A n i m a l W r i t
e s
© sm
The official
ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com Issue # 04/05/00
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ PrkStRangr@aol.com
~ MRivera008@aol.com
~ SavingLife@aol.com
THE NINE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1
~ Dolphins and Humans by Mark Bekoff - bekoffm@spot.Colorado.EDU
2
~ Non-Target Animals
3
~ Finding A Lost Pet
4
~ Dental Problems in Dogs
5
~ A Prayer for Sammy by Patricia Rogers - parogers@mindspring.com
6
~ The Five "C'S": Principles Of A Vegan Life
By Steve
Best -- sbest1@elp.rr.com
7
~ Job Opportunity - Pets Alive
8
~ This time....... by
MRivera008@aol.com
9
~ Quote To Remember
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Dolphins and Humans
by Mark Bekoff
- bekoffm@spot.Colorado.EDU
Most
people probably don't think about dolphins except when they see reruns of
Flipper or their brutal slaughter for food. However, many people travel widely
to find these magnificent beasts to fulfill lifetime dreams of viewing or
swimming with them. Some also seek out the company of dolphins to cure
psychological disorders. However, there are serious consequences both for the
animal and humans beings.
Dolphins
are highly intelligent and emotional animals with remarkable social and
intellectual skills. The same factors that drive us to befriend them also drive
us to protect them. Why, then, do some people freely intrude into their worlds
if it harms them?
Dolphins
are often fabricated to be the animals we want them to be, cute, harmless, with
mystical qualities. The staged-encounters involved in
"swim-with-dolphin," "petting pool," and dolphin-assisted
therapy programs are very controversial. Dolphins are unable to avoid the
humans and are highly stressed. Indeed,
captive dolphins having repeated encounters with humans have enlarged adrenal
glands indicating high levels of stress. The chlorinated water in which
dolphins and humans interact may also be unhealthy for all parties. There's
also little evidence that dolphin-assisted therapy is effective for treating
such disorders as depression, autism, cerebral palsy, or mental retardation.
Furthermore,
interactive programs with dolphins aren't more effective educationally than
non-interactive programs. Indeed, many people fear these programs send the
message that it's all right to take wild dolphins into captivity and keep them
in small tanks of chlorinated water where they are bored and die
prematurely. Another major concern is
that these programs teach people to expect the same kinds of interactions with
wild animals, who actually are quite dangerous to humans. The number of humans
seriously injured by wild dolphins grows each year.
Feeding
programs also raise major concerns. Dolphins may be fed foreign objects that
harm them, and there's little educational value to these programs. Many experts
believe that dolphins simply cannot be accessible to people and at the same
time be protected from harm.
While
feeding and harassing wild dolphins is illegal in the United States, this isn't
so for other countries to which tourists travel. Wild dolphins have been fed
firecrackers, golf balls, plastic objects, balloons, and fish baited with hooks
(so they can be captured). Provisioning
with fish has changed the social behavior of bottlenose dolphins in Monkey Mia,
Australia. Dolphins also change their foraging patterns and swim in heavily
trafficked waters. Some get struck by boats. People also have been seriously
injured trying to feed wild dolphins.
Ecotourism
(swimming with wild dolphins, whale watching, visiting seal rookeries,
photographing animals), also raises serious questions concerning the effects of
human intrusions on dolphins and other marine mammals. Humans can cause social
groups of these and other animals to break up and seal pups to stampede and be
trampled. Individuals are also injured by boats.
Dolphins
and all marine mammals are closely linked to the wholeness and integrity of
various ecosystems. By paying close attention to how we influence their
behavior and well-being we can help maintain the health of individuals,
populations, species, and ecosystems. Marine mammals are awesome, stunning
animals. Let's not doom dolphins and their relatives. Let's give them room to
live and respect them for who they are -- for the very qualities that attract
us to them in the first place.
Marc
Bekoff teaches in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology at
CU-Boulder.
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Non-Target Animals
Since
trappers all know that it an absolute impossibility to eliminate non-target
catches from their bloody trade, they have reclassified animals so that
non-target catches are seemingly reduced.
A non-target animal is any animal caught in a trap other than the one
the trapper deliberately set the trap for.
If a trapper sets a trap for a raccoon and an opossum is caught in it,
that opossum is a non-target animal.
Trappers
are now considering any animal that has a marketable pelt to be a target
animal, regardless of the animal that the trapper intended to catch. Only animals without valuable pelts are now
considered non-target. Set a trap for a
mink and catch a muskrat? That's ok,
the muskrat is a target animal. Looking
for a coyote and find a bobcat in the trap instead? Bingo! You have caught a
target animal - maybe not the "primary" target animal, but a target
animal nonetheless. Only domestic
animals and non-"fur bearing" wildlife are now non-target
animals. Look for trappers to boast
about their reduction of non-target catches in the very near future.
From: International Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies
Fur Resources Committee BMP Bulletin Fall/Winter 1999
Source: veegman@erols.com
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Finding A Lost Pet
A
great article on what to do when the dreaded happens -- how to find a lost
pet. First off, they recommend that you
have a plan. Secondly, ALWAYS have pet ID tags on them with current
information. Most animals that are lost will have no chance of ever being found
without ID tags. As an animal rescuer myself, so many times I've come across
animals with no sign of hope. They also instruct you on how to go about posting
signs, what to write, rewards, etc.. This is too stressful a situation to take
lightly, so plan ahead!
http://www.briefme.com/a/article.cgi?id=8680&uid=3077&link=cyberpe
Source:
DTapkowski@aol.com
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Dental Problems in Dogs
By
age 3, eight dogs in 10 develop gum disease.
Brushing
your teeth after each meal, flossing and seeing a dentist twice a year are part
of a routine most of us follow. We know that without proper care, serious teeth
and gum problems can develop. The same is true for our companion animals.
Without good dental care, most dogs and cats show signs of oral disease by age
three. In recognition of National Pet Health Month in February, we want to
stress the importance of regular companion animal dental care and how good
dental care contributes to the overall health of an animal.
There
are three major steps that you should follow to complete an oral care program
for your pets. First, take your companion animal to your veterinarian for a
complete exam. Second, start a good dental care routine at home to remove
plaque daily. Ask your veterinarian to show you the proper way to brush and
clean your companion animal's teeth. In addition, ask the vet to recommend a
diet that will improve your companion animal's dental health. Third, establish
a regular schedule of dental check-ups for your companion animal so that your
veterinarian can monitor the progress of your dog's preventative dental care.
Source:
OveganO@aol.com
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A Prayer for Sammy
by Patricia
Rogers - parogers@mindspring.com
God,
I'm
here on the porch. In front of the
tree. With Sammy. You'll know him when you see him. He's the black and white tuxedo cat with
white spats. He walks so lightly on his
feet he almost seems to float. Take
good care of him. He was, and is, much
loved. He was partial to warm places:
on top of the heat register, on top of the old dryer when it was running, the
center of the gas stove directly over the pilot light, the second floor porch
when the sun shone in on the chairs.
He
liked to sleep under the covers in the crook of my arm until I was dozing
off. Then he would get down and go wrap
himself around Violet in the round bed.
There were many other things Sammy liked, too. He liked to play, mostly with Sylvester and the three-legged cat,
Pharaoh. A cat version of hide and seek
that had some elements of tag. He liked
to run out the door of the downstairs porch and throw himself on the concrete
floor – a full body slam. He liked to
doze on
top
of the TV with his tail hanging down in front of the screen. He liked to sit on my dresser with his head
up the lampshade when the lamp was on.
He liked the round cat tunnel in the dining room. And he liked being carried around in it
while I sang all the verses to Amazing Grace.
He and the grey and white cat named Clarke liked that song best of
all. Sammy liked all of these things
and many more, but there were two things that Sammy loved.
He
loved having a family. Sitting between
Phelps and me while we read at night was sheer heaven on earth to him. He purred until he fell asleep. He often followed Phelps around the house
until he sat in his chair to read. Then
Sammy would mark the chair with his scent pads on his paws and leave to find
Violet.
Sammy
loved Violet. From the day she came to
us nine years ago May, Sammy loved Violet.
He ate with her, slept with her, groomed her, and yes, loved her. He was steadfast and true. On those occasions when he did leave her
side, she had only to call out and he raced back to her.
Take
good care of Sammy, God, for he is much loved.
As he began to grow weaker, the two-legged man he loved took him four
times a week to the doctor for fluids; all in the hope that he would stay here
with us awhile longer. But he grew so
tired and thin. And the day came when
we knew we had to let him go. And we
said good-bye. Now he is with you. Hold him close because we no longer
can. I've enclosed a picture of Sammy
and Violet – it seemed right, somehow.
And please don't let him get cold. Remember, after Violet, and his
family, he is
very
partial to warm places.
Oh,
and God, when you get some time, could you make that torn away spot in our
hearts hurt a little less.
Sorry. Patti
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The Five "C'S": Principles Of A Vegan Life
By Steve Best
-- sbest1@elp.rr.com
"While we ourselves are the living
graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect
any ideal positions on this
earth?" ~ George Bernard Shaw
As
one discovers the vast web of issues raised by the politics of diet,
vegetarianism becomes not simply a culinary preference, it is also, and
fundamentally, an ethics, a worldview, an entire way of life -- a spirituality.
The ethical life is a consciously principled life, and thus is guided by
philosophical awareness of how one should act in the world. Whether lived
implicitly or explicitly, reflection reveals five core ethical principles of
the vegetarian life which I offer both to those considering vegetarianism and
those already there.
The
first principle is connections: it is crucial to grasp the central role of the
Global Meat Complex (GMC) in so many of our pressing personal, social, and
environmental problems today. The world simply cannot be healthy, well-fed,
socially just, compassionate, and humane so long as it is oriented toward the
mass slaughter of animals as a primary food source. All of these noble goals
require a global shift toward a vegetarian diet.
For
many people, the first stage of disenchantment is learning the causal
correlation between the consumption of meat and diabetes, cancer, heart
attacks, strokes, osteoporosis, and overall poor health. That, of course, is
reason enough to eliminate meat and dairy products from one's diet forever, but
it is only one strand in a web of larger problems that implicate one's
"personal" dietary habits in the suffering of others.
As
the initiate continues to read and learn, studying books like Diet For a New
America by John Robbins and Beyond Beef by Jeremy Rifkin, she or he is bound to
learn that the GMC is implicated in world hunger, social injustice, and nearly
every major environmental problem the world faces, including global warming,
rainforest destruction, topsoil erosion, and water pollution.
The
second principle informing a vegetarian life is compassion, developing an
empathetic bond between oneself and non-human animals. In its most authentic
sense, compassion knows no boundaries and is a universal form of love. Just as
it would be ludicrous to say one is compassionate only toward members of one's
own age, race, gender, religion, or nation, it is absurd to limit compassion to
one's own species. The standpoint of compassion shows respect for all forms of
life and is moved by the suffering of any living being, whether it can solve
mathematical problems or not.
Of
course, this compassion includes one's fellow human beings and one who eschews
eating the flesh of non-human animals ideally does so to help other people
also, both present and future generations, to help preserve the earth. According to the Iroquois saying, "One
should make no decision without first taking into account the impact that it
will have over the next seven generations." From this perspective, vegetarians seek to be good ancestors of
the future by walking light on the earth.
Compassion
also means that vegetarians should not feel morally superior to non-vegetarians
since they may not have had similar opportunities for learning and growth and
therefore they deserve our understanding, not censure. Vegetarians must not be
intolerant of others as they are of us.
Since
the compassionate person would never want to cause harm to any other living
being, the next major principle of the vegetarian life is choice. Based on the
connections one draws at both the intellectual and emotional levels, it is
important to draw the practical consequences and make the right choices in
everyday life. As Peter Singer points out in Animal Liberation, almost all
vegetarians were indoctrinated into a meat and cruelty-based culture since
birth; until that fateful moment when, by one means or another, we were lucky
enough to encounter a vegetarian viewpoint, we really didn't have the choice to
be anything but a flesh-eater. Of course, one can still choose to consume flesh
after knowledge of the full effects of the GMC, but the choice would not be
rational, responsible, or compassionate.
Once
we make the right choice, we must affirm it everyday, bringing us to the fourth
principle, commitment. For, as vegetarians know painfully well, we live in an
inhospitable culture of carnivores where we constantly confront prejudice,
bias, ignorance, intolerance, and ridicule. While we may or may not live
comfortably in the capitalist economic system, suffer racism or sexism, and
have easy access to all buildings, we are nevertheless discriminated against
almost everytime we shop for food, eat at a restaurant, and attend a party or
dinner. It is easy, at least at first, to feel disoriented by this, to doubt
the correctness of one's choice, to suspect that the dominant view may be the
right view after all, or to succumb to the relentless pressure of family and
"friends."
Yet
an important part of the vegetarian commitment is a resolve to educate others
as we continue to educate ourselves. But if they wish not to listen and debate,
and if one cannot find a means of peaceful cohabitation, then there is always
the option to end a relationship. While we may wish to endure non-sympathetic
family members, and may not be able to avoid colleagues from work, we have
greater freedom to select our friends. By raising our level of compassion and
intelligence, we will perhaps lose some old friends, but we will certainly gain
new friends who wish to share with us the journey toward health, compassion,
and an ecological lifestyle. As Chuck D of the rap group Public Enemy sings,
"If I can't change the people around me, I change the people around
me."
Finally,
the fifth principle is consistency, which demands that the commitment to
vegetarianism be a commitment to veganism. The road to health and awareness
does not dead-end at the dairy counter; this is merely a roadblock constructed
by another pernicious and deceitful economic interest, the dairy industry, one
of the main tentacles of the GMC. If one steers around this obstacle, one will
see that the way continues, leading to a place of greater coherence, to a vegan
diet.
The
path to becoming a vegan is clearly marked; the very same arguments that lead
one to become a vegetarian should also lead one to become a vegan --
environmental, ethical, and health.
Just
as with meat, the production of dairy products involves an irrational waste of
water, food, land, and energy. To feed one meat-eater for a year's worth of
food requires three and a half acres of land; it takes one half acre to feed a
lacto-ovo vegetarian, but only one-sixth of an acre to feed a vegan. No
different than cattle, dairy cows produce an enormous amount of waste that
pollutes water sources.
A
diet that includes eggs, milk, cheese, and butter still has too much fat,
cholesterol, and protein. It also contains antibiotics and chemicals such as
Bovine Growth Hormone, a suspected carcinogen. Moreover, there are significant
levels of pesticides in dairy products; meat products contain 14 times as many
pesticide residues as plant foods, and dairy products contain 5 times as many
as plant foods. If that is not unappetizing enough, dairy products typically
contain pus secreted from infected utters.
Clearly,
the lacto-ovo diet has not severed all ties to the exploitation of
animals. The demand for milk products
generates a veal industry by making good used of male calves who cannot produce
milk. One half of all dairy cows in the U.S. are intensively confined, hooked
up to milking machines. They are repeatedly impregnated to continue their milk
production and their calves are taken from them within hours of their
birth. This exploitation is steadily
increasing; in 1960 the average cow produced 2.5 tons of milk per year; by
1990, this increased to 7 tons; dairy cows are forced to produce ten times the
milk they would normally make to feed their calves. But even this is not enough
for the greedy; in 1993, the U.S. government approved the use of BGH (Bovine
Growth Hormone) that fattens cows to ridiculous proportions and causes
infections, pain, stress, and deformities. Under normal conditions, a cow can
live to be 25 years old, but after 5 years of incessant exploitation, their
milk production goes down and they are slaughtered.
Many
vegetarians have overcome the protein myth but remain victims to the calcium
myth -- a myth furthered exploited through recent milk mustaches ads and the
industry's renewed urging that everyone drink three glasses of milk a day. Yet
vegans get all the calcium they need in foods like tofu, tempeh, dark green
vegetables like spinach and broccoli, and fortified soymilk. Ironically, the
only people who need to worry about calcium deficiency are people who consume
meat and dairy products, because excess protein leads to calcium losses.
It
is worth emphasizing that a cow's milk is for calves, not human beings; only
human beings drink the milk of another species, and once weaned, only human
beings ever again consume milk. If milk were a "natural" drink as the
dairy industries would like us to believe, human beings would not have the
health problems that they get by consuming dairy products, such as
gastrointestinal disorders, arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, allergies, gallstones,
kidney stones, and gout, to name just some.
The
logical evolution of ethical awareness is from meat-eating to vegetarianism to
veganism. This path is not just a duty, it is a joy, an exciting journey into
new cuisines, new ideas, new friends, and sharing healthy food with friends and
loved ones. In the midst of adversity, as the cultural paradigm hopefully
shifts from a violent and irrational lifestyle to one that is peaceful, sane,
and compassionate, the "five C's" can help guide us in our journey.
This
article originally appeared in "Life Giving Choices", the newsletter
of the Vegetarian Society of El Paso (VSEP).
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Job Opportunity
Pets
Alive
Position
Available
Live-in
position available to someone with lots of love for animals and lots of energy
to care for them. This is NOT a DREAM JOB - you will probably be too tired at
the end of the day to dream. It is, however, an Animal Lover's DREAM COME TRUE.
Imagine
sharing a king-size bed with 5 cats and 2 dogs (yes - that's part of the job),
having breakfast with four senior dogs drooling at your feet, dusting the den
while being serenaded by fourteen assorted parrots, sunbathing on the deck
after work with a view of the pot-bellied pig pens, mucking horse stalls while
enjoying the company of "Rube" our capon rescued from a Perdue truck,
cleaning the cattery surrounded by and wearing some, if not all of our 200
super-friendly cats (once feral, now social). You might also enjoy being cooled
off on a hot summer day when one of our happy-go-lucky doggy friends grabs the
hose you're cleaning the kennel with and turns it on you. And, if that's not
appealing enough, I urge you to try cleaning the paddock of our newest rescued
veal calf as he is learning to pirouette around you.
This
position is available immediately. If you don't mind working hard the rewards
will be great. The money is not, but I promise to feed and shelter you and
provide you with much knowledge about caring for animals with special needs,
animal behavior and sanctuary maintenance).
For further information please contact: Sara
Whalen, Executive Director
Email: petsaliv@warwick.net
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This time.......
I may have
been a feline
I may have
been a bird
or possibly
reptilian
and couldn’t
speak
a word
I may have
suffered greatly
I may have
felt so small
though I could
have been a mammoth
Herculean,
strong
and tall
Whatever the
injustice
that I
suffered while so mute
I’ll harbor
deep inside my soul
yet, wear it,
like a suit
for now I am
loquacious
I have a voice
to share!
this time I
can’t be quiet
‘til all is
just
and fair
I may not take
this path again
a being with
free speech
so I’ll not
waste this precious chance
to say
to pray
to teach
-- by
MRivera008@aol.com
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Quote To Remember
"For as long as people massacre
animals, they will kill each other. Indeed,
he who sows the seed of murder and
pain cannot reap joy and love."
~
Pythagoras
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
Susan Roghair
- EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights
Online
P O Box 7053
Tampa, Fl
33673-7053
http://www.oocities.org/RainForest/1395/
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Rights Online=-
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