A n i m
a l W r i t e s © sm
The official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 08/09/00
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MicheleARivera@aol.com
~ SavingLife@aol.com
THE EIGHT ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ Say A Prayer For The Ones We Can’t Save by
MicheleARivera@aol.com
2 ~ Japan - U.S. Whaling Dispute Simmers
3 ~ Rally For Bears
4 ~ H.O.P.E. For Horses
5 ~ Website of Note
6 ~ They Are Not Our Property
7 ~ The Empty Space by Park StRanger@aol.com
8 ~ Quote To Remember
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Say A Prayer For The Ones We Can’t Save
by Michelle A.Rivera - MicheleARivera@aol.com
When
I moved to Germany in 1981, the first thing I needed was a cat. Having no
cat, I was an unhappy camper. So, I went to the shelter and found a
beautiful, blue-eyed Siamese, about two years old. What attracted me to
this lovely cat was not that she was a Siamese, but that she was so very, very
vocal. Like me.
But she had just come in the day before and the shelter needed to keep her
exactly seven days before they could release her. It was the dead of
winter in the Black Forest, and this Florida girl had no car, no coat, no boots
and no mittens! More importantly, I had no phone. I had been in
Germany a week. I needed a cat, the phone could wait. I had a
priority list to follow.
So every day I would trudge down to the bus station and catch the bus to the
city. I walked several blocks in the snow, uphill, (both ways, of
course), to the shelter. The hardest part was not knowing if she would be
there for me. Ideally I should have been hoping that she was reclaimed by a
loving guardian. But I am not all that selfless, and she was my soulmate,
so I was hoping she was there. By the third day, she recognized my voice
when I entered the lobby and she would howl in her Siamese-German voice as soon
as I asked about her. I spent the better part of most days there.
Finally, on day seven, I was given a small cardboard carrier that held the love
of my life. I brought her home on a sunshiny, bitter cold day. I
placed her on my lap on the bus (no stupid laws in Germany saying animals are
“verboton” on public transportation). We arrived home and I fussed over
her and loved her for twenty-one years.
Sometime during her fifteenth year, my heart stood still. I felt a
lump. She had mammary cancer, and needed surgery. The vet was kind,
he told me she was very sick. “The tumor is arachnid”, he said. “I took
out what I could, but it’s wrapped itself all around her vital organs and I
can’t get it all, she’ll be gone by Christmas”. He had just given my
beloved Sable only two more months with me.
I rushed home and grabbed a vial of Holy Water that had been brought to me from
Lourdes. I dribbled the water over her incision and prayed very hard. I
lit a candle. I called a prayer chain, and others prayed too. And
instead of two months, Sable was granted another six years.
As a state-certified cruelty investigator I see a lot of terrible sights, and I
hear a lot of terrible stories. Sometimes, it gets to be too much.
“I can’t save them all”, I cried to a counselor one day. “I just can’t do
enough”.
It was then that I learned about intervention. My doctor gave me advice
that made sense. She said that there are animals in this world of whom I
know nothing. There are animals suffering in ways I will never know. But there
are also animals that I do know of but can’t help with money, medicines,
adoptions, euthanasia or any conventional rescue method. “Pray for them”,
she said. “Ask for intervention”.
Like the water from Lourdes, I can ask for miracles for other animals.
This is the story of the birth of the Prayer Alliance For Animals. I have
been praying for animals ever since I first learned of St. Francis’ of Assisi
being canonized because of his love for animals. If God saw fit to bestow
upon St. Francis a unique love for animals, and that love for animals defined
him, then surely animals are important in the eyes of God.
But prayer is stronger when multiplied by two, four, forty or a thousand.
So I asked a few friends to join me in prayer for the animals. And those
friends asked a few more friends, and on and on and on.
We once prayed for stricter laws for manatee protection because so many were
dying. The next week, a device was installed in the nuclear plant where they
were dying. The device is meant to detect the presence of manatees so as to
protect them from closing gates. We prayed for a bill of rights for
animals, and the following week the papers announced that Harvard and
Georgetown Universities were installing an animal-rights law department.
We prayed for the dogs in Korea, and soon after PeTA announced that they were
initiating a huge media blitz to raise awareness of the plight of the Korean
dogs.
We
prayed for animals in labs, and Al Gore backed off his LD50 testing
proposal.
Coincidences? I don’t know. Do you?
Animals need prayers. They don’t care to whom you pray. They don’t care
how you pray. Some light votive candles, some say the rosary, some
meditate, some do research on the issue of the week. But all focus, energy and
spiritual intensity is brought together for one issue. We pray for
wolves, cats, fishes, bugs, cows, rats, and more. We pray for the people who
are helping them. We pray for them all week. I envision a huge show of
force streaming towards the heavens, like a petition with billions of
signatures, we pray hard for the animals that we cannot touch, cannot rescue,
cannot comfort. This is our virtual animal-rights demonstration. This is
our spiritual prayer meeting. This is what we do.
Do animals have souls? Are carnivores and hunters and experimenters all
sinners who are going to hell? Are animals our spirit guides?
I don’t know. I just know that a miracle happened to an eight pound
Siamese cat who should have died. I know that. That, I know.
[Editors note: To join the Prayer Alliance for Animals please visit their
website or send an e-mail to Petprayer@aol.com. You will receive a
one-paragraph letter announcing the petition of the week and offering websites
where to visit for independent research of the weekly issue.]
Prayer Alliance
For Animals
http://hometown.aol.com/petprayer/myhomepage/index.html
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Japan - U.S. Whaling Dispute Simmers
August
7, 2000 - Antiwhaling nations such as the United States are becoming
increasingly dissatisfied over the Japanese government's decision to broaden
the range of whales it catches for research purposes from this fiscal year.
When U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met Foreign Minister Yohei Kono
late last month, she hinted at the United States imposing sanctions on Japan
and called for a halt to Tokyo's so-called experimental whaling.
Some fear the issue may trigger a new conflict between the two nations.
According to the Fisheries Agency, Japan will catch 10 sperm whales and 50
Bryde's whales in addition to the 100 minke whales that it has been catching
for research purposes in the northwestern Pacific Ocean for the last six years.
It will be the first time in 13 years that sperm and Bryde's whales have been
caught. Six whaling vessels left for the Pacific on July 29.
The agency expanded the types of whales to be caught after fishing industry
experts pointed out that sperm whale numbers had increased and supplies of the
fish that they feed on had fallen as a result.
The agency decided to expand the range of whales to be caught to conduct
research on the whale's habitat, assist the nation's fishing industry by
estimating the numbers of each type of whale in the Sea of Japan and
neighboring areas, and conduct general research on the ecosystem of whales.
The United States and Europe oppose this policy and have expressed serious
concern over the matter.
According to the Foreign Ministry, after Japan reported its plan to expand
research-purpose whaling in mid-April to the International Whaling Commission,
several countries protested that Japan should never be allowed to expand its
whaling practices. In particular, people in the United States are strongly
opposed to hunting sperm whales -- the same kind of whale that was featured in
U.S. author Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick."
Copyright 2000 The Yomiuri Shimbun
<><><><><>
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A leading U.S. senator urged President Bill Clinton on
Wednesday to consider imposing sanctions against Japan to protest a hotly
contested whale hunt in the north Pacific. Despite opposition from President
Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and leading environmental
groups, a Japanese whaling fleet set out last weekend to hunt large sperm and
Bryde's whales, two species protected under U.S. law. The Japanese already hunt
the minke whale.
"It seems clear that Japan is testing the resolve of our opposition. And
it seems just as clear that we must respond authoritatively," said Sen.
Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Government
Affairs Committee. "Given the
threat to the sperm, minke and Bryde's whales, I urge President Clinton to
closely examine the sanctions available under U.S. law if Japan continues to
ignore international standards," Lieberman added in a statement. U.S. officials said the Clinton
administration could impose trade sanctions against Japanese fishery products
and other goods, though they stressed that a number of other options were
available.
Japan gave up commercial whaling in compliance with an international moratorium
in 1986 but has engaged in research whaling since 1987. The practice has drawn
fire from the World Wildlife Fund and anti-whaling nations, who see Japanese
research as an end-run around the moratorium because the flesh ends up in the
market for human consumption. Japan is the largest consumer of whale meat in
the world. Under U.S. law, the Secretary of Commerce will review Japanese
actions and make recommendations to the president, who could then impose trade
sanctions or other retaliatory measures on Japan.
<><><><><>
FROM PROGRESSIVE ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY
PAWS Advocacy Director Will Anderson recently returned from the International
Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting and explained that the Japanese government's
disregard for public opinion regarding whaling is due in large part to the U.S
government position on Makah whaling. Over the objections of many IWC commissioners,
the Clinton Administration forced through a Makah grey whale quota by
sidestepping normal IWC criteria and procedures. The Makah aboriginal
request fails the subsistence needs test and created the new category of
cultural whaling. Japan and many other countries have long wanted to
initiate their own cultural whaling plans and are now able to do it as a
result. "Regulated" global commercial whaling is likely to
resume beginning with the IWC 2002 meeting in Japan. For questions or
more information, please contact Will Anderson at (425) 787-2500 x811 or
wander@paws.org
<><><><><>
FROM OCEAN DEFENSE INTERNATIONAL
ODI Condemns Japanese Whale Hunt
Less than one month after being shot down by the International Whaling
Commission in their bid to expand their “scientific whaling”, Japan’s whaling
fleet is now headed to the Northern Pacific to hunt sperm and Bryde’s
whales. Japan continues to defy international law and continues
commercial whaling despite the moratorium.
“Ocean Defense International condemns this illegal hunt and feels the United
States and the United Kingdom should not only threaten sanctions but should
send military forces to stop the fleet,” ODI president Jonathan Paul stated
today.
Most species of whales were brought to near extinction by humans hunting them
until the moratorium went into effect in 1986. Japan and Norway continue
to hunt whales despite the moratorium. Despite the alarming rate of strandings
and populations of a number of species of whales on the decrease, whaling countries
have been pushing hard to lift the moratorium, including giving financial aid
to small-island nations to obtain votes in both CITIES and IWC meetings.
“We are very concerned about the condition of ocean eco-systems and with the
precarious condition of all whale species,” Paul stated. “Furthermore, many
countries are backing the Revised Management Scheme (RMS) to allow commercial
whaling, including the United States with the blessing of Al Gore. Gore’s camp claims the RMS will regulate
whaling and less whales will be killed. Yet the moratorium currently in effect
has not stopped Japan and Norway. How can we control regulated whaling when we
cannot even control a total ban on whaling?”
ODI has been opposing the Makah whale hunt since the fall of 1998 with its
fleet of coastal boats. ODI has asserted that this hunt will open the door to
commercial whaling around the globe and it seems that this is just around the
corner.
“If the governments around the world cannot enforce the law involving the illegal
take of whales, I guess we are going to have to do it ourselves,” Paul said.
“We are in the process of obtaining a ship to do this. We are in the next
great mass extinction on the planet. Our goals are to have a global moratorium
and a world ocean sanctuary for all whales, dolphins and other marine species.”
Ocean Defense International
PO Box 401
Williams, OR. 97544
Source: wcca@olypen.com
(Dan Spomer)
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Rally For Bears
Since there are less than 50 days before Fish
& Game plans to start killing 175 bears, we need to make a concentrated
effort in August to fight for the bears.
We cannot allow the killing to take place!
A bill to PROTECT black bears PASSED the NJ Senate on June 26. However,
Assembly Speaker Jack Collins has publicly stated that he is
"comfortable" with Fish & Game's plan to kill 175 bears and does
NOT intend to post the bill for a vote before the full Assembly. We will not
accept that!
Please join us at a rally at Assemblyman Collins' office to show him the
immense support that exists for the bears and make him
"uncomfortable" with Fish & Game's plans.
When: Saturday, August 12, 2000
Time: 12am - 2pm
Where: 63 East Ave, Woodstown (Gloucester County, NJ)
Do we want to let the fate of 175 black bears rest in the hands of this one
man? 32 Senators voted to protect the
bears! Over half of the assembly members also support protecting the bears!
And, the VAST majority of NJ citizens was to see NJ Black Bears protected!
Collins must let the democratic process work!
~ Please join us ~
For more information, call:
New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance
732-446-6808
Source: New
Jersey Animal Rights Alliance <njara@superlink.net>
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H.O.P.E. For Horses
H.O.P.E.,
The Humane Organization to Protect Equines ( H.O.P.E. ) was born when our
founder realized that the general public in America was unaware that horses
were being slaughtered in the United States so that they could be eaten by
people in other countries whose gourmet tastes allow the enjoyment of horse
flesh. As you know little horse flesh is eaten in the U.S.
The method used to kill horses at the slaughterhouses is unimaginably
cruel. The horses do not die instantly and certainly not
painlessly. Eyewitness accounts from the slaughterhouse workers
themselves, tell of the dreadful screams, urinating from the fear of the
sounds, how their terrified eyes followed the workers around as they hang
suspended by one leg on the bleed line, drowning in their own blood after their
throats were slit. Some are even skinned while still alive. Unborn
foals growing in their mother's wombs die when the mare is gutted, and are put in
dumpsters with the rest of the slaughter waste.
Horses are not slaughtered in this country for pet food as many people
believe. Horsemeat that appears as an ingredient in some pet foods comes
from the waste meat of the beef industry.
H.O.P.E. will also address the issues surrounding the foals from PMU farms that
breed mares every year to produce urine to manufacture the estrogen replacement
drug Premarin. The drug is manufactured by Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, but
their patent on the drug recently expired, and other manufacturers are planning
to put out generic forms. The generics still require urine from pregnant
mares.
Killer buyers who wait patiently at auctions all across the country to purchase
the leftover horses and transport to the slaughterhouses are a major part of
the horror but it is important to note it doesn't end here. Recent
reliable estimates show that approximately 40,000 foals are being born as a
result of Premarin production each year. Efforts are being made to rescue
some of these foals each year, however the sheer numbers make rescue of all
foals impossible, and as a result, many go to slaughter sometimes as young as 2
months old. The PMU foals should never be born for the reason they come
into this world. Our fight against Premarin must take two directions if
we are to succeed; end slaughter and educate women and the medical professions,
including your doctors, to reduce the use of Premarin (and its sister drugs),
so the vast profits that are now promoting other companies to begin
manufacture, causing an increase in PMU farming, are no longer there.
The Humane Organization for the Protection of Equines (H. O. P. E.) will hold a
Rally in Lafayette Park, in Washington, D. C., on September 18, 2000.
Watch for more information on this in future issues of Animal Writes, or
contact Kandi59274@aol.com
Source: Kandi59274@aol.com
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Website of Note
Start
a petition, sign a petition, send a petition. You can do all this for
free at the following website:
E- The People
http://www.e-thepeople.com/etp/AboutETP/faq.cfm#4
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They Are Not Our Property
We are beginning with companion animals, as
people have close relationships with them, usually as adopters rather than
"owners." Changing people's minds is a difficult task, but the
rewards will be enjoyed by animals everywhere. To transform their social and
moral status from property to living beings with their own needs and interests
initially requires language changes from "owner" to guardian,
"pet" to friend, "it" to he/she, "that"
to a given name and other like substitutions. The 1995 Summit for the Animals
passed a resolution, signed by 19 national animal organizations, committing to
these very changes. To promote the new language and the ethic underlying it,
our campaign is committed to a nation-wide effort to reach the hearts and minds
of the public, with the help and support of animal organizations everywhere.
When momentum is achieved, a legal test case will be sought.
Society's acceptance of a new belief system which rejects ownership and
embraces coexistence with non-human animals will radically alter their plight
across the board, while helping shelters to substitute adoption for purchase
and enhancing activists' efforts to promote their agendas. We -- you, the
animals and I -- are in this together. Let's lay siege to the blasphemy of
animal ownership and herald a new state of affairs. They are not our property.
We are not their owners.
(Text inspired from letter written by Alan W. Boessmann, D.V.M., former
director of Animal Rights Advocacy, In Defense of Animals, to animal shelters
and advocacy groups across the country to launch "They Are Not Our
Property" campaign.)
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The Empty Space
I keep looking at the empty space where you used to be
last week before your soul went free
the hair I haven't cleaned up yet
the clean spot on the kitchen floor
where your placemat used to sit
where I won't be feeding you any more
your water bowl, your favorite toy,
things left behind that once brought joy
I find myself treading carefully
afraid I'll step where you used to be
Sometimes I see you by the bottom stair
I look again, you are not there
I miss your small cat steps
across my bed in the dead of night
waking me up long before light
I know I used to complain,
If only I could feel those soft paws again
Here kitty, kitty,
remind me how it used to be
Here kitty, kitty,
time passed much too quickly
~~ Park Stranger, in memory of Genghis
Park StRanger@aol.com
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Quote To Remember
"Much
of the indifference, apathy, and even cruelty which we see has its origin in
the false education given the young concerning the rights of animals, and their
duty towards them."
~ J. Todd Ferrier
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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=-
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