Action Alerts

Animal Australia: 1 Million Bobby Calves Need Your Help!
“There’s a good reason why soy milk has gained popularity in recent times. Awareness is growing about the dairy industry’s tragic ‘waste product’—one million discarded newborn calves, slaughtered every year. [...] Animals Australia advocated important basic reforms in a recent review of Australia’s Land Transport of Livestock Standards and Guidelines. Incredibly Dairy Australia and other industry representatives refused to agree to limiting the distance that calves are transported, or even to feeding them if held overnight at the abattoir. As a result, the proposed new Standards drafted by Animal Health Australia do not include these reforms, and will sentence millions more bobby calves to a harrowing fate. State Agriculture Ministers will vote on these new standards in April. Please demand that they include the reforms proposed by animal welfare experts.”

PETA: Tell Google to Stop Advertising Dog Fur!
“Despite knowing that the fur industry is violent and bloody, Google continues to allow advertisements for fur, including dog fur on Chinese Web sites. [...] Tell Google CEO Eric Schmidt that modern, successful businesses don’t sell or advertise fur. As long as Google supports the fur industry by allowing fur companies to advertise through it, Google might as well be stuck in the Stone Age.”

PETA2: Tell Unilever to Stop Pig Abuse
“After receiving complaints about Unilever’s recent Axe commercial—which features a frantic live pig who runs through a mall and jumps off a high balcony—we immediately contacted the company to request that it pull the offensive commercial. [...] Please take a few moments to fill out the form below to send an automated letter to Unilever President Michael Polk requesting that Unilever stop airing the commercial immediately and be more respectful to animals in all future advertising campaigns.” Silly me, I thought that was a CGI pig!

Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH): Urge HHS to Return Bush’s Parting Gift
“President Obama has taken the first step to rescind the federal conscientious refusal rule by starting a 30-day period for public comment. This regulation from the Bush administration limits women’s access to abortion, contraception, and sterilization by shielding healthcare workers who will not give patients the information and treatment they need.”

Population Connection: Time for REAL Sex Ed; Lautenberg and Lee Announce Responsible Education About Life Act
“Earlier today, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) announced the introduction of the Responsible Education About Life Act in the Senate and House. The REAL Act authorizes federal funding for comprehensive sex education programs, which, unlike abstinence-only programs, have no dedicated funding stream. [...] With a new and more supportive Congress and President, we have a real opportunity to make a difference in the lives and health of teens. Please take a moment to urge your Senators and Representative to co-sponsor the REAL Act and stand up for real sex education.”

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Action Alerts

Center for Biological Diversity: 60 Days to Save the Polar Bear
“Last week Congress passed — and President Obama signed into law — a bill giving Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar the authority to immediately rescind Bush administration regulations that eliminate essential protections for the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. However, under the bill, if Salazar doesn’t withdraw the Bush regulations within 60 days, the regulations stay in effect and the polar bear is deprived of the legal protections it needs to survive. Secretary Salazar must act immediately, or we’ll lose this precious opportunity to instantly remedy one of Bush’s worst environmental attacks. Please sign the petition to Salazar and demand that he immediately rescind the Bush regulations harming the polar bear.”

DawnWatch: NY Times covers tonight’s HBO premiere of “Death on a Factory Farm” 3/16/09
“Last week I sent out an alert about a documentary premiering tonight, Monday March 16, on HBO, titled ‘Death on a Factory Farm.” It covers the undercover investigation of horrifying abuse at an Ohio pig farm and the resulting animal cruelty case. The DawnWatch alert with all the information is on line at tinyurl.com/dz6z4f. For such a film to be aired on major popular media such as HBO is truly groundbreaking. The good news today is its coverage in the New York Times. There is a television review, by Mike Hale, titled ‘How These Piggies Went to Market.’”

Farm Sanctuary: Downed Animal Protection – No Downers Campaign
“The USDA closed a loophole and banned downed cattle from being slaughtered and entering the human food supply. While this step is a milestone in efforts to protect those animals too sick and injured to walk, or even stand, protections need to be expanded to all species. Help continue this momentum.”

Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): ASK YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TO END HORSE SLAUGHTER
“With a new Congress, we have an amazing opportunity to make this the year to finally ban the cruel transport of horses for slaughter for human consumption on U.S. soil as well as in other countries. Almost as many American horses were sent to slaughter in 2008 as in 2007, making the passage of federal legislation to ban slaughter more urgent than ever. The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009 (H.R. 503) will prevent the slaughter of American horses for human consumption — here and in other countries. It is critical that you weigh in with your federal legislators to let them know you want horse slaughter stopped as soon as possible. Ask your Representative to co-sponsor and vote in favor of H.R. 503.”

In Defense of Animals (IDA): Support the Great Ape Protection Act
“On March 5, the Great Ape Protection Act was reintroduced in the House of Representatives. This landmark bill would ban invasive experiments on chimpanzees as well as breeding. IDA has been working for this since 1993.”

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Just a friendly reminder: HBO is premiering Death on a Factory Farm tonight at 10PM EDST (you can view a full schedule here). Directed by Tom Simon and Sarah Teale – the people who brought you Dealing Dogs, another animal-friendly documentary – Death on a Factory Farm follows an undercover investigation of an Ohio factory farm by the Humane Farming Association (HFA).

Here’s the synopsis from the film’s website:

Each year, ten billion animals are raised for consumption in the U.S., mostly on sprawling, industrialized farms, where virtually no federal laws mandate how the animals are treated – though guidelines exist – and state laws are ineffective. As a result, animals are frequently subjected to what many consider cruel treatment and inhumane conditions in the interest of economic efficiency. DEATH ON A FACTORY FARM chronicles an investigation into alleged abuses that took place at a hog farm in Creston, Ohio. This shocking documentary is produced by Tom Simon (a seven-time Emmy® winner) and Sarah Teale, producer of the 2006 HBO special “Dealing Dogs,” which received two Emmy® nominations, including Best Documentary.

Three years in the making, DEATH ON A FACTORY FARM follows the undercover investigation of Wiles Hog Farm by the animal rights group The Humane Farming Association (HFA), and the resulting court case against it. The organization received a tip from an employee at the farm that animals were being abused, including a claim that hogs were being hung by chains and strangled to death as a form of euthanasia. HFA then turned to an undercover investigator (also featured in “Dealing Dogs”) going by the name “Pete,” who wore a hidden camera while he worked as a farmhand at Wiles.

Over the course of six weeks, Pete secretly filmed numerous disturbing scenes, including piglets being tossed into crates from across a room, impregnated sows held in pens that don’t allow them to move, an unhealthy piglet being slammed against a wall to euthanize it, and a sick sow being hung by a chain from a forklift until it choked to death. Having obtained this key evidence, Pete concluded the investigation and quit his job.

HFA brought the footage to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, which subsequently raided the farm. Prosecutors filed ten criminal charges of animal cruelty against Ken Wiles (the owner of the farm), his son Joe, and Dusty Stroud, a farm employee who participated in hanging the sow.

In the trial that followed, prosecution and defense waged a tense battle over the legality and morality of practices rarely seen by the public and described by the presiding judge as “distasteful and offensive,” but defended by Ken Wiles and other members of the tight-knit Ohio farming community as the commonplace reality of producing livestock for consumption.

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I’ve been a little lazy in blogging the animal-related segments on The Colbert Report lately – mostly because the guests haven’t much impressed me. But, seeing as Peter Singer appeared on Thursday’s episode, it’s probably time.

First, there was Mark Bittman, a food critic and “vegan” advocate – but only before 6 PM. Yup, you heard me right; Bittman is vegan – for a variety of health, environmental and animal welfare reasons (though methinks non-human animals rank very low on Bittman’s list) – but only up until dinnertime. Then, anything goes.
 

 
That’s like a dude saying that he’s kind and respectful toward women, but only until the nighttime – then he beats and rapes them with glee. (Or rather, he hires a third party to do so, and enjoys the hunt through a vicarious thrill.) Hey, one can only be expected to exert willpower and behave ethically for so long, then something’s gotta give, dontchaknow!

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As always, the quiz includes questions about marginalized human groups – most notably people of color and gays and lesbians, with one roundabout feminist question (“when does life begin?”) – but not a peep about non-human animals. Just a few items re: climate change, pollution and the like.

I wonder how I might have scored on a similar quiz, with one or two animal advocacy questions? Domestic terra-ist, perhaps?

By the by, you can take the quiz here; h/t, Elaine.

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Action Alerts

Animal Person: Duffy in Kennel for 7 Years!
Poor Duffy has been available for adoption for seven years. Any chance someone out there is looking for a senior baby?

Earthjustice: Take Action to Save Wolves!
“We need you to urge Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to withdraw his decision to remove federal protections for the gray wolves of the northern Rockies. Independent scientists say that 2,000 to 3,000 wolves are required to ensure the survival of the species. But this new rule would clear the way for Idaho and Montana to kill hundreds of wolves, reducing the population to a level that is too small to survive. Tell Secretary Salazar you oppose removing federal protections for gray wolves. ”

Repower America: Carbon Cap
“Limiting carbon pollution is the next step in the plan to Repower America and revitalize our economy. But the fossil fuel industry has already signaled that it will spend whatever is necessary to maintain the status quo. To jumpstart our economy, we need bold action from our leaders. Sign our petition below and we will deliver it to your members of Congress.”

United Farm Workers (UFW): Join the Petition Drive for a National Cesar E. Chavez Holiday!
“As UFW Founder Cesar Chavez’ March 31st birthday approaches—an official holiday in eight states and dozens of cities and communities throughout the nation—we want to ask for your support in making Cesar’s March 31st birthday a national holiday.” (Cesar Chavez was a vegan, too!)

The Wilderness Society: Keep Coal Mining Out of Hunter Canyon
“The proposed Red Cliff coal mine in northwestern Colorado would seriously impact an area that has been cherished for decades for its wilderness and wildlife. Tell the BLM that a coal mine, with the pollution it would bring to our air and water, is the wrong future for Hunter Canyon.”

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Back in November, Kara at Lantern Books sent me a copy of How to Eat like a Vegetarian Even If You Never Want to Be One, by Carol J. Adams and Patti Breitman; a mere four months later, and I’ve tried enough of the recipes to offer a review. What can I say – I’m a slow cooker!

Being Vegetarian/Vegan 101

The title of this (cook)book pretty much says it all: in just over 200 pages, authors Carol J. Adams (of The Sexual Politics of Meat fame) and Patti Breitman will show you how to eat like a vegetarian – even if you don’t want to be (or in fact aren’t) one. Since it’s kind of a vegetarianism/veganism 101 primer (though categorized as a vegetarian cookbook, all the recipes are vegan), the book’s likely target audience strikes me as newbie vegetarians and vegans; omnivores who are interested in eating fewer animal products, whether for health, environmental or animal welfare reasons; and the family and friends of vegetarians and vegans, new and old.

The last category seems a particularly suitable audience for How to Eat like a Vegetarian. For example, if you’ve recently gone veg, and your parents, siblings, partner and/or friends are giving you a hard time – “But where will you get your protein?” “Fish is vegetarian, right?” “You haven’t joined a cult, have you!?” – allow Adams and Breitman to set them straight. The information contained in How to Eat like a Vegetarian can help teens and young adults assure their worried parents that, yes, it’s not only possible but rather simple to consume enough protein on a veg diet, and help men and women reassure their partners that the household won’t lapse into starvation because the primary cook (or taste tester) has banished meat from the kitchen.

At its core, How to Eat like a Vegetarian is a cookbook; as such, it features roughly 60 recipes (with a number of additional suggestions, such as quick dinner ideas or suggestions for no-prep, eat-what’s-in-the-fridge, snacking-on-the-go eats). It’s a rather diverse sample, spanning breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, and includes soups, salads, sweets, dips and spreads, and – of course! – tofu dishes. Depending on your tastes, the selection can be hit-or-miss; while I love vegetable-based soups, for instance, I’m not big on “regular” tofu (though I do like the silken stuff!) – so I haven’t yet, and probably won’t, try the tofu recipes (although the Mr. and/or doggies probably will). The wide range of dishes can be taken as either a negative or a positive: on the one hand, the lack of a coherent theme binding the recipes together may mean that you only try half of the dishes. But, if you’re an adventurous eater and don’t know where to start your veg-etarian/-an journey, How to Eat like a Vegetarian might just be the place!

In addition to the recipes, Adams and Breitman offer “More than 250 shortcuts, strategies, and simple solutions.” These include a number of helpful “top ten” lists, such as “Ten ways to eat more vegetables”; “Ten substitutes for using an egg in baking”; and “Ten different things you can do with chickpeas.” You’ll also find suggestions for seasonal eating; ideas for vegan appetizers; birthday food ideas; and tips for hosting a cruelty-free reception. In the final chapter, Adams and Brietman sneak in a 30-page discussion about the health, environmental and animal welfare reasons for adopting a vegetarian diet. (Vegan, really, but methinks they didn’t want to scare jittery omni’s away by using the more radical term “vegan” in their book and chapter titles!)

Over the past few months, the husband and I have tried out a number of the recipes in How to Eat like a Vegetarian. Without exception, all were fairly easy to prepare and quite yummy, if not downright delish. Of course, I did some selective sampling; while I loved the Scalloped Potatoes , the mere mention of Carrot Avocado Soup makes my face crumple, and alas we never made it. Chances are you’re not as fussy an eater as I, so grain of salt and all.

(As an aside, if you’ve seen Baby Mama: That scene where Amy Pohler simply cannot bring herself to eat the organic green pea soup? Totally me. “I would rather be shot in the face than eat this food!”)

I especially liked the “top ten” lists and random tricks – many of these are gems! I’ve been a vegetarian for 13 years now, vegan for maybe 5, and I’m always looking for shortcuts in the kitch! Adams and Breitman offer some inspired tips for recreating new dishes out of leftovers (something I’ve kind of been doing, albeit on a smaller scale, for a few years), improvising dishes and the like. Probably nothing new to the more advanced vegan cooks among us (you know the types, always making you drool over their food p0rn blogs!), but a dogsend to us amateur and intermediate chefs.

After the jump: a few vegan food p0rn photos of my own, along with a brief description of each dish. Don’t hold the scrappy photo quality against the book’s authors – everything is much tastier than it looks.

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Santino the chimp with a stone in his hand. Photograph: PA

Many of you have no doubt already heard the story of Santino, a chimpanzee being held captive in a Swedish zoo who, in gathering rocks to throw at visitors to the zoo/prison, evidenced abstract thinking and planning for the future.

STOCKHOLM (AP) – A canny chimpanzee who calmly collected a stash of rocks and then hurled them at zoo visitors in fits of rage has confirmed that apes can plan ahead just like humans, a Swedish study said Monday. Santino the chimpanzee’s anti-social behavior stunned both visitors and keepers at the Furuvik Zoo but fascinated researchers because it was so carefully prepared.

According to a report in the journal Current Biology, the 31-year-old alpha male started building his weapons cache in the morning before the zoo opened, collecting rocks and knocking out disks from concrete boulders inside his enclosure. He waited until around midday before he unleashed a “hailstorm” of rocks against visitors, the study said.

“These observations convincingly show that our fellow apes do consider the future in a very complex way,” said the author of the report, Lund University Ph.D. student Mathias Osvath. “It implies that they have a highly developed consciousness, including lifelike mental simulations of potential events.” [...]

Osvath said the chimpanzee had also been observed tapping on concrete boulders in the park to identify weak parts and then knocking out a piece. If it was too big for throwing, he broke it into smaller pieces, before adding them to his arsenal.

“It is very special that he first realizes that he can make these and then plans on how to use them,” Osvath said. “This is more complex than what has been showed before.” [...]

For a while, zoo keepers tried locking Santino up in the morning so he couldn’t collect ammunition for his assaults, but he remained aggressive. They ultimately decided to castrate him in the autumn last year, but will have to wait until the summer to see if that helps. The chimpanzees are only kept outdoors between April and October and Santino’s special behavior usually occurs in June and July.

“It is normal behavior for alpha males to want to influence their surroundings … It is extremely frustrating for him that there are people out of his reach who are pointing at him and laughing,” Osvath said. “It cannot be good to be so furious all the time.”

I’ll try to not rehash what others have said, but if I may, a few points:

I’ve noticed that a disturbing number of news articles refer to Santino as “belligerent,” “anti-social,” and the like. His behavior is characterized as unreasonably antagonistic and hostile, as if it’s wholly unprovoked. On the contrary; Santino’s actions are defensive, not offensive. How would you respond if, day in and day out, naked apes invaded your space, gawked, laughed and pointed at you, and occasionally even assaulted your person, both verbally and physically? (Anyone who’s taken even the occasional trip to a zoo has witnessed humans – adults and children alike – harass the animals, usually with words and noises, but also with improvised weapons.) Probably you wouldn’t like it. Probably you’d become fed up and eventually lash out. Santino is 31 years old; though I’ve no clue how long he’s been held captive in a zoo, probably it’s been years – possibly, decades. How would you handle 31 years of captivity and slow torture?

In regards to the zoo keepers’ efforts to control Santino’s “belligerent” behavior by castrating the poor bloke, I say this: isn’t the obvious answer to remove him from the gorram display? That’s the real issue at play here, not his aggression or excessive levels of testosterone.

And also: humans often invoke our superior intellect – whether this is defined as a sense of self, ability to plan for the future, ability to craft and use tools, what have you – as an ethical justification for our exploitation and enslavement of non-human animals. So what do we do when a non-human animal exhibits human-like intelligence? Why, we (try to) castrate it out of him, of course! Can’t have a dirty, filthy ape acting like a person now, can we? Oh, the irony.

I can only hope that Brother Kwan – another forward-thinking primate – escaped his captors after his own attempt at freedom. Brother, described only as “a monkey,” killed his abusive owner by throwing a coconut at the man’s head. Slave owner Leilit Janchoom died instantly.

Perchance Brother Kawn will make an appearance on a future segment of TCR’s “Monkey on the Lam“?

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Via The Humane League of Philadelphia:

Urgent: Letters and Calls Needed re: Foie Gras Week

Today the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article on an upcoming “Foie Gras Week” that some area restaurants will be participating in. The event is a promotional gimmick by Hudson Valley Foie Gras farm to try to drum up interest in their cruel product by basically giving it away for free. We are asking all HLP members to please take two quick actions to respond on this issue and to speak out for the ducks and geese being painfully force-fed on foie gras farms.

First: Send a Letter to the Editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer about the cruelty of foie gras and why you will not eat at any restaurant that serves it. Letters should be sent to: Inquirer.Letters [at] phillynews.com .

Second: Contact Councilman Jack Kelly’s office to encourage him to move forward with the bill to ban the sale of foie gras. The bill was re-introduced 9 months ago but Kelly has not yet brought it up for a vote. Councilman Kelly’s office numbers are: (215) 686-3452 and (215) 686-3453.

Ugh, a whole week dedicated to celebrating foie gras?

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Action Alerts

DawnWatch: ABC’s Nightline on Dog Show inbreeding and illness — 3/11/09
“Last night, Wednesday March 11, ABC’s Nightline aired a terrific piece they headed, “Best in Show: Quest for Perfection.” Reporter Nick Watt focused on the inbreeding and illness of pure bred dogs, encouraged by the big dog shows such as Westminster.”

DawnWatch: HBO and Time Magazine, stunning report on hog farm cruelty — March 16-April 1, 2009
“There is stunning news in the animal advocacy world, particularly for those of us who have been working in the field for years and remember the days when it was hard to find a news story that even touched on the cruelty to animals being documented by activists. This coming Monday, March 16, HBO will premier a documentary called “Death on a Factory Farm.” According to the HBO synopsis, “‘Death on a Factory Farm’ follows the undercover investigation of Wiles Hog Farm by the animal rights group The Humane Farming Association (HFA), and the resulting court case against it.” The industry magazine, “Pork,” reports with apprehension that the documentary will run on HBO twenty times through till April 1.”

Human Rights First: Urge President Obama to announce that the U.S. will run for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council
“For years the United States has stood on the sidelines and watched the United Nations Human Rights Council fail to deliver. Right now, the administration is weighing whether or not to change the status quo and run for a seat on the Council when elections are held in May. The United States can use its influence to turn this admittedly imperfect council into a powerful force for change. Join us in urging President Obama to announce that the United States will run for a seat on the Human Rights Council in May.”

Move On: Stop subsidies for Big Oil
“Think oil companies should pay their fair share of taxes? So does President Obama. In his budget, the President has proposed cutting billions of dollars in special subsidies and tax loopholes for oil and gas companies. But Big Oil is already fighting back. Like other corporate special interests, they’re lobbying heavily to gut Obama’s budget.”

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Tell the EPA to strictly regulate the disposal of contaminated coal waste
“America’s coal-fired power plants and industrial facilities produce millions of tons of contaminated coal waste, which includes toxic metals like arsenic, mercury and lead. Send a message telling the EPA to protect communities and water sources across the country by setting strict regulations for contaminated coal waste disposal.”

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