A n i m a l W r i t e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 10/14/01
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE EIGHT ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ First Strike Conference Worth The Effort by
Michelle A. Rivera
2 ~ Help Free Savannah the Elephant by Dr. Steven
Best
3 ~ Vegetarianism and September 11 by
Ahimsa2000@aol.com
4 ~ Power of Love
5 ~ Bears Get A Second Chance
6 ~ Jerry Orbach of "Law & Order" Stars in New
PSA
7 ~ Listen, Child by Jim Willis
8 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
First Strike Conference Worth the Effort
By Michelle A. Rivera - MichelleRivera1@aol.com
In
legal terminology, a preemptive strike is 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.
This is 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. I am in the process
of putting together one locally in West Palm Beach that is being hosted
by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Peggy Adams Animal
Rescue League. There are several local co-sponsors including, The Sherry L.
Schlueter Foundation. (For those in the South Florida area, our conference, the
first of its kind in Palm Beach County, will take place from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
on Saturday, November 3, 2001, at the Palm Beach County Commission
Chambers.)
World-renowned experts and honored speakers include Randall Lockwood, Ph.D,
(HSUS), Lt. Sherry Schlueter, (Broward County Sheriff’s Office); Hon. Edward
Rodgers, (Retired Circuit Court Chief Judge); Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL); WPBF’s
Terri Parker; Dr. MaryAnn Jones of the Governors Task Force on Domestic
Violence; Dr. Priscilla Stockner, D.V.M. and Jeanne Howard, Assistant State
Attorney. Other speakers include Ann Gearheart and Dierdra Jorgensen who
are experts from other animal agencies that have successfully initiated
programs to assist animal victims of family violence; and 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.
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. Continuing education units are being offered for police, attorneys,
educators and licensed social workers. And this workshop is about more than
just learning about animal abuse, it’s also an occasion to meet others who
share in our quest to put a stop to 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 Dahlmer, 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~
Help Free Savannah the Elephant
!!
by sbest1@elp.rr.com
You remember the El Paso Zoo? It’s the place
where two years ago they beat the hell out of an elephant named Sissy. We were
able to free Sissy and place her in her new home at the Elephant Sanctuary in
Tennessee (see www.elephants.com ). Now we have another
opportunity to liberate another elephant from the same zoo. The opening
occurred not through another beating, but rather the death of Mona, who was at
the El Paso zoo since the 1950s. Now Savannah is the only elephant at the zoo;
she is 52 years old and like Sissy and Mona has spent her entire life in
captivity. The El Paso zoo director, Bill Torgerson, wants to get more
elephants to keep her company, but of course the better idea is to retire
Savannah and release her to the Elephant Sanctuary, where she can be reunited
with her old friend, Sissy, this time as a free being. Carol Buckley at the
Elephant Sanctuary has agreed to take Savannah. Please help us put pressure on
the zoo director and the city to retire Savannah to the Elephant Sanctuary –
she has paid her dues to the human slavery machine. Please write a polite
letter to the Mayor and City Council members, urging them to take this opportunity
to free Savannah (you can cut and paste their addresses and send them all one
letter at once).
Thank you!
Dr. Steven Best
President, Voice For All Animals
El Paso, Texas
<><><><><><>
Mayor Raymond Caballero Mayor@ci.el-paso.tx.us
Jan Sumrall District#1@ci.el-paso.tx.us
915-541-4886
Rose Rodriguez District#2@ci.el-paso.tx.us
915-541-4996
Larry Medina District#3@ci.el-paso.tx.us
915-541-4572
John Cook District#4@ci.el-paso.tx.us
915-541-4140
Dan Power District#5@ci.el-paso.tx.us
915-541-4701
Paul Escobar District#6@ci.el-paso.tx.us
915-541-4182
Luis Sarinana District#7@ci.el-paso.tx.us
915-541-4108
Anthony Cobos District#8@ci.el-paso.tx.us
915-541-4123
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~3~
Vegetarianism and Sept. 11
By Pauline Dubkin Yearwood - Ahimsa2000@aol.com
It
might seem like a stretch to make a connection between our food choices and the
mood of the country since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But I believe there
is one -- a strong one. For those who are already vegetarian or vegan, for
those who are contemplating going meatless and even for those who have no more
than a passing interest in the subject of food choices, now is the time to turn
to a plant-based diet. Here’s why:
1. Eating a non-animal-based diet sends a strong message in favor of
non-violence. Gandhi said, “We must become the change we wish to see in the
world.” If we want to see an end to killing, there’s no better place to start
than with what we put in our bodies.
2. It’s well known that stress can make us sick, and this is a time of great
stress throughout the country. A vegetarian (preferably vegan) diet is far
healthier than a diet based on animal products, and is a good way to stay
healthy during a difficult time.
3. Experts agree that one of the root causes of terrorism is poverty. In many
countries of the world there is widespread starvation. A meat-based diet wastes
precious resources. In the United States, 90 percent of the country’s
agricultural resources goes to feeding animals used for food. If Americans
reduced their intake of meat by just 10 percent, 60 million people could be
adequately fed by the grain saved.* By switching to a plant-based diet we can
help conserve those resources and make sure that there is enough food for all
the peoples of the world.
4. Since the terrorist attacks, many Americans have found comfort and hope in
their religion. Virtually all the world’s major religions teach that killing is
wrong (even if their followers don’t always practice that teaching). By
refusing to allow animals to be killed for our diets, we are adhering to the
broad tenets of our religion, whichever one it may be.
*Statistics from American Anti-Vivisection Society.
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~4~
Power of Love
Troubled teens comfort abused animals, helping both heal
By Michael Leahy
CJ Online - Teen -
Power of Love 07/24/01
http://cjonline.com/stories/072401/tee_animals.shtml
His chief aspiration in high school was to blow
something up, which -- given Michael Cohen's behavioral problems at
Centreville, Va., High -- people could be forgiven for being alarmed about,
Cohen now admits. He recalls a school administrator handing him a folder with
the heading "Troubled Kids," and thinking to himself: I'm
troubled? The folder led him into a new Fairfax County program for
at-risk youth, which, in addition to providing counseling, directed him to a
volunteer stint at a shelter for abused animals. Four years later, the
19-year-old alumnus has returned to the shelter for a visit. He pets a horse
and -- recalling what it felt like to be an outcast in his tough days -- says,
freshly aggrieved: "That's what made me understand these animals, I think.
Animals are sometimes mistreated by life, like people, you know."
"People" means him.
Here is Michael Cohen's capsule biography: born in Washington; parents divorced
when he was a toddler; his mother taking Michael and his two sisters to her
homeland, Mexico, where the 7-year-old was regularly pounded on the streets; a
move to Virginia, where he felt like an alien. Going through school, there were
more problems, more fights. "It's not a good story," he
says. As he talks, he strides past abused dogs and cats that have been
rescued -- the kicked, the tortured, the scarred, the starved. He has a
teenager's loose-limbed gait and a former misfit's lack of surprise about a
world that long ago ran out of ways to shock him. "Hey," he exclaims,
stopping to stare at a pit bull without ears. It might be a story bound for
Ripley's except for this: The dog's former owner deliberately cut its ears off.
Sickened teenagers at the
Middleburg Animal Rescue Shelter have renamed the rescued animal Maggie. Word
around the shelter is that the owner thought a mutilated dog would be meaner in
battle against other pit bulls. Everyone seems stunned by this
explanation except for Cohen, a onetime problem child who seemed fated for
failure until he entered the Fairfax Leadership and Resiliency Program.
The program, organized by the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board,
allows more than 200 troubled teenagers at a time to comfort abused and
abandoned animals. In Cohen's case, the program clicked. Working with
animals, "it took a lot of my anger away," he says. "It's
complicated why. But I think they can do some things that humans can't, that
words can't, you know?"
The program's founder and chief supervisor, Amrit Daryanani, says:
"Therapy for most problems and addictions is all talk, which is (why)
therapy is so far behind where it should be. So many of our kids learn ... by
touching, by feeling, by doing something different than just sitting and
thinking they can't do it themselves. We wanted to put our kids in the position
of being healers so that they could have a chance perhaps to be healed
themselves in the process. "After earning his high school diploma
last year, Cohen entered the Army and is now a Ranger ("I can blow things
up now and get paid for it," he says wryly). He visits the shelter when
he's home on leave for the serenity that only these animals can supply, he
says. He bends to stroke Maggie, whispering something inaudible, secret words
of comfort. The dog looks down, back hunched, wary to trust: Cohen says
he knows the feeling.
The street kid understands something no one else here does about Maggie's
severed ears. "Owners clip ears sometimes because in fights dogs go after
the other dog's throat or ears," he says. "It's just like a smart
human street fighter never has long hair because his hair will get yanked out
in a fight. It's a brutal world for dogs and human beings. "When Cohen
was 16, he punched out a guy while trying to protect his father, he says, which
landed him a court date, a probation officer, Saturday detentions, more hassles
at school and a greater need to escape to this place where the animals, he
says, "need your love and love you back."
A potbellied pig, cats, dogs, nine horses: The shelter, located in rural
Marshall, takes care of them all -- about 40 animals on any given day, on a
four-acre property. Cohen stops and mutters something to a small horse
named Stormy. It was ticketed for the slaughterhouse until the shelter stepped
in. Cohen reaches out to pet Stormy. The horse takes a startled step
back, still leery of people. And why not? asks Cohen, who remembers his own
suspicions when people reached out to him. "The animals aren't so
different from us," he says. "If they get hurt, if we get hurt, we're
going to be careful, we're not gonna trust anybody right away."
He still remembers the day he met Daryanani, a gregarious woman with a big
laugh and a program he had never imagined. "She was so different and
intense," he says. "I hadn't met anybody like that before. It was
like, 'We're going to do this and that.' She was the first to reach me. I was
confused when I got here, and I had a lot of things bottled up. But the animals
changed everything."
In 1996, the Community Services Board and the Middleburg shelter agreed on a
plan to bring at-risk children from Fairfax schools out to tend the hurting
animals. "I'm a dog person," says Cohen, "and I could just
tell the ones that were in really bad shape mentally, that couldn't trust
anybody. So I just sat down next to them. Didn't pet them or talk. Just sat.
Just take it easy, sit down, wait. And I'd come back again and again, week
after week. And then they started coming to me. And I touched them, and we
trusted each other." He chuckles, remembering. "You give to
them, they give to you," he says. "They don't judge you. They just
want you, and you forget the anger. Well, no, you don't forget why you were mad
about things. You start asking yourself, 'Why?' Like, 'Why do I need to be so
angry? What's the point of being so angry when I get so much happiness from
this and I'm feeling so good.' "
He walks over to Stormy and starts washing the horse, who stands, ears pricked,
like the toddler miserable beneath a shampooing. The former street fighter
strokes ever more gently. "Nothing is overnight with them -- or us,"
says Cohen, who knows the mystical lessons of patience with all living beings,
the ineffable mysteries of our touch.
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~5~
Rescued From Chinese Bile Farms,
Bears Get a 2nd Chance
International Herald Tribune
by Rachel Morarjee (Agence France Presse)
submitted by Dr John Wedderburn - john@aapn.org
CHENGDU,
China - One bear was missing a hind leg, two had lost their front paws, one had
no toes and all six bears were in terrible pain, crushed into tiny cages barely
big enough to contain them. But however bad they looked, these were the lucky
ones. The six black Moon bears were rescued this week from a life of agonizing
captivity being farmed for their bile, and brought to a sanctuary in southwest
China's Sichuan Province in Southwestern China.
Those missing a limb or paw had probably lost them in snares when they were
trapped in the wild, said Jill Robinson, founder of the Animals Asia
Foundation, which runs the bear rescue centre, near the city of Chengdu.
"When the bears come in, they are very angry." she said. Small
wonder: Kept in cages so tiny they have stripe marks from the bars on their
fur, the bears are "milked" for their bile. The bile is extracted
either through a five to seven inches (13 to 18 centimeters) long catheter
crudely inserted into the bear's gallbladder or through a small hole in the
gallbladder which is never allowed to heal. Their muscles waste away through
lack of use, and many of the emaciated bears have other medical problems such
as ulcerated paws, or teeth cut back so close to the bone the nerves are
exposed.
Bear bile has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries to treat
ailments caused by an excess of heat in the body, and because bears had to be
hunted and killed to extract it, the bile was for years literally worth more
than its weight in gold. But in the 1980s, farmers in China, Korea and Vietnam
discovered a way of keeping the bears alive while extracting their bile, and
the practice of bear farming exploded.
Moon
bears are an endangered species that inhabits the forests of Sichuan and Yunnan
provinces, both in China's southwest, in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces to
the north-east. There are almost 7,000 bears being farmed for bile in China and
around 16,000 to 19,000 living in the wild, Ms. Robinson said.
The
practice of farming bears for bile was based on "good intentions" she
said, as authorities hoped it would stop them being trapped and killed for
their precious extract.
However
this backfired. Hundreds of farmers rushed into the trade, creating two tiers
of the market for bear bile, with some people wanting to pay more for product
extracted from wild bears and companies churning out bear bile shampoo and
toothpaste in an attempt to mop up the excess from the farms.
Robinson
has been campaigning to end bear farming since 1993 and founded Animals Asia in
1998 to help aid the Moon bears. Around this time there was a downturn in the
overcrowded market for bear bile, prompting the Chinese government to look for
other solutions.
In July 2000, Animals Asia signed an agreement with the authorities in Beijing
and Sichuan to free 500 suffering Moon bears from the worst farms in China. The
agreement pledged to work towards the final elimination of bear farming, and
the government no longer issues new licenses to bear farms.
Animals Asia pays a compensation fee to farmers in exchange for freeing their
bears, enabling the farmers to begin a new livelihood. Animals Asia now has 65
bears at its rescue centre and is working to build a reserve where more bears
can be released from captivity. After years in tiny cages, the Moon bears no
longer have the survival skills to fend for themselves in the wild, as many
were born in captivity or taken from their mothers as cubs.
Once
the surgery to remove their catheters is complete the bears are placed in
larger cages to recover, so they don't break stitches or injure themselves
while they recuperate. As the bears put on weight and are restored to health,
they also learn to relax in the company of people. Rupert, a bear who has
been at the centre nearly a year, leans back in his cage and purses his lips as
Robinson feeds him pieces of apple. Soon, he will be moved to a larger pen with
other bears where he can go outside and wander in a grassy enclosure, and will
eventually live in a natural woodland enclosure which looks like the forests he
might have begun his life in.
Animals Asia does not receive government funding, but exists via public
contributions gathered through its Internet site: http://www.animalsasia.org/
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~6~
Jerry Orbach of "Law & Order"
Stars in New PSA Exposing Cruel Trophy
Shooting of Captive Animals at Canned Hunts
from Michael Markarian - mmarkarian@fund.org
New York (October 11, 2001) -- Today, The Fund
for Animals announced its new Fall 2001 PSA campaign to educate television
viewers about the cruel and unsporting practice of shooting tame, captive
animals for trophies at fenced "canned hunts" across the United
States. The PSA, produced by New York-based Bright Light Agency, Inc., is
narrated by Jerry Orbach of "Law & Order."
In the PSA, Orbach states, "Canned hunting is when hunters pay money to
kill trapped animals for fun or for trophies. Tame animals obtained from zoos
are frequently used, because they have no fear of people. The animals are shot
while in small, fenced in areas, often while eating, drugged, or tied up.
Canned hunting is a cruel and unfair chase. To find out how you can help stop
it, contact The Fund for Animals."
According to Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The Fund for
Animals, "This PSA is both an educational tool and a call to action for
viewers to get involved in efforts to protect captive animals from the cruelty
of canned hunts. Viewers will want to find out whether canned hunts are taking
place in their communities, and whether animals from their local zoos are being
sold or traded to this violent fate."
Added Heidi Prescott, national director of The Fund for Animals, "Wildlife
advocates, biologists, and even hunters are working together to stop this
unsporting and unsavory practice. Canned hunts are creating health risks to
domestic animals and native wildlife populations, are detrimental to the public
image of all hunters, and are egregiously cruel and inhumane."
The public can view the PSA, and find more information about canned hunts, at
The Fund for Animals' web site devoted to this issue:
http://www.cannedhunts.com
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~7~
Listen, Child
Copyright Jim Willis 2001
tiergarten@onebox.com
http://jimwillis0.tripod.com/tiergarten/
Listen to their calls, child,
listen to their hearts,
appreciate their nature, child,
the beauty they impart.
A world without them, child,
would be barren, cold and gray,
and we must work to save them, child,
since only humans have a say.
They have much to teach us, child,
of lives devoid of sin,
one more interesting than the next,
and all of them our kin.
They were intended as a gift, child,
which some chose to ignore,
be thankful that we have them, child,
for their sake, I implore.
There are those who'd kill them, child,
spurred on by human greed,
but kind spirits will triumph, child,
because we understand their needs.
Your questions all have merit, child,
your concerns are all well placed,
they do not deserve to die, child,
only you can insure their fate.
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~8~
Memorable Quote
"Where the strong and the weak are face to
face, all the rights are on the side of the weak and the duties are on the side
of the strong. People say: 'We have rights over animals. They are given
to us for use.' You have no rights over them. You
have duties towards them."
~Annie Besant (1847-1933),
Theosophist/Social Reformer
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online, President
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal RightsOnline=-
&
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
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
(Permission Granted To Quote/Forward/Reprint/Repost This Newsletter In
Whole Or In Part with credit given to EnglandGal@aol.com)
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