A n i m
a l W r i t e s © sm
The official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 08/13/00
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MicheleARivera@aol.com
~ SavingLife@aol.com
THE NINE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ National Homeless Animals Day by MicheleARivera@aol.com
2 ~ What You Can Do To Fight Animal Cruelty
3 ~ Japanese Whale-Killing Begins
4 ~ You Can Help - PetPals
5 ~ Free Dissection Books
6 ~ Good News on Fur Front
7 ~ An Argument for Animal Rights by Vicki Vachula
- Ononimus@aol.com
8 ~ World Order by J. Alexander Kerns
9 ~ Quote To Remember
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National Homeless Animals Day
By MicheleARivera@aol.com
August
19 is National Homeless Animals Day. The International Society for Animal
Rights (ISAR) sponsors this national event, now in it’s ninth consecutive
year. ISAR uses a single candle as the logo for Homeless Animals Day, and
the slogan “Shed light on an American Tragedy.” But a candle is not
enough. We need a floodlight.
It’s time to illuminate the tragedy of euthanasia. We must stop accepting
euthanasia as a solution to the overpopulation problem. Euthanasia is not the answer, but because
there just aren’t enough homes for them all, neither is adoption. The
answer is the spaying and neutering of America’s companion animals, strays and
surrenders. It is the only way to stop the slaughter.
Or is it? In Europe, there is no noticeable overpopulation problem.
The animal-rights activists in parts of Europe have outlawed circuses and
rodeos, veal and are working on fox-hunting. Why? Because they can
concentrate their efforts on those important animal-rights issues. They
don’t have to spend their time, money and resources educating the public on the
tragedy of overpopulation. They can
focus their energies on other issues.
Many Europeans do not approve of spay/neuter, and many companion animals are
left intact their entire lives, regardless of whether or not they will be
bred. The difference in attitudes is the reason there are no unwanted
animals in places like Germany, Austria, Switzerland and others. The
companion animals who live among the people of those countries are very much
wanted. And their culture reflects it. It is not unusual to see
dogs walking side-by-side with their human families while shopping, dining,
worshipping, attending cultural events or hiking. Animals are encouraged
and welcome everywhere. In so many German Tierparks (zoos), the animals
are not caged or surrounded by moats, and visitors can walk among them.
The areas are surrounded by grating that people can walk over but hoofed
animals cannot, which keeps them safe and off the autobahn, out of harms way.
The deer and other animals graze contentedly while visitors sit on benches
nearby, in respectful communion. There are no big cats or bears because
these animals wouldn’t be stopped by grating on the ground. So be it.
This scene reflects the attitudes of the people of most European countries. In
Germany, France and Austria I saw purebred dogs who were well-behaved and an
obvious source of pride for their guardians, who proudly told their stories to
anyone who would listen, (though I admit I didn’t always understand).
They don’t need to spay and neuter their animals as a means of controlling the
overpopulation problem. They may choose to do so for the health benefits, but
not to render them unable to breed. The animals don’t run loose, they don’t
breed indiscriminately and they don’t get lost, stolen or end up in
pounds. Indeed, the only pound I saw (where I adopted my Siamese)
belonged to the American Army base because personnel would leave their animals
behind rather than fly them to the states when their tour of duty was over.
This practice, so inconceivable to the Germans that left them seething at the
irresponsibility and lack of commitment that was so obvious among Americans.
(American military personnel are exempt from the six-month quarantine rule).
Unless and until American attitudes towards companion animals change, we may
never see harmony and respect for animals. And sadly, sterilization may
always be the only way to control the overpopulation problem.
Five million animals are killed in our nations shelters every year. That is a
conservative number because we don’t get the statistics from the small,
independent rescue groups who benevolently rescue dogs and cats and then have
the sad task of sending them to be “slept.”
A few years ago some safety advocates took issue with the words “car accident”.
Say what it is”, they argued, say “crash” and say it loud. That way,
people will become more aware of what it means to drive in an unsafe
manner. So now we say car crash.
I sometimes write about sterilization and get a letter or two from
animal-rights activists who don’t believe in sterilization for different
reasons. I understand that. These activists say that I shouldn’t
use the word sterilization when I mean castration, and that we should call it
what it is. Actually, the word is orchiectomy, but most people
don’t know that this means “neuter.” “Say castration”, they argue, the idea
being that people will be shocked into not doing it.
We don’t say slaughter. We say euthanasia, put to sleep, send to the Rainbow
Bridge, or giving “blue juice”. Maybe we should say kill. We kill them.
We kill five million animals in senseless slaughter. Maybe then we can
get the killing to stop.
But is the answer in semantics? Maybe. Semantics reflects our
attitudes, and it’s our attitudes that we must change. There is a group
in DC that told the AR2000 conventioneers that they are working on a campaign
to convince businesses to allow people to bring their dogs with them on
outings. They are calling this effort “Pet Friendly” and already a major
office supply store has agreed to let people bring their dogs along to pick up
office supplies. This may not be the best start, but it is a start, and I truly
understand why this is important to our movement.
Dr. Elliott Katz (In Defense of Animals) has launched a campaign to change the
word ‘pet” to companion animal, “it” to his/her or s/he, “owner” to guardian
and stop the use of quotation marks around an animals’ name, ie:
“Fluffy”. I personally always hated that practice but didn’t know why,
but now I understand my own discomfort with that rule. Fluffy is a being
in his own right. What difference does it make if he’s a dog, cat, pig,
hamster, or human? Fluffy is Fluffy. The quotations take away from that,
a lot like the feminist argument which brought us Ms. instead of Mrs.
I hope we all get behind these sincere efforts, and I hope that we honor the
animals who are killed every year by attending or hosting vigils all over the
United States. When our animals die, we mourn them, we grieve for them, we get
sympathy cards from our friends which serve to keep the memory alive and
validate our own loss. But those 5 million animals don’t have a funeral, and
this is their funeral. This is their moment to tell the world they were
here, mourn our loss, for you have missed out on a beautiful friendship.
The Prayer Alliance for Animals is hosting an event in South Florida to
honor Homeless Animals Day. If you would like to host an event, contact
ISAR at International
Society for Animal Rights to get
information on this very important event.
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What You Can Do To Fight Animal
Cruelty
Animal
Legal Defense Fund <action@aldf.org>
Visit their website at: http://www.aldf.org
<> Report any act of cruelty or neglect you
see to the humane investigator at your local humane society, animal control
department or SPCA, and demand it be investigated.
<> Contact your local law enforcement and public prosecutor* and provide
them with your evidence. Ask them to uphold the laws of the Commonwealth
by investigating and prosecuting crimes that occur within their jurisdiction.
<> In situations that involve unsanitary conditions, contact your health
department.
<> If the above agencies are unwilling to proceed, contact your state
attorney and ask them to intervene.
<> Do not accept the "boys will be boys" excuse from
prosecutors who refuse to charge juveniles with animal cruelty. Talk to
your elected officials (mayor, town council, etc.) and ask them for help.
Contact the media and ask that they do a story about the situation; write
letters to the editor; call local talk radio shows; organize other members of
the community to contact the prosecutor's office.
<> Use the power of the Internet to organize specific actions and contact
key law enforcement officials and legislators.
<> Contact ALDF's Animal Cruelty Actionline at (800) 555-6517 or action@aldf.org
about the cruelty case. We can contact the prosecutor, offer our
assistance and urge vigorous prosecution.
<> The key to preventing cruelty is education. Teach children from
the earliest age that animals deserve humane treatment and respect.
Empower children to feel safe when reporting cruel behavior. Become a
volunteer or mentor at your local school ... empathy can be taught.
<> Depending on where you live, the City Attorney, County Attorney,
District Attorney or State's Attorney is responsible for prosecuting animal
cruelty cases. Check with your local government office or contact ALDF to
determine which prosecuting office is the appropriate one to contact in your
jurisdiction.
Source: "Diana
Artemis" <Artemisd123@hotmail.com>
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Japanese Whale-Killing Begins
August 11 - U.S. Newswire
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the nation's largest animal
protection organization with more than 7.3 million members and constituents,
condemns Japan for killing a Bryde's whale and continuing with an expanded hunt
to target not only minke whales but Bryde's and endangered sperm whales despite
threats of trade sanctions from the U.S. and appeals from world leaders and
environmental groups.
The HSUS is calling on President Clinton to enforce these threats and not let
Japan continue to kill these whales for "scientific" purposes that
can be pursued through non-lethal means. For years, the Japanese have been
hunting minke whales under the guise of scientific research despite the
International Whaling Commission's (IWC) repeated condemnation, and now Japan
has taken its disregard for the whales one step further. On Aug. 3, The HSUS
sent President Clinton a letter urging him to impose trade sanctions against
Japan under the Pelly Amendment, because the country's refusal to abandon the
expansion of its scientific whaling program undermines the international treaty
that regulates whale management. Now that the Japanese press reports that the
whaling fleet has been successful in killing a Bryde's whale, it is imperative
that the U.S. follow through on its threats.
"They stepped over the line when they killed this Bryde's whale,"
said Dr. Naomi Rose, HSUS Marine Mammal Scientist. "Japan exploits the
IWC's loophole on hunting for scientific purposes, and now the U.S. must follow
through on trade sanctions or Japan will rightfully ignore the U.S. and its
empty threats in the future," she said.
It is reported that six Japanese whaling ships are targeting 100 minke, 50
Bryde's and 10 sperm whales for this hunt. The sperm whale is protected under
the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The Bryde's whale, while not on the endangered
species list, is recognized as a species in need of protection, particularly
under international trade regulations.
"The population status of the Bryde's whale is unknown," Rose said.
"No country should be hunting a species when its status is unknown. That's
an outdated and dangerous conservation practice." Media Note: Copies of
the letter to President Clinton are available on the HSUS web site at www.hsus.org
or from the media contacts listed.
Source: wcca@olypen.com
(Dan Spomer)
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You Can Help - PetPals
PetPals
is a national organization of volunteers, that offers help to the elderly, or
handicapped pet owners & special needs pets. Many people need to transport
their pet to the vet, or the groomer but without help transportation may be
impossible.
Would you drive a dog, cat, rabbit, etc., to the vet for someone that could not
do it themselves? Would you do it for the animal's health & well
being? Would you do it for a friend or neighbor who cannot drive?
Volunteer to be a PetPal.
This is a different form of rescue. We offer to help before the animal in need
of being rehomed because proper care cannot be provided. PetPals is being
set up as a group to provide assistance to the mobile impaired pet owner.
Our goal is to help keep these pets at home with their owners. We believe
that having a pet adds to the quality of life fore the pet owner. Yes, owing a
pet is good medicine. It helps the shut-in have a life with a loving companion.
Their need to maintain the pet's care is very important & we can help by
providing transportation to the vet or groomer. Your support by helping the
elderly or handicapped pet owner's to keep the pet up to date on vet care is an
important community service.
Did you know that many, maybe all, taxicabs will not transport pets for any
reason. There is a need for this service. Join PetPals, Today.
Subscribe: PetPals-subscribe@egroups.com
List owner: PetPals-owner@egroups.com
PetPals is located on the egroups category:
Society: Organizations: Animal Welfare: Rescues and Shelters:
Pets: US
For more information Contact:
Billieann Brady, by e-mail: << RecuedDog@aol.com
>>
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Free Dissection Books
The HSUS new book on animal use in education is
available online. All the information is available FREE.
http://www.hsus.org/programs/research/monograph.html
I hope you will use this resource. It is the
result of seven years work on this issue and many months getting it put
together into a book. No high school or university library should be without
it! Please ask your librarian to order it so that others may benefit.
Thanks!
Jonathan Balcombe, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Education
Animal Research Issues
The Humane Society of the United States
Ph: 301-258-3046
Fx: 301-258-7760
Source: "Jonathan
Balcombe" <JBalcombe@hsus.org>
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Good News on Fur Front
According to Neal Travis's column in the August
10 New York Post, SEX IN THE CITY has agreed to stop promoting fur.
Travis writes:
PETA officials recently stopped by the show's set to talk about the fur issue,
and now the designer, Emmy-nominated Pat Field, has written to the group saying
she never intended to promote fur sales. "Had we known the show's
characters would be seen as trendsetters, we would have been more careful how
we dressed them," Field wrote. "From now on, we will use minimal fur
on the series, and the fur we will use will only be vintage or fake."
Source: KarenDawn1@aol.com
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An Argument for Animal Rights
by Vicki Vachula - Ononimus@aol.com
Nonhuman
animals have rights and should be treated as beings of moral concern. While we debate the morality of this
statement, we do not question the fact that humans have rights, but what
exactly are rights and who or what bestows them upon us? If a right is to
be defined as the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled, then who
gave us this power and how do we know that animals do not have it as
well? Because humans deem themselves superior to animals, we grant
ourselves rights over them. We have assumed the position that the one with the
most power wins the most rights, but I propose that we, as humans, do not have
the right to decide who or what gets rights.
Suppose that, one day, we are capable of space travel to other galaxies.
We come upon a planet that supports life. When we land, we find only
animals comparable to the ones we have here on earth - no life equal to
humans. Before our arrival, these animals had complete domain over their
own planet - much like the animals of our planet ruled earth before our
appearance. Do we have the right to use those animals for our own
purposes just as we have used our earth animals? Now suppose that, one
day, our planet is visited by extraterrestrial beings far superior to ourselves
in every way imaginable. In fact, in their eyes, we are animals.
Does that give them the right to do with us as they wish? Would it be OK
for them to use us for food, fashion or biological testing if it benefited
their species? I think we might have a problem with that. There is
always going to be the possibility that a more advanced species exists, but
that doesn’t mean that they should have domain over all species below
them.
One may argue that it is the human’s ability to reason that sets us apart from
other animals. That we reason makes us superior. While it cannot be
conclusively proven that animals cannot reason, for the moment, let’s assume
that they can’t. So what? If our alien visitors were telepathic and
could travel by teleportation at will, does that give them rights over
us? Birds can fly. Humans cannot. Does this make them
superior to us? What it does is make them superior flyers.
Depending on what attribute we focus on, all species can be seen as superior in
one way or another. These differences are irrelevant when deciding which
species get which rights. We all have rights.
Human beings are mammals. We are animals. Like other animals, we
are born, we grow, and we die. We have an instinct for survival. We
need to eat and rest when necessary. We reproduce. We each have a
central nervous system and so we can feel pain and have the capacity for
suffering. But do animals share a similar consciousness with
humans? This epistemological problem has no answer. We cannot know
what goes on in an animals mind for sure. They may very well share some
of the traits that we reserve only for humans. We just can’t know.
We do know that we have many significant similarities with animals and so it
follows that they would hold certain rights as we do. When we treat
animals inhumanely, we infringe upon these rights. If rights are distributed on
the basis of superiority determined by certain attributes, what happens to
human beings that we consider inferior? We would not enslave dimwitted
people for our own purposes, yet that’s what we do to animals every day.
As human beings, we avoid subjecting ourselves and others to pain. When
we inflict pain on someone else, we consider that to be immoral. That
animals feel pain suggests that we have an obligation not to inflict it upon
them, no matter how society could benefit.
A naturalist might say that we are all a part of the food chain. Animals
eat animals. We eat animals. That’s the natural order. That
may have been true at one time, but when we apply technology to the way in
which we prepare animals for our consumption, we see a scenario that was never
intended by nature. The horrific acts happening today involving animals
are inexcusable. Technology is not a bad thing, but our progress as a
society should include a revaluation of our treatment of animals. In this
day and age, we now have an abundance of choices for better foods, warmer
clothing, and more efficient materials, none of which depend on the
killing of animals. As living beings that contribute to the balance of
our ecological system - and therefore the continued survival of our planet, we
have an obligation to not only refrain from harming animals, but to protect
them as well. Failure to fulfill this obligation constitutes an immoral
act.
~
Copyright 1997 V. Vachula
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I would like to post this poem by my Professor,
J. Alexander Kerns (1893-1975). The poem written in 1944
(his poems privately published, Newark, NJ, 1946) is entitled "World
Order". He was an avid animal rights person way back when and frequently
had letters in Staten Island newspapers in NYC. I have the legal rights to
his papers.
Yoël L. Arbeitman, PhD <yoel@mindspring.com>
<><><><><>
World Order
by J. Alexander Kerns
SOME day Man's world will be complete,
And all his days be spent
In "Brotherhood" and "Justice" meet--
In smooth and smug content.
All other Life will be extinct
Save such as Man still needs
To keep His royal middle cinct,
To gorge Him, when He feeds.
Nor Wars be but remembered more
As Strange, Historic Sins:
--How nice it is to live Before
The Promised Age begins!
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Quote To Remember
"My number-one reason for eating a plant-rich diet is that it tastes
good.
I feel deprived if my meal doesn't have lots of vegetables in
it."
--Marion Nestle, PhD
Chair of the nutrition department at New York University.
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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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