A n i m a l W r i t e s © sm
The official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 10/13/02
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ ParkStRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ The Active Activist: Putting Together A First Strike
Conference
By Michelle Rivera
2 ~ Tofuevos Rancheros By Greg Lawson
3 ~ VeggieDate.com
4 ~ Canine Acupressure
5 ~ PeTA Wants YOU!
6 ~ Who Are You Calling A Terrorist?
7 ~ Urge Harley-Davidson To Spare The Deer
8 ~ I Worship At The Altar of Dog
9 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
The Active Activist
Putting
together a First Strike Conference
By Michelle A. Rivera - MichelleRivera1@aol.com
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. So
what better time is there to plan a First Strike Conference? A
“preemptive strike” is legalese for a point made by an attorney in anticipation
of a potentially damaging point made by his opponent. By anticipating
what opposing counsel may say, and arguing the point before it can even be
made, lawyers take the legitimacy of an argument out of it before it is
uttered.
Herein lies the idea behind the national initiative known as First Strike.
By looking at the earliest indicators of family violence, we are in a position
to affect an anticipatory strike against it. And experts have determined
that one of the earliest indicators of family violence is animal abuse.
Simply put, those who are beating the family pet are most likely to abuse other
family members too. If not now, then soon. And by identifying those
abusers, treating and/or punishing them, and finding safe haven for the
victims, we are effectively preempting the almost certain violence to come and
take steps to avoid it.
So what can be done to encourage local law enforcement, prosecutors, educators,
social workers and others to become involved at the first sign of
abuse? We can help them to carry out the initial strike against family
violence. We can bring them together to share resources, statistics and
remedies. And we can do it at a First Strike Conference.
For the second year in a row, I have been the promoter of a First Strike
Workshop in my area. I encourage all activists to do the same. Here is
the way to do it.
Set your date! Make sure you have about 4-6 months lead time to
line up your speakers. Try to pick a Saturday so that everyone who wants
to may attend.
Line up your speakers: My speakers include Randall Lockwood, Ph.D,
(HSUS), Lt. Sherry Schlueter, (Broward County Sheriff’s Office); Dr. MaryAnn
Jones of the Governors Task Force on Domestic Violence; Lanna Belolavek,
Assistant State Attorney and a veterinary panel. Your speakers list should
include a local assistant state attorney (or THE state attorney) as well as law
enforcement personnel, counselors or attorneys in the private sector. Dr.
Lockwood and Lt. Schlueter are both available and amenable to traveling to
speak at these events. Other speakers you may want to consider and who I
highly recommend are Ann Gearheart from the Snyder Foundation for Animals
and/or Judy Johns of the Latham Foundation. Phil Arkow and Frank Ascione
are also noted speakers on the subject of animal cruelty and domestic
violence. Local activists may have their own access to people who are
experts from other animal agencies that have successfully initiated programs to
assist animal victims of family violence. Last year, I included Pat Preu,
a victim of domestic violence who suffered the loss of her cats when her
husband drowned them in retaliation for her leaving him when he held a gun to
her head. Her story has been told on Entertainment Tonight and in Cat Fancy
Magazine. Working with local battered women’s groups, you may be able to find a
similar victim willing to tell her story. You will find that most
speakers will not charge a fee, or you may have to pay to reimburse their
travel expenses. You may be able to get the airline to donate the
airfare, and local hotels, in exchange for putting their name on the flier, may
offer a free night’s lodging.
Find a venue- You should not have to pay for the room. Try government
offices, churches and even condo meeting rooms. The local hospital may
have a classroom they are willing to allow you to use, and even your local
animal care agency may offer a classroom. Plan for about 100 people.
Find a printer- Make up your fliers and ask a local printer to waive the
printing and/or copying costs in exchange for putting their name on the fliers
as a sponsor. Ask your local animal control agency or humane society if
they would sponsor the event by doing the mass mailing for you. Your regional
headquarters of the HSUS will gladly send out fliers in your state to all
interested parties. Also, find sponsors in the form of local business owners
who may be willing to donate stamps and/or mailing costs. And don’t
forget the power of e-mail.
Who should attend? Be sure to send fliers to local law enforcement
officers, domestic violence workers, prosecutors, educators, social workers,
animal control agencies, and other members of the community who are committed
to stopping animal abuse and domestic violence are encouraged to attend. By
making contact with your local Bar Association, Mental Health Centers, School
Boards and Nursing Licensing agency, you will learn how to offer continuing
education units for your event. These units are needed by certain professionals
to keep their license current and are sure to generate interest. You will
find that the workshop is about more than just learning about animal abuse, it’s
also an occasion to meet others who share our goal of stopping violence in its
many forms. Indeed, for years, government agencies and humane
organizations have been working together to find a solution. The Humane Society
of the United States (HSUS), working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), released a study in 1996 entitled “The Tangled Web of Abuse”
which details evidence that those who abuse animals, especially those who begin
at an early age, will go on to abuse people. Indeed, Jeffrey Dahmer, Kip
Kinkel and the Columbine killers, to name just a few, all had a history of
animal abuse. But nowhere is animal cruelty more prevalent than behind
closed doors. With little concern for consequences, abusers mistreat
family pets for a variety of reasons, including:
* To demonstrate and confirm power and control over the family
* To isolate the victim and children
* To force the family to keep family violence a secret
* Teach submission
* To retaliate for acts of independence and self-determination
* To perpetuate the context of terror
* To prevent a victim from leaving or coerce the victim to return
* To degrade victim through involvement in the abuse
There are compelling reasons why we should recognize animal abuse as a form of
battering. It differs from other crimes committed against animals in that
abusing animals exposes the deliberateness of battering rather than loss of
control. The abuse of animals and children is closely related because
both targets are small and vulnerable.
No single event can reduce a social illness as devastating as domestic
violence, so, there should be post-conference plans to support victims who fear
for the lives of their companion animals if they flee for their own
safety. Since 28% of the women who call shelter hotlines refuse to seek
safety for themselves if it means leaving their pets behind; it stands to
reason that programs set up to help battered women are not meeting all their
needs. After our conference, the Animal Rescue League seeks to set up a
foster network to provide safe, temporary homes for these at-risk animals.
While battered women and children seek shelter from the storm of domestic
violence, we seek to give them peace of mind and their animals care and comfort
until a permanent solution can be found for both. The First Strike
Conference will address this project as well.
For more information on how to put together your own First Strike conference,
and to learn about other national anti-violence initiatives, visit the
following websites:
The Humane Society of the United States www.hsus.org
The Latham Foundation www.latham.org
The American Humane Association (http://www.americanhumane.org/link/default.htm)
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~2~
Tofuevos Rancheros
By Greg Lawson - ParkStranger@aol.com
A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to create a
two week vegan meal plan. I included a few of my favorite recipes and
created a few new ones, including this recipe for Tofuevos Rancheros.
Please visit my website <http://utminers.utep.edu/vsep> and click on the
two week meal plan link to see the rest of the meal plans and recipes.
And remember, the most important step anyone can take to help animals is to go
vegan.
Tofuevos Rancheros
*
slices of tofu
* red bell pepper
* onion
* green enchilada sauce
* vegan cheese
* whole wheat tortilla
This is a single serving vegan remake of Huevos Rancheros, a popular Tex-Mex
dish that uses fried eggs.
Cut three slices of firm or extra firm, low fat Mori-Nu tofu, about 1/2 inch
thick, not lengthwise, from the smaller end. Place carefully on paper towel and
gently blot moisture off with a paper towel.
Pour a 10 oz. can of green enchilada sauce into a skillet. Add several strips
of red bell pepper and strips of onion. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer a few
minutes to soften vegetables. Place the tofu into the sauce. Place two slices
of Soymage brand vegan American cheese slices or thinly sliced cheddar
VeganRella on top of tofu (This step really adds to the near-authentic
southwest flavor of the dish, as if people in the southwest ate tofu. The
texture of Mori-Nu tofu is similar to cooked egg whites, but the taste doesn't
include cruelty). Cover and simmer a few minutes until soycheese has
softened. Serve on top of a whole wheat tortilla and garnish with fresh
parsley, black olives, salsa, a few chips and Tofutti Sour Supreme. I like to
include a vegan sausage patty. Include refried beans for a breakfast that will
last all day.
Hint: if you are over 21, and it is a non-work day, a tequila sunrise makes a
better drink to accompany this dish than V-8 juice.
Hint 2: add slices of jalapeno pepper to the skillet to increase your desire to
drink the tequila.
Vegetarian Society of El Paso
http://utminers.utep.edu/vsep
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~3~
VeggieDate.com
Submitted to ARO by greenpeople.org@verizon.net
http://www.VeggieDate.com
- Vegetarian online singles and dating
>
It is difficult for vegetarians to meet each other. Nevertheless, it is
important for vegetarians to meet because vegetarianism is more than just a
food choice -- it is a lifestyle entailing compassionate living. Therefore,
VeggieDate.com was created to provide an easy-to-use, comprehensive service
that helps vegetarians meet each other. As of Oct 2002, VeggieDate.com
has over 8500 active ads.
VeggieDate.com offers the following FREE services: searching online personal
ads; placing an ad with option picture; and responding to contacts from other
members. Additionally, VeggieDate.com offers a 2-week free trial of initiating
contacts to other members. After the trial period, a nominal payment of
$9.95 is required to continue initiating contacts.
You can search for ads on VeggieDate.com using the following criteria:
sexual preference, vegetarian level, age, geography, height, religion, smoking
and drinking preferences, children, ethnicity, body type, relationship and
keywords. Read our testimonials at: http://www.veggiedate.com/success.htm
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~4~
Canine Acupressure
We
at ARO have received a special request for information leading to acquiring a
book called "Canine Acupressure: A Treatment Workbook" by Nancy A.
Zidonis, Marie K. Soderberg, Mickey Rubin (September 1996), Equine Acupressure
Inc. ASIN: 0964598205
If anyone has a copy of this book, or knows where to acquire one, please
contact
JChum80600@aol.com directly.
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~5~
PeTA Wants YOU !
From Matt Prescott - mattprescott@peta.org
To
come to Norfolk and help fight for animal rights. Ok, so maybe that was a
little dramatic. I actually just wanted to let all of you know about PETA’s
internship program. Maybe you’re graduating soon and don’t know what to do…or
maybe you want to take some time off from school…or even just spend your summer
or winter break doing something for animal rights. Well, PETA offers an AMAZING
internship program at our International Headquarters in Norfolk, VA. As a PETA
intern you get to work with PETA staff, and help with the every day activities
around the office. It’s not like other internships where you just make photo
copies and get coffee for people…you actually get to do fun stuff! We have one
intern right now that just travels around to shows and concerts with a PETA
staffer to table. We have another that works in the campaign department and
gets to do all sorts of cool stuff. Interns get to live for free in an amazing
house with all the other interns, plus they get $200 a month! We take interns
year round, all the time, so if you’re interested, definitely apply! Just click
here for more info and to apply:
http://www.peta.org/about/internapp.html
Matt
Prescott
Youth Outreach Coordinator
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
501 Front Street
Norfolk, VA 23501
(757) 622-7382, ext 1590
www.peta.org
www.peta2.org
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~6~
Who Are You Calling A
Terrorist?
By Steven Zak
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20021010-73507064.htm
One
might be tempted to believe that conservatives don't like animals. A lot
sure don't like animal advocates. At the tamest level, they label us
"screwballs" and "extremists" or just, derisively,
"animal righters." But more seriously, some such critics --
let's call them "animals wrongers" -- brand us terrorists.
The Wall Street Journal howls that we "terrorize civilians."
Dick Boland in The Washington Times barks that "Animal-rights groups are
the closest thing to terrorists we have in this country." (Apparently he
hasn't read about the al Qaeda training camp graduates recently arrested in
Buffalo, N.Y. and Portland, Ore.) Wesley J. Smith adds to the cacophony in
National Review Online (NRO) with the ominous pronouncement that animal
advocates "have crossed to the dark side — animal rights terrorism."
Granted, some radical animal activists have committed serious acts of vandalism
and other crimes. But the wrongers' wrath isn't directed solely at them. Mr.
Smith, for instance, condemns groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals and even the moderate Humane Society of the United States.
Why do the wrongers feel so threatened by even mainstream animal welfare
activism, whose lineage in this country goes back to the Puritans? (One would
expect some conservative sympathy for a cause with so much history.) Mr. Smith
provides a possible answer in an earlier NRO piece where he objects to "personhood
theory" — according to which rights come not from simply being human but
rather from "possessing relevant cognitive capacities."
In plain English, that means that no conceivable set of facts could ever
convince Mr. Smith that animals have rights. It wouldn't matter if animals
could read philosophy, compose sonnets and play a game of chess. For Mr. Smith,
human life alone has value, not because of any characteristics humans possess
but "simply and merely because it is human."
Try such a declaration in a purely human context: "Caucasian/male/gentile
life has value simply and merely because it is caucasian/male/gentile."
Such claims have of course been made at various times and places, explicitly or
implicitly, but few would mistake them for moral positions.
What such a baldly self-serving, only-my-group-has-value argument reveals,
though, is that equating animal rights with "terrorism" is not a
reaction to the vandalism of any radicals. For the animal wrongers, anyone who
trumpets the value of nonhuman lives, even peacefully, is a threat. The mere
recognition that animals have a place in the circle of moral concern, alongside
human beings, leads to, as Mr. Smith puts it, "dehumanization" — the
ultimate form of terror.
No wonder the animal wrongers see "terrorists" everywhere. There are
plenty of people concerned about animals, even among conservatives. For
example: Sen. Jon Kyl and Rep. Elton Gallegly, who just three years ago
championed legislation to outlaw snuff films with animal victims. And former Republican
senatorial staffer Christopher J. Heyde, who wrote critically in the Washington
Times recently about animals in labs. "I am appalled," he wrote,
"that these atrocities occurred in U.S. laboratories, which happened in
part because the overwhelming majority of animals used in research have been
denied legal protection." And Matthew Scully, a former speechwriter for
President Bush and author of a new book on animal rights, who argued in a
recent piece for the New York Times, the intrinsic worth of elephants and
against the ivory trade. And Victorino Matus, who wrote sympathetically in the
conservative Daily Standard about the neglected and abused animals in the Kabul
Zoo. And former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who appeared at a black-tie
dinner at New York's Waldorf Astoria to raise money for veterinary care at the
nonprofit Animal Medical Center — and to honor NYPD and other search-and-rescue
dogs.
Even conservative author and dog-lover Ann Coulter was quoted in the New York
Post as saying that "Dogs are people too."
Do such expressions of concern and caring for animals make you worry that
animals will soon get the vote, or that shared restrooms for them and us can't
be far behind? Of course not. But they apparently do worry the animal wrongers,
who fear the slippery slope that we've all stepped onto long, long ago.
But they're worse than just silly reactionaries. By equating vandalism and
other property crimes with terrorism, the wrongers trivialize the real thing
and insult its victims. Which, come to think of it, sort of makes them
terrorists.
At least as much so as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Steven Zak, a longtime animal advocate, has written about animal rights for
many publications including the Atlantic Monthly and the New York Times.
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~7~
Urge Harley-Davidson to Spare
the Deer
PETA has just learned that Harley-Davidson’s
plant in York, Pennsylvania, has hired USDA-Wildlife Services to shoot and kill
more than 100 deer living on the company’s property in Springettsbury Township.
In response to complaints about the proposed hunt sent to us from people in
York who work at Harley-Davidson or live near the company’s property and love
the deer, PETA has sent a letter to the Chair and CEO asking the company to
accept our offer to assist him in developing an effective and humane deer
control program that everyone can live with, including the deer.
Please call and/or send a polite letter to Jeffrey Bleustein, Harley-Davidson’s
Chair and CEO, asking him reconsider the deer hunt until the company can
thoroughly examine all the effective, nonlethal alternatives presented by our
organization:
Jeffrey Bleustein, Chair and CEO
c/o Joe Hice
Harley-Davidson, Inc.
3700 W. Juneau Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53208
Tel.:
414-342-4680
Fax:
414-343-4621
Please call and send letters to Mr. Bleustein as soon as possible. The hunt
could take place any time in the near future.
PETA :: Action
Alerts
http://peta.org/alert/automation/AlertItem.asp?id=564
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~8~
I
Worship At The Altar of Dog
By Jennifer Gale
From Babyeiya@aol.com
After the Death of My Darling Sara, my sister Jennifer Gale wrote this.
Sara and her son were rescued from a buncher twelve years ago, just before
being sent off to a lab. Through the efforts of PETA he was shut
down. I thought I would share this poem with all my dog loving friends.
I WORSHIP AT THE ALTAR OF DOG,
For if God is love, then surely Dog must be the embodiment of God on earth.
Even through suffering, through cruelty, through starvation
Dog loves, Dog forgives, Dog gives.
Even at the hands of the Chinese madmen, the soulless, empty men who skin Dog
alive to sell their fur
For coats, for collars and cuffs, for furry toys.
For Englishmen and Americans and Frenchmen and Germans and Japanese…
people who profess to love Dog.
Even then, Dog comes to the murderer's hand, tail wagging, with sorrow in its
heart, in its eye.
With sadness for the soul of the soulless one about to commit the act,
And like Jesus in Golgotha, says,
I forgive you for what you are about to do.
I WORSHIP AT THE ALTAR OF DOG,
For of all God's creations Dog is selfless and boundless in its love.
Dog is the embodiment of Dharma
of Mitzvah
of Lovingkindness.
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~9~
Memorable Quote
"The indifference, callousness and contempt that so many people exhibit
toward animals is evil first because it results in the great suffering of
animals, and second because it results in an incalculably great
impoverishment of the human spirit."
~ Ashley Montagu
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Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
P O Box 7053
Tampa, Fl 33673-7053
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&
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Animals' Agenda Magazine: WebEdition
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