been one hot summer for the Rodeo Mafia, and I'm not talking about the
weather. And it's going to get a lot hotter. Tomorrow, I'll try to
post some newspaper articles on this and other recent rodeos.
As a parting laugh, know that the message board for the Friends of Rodeo (FOR)
website is still down since we made some truthful posts to it regarding rodeos,
and neither FOR president Linda Burdick nor any other representative of the
rodeo apologist organization has replied to my debate challenges.
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~6~
The Unpaid Circus Workers
By June Bird - fundraising@animal-lib.org.au
Fun, excitement, balloons, colourful kites,
The circus is in town...oh what dizzying heights..
...the trapeze artists swing...the clowns
smile broadly and then feign rage...
but spare a thought for me....
I'm the one in the cage.
I'm here in 23 hours out of every 24,
there's nothing but bars and a padlock on the door.
Not an ounce of freedom but lots of fresh food,
if I was a household cat my owners would be sued.
My friend the elephant is so terribly sad;
what did he do to deserve this.. ? He was never bad..
He wears a cute hat and stands on one leg,
when once proud...now forced to beg.
I dream of running with the rest of my pride;
I dream of freedom... PLEASE be on my side ..
Understand my plight and think of me now and then -
all you animals lovers; children, ladies and men.
The circus comes and goes, we're off to another town I fear,
I lie down wishing my death would come...
another performance........another tear.
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~7~
Memorable Quote
"If you talk to the animals, they will talk to you and you will know each
other.
If you do not talk to them, you will not know them,
and what you do not know you will fear.
What one fears one destroys."
~Chief Dan George
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Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
P O Box 7053
Tampa, Fl 33673-7053
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal Rights Online=-
&
Advisory Board Member, Animal Rights Network Inc.,
not-for-profit publisher of The Animals' Agenda Magazine
http://www.animalsagenda.org/
The
Animals' Agenda Magazine: WebEdition
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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