Emma loves her papa!
CC image via flickr user Vegan Flower (Molly!).
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Hey there lovely people! I have a homework assignment for the dog people in the audience. Don’t worry, it’s short and kind of sweet and won’t distract from your holiday festivities. Dr. Frank McMillan at Best Friends Animal Society is studying human-nonhuman bonding and, as part of his background research, is soliciting stories of love and devotion from those who share their lives with dogs. How do you know that your dog friend loves you? The answer can be short or long-form, simple or multifaceted. Just TELL HIM STORIES! (Always quote His Dark Materials. ALWAYS!)

Here’s the call for submissions, which appeared in the November/December 2011 issue of Best Friends magazine:

BEST FRIENDS NEEDS YOUR HELP

If you have a dog who expresses love toward you, we would like to hear your story.

In a very special new study, we are looking in-depth at the emotions of bonding and affection – love – shown by dogs toward their human companions. For background research, we would like to collect stories of dogs’ expressions of love. The story could be about a single incident of your dog’s show of love and devotion, or the ways your dog demonstrates love within your overall relationship. It could simply be an answer to the question: How do you know your dog loves you? If you would like to share your story, please email it to Dr. Frank McMillan at dr.frank@bestfriends.org.

You may recall that I’ve written about Dr. McMillan’s research previously in this here space; see, e.g. Scientists, Poets, Changemakers and Heroes (Volunteer Opportunities & Action Alerts). (Wow, has it been two years already?) Participating in vegan-friendly research projects such as this is an awesome and fun way to contribute to science. And easy, too!

Dr. McMillan posts notices of current research opportunities in Best Friends magazine, which comes “free” with a $25 donation to Best Friends. (We made a donation in Ozzy’s name for their annual Blessing of the Animals ceremony.) In the future, I’ll try to relay new notices as quickly as possible, for those who don’t get the magazine. Forgetting is easy, since a) I tend to let my subscription lapse and b) the notices are somewhat inconspicuous and easy to miss! But I’ll do better, I promise. This stuff is important, yo!

While we’re doing the bulletin board thing, joyful vegan goddess Colleen Patrick-Goudreau recently posted this notice on her FB page:

Call for vegan experts: I’m building a directory of everything from vegan wellness practitioners (chiropractors, acupuncturists, dietitians, naturopaths, nutritionists, psychologists, nurse practitioners, massage therapists, veterinarians) to vegan cooking class instructor and chefs. Wherever you are, if you are vegan and fall into any of the first categories, please email lisa@compassionatecooks.com so we can include you. If you teach cooking classes or have a catering company or are a personal chef, please email colleendavis@compassionatecooks.com. We need the city and state your in, your name, and your website! PLEASE PASS IT ON!

Also, VegListings is a newish directory for vegetarian and vegan businesses; it might come in handy for shoppers as well as business owners, especially with the holidays fast approaching! In the past I’ve put together social justice-themed buying guides; this year, I briefly considered compiling a list of vegan shops on etsy (love me some etsy!) – and then I stumbled upon the Vegan Etsy Team page, making my idea seem redundant.

…and I hope you will too!

So go, browse, buy (if you can). If not, maybe you’ll be inspired to give gifts crafted by your own two hands this holiday season. It’s fun!

(Image via Herbivore, by way of Vegan Etsy.)

By the by, Vegan Pizza Takes Over the World? NEEDS TO BE A COOKBOOK LIKE NOW! Make it happen, crafty chef peoples!
 

Vegan Pizza Takes Over the World!

World Go Vegan Week (October 24 – 31) is a celebration of compassion, and a time to take action for animals, the environment, world hunger, and everyone’s well-being. This year is going to be extra special … and extra cheesy! We want to help make it even easier to be vegan, and what better way than being able to order a quick and easy pizza – with delicious vegan Daiya cheese.

You can help with just a few minutes of your time by reaching out to your local pizzeria and asking them to offer a vegan pizza. Our goal is to make eating vegan simple, fun, and accessible to every community. One of the best aspects of restaurant outreach is that a single person can make a direct and lasting difference for animals.

Please contact your local pizza shop and ask them to offer a vegan pizza for the week of World Go Vegan Week. Our partners at Daiya cheese have offered to provide a free sample of Daiya cheese for the pizza shop to try. Daiya cheese melts, stretches, and tastes just like traditional dairy-based cheese.

We will provide you with a letter and tips on how to approach the pizzerias. Remember, all it takes is one person to make a major difference in changing everyday restaurants into vegan-friendly havens.

To be part of spreading the vegan pizza love in your community, contact Hope Bohanec: hope@idausa.org 415-448-0058 or 707-540-1760.

Vegan pizza outreach not your cup of tea? There are many other ways to celebrate with us! Click here for other ideas to promote World Go Vegan Week.

New to veganism? Click here to order a Vegan Starter Kit.

Vegan pizza montage, bitches!
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And if that’s not cool enough, IDA is sweetening the deal with FREE DAIYA! That’s right – convince a restaurant to sign up, and you’ll be entered to win a month’s worth of free Daiya! At a pound a day that must be, what, thirty pounds of the hot cheesy stuff? (I kid, I kid!)

Here are the deets:

New Contest – Win A Month’s Supply Of Daiya Vegan Cheese!

You could win a month’s supply of Daiya vegan cheese simply by participating in our exciting campaign to make vegan eating fun and accessible for everyone. Our Vegan Pizza Takes Over the World campaign is really taking off! Volunteers are approaching dozens of pizza parlors around the U.S. and Canada, asking them to offer a vegan pizza featuring Daiya cheese for World Go Vegan Week, October 24 – 31. Just get a restaurant to offer a vegan pizza for that week and you will be entered into our drawing for a month’s supply of Daiya vegan cheese! Soy-free and gluten-free Daiya cheese melts, stretches, and tastes just like traditional dairy-based cheese. Yum!

Daiya will also send free samples for pizza shops to try. We’ll provide you with a letter and tips on how to approach the pizzerias. One person can make a major difference changing everyday restaurants into vegan-friendly havens.

To help spread the vegan pizza love in your community, and get your name in the drawing, contact Hope Bohanec: hope@idausa.org 415-448-0058 or 707-540-1760. We will announce the winner in an upcoming IDA eNews. Vegan pizza outreach not your cup of tea? Click here for other ideas to promote World Go Vegan Week.

Jump to:

1. Introduction / Choosing a Charity
2. Human-Centered Disaster Relief, Vegan & Non
3. Animal Rescue & Disaster Relief
4. Vegan Fundraisers
5. Armchair Activism
6. News & (Somewhat Vegan) Views
7. Newsletters & Dispatches

Before and after the quake, Arahama in Sendai. This image shows one continuous landscape across the rectangle–at center, see the roadway sloping slightly upward from left to right across the black bar. In the original, dynamic version of this image, the black bar can be scrolled left and right across the landscape.
Credits: Google, ABC, GeoEye
Source: cnet.com
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It’s a startling picture of how dramatic and destructive Friday’s massive earthquake actually was.

The quake, which has upgraded to a magnitude 9.0 by the Japan Meteorological Agency, may have shifted the position of Earth’s axis about 6.5 inches, Richard Gross, a geophysicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told the Los Angeles Times. The quake likely sped up the Earth’s rotation, shortening the day by 1.8 microseconds, Gross said. Also, the main island of Japan appears to have moved 8 feet, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey told CNN.

To help illustrate the damaging power of the quake and the ensuing tsunami, Google has compiled a collection of high-resolution before-and-after satellite images that depict the areas affected most by the devastation.

“We’re working to provide this data directly to response organizations on the ground to aid their efforts,” Ryan Falor, Google Crisis Response team, said in a Google Lat Long Blog post. “We hope this new updated satellite imagery is valuable for them as well as everyone else following this situation to help illustrate the extent of the damage.”

ABC News has created a presentation of the images, overlaying the before and after images for each specific area for a more immediate representation of the quake and tsunami’s devastating effects.

(Source: cnet.com)

A street is flooded after an earthquake and tsunami struck Ishimaki City.
Credits: Kyodo, Reuters / Landov
Source: The Daily Beast
——————————

In the wake of the ongoing disasters in Japan – earthquakes, tsunamis, impending nuclear crises, and now a volcanic eruption, to boot – it’s been heartening to witness the outpouring of support and desire to help, coming from (nearly) all corners of the internet. On the other hand, all these “text to donate” tweets and status updates – it just take 15 seconds! it’s so simple! a 5-year-old could do it! – have left me feeling a bit uneasy. Choosing a non-profit organization to donate to shouldn’t be a mindless endeavor. After all, it’s your money; presumably you worked hard to earn it, and only have a limited amount to give. Why not do a little research and ensure that it’s put to good use – and in support of an organization that you can feel good about?

Researching nonprofits need not be a Herculean task. In addition to Google and Wiki, the following resources are free and easy to use. Also, spend a little time perusing the organization’s website, so that you can get a feel for its philosophy and principles, as well as the programs and services it offers. Fellow vegans probably won’t be surprised to learn that many humanitarian organizations exploit nonhumans in some way, shape or form. However, this isn’t always the case, and some NPOs fare better than others. For example, while both the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders utilize animal-based medications, the former also funds vivisection, while the latter does not. (See below for additional information on each org.)

Also, while I’ve tried my best to identify which orgs do and do not have dedicated funds for disaster relief in Japan – due in no small part to my general distrust of many of the larger animal welfare groups – Shannon reminds us in the comments that earmarking donations for a specific program or disaster can have the unintended consequence of making an organization’s efforts less efficient, flexible and able to adapt to change. (Holy run-on sentence, Catwoman!) See, e.g., this article from Slate (whose title is a bit obnoxious, but wevs). Most of the groups listed below maintain general funds for disaster relief, without offering the donor the option to earmark money for a specific disaster or country – which is perhaps the most ideal of all possible scenarios.

NPOs providing assistance to human and nonhuman animals are listed separately, under bullet points 2 and 3. While I note possible pros and cons for many of the organizations, ultimately it’s up to you to be your own decider person.

A resident look at a message board at an evacuation center
in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Saturday.
Credits: Kyodo News via AP
Source: USA Today
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What follows is far from a comprehensive list of the many NPOs assisting the human survivors of the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan. Given that this blog’s focus is on nonhuman animals, this is the area to which I’ve devoted most of my research efforts. However, I do want to bring attention – positive and negative – to a few organizations that are taking the lead in responding to these disasters. Also, I’d like to highlight several lesser-known groups that may have slipped under your radar.

A man carries his dog friend – a small, white and tan border collie (?) –
through a street filled with debris.
Credits: AFP/Getty Images
Source: The Daily Tail
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This section in particular will be updated as new information becomes available, so check back often.

Events are arranged so that the most time-sensitive ones appear first. Once they expire, they’ll be bumped to the end of the list.

If you’re holding vegan fundraiser to help with disaster relief in Japan, please let us know all about it in the comments!

An Indian snack vendor walks past a sand sculpture depicting the tsunami that hit Japan, created by sand artist Sudarshan Pattanik with a message to help victims of the tsunami,
on a beach in Puri, India, on Saturday.
Credits: Biswaranjan Rout, AP
Source: USA Today
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This section includes links to action alerts, most of which focus on nuclear energy due to the unfolding nuclear crises in Japan.

04/18/11 – Care2: Congress: No New Nuclear Reactors

04/01/11 – Green Action Japan: Sign the Petition to Support Japanese People, Expand Evacuation Zone

03/27/11 – Care2: Obama: No More Subsidies for Nuclear Energy!

03/24/11 – Public Citizen: Tell Obama to Reject Duke Energy Loan

03/23/11 – Save Our Environment: Heed Japan’s Warning

03/19/11 – Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS): It’s time: demand permanent shutdown of GE Mark I reactors!

03/18/11 – Roots Action: Mr. President: Stop Pushing Nuclear Power

03/18/11 – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Ask U.S. Department of State to Allow Companion-Animal Evacuations From Japan (See the Newsletters section below for additional talking points.)

03/16/11 – Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS): Tell Congress: No more taxpayer $ for more nuclear power

03/16/11 – Climate Ark: Action Alert: Ban Nuclear Energy and the Bomb, Time for True Renewables Only

03/15/11 – Nuclear Age Peace Foundation: Japan’s Nuclear Disaster: Don’t Let It Happen Again

03/15/11 – Public Citizen: End Taxpayer Subsidies for Nuclear Power

03/14/11 – Change.org: Petition: Stop the Delay on Donations to Japan

03/14/11 – CREDO Action: President Obama: Reverse your support of risky nuclear power

03/11/11 – Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS): Tell Congress: Heed the public and END the nuclear loan program

Officials in protective gear check for signs of radiation on children who are from the evacuation area near the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant in Koriyama on Mar. 13, 2011.
Credits: Kim Kyung-Hoon, Reuters / Landov
Source: The Daily Beast
——————————

Here you can find links to websites, blogs and select news stories, with a focus on environmental coverage and vegan viewpoints. This list is far from comprehensive, due to the ongoing and large-scale nature of the situation.

Website – Ignorant and Online

Website – Karma Japan

Ongoing coverage – Kinship Circle: 2011: Japan Earthquake & Tsunami – Resources

Ongoing coverage – Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS): All Things Nuclear (tagged: Japan_nuclear)

Ongoing coverage – Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS): Nuclear Crisis in Japan

Ongoing coverage – NukeFree.org: Breaking News

04/04/11 – SuperVegan: Adrien Zap of World Vets on Veterinary Relief Efforts in Post-Quake, Post-Tsunami Japan

03/30/11 – VegNews: Vegans Support Japan

03/18/11 – vegansaurus!: Forget iodine pills, just quit dairy!

03/17/11 – Vegan Etsy: Fundraising for Japan

03/17/11 – Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF): Animal Legal Defense Fund Demands Clarification of Pet Evacuation Policies for U.S. Military Families in Japan

03/17/11 – CNN: Welfare groups race to rescue Japan’s abandoned animals

03/16/11 – Best Friends: Japan: Rescue groups set out to save animals, part two

03/16/11 – VegNews: Animal Rescue in Japan

03/14/11 – Best Friends: Japan: Setting out to save animals, part one

03/13/11 – Save Japan Dolphins: COVE Volunteers Safe After “Apocalyptic” Experience; Taiji Dolphins Perish
 

Search and rescue dog Pia waits with members of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief to board a plane to Japan near near Lautzenhausen, Germany, on Saturday.
Credits: Mario Vedder, dapd, via AP
Source: USA Today
——————————

Newsletters appear in reverse chronological order.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Last Chance for Animals
Date: Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 7:47 PM
Subject: Support LCA’s Efforts to Help Animals in Japan!

Support LCA’s Efforts to Help Animals in Japan!

Since the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11th, thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes and move to a safer area. Many people have not been able to take their companion animals with them, and these pets are left behind to fend for themselves, with limited supplies of food and water.

Japan destruction: Devastation in Niigati-shi area
——————————

Last Chance for Animals (LCA) sent a Special Investigations Team (SIT) to Japan to assist with animal rescue. The SIT is working with Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support (JEARS), a coalition of no-kill shelter groups and volunteers, working to save, support and reunite lost and abandoned animals in the wake of the disaster, and professional animal rescue team, The Kinship Circle.

The team first went to Hikone in central Japan to work with David Wybenga of Japan Cat Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to Japan’s stray and abandoned cat population. David has been working for over ten years to not only help the cats of Japan find safe and loving homes long before this disaster began, but also to inform and educate people that stray cats are not in fact vermin as they are often viewed. David and the team were able to rescue several stray and abandoned cats over the days they worked together.

Japan Rescue: LCA SIT member with rescued cat in Hikone
——————————

The team then moved north to the JEARS base camp outside of Niigati for the next phase of the operation. Here they set up feeding stations and live traps to lure the frightened animals out of hiding so they could be transported to safer places and shelters that had been prepared especially for them.

The team will next be heading south of Fukushima nuclear plant to investigate reports of abandoned dogs, cats and cows. They will be spending the night in Iwate – near the area where ‘The Cove’ was filmed – and will also be investigating a feral cat refuge off the coast of Sendai.

Follow the daily blog here of one of LCA’s Special Investigators in Japan.

Map of SIT rescues so far: Map of where LCA’s SIT has helped so far in Japan
——————————

Please donate to LCA so we can continue to keep our Special Investigative Team in the field doing what we do best; Helping Animals!

For the animals,

Campaigns Department
Last Chance for Animals
310-271-6096 x27

Last Chance for Animals | 8033 Sunset Blvd. #835 | Los Angeles | CA | 90046

 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle
Date: Sat, Mar 19, 2011 at 9:06 PM
Subject: Kinship Circle Heads To Japan For Animal Aid

Kinship Circle Aids Animals In Japan

In Sendai — a city in Miyagi Prefecture that shared the brunt of a 9.0 earthquake and resultant tsunami — a man ran to warn neighbors. He returned home to find his beloved Akita, Shane, missing from his backyard. With the tsunami in rapid pursuit, he fled to higher ground. Six hours passed when a dog was spotted outside the school evacuation site. Shane had plunged into chest-deep waters to find his guardian. The dog had never seen this school, but somehow clung to debris and floated there. Cut and shivering, Shane was alive! Fortunately, Isabella — who leads rescue groups united as Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support (JEARS) — was at the school with a vet to show the grateful man how to clean and treat Shane’s wounds.

Kinship Circle joins Animal Friends Niigata, Japan Cat Network, HEART-Tokushima, and Nippon SPCA to aid survivors like Shane. Our responders, credentialed in search and rescue, assessment, veterinary first aid, and crisis sheltering will provide ground support. We’ll also help via donations as long as we can.

GIVE TO ANIMAL DISASTER AID FUND, FOR JAPAN

We need a minimum $25,000, to get our teams across a vast disaster-torn area in Japan.

We hope to raise more, to support Japan animal groups working against impossible odds to access Sendai and decimated cities in Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures. With the nuclear plant situated in Fukushima, we even had to buy a Geiger Counter for volunteers to measure radiation exposure.

Right now, gifts to our Animal Disaster Fund go to Japan quake-tsunami aid, to:

♥ Send rescue and veterinary trained teams.
♥ Fund gas and transport to reach animals.
♥ Get emergency vet medical supplies.
♥ Support key Japan animal organizations.

For animals, the disaster is trifold: A 9.0 earthquake, a tsunami with waves as high as 33 feet, and mass evacuations due to radiation from the quake-shattered Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Kinship Circle animal disaster aid teams just returned from helping animal victims of Brazil’s catastrophic mudslides and floods. In Japan, we face gasoline rations, vehicle shortages, power outages and more. But after talks with our contacts at Japanese animal rescue organizations, we decided to offer hands-on and remote support.

Where are all the dogs, cats, horses…and others?

While many animals died in the initial quake and tsunami waves (some as high as 33 feet) a Japan colleague estimates that for every half-million people displaced in shelters, 1 of each 5 people have a dog. Where are these dogs now? And cats? There are so many cats in Japan that the number impacted could climb into the hundreds of thousands. The repercussions for horses, farmed, and other domestic animals is unknown at this time. We also cannot yet measure damage to wild or confined wild (zoos, aquariums) animals.

A loyal dog won’t leave his wounded buddy behind in the rubble of Japan’s quake and tsunami. A video of the two survivors went viral on the Internet as people clung to this image of love and perseverance. The dogs are reportedly safe now.

WHY SAVE ANIMALS IN JAPAN? Kinship Circle specializes in animal disaster aid. We’re not a community shelter/rescue group. Our members and disaster-trained responders live around the world. We activate for USA disasters too — Gulf Oil Crisis, Hurricanes Gustave & Ike, Iowa Floods, Hurricane Katrina & Rita… Decisions are based on NEED — not GEOGRAPHY. Japan’s historic quake and tsunami harmed a large number of animals.

GIVE TO ANIMAL DISASTER AID FUND, FOR JAPAN

THANK YOU SUPPORTERS! Back-to-back disaster deployments — Brazil floods-mudslide and Japan quake-tsunami — have pushed us behind in paperwork, but your gift is working hard to sponsor rescue and veterinary trained responders on the ground. Thanks for your patience. You’ll receive a receipt.

KINSHIP CIRCLE
Animal Disaster Aid
Anti-Cruelty Campaigns

URGENT: Let Americans Evacuate Japan With Their Animals!

With the final outcome for Japan’s quake-shattered Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant uncertain, foreign citizens are evacuating Japan. Americans may find that their pets cannot go with them. While difficult to imagine in a post-Katrina world, Department of State policy does not evacuate companion animals.

TAKE ACTION NOW

U.S. Citizens: Appeal to the U.S. State Department to let Americans leave with their animals. Stress that pets be allowed to accompany families from Japan — and in all future disasters.

Contact Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
WEBMAIL
FAX: 202-647-1579

Talking Points:

- People may refuse to evacuate if forced to leave animals behind.

- Abandoned pets are often released into streets or left to die by starvation.

- Let people evacuating Japan bring companion animals (without weight restriction) with them.

- Permanently permit and allocate resources for animals to join caregivers leaving disaster zones.

To volunteer in disasters, click here.

URGENT: Bill To Undo Puppy Mill Anti-Cruelty Law May Pass!

Missouri is America’s Puppy Mill Capitol. Last Nov. nearly 1 million voters passed Prop B, the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act. Shockingly, the Missouri Senate has since okayed a bill to gut Prop B. Similar legislation may now pass in the House — as lawmakers ignore voters’ will and cling to status-quo cruelty.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Missourians Only: Ask your state Rep to reject a bill that dilutes or repeals Prop B.

Missourians & Others: Ask Gov. Nixon to veto any bill designed to undo Prop B. Tell him that Missouri will lose your tourism and business dollars if Prop B is diluted.

KINSHIP CIRCLE
DONATE I SIGN UP I ACTION ALERTS I DISASTER AID I EDUCATION

JOIN KINSHIP CIRCLE • Unsubscribe from Kinship Circle’s list

Kinship Circle is a 501c3 nonprofit animal advocacy and disaster rescue organization that specializes in action campaigns, educational literature/outreach, and animal disaster rescue/relief. All donations are tax-deductible and no good or services are received in exchange for them.

Kinship Circle I info@KinshipCIrcle.org ; I 7380 Kingsbury Blvd I Saint Louis, MO 63130

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: PETA
Date: Sat, Mar 19, 2011 at 10:52 AM
Subject: URGENT: Ask U.S. State Department to Allow Animal Evacuations From Japan and Amend Policy to Allow Pet Evacuations

Once again, the U.S. Department of State is refusing to allow U.S. nationals evacuating a disaster zone, this time in Japan, to take their animal companions to safety. The official policy of the Department of State is that it does not evacuate pets. Please contact Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and ask that the State Department allow Americans, without exception, to evacuate all their family members from Japan and from every future disaster area.

PETA agrees with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention public health veterinarians and others that “… a lack of plans and resources to evacuate ‘incidental’ pets with their owners has been known for decades to be a primary reason why citizens will refuse to evacuate in the face of imminent life-threatening danger.” Unfortunately, when it comes to disasters, people who love their animals often pay with their own lives.

In response to PETA’s February requests to Secretary Clinton to allow animals on U.S. government–chartered evacuation flights during the coup in Egypt, some animals were finally allowed on the last flight out of that country. While a promising, and temporary, start, PETA asks that all companion animals, regardless of size, be allowed safe transport out of Japan and any future disaster zone.

Please contact Secretary of State Clinton by e-mail or fax (202-647-1579) and ask that:

1. People evacuating Japan be allowed to take their companion animals, regardless of size, with them.
2. The State Department permanently change its official policy to allow pets to be evacuated, simultaneously with their families, from disaster areas.

Thank you for your willingness to act and for your compassion for animals! For more information on how you can help PETA help animals affected by disasters in Japan and elsewhere, please click here.

Sincerely,

Daphna Nachminovitch
Vice President, Cruelty Investigations
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

This e-mail was sent by PETA, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510 USA.
 

Standing atop a pile of rubble, a small, scrappy white kitten lets loose a meow of protest.
I almost decided against including this image, as I’ve yet to confirm its authenticity (i.e., whether it was actually taken in the aftermath of the earthquakes in Japan), but this stubborn kitten’s sweet, heart-wrenching tenacity won me over in the end.
Credits: Unknown
Source: The Daily Tail
——————————

This post will be updated periodically, so please bookmark and revisit!

Care for animals brought in by residents. © WSPA Brasil

Partnership between WSPA and UNIFESO mobilizes people to treat animals in the mountainous region: A stand of veterinary care will open this Saturday 05/02, to meet animals, victims of floods which have battered the mountainous region. Read more…
——————————

Between the brush fires and flooding in Australia and the flash floods and landslides in Brazil, the world has seen at least several large-scale “natural” disasters in recent months – though consumers of mainstream media may be none the wiser. As with the 2010 floods in Pakistan, these emergencies have received little coverage (at least in the United States), including from animal advocacy corners.

Perhaps it’s due to “compassion fatigue” in the wake of the earthquakes in Haiti, which sparked an outpouring of support. (If not structural, but still.) I’d like to believe that, as far as fellow animal advocates are concerned, the silence is attributable to a simple lack of news to report. At least, this has been the case ’round these parts; aside from the stray plea for donations, I haven’t seen much in response to more recent disaster situations.

When I received Kinship Circle’s latest newsletter, reporting that it – in partnership with IDA – was on the ground in Brazil, providing disaster relief to the nonhuman victims of the floods and mudslides, I figured it was high time to write about the relief efforts currently underway in Brazil. Though I spent much of the morning combing through the websites of well-known animal welfare groups – including many of those that responded to previous disasters – I was only able to find a few that are currently providing aid in Brazil.

The most pressing need, of course, is for monetary donations. Please give what you can. Long-term, volunteers – bodies on the ground – are essential to providing emergency assistance as well. To this end, please also consider getting involved with an animal advocacy group that specializes in disaster response. If you live in the U.S., Kinship Circle is a good start; check out its Disaster Responder Volunteer Form for more info.

In you know of any other resources, please share! You can either email me at easyvegan [at] gmail.com, or leave in it the comments section, and I’ll tackle it it asap. Please and thank you.

Also, I’d like to remind y’all that I continue to update previous disaster hubs periodically, as new information becomes available. These include: the 2010 Pakistan Floods; the 2010 BP Oil Spill; the 2010 Earthquake in Chile; and the 2010 Earthquakes in Haiti. Additionally, I still maintain a disaster relief archive – dating back to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – over at my old blog, Smite Me! (See: Disaster Relief.) All relevant newsletters are crossposted there as well.

Aerial view of damages in Poco Fundo, an isolated area in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jan. 18, 2011. (Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty Images)
——————————

1. Animal Rescue & Vegan Relief at a Glance

Here’s a quick roundup of the animal welfare, animal rights, and vegan groups that are either 1) directly assisting with animal rescue efforts in Brazil or 2) collecting and distributing funds to those that providing aid in the region. Please note that some of these groups may focus on “saving” farmed and working animals so that they can be further exploited in the future – and let your own ethics guide you in your decision to donate.

Food for Life Global (FFLG), which distributes free vegan/vegetarian meals to those in need worldwide (among other things), does not currently list the 2011 Brazil floods as one of its emergency relief programs. However, it does support a food distribution project in Rio de Janeiro.

 

Veterinarians and volunteers receive animal for emergency treatment. © WSPA Brasil

Volunteers from WSPA / UNIFESO conducted more than 500 veterinary procedures in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro: Continuing the routing of animals in situations critical to the health UNIFESO Veterinary Hospital and the treatment needed in the mountainous region of Rio, the operations center coordinated by WSPA in partnership with UNIFESO in Teresopolis, advance the work plan care to animals in the most devastated by the rains. Read more…
——————————

 

2. Newsletters

Please see the following newsletters and email alerts for additional information about animal rescue efforts in the wake of the flash flooding and mudslides in Brazil.

As always, these are sorted chronologically, with the most recent alerts appearing first.

 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: In Defense of Animals
Date: March 10, 2011
Subject: Brazil Disaster Relief Update

Brazil Disaster Relief – March 10, 2011 Update

Six weeks have passed since the cataclysmic flooding and mudslides in Brazil. In the warehouse-like emergency shelter in Teresopolis, in Rio de Janeiro, what is particularly striking is that the vast majority of animals – among hundreds – were companion animals, not strays as was the case after Chile’s earthquake a year ago. Formerly loved and cared for, those in the shelter are now haunted by loss, living alone in a world they used to share with human families. Thanks to your donations, IDA has been able to contribute to the team of responders trying their best to care for these animals.

IDA has partnered with another animal protection organization, Kinship Circle, in response to this disaster. Amid continuing rains and mudslides, with an ever-growing fear that more flooding is imminent, IDA-Kinship Circle volunteers ease some of the heartbreak, terror, and confusion. Left outside the shelter was a rottweiler-pit bull mix, with her shiny coat and sparkling white teeth, whose spirit has deteriorated quickly. An elderly man, filled with despair, left a black chow mix at the shelter front gate and walked away, while the bewildered dog, straining on his leash, was desperate to join him.

There are the “drive-by drop-offs” left roped outside or in milk crates. There are the guardians who have lost everything and carry their beloved animals into the shelter because they can no longer care for them. IDA-Kinship rescuers are still bringing to the shelter dogs and cats from homes that were ripped apart. A pregnant black lab went into labor and was rushed to a separate warehouse reserved for medical procedures. On the same day, a dog died in the same building where the puppies were born.

Sadness permeates the Teresopolis shelter, but the ravages of such a catastrophe have stirred great heroism and extraordinary compassion. Adoptions abound. A Franciscan nun and monk order will take 15 dogs as soon as the roads reopen from flash flooding. Two Brazilian veterinarians from Sao Paulo University and responders from Canada have recently joined the volunteer team, as have Chilean veterinarians whom we assisted in Chile’s earthquake last year.

Your donations to IDA’s Animal Disaster Relief Fund allow us to act quickly wherever and whenever we can. Help us act now and in future disasters.

Please contribute as generously as you can. Without your support, our efforts in such disaster-ravaged areas as Brazil, New Orleans, Haiti, and Chile would not happen.

In Defense of Animals, located in San Rafael, Calif., is an international animal protection organization with more than 100,000 members and supporters dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by protecting their rights and welfare. IDA’s efforts include educational events, cruelty investigations, boycotts, grassroots activism, and hands-on rescue through our sanctuaries in Mississippi, Mumbai, India, and Cameroon, Africa.

In Defense of Animals is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your donations. Please join today! All donations to IDA are tax-deductible.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo [at] idausa.org

 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle
Date: Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 6:33 PM
Subject: What happened to me?

Today a puppy died in the arms of a volunteer…

IDA-Kinship Circle volunteer Jan Cabral wept as she told the story. This puppy is just one of more post-disaster deaths as conditions worsen for Brazil’s animals.

HELP US BRING HOPE TO BRAZIL’S ANIMALS!

Kinship Circle-IDA teams are in Teresopolis, in Rio de Janeiro’s mountain region. We assist NGO EstimAcao with emergency veterinary care and sheltering at a warehouse with wall-to-wall animals. In this photo Kinship responder Sister Michael Marie comforts a left-behind bunny in Santa Rita, where we do search and rescue. Every human died or fled here. We find animals hurt, hungry, afraid.

GIVE TO OUR ANIMAL DISASTER FUND

Your tax-deductible gift lets us:

● Send veterinarians and supplies to clinically diagnose and treat animals.

● Heal animals so they are more adoptable.

● Rotate teams in Brazil to fulfill our promise.

● Fund a vehicle to rescue orphaned animals.

You haven’t heard from us in awhile. That’s because…

Kinship Circle and In Defense of Animals (IDA) are in Brazil working round the clock for animals whose guardians left or died in floods and landslides. Imagine: You’re at home with your dog, 15, your best friend. You hear the roar of 10 freight trains. A mountain collapses. Boulders fall like cookies off a baking pan…

Suddenly you an your dog are suffocating under rocks, mud and debris — buried side by side. It’s too late for you, but your dog survives. Rescuers pull out the sick, elderly Rottweiler (above in photo collage). Who will love him now?

FIELD NOTES | PHOTO LOG | SUPPORT

WHY SAVE ANIMALS IN BRAZIL? Kinship Circle specializes in animal disaster aid. We’re not a community shelter/rescue group. Our membership is global, with disaster-trained responders in the U.S., Canada, Vietnam, Brazil, Chile. We activate for many USA disasters — Gulf Oil Crisis, Hurricanes Gustav & Ike, Iowa Floods, Hurricanes Katrina & Rita…more. We base decisions on NEED — not GEOGRAPHY. Animal conditions in Brazil are heartbreaking. We are there.

THANK YOU SUPPORTERS! We’re behind in paperwork, but your gift is working hard to sponsor 4 volunteer veterinarians and pay for a 5th Brazilian vet. Thanks for your patience. You’ll receive a receipt.

KINSHIP CIRCLE
Animal Disaster Aid

This dog has bicheira, flesh eating maggots in Portuguese. The left side of his face is gone. Rescuers thought he’d die. But he responded to treatment. Maggots are epidemic among injured animals of Brazil’s floods and avalanches. This dog gets a happy ending — a home in Rio!

The tiniest of hearts beats in the wreckage. Over one month post-disaster, EstimAcao still gets calls to rescue animals stranded by the slides and floods.

At an evacuated home, we found ducks, bunnies, dogs, chickens, and an trapped songbird. No food or water. Caged, starving, scared. One duck seemed too dehydrated to live. But a bath revived her.

TO VOLUNTEER IN DISASTERS, CLICK HERE

KINSHIP CIRCLE
DONATE | SIGN UP | ACTION ALERTS | DISASTER AID | EDUCATION

Kinship Circle is a 501c3 nonprofit animal advocacy and disaster rescue organization that specializes in action campaigns, educational literature/outreach, and animal disaster rescue/relief. All donations are tax-deductible and no good or services are received in exchange for them.

Kinship Circle | info [at] KinshipCircle.org | 7380 Kingsbury Blvd | Saint Louis, MO 63130

 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: In Defense of Animals
Date: Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 12:21 PM
Subject: Help Animal Victims Of Floods And Mudslides In Brazil

IDA Home | Action Center Home | Donate | Sign Up! | Tell a Friend

Click here to view this message online in your web browser.

Help Victims Of Floods And Mudslides In Brazil

Your donation to IDA’s Animal Disaster Relief Fund will help us continue to respond to this and other disasters

Caption: A dog recovers at an emergency shelter in Sao Jose for animal survivors
of Brazil’s flash floods and landslides.
PHOTO: Kinship Circle-IDA team member, Jan Cabral.
——————————

With thirty years combined disaster relief experience, In Defense of Animals (IDA) and Kinship Circle have formed a partnership to respond to Brazil’s floods and mudslides. An IDA-Kinship Circle team now in Brazil is providing search and rescue services, veterinary treatment, including spaying and neutering, and more.

Please click here to donate today!

Entire towns are devoured by floods and mudslides, the worst natural disaster in the country’s history. Thousands of rescued animals have found refuge in makeshift shelters. There is dire need for food, water, shelter, and veterinary-trained responders. Animals with broken bones, burns, and deep gashes are everywhere. There is growing concern about disease.

Nicky, a German Shepherd mix, limped into the Teresopolis shelter in Rio de Janeiro with one leg dangling, a missing toe, and an absent foot pad, wearing a collar caked in mud. Her family was swallowed up in a landslide. IDA-Kinship Circle responders Jan and Carlos Cabral of Posse Petropolis, Brazil adopted the ten-year-old, who now shadows Jan everywhere so as not to be left behind.

In an old warehouse in Teresopolis, a mountain town outside Rio de Janeiro, newly rescued animals arrive daily. There is overcrowding and shortages of medication and fluids. Temperatures rise into the nineties. The risk of Dogs tail lost to maggotsdehydration is ever-present. A dog arrives at the shelter, his tail so thick with maggots that it falls off during treatment. There are burn victims and others infested with maggots.

Not-yet-rescued cats still hide in the ruins. Puppies remain stuck in the wreckage. Horses are still waiting to be saved.

We can’t forget these animals. Please click here today to donate!

We have been asked to help set up a spay/neuter clinic and assist adoption, education, and vaccination drives. Funds are needed to support rescue, first aid, medical attention, and emergency housing for lost, sick, and wounded animals.

Your donations to IDA’s Animal Disaster Relief Fund allow us to act quickly wherever and whenever we can. Help us act now and in future disasters.

Please contribute as generously as you can. Without your support, our efforts in such disaster-ravaged areas as Brazil, Australia, New Orleans, Haiti, and Chile would not happen.

In Defense of Animals, located in San Rafael, Calif., is an international animal protection organization with more than 100,000 members and supporters dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by protecting their rights and welfare. IDA’s efforts include educational events, cruelty investigations, boycotts, grassroots activism, and hands-on rescue through our sanctuaries in Mississippi, Mumbai, India, and Cameroon, Africa.

In Defense of Animals is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your donations. Please join today! All donations to IDA are tax-deductible.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo [at] idausa.org

 
 
 
 

In what is perhaps the most widely circulated image of the 2011 flooding and landslides in Brazil, a brown, medium-sized, mixed-breed dog lays beside a freshly dug grave, which is marked only with a plain pine cross. Initially believed to “belong” to Cristina Maria Cesario Santana, who died in Teresopolis, it was reported that the grief-struck Leao refused to leave his mistress’s grave. WSPA Brazil has since confirmed that “Leao” (not his real name) is cemetery worker Rodolfo Junior’s dog, and often accompanies him to work. Reporters may have confused “Leao” with another dog, Caramelo, whose family was killed in the flooding and was spotted near the cemetery. (Happily, Caramelo has since been adopted.)

Still, “Leao” remains a powerful reminder that nonhumans experience the same emotions as do humans; they love one another just as deeply as dowe, and the grief and suffering the experience in the wake of disasters natural and man-made is no less than our own.
——————————

 

]]> http://www.easyvegan.info/2011/02/20/2011-brazil-mudslides/feed/ 2 http://www.easyvegan.info/2010/11/05/thank-dog-its-friday-food/ http://www.easyvegan.info/2010/11/05/thank-dog-its-friday-food/#comments Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:22:46 +0000 Kelly Garbato http://www.easyvegan.info/?p=15769 As promised, today I bring you a monster link roundup of all the yummy recipes I bookmarked with delicious during the past week. Though the series title is shamelessly lifted (“borrowed”) from Stephanie, this Friday Food is different in that it includes recipes published at any time in the history of the intertubes. I do a lot of browsing and surfing – even more so given the massive Vegan MoFo blogroll and RSS feed bundle – and thus, not a little backtracking. Most of these recipes are newish – many posted just for Vegan MoFo – but don’t be surprised if you stumble upon one from 1999. In which case, par-tay like – well, you know the drill.

And also, I am a junk food junkie. Judging from the unhealthy bent of this list, even more so than I realized. Problems, I got ‘em. Sigh. So many sweets, so little time.

 

Chocolate-coconut truffles (recipe here). CC image via floridecires on Flickr.
——————————

Food, delicious food!

Homemade Tofurkey with Brown Rice Stuffing Recipe from Chow, by way of vegansaurus!

White Trash Tater Tot Casserole with Daiya, Mac ‘n Teese® Cheese Casserole, and Cranberry Apple Crisp with Maple Syrup from SnarkyVegan

Blueberry and Earl Grey Scones from Cookin’ Vegan & Jessica @VeganFood

Vegan Black Bean Tostadas with Corn Relish from Veggie Terrain

Vegan Sweet Potato Naan from Cook’s Hideout

Kelly Beth’s Vegan Deviled Eggs (a.k.a. Potato Angels) from Vegan Etsy

Chocolate Coconut Truffles (above) from Veggie Wedgie

Super Fudgy Brownies (AKA Crusty Fudge) and Chocolate Viennese Whirls from Not a Rabbit

Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Mousse, Berry Compote and Almond Milk Ice Cream and Fried Lemon Pie and Salted Caramel Ice Cream from vegansaurus! (and Project Just Desserts guest-chefs Melisser and Bianca)

Black Bean and Chipotle Dip from Wednesday Food Blogging

Apple Gingerbread Upside-Down Cake and Mapley Apple Oat Muffins from Vegan Appetite

Isa VS The Cookiepuss from Isa @ the PPK

Croissants from The New Vegan Table

French Onion Soup from Miranda Writes

Vegan Tomato Pie with Heirloom Tomatoes from Bird and Belle’s Excellent Adventures in Marriage

Morbid chocolate skull cakes from Parsley Park

Whiskey Apple Crisp from It Ain’t Meat, Babe

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from Inspired Eats

Pierogi (Potato and Mushroom Sauerkraut) by Isa from epicurious

Step by Step Sweet Potato Gnocchi from Vegan Soul Power!

Banana Vodka from Lustrous Musings

…don’t forget the dog-kids!

Sage Muffins and Pumpkin Carob Muffins from It’s a Vegan Dog’s Life

 

“The 3rd Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-off” – CC image via Sean Ohlenkamp on Flickr.
——————————

Contests

Over at Vegan Appetite, Tamasin Noyes is offering up one copy of her latest cookbook, American Vegan Kitchen. The deadline for submissions is 11/7, so don’t delay!

Enter to win a copy of Robin Robertson’s Vegan on the Cheap @ Vegan Planet by 11/9.

Also at Vegan Appetite: leave a comment, win a copy of Kelly Peloza’s The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur. Or not. I seriously want this cookbook – hello, cookies! – so “not” works for me. The deadline for entry is 11/10. Wait, did I say 11/10? I meant 11/17. *wink*

Loony Louzilla Lovegood Letters is hosting the awesomest contest ever, namely, a gay cake decorating contest! The rules are simple: bake and decorate a “gay” (presumably vegan) cake and send her a photo by 11/21. On 11/22 through 11/28, check back to vote for your favorite. The winner scores a rainbow tote bag, rumored to be stuffed with “some awesome stuff.” See what I mean? Awesome!

Vegan Etsy gets in on the Grab Bag of Awesomeness fun with a short answer contest. Stop by the blog and leave a comment about why you’re vegan (or transitioning towards veganism). The winner will be chosen randomly – but, given all of the goodies Etsy team members are contributing, make your answer a good one, kay? (Okay, yeah, I went a wee bit overboard. Join me so I don’t look like a total dweeb?) That’s some badass prize bag there! The deadline to enter is 11/31.

Finally, Miso for Breakfast – which I keep typing as “A Cup of Miso,” for some odd reason – is hosting one giveaway daily for the entire month of November. Yay Miso!

 

“Vegan Food Served Here…in Barcelona.” – CC image via cogdogblog on Flickr.
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Miscellany

The Cinnamon Snail needs our help, y’all! Faced with expanded vending ordinances – including new street restrictions – in Red Bank, NJ, this vegan food truck may be forced to shut its doors until the spring season. Baking Vinyl has more, including a list of contact information for those wishing to intervene on behalf of vegan noms and the peoples who love them.

This has nothing to do with food or veganism, but wev. It’s hilarious, and who doesn’t need a laugh, especially after the week we just had? In 492 parts, The Funniest Signs From The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear! If you can’t view the photos – it’s a neverending slideshow, yo! – here’s a list of the various slogans, courtesy of Rally the Cause.

So what’s your favorite recipe, contest, or blogger thus far? Share your Vegan MoFo picks in the comments!

]]> http://www.easyvegan.info/2010/11/05/thank-dog-its-friday-food/feed/ 8 http://www.easyvegan.info/2010/08/30/2010-pakistan-floods/ http://www.easyvegan.info/2010/08/30/2010-pakistan-floods/#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:50:02 +0000 Kelly Garbato http://www.easyvegan.info/?p=14802 Last updated on 8/31/10 @ 12:00 PM CDT.

Got a tip, link, suggestion, etc. that you think I should incorporate into the list? Send it to me at easyvegan [at] gmail.com, or leave in it the comments section, and I’ll tackle it it asap. Please and thank you!
 

“Pakistan Floods: Displaced people fleeing Sindh streamed into Balochistan.”
CC image via the United Nations Development Programme on Flickr and is attributed to ©Abdul Majeed Goraya_IRIN.
——————————

 
1. Animal Rescue & Vegan Relief at a Glance

Here’s a quick roundup of the animal welfare, animal rights, and vegan groups that are either 1) directly assisting with animal rescue efforts in Pakistan or 2) collecting and distributing funds to those that providing aid in the region. Please note that a number of these groups seem to focus on “saving” farmed and working animals so that they can be further exploited in the future – and let your own ethics guide you in your decision to donate.

“2010 Floods in Pakistan – A Race Against Time: Flood victims stock supplies such as flour and sugar for the ongoing rainy season.”
CC image via the United Nations Development Programme on Flickr.
——————————

Whether due to disaster fatigue or a simple lack of news to report, the current flooding in Pakistan hasn’t received much coverage in animal advocacy corners. (Or in the mainstream media, but I digress.) Those who have offered words of support and suggestions for providing aid deserve a little link love, don’t you think?

08/25/10 – vegansaurus!: The flood in Pakistan and how you can help

08/11/10 – Best Friends: Pakistan: Floods engulf a country; People and animals are uprooted in Pakistan’s worst floods.
 

“2010 Floods in Pakistan – A Race Against Time: Thousands of square miles of farm land are under water. Sugarcane, cotton, fodder and rice crops are completely destroyed. Farmers are now trying to salvage their livestock by evacuating them in boats.”
CC image via the United Nations Development Programme on Flickr.
——————————

Please see the following newsletters and email alerts for additional information about animal rescue efforts in the wake of the flooding in Pakistan.

As always, these are sorted chronologically, with the most recent alerts appearing first.
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) – wspausa [at] wspaupdates.org
Date: Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 11:03 PM
Subject: Urgent appeal: Help feed Pakistan’s starving animals

Dear Friend,

Thousands of starving animals affected by severe flooding in Pakistan need your help!

Hundreds of thousands of animals have already drowned due to tragic flooding in Pakistan that claimed 1,400 human lives and affected more than 15 million people. The surviving animals are at severe risk and in desperate need of food and veterinary care.

Please help feed Pakistan’s starving animals.

People in Pakistan are struggling to keep their animals alive. Floodwaters are still not receding and more rain is falling on the destroyed crops, which is leaving a massive shortage of animal food.

WSPA is partnering with the Vets Care Club, a group of veterinary students and staff from the University of Veterinary and Animal Science in Lahore, to provide feed to cows, buffalos, goats and sheep in the Layyah District, Punjab. This region has 252 farmers with 4,458 animals.

Your gift now will be used to buy nutritionally-balanced feed for animals who will most likely otherwise starve as their owners cannot afford to buy them food.

A small gift can go a long way to stopping the suffering of animals.

$30 can feed a buffalo or cow for a week
$10 can feed two goats or sheep for a week

The flooding is now covering one-fifth of the country, including its agricultural heartland. Several villages have been severely affected, many completely demolished.

WSPA’s 30-year history treating animals in disasters has shown that animals are crucial to the recovery of the region. Agriculture, including livestock, is the livelihood mainstay of nearly 90% of the flood-affected community in Pakistan’s rural areas.

Please send your gift now so we can respond to this current crisis and to other disasters around the world.

Thank you for reaching out to animals in need.

Sincerely,

Silia Smith
Interim Executive Director,
WSPA USA

P.S . These animals are so important to the people of Pakistan. Your gift will not only help the animals, it will help their whole community recover too. Please give as generously as you can.

This email was sent by: World Society for the Protection of Animals
89 South Street, Suite 201 Boston, MA 02111 USA
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 5:07 PM
Subject: ANIMALS – Pakistan Flood / Gulf Disaster Update

KINSHIP CIRCLE 8/20/10
ANIMALS IN PAKISTAN FLOOD

Pakistan Animal Welfare Society
www.talkaurora.com/aggregator/sources/5

KINSHIP CIRCLE is following the Pakistan flood, among the worst in modern history. With human aid barely underway, news about farmed, companion or wild animals is limited. IFAW Emergency Relief Manager Dick Green reports that IFAW received: “an urgent request from an official in the Punjab province of northern Pakistan: They’re in desperate need of food for animals [who] have survived the floods.”

Farmed animals camp on roads with people. In some areas, roads are the only dry spots amid floodwaters. With 20 million people impacted by rising waters, the animal toll is unimaginable. News reports say water may not recede until the end of this month, making aid efforts treacherous…

INITIAL ANIMAL AID IN PAKISTAN – MORE INFO TO COME:

IFAW (INTERNATIONAL)

www.ifaw.org/ifaw_united_states/

IFAW’s Michael Booth is working with the Pakistani government, United Nations and regional relief organizations…

PAKISTAN ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY

pawspakistan.org

pawspakistan.org/2010/08/pakistan-floods-engulf-a-country/

Millions of people in Pakistan, along with their animals, have now been affected by the worst floods in their history…

THE BROOKE (UNITED KINGDOM)

www.thebrooke.org/content.asp?id=10110&cachefixer=cf164857527431584

Floods have impacted some 75,000 horses, donkeys and mules. The Brooke aims to reach around 5,000 animals with vital water, fodder and vaccines…

Vets Care Club: www.worldvet.org/node/4980

University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences — Lahore:

www.uvas.edu.pk/alumni/default.aspx

***************

[For simplicity's sake, I've removed the "Gulf Disaster Update" portion of this email alert. Since there already exists a page dedicated to the oil spill in the Gulf, I decided to instead include it there; see: BP Oil “Spill”: Animal Rescue, Disaster Relief, Action Alerts & Vegan Views. - ed.]

JOIN KINSHIP CIRCLE: subscribe[at] kinshipcircle.org
* Action campaigns on animal cruelty issues worldwide
* Animal rescue coordination/news in disasters

UNSUBSCRIBE
* Select a Kinship Circle ALERT received in your mailbox
* Hit “FORWARD” + Send to: info[at] kinshipcircle.org
* Type UNSUBSCRIBE in your subject line and hit send

Back in March, Farm Sanctuary came to the rescue of six calves who were left to starve at a farm in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Some were left tethered to a tractor, while others were found locked in a garage; all were abandoned by their “owner.”* Most likely castoffs of the dairy industry, the calves were weak, frail and sickly and required immediate medical care:

After learning about the suffering calves, Farm Sanctuary immediately launched a rescue effort, and staff drove to pick up the calves halfway between the Pennsylvania farm and our New York Shelter. The calves we greeted were a terrible sight. Their eyes were sunken in from severe dehydration, and they were pale, coughing and extremely weak. They were fighting life-threatening infections, and most were unable to stand on their own. Four of the calves weighed less than they would have at birth, and their prognosis looked grim. Medical care was urgently needed to stabilize the calves, so our rescue team rushed them to the Cornell University Hospital for Animals for critical emergency care.

The following weeks were filled with constant care and anxious waiting as these sickly calves struggled to become well. But slowly, their fragile, battered bodies began to heal, and, in time, each came home from the hospital.

Though their lives began in violence and suffering, these babies are now safe, valued and loved. And in need of a forever home!: Farm Sanctuary is currently looking for one or more individuals to adopt dear Jasper, Sasha, Filipe, Teddy, Amigo and Pancho – as well as Vito and Clancy, two young Holstein steers who managed to escape from their captors before finding Farm Sanctuary. Thanks to Farm Sanctuary (as well as the Hillside SPCA and an anonymous tipster), these someones now have names whereas only numbers hinted at their unique, individual identities before. They are so much more than cogs in a capitalist machine, or producers of milk and flesh. They are sons, brothers, friends.

If you are willing and able to adopt any of these sweethearts (all of whom must be rehomed in pairs), you can find contact information and addition details here.

Faced with a recent influx of farmed animal cruelty cases, Farm Sanctuary is also hoping to expand its Farm Animal Adoption Network (FAAN). FAAN – the website for which I’ve been browsing for years, all whilst fantasizing about tending to my own pack of rescued “food” animals – is a network of individual rescuers who are interested in adopting farmed animals, including cows, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and rabbits. Once you’re accepted into FAAN, your name is entered into a national farmed animal adoption database maintained by Farm Sanctuary, which will match you up with an animal in need. (Think of it as eHarmony for humans and farmed animals – but without the homophobia and credit card fraud!) Potential adopters must be willing to adopt animals in pairs and – I love this part – belong to at least one animal protection organization and adhere to a “vegetarian [or vegan, natch] lifestyle and [demonstrate a] commitment to animal rights.”

Obviously, the need for homes is great, hence Farm Sanctuary’s efforts to grow the program. If you have a home and heart to share, please consider joining FAAN – and spread the word! Download this graphic:

and display it on your website, blog or social media page, linking back to the Farm Animal Adoption Network: www.farmsanctuary.org/rescue/adoption/faqs.html (FYI: I’ve hosted it on Flickr so you can easily download a few different sizes.)

Or use this graphic to let folks know about Jasper, Sasha, Filipe, Teddy, Amigo and Pancho: action.farmsanctuary.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=17601.0&printer_friendly=1

Please and thank you – and stay vegan, friends.

——————–

* A “small,” “family,” “organic” and/or “local” farmer, perhaps? You know the type: the kindly Old MacDonald figure/archetype/myth who treats “his” animals “just like pets” …right up until the day he ships them off to a needless death? But I digress!

——————–

Tagged: animals animal rights intersections intersectionality animals and women veal dairy milk farm sanctuary farm animal adoption network faan animal rescue adopt farmed animals factory farming small farmers family farmers video flickr photos cow bovine

In a recent plea for donations, Kinship Circle wondered whether the earthquake (and resulting tsunami) in Chile has become “the forgotten disaster” – in a year filled with both natural and man-made catastrophes:

IS CHILE THE FORGOTTEN DISASTER? May, 2010: An evacuee camp in Talquahano wants to kill all its companion animals. People who lost everything in an 8.8 earthquake and tsunami can’t feed themselves. They don’t want to watch their animals starve.

Kinship Circle and SACH intervene with food and veterinary aid. But without more funding, we can’t possibly meet the needs of 30 tent camps along Chile’s coast. We run out of sutures, latex gloves… At times we can’t afford the van rental to ferry our team, vet supplies and food.

Still, we can’t let despair propel Chileans to shoot their own animals. This speaks volumes about Chile’s quake/tsunami victims…and how the world seems to have forgotten them. People assume they can recover on their own. They’re wrong, especially when it comes to animals.

WHY IS THIS URGENT AND WHOM WILL IT HELP? Homeless guardians are unable to supply food or medicine to their animals. In the short term, animals require treatment for gashes, broken bones, lost limbs, dehydration, mange, worms, parasites or other illness. In the longer term, they need vaccines, nutrition and sterilization. Pre-quake strays with mange, malnutrition, infection…blend with animals stranded by disaster. The are scattered by the thousands along quake/tsunami torn towns like Villa Futura, Santa Clara Talchuano, Calita il Fiernillo, and Calita Los Morros, etc.

Preceded by the Haitian earthquake and followed by the BP oil “spill,” the Chilean earthquake hasn’t garnered as much attention as it might have otherwise. Indeed, though I compiled link roundups for all three disasters, the Chilean post has attracted the least traffic of the three, with views falling quickly mere weeks after the earthquake. Currently, the Haitian post receives x5 as many views as its Chilean counterpart, even though it’s two months older. Likewise (and outside of my own little slice of the interwebs), I cannot remember the last time I saw coverage of the earthquake in Chile on CNN, MSNBC, or the like. (Possibly not more than a week or two after the disaster struck?)

All of which isn’t to suggest that the survivors in Haiti and the Gulf Coast are not deserving of your support; not at all! Since most of us have limited funds and time, picking and choosing a cause or two to donate to can be a difficult, heartbreaking task. But if you have a little extra cash to spare, please consider sending it to help the survivors in Chile who have been hit doubly hard – first by the earthquake and tsunami, and later by donor fatigue.

Your donation will help to fund the rescue and care of stray and “owned” animals of many species, including dogs, cats, pigs and horses. Kinship Circle is the primary U.S.-based animal advocacy organization on the ground in Chile. They are working in conjunction with Socorro Animal Chile (SACH), a coalition of local, Chilean animal rescue groups and organizations. You can make a monetary donation to either group via its respective website. Additionally, you can keep abreast of Kinship Circle’s activities in Chile on a dedicated page, which is home to field notes, photos and action alerts.

With your generosity, Kinship Circle hopes to:

1. Send teams over several months (airfare, van rental, rescue gear…)

2. Work with Chilean staff and veterinarians to:
• Search and Rescue / Trap
• In-Field First Aid
• Wound Transport to Veterinary Clinics
• In-Field and Tent Camp Sustenance (food/water program)
• Assessment and Tracking of Animal Populations
• Support SACH Care Efforts (vaccine, spay/neuter, adoption)

Finally, please read, bookmark and share the alert page I’ve created for Chile (www.easyvegan.info/2010/03/06/earthquake-in-chile/), along with the video embedded above (and below), created by Kinship Circle to raise awareness of the Chilean survivors’ plight. (I’ve included a transcript of the text at the bottom of this post, though without detailed photo descriptions, I’m not sure of how much use it will be.)

Times are tough; suffering abounds. Thank you for doing what you can – even if it’s “just” keeping the animals of Chile (and the world) in your thoughts…and on your lips.
 
 

the forgotten disaster?

Kinship Circle Animal Disaster Aid
7380 Kingsbury Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63130

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts kinship circle natural disaster disaster relief animal rescue chile quake earthquake wspa ifaw pet companion animal animal companion dog canine cat feline lion in the news flickr photos Constitucion tsunami Animal Relief Chile cefu Coalition for the Ethical Control of Urban Animals Animanaturalis Animal Consciousness Rima ADAR ASPS Talca Independent Animal Enraizarte Universidad Diego Portales Universidad Mayor Iberoamericana Universidad de Chile

Gazing at her laptop, loldog is not amused. The caption on this deMotivational poster reads, “EMAIL: Taking all the fun out of attacking a real live mailman.” Image via I Has A Hot Dog! (FWIW, I was tempted to use a PETA-themed deMotivational poster, but couldn’t stomach the sexism and speciesism. They are, however, a good example of what PETA’s nude campaigns really accomplish, particularly among the male demographic advertisers so covet.)
——————————

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: PETA UK
Date: Wed, May 19, 2010 at 5:36 AM
Subject: 10 Reasons Why You Should Go Naked for PETA

Dear Friend,

PETA US launched its “Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign with the help of the popular rock band The Go-Go’s in 1991 in order to raise awareness of the millions of animals who are trapped, drowned, beaten and electrocuted for their fur. Since then, thousands of compassionate people have bared their bodies for PETA and its affiliates all over the world to help animals in need.

Now you can speak up for animals by participating in PETA campaigns in your area. Just send us an e-mail and attach your photo and contact details for a chance to take part and help save animals!

Animals always need more lovely ladies and gorgeous guys who can draw attention to our campaigns by dressing up as Lettuce Ladies, Broccoli Boys and Shower Guys/Girls and handing out vegetarian food at public events; by participating in our iconic protests; or by taking part in the many other eyebrow-and consciousness-raising events that we coordinate in order to promote animal rights!

Have a Flickr account? Check out some of the people who have volunteered for PETA’s and PETA’s affiliates’ demonstrations!

Ready to get started? Join the likes of Pamela Anderson, Alicia Silverstone and countless others by e-mailing us today and sending us a photo of yourself with your details. We’ll contact you the next time we need someone in your area to bare some skin to help save animals’ skins.

Please be sure to read our terms of submission before sending us your photo.

Sincerely,

PETA

############

[All emphases and links are PETA's.]

A few initial thoughts:

1. Read, *eyerub*, and reread as I might, I do not see ten compelling reasons why I should “go naked” for PETA (and, by extension, for the animals…allegedly).

What I do see are ten links to ten existing PETA campaigns, demonstrations and advertisements, some of which are just variations on the same theme, and all of which involve nudity.

So, to summarize: I should go naked for PETA because PETA conducts naked demonstrations?

Epic logic FAIL, PETA.

2. Note the repeated requests for interested activists to send photos along with their details, as well as the bolded emphasis on “attach your photo” and “sending us a photo of yourself” in paragraphs two and five.

Shorter PETA: “We want you to help us help the animals – but no uggos, mkay?”

3. Of the linked campaigns, five out of ten feature naked women exclusively (either in groups or singly). The other five include mixed-gendered groups of activists, the overwhelming majority of which are women.

Make of this what you will, but also consider that:

4. PETA mentions both its Lettuce Ladies and Broccoli Boys campaigns in the third paragraph…but only links to an example of the former. Far from unusual and most likely not an oversight, this is par for the course re: how heavily PETA promotes each campaign. So let’s not pretend that the Broccoli Boys are the gender equitable answer to the Lettuce Ladies, kay?

5. Also in paragraph three, the link “Shower Guys/Girls” actually directs the viewer to – wait for it! – a video of four topless (young, white, thin, conventionally attractive and conveniently wet) women participating in a shower demo. See: bullet point #4 re: the disingenuous gender parity that is the Shower Girls vs. Shower Guys campaigns. Hello, tokenism!

6. Shorter TOS: PETA owns you and your artistic intent – from here to eternity – bitches! They are also free to call you a bitch (or cow or hag or whale or whatnot) should they so desire. And they didn’t even have to pay you minimum wage in exchange! Exploitative much?

7. I think I’ll pass, thanks. Probably I’m not up to PETA’s snuff, anyhow, what with my fat, old, ugly, hairy-legged, feminazi, hag-of-the-hags self and all.

——————–

Tagged: animals animal rights peta intersectionality parallel oppressions animals and women naked nude activism protests demos demonstrations lettuce ladies broccoli boys shower girls shower guys rather go naked go naked vegan veganism vegetarian vegetarianism gender sex equity advertising marketing sexism sexist misogyny exploitation lolz photos peta uk emailsizeism lookism

 
 
As with the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, I’ve decided to create a single blog post which will act as a sort of “hub” where I’ll post information, action alerts, newsletters, etc. related to the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Given that President Obama intends to push forward with previously announced plans to expand offshore drilling, there’s a special emphasis on action alerts that address fossil fuels and/or their place in proposed climate change legislation. Where appropriate, I’ve also included information on what you can do to help meet immediate disaster relief needs in the Gulf Coast region.
 

 

“mom, this is just crazy!” Soleil the Sun Conure wants desperately to do something to aid her free-living avian cousins living in the Gulf Coast area. Can you HALP! her?
CC image via mNicolem on Flickr.
——————————

This section includes links to action alerts re: the recent BP oil spill, as well as offshore drilling and pending climate change legislation in general. The links are sorted chronologically, with the most recent additions appearing first. The list is far from inclusive; rather, it’s comprised of the emails that have landed in my inbox, and has been pared down based on usefulness and speciesist language.

Ongoing – Oil Spill: Wildlife Crisis [A project of the Endangered Species Coalition]

04/20/11 – CREDO Action: Destroying our gulf shouldn’t be a tax write-off. Tell BP to pay their fair share.

03/30/11 – Save Our Environment: No More Deepwater Drilling Permits in the Gulf!

01/24/11 – NRDC: Tell Congress to implement the recommendations of the presidential oil spill commission to prevent another Gulf oil disaster

10/19/10 – Save Our Environment: Offshore Oil Drilling Ban LIFTED?!?!

10/05/10 – Alliance for Justice: Tell BP to Do the Right Thing

10/01/10 – NRDC: Tell your senators that failure to address the BP oil disaster is not an option

09/29/10 – NRDC: Stop the Pebble Mine; Tell Anglo American: No More Broken Promises!

09/27/10: Public Citizen: Send Public Comments to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling

09/22/10 – NRDC: Tell your senators that failure to address the BP oil disaster is not an option

09/17/10: PEW Environmental Group: Senate Action Can Help Stop Another Spill

09/16/10: The Wilderness Society: Keep arctic wildlife safe from drilling rigs. Take action now.

09/03/10 – Save the Manatee Club: Keep Pressure on Washington for a Federal Drilling Moratorium

08/25/10 – Public Citizen: BP Trust Fund Not So Trusty

08/23/10 – Environment New Mexico: Help us defuse BP’s ticking time bomb in the Gulf

08/18/10 – Wildcare: Petition to Support AB 234 Pre-Booms in California’s Waters

07/29/10 – Endangered Species Coalition: Tell Congress to protect our communities and environment from offshore oil disasters

07/28/10 – Defenders of Wildlife: Tell Your Politicians to Clean up Politics and Save Gulf Wildlife

07/27/10 – The PEW Environment Group: Plug the leaks in the law now.

07/23/10 – NPCA: Protect National Park Lands Today and Tomorrow

07/22/10 – The Wilderness Society: Tell Congress to protect our lands from another drilling disaster

07/21/10 – Defenders of Wildlife: Life-Saving Gulf Wildlife Aid at Risk: Don’t Let Big Oil Win

07/15/10 – Endangered Species Coalition: Save all wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico

07/15/10 – Public Citizen: Congress: You Have Oil on Your Hands

07/13/10 – Louisiana SPCA: July 2010 Tail Mail – The Impact of the BP Oil Disaster

07/12/10 – True Majority: Stop the Big Oil Bailout

07/08/10 – NRDC: Tell Interior Secretary Salazar to stop BP’s Liberty Project.

07/07/10 – Center for Biological Diversity: Don’t Let BP Play Russian Roulette With the Arctic

07/01/10 – Call for Proposals: Crude Behavior: Animal Rights in the Wake of Deepwater Horizon

07/01/10 – Earthjustice: It’s Time For Independence From Fossil Fuels!

06/25/10 – Center for Biological Diversity: Burned Alive – Help Stop BP from Torching Endangered Sea Turtles

06/25/10 – Defenders of Wildlife: Take Action for Sea Turtles, Pelicans and Other Coastal Wildlife [Should you choose to use it, please edit the sample letter for speciesism.]

06/22/10 – PETA: Push Attorneys General to Charge BP With Criminal Cruelty to Animals!

06/22/10 – Endangered Species Coalition: Stop BP from burning turtles alive in the oil spill

06/22/10 – CREDO Action: BP is burning endangered sea turtles alive.

06/22/10 – Firedoglake: Tell BP: Put Cleanup Workers’ Health Before Your PR

06/20/10 – Power Without Petroleum: Stop the bribes! Demand clean energy!

06/17/10 – Oil Change International: Separation of Oil and State

06/16/10 – CREDO Action: What President Obama should have said.

06/10/10 – Patrick Leahy: Support ECEA – Hold Big Oil Accountable! [Should you choose to use it, please edit the sample letter for speciesism.]

06/10/10 – The Wilderness Society: Protect Arctic Alaska, A Place Like No Other

06/10/10 – Endangered Species Coalition: Never Again: Save Wildlife from Deadly Oil Spills

06/09/10 – WWLTV: Oil spill hardships forcing owners to give away pets [With a list of food banks to which NOLA residents can make a donation]

06/08/10 – NRDC: Tell Your Senators to Pass Clean Energy Legislation and Prevent More Spills

06/08/10 – Defenders of Wildlife: Take Action for Loggerhead Sea Turtles

06/07/10 – The Wilderness Society: Don’t Let Them Gut the Clean Air Act! [Deadline: June 10]

06/05/10 – Change-dot-org: Not an Environmental Disaster? Tell Congressman Don Young to Stop Defending Big Oil

06/05/10 – PBS: How Much Oil Has Leaked Into the Gulf of Mexico? [Get your Oil Spill Ticker here!]

06/04/10 – ecorazzi: Betty White Wildlife Fund Provides Grant To Gulf Dolphin Research

06/04/10 – Save Our Environment: Tell Obama: No More Offshore Drilling!

06/03/10 – The Wilderness Society: Sarah Palin and YOUR Alaska Lands

06/03/10 – The Sierra Club: Join the Eco Rescue and Recovery Team

06/03/10 – Cetacean Conservation: Declaration Of Cetacean Rights

06/01/10 – Change-dot-org: Tell Obama: Replace Ken Salazar as Interior Secretary

06/01/10 – National Whistleblowers Center: Protect Environmental Whistleblowers!

05/28/10 – Center for Biological Diversity: Stop Risky Offshore Drilling Without Environmental Review

05/28/10 – Firedoglake: Tell the Senate it’s time to Hold BP Accountable; Sign our petition to the Senate to eliminate the liability cap and hold BP completely responsible

05/26/10 – Dawnwatch: Jack Hanna misinforms Anderson Cooper on BP gulf clean-up 5/25/10

05/26/10 – Earthjustice: It’s Time to Pause Arctic Oil Drilling! [Should you choose to use it, please edit the sample letter for speciesism.]

05/25/10 – CREDO Action: Tell EPA: Take away BP’s billions in federal contracts

05/25/10 – Repower America: Tell BP: Spill the Truth!

05/24/10 – Defenders of Wildlife: Help Stop the Arctic Offshore Oil Disaster

05/21/10 – True Majority: No Bailout for BP

05/20/10 – Green for All: Gulf Oil Spill: Urge BP and President Obama to do their part!

05/17/10 – Center for Biological Diversity: Protect Our Oceans From Oil Drilling’s Invisible Threat: Acidification [Should you choose to use it, please edit the sample letter for speciesism.]

05/17/10 – WWF: Prevent an Oil Spill Disaster in America’s Arctic

05/17/10 – NRDC: Tell your senators to oppose Sen. Murkowski’s attack on the Clean Air Act

05/17/10 – America Blog: Urge the President to fire homophobe Jonathan I. Katz

05/15/10 – Ecological Internet: Obama’s Crude Awakening: Offshore Oil Drilling Is Ecologically Devastating and Must End [Should you choose to use it, please edit the sample letter for speciesism.]

05/14/10 – Save the Manatee Club: Protect the Southeast U.S. From Another Oil Rig Disaster

05/13/10 – CREDO Action: An inconvenient truth about the climate bill

05/13/10 – IDA: Tell President Obama And Vice President Biden Please Stop All New Offshore Oil Drilling!

05/13/10 – AVAAZ: No More Offshore Drilling!

05/12/10 – RAN: Tell Obama to stand up to Big Oil! [Bullet point #5: Go vegan! You'll have to pencil that one in yourself, though.]

05/12/10 – Defenders of Wildlife: Help Wildlife Survive a Changing Climate [5/17/10 deadline]

05/10/10 – The Wilderness Society: Stop Shell Oil’s offshore drilling plans in the Arctic

05/08/10 – Public Citizen: Boycott BP

05/08/10 – Oceana: Stop the Drill

05/06/10 – 350: Ban Offshore Drilling — Permanently!

05/06/10 – NRDC: Tell President Obama to Impose a Moratorium on New Offshore Drilling

05/03/10 – Center for Biological Diversity: Gulf Spill Disaster – No New Offshore Oil Drilling!
 
 

V-E-G-A-N spells LOVE. Also: I refuse to include crazy sad pictures of grounded pelicans and oil-soaked otters and turtles belonging to endangered species, splayed out dead on their backs; there are plenty of those in the Kinship Circle alerts below. Until then: LOL birds, vegan food not-porn, and silly smooth red dachshunds, mkay?
CC image via frippy on Flickr.
——————————

In her Mother’s Day newsletter, Karen Dawn noted that she’s seen relatively little discussion of this man-made disaster on animal advocacy listservs. While I admit that my reading list has grown slimmer and slimmer as of late, I tend to agree (which is actually one reason why I decided to compile this link/info roundup).

In this section, I’d like to highlight vegan reactions to the BP oil spill. Where appropriate, I’ve also included links to ongoing coverage from (mostly veg-friendly) environmental organizations. All links appear in reverse chronological order.

Ongoing – Sea Shepherd: Operation Gulf Rescue

Ongoing – The Center for Biological Diversity: Gulf Disaster Coverage

Ongoing – Oil Spill: Wildlife Crisis [A project of the Endangered Species Coalition]

Ongoing – International Bird Rescue Research Center blog

Ongoing – NRDC’s Switchboard Blog: Disaster in the Gulf

Ongoing – Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): Gulf Coast Response

Ongoing – Defenders of Wildlife: Offshore drilling in the U.S.

Ongoing – Mother Jones: MoJo’s BP Oil Spill Coverage

Ongoing – Democracy Now: BP Oil Spill

Ongoing – Salon: Gulf Oil Spill

Ongoing – Matter of Trust: Press and Press Releases

08/06/10 – Fast Company: Oil Is the New Black

08/01/10 – Invisible Voices: Paws for the Cause: Fundraiser for the Gulf Coast [August 15, 2010 @ Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, VA]

07/15/10 – vegansaurus!: How to help the other animals affected by the BP oil spill

07/09/10 – Alliance for Justice: Judicial Gusher: the Fifth Circuit’s Ties to Oil [.pdf]

07/07/10 – Best Friends: Relief for innocent victims; Twenty tons of dog food donated to help folks affected by Gulf oil spill provides the assistance needed to keep pets with their families

07/02/10 – Bloomberg Businessweek: BP, Coast Guard Will Save Turtles From Oil Burns

06/30/10 – Rainforest Action Network: Photo Essay: Ecuadorean Delegation Tours BP’s Oil Disaster in the Gulf

06/28/10 – Rainforest Action Network: Indigenous Ecuadoreans Share Oil Spill Experiences with Gulf Coast Communities

06/28/10 – Rainforest Action Network: The Lasting Stain of Oil: Cautionary Tales and Lessons from the Amazon

06/28/10 – The Discerning Brute: Oil Spilling and Spilling and Spilling

06/22/10 – Mother Jones: Louisiana Police Pull Over Activist at Behest of BP

06/19/10 – BuzzFeed: BP is Burning Sea Turtles Alive

06/18/10 – Poverty News Blog: How would you like 50 years of oil spills?

06/11/10 – Deep Roots: Animal Rights Blog: Birds and the BP oil spill

06/10/10 – International Bird Rescue Research Center: Post release survival of oil affected sea birds

06/09/10 – Tom Dickinson @ Rolling Stone: The Spill, The Scandal and the President

06/09/10 – United Animal Nations: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the Animals: Q & A

06/09/10 – vegansaurus!: Treehugger says that oil-soaked birds should be killed, not cleaned.

06/09/10 – Break the Matrix: Who Voted to Limit the Liability of Oil Companies?

06/07/10 – Kiss Me, I’m Vegan: The Animals of the Gulf Coast Oil Spill

06/07/10 – Best Friends: Gulf Oil Spill: Saving those they can, Part 2

06/06/10 – Best Friends: Gulf Oil Spill: Saving those they can, Part 1

06/05/10 – GOOD Blog: BP Banishes Hair Booms

06/04/10 – If It Was My Home: Visualizing the BP Oil Spill Disaster

06/04/10 – Stephanie @ Animal Rights & AntiOppression: Their Faces Will Haunt Us

06/03/10 – True/Slant: Five ways to boycott BP without helping Exxon

06/02/10 – Sue Coe: Murder in the Gulf

06/01/10 – Change-dot-org: Why Ken Salazar Should Take the Fall for the Oil Spill

05/25/10 – Green is the New Red: Greenpeace Protesters Who Oppose Off-Shore Drilling Could Face Terrorism Charges

05/17/10 – Animal Legal Defense Fund: Lessons from the Oil Spill

05/14/10 – Reuters: Huge BP spill means a high-stakes hurricane season

05/12/10 – Our Hen House: PATH Says Wildlife Damage in the Gulf is Much Bigger Than BP Will Admit

05/12/10 – Center for Biological Diversity: Kerry-Lieberman Climate Proposal a Disaster for Climate

05/06/10 – Spiegel Online: Expert Recommends Killing Oil-Soaked Birds

05/05/10 – vegansaurus!: Once more with feeling: Oil, not wind turbines, kills birds.

05/04/10 – vegansaurus!: This is the worst week ever, so watch some videos of adorable sneezing animals. Also, a rant.

05/04/10 – vegansaurus!: Devastating oil spill SUCKS BALLS: How we can help!

05/04/10 – Vegan-dot-com: Yes, PETA Really Does Convince People that All Animal Advocates are Nuts

05/04/10 – Vegan-dot-com: PETA Taunts Oil Spill Victims

05/03/10 – Green is the New Red: Did “Eco-Terrorists” Cause the Gulf Oil Spill?

05/02/10 – Sociological Images: The Power of Images in Environmental Movements

04/30/10 – PETA Media Center: PETA’s ‘Meat on Your Grill Equals Oil Spill’ Banner to Soar Over Alabama’s Gulf Coast [Oh yes they did.]

07/19/09 – Doris @ Animal Rights: Dawn Kills Animals
 
 

Angry Otter sez, “Fah-Q, BP! & Obama, u can shut ur piehoal 2, mkay? I d’nt vote 4 u anyway, so der.”
CC image via xrrr on Flickr.
——————————

Ongoing – The Colbert Report: Videos tagged “oil.”

Ongoing – The Daily Show: Videos tagged “oil.”

10/05/10 – Crude Justice: The Deepwater Oil Spill and the Search for Justice

06/17/10 – The Rachel Maddow Show: Energy Independence is a Myth

 
 
4. Donate Your Hair, Help Mop Up Oil (!)

For serious, y’all! The super-awesome science nerds at Matter of Trust make oil-sucking mats out of donated hair. Human, dog, llama, it matters not: any hair will do. The only requirement is that it must be clean – freshly washed or shampooed – and dry.

[I assume that this necessarily excludes naturally shed hair, which is a shame. All five of my dog-kids are short-haired and never require grooming, i.e., a fur cut or trim. Yet, the four rat/fox/Jack Russell terrier mixes shed like mad, especially in the spring and summer - so much so that I "frisk" and then brush them off before vacuuming the house. (Look! It's snowing!) Probably I collect enough dog hair to make a mat or two every year. If mats could include dander and dust, that is. But don't take my word for it; perhaps a lil' dust is a-ok. Or maybe there's a way of washing loose hair that I'm not aware of?]

Like oil itself, hair is hydrophobic; it repels water. Hair is also – as anyone with hair can tell you – lipophilic; it attracts and holds oil. Together, these two properties make it the perfect material for drawing oil out of water. Enter: “mats” woven from human and animal hair. (Kind of like the Sham-Wow!, as reinvented by Buffalo Bill.)

This short video explains it all:

On its website, Matter of Trust offers instructions for individuals – and barbers and groomers – who’d like to contribute to the project:

Hair / Fur / Waste Wool Clippings & Recycled Nylons Donations

Salons, groomers, wool farmers… all natural fiber donors can sign up to contribute to this program and get posters about our Hair For Oil Spills Program. Please see our specific instructions for this program. Individuals can tell their salons about the program and / or just mail in their own hair after reading our instructions for individuals. Nylons must be washed, can have small runs, and be put in a separate bag from the hair if coming together. Thank you!

As you may have already gathered, used nylons are also needed – to make mini-booms, I think – but c’mon, that’s nowhere near as cool as hair, so of course I wasn’t going to lead with it.

Anyhow, please consider donating your hair – either in full or just the occasional trimmings – to this most worthy of projects. But don’t stop there! If they aren’t already involved, introduce your local salons and animal groomers to the program, and encourage them to participate as well. You can also hold a “hair drive” and collect hair to send directly to Matter of Trust. Just, you know, be sure to let everyone know what it’s for, lest you look like a giant pervo. Maybe hold the drive in conjunction with a bake sale, a la vegansaurus? (‘Cause that doesn’t look weird at all! In a shiny way, I mean.)

Ralphie and I – and my luscious brown locks – circa 2002. My hair is at least 12″ shorter now – in the years after this photo was taken, I trimmed it a few inches at a time until it fell just past my shoulders, an act of foolishness for which I have yet to forgive myself – though I’m currently growing it out in order to donate it to Locks of Love or similar. I think I have the requisite extra 8-10″, but I’m trying to hold out until July or August, when the heat of summer is most oppressive. Or at least I was; now I’m torn. Oil-covered otters or cancer-stricken children: dear dog, how on earth do you choose between the two?!?
——————————

Updated, 6/22/10: And the Gulf Coast it is! Allow me to introduce to you to my severed ponytail, whom I have name Creature, and who will soon be on her way to the Gulf Coast (or wherever else she is needed) to help mop up oil – after a brief stopover at Matter of Trust, of course! Please consider deploying your own hair thingamapeoples, wanted or unwanted, if you can. Creature is lonely, yo.
——————————

Finally, I’ve crossposted select action alerts and newsletters below. (I expect that the bulk of these will be from Kinship Circle, which does an excellent job of covering and, at times, directly participating in disaster relief efforts. If you can spare it, you should totally throw a few bucks their way. No, really.)

Again, these are sorted chronologically, with the most recent alerts appearing first.
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 5:07 PM
Subject: ANIMALS – Pakistan Flood / Gulf Disaster Update

[For simplicity's sake, I've removed the "Pakistan Flood" portion of this email alert. Since I've also created a page dedicated to the flooding in Pakistan, I decided to instead include it there; see: 2010 Pakistan Floods: Animal Rescue Resources. - ed.]

KINSHIP CIRCLE 8/20/10
AUGUST GULF OIL DISASTER UPDATE

ALL PHOTOS (C) WA2S.ORG / KINSHP CIRCLE

AUGUST UPDATE: Kinship Circle’ Brenda Shoss soon heads to the Gulf to join Team #5 off barrier islands and waterways in search of oiled animals. We urge animal advocates to not be lulled into an “everything is okay now” attitude. It isn’t. For example: Remember the baby Royal Tern chicks we found oiled on Queen Bess Island 6/12/10 [PHOTO ABOVE]? Conservation Coordinator Drew Wheelan informs us that they all died. For Kinship’s Rachel Laskowski, part of the ALL EYES ON THE GULF Expedition team that originally spotted/reported these babies, the news is heartbreaking.

Still, many others have been saved. We won’t give up our search for them. The oil’s impact has evolved…and now we need UNDERWATER CAMERAS and additional VIDEO GEAR to find and report animals in its toxic path.

DONATE ONLINE NOW:

www.kinshipcircle.org/donation

ANIMAL DISASTER RELIEF FUND

OR MAIL A CHECK TO:
Kinship Circle
7380 Kingsbury Blvd / St. Louis, MO 63130

KINSHIP CIRCLE & WORLD ANIMAL AWARENESS SOCIETY NEED FUNDING FOR:

** Boat charter fee for us to locate and report oiled animals: To canvass complex waterways and shores…we pay boat charter fees from $500 and up.

** Vehicle rental + gas for volunteer teams across 4 states: Our volunteers scout oiled regions across LA, MS, AL, FL. In order to follow oiled wildlife leads, we may travel hundreds of miles daily.

** GoPro Helmet Hero Wide: Cameras for underwater footage.

** More video equipment: Footage and post-production — for teams documenting in different oil polluted areas simultaneously.

** WISH ITEM: RV-motor home for mobile command center.

** WISH ITEM: 30-foot boat with cabin: For daily water exploration, documentation, and oiled wildlife reporting.

** Daily communications: In order for Kinship Circle to navigate ground teams and strategize daily, we incur large communications bills. Without funding for long distance, internet and public messaging, we can neither implement work on the ground nor publish daily reports, photos, videos.

DONATE NOW:

www.kinshipcircle.org/donation

With over 2 million gallons of crude leaked into Gulf waters, more marine mammals are likely to suffer. Kinship Circle’s Darla Wolak photographed this Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, who washed ashore dead in Key Largo, FL.

KINSHIP CIRCLE is focused on wildlife harmed in the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Partnering with World Animal Awareness Society for ALL EYES ON THE GULF Expedition, our volunteers:

* Comb beaches, estatuaries, nesting grounds and open waters — traveling hundreds of miles daily in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida — to find distressed animals and map the oil’s present and long-term impact.

* Locate and report suffering animals to area Unified Command Centers.

* Provide GPS coordinates and other details about oiled wildlife — that expedite rescue and save lives.

* Embed on planes/boats with US Fish & Wildlife, Coast Guard and other agencies/officials.

* Document the oil disaster’s influence on animal habitat and survival.

* Keep a “living map” to chart our journey with photos, video, news.

GULF DISASTER HOME: kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill/
FIELD NOTES: www.kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill/2010-06-notes.html
PHOTO LOG: kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill/photo-log-06-2010.html
REAL-TIME LIVE MAP: www.wa2s.org/

Kinship Circle has no major funding support for animal disaster response. Your tax-deductible gift is a lifeline!

Kinship Circle is a 501c3 nonprofit. All donations are tax-deductible.

JOIN KINSHIP CIRCLE: subscribe[at] kinshipcircle.org
* Action campaigns on animal cruelty issues worldwide
* Animal rescue coordination/news in disasters

UNSUBSCRIBE
* Select a Kinship Circle ALERT received in your mailbox
* Hit “FORWARD” + Send to: info[at] kinshipcircle.org
* Type UNSUBSCRIBE in your subject line and hit send
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 5:33 PM
Subject: Rock N’ Roll For Gulf Oil Victims!

PLEASE FORWARD FAR & WIDE!
Rock N’ Roll For Gulf Oil Victims – Have Fun Helping

GULF OF MEXICO BENEFIT CONCERT
August 29, 2010 * 2:00pm to 10:00pm

WHERE: Mulcahy Pub & Concert Hall
3232 Railroad Ave / Wantagh, New York 11793

RESERVE YOUR TICKETS NOW:
Ron Delfino, Benefit Sponsor: 631-575-2748, delfinoron [at] yahoo.com

CONCERT BENEFIT PROCEEDS GO TO:

1) KINSHIP CIRCLE: Oiled Wildlife – To fund locating/reporting oiled wildlife and documentation of long-term impact on animals.

www.KinshipCircle.org/gulf_spill

2) ST. BERNARD COMMUNITY CENTER: Small Businesses – Support small businesses devastated by the Gulf oil disaster. www.ccstb.org/index.html

PHOTOS (c) WAS2.org / Kinship Circle July 2010

Do you feel helpless watching this oil disaster unfold? Now you can do something to help — and have a blast. The Gulf Of Mexico Benefit Concert features some of New York’s hottest bands, including: No Request Band; Full House; Status Joe; Bad Medicine; Rock Hard Comedy Show

CONTACT RON DELFINO TO RESERVE YOUR TICKETS NOW!
631-575-2748, delfinoron [at] yahoo.com

The delicate cleaning process of an oiled Laughing Gull at Theodore Wildlife Rehab Center in Theodore, AL. Photo (c) WA2S.org / Kinship Circle, Gulf 2010

Kinship Circle, a 501c3 animal advocacy organization, is focused on wildlife hurt in the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Partnering with World Animal Awareness Society for ALL EYES ON THE GULF Expedition, our volunteers:

- Locate and report suffering animals. Our reports to Unified Command Centers — with GPS coordinates and details of oiled animals — save lives.

- Embed on planes and boats with US Fish and Wildlife, Coast Guard…to document long-term oil impact on animals. Our “living documentary” includes photos, videos, interviews and a real-time map…

KINSHIP CIRCLE NEEDS FUNDING FOR:

** Boat charter fees in oil polluted states, to locate/report oiled animals

** Vehicle rental + gas: AEOTGE teams scout oiled areas across four states.
To follow oiled wildlife leads, we travel hundreds of miles daily in:

REGION #1: Greater New Orleans, Jefferson Parish (Grand Isle); Plaquemines Parish (Venice, LA)
REGION #2: Coastline between Biloxi, Mississippi and Pensacola, Florida, Alabama
REGION #3: Southern tip of Florida coastline down to Florida Keys, Miami Beach, etc.

** BIG WISH / GoPro Helmet Hero Wide: Hi-tech camera for underwater footage.

** BIG WISH / RV-motor home for mobile command center

** BIG WISH / 30-foot boat with cabin: For daily water exploration, documentation, and oiled wildlife reporting.

** Daily communications: In order for Kinship Circle to navigate ground teams and strategize daily, we incur large communications bills. Without funding for long distance, internet and public messaging, we can neither implement work on the ground nor publish daily reports, photos, videos.

DONATE ONLINE NOW:

www.kinshipcircle.org/donation

SELECT: BP Gulf Oil Spill

OR MAIL A CHECK TO:
Kinship Circle / 7380 Kingsbury Blvd / St. Louis, MO 63130
ATN: Gulf Oil Disaster

** GULF SPILL 2010: www.kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill
** FIELD NOTES: www.kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill/2010-06-notes.html
** PHOTO LOG: www.kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill/photo-log-06-2010.html

 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 12:14 AM
Subject: Help Us Find Oiled Animals, Gulf Coast

KINSHIP CIRCLE
Help Us Find Oiled Wildlife And Uncover The Truth
We can’t reach suffering animals without your support!

July 18, 2010, Gulf Coast — A heavily oiled bird clings to a boom. A dead dolphin washes ashore. Further out, rusty globs ooze toward a living shore… Kinship Circle, a 501c3 organization, is on the ground — focused on animals harmed in the Deepwater Horizon oilrig disaster.

Audubon Aquatic Center at Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center is base camp for oiled manatees, sea turtles, dolphins. Our team gains unique access here. Above, turtles are cleaned, tagged and micro-chipped.

A WINDOW TO THE TRUTH — In partnership with World Animal Awareness Society for the ALL EYES ON THE GULF Expedition (AEOTGE), Kinship Circle animal disaster responders embed on planes and boats with US Fish and Wildlife, Coast Guard…to form a living documentary of photos, videos and interviews. SAVING LIVES — They also act as “spotters” to locate and report suffering animals. Our reports to Unified Command authorities — including GPS coordinates and details about oiled animals — save lives.

**ALL PHOTOS (c) WAS2.org / Kinship Circle July 2010**

Please donate online now:

www.kinshipcircle.org/donation

SELECT: BP Gulf Oil Spill

Or mail a check to:
Kinship Circle / 7380 Kingsbury Blvd / St. Louis, MO 63130
ATN: Gulf Oil Disaster

We find oiled baby birds on contaminated shores along Queen Bess Island, LA.

KINSHIP CIRCLE HAS NO MAJOR FUNDING SUPPORT – YOU ARE OUR LIFELINE!

DONATIONS FOR GULF DEPLOYMENT HELP WITH:

* Boat charter fees in oil polluted states, for us to locate and report oiled animals: To canvass complex waterways around Gulf barrier islands…

* Vehicle rental + gas for volunteer teams covering four states:
Volunteers scout oiled areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida. In order to follow oiled wildlife leads, we travel hundreds of miles daily.

* Deployments: We’ll send AEOTGE teams through August, and continue with wildlife rescue deployments. Cost for field work includes such items as:
– Volunteer lodging / On-ground emergency fund
– Volunteer gear as needed, ie: HAZMAT/Tyveck suits, respirators…
– Volunteer wildlife training/certification

* Daily communications: In order for Kinship Circle to navigate ground teams and strategize daily, we incur large communications bills. Without funding for long distance, internet and public messaging, we can neither implement work on the ground nor bring you daily reports, photos, videos.

“WA2S.org Executive Director Tom McPhee, with volunteer Jonathan Shurtz, spot two oiled pelicans. Jon immediately calls Unified Command to relay the birds’ GPS coordinates. Later, authorities confirm that these oiled pelicans are rescued and transported to the IBRCC bird cleaning operation. We’re thanked for ongoing efforts to locate and report oiled wildlife.”

“While investigating Black Mangrove Island, LA, Kinship Circle’s Esther Regelson and Darla Wolak, spot a juvenile Roseate Spoonbill. The severely oiled bird fights to stay atop an oil boom. The sighting is called in, but it becomes unbearable to watch the bird struggle to keep from drowning. So the bird is caught, brought to emergency triage, and then transferred to IBRRC Fort Jackson Rehabilitation Center. During one of our regular visits to IBRRC, we learn that this bird will live.”

DONATE ONLINE NOW:

www.kinshipcircle.org/donation

SELECT: BP Gulf Oil Spill

OR MAIL A CHECK TO:
Kinship Circle / 7380 Kingsbury Blvd / St. Louis, MO 63130
ATN: Gulf Oil Disaster

**Kinship Circle has no major funding support for any of its animal disaster response. Your tax-deductible gift is a lifeline!

GULF OIL SPILL PHOTOS, VIDEOS & REPORTS:
* GULF SPILL HOME: www.kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill
* FIELD NOTES: www.kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill/2010-06-notes.html
* PHOTO LOG: www.kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill/photo-log-06-2010.html
* SUPPORT: www.kinshipcircle.org/donation
* INTERACTIVE MAP/VIDEOS: www.wa2s.org

************

JOIN KINSHIP CIRCLE: subscribe [at] kinshipcircle.org
* Action campaigns on animal cruelty issues worldwide
* Animal rescue coordination/news in disasters

UNSUBSCRIBE
* Select a Kinship Circle ALERT received in your mailbox
* Hit “FORWARD” + Send to: info [at] kinshipcircle.org
* Type UNSUBSCRIBE in your subject line and hit send
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – disasteraid [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Sun, Jul 4, 2010 at 10:32 PM
Subject: Gulf Spill Window To The Truth

7/4/10 – KINSHIP CIRCLE
Window To The Truth – Gulf Oil Spill 2010
Bookmark: www.KinshipCircle.org/gulf_spill

This July 4th we honor an American tradition: THE TRUTH. Kinship Circle volunteers are at the Gulf Oil Spill — partnering with World Animal Awareness Society for All Eyes On The Gulf expedition. We’re on the ground as investigators and animal spotters. We want YOU to see too. It’s all here, photos and reports on what is really happening in the Gulf:

** GULF SPILL HOME: www.KinshipCircle.org/gulf_spill
** FIELD NOTES: www.kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill/2010-06-notes.html
** PHOTO LOG: kinshipcircle.org/gulf_spill/photo-log-06-2010.html

CHECK OUT THE MOVIE: ALL EYES ON THE GULF – CHAPTER 1

www.KinshipCircle.org/gulf_spill

It’s at the top left side of the page, underneath a counter showing real-time gallons of oil spewed into Gulf waters.

Our volunteers report oiled baby birds along contaminated shorelines in Queen Bess Island, Louisiana. PHOTOS (C) WA2S.org/Kinship Circle

News Bytes From The Gulf

7/4/10 – Houma, LA: Kinship Circle/WA2S.org vols fly over ground zero in a Coast Guard plane with CNN and other media. Smoke. Fire. Oil. Rusty globs and streaks stretch for miles, oozing toward a living shore.

7/3/10 – Venice, LA: While on the water with American Bird Conservancy, loud Coast Guard airboats zip past and scare birds. An oiled pelican lags behind his spooked flock. Report him? Officials won’t come till he’s flightless.

7/3/10 – IBRRC, LA: For every bird rescued, hundreds more aren’t. Each mother here means babies abandoned out there. Only state or federally licensed wildlife experts are authorized to rescue wildlife at this time.

7/2/10 – Black Mangrove Island, LA: Our team members, embedded with USFW, spot a juvenile Roseate Spoonbill (ABOVE). The severely oiled, fragile bird struggles to stay atop an oil boom. He’s flightless and could drown. The sighting is called in, but our boat captain cannot bear to watch any more. He floats within reach and grabs the worn-down bird, who is taken to Grand Isle Marina for emergency triage. The bird is then transferred to IBRRC Bird Cleaning Operation. During one of our regular visits to IBRRC, we see that this lucky bird is recovering. PHOTOS (C) WA2S.org/Kinship Circle

SEE OUR REAL-TIME MAP WITH VIDEOS & MORE: www.wa2s.org

DONATE ONLINE NOW:

www.kinshipcircle.org/donation

SELECT: BP Gulf Oil Spill

OR MAIL A CHECK TO:
Kinship Circle
7380 Kingsbury Blvd / St. Louis, MO 63130
ATN: All Eyes On The Gulf

************

JOIN KINSHIP CIRCLE: subscribe [at] kinshipcircle.org
* Action campaigns on animal cruelty issues worldwide
* Animal rescue coordination/news in disasters

UNSUBSCRIBE
* Select a Kinship Circle ALERT received in your mailbox
* Hit “FORWARD” + Send to: info [at] kinshipcircle.org
* Type UNSUBSCRIBE in your subject line and hit send
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Ken Shapiro – ken.shapiro [at] animalsandsociety.org
Date: Wed, Jun 23, 2010 at 2:55 PM
Subject: ASI News from the Gulf

The crisis in the Gulf of Mexico is on everyone’s mind, and images of oil-coated birds, turtles and other wildlife remind us of how terrible the toll is and will continue to be. Often forgotten are the countless microorganisms and other small animals the loss of whom makes this truly an ecological disaster. Although the Animals and Society Institute is not directly involved with animal rescue, we nevertheless support those on the front lines and will get behind all efforts to protect the environment from oil spills, factory farm pollution and any other human-based threat. We encourage you to stay informed and help where you can.

Oiled Perspectives from the Gulf Coast

Kristin L. Stewart, ASI Board member and co-author of our dolphin policy paper, lives on the Gulf Coast (pictured above with Ursa Minor, Mango and husband Ben) and sends this eyewitness report:

The beaches of Northwest Florida have been my home for more than 15 years. President Obama visited us in Pensacola Beach on Tuesday morning, and from the Oval Office that night he addressed the nation to talk about the BP oil spill, recognizing it as “the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced.” I think he is right on about that, although it still does not seem to capture the magnitude of this thing. I cannot fathom what the days, months, years, even generations ahead may reveal about the true breadth of this disaster and what it will mean for coastal and marine life and habitat.

Wildlife biologists say that, unlike dolphins, turtles do not show avoidance behavior when encountering oiled waters, and birds can hardly avoid the affects of oil. Still, I have seen dolphins off the shore here as recently as today and, strangely enough, since the spill began in late April, I’ve noticed far fewer pelicans and seagulls at the beach than normal. That doesn’t mean the birds have escaped the oil, of course. Although I haven’t yet come across oiled wildlife, I’m not looking forward to that inevitability. The official count of affected wildlife along the Gulf coast, as of June 16, is up to 1,417 birds (alive and dead), 449 sea turtles (353 of whom were found dead); and 43 marine mammals -almost all of whom were dead dolphins. (Photo above was taken at Nela Beach last week.)

During his speech, President Obama also characterized pretty well what most people on the Gulf Coast are feeling these days: “sadness…anger…[and] a wrenching anxiety” about what this means for us, our environment, and our way of life. I include all animals in that definition of “us.” From my current perspective, clean-up crews seem disorganized and lethargic; accurate, reliable information about the spill and its impact has been spotty at best; and the question of how best to respond to this unprecedented event – now and in the future – remains urgent, complex, and utterly unclear.

(Watch for more updates in our future newsletters)

Protests Target BP

On June 8, the 50th day of the BP oil spill, a series of vigils were held around the country, organized by MoveOn.org. Managing Director Bee Friedlander (above, right) attended the event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, along with friends from the local animal advocacy movement. Bee spoke briefly comparing the current oil spill with the 1989 Exxon Valdez tragedy. She noted that many of those in attendance were there specifically because of the animals affected by the disaster. (Photo by Kate Brindle)

Click here to read about Bee’s previous experience during the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.

Oil Isn’t the Only Thing Spewing into the Environment

Sadly, the assault on the environment in the Gulf is not the only major environmental threat in the United States. Every day, millions of gallons of bacteria-laden manure runoff from concentrated animal feeding operations – CAFOs, or factory farms – pollute groundwater, contaminate crops and combine with methane from farmed animals to contribute more to greenhouse emissions than any other industry, including transportation.

“The CAFO Hothouse: Climate Change, Industrial Agriculture and the Law,” by David N. Cassuto, is the ASI’s most recent policy paper. It was written to offer activists, writers, students, legislators and consumers a concise overview of this extremely serious issue and instigate a reform of agricultural policy in this country.

Just like the growing consumption of oil and gas, the world’s increasing appetite for meat is resulting in environmental changes of huge proportions. In his paper, Professor Cassuto reports that “Worldwide, demand for animal products is growing by 3 percent per year in developing countries…[and] is expected to increase an additional 35 percent by 2015 and to double by 2050.” He notes that 5,000 pigs on a single farm product as much raw sewage as a town of 20,000 people; however, few government regulations cover factory farms, and the meat, egg and dairy industries are not held accountable for this pollution.

To learn more about this important issue, click here to order your own copy of “The CAFO Hothouse” today!

HAS Fellowship News Reaches Australia

The University of Melbourne, home to one of this year’s Human-Animal Studies Summer Fellowship scholars, recently reported on the ASI program in its Voice publication.

Siobhan O’Sullivan, Ph.D., of the university’s School of Social and Political Sciences is at Clark University now with her HAS colleagues. The UM calls the ASI “American’s premier animal studies think tank” and notes that Dr. Sullivan recently received a grant to establish a Web site that will link other HAS scholars throughout Australia, New Zealand and the neighboring South Pacific islands. Click here to read the full article.

(Note: The article erroneously lists the “Humane Society of America” as a fellowship sponsor.)

Also, click here to see the Fellowship’s final week schedule of speakers.

Does BSL Curb Dog Bites?

Apparently not, according to a survey taken by the Toronto Humane Society five years after Ontario voted to severely restrict dogs labeled as pit bulls. Learn more about the results in our Research Nutshell.

Kim Stallwood Chats in the Zone

European Director Kim Stallwood was featured in a live chat on the Animal Rights Zone Web site on June 19; click here to read the archived discussion!

Please Help Us Move Forward

We share your frustration and concern over events in the world that seem to overwhelm our desire to move forward rather than backward when it comes to saving animals. There is no lack of bad news, but there is also no lack of resolve for turning things around. For the sake of the animals – and the world we share with them – we cannot give up, we can only move forward.

Your support of our academic and policy programs helps change things for the better. We value your membership, participation and determination, and commit to doing all we can for a better tomorrow.

For the animals,

Ken Shapiro
Executive Director

Click here to support the Animals and Society Institute

Animals and Society Institute | 2512 Carpenter Road, Suite 201-A2 Ann Arbor, MI 48108-1188 USA
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© Copyright 2010 Animals and Society Institute. 2512 Carpenter Road Suite 201-A2 Ann Arbor MI 48108-1188 USA. All Rights Reserved.
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Cathy Liss, President – eAlert [at] awionline.org
Date: Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Subject: URGENT AWI eALERT: Worst environmental catastrophe in US history could foreshadow more to come – Please ask President Obama to permanently ban all new offshore drilling

To view this eAlert online, please visit www.awionline.org/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/21971/pid/11187

June 22, 2010

Worst environmental catastrophe in US history could foreshadow more to come – Please ask President Obama to permanently ban all new offshore drilling

Dear Humanitarian:

The massive and continuing torrent of oil from the April 20th explosion on and subsequent sinking of BP’s Deepwater Horizon ultra-deepwater drilling rig is the worst environmental disaster in US history. The unfolding devastation will forever alter the entire ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Over 100 million gallons of oil are estimated to have been released into the Gulf already, nine times more oil than was released by the catastrophic wreck of the Exxon Valdez. Recent estimates indicate that, two months after the initial explosion, 2.5 million gallons continue to spew into the fragile and once ecologically rich Gulf ecosystem every day! In other words, BP is releasing the equivalent of a new Exxon Valdez every four and a half days.

A rescue worker lifts an oil-covered turtle out of a hand net.
——————————

Oiled and dead birds, sea turtles, dolphins and fish are showing up in increasing quantities, and many more dead animals are likely to be lost at sea never to be accounted for. Oil is approaching sensitive breeding areas for birds on marshes and beaches, and scientists are predicting a near total breeding failure for those birds this year.

More sea turtles, fish and marine mammals are likely to suffer as the toxic plume, currently measuring 20 miles long and five miles wide, disperses through the water column. The already tenuous future of threatened and endangered sperm whales, manatees, sea turtles, and brown pelicans is particularly worrisome. At least twenty national wildlife refuges and forty endangered species will be impacted as oil moves through the powerful waters of the Gulf Stream. We will not truly understand the full effects of this unprecedented and still escalating disaster for many years to come.

The effects on wildlife of the experimental dispersants used by BP to break up the oil are largely unknown and may, in fact, do more harm than good, by spreading chemicals throughout the food chain, as well as spreading the oil further. BP has applied over a million gallons of the toxic chemical to break down the oil and disperse it at sea, protecting shorelines while sacrificing countless animals in the water column and those on the sea floor.

The damage predictions are devastating, and efforts thus far to stop the flow of oil, largely unsuccessful. Crews have been using a variety of methods to keep oil from reaching beaches, wetlands and estuaries, but cleanup efforts have been erratic and insufficient, resulting from BP’s gross lack of emergency preparedness and intentional trivialization of the risks. There have even been reports of BP workers blocking efforts to rescue endangered sea turtles and burning the animals alive[1] [2]. The lack of government oversight and the failure to follow even loose regulatory measures are painfully apparent.

The industry-friendly Minerals Management Service has allowed, essentially, oil companies to self-regulate for years, encouraging dangerous drilling operations to move forward without environmental safeguards.

On May 27, President Obama announced a 6-month “moratorium” on new offshore drilling permits. However, most of the existing 3,500 drilling rigs and platforms in U.S. coastal waters (79 of them deepwater wells), including some particularly dangerous projects, are allowed to continue, like ticking time bombs. The BP Atlantis, for example, one of the largest oil platforms in the world and also in the Gulf, is documented to have serious safety problems, yet remains in operation [3] [4]. Were something to go awry on the Atlantis, the Deepwater Horizon disaster would pale in comparison.

Although the scale of the disaster is overwhelming and the situation seems hopeless, there is something vitally important you can do:

Write to the President

This catastrophe illustrates the need for drilling operations to be strongly regulated and vigorously enforced. Please write a letter to President Obama and request that his Administration:

* immediately and permanently ban all future offshore drilling projects;
* immediately shut down BP Atlantis and other such unsafe drilling projects until proven safe;
* conduct a review (including their impacts to wildlife) of all deepwater platforms currently under construction and in operation and set a rigorous timeframe for resolving issues;
* halt the use of chemical dispersants until their impacts on the environment are fully understood and determined not to pose a significant threat;
* require all oil drilling to comply with environmental laws;
* ensure that wildlife rescue efforts proceed uninterrupted and investigate claims that BP is blocking rescue efforts; and
* develop strong recovery actions for threatened and endangered species.

If you prefer, you can email President Obama through AWI’s Compassion Index by clicking here.

Volunteer

To report an oiled shoreline or request volunteer information, please call the Deepwater Horizon Response Volunteer Request Line at 1-866-448-5816. To report wildlife in distress, call the Wildlife Distress Hotline at 866-557-1401.

For state specific volunteer opportunities, visit:

Louisiana: www.volunteerlouisiana.gov/

Mississippi: www.volunteermississippi.org/1800Vol/OpenIndexAction.doc

Florida: www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/

Alabama: www.servealabama.gov/2010/default.aspx

For more information and for other volunteer opportunities, especially for those individuals with wildlife recovery and spill response experience, visit www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.

Please share our “Dear Humanitarian” eAlert with family, friends and co-workers. As always, we are grateful for your help.

Sincerely,

Cathy Liss
President

[1] Los Angeles Times, “Death by fire in the gulf”, articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/17/nation/la-na-oil-spill-burnbox-20100617 (June 17, 2010)

[2] Sea Turtle Restoration Project, “BP Blocks Attempt to Save Endangered Sea Turtles from Oil Spill”, seaturtles.org/article.php?id=1660 (June 16, 2010)

[3] Food and Water Watch, “Spill the Truth”, www.spillthetruth.org/ (June 21, 2010)

[4] Washington Post, “BP Atlantis rig plans never received proper approvals, former contractor says” www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/17/AR2010061703872.html (June 17, 2010)
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 7:48 PM
Subject: 957 Birds Dead – Boat Needed To Find Oiled Animals

6/21/10 – KINSHIP CIRCLE
WE ARE SEARCHING FOR A BOAT…
For Our All Eyes On The Gulf Expedition In Oil Spill States

The truth about the BP oil spill lies in Gulf waters. We are grateful to locals who ferry Kinship Circle/WA2S.org teams in their boats from Florida to Louisiana. But, to follow oiled wildlife leads, we NEED OUR OWN BOAT:

DO YOU HAVE (OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS):

* A boat at least 30 feet long
* A boat with a cabin to sleep 4-6 people

ANYONE WITH A BOAT, OR LEADS TO A BOAT, CONTACT:
Michelle Way, michelle.way [at] wa2s.org
World Animal Awareness Society, www.WA2S.org

OR DONATE NOW:

www.kinshipcircle.org/donation

SELECT: BP Gulf Oil Spill

Oiled birds like this pelican, transform from reddish brown to their natural white and tan shades via a series of gentle cleanings. As part of our training, AEOTG team members visit Fort Jackson Rescue Center where the IBRRC Bird Cleaning Operation is underway.
——————————

957 Dead Birds…And Counting
6/21/10: USFWS STATS FOR BP OIL-AFFECTED ANIMALS

* DEAD BIRDS: 957 * oiled but alive: 724 * cleaned/released: 97
* DEAD MAMMALS: 47 * oiled but alive: 4 * cleaned/released: 1
* DEAD SEA TURTLES: 387 * oiled but alive: 117 * cleaned/released: 3

BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig now spews an estimated 100,000 barrels, or 4.2 million gallons daily, into Gulf waters. Kinship Circle — in partnership with World Animal Awareness Society for the All Eyes On The Gulf (AEOTG) expedition — is armed with camera lenses and notepads in oil-affected states. Our disaster responders act as “spotters” to alert Unified Command to suffering animals and facilitate their capture and care.

As we watch the tragedy unfold…in LA, AL, FL, MS…we realize how much YOU, the public, are not being told. For birds, turtles, dolphins, whales, fishes and other mammals — the disaster has barely begun.

LT: Birds are frightened and disoriented when they arrive at Fort Jackson Rescue Center.
RT: 6/13/10, Long Beach, Mississippi: Kinship Circle Team #1 photographs dead fish floating in oily waters.
——————————

LT: Kinship Circle’s Rachel Laskowski undergoes documentary film training in Louisiana with Tom McPhee, executive director of World Animal Awareness Society.
RT: Kinship Circle’s Rachel and Sister Michael Marie phone in from the water while recording oil affected wildlife.
——————————

SEE OUR GOOGLE MAP WITH VIDEOS. CLICK ON “EVENTS” BUTTON: www.wa2s.org

DONATE NOW:

www.kinshipcircle.org/donation

SELECT: BP Gulf Oil Spill

OR MAIL A CHECK TO:
Kinship Circle
7380 Kingsbury Blvd / St. Louis, MO 63130
ATN: BP Gulf Oil Spill

FUNDING IS NEEDED FOR:

* RV/motor home for mobile command center
* 30-ft boat with cabin for daily water excursions
* Vehicle rental + gas for volunteer squads covering 5 states
* Hazmat/Tyvek suits, respirators, rubber boots
* Deployment of volunteer teams through August (or longer)
* Public messaging and media outreach
* Computers/communications overhead and equipment
* AND MORE…

JOIN KINSHIP CIRCLE: subscribe [at] kinshipcircle.org
* Action campaigns on animal cruelty issues worldwide
* Animal rescue coordination/news in disasters

UNSUBSCRIBE
* Select a Kinship Circle ALERT received in your mailbox
* Hit “FORWARD” + Send to: info [at] kinshipcircle.org
* Type UNSUBSCRIBE in your subject line and hit send
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Subject: Kinship Circle Deploys To Gulf Oil Spill!

6/12/10 – KINSHIP CIRCLE ANIMAL DISASTER AID
With All Eyes On The Gulf Oil Spill – Kinship Circle Is There

KINSHIP CIRCLE DEPLOYS TO THE GULF OIL SPILL

June 12, 2010 — Venice, Louisiana: Kinship Circle has gone where few other animal organizations have been: Into the trenches of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf. We are there right now, in an investigative capacity to document oil-affected animals and alert Unified Command where they are. Animal rescue groups — other than specialized organizations authorized under Unified Command — currently do not have access into restricted zones. But select press and documentarians do.

KINSHIP CIRCLE AND AEOTG GULF TEAM #1, from lt to rt:
(back row) Documentary filmmaker Tom McPhee and his son Kevin;
(front row) Kinship Circle IC Bonnie Morrison, Tania Velasco and Rachel Laskowski; Plaquemines Parish coastal director P.J. Hahn; Kinship Circle’s Cheri Deatsch and Sister Michael Marie; AEOTG’s Jon Shurtz
All photos © WA2S.org / Kinship Circle, Gulf Coast 2010

Kinship Circle was asked to “embed” with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Tom McPhee for his All Eyes On The Gulf (AEOTG) expedition. Our disaster responders are on the ground to focus camera lenses and notepads on contaminated parts of Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. AEOTG is a scientific tour to collect visual records. It’s also a window to the truth. As part of AEOTG’s crew of filmmakers and photojournalists, Kinship Circle may deploy teams through August, as funds permit.

Tom McPhee’s organization, World Animal Awareness Society, is approved under Unified Command (BP, Coast Guard, fed/state officials) to access affected areas. All team members wear photo ID badges.

Brown Pelicans await cleaning in a holding pen at IBRRC (International Bird Rescue and Rehabilitation Center), where Kinship Circle and WA2S team members trained.
Photo © WA2S.org / Kinship Circle

WHERE ARE THE ANIMALS?

On 6/10/10 U.S. Fish and Wildlife reported that more than 400 oiled birds were taken to Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, Louisiana in a span of several days — over five times as many than in the last six weeks combined. Where are the photos and clips? According to CNN, BP is attempting to block reporters from photographing animals altogether.

Plaquemines Parish coastal zone director P.J. Hahn lifts an oil-covered pelican at Queen Bess Island in Barataria Bay 6/5/10.
AP/Gerald Herbert

A FILMMAKER’S VISION

Tom McPhee’s All Eyes On The Gulf is a portal to the “human/animal intersection” in this disaster. Team members undergo two-day training before they journey to oil damaged regions across five states. Volunteers gather visual evidence from ground, water and air levels. They act as “spotters” to supply Unified Area Command with location coordinates for suffering animals and facilitate their capture and care. Detailed data collection procedures are used and volunteers are prepped for encounters oil distressed animals.

A rescued and rehabilitated Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle is released off the Bolivar Peninsula in Texas. The species is threatened by the oil slick because it only nests in the western Gulf of Mexico. msnbc.msn.com

Help Save Lives By Supporting All Eyes On The Gulf

As evidenced by Kinship Circle’s aid in Chile’s 8.8 quake and tsunami — disaster response is expensive. We’re rarely involved in two catastrophic missions at the same time. But as animals are treated for wounds and disease in Chile…victims of BP’s oil spill await aid in the U.S.

Photo © WA2S.org / Kinship Circle

OIL SPILL RESPONSE FUNDING IS NEEDED FOR:

* RV/motor home for an All Eyes On The Gulf mobile command center
* Hazmat/Tyvek suits, respirators, rubber boots
* Deployment of volunteer teams through August (or longer)
* Public messaging and media outreach
* Computers/communications overhead and equipment
* Fuel, food, lodging, tents
* AND MORE…

DONATE NOW:

www.kinshipcircle.org/donation

SELECT: BP Gulf Oil Spill

OR MAIL A CHECK TO:
Kinship Circle
7380 Kingsbury Blvd / St. Louis, MO 63130
ATN: BP Gulf Oil Spill

Kinship Circle Animal Disaster Aid

Kinship Circle Animal Disaster Aid is a nonprofit that mobilizes volunteers, supplies and resources for animal victims through its network of trained responders in the U.S. and Canada. Kinship Circle works in agreement with government agencies or other NGOs to deploy teams of trained and credentialed animal responders for assessment, search and rescue, and emergency sheltering aid. We also report disaster news to inform the public about ways they can support animal aid efforts.

LEARN MORE ABOUT KINSHIP CIRCLE

KINSHIP CIRCLE: www.KinshipCircle.org
ANIMAL DISASTER VICTIMS: www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters
ACTION ALERT CENTER: www.kinshipcircle.org/letter_library
CHILE DISASTER AID: www.kinshipcircle.org/chile

World Animal Awareness Society

Core mission: To focus a lens on human-animal interactions and to share this information with the world. World Animal Awareness Society is documenting the Gulf oil spill for historical, educational and research purposes. Visual data will be archived indefinitely and distributed via WA2S.org.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL EYES ON THE GULF

WORLD ANIMAL AWARENESS SOCIETY: www.wa2s.iorg
SEE GOOGLE MAP WITH VIDEOS OF WHERE WE ARE. CLICK ON “EVENTS” BUTTON

PRESS RELEASE: prlog.org/10732195

WA2S FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/pages/World-Animal-Awareness-Society-WA2SOrg/251128676541?ref=ts

——————————

JOIN KINSHIP CIRCLE: subscribe [at] kinshipcircle.org
* Action campaigns on animal cruelty issues worldwide
* Animal rescue coordination/news in disasters

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* Select a Kinship Circle ALERT received in your mailbox
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* Type UNSUBSCRIBE in your subject line and hit send
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: AAVS
Date: Fri, May 14, 2010 at 11:15 AM
Subject: Helping Wildlife Impacted by the Oil Spill

The American Anti-Vivisection Society: Helping Wildlife Impacted by the Oil Spill

Because AAVS’s mission includes all animals, our thoughts have turned to the wildlife whose lives and habitats have been seriously harmed by the enormous oil spill off the U.S. Gulf Coast. The numbers of affected populations—including birds, marine mammals, sea turtles, and fish—are likely to be staggering and may grow worse even after the spill has been contained. The heroic work to save them is only just beginning and will require a sustained effort over months, maybe even years. Helping the victims of a destructive event like this requires specialized training and there are only two organizations in the country with the training and experience to professionally manage a major oil spill response. One, Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, is located in Delaware, not far from AAVS’s office.

Snowy Egret treated by Tri-State in 2008

“As a wildlife capture and transport volunteer, I work with rehab clinics in my local area, and visit others while shuttling patients to and from sites. Tri-State provides superior treatment and care for birds of all species—you’d be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated, caring, and knowledgeable staff of specialists anywhere.” – Chris Derer, AAVS Director of Development

British Petroleum (BP), the company responsible for this environmental catastrophe, has committed to covering the costs associated with managing and cleaning up the spill, including wildlife rescue. However, it’s important to remember that organizations like Tri-State can only continue to be prepared for crises of this nature because of support from caring people like us. We applaud their expertise and dedication, and know that they’ll appreciate donations that help them continue saving wildlife from perilous, manmade disasters.

For the animals,

Sue A. Leary, President
American Anti-Vivisection Society

Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research has been rescuing and treating oiled, injured, and orphaned wildlife since 1976. Specializing in oil spill response, Tri-State staff is on call 24-hours-a-day to address the wildlife impact of these environmental threats. They also provide training to other emergency response professionals.

Donate Now
100% of contributions received by May 21 will benefit Tri-State Bird Rescue

Join Us:
Facebook | Twitter | Myspace

© Copyright 2010 American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) | All Rights Reserved

The American Anti-Vivisection Society, 801 Old York Road, Suite 204 Jenkintown, PA 19046
aavs [at] aavs.org | 215-887-0816 | www.aavs.org
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Sun, May 9, 2010 at 8:41 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: BP oil disaster — coverage highlights. Please ask the media for more. 5/9/10

The biggest news for animals over the last week has been the BP oil catastrophe in the gulf. Millions of animals, including 5,000 dolphins, endangered tortoises, pelicans, and countless fish live in that gulf and are dying slow and agonizing deaths from ingesting and inhaling the oil that our species has been vomiting into their home at a rate of 200,000 gallons per day. I find myself thinking of Avatar, where humans were invading Pandora after having totally trashed Earth. Think of what the Gulf of Mexico was like just weeks ago, and what it is like now: it seems that we really are going to completely trash our planet if we don’t change our ways, and change fast.

I happened to see a screening of the movie “Fuel” last week. Winner of the 2008 Best Documentary award at the Sundance Film Festival, it is now more timely than ever. It focuses on what our dependence on oil is doing to us and the earth, and it gives clean energy solutions. Please check out the trailer at www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPrH5za6BlE and get a copy of the DVD when it come out on June 22.

The BP explosion came just weeks after President Obama announced plans for more offshore drilling along our coastlines, an announcement that broke the hearts of environmentalists who had thought they had elected a president with similar values. While it is hard, as an animal holocaust is underway in the gulf, to even think of a silver lining, it seemed at first that at least this blanket of oil over the gulf would bury those plans. Yet as oil poured into the gulf Obama said, “Let me be clear. I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security.”

The moratorium the administration has announced on new offshore drilling is for three weeks — until the cause of the BP explosion is determined. It doesn’t take into account that the next accident that wipes out a different ocean might have a different cause.

I urge you to please sign the Environment America petition asking Obama to reverse course on offshore drilling. The petition is at: tinyurl.com/24sqvf6

I have been scouring the media for animal news from the gulf. There isn’t much. CNN’s Brooke Baldwin has been on the scene at the gulf. I happened to tune in the first day she took a boat out to the spill. The boat pulled up alongside a sea turtle who we saw coming up trying to get air in the midst of the oil. At least 30 sea turtles have washed up dead so far.

The Fox News website has a slideshow headed, “Animal Victims of the Gulf Spill,” including some of the turtles, at www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2010/05/03/oil-spill-animals-rescue/#slide=1
(My thanks to Richard Hernandez for that link.)

The Center for Biological Diversity has been following events and posting relevant press. It is a good place to keep track of what’s going on. You’ll find their posts at tinyurl.com/38hqun5 (I thank Candaca Rocha for that link.)

I was shocked by the May 5 Washington Post story, by Juliet Eilperin, headed “U.S. exempted BP’s Gulf of Mexico drilling from environmental impact study.”

It tells us,

“The Interior Department exempted BP’s calamitous Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact analysis last year.” It discusses the “decision by the department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) to give BP’s lease at Deepwater Horizon a ‘categorical exclusion’ from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).”

That story is on line at: tinyurl.com/34hsldq

Media interviews with representatives from the Center for Biological Diversity about that exemption, and the lobby money behind it, are well worth watching. Two of the most compelling have been on media outlets on the opposite end of the political spectrum, reminding us that environmentalism, like animal protection, need not be a partisan issue.

The Fox News White House correspondent, Major Garret, gave us a short and hard-hitting report about the exemption, which you can watch on line at: tinyurl.com/26s9voc

If you are a Fox News viewer, please let the network know how much you appreciated the report and that you want to see more on the BP oil spill crisis. Fox News takes comments via email at yourcomments [at] foxnews.com

Democracy Now brought us similar though more in depth coverage on May 7. You can watch it on line at: tinyurl.com/3ajgzc2

You can also email it to your friends, by clicking on the “email” link on that page.

Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman also did a radio blog on this issue, headed “BP: Billionaire Polluter.” It is well worth hearing or reading on line at: www.democracynow.org/blog/2010/5/5/bp_billionaire_polluter

Please thank Democracy Now for its coverage of the disaster and ask them to keep on the story. Democracy Now takes comments at www.democracynow.org/contact?to=8

CNN’s Jane Velez Mitchell, always superb on animal and environmental issues, did an “Issues” segment in which she called for a move to electric cars.

You can watch the brief segment on line at: tinyurl.com/265fqdd

Please recommend it to your friends (by hitting the “recommend” button) and please thank Jane for her continued commitment to animal and environmental issues — her producers need to hear how much their viewers appreciate her stance. Jane takes comments at www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?106

The Center for Biological Diversity is calling for the resignation of big oil buddy, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, in light of the Gulf calamity. You can read more about Salazar at: tinyurl.com/25fll2e

Animal advocates need to learn more about Salazar. His department is also responsible for the recent delisting of Grey Wolves as an endangered species. Further, the “All-Creatures” animal advocacy site has a petition to have him removed as Interior Secretary due to his support for the ranching community and participation in the mustang round-ups and decimation of America’s wild horse population. You’ll find that petition on line at: www.all-creatures.org/alert/alert-20100421.html

Despite the animal annihilation underway in the Gulf, I have found relatively little information on animal news lists about the issue. I was therefore struck by Joshua Green’s superb blog on the website for The Atlantic, headed “No Energy,” in which he discusses what seems to be a lack of appropriate outrage. He shares the Obama quote that I shared above, Obama’s commitment to more drilling, and he writes:

“In the wake of the Gulf oil spill, the benefits of clean sources of energy are clearer than ever. What’s so infuriating about the Washington response so far is that there’s no indication the disaster has prompted Obama or anyone else to reconsider his position. In the past, major disasters shifted the terms of debate. This time, nobody is budging. …. Washington eventually responds to public outrage. (Just ask Goldman Sachs.) But for now, energy can join the long list of issues on which Washington leadership has vanished.”

The full column is on line at www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/05/no-energy/56285/

You can comment right below it or thank him for it by email at joshuagreen [at] theatlantic.com

I hope when the animal advocacy community watches some of the interviews above, about the deals made with BP, and thinks about the millions of animals dying slowly in the gulf, we will see some of that outrage to which the White House responds. The media has a huge impact on public thinking so please encourage the media to stay on this story.

CNN takes feedback for general news at www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?39

Let them know we want interviews with environmentalists such as the representatives of the Center Biological Diversity.

Please send letters to the editor to your local papers, and contact your favorite shows, asking for coverage to keep what is going on in the gulf top of mind for the public. The animals and the Earth need your voice.

Yours and the animals’,
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts only if you do so unedited — leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line.)

Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to learn about Karen Dawn’s book, “Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals,” which was chosen last year by the Washington Post as one of the “Best Books of The Year!”

To discontinue DawnWatch alerts go to www.DawnWatch.com/nothanks.php
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Wed, May 5, 2010 at 1:08 PM
Subject: Kill Baby Kill ­ BP Oil Spill Closes In On Gulf Coast

KINSHIP CIRCLE ANIMAL DISASTER AID NETWORK
5/5/10: Kill Baby Kill – BP Oil Spill Closes In On Gulf Coast

Members of Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research and International Bird Research Center hydrate a Northern Gannet bird, who was covered in oil.

IN THIS ALERT:

1. Kill Baby Kill: Some BP Bullet Points
2. Present Animal Response In Gulf Oil Spill
3. Tubul’s Story: Help Us Save More Like Him [Note: Please see Earthquake in Chile: Some 700,000 Animals May Be Affected for this portion of the alert.]

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

1. Kill Baby Kill: Some BP Bullet Points

A dead fish is seen on the beach in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Getty Image

BP OIL SPILL IN GULF / DISASTER OVERVIEW

– 5/5/10: Unified command activated for West Coast of Florida: Reps from BP, U.S. Coast Guard and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are meeting to plan multi-agency response. They’ve also met with over 30 NGO environmental groups: Tampa Bay Watch, Save our Seabirds, Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, Sierra Club, etc. — in preparation for the worst case.

– 5/4/10: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says the oil slick seems to move toward Alabama and Florida coasts, as well as the Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana’s southern tip. www.noaawatch.gov

– 5/4/10: U.S. Air Force prepares C-130s for spill response. Members of the 910th Airlift Wing are in Mississippi to help with oil spill clean up.

– 5/4/10: BP spokesperson Bill Salvin reports that three four-story, 70-ton “containment domes” will be lowered over leaks — to trap oil and help pump it to the surface. Other attempts such as a shutoff valve and floating booms have mostly failed — in part due to rough winds and seas.

– 5/3/10: Oil spews at a rate of roughly 5000 barrels (210,000 gallons) per day from three sections of piping. Birds and other animals are vulnerable because they are in reproducing cycles. Young animals may become oiled and parents may plunge into dark waters in search of food. There could be lasting repercussions for fragile wetlands along the Mississippi River.

– 4/22/10: BP’s oil rig collapses into the gulf, after an explosion on 4/20/10. Oil seeps out and BP, while aligned with government agencies and private contractors, cannot stop the flow of crude from the well.

– 4/20/10: A BP (British Petroleum) oil rig explodes. BP, operator of Deepwater Horizon oil rig situated 5,000 feet below the surface in Gulf waters, accepts responsibility for the disaster.

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

2. Present Animal Response In Gulf Oil Spill

A dead sea turtle on a Pass Christian, MS beach. At least 20 sea turtles were found dead along a 30-mile stretch from Biloxi to Bay St. Louis.

Many endangered turtles dying on Texas Gulf Coast. Salt Lake Tribune

Kinship Circle

We are watching the animal response to the BP oil spill. Presently, U.S. government, oil companies, and specialized oil decontamination/wildlife agencies are deployed. Some NGOs have volunteers on standby, but no one should self deploy to this high-security zone without invitation from the unified command (governing agency). KINSHIP CIRCLE IS NOT RECRUITING VOLUNTEERS AT THIS TIME.

A least tern checks her eggs on a Gulfport, Mississippi beach. Environmentalists fear that the oil slick will destroy this generation of birds that nest along the Gulf coast beaches during migration. AP

A dead pelican is seen on Chandeleur Island, Louisiana (5/3). Louisiana’s state bird, the brown pelican, could come to symbolize the affects of the damage done by the oil spill. Their nesting season, which has just begun, lies in the direct path of the spill. Getty Image

Coalition To Restore Coastal Louisiana

www.crcl.org/coalitionprograms/oilspillrecovery.html

REGISTER TO VOLUNTEER: www.thedatabank.com/dpg/316/personalopt1.asp?formid=oilspill
CRCL is joining with our partners at the local, state and federal level to begin registering volunteers to assist with spill recovery efforts.

QUESTIONS? CONTACT:
Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
6160 Perkins Road, Suite# 225 / Baton Rouge, La 70808
office: 225-767-4181; toll-free: 888-522-6278; fax: 225-768-8193
email: coalition [at] crcl.org

If you encounter oiled wildlife, call: 1-800-557-1401
Do not touch or disturb oiled wildlife, for your safety and theirs.

We do not know the extent of impact to birds, wildlife, and habitat at this time. National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program and the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana are building a standby volunteer list.

Volunteer Louisiana (Statewide Hub)

www.louisianaserve.org/1800Vol/Homepage/viewEventDetails.do?eventId=30619

VOLUNTEER STATUS:
Volunteers not yet needed. Sign up to be updated as needs arise:

www.1-800-volunteer.org:80/1800Vol/Homepage/viewEventDetails.do?eventId=30619

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Volunteer Louisiana (Statewide Hub)
jpace [at] crt.state.la.us
Louisiana Serve Commission
263 Third Street, Ste. 610 / Baton Rouge, LA 70801
225-342-2038 * www.crt.state.la.us/laserve

The Independent: Wildlife rescue teams ready for US oil spill victims. photo: Creative Commons

International Bird Rescue Research Center (BRRC)

www.ibrrc.org/gulf-spill-2010.html#volunteer

VOLUNTEER STATUS:
No call for volunteers.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Northern California (Main office)
San Francisco Oiled Wildlife Care & Education Center (SFBOCEC)
4369 Cordelia Road / Fairfield, CA 94534
707-207-0380; no_cal_center [at] ibrrc.org

Bird rescue specialists from International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) are on site in Louisiana and Alabama preparing rescue centers to clean seabirds caught in the Gulf coast oil spill. IBBRC is working in partnership with Tri-state Bird Rescue & Research to prep rehab facilities in Fort Jackson, Louisiana and Theodore, Alabama.

Tri-State Bird Rescue And Research

www.tristatebird.org/

VOLUNTEER STATUS:
Tri-State has been asked to oversee wildlife rehabilitation response along the gulf coast and is working closely with many collaborating organizations. All response efforts are coordinated by the Unified Command on-site.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
110 Possum Hollow Road / Newark, Delaware, 19711
302-737-9543; web form: www.tristatebird.org/contact

A dolphin swims through polluted waters of Drum Bay, Louisiana. There are as many as 5,000 dolphins between Mississippi and Louisiana coasts and the oil rig, many of whom are in their reproductive season. Getty Images www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30/birds-oil-coated-gulf-spill_n_558665.html

Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center

www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

VOLUNTEER STATUS:
Report oiled shoreline or request volunteer information: 866-448-5816

CONTACT INFORMATION:
985-902-5231; deepwaterhorizonresponse [at] hotmail.com
Submit alternative response technology, services or products: 281-366-5511
Submit your vessel as a vessel of opportunity skimming system: 281-366-5511
Report oiled wildlife: 866-557-1401

Nine staging areas have been set up to protect vital shoreline in all potentially affected Gulf Coast states (Biloxi, MS, Pensacola, FL, Pascagoula, MS, Dauphin Island, AL, Port Sulphur, LA, Shell Beach, LA, Slidell, LA, Port Fourchon, LA, Venice, LA).

********************

ACTION CAMPAIGNS * EDUCATION * ANIMAL DISASTER AID
www.KinshipCircle.org * www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters

FOR BREAKING NEWS & ACTION: subscribe [at] kinshipcircle.org
* Action campaigns on animal cruelty issues worldwide
* Animal rescue coordination/news in disasters

UNSUBSCRIBE
* Select a Kinship Circle ALERT received in your mailbox
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* Type UNSUBSCRIBE in your subject line and hit send
 
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: People Protecting Animals & Their Habitats – PATH Inc.
Date: Tue, May 4, 2010 at 9:13 AM
Subject: Supplies/Donations Needed for Oil Spill Rescue

Bulletin from the cause: People Protecting Animals & Their Habitats – PATH Inc.
Go to Cause
Posted By: Kelly Overton
To: Members in People Protecting Animals & Their Habitats – PATH Inc.

Supplies/Donations Needed for Oil Spill Rescue

PATH needs the following items for oil spill assistance/rescue:

volunteers to collect supplies & donations in their communities
heating pads
electrical extension cords
pliers
nets w/ handle
netting
water picks
feeding syringes
sunscreen (not tested on animals)
wading boots
hotel/airline points/miles
financial support – donations

In NYC supplies/donations can be dropped off at:

Moo Shoes
78 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
(Lower East Side b/t Grand/Broome)

Checks can be mailed to (all donations are tax-deductible):

PATH
151 First Avenue, Suite 161
New York, NY 10003

www.ppath.org
Call to Action
Fundraising Project: People Protecting Animals and Their Habitats, Inc.
Donate

You are receiving this email because you are a member of the cause People Protecting Animals & Their Habitats – PATH Inc..

Causes Privacy Policy | Causes Address: PO Box 492, Berkeley, CA 94708 United States

——————-

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