Action Alerts

Center for Biological Diversity: Petition to Protect the Verde River
“According to U.S. Geological Survey reports, the first 24 miles of the Verde River, also referred to as the upper Verde, rely on springs originating from the Big Chino aquifer for at least 80 percent of the baseflow. Hydrologists predict that, in time, pumping water from the aquifer will reduce the Verde’s flow by an amount equal to the pumpage. If pumping exceeds the natural discharge from the aquifer to the Verde, baseflow from the Big Chino will cease. Without baseflow, a stream is a dry wash, flowing only during storm runoff.”

Earthjustice: Protect America’s Rainforest – Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
“This month marks the anniversary of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule that protected 58.5 million acres of wild national forests and grasslands from road building, logging, and other harmful development. [...] Despite this support, early in its tenure the Bush administration excluded Alaska’s Tongass rainforest from roadless protections. The Tongass is our nation’s largest national forest and the largest remaining old-growth temperate rainforest in the world. This spring, selling of old growth timber sales in roadless areas in the Tongass is scheduled to begin. Clearcutting old growth permanently damages its habitat value for old growth dependent species and building new roads will further fragment this important ecosystem.”

Kelly’s note: If you choose to use the sample letter provided by Earthjustice, please delete the phrase “ensure quality recreation for millions of hikers, fishermen, and hunters” from the second paragraph.

Elaine Vigneault: Puppymills & Related Problems
In dissecting several issues with Henderson Animal Care & Control, Elaine offers some tips on how we might be able to help our local shelters and rescue groups operate more effectively, particularly in promoting and rehoming adoptable animals.

Feminist Majority Foundation: Tell President Obama Thank You for Keeping his Pledge to Women and Girls
“Thank President Obama for keeping his pledge to women and girls around the world by abolishing the Global Gag Rule, saving the lives of countless women and girls. President Obama’s expeditious repeal of the Global Gag Rule that prevented women in the developing nations from accessing basic reproductive healthcare and AIDS prevention and treatment is a victory for women. Tell President Obama we stand with him as he stand ups for the rights of women and girls at home and aboard!”

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Save the Tongass National Forest
“The inauguration of President Obama could mean the end of an eight-year assault on America’s last pristine forests. We need your help to make sure the Obama administration makes a new commitment to protecting these remaining wildlands for generations to come. Please urge President Obama to take immediate action to preserve the old growth wilderness of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest.”

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Of all PETA’s campaigns, I think I find the “fur hag” meme most offensive. While feminists can (and do) disagree on whether nudity and porn can ever be empowering for women, “fur hag” is a rather obvious gender-based slur, and draws upon a number of age-old stereotypes about women – which PETA further elucidates with their “fur hag” artwork.

To be fair, I have no idea whether PETA actually invented the term “fur hag” – but they’ve certainly been quite influential in launching “fur hag” into the mainstream. Wherever fur-wearing celebs are trashed – on gossip blogs, in fashion show protests, or even on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, “fur hag” is inevitably bandied about as an insult. Oftentimes by other women, who apparently see nothing sexist about denigrating women they dislike with misogynist slurs.

Let’s start by looking at the word “hag.”

Dictionary.com defines “hag” as:

1. an ugly old woman, esp. a vicious or malicious one.
2. a witch or sorceress.
3. a hagfish.

The first definition is obviously problematic: a hag is “an ugly old woman, esp. a vicious or malicious one.” While I have no qualms about calling people (women and men) who wear fur “vicious” or “malicious,” the term “hag” also attacks the fur wearer’s physical appearance and gender – a “hag” is “an ugly old woman.” In fact, the primary aspect of this definition involves appearance and gender – a “hag” is “an ugly old woman,” especially [but not necessarily] “a vicious or malicious one.” “Vicious” and “malicious” are somewhat extraneous to this definition; a “hag,” then, is chiefly “an ugly old woman.”

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It all started with this video, posted by Stephanie on the Change.org Animal Rights blog – Rat Loves Cat:

ZOMFG, me wants rats! Too bad I already have a house full of killer cats and canines. *pout*

Of course, once I was over at You Tube, I couldn’t stop clicking on all those cute vids on the right hand sidebar.

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Action Alerts

Animal Person: Irish SPCA’s Bizarre Fundraiser
As Mary reports, the Irish Society for the PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS is holding a DOG SLEDDING RACE as a fundraiser. Please contact the ISPCA and tell them that dog sledding is inherently cruel, particularly under the conditions they’re advertising on the event page (“Sledding over 200 kilometres from our base camp into the wilds of the most northern European country of Norway, this event proves the ultimate challenge for many participants. With temperatures falling as low as -30C the bond between man and dog becomes essential…”). You can find additional information and talking points at www.helpsleddogs.org.

Defenders of Wildlife: Help Ensure a Lasting Future for Wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies
“In March 2008, the Bush/Cheney Administration eliminated Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies. For months, wolves were slaughtered… until Defenders of Wildlife and our conservation allies prevailed in court and restored federal protections for these magnificent animals. In its final hours in power, the outgoing Bush/Cheney Administration attempted to once again remove wolves from the list of federally protected species. President Barack Obama has temporarily suspended the Bush/Cheney wolf proposal, and now we need your help to encourage federal officials to adopt a more responsible wolf management plan in its place.”

Kelly’s note: If you choose to use Defenders’ sample letter, please delete the “ranchers, hunters” in the following sentence: “I also hope that you will work with conservationists, states, ranchers and other interested parties to craft a science-based, responsible and balanced federal management strategy that will benefit wolves, ranchers, hunters, Northern Rockies residents and all Americans who care deeply about wildlife conservation.” I could not care less about helping ranchers and hunters.

Kinship Circle: UPDATE: Obama’s Freeze May Give Gray Wolves Reprieve; Plus: Sign-On To Letter To Abolish “Lethal” Wildlife Services
“On 1/14/09, an Interior Department rule under the Bush Administration removed gray wolves in the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky Mountains regions from the federal endangered species list. : ‘Within hours of Obama’s inauguration, his administration froze last-minute Bush administration regulations before they could take effect. Among them was an Interior Department proposal to remove gray wolves from Endangered Species protections in much of the northern Rocky Mountains…’”

NARAL: Thanks, President Obama!
“Just days into Obama’s presidency, he took swift and decisive action to end the global gag rule. The repeal of the global gag rule means that health clinics in developing countries will again be able to offer the world’s poorest women access to much needed reproductive-health services, from birth control to prenatal care.”

National Partnership for Women & Families: Urge President Obama to to reverse this ill-conceived HHS regulation
“At long last, the Bush Administration’s global gag rule was rescinded today by President Obama. This is a huge victory for women’s reproductive health, and we applaud President Obama for ending an eight-year policy that denied contraception for women in some of the world’s poorest nations. [...] In December, the Bush Administration issued a dangerous and misguided “conscience” regulation that jeopardizes access to birth control and other medically necessary health care services and information, dealing another blow to women’s right to make their own informed health care decisions. The new HHS regulation makes it easier for health care providers to withhold information and services to patients, if the providers have moral or religious objections.”

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Action Alerts

Amnesty International: Commend President Obama and Call for Accountability
“Amnesty International commends President Barack Obama’s signing of executive orders on Guantanamo, detention policy, interrogation and transparency, along with his decision to halt military commissions at Guantanamo, as important steps forward in committing the United States government to human rights, international law, the U.S. Constitution, and the values and ideals central to a just, free and secure society. As President Obama said at the signing ceremony, the United States does not have “to continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals.” Take a moment to commend him for his initial first positive steps and ask him to finish the job he started.”

Center for Biological Diversity: Stop Palin’s Attack On Beluga Whales
“Governor Sarah Palin won’t give wildlife a break. Last week, she announced the state of Alaska will sue to strike down Endangered Species Act protection for the imperiled Cook Inlet beluga whale. This rare white whale’s population has already plummeted from thousands to just 375 in the last two decades. They will certainly go extinct if Palin has her way. Our lawyers and scientists are already in court to block Palin’s anti-polar bear actions, and we’ll soon jump in to save the beluga from her reckless campaign to promote oil & gas interests. But we also need to build a groundswell of public support. Please help us now to protect beluga whales by sending a letter asking the Obama administration to oppose Palin’s lawsuit.”

Environmental Defense: Cap Global Warming Pollution Now
“President Obama says that our environmental and economic renewal “starts with a cap and trade” system to deal with global warming. But he needs the support of Congress to achieve this historic goal this year. Take action to deliver this message to your members of Congress.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Urge Crayola to Stop Using Glue Traps Immediately!
“PETA has received several complaints that Crayola Facilities is using glue traps to catch and kill rodents in its corporate offices. Reportedly, glue traps are currently set out in the entryways and storage areas at its Palmer branch. Even though we have made repeated attempts to contact Crayola, LLC, asking it to remove set traps and choose humane rodent-control methods, the company has yet to respond to our requests.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): URGENT: Pit Bull Returned to Alleged Dogfighter: Your Voice Is Needed!
“Setting an unthinkable precedent, the Madison County, Georgia, Animal Control Board recently returned a pit bull to Johnny Stewart Johnson, the man from whom the dog was legally seized. According to news reports, the returned dog was one of seven pit bulls seized in a raid in July 2008 from Johnson’s Shakedown Kennels, where the animals were found tethered by heavy chains at the property, which also housed a treadmill, supplies commonly used by dogfighters to “patch up” torn up victims, and other evidence of this gruesome and illegal activity. Sources report that the seized dogs were underweight and scarred when they were found chained to barren barrels without adequate food or water—typical of the harsh and bleak conditions endured by dogs bred and kept to be tortured in staged pit fights. Johnson is facing multiple felony counts of dogfighting.”

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Action Alerts

Born Free USA: Please Help Billy the Elephant Move to a Sanctuary; Please Attend Rescheduled L.A. City Council Meetings
“We urgently need your help to close down the Los Angeles Zoo elephant exhibit and send its lone elephant, Billy, to a sanctuary. We are hopeful that we can free him from his lonely existence — please don’t let him down! With information provided by Born Free USA CEO Will Travers and others, L.A. City Council member Tony Cardenas has presented a motion to halt the L.A. Zoo’s $42 million elephant exhibit renovation. Despite its mammoth price tag and expense to taxpayers, we believe it still will not provide the space nor quality of environment elephants need, and that elephants will continue to suffer and die unnecessarily at the zoo.”

DawnWatch: “The Cove,” film on dolphin slaughter, covered in Salon 1/22/08
“The Cove, a new film about the annual dolphin slaughter in Japan, got a lot of buzz at Sundance this year and is getting some great press. Andrew O’Hehir’s blog about Indie film, “Beyond the Multiplex,” in the online magazine Salon, currently features “The Cove” in a piece headed “Who Killed Flipper?”"

Farm Sanctuary: NYS: One massive cattle operation stopped, 600 more factory farms to watch.
“New Yorker’s can celebrate the recent announcement that Bion Environmental Technologies has suspended its unpopular plan to build an180,000-head beef cattle finishing operation in St. Lawrence County. This factory farm would be a nightmare for animals and the local community, and no amount of industry spin could convince the public otherwise. While Bion’s plans are on hold indefinitely, animal advocates can focus our efforts on the rest of New York’s approximately 600 factory farms, 80% of which are dairy operations.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Urge Canadian Officials to Help Sled Dog Survivors, Allegedly in Dire Shape!
“Recently, the bodies of several sled dogs were found frozen to the ground in Tuktoyaktuk, Canada. These dogs, reportedly belonging to Tuktoyaktuk resident Randall Pokiak, had been tethered without access to shelter in temperatures below 0ºF. Three additional dogs were found still alive, also tethered without access to shelter and in bad shape. [...] Please call, fax, and e-mail Tuktoyaktuk officials and urge them help the three surviving dogs immediately before they fall prey to the deadly cold.”

PETA India: Undercover Investigation Reveals Horrors in India’s Dairy Industry
“PETA India’s recent undercover investigation of several dairy farms revealed shocking cruelty to cows and buffaloes. Tabelas – animal factories with no provisions for health care or animal welfare – are steadily replacing small family farms. By signing the pledge below to stop consuming dairy products – and encouraging your friends and family members to do so as well – you will be sending a powerful message that the cruel treatment of animals is unacceptable.”

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Today marks the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade – and it’s also the fourth annual Blog for Choice Day!

This is the first year I’m participating in the blog swarm over here; in years past, I reasoned that reproductive rights were far enough removed from animal advocacy that a pro-choice post on an animal rights blog just wouldn’t make sense. The more I learn about intersecting oppressions, the more I realize how wrong, wrong, wrong I was.

There are many reasons why animal advocates should support a woman’s right to control her own reproductive system*: the environmental consequences of overpopulation and increased resource consumption; empowering women activists, who are overrepresented in the animal advocacy movement; a respect for bodily autonomy; and, perhaps most importantly, the similarities between speciesism and misogyny as expressed through the control of animals’ and women’s reproductive systems.

Much as a the reproductive systems of non-human animals are controlled, manipulated and exploited, anti-choicers seek to do the same to women.

First, let’s consider the ways in which humans manipulate animal reproduction in order to make a buck and satisfy a want (as opposed to a need):

Dairy cows are kept perpetually pregnant, so that they continue to produce milk. Typically, they produce up to 100 pounds of milk a day, or ten times as much as they might under natural conditions. The continued pregnancies and lactation is stressful on the cows’ bodies; common maladies include mastitis, ketosis, laminitis and “Milk Fever” (caused by a calcium deficiency). Once their calves are born, the sons are slaughtered to make beef or veal, while the daughters face the same fate as their mothers. Dairy cows usually live only 3 to 4 years before they, too, become beef; their natural life span is 25 years.

Egg-laying hens are packed into tiny cages, debeaked and forced to lay 250+ eggs per year. Since this is more than they would produce in the wild, their bodies are severely taxed; they may develop osteoporosis, fatty liver syndrome and cage layer fatigue. In order to eke a few extra eggs out of their hens, farmers initiate forced molts – they starve the entire flock simultaneously. Once the birds can no longer produce eggs – when they’re “spent” – they’re made into low-grade “meat” or “recycled” into animal feed. As with the dairy industry, male chicks are of no use to egg factories; consequently, farmers literally dispose of them: they’re stuffed into garbage bags to suffocate, thrown live into wood chippers, and otherwise treated like garbage.

Pigs, who are destined to become pork, don’t fare much better. Breeding sows are continually pregnant, birthing up to 20 piglets per year. During pregnancy, sows are confined to gestation crates; for birth, they’re transferred to farrowing crates. Piglets are taken from their mothers at 2 to 3 weeks of age. They are fattened up for “meat,” while heir mothers are forcibly impregnated again and again.

These are only three examples, taken from the modern animal agriculture industry. Add to this list dogs, cats, rats, ducks – basically any species of animal that humans “use” for food, clothing, entertainment, experimentation, etc. is exploited in a similar manner.

Likewise, just as the megatheocorporatocracy exerts control over non-human animals’ sex organs, so too does it try to control women’s sexuality and reproduction. Exerting control over a woman’s reproductive cycle is just the first step in controlling her as a person.

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Action Alerts

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Tell President Obama, “Thank you!”
“Within hours of taking office, President Obama took the important first step to close Guantánamo: halting the unconstitutional military commissions by ordering the prosecution to seek a 120-day suspension. It’s the first step in what we hope will be a series of bold measures to free America from the civil liberties outrages and human rights abuses of the Bush era. Let’s match President Obama’s first step forward with a powerful show of support and encouragement.”

Animal Person: Help Produce a Movie With $1, and One Other Thing
“Today the first fan-managed, motion picture studio, Green Light Flix announced that it is inviting vegetarians, vegans, animal rights activists, and environmentalists to donate at least $1.00 to help finance eco-friendly feature films & educational videos. [...] All projects are financed by individual and corporate donors. Once productions are completed they will be made available for free on-line, and Limited Edition DVDs will be mailed to anyone who donates more than $25.00. Profits will finance future productions and will also be donated to animal rescue, rights, rescue, and welfare organizations selected by its Board of Advisors and Donor Members.”

Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR): Tell President Obama: Close Guantanamo Now
“According to news reports, President Obama is circulating a draft executive order to close the offshore prison camp at Guantánamo Bay. It is seven years long past time to close Guantánamo, and President Obama must take decisive action to ensure that it happens swiftly. For seven years, the men at Guantánamo have suffered in horrendous conditions from an arbitrary detention regime, kept from their families, homes and communities with little to no legal process or hope to secure justice.”

Earthjustice: Welcome, President Obama…Now Let’s Get Started
“As we celebrate today’s historic inauguration of Barack Obama, let us take to heart his stirring call to action and ready ourselves to support his promising environmental agenda. But first, we must help Obama counter the environmental havoc caused by ex-president Bush, especially in the waning moments of his administration. Join with us to help President Obama make a clean, swift break from these policies.”

Kinship Circle: Man Who Filed Dog’s Teeth To Gumline Belongs In Jail
“A McMinnville, Tenn. jury found Chris Barnett guilty of animal cruelty for filing down the dog’s teeth last year… Barnett faces up to a year in jail when he’s sentenced.” Please write to Judge Stanley, Ms. Lisa Zavogiannis, and Government Officials of Warren County, McMinnville, and the State of Tennessee to urge that Christopher Barnett receive the maximum felony penalty.

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So said Shane last night, upon tasting these super-yummy banana-oatmeal cookies, from satan (!) on VegWeb. After nearly 24 hours of nonstop snacking, I’ve got to agree.

As usual, my amateur-at-best photos don’t come anywhere close to doing this dessert justice.

I think it’s the banana-oatmeal base that really makes these cookies rock. I tossed in some chocolate chips, but methinks the recipe would be just as good without the chocolate bling. For a healthier cookie, substitute dried cherries, cranberries, blueberries and/or apples (and/or some walnuts or similar) in place of the chocolate chips. Or, heck, in addition to. This recipe strikes me as super versatile.

And not having to muck with egg substitute? Priceless.

Keep reading for my modified version of the VegWeb recipe.

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Via the Lantern Books blog, I learned that author/activist Hillary Rettig – whose book, The Lifelong Activist, I had the pleasure of reviewing a few years back – donated a kidney, unbidden, to a complete stranger.

She details her story over at The GirlieGirl Army, in a humorous post titled “Kidney Karmarama, or… How My Kidney Found Mr. Right”:

What’s the awesomest gift you can give someone? Their life back, right?

That’s what I had been thinking for a while. And so, I had been looking into donating a kidney. From my research I knew that the surgery was really safe (only 2/10,000 fatality rate, lower than for appendectomies), and that you can survive perfectly well with just one kidney. Really what you’re looking at is a bit of inconvenience in exchange for…saving someone’s life.

Sign me up!

My research eventually led me to a popular site called matchingdonors.com, and even though I knew what I was going to find there, I was NOT prepared. It’s like a dating site, except the personal ads are all from people begging you to save their lives by giving them a kidney. So it’s full of messages like:

“I’m 40 years old and want to live to see my kids grow up.”

“I’m 60 years old and hoping to live to attend my grandson’s graduation.”

“I’m 25 years old and just want the chance to live a normal life.”

Heartbreaking doesn’t begin to describe it. Most of these people were on dialysis, where, three times a week, you sit for hours hooked up to a machine that does the kidney-work of filtering out waste from your blood. Dialysis is, at best, a mixed blessing: it keeps you alive, but totally screws up your life and doesn’t even work all that well. Most dialysis patients are weak and sick all the time, and die within a few short years.

Once I saw the matching donors ads, I knew I would have to donate – how can you turn someone away when you’ve seen their face and heard their desperate story? In fact, I wished I had a thousand extra kidneys to donate. But I only had one, so how to choose?

Lots of the people self-identified as animal lovers, with some including photos of themselves with their companion animals in their ads. As a vegan and animal/veg activist I knew I would definitely want to donate to one of them. And then I came across an ad without a picture that included this text:

“I am a retired Veterinarian from Colorado. My wife and I started a no-kill animal shelter 20 years ago to give animals a second chance at life. I would like a second chance too. We have invested everything to help save the animals.”

My kidney starting singing sweet songs of love, having found its dream recipient. His name is Bill Suro, and the shelter he and his wife Nanci started in Denver is called MaxFund. They save sweeties like Millie, a dog who was found in New Mexico with anemia, a fused spine, grossly infected back feet, and (rage alert) BB shots embedded throughout her body. Many shelters would have euthanized her, but at Maxfund she got all the medical help she needed and is now whizzing around in a rollie cart! (See her story here; joyful weeping alert.)

So I called Bill and offered to donate.

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