Action Alerts

DawnWatch: LA Times — turkeys as friends not feast — 11/27/08
Yesterday’s Thanksgiving edition of the Los Angeles Times included a huge article, on the front of the California section, headed, “Hold the turkey please. A vegan Thanksgiving — where the birds are friends, not feast.” The article, by Carla Hall, included interviews with many vegan animal advocates.

Farm Sanctuary: Bring Change to the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Of all the animals in the United States facing cruelty and exploitation, those raised and slaughtered for food make up the vast majority. One of the most significant impacts President Elect Barack Obama can make for farm animals as he transitions to be the leader of our country, lies in who he chooses as the next Secretary of Agriculture. Please urge President Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of Agriculture who will bring needed change to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and our broken food system. Tell the Obama Administration your vision of a government where farm animal welfare matters.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF): Show the world that you are watching
This year, the United Nations Climate Change Conference is taking place in Poznan, Poland 1-12 December 2008. Let climate decision makers know that the world is watching what happens in Poznan and that it can’t be “just another meeting”.

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Nov 26, 2008 2:35 PM
Subject: Due 11/28: Save Gray Wolves From Kill Plan

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY / PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST AS WRITTEN

11/25/08: Due 11/28 – Save Gray Wolves From Bush Admin’s Kill Plan

FOR A FORMATTED LETTER (WORD DOC), EMAIL: kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Easily modify letter. Copy/paste it into an email or print letter to fax or mail.

***COMMENTS DUE BY NOVEMBER 28, 2008***

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Action Alerts

Amnesty International: Ask the new Obama administration to follow through on its commitment to rebuilding the Gulf Coast
President-Elect Obama ran on a pledge “to partner with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild now, stronger than ever”. It’s up to us to support him in fulfilling that promise. Amnesty International, the Equity and Inclusion Campaign, Oxfam and other national and Gulf Coast organizations are joining together to send as strong a message as possible to the new Obama administration to ask them to prioritize Gulf Coast recovery.

DawnWatch: Upcoming events: Mercy for Animals, Farm Sanctuary, and Monkey events! December 2008
Before I sign off for Thanksgiving — a veggie feast with two live turkey guests this year — I wanted to let folks know about a bunch of events coming up in New York, Chicago, Columbus and Los Angeles — three are “Monkey events,” and three are galas put on by groups I love: Farm Sanctuary and Mercy for Animals.

League of Conservation Voters (LCV): Stop Bush’s last minute attacks on the environment
Even though President Bush has only a few months left in office, he is doing everything he can to help out his friends in Big Oil, Dirty Coal and other polluting industries on his way out of office. And, he is doing everything he can to make sure it will be difficult for the next Administration to undo the damage.

National Wildlife Federation (NWF): Help Strengthen Safeguards for Wildlife Against Global Warming
Leaders of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce recently released a “discussion draft” for global warming legislation. The proposed legislation would move the US toward a clean energy economy while reducing global warming pollution, but still needs to be strengthened to ensure the safeguards necessary for America’s wildlife and natural resources against global warming.

Pacific Environment: A Climate for Change
With the new administration, we have the opportunity to lead the world in combating climate change and making real investments and innovation in clean technology at home. Join us in asking Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to bring San Francisco values to Washington D.C. and help guide the new administration into making a strong investment in our energy future.

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The title pretty much says it all.

What *will* the mad scientists at NIH spend your tax dollars on next?

(Via Alex @ That Vegan Girl.)

(Crossposted to.)

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare video you tube the onion animal experimentation animal research animal testing vivisection nih ida in defense of animals

Action Alerts

Amnesty International: Give President-Elect Obama the support he needs to close Guantanamo and end torture.
President-Elect Obama has forcefully come out against these disastrous policies. Less than 10 days ago on 60 minutes, he stated his strong intention to finally close the detention camps at Guantanamo Bay. How he closes it however is crucial. That’s why he needs to hear from you, and everyone who cares about human rights. Sign the petition. Give President-Elect Obama the overwhelming support he needs to close Guantanamo and close it right.

An Animal-Friendly Life: Vegans needed for documentary interviews
Casting for I’m Vegan has now begun! I’m Vegan is a series of short documentary profiles that will feature vegans from all walks of life, perhaps including you! The project is is intended to address preconceptions about vegans and veganism, which may increase normalization of and appreciation for veganism. It is also expected that I’m Vegan will be a catalyst for some viewers to go vegan. Completed profiles will be distributed for free over the web so that anyone can share the videos with family, friends, and visitors to their own sites. A full-length documentary is also in the works.

Animal Person: On Vegans in Minnesota and Pigs in Florida
Pig Tales Sanctuary in North Florida (about four hours from me), which I didn’t know existed until yesterday, is in dire need of help. [...] The situation is that Lory doesn’t have enough help or money, some of the pigs are indeed suffering, and the local “Humane” Society is about to round up all the pigs and haul them all off to slaughter (you know, the “euthanasia” kind). Michele writes: “The solution to this problem is really not that difficult or insurmountable if enough people – even just 5 or 10 to start with – pitch in and help out. Since the sanctuary already exists, the hardest part, finding a place for the pigs to live out their lives, is already done.”

Consumers Union: A Deadline is a Deadline!
You helped pass a tough new law this year that will make it illegal to sell lead and chemically tainted children’s products. But guess what? Some companies now say they can’t meet the deadline — and they want to keep selling these hazardous kids’ products after they’re supposed to stop!

Oceana: Obama’s Ocean To-Do List
It was a thrill to watch Barack Obama’s historic campaign and election, but now it’s time to get down to business. Along with a heap of other challenges, President-elect Obama faces oceans in crisis from overfishing, climate change, mercury contamination, and more. In the past, President-elect Obama has been a friend of the oceans. As an Illinois Senator, he was the sponsor of a bill that would have required chlorine factories to switch to mercury-free technology, which was designed to reduce harmful mercury contamination of our waterways and seafood. We hope that as President, he will make this bill the law of the land to improve the health of our families and our marine communities.

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Action Alerts

Center for Biological Diversity: Tell EPA to Regulate Greenhouse Gases Under the Clean Air Act
In response to the landmark Supreme Court ruling Massachusetts v. EPA, a high-profile case brought by the Center and our allies, the Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public input on the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act — a critically important step in solving the climate crisis. The Clean Air Act is one of our country’s most successful environmental laws, with four decades of achievement in reducing harmful air pollution. The Act also provides a highly effective regulatory structure that can be used right away to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, and that makes it crucial to the fight to curb global warming. Please, tell Administrator Johnson and the EPA that you support Clean Air Act regulations for greenhouse gas emissions by editing and sending the letter below. Ask your friends to do the same.

Dawnwatch: Thanksgiving turkey horror video in NY Times, plus Palin video and Newsweek article 11/19-11/22/08
With Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday, it’s no surprise that turkeys are have been in the news over the last week. The most widely circulated story is probably the one in which Sarah Palin, after pardoning a turkey, conducted a fun chatty interview as the other birds were being slaughtered behind her. Of greater import is the New York Times report on shocking undercover video taken recently at a commercial turkey farm.

Friends of Animals (FoA): Contact Green Mountain College in Poultney , Vermont and ask for sanctuary for six “food” pigs
As part of the Farm and Food Project, Green Mountain College in Poultney , Vermont , is planning to kill six pigs—whose flesh will be served to students in the college dining facility. The website for the Farm and Food Project boasts that it is “practicing the solutions” to “soil erosion, global hunger and malnutrition, agricultural pollutants in our drinking water, or climate change.” Raising, killing and commodifying animals is not part of the solution, it’s the problem itself. Friends of Animals is offering to find sanctuary for these six pigs. Please contact Green Mountain College’s farm manager, Kenneth Mulder, and politely request that the pigs lives be spared, and at the same time, suggest that the food project move in a truly progressive and radical direction—towards a plant-based agriculture.

In Defense of Animals (IDA): Fur Free Friday Call-in (and write-in and e-mail-in!) to Amazon.com – Tell Amazon.com To Stop Selling Fur!
Fur Free Friday is almost here and activists everywhere are hunkering down to finalize their plans for the most prolific Fur Free Friday yet! In fact, this year, events are taking place in over 75 cities on every continent besides Antarctica! Hopefully there is an event close enough for you to participate. If not, you can still help fur-bearing animals by asking Amazon.com to stop selling fur today! After receiving nearly 12,000 emails, Amazon.com’s competitor, Zappos.com, recently stopped selling all items with fur and pledged to stay fur-free. Now we need you to help us convince Amazon to follow Zappos’ lead and become fur-free, as so many other retailers – including Nike, Gap, J. Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, and Forever 21 – have.

National Wildlife Federation (NWF): Sign the Petition — Set the Course for Our Children’s Future.
With a new president on the horizon, we have a renewed opportunity to take our country’s energy economy in a bold new direction that will confront the climate challenge with the clean energy technologies and jobs that will also protect and restore the natural world we leave to our children.

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Stop Mountaintop Removal – info [at] stopmountaintopremoval.org
Date: Nov 21, 2008 11:02 AM
Subject: Time to Thank our Supporters

Already more than 2,000 miles of streams in Appalachia have been buried by mountaintop removal mining, yet as one of its last assaults on environmental protections, the Bush Administration is poised to finalize a rule that would allow thousands more streams and valleys to be buried by waste.

Instead of standing by and allowing the stream buffer zone to be taken away, Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear, along with Representatives Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth, and Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen stepped in and have sent letters to the EPA objecting to this rule change.

Please call and thank Governor Beshear and Governor Bredesen for voicing their concerns about this rule, which would allow coal companies to dump their massive piles of waste directly into streams.

For years, federal agencies have looked the other way as the coal industry has been allowed to blast away the tops of mountains to reach thin seams of coal. Already, mountaintop removal mining has flattened more than 500,000 acres and permanently buried 2,000 miles of streams, destroying sources that feed drinking water. These actions were taken in defiance of the existing Stream Buffer Zone Rule. Now, the Federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) wants to legalize this destruction. But the U.S.EPA must give its approval for the change in rules to become law.

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Action Alerts

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): Tell Petland to Stop Selling Puppies — Watch This Video, Then Take Action
America’s largest chain of puppy-selling pet stores, Petland Inc., is also the nation’s largest retail supporter of puppy mills. An eight-month investigation by The HSUS reveals that many Petland stores across the country are marketing puppy mill puppies to unsuspecting consumers. Watch our video; then tell Petland to get out of the puppy-selling business.

National Wildlife Federation (NWF): Urge the EPA to Take Action on Global Warming!
For years, the EPA has refused to crack down on global warming pollution. Due to a Supreme Court ruling the EPA is now asking for public comment on a simple question: Do greenhouse gases that cause global warming endanger public health and welfare? NWF believes there is no greater threat to wildlife and people than global warming. Let the EPA know you agree! Don’t let corporate polluters have the only voice.

Pathfinder International: Sign Petition to Support International Reproductive Health
In January, the United States will have a new Administration and Congress, which means you have a new opportunity to make your voice heard. Join the more than 700 who have already signed! Show your support for international family planning and reproductive health by telling President-elect Obama and the 111th Congress that you want these programs to be a critical component of US foreign assistance. Sign the petition below and share with friends! Help us reach 2,000 names by January!

The Wilderness Society: Applaud Congress for Holding the Line on Arctic Refuge Drilling
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge survived many attacks during the 110th Congress. No fewer than 24 drilling proposals were put forward, and each time, supporters like you urged Congress to continue to protect the Refuge. Thanks to you, Congress refused to capitulate to the demands of Big Oil. Now it’s very important for the Refuge that Congress knows how important their actions were to Americans and how thankful we are that they kept this national treasure safe from drilling.

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Update, 12/3/08: Kinship Circle: Free Billy: 12/3 Council Meeting + Comments Needed

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Nov 20, 2008 4:14 PM
Subject: [KC Member Alert] Billy’s Fate: Close L.A. Zoo Exhibit

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY – PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST

The following information is brought to you courtesy of Kinship Circle.
Please DO NOT hit reply! Respond directly to alert sources below.

ALERT FROM KINSHIP CIRCLE SUPPORTER:
11/20/08: Billy’s Fate – Close L.A. Zoo Elephant Exhibit For Good

SOURCES / REPLY TO:
Bettina, brosie96 [at] yahoo.com
LA animalrights, laanimalrights [at] yahoogroups.com

BACKGROUND:

UPDATE ON MOTION TO CLOSE L.A. ZOO ELEPHANT EXHIBIT AND SEND BILLY TO A SANCTUARY — The City Council heard Councilmember Cardenas’ motions on November 19, 2008 at 10am. After 4 hours of deliberation, the council voted to send both issues — stopping construction of the elephant exhibit and sending Billy to a sanctuary — to the Finance Committee.

This is Billy’s last chance at a taste of freedom! The Cardenas motion represents Billy’s only chance to get out of his miserable, barren pen at the L.A. Zoo. And it’s a chance to save future elephants from suffering and dying prematurely in a $42 million exhibit that still doesn’t provide the space elephants need. This $42 million is being spent at a time when the city is looking at a budget overage of $10 million. Encourage the members to spend the city’s money in a more responsible way. Send Billy to a sanctuary and halt construction of an elephant exhibit.

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Nov 18, 2008 3:23 PM
Subject: Update/Act: Doomed Wild Horses Have A Hero?

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY, PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN

11/18/08: UPDATE + ACTION
Doomed Wild Horses Have A Hero?
FOR A FORMATTED LETTER (WORD DOC), EMAIL: kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Easily modify letter. Copy/paste it into an email or print letter to fax or mail.

Wild horses gathered from the Fox & Lake Herd Management Area in near Empire, Nev., wait in a pen. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27738672/

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UPDATE: PICKENS TO THE RESCUE? NEW HOPE FOR BLM HORSES

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EDITED FOR LENGTH, READ FULL STORY HERE:
A Dramatic Rescue for Doomed Wild Horses of the West

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/17/AR2008111703680.html?hpid=topnews

The unwanted horses seemed destined for death… The Bureau of Land Management knew that euthanasia was a legal alternative, but officials were proceeding slowly, afraid of an intense public outcry. The wild horses had become too expensive to maintain, and cattlemen argued that turning them loose would be a drain on the already scarce grazing lands of the West.

Then (11/17/08), at a public hearing in Reno, Nevada…Madeleine Pickens, wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens, made known her intentions to adopt not just the doomed wild horses but most or all of the 30,000 horses and burros kept in federal holding pens… Madeleine Pickens is looking for land in the West that would be an appropriate home for the horses.

She is working with the BLM staff to adopt the horses, said Henri Bisson, the bureau’s deputy director, while the agency persuades Congress to shift $20 million in funding to feed and protect the horses now in captivity for another year. As backup to Pickens’s offer, he said, two other groups, both animal rescue organizations, have expressed similar interest in adoption. “We are very hopeful that euthanasia won’t be necessary this year,” he said.

News that Pickens and others intend to adopt wild horses and burros was celebrated by animal rights groups; several were preparing legal challenges to prevent the government from putting the horses to death… MORE: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/17/AR2008111703680.html?hpid=topnews

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