UPDATE, 10/5/07:

Still adding to the post…

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UPDATE, 7/27/07:

I’ve been updating this post almost daily; newest links at the top of the link dump. Feel free to add to the roundup via the comments section.

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Unfortunately, the justice system don’t work thataway, so let’s hope for life six years (Six years! WTF!?!) behind bars.

Anywho, a number of animal rights/welfare groups have sent out alerts on this subject, so I’ve included a link roundup below. Links shall be updated as necessary. Also, after the jump, forwarded alerts that are not otherwise available online. (Keep up to date with the latest news via teh Google.)

* DawnWatch: Vick dogs on NY Times front page, and Los Angeles votes for spay-neuter 2/2/08

* Best Friends Animal Society: eNews: December 14, 2007 (Preparing for the Michael Vick dogs)

* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Vick Received Federal Sentence–Demand Tough State Prosecution Now!

* DawnWatch: Michael Vick sentence on AJC front page and in many other papers 12/11/07

* Last Chance for Animals (LCA): Michael Vick Sentenced Today, Mon 12/10

* The Petition Site: Keep Michael Vick Out of the NFL!

* Best Friends: Vick dogs cleared to come to Best Friends

* Kinship Circle: Vick’s Dogs/ YOU Helped Save Their Lives

* Kinship Circle: OCT. KC DIGEST - Killing JFK Cats, Shot Iraq Dog, Petitions… (Parts 1 & 2) [Section 9, “Ensure Vick’s Dogs Are Spared, As Promised”]

* Kinship Circle: UPDATE/ Vick’s Dogs: Clemency For All But One

* American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA): eNews Alert: October 5, 2007 (Update on Michael Vick Case/Dog Health Chat Today!)

* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Michael Vick Takes Empathy Course at PETA HQ

* Kinship Circle: LETTER/ Vick Teammate Faces Unrelated Cruelty Charges

* The Petition Site: Stop Dogfighting Now!

* The Petition Site: To the NFL: Help Pitt Bulls while Punishing Michael Vick!

* In Defense of Animals (IDA): Give Vick Dogs a Fighting Chance at Life

* Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF): Congressman Garrett sides with dogfighters — speak out at rally next Wednesday

* Dogs Deserve Better (DDB): “Falling Star, Rising Son: The Football Player and the Pit bull” Art containing Actual NFL Football Tickets from Steeler/Eagles Game

* ROAR: Donate your VICK jerseys - you’ll never wear them again!

* Virginia Voters for Animal Welfare: Michael Vick: Now the Hypocrisy Begins

* Kinship Circle: [GULF COAST] Two Years And Still Counting (Section #9, Michael Vick Did NOT Adopt 14 Katrina Pit Bulls)

* Kinship Circle: LETTER/ Salvation For Vick’s Dogs?

* The Petition Site: Please help get Michael Vick’s fines donated to Pit Bull and other animal rescues

* Now if only Vick’s sentence was meted out in dog years… (easyVegan blog post, 8/27/07)

* In Defense of Animals (IDA): Urge Atlanta Falcons to Kick Vick Off of the Team

* Last Chance for Animals (LCA): 8/27 Michael Vick Update!

* American Humane Association Urges Severe Sentence for Michael Vick Appropriate to the Severity and Inhumanity of His Crimes; Historic Organization Seeks Prison Time, Fines, Banishment from NFL

* American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA): Michael Vick Pleads Guilty/ASPCA President Invites Letters of Thanks

* Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): Vick goes before judge - now YOU be the judge

* DawnWatch: Michael Vick case spurs comments on other animal cruelty 8/22 — 8/26/07

* Best Friends Animal Society: The dogs in the Michael Vick case

* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Tell the NFL to Recognize Animal Abuse as an Offense Warranting Suspension–and More

* Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSUS): Congressman Graves sides with dogfighters — speak out at rally on Monday (Kansas City)

* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): What to Do if You See Animal Abuse

* The Petition Site: Save Vick’s Dogs

* In Defense of Animals (IDA): Urge Amazon.com to stop promoting illegal animal fighting

* In Defense of Animals (IDA): Breaking News: Vick to Plead Guilty to Dog Fighting Charges

* Kinship Circle: No Deal For Sick Vick’s Dogfighting Crimes

* Last Chance for Animals (LCA): Michael Vick Admits Guilt, Plea Deal To Be Announced!

* Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): Thank the U.S. Attorneys in the Vick Case!

* API: End Dog Fighting for Sport, Sign a Petition to Help Wildlife, and much more…

* Kinship Circle: [RELIEF GLOBAL] Flooded NY Shelter/ TX-KS Updates/ Left Behind In War Zone… (Section #5, 63 Kittens Used As Dogfighting Bait Dumped At Shelter)

* DawnWatch: NPR commentary on dog fighting and canned hunting 8/8/07

* DawnWatch: “‘Culture’ Argument Doesn’t Excuse Cruelty” — Richmond Times-Dispatch 8/6/07

* Kinship Circle: ACTION-UPDATES / The Vick Dogfighting Files

* Kinship Circle: LETTER / To NFL: Release Michael Vick Without Pay

* Michael Vick Blog Carnival #2 (August 2, 2007 @ Campaign to Sack Michael Vick)

* What do you think about the SCLC’s plan to honor Falcons player Michael Vick, who has been indicted on dogfighting charges? [Poll and story on AJC.com, 8/3/07]

* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Sign the Statement Against Dogfighting

* The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): Help Pass the Dog Fighting Prohibition Act

* The Petition Site: Ban Michael Vick From The NFL

* DawnWatch: Nike drops Vic plus NY Times spay-neuter column 7/30/07

* Michael Vick Blog Carnival #1 (July 28, 2007 @ Campaign to Sack Michael Vick)

* Campaign to Sack Michael Vick

* In Defense of Animals (IDA): Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Faces Felony Dog Fighting Charges / Urge the NFL to suspend Michael Vick from play under strong suspicion of criminal activity

* Dogs Deserve Better (DDB): Michael Vick & Dogfighting

* Working Assets / Act for Change: Tell Nike to Cancel Michael Vick’s Endorsement Contract

* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Tell Nike to Drop Vick NOW!

* The Petition Site/HSUS: Suspend NFL Quarterback Michael Vick for Dogfighting!

* The Petition Site: Petition to let the NFL know how stupid they look

* DawnWatch: “Warning on red meat and greenhouse gases” Australian, (and Vick update) Friday July 20

* DawnWatch: CBS stories, polls, and other coverage of Vick and dogfighting 7/18/07

* Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) -> NFL, Throw the Book at Michael Vick

* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) -> Tell the NFL to Suspend Michael Vick!

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 11, 2007 10:15 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Video of foie gras horrors in Canada media — Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Major media across Canada today, Wednesday July 11, reports on gruesome undercover video taken at a Quebec foie gras farm.

At the website for Canada’s largest privately-owned television network, CTV, you can read the story and also watch the reports, which include some of the footage.

Go to www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070710/foie_gras_070710/20070710/ OR TO tinyurl.com/2me7wd.

On the right side of the page, click on the links under “video” to watch the reports.

We hear, “All the females end up in the garbage where they just suffocate to death. It’s because they produce smaller livers,” as we see awful shots of ducklings struggling and smothering in garbage bins.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 9, 2007 10:46 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: “An Ambivalent Vegetarian” in Self Magazine, July 2007

The July “special summer eating issue” of Self Magazine includes a fascinating article, by Elizabeth Devita-Raeburn, headed, “An Ambivalent Vegetarian: A food lover gets to the meat of the matter.” (Pg 34)

The author explores a struggle that many of us have felt, and that many people on this list might still be tackling — weighing a taste for meat against the desire not to hurt animals.

She opens with:

“Every time I sit down to eat at a restaurant it is the same dilemma: Should I choose what I want or order vegetarian? Sometimes I am lucky and what I want is meatless. But if what I really want is the boeuf bourguignon or the veal pepperonata, I squirm, caught between moral horror, my taste buds and a desire not to be the ‘weird’ vegetarian.”

We learn that the writer’s vegetarianism was originally “motivated more by a concern for calories than animals” and that a boyfriend prompted her first flip-flop. She writes, “I felt slightly guilty but my boyfriend’s approval was ample compensation.” During her time with him, she developed a healthier relationship with food than that which had first prompted her vegetarianism. She writes, however:

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 7, 2007 8:02 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: NY Times on Farm Sanctuary rescue of lamb 7/7/07

The Saturday, July 7, New York Times has a delightiful story about Farm Sanctuary. The article is by Kim Severson, headed, “Rounded Up in the City, Then Coddled in Style.” (Pg B5)

Severson describes Farm Sanctuary as “175 acres of vegan nirvana” nestled among vineyards and vegetable stands in the Finger Lakes region.

We read: “The newest New Yorker to arrive is Lucky Lady, a lamb who was found tearing through the Bronx on June 13. Seeing her agricultural tags, the people who saved Lucky Lady concluded that she had escaped from a live animal market where the culinary and cultural value of certain kinds of meat comes from the timeliness and manner of slaughter.”

Lucky Lady is temporarily in isolation under veterinary care. Soon “she will join 750 other animals that at one time or another were destined to become dinner. That includes dozens of chickens that survived Hurricane Katrina, a couple of ducks whose livers were going to become pate de foie gras and 40 pigs, some of which were headed for the slaughterhouse when they were abandoned by a truck driver near Washington.”

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 5, 2007 9:37 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: USA Today and LA Times Patt Morrison on spay-neuter 7/5/07

Today, Thursday July 5, two huge papers include articles on the importance of spay-neuter. USA Today, the most widely circulated paper in the US, has an article on spay-neuter subsidy programs. And the Los Angeles Times has a column by Patt Morrison, in support of California’s Healthy Pets Act, AB 1634.

The USA Today article, by Sharon L. Peters, is headed “The fix is in for pet control; Subsidy programs help nip the problem of unwanted animals.” (Pg 5d)

Peters writes:

“While California is in the spotlight for controversial mandatory-pet-sterilization legislation under discussion there, the rest of the country is hearing an insistent message that, although far short of compulsory sterilization, encourages and facilitates spay/neuters.

She tells us:

“The simple math, experts say, is that far more animals are being born every year than can be placed.

“Despite successful campaigns to persuade prospective owners to adopt shelter pets, about 7 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters every year, and there’s no evidence that adoptions will increase enough to close the gap, experts say.”

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 4, 2007 10:02 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Aussie media on downside of meat July 1-3, 2007

As the US chows down on its July 4th BBQs and waits for the impending fireworks and heart-attacks, I send out two terrific meat related pieces from this week’s Australian media. On Sunday night, Landline, Australia’s national rural issues program on ABC, covered the impact of animal rights and welfare on meat industry practices. And on Tuesday July 3, the Sydney Morning Herald looked at the environmental impact of meat-laden diets. The US media has largely shied away from that issue (a line or two in last Sunday’s New York Times being a notable exception) so it us great to see a lengthy article on it in a leading Australian newspaper.

ABC’s Landline headed its story, “Livestock producers face animal welfare challenges.” You can watch the whole piece on line at www.abc.net.au/landline/ and read the transcript at www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2006/s1965877.htm.

It follows the recent visit to Australia by American animal rights lawyer, Steve Wise, sponsored by the Australian group ‘Voiceless.’ (I thank Elizabeth Usher from Voiceless for making sure we knew about the Aussie coverage cited in this alert.)

The piece includes information on abusive modern farming systems, such as the following quote from Steve Wise:

“If you look at a factory farm and imagine it full of dogs or full of cats instead of full of pigs or instead of chickens and you see that they are kept in very small cages or pens, they are oftentimes unable to stand up and turn around. They’re extremely crowded. Chickens might have their beaks taken off which can be a painful thing. Pigs can have their tails docked, their teeth filed. They are not in the sunlight — they have to stay inside, in a completely controlled environment, and that’s until they’re led off to the slaughterhouse. And the horrors of a modern, factory slaughterhouse are just almost unbelievable.”

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 2, 2007 8:55 PM
Subject: Dawnwatch: Los Angeles Times and Orlando Sentinel on welfare standards 7/2/07

Today’s previous alert, looking at articles from Sunday July 1, pointed to a growing acceptance of vegetarianism in mainstream US society. Other media points to a growing awareness and lack of acceptance of, the horrors of factory farming. The Monday, July 2, Los Angeles Times and Orlando Sentinel have lead articles on the issue. And we have just had groundbreaking news from Oregon: For the first time ever a state legislature has banned sow gestation crates. (Bans in other states have resulted from citizen ballot initiatives generally after legislative efforts have faltered.)

The Los Angeles Times article, by Jerry Hirsch, on the cover of the business section (pg C1) is headed, “Animal welfare issue boiling” and subheaded, “Many firms in the industry have moved to undertake a number of changes in response to customer concerns.”

It tells us:

“Americans are increasingly picky about what they eat — especially when it comes to the ways that farm animals are killed, processed, sold and served as food. And U.S. businesses are catching on.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 2, 2007 8:33 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: NY Times and Chicago Tribune recommend veggie diets for planet and health — 7/1/07

Two huge papers — the New York Times and Chicago Tribune — gave veggie diets ringing endorsements on Sunday, July 1. Other, Monday July 2 papers have calls for animal welfare standards, which I will look at in a separate alert.

The Sunday, July 1 New York Times carried an article, by Alex Williams, on the cover of the Sunday Styles Section (section 9) headed “Buying Into the Green Movement.” The point of the article is to “question the notion that we can avert global warming by buying so-called earth-friendly products, from clothing and cars to homes and vacations, when the cumulative effect of our consumption remains enormous and hazardous.” It quotes an author who says that “Green consumerism is an oxymoronic phrase” and discusses how the news media have been responsible for “turning environmentalism into fashion and distracting from serious issues.” That article is on line at www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/fashion/01green.html.

Of most interest to those of us particularly concerned with animal issues, is a small related section, on page 9, headed, “Tread Lightly, Fly Directly.” It recommends ways to reduce your carbon footprint, taking “a few suggestions from among 77 offered by ‘The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook’ by David de Rothschild, the official companion book to the Live Earth concerts.”

The number one suggestion offered in the New York Times summary is:

“Whenever possible, replace meat with soy or other vegetable protein in your diet. It takes eight times as much energy to produce a pound of meat as it does a pound of tofu.”

(Let’s hope Al Gore read the New York Times this Sunday.)

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 1, 2007 7:38 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: NY Times and LA Times on pet overpopulation 6/30 - 7/1/07

This weekend, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times have had complimentary articles on pet overpopulation. A Saturday, June 30, New York Times piece looks at the burden on families, with big hearts and small bank accounts, who take in strays but don’t have money for vet bills. A Sunday, July 1, Los Angeles Times piece examines the Los Angeles efforts to move towards no-kill. At the forefront of the Los Angeles effort is the California Healthy Pets Act, AB 1634, which mandates the spay-neuter of dogs and cats over four months. The bill allows anybody to get an exemption by purchasing an intact permit if they wish to breed a registered purebred, or if their veterinarian requests an exemption for medical reasons, and there are many other exemptions. So the bill would not ban breeding so much as put in some desperately needed speed bumps. It would allow responsible, licensed breeding and disallow irresponsible breeding. Please visit www.cahealthypets.com/home.htm to learn more about it and find out what you can do to help.

The New York Times article, by Eric Eckhold, is headed “For Poor Families, an Added Burden of Too Many Pets.” (June 30, p A10.)

It tells us:

“Midnight dumping of unwanted dogs is common here on the southern tail of the Appalachian Mountains, where large numbers of poor people are attached to multiple pets but cannot afford to sterilize or vaccinate them, and where impoverished county governments do not maintain animal shelters, require licensing or enforce requirements for rabies shots.

“The combination of pets and poverty, veterinary experts say, brings similar results to many rural areas: unhealthy conditions for oversized animal populations, desperate efforts by often-overwhelmed individuals to help and a lurking threat to human health.”

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jun 28, 2007 2:04 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Great veggie kid article in Philadelphia Inquirer 6/28/07

The Thursday, June 28, Philadelphia Inquirer includes a superb article by Rita Giordano, headed, “The veggie kid; A young family member who says no to meat can be served without making meals a tall order.” It is on the cover of the Food section — page F1

Giordano discusses her fearful reaction to her eleven-year-old daughter’s sudden pronouncement that she was a vegetarian. She writes, “Were we now talking multiple entrees? What did I look like? A caterer?”

Then she writes,

“Nearly a year has passed. Aislinn is indeed a vegetarian, and I have not been reduced to kitchen slave. Having a vegetarian kid in an otherwise meat-eating household has proved to be quite doable. In fact, we’ve discovered great dishes we probably wouldn’t have if not for this veggie thing.

“My kid is not unique. According to a 2005 poll conducted for the Vegetarian Resource Group, an estimated 3 percent, or 1.4 million, American 8- to 18- year-olds are vegetarian.

(more…)