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 #
03/28/04
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 ~ The Active Activist: The Bullies Are
Winning by Michelle Rivera
2 ~ The Animal Holocaust by David A. Weseloh, Ph.D
3 ~ Job Opportunities
4 ~ Bullfight For Spain's Victims
5 ~ Register to Vote - Because the Animals
Can't
6 ~ New England Animal Rights Conference
7 ~ Mad About Mad Cow?
8 ~ ACT Radio
9 ~ Has Freedom Really Died in the Cayman
Islands? by Helene O'Barry
10~ Poem For Cats
11~ Memorable
Quote
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~1~
The Active Activist
A
year or so ago the animal-advocacy community was up in arms over the savage
killing of a kitten by placing her on a barbecue in the presence of a bunch of
drunken twenty-somethings who thought it was funny to torture a small animal. The next door neighbor was a hero in the
eyes of the nation as she ran to the kitten's rescue, gamely removing the
kitten from the coals with her bare hands and rushing her to the vet only to be
humanely euthanized. The perpetrator
was arrested and all was right with the world again. But we were shocked to learn that the charges against this
monster were dropped because of threats to the hero neighbor. She refused to
bear witness against him because he and his friends threatened her, her
children and her animals. Bullying
prevailed.
Last
week, I received a late night phone call from a distraught acquaintance who
said that her friend had called her to tell her that the night before she had
heard a dog screaming from within someone's house. The next day, she saw the dog with a severely mangled leg
dangling from his body, and a huge knot over his eye. "What should we do?" asked the acquaintance (who
happens to be a seasoned veterinary technician). I explained that her friend
SHOULD have called the police as it was happening, but failing that, if she
would get me the street address I would call the police myself immediately and
get the dog some help. She said she would get the address and call me back. I
waited until the wee hours and still no phone call. The next day, I went to see her and asked her for the address,
still thinking of the horrible pain and suffering this dog must be
enduring. "Well," she said somewhat
sheepishly, "My friend won't give me her address or the dog's address
because she is afraid that the people will find out it was her who told and
they might do something to her."
???????
This
way of thinking is hard to comprehend for those of us who throw caution to the
wind and scream from the rooftops with righteous anger when we see something we
feel is wrong, especially where animals are concerned. Yet, the bullies win when we sit silently by
in fear for our safety and that of our animals. The oft-quoted Edmund Burke
said "The only thing necessary for
the triumph of evil is for good persons to do nothing." This is a succinct and constant reminder
that speaking up in the face of wrongdoing is a noble and vital undertaking.
So
what do we do if we fear retaliation from the bully? How do we respond to the
wickedness and then the threat of further wickedness when animals lives are
depending upon our speaking up? We find
the courage somewhere, and we find allies.
First, be the "go to" person in your
community so that those who know of such deeds will call you for help. Become
knowledgeable and friendly with local police and animal control agents. Know that your state statutes are on your
side and know that the police absolutely have the power to investigate and
prosecute cases of animal cruelty. They may tell you that it is not within
their jurisdiction, and you need to call the local animal control agencies, but
don't you believe it! The police are
every bit as able and capable of handling animal cruelty cases and are given
that authority by state statute. When they tell you to call someone else, they
are simply passing the buck. Don't let them get away with it!
Meet
with your local sheriff or municipal law enforcement agency and ask them to set
up a special animal cruelty tip line where folks can call anonymously and
report suspected animal cruelty. There
are Crimestoppers lines already set up in many areas, why can't they be used
for felony animal cruelty cases? Look
into it. The sheriff in Palm Beach County, Florida set up an anonymous tip line
and tied it in with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) $2500
reward.
Counsel
others to step forward. Tell them that if they are worried about their safety,
imagine how vulnerable the animal is.
Remind them that animal cruelty is a predictor of child and spousal
abuse and that the animal may not be the only one in danger. Not that this makes it more important, but
it may be of more interest to child protection agencies and police. Agencies make every effort to protect
witness identity because they know that retaliation is a very real threat to
some people.
What
if the police don't take you seriously?
Demand that a report is taken and record names, dates and badge numbers
of all officers with whom you speak.
Know that state laws are on your side.
What
if you are wrong about what you suspect? Unless the animal needs emergency
medical attention, nothing will happen immediately anyway. Your information will help to build a case,
and once an investigation is underway, the evidence will reveal itself.
We
cannot let the bullies prevail. Time and again when I hear a case of animal
abuse and ask "Why didn't you call the police?" I hear "They
aren't going to do anything about it!"
Is that ok? Can we let that pass unchallenged? Let's raise the bar for animals and force the police to take
animal abuse seriously. Let's make
criminals accountable for each and every crime that they commit. People who hurt animals and other vulnerable
populations are dangerous, psychotic and downright mean-spirited. We want more for our future. It is time to make animal cruelty a
reportable crime and teach others, children and adults alike, that it is NEVER
ok to watch or hear an animal in distress and not help out. The animals need your voice to make their
own voices heard. Don't let them down.
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~2~
By
David A. Weseloh, Ph.D. - Doctor@nts-online.net
Owner
of VEGAN
http://www.vegan-info.com
It
is hard to give the exact number of animals that are killed throughout the
world each year but it is estimated that it is about 45 billion. That means about 5,137,000 animals are
killed every hour throughout the world.
It takes slightly over one hour to equal the numbers of innocent Jews
that were killed in the Jewish Holocaust.
Would you believe that there has been about 2,600,000,000,000 animals
killed in the world since the end of WWII?
The 2.6 trillion animals killed for food and experimentation since WWII
is an educated guess. That is a little
less then a half million times as many Jews that were killed in the Jewish
Holocaust. The word
"holocaust" can apply to both the animal holocaust and the Jewish
Holocaust and does not take away from the Jewish Holocaust. The comparison is valid since both get
rounded up and placed into cages (concentration camps). They both are tortured and sometimes starved
in the case of laying hens. They are both eventually slaughtered.
If
we look at just the USA then we find an estimated 9.5 billion animals killed
each year. That is 1,084,000 animals
killed ever hour or about 18,067 animals killed every minute. With 301 animals killed every second, that
is about one and a half time as many people killed on the train in Spain by
terrorist in the beginning of March. Then we say that we do not want to upset
our flesh eating friends by trying to convert them. I think that we should do anything ethical to stop the killing of
animals for food and experimentation.
Now
is the time to concentrate on getting our family and friends to become
vegans. We need to do whatever we can
to save the animals. There is a real animal holocaust in the world and we are
on the front lines to save them. We cannot surrender! We cannot retreat! We
must go forward!
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~3~
SNIP
PROGRAM ASSISTANT: People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) seeks a SNIP program assistant to help the
SNIP program manager with all aspects of SNIP’s mobile spay/neuter program,
including check-in, administrative recordkeeping, scheduling, and ordering
materials. Candidate must have
excellent interpersonal, problem-solving, crisis-management, and organizational
skills. Candidate must also have basic
animal-handling skills and be willing to work weekends. Valid driver’s license and good driving
record required. Competitive salary and
benefits. Please send resume with cover
letter to PETA, Attn: Human Resources, 501 Front Street, Norfolk, VA 23510; fax to 757.628.0789; or email to
jobopenings@peta.org
NORTH
CAROLINA PROJECT COORDINATOR – non-profit animal protection organization seeks
candidate to manage and develop a North Carolina project, including
establishment and operation of a humane shelter to serve animals in and around
Bertie County, N.C., and to perform field work in accordance with Community
Animal Project’s standard operational procedures. Candidate must be certified
in animal euthanasia and drug use, have an excellent rapport with animals,
gentleness, respect, and understanding. Must have the proven ability to make
sound, independent decisions in a crisis situation, ability to network with
area veterinarians, investigate neglect and cruelty complaints. Competitive
salary and benefits. Send cover letter and resume to PETA, Attn: Human
Resources, 501 Front Street, Norfolk, VA 23510; or fax to 757-628-0789
Ariana
J. Dixon
HR
Assistant
Foundation
to Support Animal Protection (FSAP)
The
PETA Foundation
501
Front St.
Norfolk,
VA 23510
phone:
757 962 8413
email:
arianad@fsap.org
fax:
757 628 0789
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~4~
According
to the "Diario de Sevilla" there will be a bullfight to raise funds
for the families of the victims of the Madrid bombing. It will be televised
live by Spain's state television TVE1. The "stars" of the
bullfighting scene will be present. The prices for tickets have been reduced by
20%. A donations account has been created. The original article is pasted down
below.
Spain's
Asociacisn Nacional para el Bienestar y la Proteccisn de los Animales (ANPBA),
Madrid, asks for international support in this matter.
Please
send your own short letter or the sample to:
Sr.
D. Fernando Giner Giner
Presidente
de la Diputacisn de Valencia
Plaza
de Manises, 4
46003
- Valencia
E-mail:
dipuval_presi@gva.es
Sample:
Estimado
Seqor Presidente,
le
ruego que no se realice la corrida de toros para recaudar fondos para las
familias de las vmctimas del brutal atentado del 11-M. No hace falta derramar
la sangre de seres inocentes, en este caso los toros. Hay muchas otras manera
para la recaudacisn de fondos como conciertos o eventos deportivos. Por respeto
a las vmctimas y sus familias por favor no lleve acabo la corrida del 2 de
abril.
Atentamente,
Nombre:
Pams:
Translation:
Dear
Mr. President,
I
would like to ask you to ban the bullfight to raise funds for the families of
the brutal attack of March 11. The spilling of the blood of innocent beings, in
this case the bulls, is not necessary.
There are other possibilities to raise fund like concerts or sports
events.
Please
don't let the bullfight on April 2nd happen.
Yours
faithfully,
Name:
Country:
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~5~
The
2004 presidential race is shaping up to be extremely close and critical. Each
and every vote will be vital in determining the course this nation follows in the
future.
The
Student Animal Rights Alliance has partnered with Working Assets as part of a
national campaign to register voters for the critical 2004 election.
Just
go to http://www.defendanimals.org/vote to register to vote or change your
registration address. Just fill out the form, print and mail. It’s easy and
quick. If you’re already registered, please forward the link to friends and
family.
<><><><><>
Student
Animal Rights Alliance
PO
Box 932, New York, NY 10013-0864
212-696-7911 info@defendanimals.org
www.defendanimals.org
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~6~
April
3, 2004, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Community
Church of Boston
565
Boylston St., Boston, Massachusetts
Featured
Speaker: MIKE MARKARIAN, President of The Fund for Animals
AFFINITY
GROUPS:
Session
One: Animals in Agriculture; Animals in Entertainment; and Animals in
Laboratories.
Session
Two: Humane Education; Legislative Efforts; and Wildlife: Fur, Hunting &
Trapping; and other Issues.
THE
PEACEABLE KINGDOM SHOWING; TABLING (LITERATURE DROP-OFF ONLY); NETWORKING
OPPORTUNITIES – AND MORE!!!!
RSVP:
Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition (MARC)
E-mail:
MARC_list@yahoogroups.com
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~7~
On Friday Evening at 7:00 PM March 26th, 2004,
The Seattle Museum of the Mysteries had
an exclusive showing of the video of Dave Louthan’s only public appearance in Seattle
when he presented at the Museum on March 6th .
Dave
Louthan, the man who killed the first mad cow in the US is speaking as a mad
cow whistle blower and crusader for safe beef. Dave relates information on the
mad cow Holstein, what happened in the aftermath, huge discrepancies in the
inspection reports and how the USDA agents dubbed “Men in Green"
intimidated him.
In
one of the most graphic descriptions since Upton Sinclair’s 1906 “The Jungle,”
Dave Louthan is giving the public the truth about the mad cow case, the
slaughter industry and giving the answers to one of the most troubling issues
affecting every consumer
Copies
of the video are available at the Museum for $20 with a portion of the proceeds
going to help Dave on his mission. Check out www.davelouthan.org
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~8~
Be
sure to listen to ACT, Animal Concerns of Texas with cohosts Greg Lawson and
Steve Best tonight, March 14, at 7:30pm Mountain time. We will be talking with Anthony Marr of
CARE, Compassion for Animals Road Expedition, which is touring the country with
their message of animal rights and vegan nutrition. We will focus on the threat to the tigers and bears of the world
from Chinese medicine.
ACT
can be heard on the web with Real Radio, which is a free download. Click here
to listen to Act.
http://www.ktep.org/
El
Paso NPR - KTEP 88.5 : National Public Radio for the Southwest
Click
here for an archive of our past shows...
http://utminers.utep.edu/best/ACT/AnimalConcernsofTexas.htm
Animal
Concerns of Texas
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~9~
Six
am Sunday morning, March 21, the One Voice Dolphin Rescue team received a phone
call from Billy Adam who is spearheading the “Keep Dolphins Free in the Cayman
Islands” campaign. The help of One Voice was needed immediately, he said. Two
men had found a young dolphin in the water off South Sound Road, Grand Cayman.
According to eyewitnesses, the dolphin had stranded himself in shallow water
and wasn't moving much.
Captive
dolphin facilities in Honduras and Jamaica were already standing by with
airplanes and staff members, geared up to go to Grand Cayman and take over the
dolphin rescue attempt. It was important for the dolphin freedom campaigners on
island not to involve the dolphin captivity industry, for the simple reason
that several dolphinariums are in the planning stages in the Cayman Islands,
despite strong local opposition to dolphin captivity: The entrepreneurs behind
the proposed dolphinariums would no doubt use the rescue effort to further
propagate the position that a captive dolphin facility is needed in the Cayman
Islands in order to deal with any future dolphin standings.
The
One Voice team traveled to Grand Cayman immediately, arriving on-site within a
few hours after the call for assistance came in. The many locals, who have been
fighting the proposed captive dolphin facilities for years, were thankful that
One Voice was able to show up with such short notice but, sadly, the dolphin
died. He was only a few months old. When dolphins are this young their markings
and coloring are not fully developed, and it is therefore sometimes difficult
to determine their species. However, we suspect he was a spotted dolphin
(Stenella plagiodon). Somehow he got separated from his mother and the rest of
his pod, but we will never know exactly what brought him ashore.
For
several hours, area residents, volunteers, and environmentalists took 30-minute
shifts standing in the water, shading the dolphin with beach umbrellas and
helping him keep his balance in the water. Billy Adam, Juliet Austin, and local
veterinarians Dr. Brenda Bush and Dr. Elizabeth Broussard were among the team
of caregivers who did everything possible to save the young dolphin. But at
3:30 pm the dolphin took his last breath.
Several
people, including grownups, started crying when they realized the dolphin was
dead. Although it was a sad scene it was also one of tremendous hope and
encouragement for the One Voice team: We had recently returned from Taiji,
Japan, where whalers intentionally drive hundreds of dolphins ashore and kill
them in the most gruesome way imaginable. One day we witnessed the capture of
more than 100 bottlenose dolphins, and we were shocked to see whalers and
dolphin trainers working side by side to beach the panic-stricken animals. The
trainers spent several hours selecting the ones they wanted for their
dolphinariums. Dragging the dolphins ashore with ropes, they separated the
mothers from their babies with extreme brutality. The dolphins’ cries of
distress were met with complete indifference.
“We
love dolphins.” This is the dolphin captivity industry’s first line of defense
when confronted with the questionable ethics of capturing and confining
dolphins. Their second line of defense is: “We are displaying dolphins to teach
the public respect for nature.” But there
was no sign of “love” or "respect” for dolphins on this day where dolphin
trainers mercilessly stranded an entire pod of full-grown dolphins, juveniles,
babies, as well as pregnant and nursing females and dragged more than 20 of
them away from their pod members to be shipped to various dolphinariums.
Dolphin trainers simply stood by and watched as some of the dolphins, in a
massive effort to escape, got entangled in the whalers’ capture nets and,
unable to reach the surface to breathe, died a slow and painful death of
suffocation. We witnessed how members of the dolphin captivity industry, in
their self-serving endeavor to choose the dolphins that best fit the desired
criteria for dolphin shows and captive dolphin swim programs, knowingly and
calculatingly exposed dolphins to trauma, injuries, and death. This is the dark
side of dolphin captivity that the public is never told about. On South Point in Grand Cayman, however, we
saw a very different picture. Here, we saw compassionate and caring people coming
together in an extraordinary effort to save a dolphin, with the ultimate goal
of releasing him back into the sea and reuniting him with his mother and other
pod members. Among the rescuers was
Gina Ebanks-Petrie, head of the Department of Environment. To the many
volunteers that comforted the dolphin in his final hours, he became a reminder
that these free-ranging and highly intelligent marine mammals belong in the
wild, and that it is cruel to separate them from the three most important
aspects of their lives: Their world of sound, their pod members, and the
ability to move freely. With this in mind, they named the dolphin “Freedom.”
Thanks
to the effort to rescue "Freedom,” the issue of whether or not dolphins
belong in captivity once again became an issue of high interest to the media in
the Cayman Islands; something it hadn’t been in a long time.
To
our knowledge, there are four proposals to bring captive dolphins to the Cayman
Islands. If the authorities approve the import of captive dolphins, the Cayman
Islands will become part of the dolphin trade that nourishes its profits from
deadly dolphin captures; a procedure that leaves dolphin pods traumatized and
destroyed. The Cayman Islands will become supportive of an exploitative
entertainment industry that treats nature and its inhabitant in a manner that
works directly against the caring approach to nature we saw demonstrated in
South Sound the day “Freedom” died.
Compassion and care will be replaced with crudeness and greed. A
passionate effort to save life will be replaced with the act of permanently
destroying it by subjecting it to a violent capture and lifelong confinement.
The
“Keep Dolphins Free in the Cayman Islands” campaign continues. Freedom died but
in his death brought new life to the effort to keep the Cayman Islands on the
list of tourist destinations that, rather than exploit captive dolphins for
profit, celebrate the dolphins’ way of life in their vast marine environment --
wild and free.
Helene
O'Barry
Field
Correspondent
One
Voice
France
www.onevoice-ear.org
*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~10~
by
Anon
And God asked
the feline spirit
Are you ready
to come home?
Oh, yes, quite
so, replied the precious soul
And, as a cat,
you know I am most able
To decide
anything for myself.
Are you coming
then? asked God
Soon, replied
the whiskered angel
But I must
come slowly
For my human
friends are troubled
For you see,
they need me, quite certainly.
But don't they
understand? asked God
That you'll
never leave them?
That your
souls are intertwined. For all
eternity?
That nothing
is created or destroyed?
It just
is....forever and ever and ever.
Eventually
they will understand,
Replied the
glorious cat
For I will
whisper into their hearts
That I am
always with them
I just
am.....forever and ever and ever.
*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~11~
"As
often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had
the same thought: in their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. The smugness with which man could do with
other species as he pleased exemplified the most extreme racist theories, the
principle that might is right."
~ Isaac Bashevis
Singer
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
Susan Roghair
- EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights
Online
http://www.oocities.org/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal
Rights Online=-
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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