A n i m a l W r i t e s © sm
The official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Established 1997
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Issue # 07/13/03
Publisher ~ Susan
Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Journalists ~ Greg Lawson - ParkStRanger@aol.com
~ Michelle Rivera
- MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ Dr. Steve
Best - sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ Animal Rights 2003 East Coast Conference by
Greg Lawson
2 ~ Protect Seals: Do Something
3 ~ News From The Field - Buffalo Field Campaign
4 ~ Tell Your Congressman to Vote for H.R. 1472
5 ~ Fourth of July Litter by Karin Morrison
6 ~ ACT Radio - Animal Concerns of Texas
7 ~ Kinship by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
8 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
Animal Rights 2003 East Coast
Conference
By Greg Lawson - ParkStRanger@aol.com
I recently returned from the annual conference
Animal Rights 2003 hosted by the Farm Animal Reform Movement in Washington,
DC. I hope that all who read this article will either immediately make
their reservations for AR2003 West in Los Angeles, August 1 through August 6,
or that you will start saving for AR2004.
This yearly event is not only an incredible learning experience, it's a time
for activists to gain fresh motivation and make connections with others in the
movement. I got together with several old friends and made several new ones. It
was incredible to be surrounded by hundreds of vegan animal rights activists
for a week, so many people were so very excited to be participating.
Despite the pain that most of us deal with daily in our work to stop animal
suffering, this was a time for us to come together and celebrate, to learn new
ways to advance our work, to network and to eat. Every day, the
restaurant in the McLean, Virginia, Hilton (the site of AR2003 East) served the
most delicious all you could eat vegan buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Alex Hershaft and his staff at FARM do a wonderful job of organizing this
annual conference and I very much look forward to Animal Rights 2003 West in
August. Hope to meet you there.
http://animalrights2003.org/
Animal
Rights 2003
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~2~
Protect Seals: Do Something
About
one million seals, most of them mere pups, are in grave danger. Did you know
the Canadian government has set a three-year quota that allows hunters to shoot
or club to death almost one million seals? Did you know the Canadian government
not only allows the hunt, but actively encourages this inhumane slaughter? How
inhumane? An independent panel of veterinarians estimated that still during the
2001 hunt, up to 40% of the seals examined had been skinned alive. While the
animals were conscious
The HSUS wants you to join our campaign to protect seals. Perhaps you have seen
our full page ad in The New York Times. We want to harness the collective power
of those who believe this slaughter must be stopped. Together we can force the
Canadian government to halt this brutal hunt forever.
Working Together to Protect Seals
The Humane Society of the United States is working to stop the slaughter of
seals in Canada. Working with groups such as the International Wildlife
Coalition, Ocean Futures, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, we are
determined to convince the Canadian government not to allow the ice to run red
with the blood of seals. You can help save the seals. HSUS also collaborated
with Wildlife Works to design the seals t-shirt. $10 from every shirt sold goes
to the Protect Seals: Do Something campaign.
What You Can Do
1. Don't vacation in Canada. Consider instead spending your tourist dollars in
a nation that does not actively promote a barbaric slaughter of wildlife.
2. Contact Canada's Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien, and the Canadian Tourism
Commission. Tell them you are horrified that the Canadian government not only
allows but promotes the seal hunt. Tell them that you are not comfortable
vacationing in Canada while the seal hunt is legal.
Contact Information:
Prime Minister's Office
Right Honorable Jean Chrétien
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington St. Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada K1A OA2
Fax: 613-941-6900
E-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca
Canadian Tourism Commission
55 Metcalfe St. Suite 600 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6L5
613-946-1000
E-mail: Use the Contact Us form on www.canadatourism.com.
3. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper protesting the seal
hunt. Click here for suggestions about what points you can make.
4. Support The HSUS's efforts to stop Canada's slaughter of seals.
More Information
An estimated 95% of the seals killed in Canada's November 15-May 15 hunt are 12
days to 12 months old. The hunt is over for 2003, and while we don't know how
many seals were beaten or shot on their home ice east of Newfoundland and
Labrador, we do know that the Canadian government is allowing hunters to kill
975,000 harp seals in the next three years. We also know that last year sealers
killed at least 30,000 more seals than they were legally allowed. And how did the
Canadian government punish the sealers? By upping the quota.
The Canadian government has proven time and again that it is more interested in
promoting a commercial seal hunt (a massive slaughter that is nothing like the
traditional hunts of the past) than in the humane treatment of seals. When
confronted with evidence from an independent, international team of
veterinarians that regulations on the treatment of the seals were not being
obeyed-that up to 40% of seal pups were being skinned while alive and
conscious-the government refused to crack down on sealers.
Some, in fact, might say the government tacitly rewarded the sealers by
continuing to subsidize the hunt to the tune of $20 million between 1995 and
2001. And right this minute, it's promoting seal fur, meat, and oil all over
the world.
One way the Canadian government justifies its support of the seal hunt is to
claim that seals in the North Atlantic eat too many cod. But there's no good
scientific support for this claim. In fact, in 1994 two of the government's own
scientists reported that the true cause of the cod depletion in the North
Atlantic was over-fishing.
Ecosystems are complex-seals also eat cod predators (other fish), for example,
so removing seals might even worsen the cod stock's condition. But it's more
convenient for the government and fishing industry to scapegoat seals than it
is for them to address the serious problem of over-fishing.
You can help save Canada's seals!
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~3~
News from the Field
Buffalo Field Campaign
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
If
you have been wanting to help protect the Yellowstone buffalo, now is your
chance. Representative Nick Rahall, the ranking Democrat on the House
Resources Committee, will offer an amendment to the 2004 Interior
Appropriations Bill making it illegal for the Park Service to use funds to kill
Yellowstone buffalo. The Bill will be voted on next week.
The Rahall Amendment will add language to Interior Appropriations Bill stating
that "none of the funds made available by this Act may be used to kill, or
assist others in killing any bison in the Yellowstone National Park herd."
As you may know, Yellowstone employees captured 231 buffalo inside the park
during the first week of March, 2003, and shipped them all to slaughter without
testing a single one for brucellosis, the supposed justification for the
killing. This radical action, which runs counter to the Park Service
mission, caught Representative Rahall's attention and he has been active in
this issue ever since.
During the past two winters park rangers have joined forces with Montana
Department of Livestock agents in and around Yellowstone to slaughter
buffalo. If the amendment passes the House and Senate, Yellowstone
employees will no longer be able to assist the Montana Department of Livestock
in the bloody work of slaughtering Yellowstone buffalo.
We traveled to Washington DC in May and met with over seventy Representatives
and Senators, building a strong constituency for the Yellowstone buffalo among
our elected officials and helping to elevate the issue to the national
stage. We will be calling upon those we met with but we need your help to
make this effort a success.
TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ABOUT THE RAHALL AMENDMENT
Yellowstone National Park provided sanctuary to the only 23 free-roaming
buffalo that survived the mass slaughter of the 19th century. Yet
present-day park rangers are taking part in a slaughter that threatens the very
survival of their ancestors.
Call, fax, and email (in that order) your representative and tell them about
the Rahall Amendment. Yellowstone is supposed to be a sanctuary for our
nation's last remaining herd of genetically pure, free-roaming bison, not a
killing ground. Make a single phone call and let your Representative know
what you think.
To contact your Representative, please visit the following web site:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Take action today. The future of free-roaming buffalo in America depends
on it!
For more information on the Yellowstone herd and the efforts of the Buffalo
Field Campaign, please read our newsletter. It is fresh off the press and
available online or in hard copy. Click on the following link for an
electronic version:
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo/BFC_pdfs/BFC-News-2003.pdf
The Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field every day to
protect the Yellowstone bison, America's only continuously wild herd. BFC
volunteers defend the bison and their habitat, and document every move made
against them.
For the Buffalo,
Dan Brister
Project Coordinator
Buffalo Field Campaign
Buffalo Field Campaign
PO Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
(406) 646-0070
buffalo@wildrockies.org
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~4~
Tell Your Congressman to Vote
for H.R. 1472
from the Humane Society of the United States
Congress is considering a bill which would ban
bear baiting on federal lands. Bear baiting is the unfair practice of shooting
bears over piles of bait. Trophy hunters set out piles of food on public lands,
causing bears to become accustomed to coming to these bait stations for an easy
meal. Once hunting season starts the hunter waits for the bear to arrive and
shoots her as she sits there eating.
Every year, bear baiters set out thousands of bait piles on federal lands,
principally national forests. Bait piles set out by hunters can consist of
hundreds of pounds of human food scraps, rotting fruits and meats, and even
carcasses of other animals. Most bears who feed at the bait stations are not
shot, and these animals become accustomed to human food sources, causing
problems for people and the bears.
Animals conditioned to being fed by humans will break into cabins and cars,
raid campgrounds, and approach humans more readily. Bears habituated to
human food sources are likely to be labeled as "nuisance" animals and
are often targeted for killing.
Please contact your representative in the House of Representatives and tell him
or her that you support H.R. 1472 which would ban bear baiting on federal
lands. A phone call is harder to ignore than an email.
Trophy hunting groups are aggressively working the Congress to maintain this
terrible method for slaughtering our nations bears, but your call could make a
difference!
For more information visit
http://www.hsus.org/ace/16258
The
Last Supper: Bear Baiting on Federal Lands in the United States
Find your Representative...
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
Congress.org -- Write To
Congress, the President and State Legislators
*******Late Breaking
News*******
The
Interior Appropriations bill is tentatively scheduled for the House of
Representatives for Thursday, July 17. Both the bison issue and the
bear-baiting issue will be amendments to the bill. The first is the
Gallegly-Moran Amendment that would prohibit bear baiting on federal
lands. The second is the Rahall Bison Protection Amendment. This
would stop the National Park Service from taking part in the slaughter of the
Yellowstone bison. Please call your Representative before Thursday and
urge him or her to support these amendments.
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~5~
Fourth of July Litter
Copyrighted 1994 by Karin Morrison - Laceylv@aol.com
From her book "Compassion Seeds"
Founder & President, Compassion Seeds Animal Sanctuary, Oklahoma
For the past days the little shaggy dog had
stayed next to a trash can in the park. It was shady here and cool. The
fresh earth of the small hole she had dug beneath the picnic table gave a
little comfort to her skin, skin that was embedded with thorns and covered
fleas and ticks that slowly drained the life out of her frail body. She
could barely see because of matted fur that was covering her eyes. Weak
and in pain she had not felt like looking for food and water.
Vaguely she remembered a bowl filled with dry food, a wrinkled hand and another
one with fresh water. Oh yes ... cool, refreshing water!
She is now panting and her mouth is dry. Suddenly her head raises her tail
starts to thump, hesitantly and slowly at first, then getting faster and
faster. Cars are coming through the park! The morning peace and the song of the
birds are interrupted by the noise of trucks, cars, people shouting and
children laughing. Tables are set up, covered with all kinds of things.
The little dog recognizes the smell of food. Wearily she raises her head to see
what the hustle and bustle is all about. More and more people are arriving. The
smell of food is getting stronger and the little dog starts to stagger around,
in hope of finding some crumbs, to ease the nagging hunger pain inside of her.
Maybe there will be even a few licks of water somewhere.
A little girl reaches out to her. The little dog excitedly tries to lick the
child's hand, but a screeching voice and a sudden, sharp pain in her side makes
her jump and run away.
Now she can hear music and everyone is having a good time, so the little dog is
hardly noticed.
However, two children give her a few pieces of their hot-dogs and some ice
cubes from a paper cup, which lessens her thirst.
Stronger now, the little dog walks around, carefully avoiding kicking feet. She
follows the two children, while picking up other scraps of food such as potato
chips, part of a hamburger and some fries.
The children stop at a large tank of water. They start to throw balls and once
in a while the water splashes over the edge, people shout and the little dog
eagerly licks the water. She rolls in it, hoping to find comfort for her sore
skin, causing people to point at her, laughing and wrinkling their noses in
disgust.
She continues to follow the children who stop to talk to a large man. All of a
sudden the man comes rushing at her, screaming, clapping his hands and yelling
at her to "go away"!
She runs as fast as she can, gets tangled in a cloth of red, white and blue
colors, hears people screaming something about a flag and desperately seeks a
place for safety under a picnic table.
The table is occupied by singing and shouting people. A man bends down and
gives her a gentle pat on the back. She curls up next to his seat, hoping that
he will touch her again. Drained of the little strength she had left, she falls
asleep.
When she wakes up, the sun is setting. The man is gathering up his belongings
and is getting ready to leave. Hopefully, the little dog wags it's tail,
wanting to be taken along. Patiently she waits, while licking on part of an ice
cream cone that she finds close by.
The man pats her once more and says, "Go home, mutt." Then he
leaves. The little dog watches until the car disappears from sight.
It is quiet now. With her nose to the ground, smelling paper, cans and other
trash, she manages to find a few more bites. The food upsets her stomach.
Violent cramps make her fragile body squirm in pain.
She crawls back into her hole under the table and curls up into a small ball.
Weakness relaxes her body. Her eyesight fails, either due to the night falling
or because she is so tired ... so tired! Her small body quivers, her legs
stretch and a tiny sigh escapes from her mouth. Her eyes slowly close.
The noise of the fireworks do not disturb or frighten her any longer, in fact
... nothing will ever frighten her again.
She sees another man's face, one she used to love so much. She feels his
gentle, wrinkled hand stroke her body.
The little dog is home again! This time for good.
The next morning city workers are cleaning up the park. They talk about
the wonderful Fourth of July party they had the day before, while picking up
the trash that is carelessly scattered all over the park.
One of them discovers the little dog. He picks her up. For a quick moment
a sign of compassion softens his harsh face, as he looks at her abused, dead
body. Then he tosses her into the trash can with the rest of the litter, shakes
his head and walks away.
<><><><><>
Reminder: August 16th is the National Homeless Animals Day, commemorated
by a candlelight vigil. Please go to the following website for more
information, and how you can get your vigil packet and bring the vigil to your
community.
http://www.isaronline.org/campaign_NHAD.htm
ISAR Campaigns: National
Homeless Animals' Day
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~6~
ACT Radio - Animal Concerns of
Texas
By Greg Lawson - ParkStRanger@aol.com
Be
sure to listen to ACT Radio tonight at 9:30pm EST (7:30pm, mountain time) with
cohosts and Animal Rights Online journalists Greg Lawson and Steve Best, and
biologist Dr. Elizabeth Walsh. KTEP can be heard over the web with Real Radio,
which is a free download.
Tonight, we feature our second conversation with Dr. Elliot Katz, founder of In
Defense of Animals. We discuss IDA's Guardian Campaign and how a number
of cities have changed their laws to include the language of guardian rather
than "pet owner."
If you enjoy the show, please contact KTEP and tell them you support ACT Radio
and are pleased to hear this kind of programming.
General Feedback: http://www.ktep.org/index.ssd
A note about getting Real Radio if you don't already have it...
On the KTEP website you will see an icon on the left that says Listen to KTEP
Online, click it. The next page will say "In order to listen to KTEP
on-line you will need the Real Player, which is available for free on the Real
website. Click here to visit their download area." Go there.
On that page look in the top right hand corner, there is a link that says
"Free RealOne Player." Go there.
Now on this page, on the bottom right, you will see a link that says
"Download the Free RealOne Player Only." This is what you want.
The download takes a little time, so be sure to do this early so you won't miss
today's installment of ACT Radio.
El Paso NPR - KTEP 88.5 :
National Public Radio for the Southwest
http://www.ktep.org/program_detail.ssd?id=103
Listen to past programs which are archived on the web here...
Animal Concerns of
Texas
http://www.philosophy.utep.edu/act/act.asp?act=2
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~7~
Kinship
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
1850-1919
I am the voice of the voiceless;
Through me the dumb shall speak,
Till the deaf world's ear be made to hear
The wrongs of the wordless weak.
From street, from cage and from kennel,
From stable and zoo, the wail
Of my tortured kin proclaims the sin
Of the mighty against the frail.
Oh, shame on the mothers of mortals
Who have not stopped to teach
Of the sorrow that lies in dear, dumb eyes,
The sorrow that has no speech.
The same force formed the sparrow
That fashioned man the king;
The God of the whole gave a spark of soul
To furred and to feathered thing.
And I am my brother's keeper,
And I will fight his fight,
And speak the word for beast and bird,
Till the world shall set things right.
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~8~
Memorable Quote
"The existence of organized cruelty - that
is, cruelty practiced as a matter of social principle or public policy, and
presented to the community as a means of a higher goal - is the most obscene
and decadent phenomenon of any civilization."
~~ Clare Booth Luce
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
P O Box 7053
Tampa, Fl 33673-7053
http://www.oocities.org/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal Rights Online=-
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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