Vegan Butterfly sent me a link to this detestable White Castle ad a few months ago. I meant to blog about it straight away, but naturally procrastinated. The video has since made its way ’round the interwebs; see, for example, I Blame the Patriarchy and Suicide Food.

No matter. ‘Tis never too late to deconstruct some Grade A kyriarchical Homer shit. Let’s get started, shall we?
 

Cue the scene: a bevy of skeevy, college age, white dudes sits in a smoky, dimly lit dive, hooting and clamoring expectantly. Onstage, a pig (!?) appears. Our “pig” is clearly a human decked out, head-to-hoof, in a cheap plush pig outfit. But let’s forget about that for a moment. This is one sexy stripper pig. She – we assume the pig is a she, since men are rarely reduced to sex objects – bursts into a sultry dance, thrusting her ass towards the audience, hips grinding to and fro. The camera pans around to two guys – and an animated White Castle paper bag (!?) – sitting at the front table. Miss Piggy shimmies herself onto a strategically placed chair, opening a creepy ole can of Flashdance on our asses. Still dancing, she thrusts a leg into the air, then back down to the floor.

Suddenly, a flirtatious female voice over:

“Introducing tempting pulled pork…”

Here, Piggy reaches for a chain, dangling down from the ceiling – and gives a good yank. Barbecue sauce rains from the sky, covering Piggy (whose back is predictably arched at this point) and splashing the audience, which doesn’t seem to mind a bit.

“…in barbecue sauce.”

The audience cheers! Piggy twirls and dances in triumph!

Cut to shots of murdered, dismembered, processed and cooked pig, i.e., “meat.”

“Shredded pork in a come-hither barbecue sauce. Sweet. Saucy. Oh so naughty. White Castle – what you crave.”

The ad ends with a fadeout of the aforementioned white dudes – sitting with a now grease stained White Castle bag – licking barbecue sauce off of themselves and enjoying the “entertainment.” Happy ending, anyone?

Where to start, where to start?

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Do you have an email address, an appreciation for fuzzy wuzzy animal photography, and few moments to spare? If so, you can help raise $60,000 for a deserving animal advocacy group!

Several talented supporters have submitted photographs to Canon’s Creative for a Cause contest on behalf of Animals Australia. Just vote for one of Animals Australia’s entries – then spread the word!

Says Animals Australia:

These two little rescued piglets are experiencing the sun on their backs for the very first time…

This is just one of the amazing pictures that you can vote on to help win a $60,000 donation to help fight animal cruelty. Voting in the photography competition, run by Canon, closes in just one week!

We are grateful to the many talented photographers who have submitted images on behalf of Animals Australia. All entries are now in, so now we need your help! Please click the images below and vote for both of our leading photos. Your votes could potentially direct much needed funds to help strengthen our vital work on behalf of animals.

Please also consider placing a vote for any or all of these other wonderful images.

You can only vote once for each image, but you can vote for as many images as you like. Please also ask your friends to vote, and post a link on Facebook!

Animal Australia has thumbnails of eight images on its website; just click on each to go to Canon’s website and register your vote. The competition is stiff – 2175 images from 883 contributors – so spread the word.

Hurry and vote today – the contest closes Friday, July 9th.

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Since Kinship Circle last wrote about Stu – the dog unjustly imprisoned and sentenced to death by L.A. Animal Services nearly four years ago – there’s been a development in the case.

Kate Woodviolet, writing at the examiner.com, explains:

Despite a case filled with discrepancies, missing reports, and irregular behavior on the part of L.A. Animal Services and City personnel, the California Court of Appeals today ruled that the City’s sentence of death against Stu, a ten year-old dog with a record of one biting incident four years ago, when Stu had himself just been injured, could stand. This clears the way for L.A. Animal Services to euthanize a dog who many, including Animal Services Commissioners, feel was denied his legal due process, and who most agree presents no danger to the public.

This despite assurances from Deputy City Attorney Dov Lesel at this Monday’s meeting of the Board of Animal Services Commissioners that it was unnecessary for the Board to take any action to save Stu, as a ruling by the Appeals Court could be weeks in coming.

(You might recall that Ms. Woodviolet’s last piece about Stu, “Playing political games with a dog’s life,” featured prominently in Kinship Circle’s previous alert. For additional information on the case, these articles are an excellent place to start.)

In light of this ruling, Stu’s execution has been scheduled for July 23, 2009.

Even if you took action previously, please take a moment to look through this newest alert from Kinship Circle and follow through on one or more of the actions listed below. Though there’s much red tape to cut through, Stu can still be granted a pardon. Let’s help make that happen.

Stu’s already served four years of an indeterminate sentence; now he deserves to go home and live out his senior years in peace, with his family.

The LA Board of Animal Services must hold a special meeting by July 13, so please act now.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Sun, Jul 5, 2009 at 3:12 PM
Subject: Update: Stu Dies 7/23/09 [Act before 7/13]

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY / PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST
7/5/09: UPDATE – Stu Dies July 23. Stop Them. Act Before 7/13/09.

Kinship Circle’s 6/18 Stu alert asked you to flood Los Angeles offices with pleas for the dog’s life. Now, a 6/23/09 court decision leaves Stu with a July 23 execution date — despite testimony from acclaimed animal experts that Stu poses no threat to humans.

To save Stu, his person wants you to know:

(It’s tangled. Kinship Circle didn’t write the politics! We just want to save Stu.)

1. LOS ANGELES BOARD OF ANIMAL SERVICES must hold a special meeting BEFORE July 13, 2009 (which is their next regular meeting). The Board president or three Commissioners are empowered to schedule this special meeting — but NO ONE HAS CALLED FOR IT. It’s purpose would be to discuss a Board recommendation, in writing, to spare Stu and send him home. The Board’s letter would then go to the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor.

2. By the Board’s 7/13 meeting, Commissioners must vote to send the Stu recommendation to L.A. CITY COUNCIL. Then, either full Council or a Public Safety Committee will address Stu’s fate. Next, the CITY ATTORNEY would advise City Council on its legal powers to save Stu and send him home. Wait, there’s even more red tape: The Board of Animal Services must also vote on a 60-day suspension of the order to kill Stu.

3. The MAYOR decides Stu’s fate, if City Council votes to make a Stu recommendation to the mayor.

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Updated to add: Over at Vegan Soapbox, Convenient Vegan reviewed Redemption at length earlier this year. I’d meant to link to her piece when I first posted this entry, but apparently had a brain freeze. My bad.

Back in March, I noted that the No Kill Advocacy Center was giving away free copies of Nathan J. Winograd’s Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America to “any elected official, staff reporter, or animal control director” who requests a copy.

First published in 2007, Redemption was expanded and updated in February 2009. To celebrate the new release (and clear out their old stock), the No Kill Advocacy Center is extending its original offer to include regular citizens who purchase a copy of the book – in other words, buy one (2009) copy of Redemption, get one (2007) free. Give it to a friend, a politician or policymaker, your local library, your veterinarian or vet clinic. (Or *cough* a certain favorite blogger! *cough*cough*) Anything to spread the word.

Here are the details:

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: No Kill Advocacy Center
Date: Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Subject: We’re spreading the good news

A No Kill nation is within our reach!

As a new expanded and updated edition of Redemption is now available in bookstores and through Amazon, we are giving away our remaining first edition copies of Redemption, the book that is helping to revolutionize animal sheltering in the U.S.:

1. If you are the executive director of a shelter or rescue group and you identify the organization as No Kill on the home page of your website, we’ll give you a free copy.

2. If you are the executive director of a shelter and you have announced a No Kill goal on the home page of your website, we’ll give you a free copy.

3. If you are an elected official and want to learn more about the No Kill movement, we’ll give you a free copy.

4. If you are an animal lover and you recently purchased a second edition copy, we’ll give you a free copy.

Redemption is being called “powerful and inspirational,” “ground-breaking,” and “a must read for anyone who cares about animals.” Winner of USA Book News Award for Best Book (Animals/Pets), a Best Book Muse Medallion winner by the Cat Writers Association of America, a Best Book nominee by the Dog Writers Association of America and winner of a Silver Medal from the Independent Publishers Association, the book shatters the notion that killing animals in U.S. shelters is an act of kindness.

For more information, including restrictions, go to www.nokill.org and click on “What’s New” or click here.

For more information and limitations, click here.

6114 La Salle Ave. #837 Oakland CA 94611
www.nokilladvocacycenter.org

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Action Alerts: Animal & Environmental Advocacy

American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS): Encourage USDA to Shut Down R&R Research [a Class B Dealer in Howard City, Michigan]

Animal Person: Online Survey on Ethics and Animals [Deadline: July 13]

Campaign for America’s Wilderness: Alaska’s Bristol Bay Needs Your Help [If you choose to use the sample letter provided, please edit for speciesism.]

Center for Biological Diversity: Help Protect Pikas From Global Warming

DawnWatch: 60 Minutes on protecting animals in Mozambique’s National Park 6/28/09

Earthjustice: High Court Rules Against Clean Water Protections, But Hope is Not Lost

Ecological Internet / The Rainforest Portal: Action Alert: Mighty Mekong River Must Forever Flow Freely [If you choose to use the sample letter provided, please edit for speciesism.]

Farm Sanctuary: Isn’t It Time for California Dairy Farmers to Stop Cutting Cows’ Tails Off?

Farm Sanctuary: Michigan: Hurry – Help Keep the Fox Out of the Henhouse

PETA: Urge Texas Lottery Commission to Yank Elephant Ad!

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Eco-friendly in life, eco-friendly in death. Current reports on “organic” burials in this short, quirky little segment.
 

The film is way too long for me to transcribe, but here’s the gist:

Death as part of the natural life cycle has been forgotten in the UK. The biological process of what happens to the body and the environment during burial and cremation is largely unknown. In an ultimate bid to recycle, should we take more responsibility for what we leave behind?

If you’re interested in learning more, I highly recommend The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford (2000), a muckraking exposé of the American funeral industry, as well as Lisa Carlson’s Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love, a sort of DIY guide to nontraditional funerals. For more on “green” burial practices, start with the Wiki entry on “Natural Burial,” where you can find external links to a number of associations and websites.

Finally, you may want to consider bypassing the whole funeral spiel altogether, and do something useful with your corpse – like donating it to science.

Of course, there’s also the “Jim shoes” option.

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 10:59 PM
Subject: Part 1/ UPDATES: APR – JUN 2009

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY / PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST

VICTORIES * SETBACKS * PROGRESS

PART 1: APRIL – JUNE 2009 / KINSHIP CIRCLE UPDATES

1. Pig Abusers At Hormel Supplier Get 1-2 Year Probation
2. Bureaucrats Reach No Decision On Whaling
3. Lax Officials Knew Travis The Chimp Might Attack
4. Kitten Killer’s Accomplice Is Now Charged Too
5. Pet Food Poisoners Plead Guilty And Face Jail Time
6. Foie Gras Producer On Trial For Cruelty
7. Atlanta Falcons Bid Michael Vick A Permanent Farewell
8. “Change” Doesn’t Look Much Different Under Obama
9. California Spay/Neuter Law Passes Senate, Moves To Assembly
10. Groups Sue Salazar In Effort To Save Delisted Wolves
11. Way To Go SAEN! Research Industry Meltdown
12. Cheyenne Frontier Rodeo Bans Video Instead Of Abuse
13. California Bullfight Busts Continue; Humane Officer Assaulted
14. Repression Of Austrian Animal Activists Worsens

PART 2: KC UPDATES / APRIL – JUNE 2009
RESEND PART #2 TO ME: info [at] kinshipcircle.org

15. HSUS And Michael Vick Team Up To Fight Dogfighting?
16. Armed To Kill In National Parks: Guns Allowed
17. Maine Is 6th State To Ban Cruel Confinement Crates
18. NC Pro-Gas Chamber Bill Gets A “No” Vote
19. USDA Cites New Iberia Primate Lab For Violations
20. U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Against Canada Sealing
21. Canadian Sealers Lose Biggest Customer — EUROPE!
22. EU Votes To Let Most Primate Research Continue
23. Karley’s Sociopath Killer Ordered To Stand Trial
24. Horse Slaughterhouses Now Legal In Montana
25. Michigan Pound Gives R&R Research The Boot
26. Big Surprise: Swine Flu, Born On U.S. Factory Farms
27. Los Angeles DA Drops Charges Against Dog Dragger
28. Obama Accepts Breeder Dog As Gift For Daughters

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Update, 7/8/09:

Reader Perry alerted me to criticism of CA SB 250 (item #1 below) coming not from animal exploiters, but from the animal rights community. I’ll quote the No Kill Advocacy Center’s Nathan Winograd, who Perry specifically signals out.

In May, Winograd wrote:

Meanwhile, some Los Angeles activists don’t appear to care that they helped cause this killing and are intent on passing related state legislation. SB 250 is a reworded mandatory sterilization law under the guise of differential licensing. This comes after they failed last year to pass the original version. Sadly, this year—as occurred last year—they continue to refuse to add common-sense protections for animals. These would include, at a minimum,

* A “no-impound/no-kill” provision, meaning an animal can never be impounded based on a violation of this law and if an animal is surrendered because a person received or was threatened with a citation, that animal cannot be killed;

* An exemption for feral and free roaming strays, as they have no “owners”; and,

* A provision for “free spay/neuter” in lieu of a citation based on a legislative approved income schedule. In other words, if someone falls below a threshold on income (e.g., is on any type of local, state, or federal welfare benefit or subsidy), they can demand free sterilization instead of a citation; or the citation cannot be written or the law enforced against them.

I’ve long argued that giving animal control the power to impound and kill more animals is no way to reduce shelter killing. Even the bean counters in the Senate seem to agree. SB 250 has been sent to the suspense file after a committee analysis found that,

costs could increase to the extent that irresponsible pet owners would surrender their animals to a shelter rather than pay for a surgical sterilization procedure, which would somewhat increase shelter populations and related costs.

As much as proponents try to paint all opposition as that of greedy breeders (I’ve never bred an animal in my life), this is the analysis of the Senate Appropriations Committee whose staff actually don’t seem very sympathetic to animals. They call people “irresponsible” without concern about the deaths of animals or how spay/neuter is out of reach financially for those in the bottom rungs of the economic latter. They conveniently ignore that roughly seven out of ten low income pet owners would sterilize their animals if it was free. And they ignore that the communities with the highest rates of lifesaving don’t have these kinds of laws. In fact, they ignore that shelters in communities which take in higher per capita rates of animals than Los Angeles are still saving nine out of ten because shelter leadership embraced the programs of ACR 74. Senate Appropriations staff seem concerned only about costs. But their concern is not speculative.

Since the City of Los Angeles passed its version of the mandatory spay/neuter law one year ago, impounds and deaths—and therefore associated costs—have skyrocketed. The law has led to the only increase in cat and dog impounds and killing at Los Angeles Animal Services in nearly a decade, and the reversal of a decade long trend of declines in both. While the Mayor claims he wants Los Angeles to be the most humane city in America, it appears he is seeking “number one” status of a different sort. The direction Los Angeles is going, he actually seems intent on catching up to Lake County, CA which has the dubious honor of being the pet killing capitol of California. In 2007, Lake County veterinarian Jeff Smith and the President of the California Veterinary Medical Association encouraged Los Angeles to pass its mandatory sterilization law saying he supported such legislation. “It’s worked in our county,” he said. Working? Lake County has the highest per capita rate of killing in California.

The death champions in L.A. conveniently ignore this. In fact, they perpetuate it. It is truly time for change.

Let’s hope the California Legislature agrees by killing SB 250 and passing ACR 74. And then while they’re at it, how about passing the Companion Animal Protection Act?

While I’ve nothing against offering incentives for (or perhaps even mandating) spaying and neutering (and microchipping), clearly laws that mandate spaying and neutering “pets” without giving low-income “pet owners” the means with which to do so have the potential to do more harm than good. (Particularly if the punishment for breaking these laws is a fine, and the failure to pay results in the “confiscation” – and, ultimately, murder – of the “owner’s” dogs and cats.)

They’re also classist and racist, disproportionately punishing low-income “pet owners” for their poverty by slapping them with fees and stealing their companions if they fail to comply – no matter their ability and means.

If any readers have additional information to share re: SB 250, I’d love to hear it. My lil’ sis lives in California, so she may be voting on this bill shortly.

———————

Because I’m just a wee bit late in posting this Friends of Kinship Circle action alert, item #1 is no longer active. The good news is, California SB 250 (The Pet Responsibility Act) was voted outed of committed 6-3, so now it’s on to the state legislature. Or so I assume; who knows how many committees and sub-committees must be navigated before the issue comes up for a general vote? Either way, you can sign up to receive future action alerts at www.yesonsb250.com; please do so.

Item #2 – which involves reducing the mandatory hold time from six to three days in California shelters – is still in play, so check it out, take action (if you haven’t already – or, hells bells, even if you have), and spread the word.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 7:18 PM
Subject: Act Now For Spay-Neuter Bill * Oppose 3-Day Shelter Hold [Friends Of KC]

FRIENDS OF KINSHIP CIRCLE

friendsofkinshipcircle.wordpress.com

* KINSHIP CIRCLE DOES NOT WRITE OR RESEARCH THESE ALERTS.
* QUESTIONS? CONTACT ALERT WRITER. PLEASE DO NOT HIT REPLY.

IN THIS ALERT:

1. Vote For Historic Spay/Neuter Bill Is 6/30. Act Now.
2. Don’t Let Calif. Kill Shelter Animals After Just 3 Days

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I’m trying to clear out my inbox before the holiday weekend, so expect a flood of miscellaneous action alerts from now ’til then.

This one comes from the Yahoo Group Animal Advocacy and is reprinted in its entirety. The CounterPunch article linked to in the alert is lengthy but informative; you can find talking points there or here. (The latter being the equally long-but-informative Newsweek article, “It’s Survival of the Weak and Scrawny; Researchers see ‘evolution in reverse’ as hunters kill off prized animals with the biggest antlers and pelts.”)

Why eBay Should Stop Selling Guided Hunts for Wolves, Bears and Cougars
Blood Sport Auction
By CHRIS GENOVALI

There is an amazing array of things one can purchase on EBay, from used lawn furniture to vintage dolls to bongs allegedly used by Olympic athletes. Among the myriad items being sold on EBay are guided hunts of North America’s grizzly bears, black bears, wolves and cougars. It’s hard to believe, but these recreational killing opportunities are now bought and sold on the world’s largest internet auction site; EBay has become an online marketplace peddling the trophy hunting of the continent’s top-level predator species.

ACTION: Please email and/or write the following individuals and demand that eBay stop this atrocious practice.

Matthew J. Bannick, President, eBay International: matthewb [at] ebay.com

Bill Cobb, President eBay North America: billcobb [at] ebay.com

You can also write a letter to them at:

eBay Inc.
2145 Hamilton Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125

PLEASE WRITE AND FORWARD WIDELY!

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Though I’ve started linking to Kinship Circle’s alerts (as opposed to re-formatting and crossposting) whenever possible, I decided to publish this alert in in entirety anyhow (and even though I did indeed link to it in last week’s weekend link roundup). It’s just one of those stories that boggles the mind; even more so since it’s been dragging on for nearly four years now.

If you’ve been reading easyVegan for any length of time, you’ve probably already seen at least one alert dealing with the plight of Stu and Jeff de la Rosa. In August of 2005, Stu and another of Jeff de la Rosa’s furkids got into a scuffle, in which Stu was hurt. The “pet” sitter/assistant attempted to slip a harness over Stu’s head so that she could take him to the vet. Injured and cornered, Stu bit the assistant. Initially, there wasn’t an issue, as the bite was superficial. A month later, however, the sitter decided to sue, and Stu was confiscated without his father’s knowledge. Stu has been languishing in the “care” of LAAS (L.A. Animal Services) ever since. While experts have determined that Stu is not a danger, on death row he sits.

Thus far, Stu has spent four of his nine years imprisoned, the victim of injured pride, ego and bureaucracy (all of them human). Stu, now a senior, has not shown aggression towards any of his handlers since the August 2005 incident, and yet the city remains dead set on killing him. They continue to fight for his death, in fact. Four years of food, housing, medical care and legal bills – you’d think the city of Los Angeles could find a better use of its money, no?

The whole sad, sorry affair seems even more egregious in light of the “small victories” we celebrate daily – victories such as Gramby’s adoption after 2 1/2 years spent in a kenneled rescue facility. Gramby’s story, while unfortunate and commonplace, is also somewhat understandable – after all, he had no home to return to. His prison sentence was one of both necessity and compassion. But Stu – Stu has a life and family waiting for him. Stu remains imprisoned not out of human kindness, but rather human ugliness. There are no excuses for the injustices committed against Stu. The electric chair for a misdemeanor, indeed.

Please take a moment to read the Examiner article referenced below, and contact the LA City Attorney, the LA Public Safety Committee, LA City Officials and the LAAS. Kinship Circle has helpfully provided contact info and a sample letter (see below), but personalize the letter if possible. By all means, be indignant, stern and outraged – but also polite and respectful.

And also, spread the word – feel free to crosspost the Kinship Circle alert as written!

Previous alerts:

04/13/09 – Kinship Circle: Friends of Kinship Circle Alerts – #3. Save Stu – Wrongfully Impounded Since 9/15/05

12/25/07 – Kinship Circle: UPDATES: Year-End Victories & Setbacks, SEPT – DEC 2007 (Parts 1 & 2) – #17. Stu Is Spared, But NOT Free Or Exonerated

09/17/07 – Kinship Circle: September Kinship Circle Digest (Parts 1 and 2) – #44. Unhappy Anniversary For Stu! Will He Ever Be Freed?

06/20/07 – Kinship Circle: JUNE KC DIGEST: Saving Stu, Dolphin Captures, Oasis In Trouble + MORE – #1. Saving Stu – Legally They Can Kill Him Any Day Now

06/20/07 – Kinship Circle: Saving Stu: Legally They Can Kill Him Any Day Now

01/10/07 – Kinship Circle: Stu In Grave Danger. Again. [KC MEMBER ALERT]

09/08/06 – Kinship Circle: UPDATE: Stu Is Safe!

09/06/06 – Kinship Circle: LETTER / End Stu’s Nightmare Inside LAAS

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