The bloggers at PETA2 want to know what your favorite AR song is.

I chose The Sexual Politics of Meat by Consolidated – that would be the second segment on this vid:

What’s Your Cut? by the Barks is pretty mofo awesome too.

So, what’s your cut, veg*ns?

——————

Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare video blogging music videos vlogging youtube music videos the barks consolidated the sexual politics of meat what’s your cut vegan veganism vegetarian vegetarianism feminism misogyny racism homophobia

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Farm Sanctuary – info [at] farmsanctuary.org
Date: Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Subject: Farm Sanctuary News: Tell the USDA: No Downers

FARM SANCTUARY NEWS

Tell the USDA: No More Downed Animal Abuse!

The widely-publicized abuse of downed dairy cattle at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company in Chino, Calif. has upended the meat industry and set the stage for positive change. Those who think the abuses of animals slated for slaughter can continue to go unseen have now been put on notice that the public is watching and growing wary. Let’s make sure the suffering of these animals was not in vain! Let the USDA know that the Hallmark case will not be forgotten and that the treatment of farm animals is a huge priority for the public.

Newborn Calf and his Mother Reunite for Life at Our California Shelter

Days old and barely breathing, Harrison the calf was lying alone in an open field and only hours away from death when he was discovered by a compassionate humane officer in Santa Cruz, CA. The newborn—the son of a cow bred to replenish a small herd of beef cattle—was nonresponsive, bellowing only briefly in pain when the officer checked his vitals and determined that he was in desperate need of medical attention. Read more.

2007 Walk for Farm Animals a Rousing Success

Last fall, more than 2,000 people took to the streets in 46 cities and towns across North America to speak out for farm animals, resulting in the largest and most successful Walk to date! In addition to educating people about the cruelty of factory farming, Walk participants raised over $170,000 to support Farm Sanctuary’s rescue, education and advocacy work. Our sincerest thanks go out to all the compassionate people who helped make this event possible. Read more.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Farm Sanctuary – info [at] farmsanctuary.org
Date: Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Subject: California Ballot Signature Campaign a Success

Signature Campaign a Success!
Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act Goes to California Voters

Since Californians began campaigning for a ballot initiative to ban cruel farm animal confinement systems six months ago, volunteers have collected nearly 800,000 signatures in support of the initiative. They needed only 433,971 valid signatures. This means that The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act (www.humanecalifornia.org/)—to ban veal crates (www.noveal.org/) for calves, battery cages (www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/eggs/) for egg-laying hens, and gestation crates (humanecalifornia.org/content/index.php?pid=41) for breeding pigs in the Golden State—is well on its way to securing a spot on the November 2008 ballot in California.

With the first (and arguably most difficult) hurdle passed, Californians for Humane Farms (www.humanecalifornia.org/) and its supporters will now band together to get the word out about the November 2008 vote. If passed, the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act will end some of the cruelest practices in factory farming: the warehousing and confinement of animals in cages and crates so small that they cannot turn around, walk or extend their limbs.

The whole country will be watching the progress of this historic measure, as its passage will set a precedent that will have profound repercussions for factory farming across the country.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: PETA – newsmanager [at] peta.org
Date: Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Subject: Dickerson Park Zoo’s Underhanded Activities Exposed!

Documents received by PETA reveal that in 2007, the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Mo., “donated” a kudu and a kangaroo to Buddy Jordan, a notorious animal dealer who has been featured in numerous media investigative reports. The media investigations have all documented that Jordan sold animals to hunting ranches, operators of exotic-animal auctions, exotic-animal breeders and dealers, unaccredited zoos, and pet owners. The zoo also sold two giraffes to Los Jaboncillos Ranch in Texas and transferred three kangaroos and a wallaby to Dianna Tatum, a licensed animal dealer.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) states that it accredits “only those institutions that have achieved rigorous standards for animal care …” and has a policy that prohibits accredited zoos from sending animals to auctions or hunting ranches. Clearly, the Dickerson Park Zoo fails on all counts.

You Can Help

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: SledDogAction – SledDogAction [at] helpsleddogs.org
Date: Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 6:55 PM
Subject: ALERT: Help save Iditarod dogs from brutality – WRITE

Please send protest emails and forward this alert.

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, www.helpsleddogs.org

Contact information, email blocks and sample letter are below.

Please help the dogs by sending protest emails to organizations that support the Iditarod. These dogs are helpless victims of profoundly inhumane treatment and cannot speak for themselves. What happens to the dogs during the Iditarod includes death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding ulcers, bloody diarrhea, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, broken bones, torn muscles and tendons, sprains, torn footpads and anemia.

Dog beatings and whippings are common. During the 2007 Iditarod, eyewitnesses reported that musher Ramy Brooks kicked, punched and beat his dogs with a ski pole and a chain. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, “Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective…A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective.” “It is a common training device in use among dog mushers…”

Iditarod dog kennels are puppy mills. Mushers breed large numbers of dogs and routinely kill unwanted ones, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived their usefulness, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged, drowned or clubbed to death. “Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don’t pull are dragged to death in harnesses…..” wrote former Iditarod dog handler Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska’s Bush Blade Newspaper.

Most Iditarod dogs are forced to live at the end of a chain when they aren’t hauling people around. It has been reported that dogs who don’t make the main team are never taken off-chain. Chained dogs have been attacked by wolves, bears and other animals. Old and arthritic dogs suffer terrible pain in the blistering cold.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 5:20 PM
Subject: Killing Prairie Dogs – Your Tax Dollars At Work

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY – PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN

2/27/08: Killing Prairie Dogs – Your Tax Dollars At Work

www.KinshipCircle.org

EMAIL kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net FOR WORD DOC OF A FORMATTED LETTER.
Easily modify letter and copy/paste it into an email or print out to fax or mail.

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

FULL CONTACT INFORMATION. Sample letter follows.

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

Rick Cables, Regional Forester
USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region
P.O. Box 25127; Lakewood, CO 80225-0127
ph: 303-275-5450; fax: 303-275-5482
email: rcables [at] fs.fed.us
web mail: www.fs.fed.us/r2/contact/feedback/

The Honorable Mark Rey
Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Room 217E, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250
ph: 202-720-7173; fax 202-720-0632
email: mark.rey [at] usda.gov

(more…)

Action Alerts

Audubon: Help Raptors, Stop the Illegal Killing
Please ask your U.S. Representative to co-sponsor HR 4093, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Penalty and Enforcement Act of 2007, to ensure raptors and other migratory birds are given adequate protection.

Corporate Accountability International: When will Pepsi change its Aquafina labels?
It’s been more than six months since Pepsi responded to your concerns, announcing it would print “Public Water Source” on its Aquafina labels. But the labels on the shelves still haven’t changed!

DawnWatch: South Africa elephant slaughter plans make international news 2/25-27/08
A sad development in South Africa has made news around the world this week. The story from the Associated Press went up on the International Herald Tribune website on Tuesday, February 26, headed, “S. Africa will kill elephants to control population, animal rights activists threaten boycotts.”

Defenders of Wildlife: Support a National Wolf Recovery Plan
In the wake of the federal delisting of wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies, Defenders and our allies at the Natural Resources Defense Council have filed a formal petition with the Fish and Wildlife Service calling for a national wolf recovery plan.

In Defense of Animals (IDA): Help Stop Trap-and-Bolt Killing of Wild Deer
Take Action to urge Ohio town officials to manage wildlife humanely.

(more…)

Action Alerts

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Tell your representative to vote Yes for clean, renewable energy
The House of Representatives will vote soon on a bill to extend federal tax incentives for energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies that have expired or will expire by the end of this year.

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Protect Yellowstone and the Greater Rockies
Tell the Bush administration to halt the oil and gas project in the Baca National Wildlife Refuge until a thorough study of its potentially devastating environmental impacts is carried out.

The Sierra Club: Gray Wolf Protections Prematurely Lifted
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to prematurely remove the wolves from the Endangered Species list. The delisting, coupled with aggressive wolf killing practices and management plans in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming could push wolf numbers dangerously low.

United Poultry Concerns (UPC): We are at the Final Stop to End Animal Fighting in Virginia!
H.B. 656 has passed through many hurdles, passing the House by a vote of 93-2 and now will be up for a vote on the Senate floor! This is the last stop for this legislation before the Governor’s desk — and the last chance for the cockfighting lobby to try to introduce weakening amendments.

The Wilderness Society: Protect the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge
We have a responsibility to pass this success story on to the next generation, by urging the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to emphasize wildlife and wilderness protection as it crafts its 20 year management plan for the Refuge.

(more…)

Another review, this time of some leisure reading gifted to me for FSMas by my Mom: The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (2007). Amazon review here, LT review here.

Enjoy!

(more…)

As a follow-up to Susan’s post, I just wanted to remind y’all to check out the HSUS’s 14th annual Spay Day USA website at www.spaydayusa.org. You can also find additional info on their main website, here.

And remember, it’s not just non-human animals who breed like rabbits. Yeah, I’m talking about the v-word. Hey, if it’s good enough for Rover, then it’s good enough for Roger. Snip, snip, snip!

—————-

Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare holidays observances spay neuter spay day spay day usa pet companion animal dog canine cat feline overpopulation hsus humane society of the united states vasectomy