A n i m a l W r i t
e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 06/23/02
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE EIGHT ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ The Active Activist: How You Can Help Victims of
Domestic Violence
2 ~ Sanctuary For Sale
3 ~ Help Stop Pittsburgh Law From Being Overturned
4 ~ New Film Available on Trapping
5 ~ Another Shelter in Danger
6 ~ From Garden To Tummy
7 ~ The Children of Pan
8 ~ Memorable Quote
*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`
~1~
Introducing a New Inspirational Series
for Animal Writes Readers
By Michelle Rivera - MichelleRivera1@aol.com
Not
everyone is fortunate enough to have a major animal-rights organization in
their hometown. Many of us have to sit by and watch the major campaigns
and demonstrations take place and wish we could get involved in something more
than letter-writing campaigns or monetary donations.
We at Animal Rights Online have found that there are many readers who want to
become more involved in local issues but without the support of an
animal-rights organization to lead the way, it's a little hard to break new
ground. So we are introducing a once-a-month series, the Active
Activist to help you find ways to make small but significant changes in our
own area. We can be your support system, your partners in working in
service to animals. Take the ideas, use them and start making some waves
in your own community. If you need help, just ask. We are in this
together.
THE ACTIVE ACTIVIST:
How
You Can Help Victims of Domestic Violence
By Michelle Rivera
In
front of her horrified, little-girl eyes, a father fries his child’s live pet
goldfishes in a frying pan to frighten her into silence, a puppy is nailed to a
bedroom door to punish a woman who reported her abusive husband; two cats are
drowned in a backyard pool in retaliation for a wife leaving her husband after
he held a gun to her head. Escaping from a domestic violence situation is
a bittersweet victory, for if s/he gets out safely, a victim of domestic
violence faces a very uncertain future.
When a woman goes into a battered women’s shelter, she frequently brings her
children with her, but not her companion animal. This has long been a source of
frustration for domestic violence workers and the clients that they seek to
serve. Studies show that 28% of the women who call battered women’s shelter
hotlines delay going into the shelter because they are reluctant to leave their
animals at home, at risk for potential abuse. Stories abound of women
and children who have been frightened into submission and silence after what
they have seen become of family companion animals. Companion animals
frequently offer solace, comfort, and affection at a time when frightened women
and children need them the most. This is not the time to separate them from
their animals, causing their animals to face an also very uncertain
future. We need animal-friendly battered women shelters, but until we see
that, there is another way to help.
Humane societies and animal rights groups can become involved by setting up
domestic violence projects that seek to put an end to domestic abuse where
animals are concerned. The link between animal cruelty and domestic violence is
clear and presents a valuable platform for animal-rights activists to encourage
local police and prosecutors to become involved in animal abuse cases. We, as
animal-rights activist, believe that prosecution of animal-cruelty cases is
important simply because the life of an animal is precious and has worth, but
the knowledge that those who abuse animals will go on to abuse people in most
cases should help animal advocates make their cases to local prosecutors who
may not always be of the mindset that animal cruelty should be punished simply
because an animal was abused.
Those who want to get involved in helping victims of domestic violence, both
animal and human, should approach their local animal rescue organizations and
domestic violence agencies and offer their support and assistance.
Programs need to be in place to provide a temporary safety net for companion
animals while a victim of domestic abuse gets herself together and can find a
more permanent solution.
There are programs that seek to provide a safe place for companion animals. The
cooperation of local humane societies, rescue groups and animal-rights
organizations with domestic violence agencies is critical to answer the call of
animals at risk. What can you, as a concerned member of the community do, to
help get these projects in place and available to women in need? There are
several things:
Foster homes: Due to the nature of the shelter environment,
animals who come into animal shelters are at risk for various illnesses because
their stress levels are so high. When homeless animals come into a shelter,
frequently shelter workers don’t know what state their health is in and are
very reluctant to have them come into contact with animals who are already part
of somebody’s family. Call your local humane society and offer to foster
animals for this purpose if you can. Ask the shelters if they will provide a
basic physical exam, including deworming and initial vaccinations, flea and
tick treatment, so as to insure that the animal is not bringing anything
communicable into your home. They may also provide dog crates and
vertical cat cages for the foster parent as long as the foster parent is
keeping animals. Ask if they will provide the food and toys as well.
Ideally, foster homes should be set up throughout the county that can be called
upon in a moment’s notice to take an animal when his or her family is entering
a domestic violence shelter.
Money: If you cannot provide a foster home, see about
setting up a special fund and offer to help with fundraisers throughout the
year that can be planned in conjunction with local domestic violence
organizations. This money would be used for the purchase of dog and cat
condos, toys, scratching posts, flea/tick preventions, heartworm prevention,
deworming medication and any other supplies that would be necessary to maintain
this program. The money could also be used to pay commercial boarding
kennels if no foster homes could be found. If you can, offer to form a
grants committee and get to work finding grant money for these programs.
There are numerous opportunities not only through animal-friendly
organizations, but domestic violence foundations as well.
Donate Supplies: The supplies that would be needed to for such a project
are cat carriers, cat scratching posts, catnip, cat food, cat litter, litter boxes,
vertical cat cages on wheels, cat beds, and toys. Also needed are: dog crates,
airline crates, leashes and harnesses, dog chew toys (no raw hide), dog food,
donations of Heartguard (tm) and Frontline (tm), dog beds, and dog treats.
Volunteer: Volunteers may be called upon from time to time to plan
special fund raisers, events, strategies, education and outreach to the
community, and any other related responsibilities that would help to facilitate
a domestic violence project of this nature. Volunteers may be also called upon
to act as speakers about the project, planners for a First Strike Conference,
and transporters for animals that need rides to veterinarians, groomers, or
foster homes. Special skills that are always appreciated in volunteers would be
web mastering, artists, writers, and public speakers.
For those wanting to get involved in animal advocacy at a local level, this is
certainly one of the most important services that can be provided to local
animals and the families who desperately want to keep them safe. For more
information on this issue, visit www.hsusfirststrike.org.
*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~2~
Sanctuary For Sale
PigHoppers
is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit sanctuary for rabbits, pigs and other animals
(chickens, ducks, cats, turkey), but our primary focus is rabbits. We are
located in SE Michigan. For a variety of personal reasons I cannot
continue running the sanctuary. Unless we find someone who is willing to
take it over, which includes buying the 10-acre property on which the sanctuary
is located, we will be forced to shut down. If anyone is interested,
please contact me. Serious inquiries only, please. Thank you.
Lake Jacobson, Executive Director
PigHoppers, a sanctuary for rabbits, pigs & others
PO Box 7
Whittaker, MI 48190
734/461-1726
www.vegsource.com/pighoppers
*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~3~
Help Stop Pittsburgh Law From
Being Overturned
From Steve Hindi - SHARK - owner-news@sharkonline.org
Dear
Friends,
There is a real emergency in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh has for
the last decade or so had a great law banning bucking straps, electric prods
and spurs at rodeos.
The law doesn't actually ban rodeos, but doesn't have to, because when you ban
the tools of torture, you effectively ban rodeos.
Now, and with apparently great planning, the Rodeo Mafia is trying to very
quickly sneak in and knock the law out. There will be a public comment meeting
this Tuesday, June 26, and a preliminary vote with the city council the
following day.
It looks like the proverbial skids, and who knows how many palms have been
greased to force this thing through. We must act quickly and decisively.
SHARK is supplying local animal protectors with videotapes for the city
council. I am considering sending the Tiger within a few days. We
need your help very badly.
Please go to the Pittsburgh website <www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us>.
Once there, go to CONTACT, where you can write to the mayor, and if you have
time, council people to let them know what you think.
Pittsburgh has a great law, and it should be left on the books untouched.
If rodeos can be humane, the Pittsburgh law already allows them. The
Rodeo Mafia knows they cannot be humane, which is why they are trying to knock
the law out.
Don't let this law fall! Please send a polite message today! Again,
the Pittsburgh website address is <www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us>. Go
to CONTACTS and let them hear from you!
*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~4~
New Film Available on Trapping
Hi
my name is Amelia Frank-Vitale and I am with Bullfrog Films. I'm writing about
a new film in which Animal Rights Online readers might be interested. In this
heartbreakingly frank look at the animal trapping industry, the viewer gets to
see trapping from the point of view of the trapper as well as the animals.
Cull of the Wild: the Truth Behind Trapping explains and demonstrates different
types of traps and shows that the so-called "humane" traps still
sentence helpless animals to a gruesome and painful death. The film also
examines the new dangers of trapping that have resulted from the
suburbanization of farmland and forests. As trappers lose the rural areas to
continued development and the market for fur is decreasing, they often turn to
"pest control," killing "nuisance animals" and
simultaneously putting household pets and children in harms way.
Cull of the Wild also looks at the difficult fight to stop trapping, but
gives the viewer reason to hope that this unnecessary and heartless practice
can be stopped through the work of grassroots activism, education and public
policy changes. If you have any interest in purchasing this film, please let me
no. If not, please spread the word about its existence to like-minded
individuals and organizations. Perhaps you would put a link to the film on your
web site. If you have any questions or would like further information on
the film, please reply to me or visit our web site at http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/cull.html.
Amelia Frank-Vitale
Bullfrog Films
Box 149, Oley, PA 19547
Toll Free: (800) 543 FROG
Phone: (610) 779 8226
Fax: (610) 370 1978
http://www.bullfrogfilms.com
amelia@bullfrogfilms.com
*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~5~
Another Shelter in Danger
The following website news article is about a
Washington shelter in danger of closing. Please take a look and offer any
help you can:
Pet shelter
may have to close
http://search.tribnet.com/archive/archive30/0617b12.html
CACC Petition
From Elizabeth Forel - elizforel@juno.com
The Coalition for New York City Animals
We are asking Mayor Bloomberg to reform the CACC
- although there have been problems with tthis quasi-city agency since its
inception in 1995, this new initiative comes on the heels of a very damaging
NYC Comptroller's performance audit report of the CACC.
If you have not already done so, please sign the Reform CACC Now petition on
line. Besides New Yorkers, people from at least 7-8 different countries,
including, Canada, England, Bermuda, Austraila, Turkey, Germany, Netherlands -
and almost every state in the US have signed. In addition, some of the
well known people who have signed include Assemblyman Scott Stringer, former
Councilmember Kathryn Freed, Kevin Nealon, Grant Aleksander and Peter Max.
You do not have to include your street address, only your name and
city/state. Your e-mail address will not be made public. Mayor
Bloomberg and our NYC Council members will not know that New Yorkers want
change unless we stand up and be counted. It only takes a few
minutes. The animals are counting on you. Out of state residents
are invited to sign also.
http://www.petitiononline.com/peace1/petition.html
You can also send a letter to the mayor - see e-mail below from Barbara Stagno
at In Defense of Animals (IDA) - <bstagno@mindspring.com>.
***Horrible conditions exposed at NYC animal
shelters - AGAIN!! ***
Immediate calls/letters needed to the Mayor's office.
In
a June 6 report released by the NYC Comptroller's office, overwhelming evidence
of animal mistreatment was documented throughout the city's animal shelter
system, known as the Center for Animal Care & Control. (CACC).
The report confirms what previous investigations have revealed, including (but
not limited to):
* animals left in soiled cages or without water
* large numbers of animals euthanized needlessly, carelessly or in error
* poor and inadequate efforts to promote adoptions
* poor veterinary care.
* dogs, rarely, if ever, exercised
* sick and contagious animals housed in the same wards as healthy animals
* animals subjected to abuse and neglect. (The audit found 13 instances of
animal mistreatment.) [More information continues at bottom].
Immediate calls and letters are needed to the Mayor's office to request that he
take appropriate action and overhaul the CACC's upper management. This
situation CANNOT continue.
Contact: Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Phone: 212-788-3000
Fax: 212-788-9711
email: mayor@cityhall.nyc.gov
Send a copy of your letter to Dr.Thomas Frieden,
Commissioner Dept of
Health, which oversees the CACC.
tfrieden@health.nyc.gov
If you phone, ask to leave a message for the mayor. You will be connected
to a message line where you can leave a voice message. The messages will
be transcribed and delivered to him. Please keep your message to the point; it
will be given greater consideration.
It would also be good for calls and letters of thanks go to the NYC
Comptroller's Office for providing this vital audit:
William C. Thompson, Jr, NYC Comptroller
press@comptroller.nyc.gov
Phone: 212-669-3747
All calls, faxes and emails should emphasize that THERE'S NO EXCUSE for these
problems having persisted for so long. The current shelter director must be
ousted and replaced with qualified leadership. If you live outside the city,
stress that you will think twice about visiting NYC until this problem is
properly addressed, once and for all.
In 2001, over 43,000 animals were killed at the CACC. This is in keeping with
its horrible record of animals killed from previous years.
Since its inception in 1995, the CACC has been fraught with the same problems.
Never in its tragic, seven-year history has this shelter been managed by a
qualified director. The current director had no background or experience in
shelter management when she was appointed to this job. It's time to hire a
qualified person to run the CACC. The animals of NYC must not suffer any
longer.
With an $8 million budget, this is not simply a funding problem. There are many
ways that the CACC can be improved immediately that need not cost the city
additional funds. The current mismanaged shelter system only wastes the city's
limited resources and causes animals to suffer needlessly.
According to the Comptroller's report, the full extent of the problems at the
CACC could not be determined because of CACC's "obstructive tactics"
and resistance to share its records with auditors.
You can access the full 144 page report at the Comptroller's website:
http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov
*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~6~
From Garden To Tummy
By Robert Cohen - notmilk@earthlink.net
http://www.SoyToy.com
The
latest news from my living produce section:
Yesterday I counted 49 potato plants, two dozen 3-foot-high sunflowers, 20
large flowering tomato plants, and 34 tiny zucchinis. Our family has dined each
night for the past week on fresh spinach, three different varieties of lettuce,
fresh herbs, and the sweetest cauliflower buds, the likes of which I've never
before tasted. All home-grown and pesticide-free.
I am very lucky to have something better than migrant workers living in my
home. I don't have to pay Jennifer (16), Sarah (15), and Lizzy (12) for their
labors. Gathering, preparing, and eating fresh produce is fun!
Last night Jen picked one very large bulb of garlic and a handful of parsley.
Sarah had mixed flour with water, added sugar to yeast, and activated the
'rise' button on our breadmaker.
I added the garlic and parsley to my Cuisinart food processor with one teaspoon
of salt as Lizzy formed the risen dough into miniature pieces. They would take
just eight minutes to bake. I pushed the switch, minced the garlic mixture very
fine, then added 1 cup of soy cream (the last remaining portion of my refrigerated
homemade soymilk). Everything formed a donut-shaped circle, and with the
machine running, I slowly (it took two minutes) poured a thin stream of two
cups of Hain's Sunflower Oil into the whirling mass. Slowly, the mixture gelled
into butter. It was more like mayo than butter, but with refrigeration, would
firm up. I have about a pint in the refrigerator for very easy spreading on
homemade rolls which we bake a few times each week. I froze the rest.
Only one thing beats the sweet earthy bouquet of freshly baked rolls, and that
is eating those rolls with our soy butter. I have fond memories of bakeshop
when I attended the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) as a student in 1976.
Rather than break for the traditional French dinner cuisine, my class preferred
the simplicity of eating those rolls with butter. We stayed in the kitchen
classroom while others dined in the great hall. Last night, the Cohen
family used homemade soy/garlic/parsley butter. At the CIA we called this
'Maitre D Hotel' butter.
Making soymilk with the SoyToy is easy and economical. Some recent
testimonials:
{We just printed our catalog and it mails
this week. Yes Soytoy has been included at
the expense of dropping (name deleted to
protect a poor quality Chinese-made soymilk
machine) due to high failure rate and warranty
problems. I hope we sell a zillion.}
- Robert McClintock ND
{I bought a SoyToy and it most definitely
ranks as one of the best buys I ever made.
I've had it for about a month, and I will
never part with it.}
- Ron
{I people that I gave samples to even
took home half of my soybutter!}
- Loretta
{My mother bought a SoyToy and made
a soy sherbet with mango and peaches
My Mom says the fresh stuff puts the
store stuff to shame.}
- Melissa
{I have used the Chinese version off
and on for four years but was never
really impressed with soymilk. It always
had a burned taste and the machine was NOT
easy to clean. Now I'm a true
convert to homemade soymilk.}
- Ruth
{The SoyToy does everything you say it does.
Thank you for your expertise, follow through,
inventiveness and your passion for health.}
- Dr. Kierstyn
*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~7~
The Children of Pan
Copyright Jim Willis 2002 - jwillis@bellatlantic.net
The Tiergarten Sanctuary Trust
http://www.crean.com/jimwillis
The children of a lesser god,
live lives encased in steel,
they sign, but no one sees them,
they cry, but no one hears.
Some are mocked in costume,
some imprisoned as pets,
and many receive viral injections,
as Man observes lethal effects.
Their cages they may rattle,
but all to no avail,
their captors lack compassion,
and none will post their bail.
Their punishment a lifespan,
approaching human years,
Their crime a humanoid form,
with human toddlers their peers.
They feel, they think, they suffer,
for reasons they don't understand,
or was it just fortune's folly,
being born the closest cousin of Man?
They dream of a life unfettered,
of trees and hugs and games,
they'd plead their case if possible,
these symbols of human shame.
How long will their sentence continue,
while behind closed doors they're kept?
Is it any wonder in Olympus's halls,
their benevolent god Pan wept?
*****
Dedicated to the thousands of chimpanzees and non-human primates
imprisoned by humans, exploited, forced to live lives of servitude, and
tortured in laboratories. Many of us weep with you and plead for your
freedom.
For more information, please see:
The Jane Goodall Institute: http://www.janegoodall.org/
and links from the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute:
http://www.cwu.edu/~cwuchci/chci_links.html
Recommended reading: "Rattling the Cage" by Steven Wise.
*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~8~
Memorable Quote
"It ill becomes us to invoke in our daily
prayers the blessings of God, the Compassionate, if we in turn will not
practice elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures."
~ Gandhi
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
(Permission Granted To Quote/Forward/Reprint/Repost This Newsletter In
Whole Or In Part with credit given to EnglandGal@aol.com)
* Please forward this to a
friend who you think
might be interested in subscribing to our newsletter.
* ARO
gratefully accepts and considers articles for publication
from subscribers on veg*anism and animal issues.
Send submissions to JJswans@aol.com
** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been
specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this
not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the
coprighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law).
If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.