FYI: PETA also has a sample letter/action alert available here.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Nov 30, 2006 8:23 PM
Subject: LETTER/ Tears Of A Cow – India’s Leather Trade

Kinship Circle Primary – PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN
(Please do not delete identity/disclaimer information)

WARNING: 2 graphic photos before sample letter

11/30/06: Tears Of A Cow – India’s Leather Trade
KINSHIP CIRCLE ACTION CAMPAIGN

www.KinshipCircle.org

SOURCE OF INFORMATION:

The Horror of the Indian Leather Trade

www.petaindia.com/feat/f-leathertrade.asp

Help Cows Skinned For Leather In India

getactive.peta.org/campaign/p2indianleather?c=peta2_enews

Most American leather goods begin in foreign countries. In India, a top leather producer, cows die miserably inside slaughterhouses swarming with flies. Fallen cows drape their heads across each other in 100-degree heat as they await inhumane death: Workers saw through their necks with dull knives… PETA investigative video: www.petatv.com/tvpopup/prefs.asp?video=skin-trade-ili

Anyone who wears leather is likely clothed in leather from from India or China. Shoes or other goods produced in Italy, the U.S. and other countries use raw materials (skins) imported from India or China…

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Nov 30, 2006 4:54 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Fantastic anti fur column in UK Daily Mail — 30 November 2006

Liz Jones, the UK’s Daily Mail fashion columnist, has written another strong anti-fur piece, headed, “Fur is back…and the fashion industry should hang its head in shame.”

She writes about the difficulty of finding anything not covered or trimmed in fur at designer stores such as Prada. She tells us her friends are wearing, though some wear only vintage. And she writes, “Vintage is, when it comes to ethics, no defence. Although the animal has long been dead, wearing the coat still gives off the message that fur is beautiful, and acceptable.”

She wonders, “how on earth did British women become so, well, cruel?”

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Farm Sanctuary – info [at] farmsanctuary.org
Date: Nov 30, 2006 4:38 PM
Subject: Farm Sanctuary’s E-News & Action Alert 11/30/06

New York Shelter’s Ducks and Geese Move into Their New Home!

After months of diligent construction work, the first phase of Farm Sanctuary’s new Duck & Goose Habitat Project is finished! Move-in day went off without a hitch for the Farm Sanctuary flock. Our avian ambassadors were moved to their spacious abode in the new main barn. The next phase of this project will include the construction of a new pond for the main barn, a new special needs barn and renovation of our old pond for the special needs flock. Click here to read more about this new development at the sanctuary and the birds’ big day.

Empower Our “Fast Food Nation” to Change

Factory farming issues are reaching the mainstream like never before. With the opening of “Fast Food Nation,” viewers are given a behind-the-scenes look at how our food gets to our plate. Now is the time to empower people to make the leap to a cruelty free life! Help spread the word by distributing our Veg For Life or Factory Farming literature before and after local screenings of the film. Stay connected to the issues by visiting Participate.net, where Farm Sanctuary staff will blog to continue the conversation, and forward the Flash film, “Backwards Hamburger” to your friends and family. We CAN change our fast food culture…one person at a time.

www.foxsearchlight.com/fastfoodnation/

secure.vegsource.com/farmsanc/literature_landing.html

New York & California Thanksgiving Celebration FOR the Turkeys 2006

For Farm Sanctuary’s Celebration FOR the Turkeys, hundreds of people flocked together to honor birds rather than eat them. Garnering generous media attention, events at both shelters delighted young and old alike with festive feasts, shelter visits and, of course, our famous turkey feeding ceremonies. Energetic and positive, animal and disability rights activist Lawrence-Carter Long brought humor and inspiration to our California Celebration, while vegan nutrition and fitness consultant John Pierre motivated his audience in New York with tips on healthy living. CA Event Photos. NY Event Photos.

Holiday Gift Donations

Give the gift of life this holiday season by making a gift donation for a loved one. Your gift will spread a message of peace and compassion for all beings and help so many farm animals in need. For donations of $25 or more, we’ll send one of our holiday gift cards acknowledging your special present. To make a gift donation today, please click here or contact us at 607-583-2225 ext. 221 or mailto:info [at] farmsanctuary.org.

Post a Farm Sanctuary banner or link on your website and help reach others with a message of compassion!

In the News

Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars, UN report warns
UN News Center – November 29, 2006

Turkeys Find Sanctuary in Upstate New York
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO – November 23, 2006

In the Store

*NEW – Bird Flu
Dr. Michael Greger traces the human role in the evolution of this virus.

About Farm Sanctuary

Farm Sanctuary is the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, we have worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the “food animal” industry through research and investigations, legal and legislative actions, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Our shelters in Watkins Glen, NY and Orland, CA provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. For more information about Farm Sanctuary or our programs, please visit www.farmsanctuary.org or call 607-583-2225. To become a Farm Sanctuary member or to make a donation today using our secure online form, www.farmsanctuary.org/join/donate2.htm. For updates on previous action alerts, www.farmsanctuary.org/actionalerts/update.htm.

Please forward and distribute widely! Thank you
Farm Sanctuary, P.O. Box 150 Watkins Glen, NY 14891.

–

To subscribe: www.farmsanctuary.org/signup.htm

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Tagged: animals animal+rights action+alerts farm+sanctuary turkeys thanksgiving fast+food fast+food+nation vegan veganism vegetarian vegetarianism

Here’s the TOC from IDA’s 11-29-06 newsletter.

Click on the links to take action, or read the whole newsletter online.

IDA Action Alerts

IDA Joins Unified Response to Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

Equal Justice Alliance enacts strategy in wake of AETA’s passage

Avian Flu Outbreak Prompts Massacre of Cats and Dogs in South Korea

Scientific experts say slaughter will not prevent spread of disease

Helpful Holiday Tips for Animal Companions

How to keep your family safe and happy throughout the season

Campaign News & Updates

Fur Free Friday Takes a Bite out of Animal Cruelty

Activists from coast to coast bring message of compassion to holiday shoppers

Conservationists File Lawsuit to Stop Aerial Wolf Hunt

Groups say wildlife control program is unscientific and illegal

IDA-India Celebrates 10 Years of Dedicated Service to Animals

Launch of Free Mobile Clinic for Street Animals marks auspicious occasion

An archive of past IDA eNews newsletters is available here.

————-

Tagged: animals animal+rights action+alerts ida in+defense+of+animals wolves wolf wolf+slaughter hunting fur+free+friday fur aeta Animal+Enterprise+Terrorism+Act bird+flu avian+fluu dogs canines cats felines pets dog+slaughter south+korea christmas holiday

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Nov 29, 2006 9:26 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: ABC Nightline on penguin crisis as their food goes to farm-raised salmon 11/28/06

ABC’s Nightline gave us more wonderfully animal friendly coverage on Tuesday, November 28. Using the new movie “Happy Feet” as his jump-off point, reporter Bill Blakemore looked at the real plight of penguins. He told us they are struggling to survive because of global warming, now threatening to melt the frozen sea surface many penguins need for survival, and because of extensive over-fishing. We learned that the colony of emperors made famous in the popular documentary “March of the Penguins” has lost 50% of its number over the past half-century. Blakemore explained that their main source of food is tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill, and that the krill are being taken in enormous catches, mostly to be ground up and fed to farm-raised salmons. He ended his report by telling us that scientists say that unless humanity figures out how to reverse the course down south, the happy ending in “Happy Feet” will be just wishful thinking.

(More below the fold…)

UPDATE, 12/3/06: Green Is the New Red cites the Schumacher Furs case as an example of how legal, nonviolent protest is being decried as “terrorism” by those “animal enterprises” which were deemed worthy of an extra level of protection via AETA. You can read the whole post here.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: In Defense of Animals – takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Nov 29, 2006 5:45 PM
Subject: Writing Alert: Fur store says it’s had enough

The Portland Oregonian published an article on the announcement by Schumacher Furs that after a year of anti-fur protests, they will be moving their store.

Please write a letter to the editor of the Oregonian on the inherent cruelty of killing animals for fur.

Send letters via letters [at] news.oregonian.com. You can also fax or postal mail your letters to:

Letters to the editor
The Oregonian
1320 S.W. Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
FAX: (503) 294-4193

You can read “Fur store Says its had enough” online here.

Fur store says it’s had enough

Downtown – Hounded by protesters and citing safety issues, Schumacher is pulling out of Portland after 111 years

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

by SPENCER HEINZ and SETH PRINCE

Schumacher Furs & Outerwear, after 111 years of business and one solid year of fervent animal-rights protests, is hanging it up in Portland.

Owner Gregg Schumacher, who depicts the city’s core as dangerous and not conducive to retailers, said Tuesday that he’s moving his shop to the suburbs, though he wouldn’t say where.

“We’re leaving downtown Portland because we feel that it’s losing its appeal for people to shop in” said Schumacher, 51, rattling off a list of what he called his customers’ complaints. “The panhandling, the musicians on the street, the urination in the parking garages. Yes, the protests. But the whole place is not conducive to running a retail operation.”

Officials from City Hall to the Portland Business Alliance, while making it clear they’re sad to see downtown lose any merchant, particularly such a longtime institution, called Schumacher’s claims, in effect, bunk.

(More below the fold…)

Via the Center for Biological Diversity:

Penguins threatened by global warming – Act Now

The Center petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week to list 12 species of penguins under the Endangered Species Act. Like the polar bear in the Arctic, these Antarctic and sub-Antarctic birds are threatened primarily by global warming.

Global warming threatens everything we care about, and yet we still do not have laws explicitly capping greenhouse gas emissions in this country. Please urge your senator to support the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2006, which would require greenhouse gas reductions of the magnitude that scientists tell us are necessary to avoid true climate disaster.

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Tagged: animals animal+rights action+alerts Center+for+Biological+Diversity environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist global+warming penguins Global+Warming+Pollution+Reduction+Act

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: API Newsletters – donotreply [at] api4animals.org
Date: Nov 29, 2006 12:16 PM
Subject: Ask Your City Mayor to Officially Recognize National Bird Day

Ask Your City Mayor to Officially Recognize National Bird Day

With National Bird Day just around the corner, the Animal Protection Institute (API), in coordination with the Avian Welfare Coalition (AWC), is calling on activists around the U.S. to take action on behalf of captive birds, by drawing attention to the exploitation of birds by the U.S. pet industry.

A few of the facts:

*Nearly 12% of the world’s 9,800 bird species may face extinction within the next century, including nearly one-third of the world’s 330 parrot species.

*Many of the world’s parrots and songbirds are threatened with extinction due to pressures from the pet trade and habitat loss.

*Millions of birds are captured from the wild or produced in captivity only to lead miserable lives languishing in conditions that fail to meet their instinctive behavioral and physical needs

Help us spread the important message about the plight of captive birds by asking your city mayor to proclaim January 5, 2007 “National Bird Day.”

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Nov 28, 2006 8:56 PM
Subject: LETTER/ Plaid Goes Bad In Burberry Fur Designs

Kinship Circle Primary – PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN
(Please do not delete identity/disclaimer information)

11/28/06: Plaid Goes Bad In Burberry Fur Designs
KINSHIP CIRCLE ACTION CAMPAIGN

www.KinshipCircle.org

SOURCE OF INFORMATION:

Bloody Burberry

www.bloodyburberry.com/

BURBERRY: Where Animals Are The Victims Of Fashion

www.furisdead.com/feat-burberry.asp?int=peta_newsfeed

Note: Postage to the United Kingdom from the U.S. is $0.87

=======================================

SAMPLE LETTER

Feel free to use portions of our letter, but please add some original thoughts. Hundreds of identical letters may lessen the impact.

=======================================

(More below the fold…)

Here’s the TOC from the 11/28/06 issue of The Sierra Club’s Currents.

You can read the whole newsletter online – just click here!

Sierra Club Currents – Global Warming Goes on Trial
Volume VI, #42
Tuesday, November 28, 2006

———————

Quote of Note:

“It’s basically being fiscally conservative, being socially moderate and you know, being environmentally progressive.”

– Arnold, on Meet the Press, on what it means to be a “Schwarzenegger Republican”

———————

(1) Supreme Court: Global Warming Goes on Trial

(2) Take Action: Get Serious about Change

(3) Building Better: Sierra Club Names America’s Best New Development Projects

———–

Tagged: environment environmentalist environmentalism action+alerts sierra+club global+warming president+bush

See also: IDA Writing Alert: Activists decry black bear hunt in Chesapeake, 11/25/06.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: In Defense of Animals – takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Nov 28, 2006 6:45 PM
Subject: Writing Alert: They’re Going On A Bear Hunt

Port Folio Weekly published a story about a black bear hunt that is set for THIS WEEKEND, December 1 and 2. One hundred hunters will “win” a lottery to hunt black bears in a wildlife refuge in Norfolk, Virginia. Only after 20 black bears are reported dead will an order be made to stop hunting.

Please send a letter to the Port Folio Weekly, thanking them for the article and urging readers for their support in protecting Virginia’s black bears.

As we are fighting a tight deadline, please send letters, as soon as possible, to Port Folio Weekly via tom.robotham [at] portfolioweekly.com.

You can read “They’re Going On A Bear Hunt” online by clicking here.

They’re Going On A Bear Hunt

By Micah Maidenberg
Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006

For the first time since its creation in 1974, the Great Dismal Swamp Wildlife Refuge will allow hunters to track and kill Ursus americanus — the American black bear. The hunt, scheduled for Dec. 1 and 2, stipulates that a maximum of 20 bears can be taken from two sections of the refuge.

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Nov 28, 2006 6:08 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Newsweek — “Why Hunting Is on the Wane in America…A sportsman’s lament.” 12/4/06 edition

The December 4 edition of Newsweek has a piece on hunting, by Steve Tuttle, headed “Why Hunting Is on the Wane in America.” and sub-headed, “It’s a way of life that dates to the dawn of the nation. But hunting is on the wane in America. A sportsman’s lament.”

It opens:

” I remember the first time I ever killed something. It was a rabbit, and I was about 12 years old. I put my gun to my shoulder and aimed—taking care to lead the target—and pulled the trigger. The animal seemed to tumble end over end in slow motion. I ran up to him excitedly and he looked up at me, shaking and still alive and making a little whimpering sound. My father reached down, picked up the rabbit by its hind legs, and gave him a karate chop on the back of the neck, killing him instantly. He looked up at me and said, “Good shot, boy!” and handed me the rabbit.

“I was proud and devastated all at once. The rabbit felt warm in my hand, and I was trying really hard to fight back tears. The other men in the hunting party came over and slapped me on the back. Little did they know that I would have given anything to bring that rabbit back to life. I would feel sad about it for weeks. I went on to shoot a lot more game over the years, but none ever had the same emotional impact, nor did I ever get teary-eyed at the moment of the kill. In my culture, in the rural America of western Virginia, that was the day I began to change from boy to man.”

(More below the fold…)

Even though AETA was signed into law by GW yesterday, Farm Sanctuary has further suggestions for opposing the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

The following is excerpted from their website:

You Can Still Help!

Thank you to all who previously took action against the AETA by demanding that First Amendment activities such as demonstrations, leafleting and boycotts, should not be criminalized by calling such legal activities “disruptive” to business. However, rest assured that animal advocates shall persevere undaunted. Also, remember that that there is language in the sloppily-drafted bill which would make it difficult for prosecutors to overreach and chastise First Amendment-protected activities.

* Let House Judiciary Chairman Sensenbrenner, who spoke in favor of AETA, know how you feel about his attempts to criminalize animal advocates.

* Thank Rep. Dennis Kucinich for being the sole voice on 11-13-06 by speaking out that HR 4239 was voted on without more representation by the House. Urge others to do so as well.

* Please contact your U.S. (not State) Representative and express your disappointment, especially if they are co-sponsors of the bill.

* Contact your U.S. Senator and express your disappointment with her, or his, vote. Let your Senator know that compassion should not be a crime!

* All legislators may be contacted through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121. To identify your Congressperson, go to www.house.gov or www.senate.gov, or simply enter your zip code at www.vote-smart.org.

I’d also like to add the following:

* Contact the ACLU and politely express your disappointment/frustration/anger at their last-minute withdrawal of their opposition to the bill. A history of the ACLU’s stance re: AETA is available here; detailed contact info for the ACLU is listed here (scroll to the bottom of the post).

* Contact the BORDC and thank them for opposing AETA (and defending our First Amendment freedoms) when the ACLU would not. More on the BORDC here and here.

————-

Tagged: animals animal+rights action+alerts aeta Animal+Enterprise+Terrorism+Act free+speech terrorism animal+terrorism eco-terrorism censorship aclu american+civil+liberties+union farm+sanctuary bordc Bill+of+Rights+Defense+Committee

Dogs Deserve Better sent out a press release (.pdf) regarding founder Tammy Grimes’ latest court date, which was yesterday, 11/27/06. A note for new readers: Grimes, a PA resident, was arrested and charged with theft back in September for rescuing Doogie, a dying, chained dog. Background and past alerts here.

In addition to press releases, the DDB website is updated as needed with notes on the court dates, as well as calls to action for DDB supporters.

Here’s yesterday’s update:

11/27/06. Today was the pretrial conference in the jury room of the Blair County Courthouse. There were no further deals offered or made, and so we informed the judges that we would be continuing on to a jury trial. Mr. Dickey’s office will file a motion to dismiss all charges this week.

Tammy will be meeting with Mr. Dickey within the next week to figure out future moves.

We are currently set up for a further pretrial conference on February 5th at 8:30 a.m. This is the final pretrial activity before we move onto jury selection and go to trial.

There have been an unheard of number of letters to the editor published in the Altoona Mirror. 12 at last count, only three of which were negative. We have a TON of support here!

We would like everyone to continue to write letters to the editor of the Altoona Mirror at opinion [at] altoonamirror.com. Keep them short and snappy if possible.

We also NEED to have a TON of people attend the hearing! We would like to hold a rally at the next pretrial conference, however it is very early in the morning…if you have a great idea how to really raise local support, please e-mail us at Tammy [at] dogsdeservebetter.org and let us know.

How about a large group marching in a holiday parade in Altoona or Holllidaysburg? Worked for the suffragists!

You can read past updates, and keep abreast of the case, here.

————-

Tagged: animals animal+rights action+alerts ddb dogs+deserve+better doogie tammy+grimes animal+abuse dogs canines

Oy. Literally seconds after posting this update re: AETA, I received the following alert from Last Chance for Animals in my inbox. What a sham.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Campaigns Department – campaigns [at] lcanimal.org
Date: Nov 27, 2006 9:28 PM
Subject: Breaking News – President Bush Signs AETA 11/27

President Bush Signs AETA Today — 11/27/2006

President Bush signed The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA, S.3880 ENR) into law today, Monday, November 27th.

The AETA not only puts our constitution in jeopardy, it puts all of us who speak out against the status quo in jeopardy. Animal rights activists, civil rights activists, the media, entertainers and even the NRA are all in danger of being called “Terrorists.” The broad language in this bill creates a dangerous, slipperly slope that can be used to take away our first amendment rights and put innocent people in jail!

The bill was fast-tracked through both the House and the Senate by the biomedical industries — people who have everything to gain by silencing legitimate protests against their cruel animal abuse. Click here to see the official language of the bill as it was signed today.

“LCA has been at the forefront of fighting and opposing the AETA on a national level. Former Congressman and lobbyist for LCA, Charlie Rose, has been working feverishly against the AETA,” states LCA President Chris DeRose. “This is not over for LCA, this is just the beginning.”

Fight the AETA

Contact your Senate and House Representatives and let them know you oppose the AETA and their complacency during the passing of the bill.

Visit www.house.gov and www.senate.gov for contact information.

email: campaigns [at] lcanimal.org
phone: (310) 271-6096 x30
web: www.lcanimal.org

Last Chance for Animals | 8033 Sunset Blvd. #835 | Los Angeles | CA | 90046

————

Tagged: animals animal+rights action+alerts lca last+chance+for+animals free+speech first+amendment censorship aeta Animal+Enterprise+Terrorism+Act terrorism animal+terrorism eco-terrorism activism advocacy

The following letter has been circulating on animal rights/welfare listservs, and is also available on the Equal Justice Alliance’s website.

—————–

AETA – Where Do We Go from Here?

Source: Equal Justice Alliance

Dear fellow animal activist,

As you are well aware by now, the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA, S. 3880) passed the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent in September. It passed the U.S. House of Representatives on November 13th because we were outmaneuvered by the Republican leadership of the House Judiciary Committee. And now the bill has been signed into law by President Bush. We appreciate your massive outpouring of e-mails and phone calls to Congress. We learned valuable lessons from our lobbying experience. For us, this is a new beginning.

What We Are Doing

We have resolved that Equal Justice Alliance must continue its mission along three tracks:

* To protect equal justice and freedom of speech for animal and other social justice advocates by working to repeal AETA and to prevent future repressive legislation;

* To provide an alternative Congressional watchdog function;

* To promote an atmosphere of respect for animal advocacy within Congress and Justice Department.

We plan to pursue three ways of neutralizing AETA:

* By convincing federal district attorneys not to prosecute under AETA because the law is too broad and vague to make it through the courts;

* By convincing federal courts to dismiss a test case because the law is too broad and vague;

* By convincing Congress that the law is unworkable, unconstitutional, and should be repealed.

(More below the fold…)

NOTE: The following is excerpted from a recent Kinship Circle Digest (Hope For Greek Animals, Ireland Pitbull Massacre + MORE, 11/27/06).

—————-

White Lions – Harmful Rubbish On Animal Planet

REPLY DIRECTLY TO: Chris or Bev Mercer, chrisandbev [at] mweb.co.za
Campaign Against Canned Hunting
P.O. Box 356; Wilderness, 6560; South Africa
ph: 044 8771495; cell: 0829675808 or 0827944517

www.cannedlion.co.za/index.html

11/25/06 — We ask all recipients of this email to cross-post as widely as possible, to try to repair some of the damage done by Animal Planet’s Screening White Lions: King of Kings. Please write to Animal Planet requesting they pull the documentary, as it sends the wrong message.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

TO – Alexandra_Bennett [at] discovery.com

CC – Mark_Wild [at] discovery-europe.com, joanna_johnston [at] discovery-europe.com, claire_dann [at] discovery-europe.com, natalie_spanier [at] discovery-europe.com

EDITED FOR LENGTH

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Animal Planet has been able to use the power of television to foster compassion for animals… Imagine my surprise when I switch to my favourite channel to watch White Lions: King of Kings, only to see Marius Prinsloo, a notorious canned lion breeder in S.A., presented as a paragon of conservation working to preserve the white lion gene, and Timbavati Hunting Farm portrayed as a wonderland for wildlife. What rubbish!

The South African canned lion industry is one of the cruelest industries in the world. The SA Minister of the Environment, himself a former hunter, has publicly described the canned hunting fraternity as “environmental thugs.” How could Animal Planet stoop to white washing this industry, and present canned hunting as conservation?

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Nov 27, 2006 3:37 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Calls for letting animals run free on today’s editorial pages — NY Times and Hartford Courant — 11/27/06

Two editorial pieces in today’s papers (Monday, November 27) share the theme that animals need to run free. The Hartford Courant carries an editorial, the editorial department’s official opinion, headed “A Lesson In Emu’s Death” — the lesson being the fundamental yearning we all have for freedom. In the New York Times there is an op-ed by author Jonathan Safran Foer, headed “My Life as a Dog,” in which the acclaimed author argues in favor of allowing dogs off leash at certain hours. His poignant piece includes compelling reflections on human and animal nature and our treatment of other species.

In “A Lesson In Emu’s Death” the Hartford Courant tells us, “Occasionally, something happens that casts doubt on pat theories about man’s exclusivity within the animal kingdom.” We read about an emu (something like an ostrich) named Friggin who escaped from a farm four months ago and died of heart failure the moment he was captured to be returned to the farm.

The piece ends with:

“Residents who spotted Friggin during its four-month breather couldn’t help commenting that the emu seemed to be in a state of bliss as it romped through the woods of Simsbury, Avon, Canton, Burlington and New Hartford.

“One wonders whether the emu’s heart gave out because it realized that its life on the run had ended. Life is cheap. But living, truly living, even for four months, is priceless.”

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Nov 26, 2006 3:58 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: “For elephants, acres to roam” — Philadelphia Inquirer — 11/26/06

The Sunday, November 26, Philadelphia Inquirer includes a lead story (pB01) by Julie Stoiber, headed, “For elephants, acres to roam.”

We learn that when Philadelphia closes its elephants exhibit, while three of the elephants are going to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, which has a six-acre elephants exhibit. Dulary, the sole Asian elephant, who has been largely isolated for the last 15 months after one of the young Africans gored her, will see the most dramatic reversal of misfortune. She is heading to the 2,700 acre elephant sanctuary in Tennessee.

The article describes the sanctuary founded by Carol Buckley and Scott Blais and tells us about some of the elephants who will soon make-up Dulary’s herd.

It ends on a charming note:

“When asked which stall would be hers, Buckley and Blais looked up, incredulous.

“‘She gets to pick her own stall,’ Blais said, laughing. ‘Oh, yes, it’s up to them.’”

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Nov 25, 2006 9:47 PM
Subject: Dawnwatch: Sea Shepherd heads for Antarctica — Brisbane’s Courier Mail, 24 November, 2006

The Sea Shepherd team doing their best to defend whales in Antarctica, and Brisbane’s Courier Mail (Australia) has run a terrific article, by Phil Bartsch, about the effort. It appeared in the Friday, November 24 edition of the paper headed, “To war over whales.”

It opens:

“Blood is about to be spilled into the icy blue waters off Antarctica again – much of it within the Australian Whale Sanctuary.

“But not if Captain Paul Watson can help prevent it.

“‘What’s the point of having a whale sanctuary if you can kill whales in it?’ argues the controversial founder and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

“‘I’m not going to stand around and do nothing and watch these magnificent creatures being slaughtered. The time for conferences and meetings and mail-outs and petitions is over.’”

(More below the fold…)