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From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jun 10, 2007 7:04 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Time Magazine on child bullfighters 6/11/07 edition

Time magazine hates children (particularly their childlike innocence).

Photo via Carlos Olivares

The “Postcard” section of the June 11 edition of Time magazine is headed, “Postcard: Mexico” and the highlight reads, “With no minimum age for matadors, the country has children as young as 10 picking up the sword. Can they save a dying sport? In the ring with the world’s youngest bullfighter.” Unfortunately it is pretty much a fluff piece on bullfighting. It is by Tim Padgett.

It opens with a failed attempt by Rafita, a ten year old, 80lb boy, to kill his first bull. We read, “Together with a handful of other child stars Rafita has reawakened interest in bullfighting when it looked headed for obscurity in Mexico.”

While the piece mostly discusses the excitement around the young bullfighters, we do read:

“The sport’s revival is not without controversy. The children have engendered an impassioned debate over whether bullfighting is a noble drama that preserves Mexican heritage or a barbaric spectacle that, in the words of animal-rights activist Eduardo Lamazón, ‘has no place in a society like ours that’s trying to modernize.’”

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FYI: This article was also the subject of a recent In Defense of Animals alert. See: IDA Writing Alert: It’s time to ban foie gras, the trifecta of misery.

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From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jun 7, 2007 11:42 PM
Subject: DawnWatch 3: Terrific Philly Daily News column supporting foie gras ban — 6/7/07

Councilman Jack Kelly has introduced an anti foie gras bill in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky’s Thursday June 7 column is headed, “It’s time to ban foie gras, the trifecta of misery.” (Pg. 08)

Bykofsky tells us that while “a piddling 2 percent” of the population eat foie gras at least once a year, “Each year in the U.S., almost a half-million ducks are caged, tortured and slaughtered for their livers, deliberately diseased by the cruel hand of man.”

He writes:

“To create ‘fatty liver,’ tubes are jammed down the throats of helpless male ducks two or three times a day to force-feed them up to a total of four pounds of grain mush. The forced feedings go on for 12-15 days.”

We read:

“Sometimes necks are pierced, sometimes wings are broken. The grotesquely enlarged livers can make it hard for ducks to even walk, but cruelty is overlooked to satisfy the palates of those who’ll pay $30-45 a pound at retail for foie gras - the trifecta of misery: unnecessary, unhealthy, unkind.”

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From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jun 6, 2007 12:54 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: New York Times on turkey waste as fuel 6/6/07

Today’s (Wednesday June 6) New York Times has a front page story that will concern animal protectionists and environmentalists.

The story, by Susan Saulny, is headed, “From Turkey Waste, a New Fuel and a New Fight.”

It opens:

“For anyone curious about what thousands of tons of turkey litter looks like, piled high into an indoor olfactory-assaulting mountain of manure, this old railroad stop on the extreme edge of alternative energy production is the place to be.

“Thanks to the abundance of local droppings, Benson is home to a new $200 million power plant that burns turkey litter to produce electricity. For the last few weeks now, since before generating operations began in mid-May, turkey waste has poured in from nearby farms by the truckload, filling a fuel hall several stories high.

“The power plant is a novelty on the prairie, the first in the country to burn animal litter (manure mixed with farm-animal bedding like wood chips). And it sits at the intersection of two national obsessions: an appetite for lean meat and a demand for alternative fuels.

“But it has also put Benson, a town of 3,376 some three hours west of Minneapolis, on the map in another way: as a target of environmental advocates who question the earth-friendliness of the operation.

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From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jun 5, 2007 1:19 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: People Magazine on Dog Discrimination, against big black dogs 6/11/07 edition

The current, June 11, edition of People Magazine, has a great story by Jill Smolowe headed, “Dog Discrimination?” and sub-headed, “When it comes to finding owners, big black pooches often face a tougher time than canines of other colors. Tamara Delany hopes to change that.” (Pg 93.)

It focuses on Delany’s attempts to find a home for a dog known in the rescue world as a BBD: a big black dog. We learn that such dogs have “two strikes,” being over 50lbs and black. An animal shelter worker quoted says, “The black dog is definitely more at risk of going to death row than a yellow or tan dog.”

We read:

“Delany, 43, has made it her mission to champion BBDs. A lifelong animal lover who at age 3 convinced her father to stop hunting, she first stumbled on the grim BBD phenomenon in 2003….”

She decided “These dogs need a Web site.’” It is www.blackpearldogs.com/

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From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jun 3, 2007 8:51 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: NY Times book reviews on pet grief and Doris Day’s animal rights - 6/3/07

The Sunday, June 3, New York Times Book Review has two reviews of interest to animal advocates. Critically acclaimed indie musician and animal rights activist Nellie McKay has written a review of a Doris Day biography and has focused on Day’s animal advocacy. The Book Review section also includes a review of “Dog Years, a Memoir” by Mark Doty, in which he explores his grief at the loss of his pets.

McKay’s article on Tom Santopietro’s “Considering Doris Day” is headed “Eternal Sunshine.” (p 50)

McKay discusses the Doris Day phenomena, then writes:

“Her pictures feature meat diets, carriage rides, careers in the cattle industry; they depict chicken-truck accidents as hilarious. In ‘Do Not Disturb,’ she saves a fox but sports a fur. Day is an inexhaustible animal advocate today, but these plotlines dismay because, as Tom Santopietro notes in ‘Considering Doris Day,’ ’she functioned as a role model through whom thousands of women worldwide lived vicariously.’ Day herself has mentioned projects she refused or changes she insisted on: she declined the role of Mrs. Robinson in ‘The Graduate’ (finding it exploitative) and had vulgarities removed from ‘Lover Come Back.’ She demanded proper care and feeding of the animals involved in the Alfred Hitchcock film ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much,’ which was shot partly in Morocco.

“What Day refuses to tolerate is relevant because while her performances were a product of their era, sales of her albums seem to double or triple with each passing year, and DVDs of her movies are increasingly popular. She may not have pursued a political image, but her effect is more intimate, and more powerful, than that of many politicians. A testament to this power is that the organizations founded in her name have attracted more than 180,000 members, continuing to draw attention to the issue of animal rights, which has been called the most progressive cause of our time.

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From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: May 31, 2007 11:29 AM
Subject: DawnWatch: NY Times on Coke and Pepsi animal testing ban 5/31/07

Today’s New York Times, (Thursday, May 31) announces another step forward. An article by Brenda Goodman in the Business Section (pg C3) is headed “Coca-Cola And PepsiCo Agree to Curb Animal Tests” and opens with:

“Under pressure from animal rights advocates, two soft drink giants, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, have agreed to stop directly financing research that uses animals to test or develop their products, except where such testing is required by law.

“Researchers at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sought the assurances after discovering studies financed by the companies that used animals like rats and chimpanzees to test taste perception and, in some cases, to bolster support for promotional health claims.”

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From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: May 30, 2007 2:47 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: UK govt agency says Go vegan to help climate — 30 May, 2007

Groundbreaking news from the UK! The Daily Telegraph, 30 May, 2007, includes an article by Charles Clover headed, “Go vegan to help climate, says Government agency.” (p7)

It opens:

“It would help tackle the problem of climate change if people ate less meat, according to a Government agency.

“A leaked email to a vegetarian campaign group from an Environment Agency official expresses sympathy with the environmental benefits of a vegan diet, which bans dairy products and fish.

“The agency also says the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is considering recommending eating less meat as one of the ‘key environmental behaviour changes'’ needed to save the planet.

“It says that this change would have to be introduced ‘gently’ because of ‘the risk of alienating the public’.

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From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: May 30, 2007 2:11 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Gretchen Wyler obituaries 5/28 - 5/30/07

The Wednesday, May 30 New York Times and London Independent both have obituaries honoring the incomparable Gretchen Wyler, founder of the Genesis Awards (see tinyurl.com/2db48s) and beloved mentor to many of us. The Los Angeles Times obit ran on Monday. I will paste the beautiful Independent write-up in full below, and also the Los Angeles Times obituary, which focused the most on her animal protection work. And I will provide a link to the New York Times piece, which includes a delightful photo.

Here is the Independent piece:

The Independent (London)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

GRETCHEN WYLER; Overnight star on Broadway

Tom Vallance

The musical star Gretchen Wyler achieved overnight success in 1955 when she was promoted from understudy to featured player shortly before the Cole Porter musical Silk Stockings opened on Broadway, going on to stop the show. She subsequently played star parts in other musicals, but generally as a replacement for performers such as Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera, who first created the roles. “I don’t really admit to this,” she said, “but other people say, ‘Poor Gretchen, it never really happened.’”

The daughter of a petroleum engineer, she was born Gretchen Patricia Winneche in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1932, and had her first dancing lesson at the age of three. She made her theatrical début in 1950 as part of the ballet ensemble with the St Louis Municipal Opera company. Later the same year she moved to New York where she was cast in the chorus of Frank Loesser’s Where’s Charley?, a musical version of Charley’s Aunt starring Ray Bolger. “I was the baby in that show,” she said, and I loved Ray Bolger - I used to stand in the wings every night and watch him. He even gave me my name. He said if I was going to stay in the theatre - and I was - I needed to have a name for the marquee. “What do you think about Gretchen Wyler?” I couldn’t believe it. The great Ray Bolger giving me a name.

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Get right with D-O-G!:

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: May 29, 2007 3:09 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Huge Chicago Tribune spread on animal advocacy, and Newsday on faux meats 5/27/- 5/29/07

Over Memorial Day Weekend, the Chicago Tribune ran a wonderful story on the cover of its magazine section, Sunday May 27, headed, “Ruffling feathers; Once Viewed as Crazies, Animal Rights Activists Say Their Message is Starting to Get Through.”

Proving the point, New York Newsday, one of the countries most widely distributed papers, has a great story on fake meats, on Tuesday, May 29.

The Chicago Tribune magazine cover story, by Mick Dumke, is huge — over 4,000 words long — with loads of great photos.

It opens telling us that PETA protests KFC, using leaflets informing people “the chain’s suppliers abuse chickens–routinely breaking their legs, cutting off their beaks and scalding them alive before they’re slaughtered for food.” We learn that protesters get some snide comments, but mostly support. We read of a protester handing out leaflets to three kids who came running to her:

“Pollock happily set them up–they’re the future of the animal rights movement, she says–and the mother, stuffing the leaflet in her purse, thanked her.”

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From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: May 28, 2007 10:29 AM
Subject: DawnWatch: Gourmet Magazine on chicken slaughter methods — June 2007 edition

(I preface the alert below with the sad news that Gretchen Wyler, founder of the Genesis Awards, and a beloved friend and mentor to many of us, passed away on Sunday morning, May 27. An official statement from her family will come soon. Throughout her life, Gretchen led the battle to awaken the media to the plight of animals. It therefore seems fitting to send out news of her passing with the extraordinary news that Gourmet Magazine this month features the plight of chickens used for food. Gretchen made an immeasurable difference in her life, and she left us knowing that we have reached some sort of tipping point, and that real change is on the horizon.)

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The good news roll began in April, when Gourmet Magazine announced that it would start to include a monthly column in Gourmet Every Day featuring vegetarian main courses. The letter from the editor (Ruth Reichl) that month told us:

“Livestock grazing and feed production now use 30 percent of the surface of the planet, and that takes a toll on the environment. Eating so much meat takes a toll on us as well: Most health professionals agree that we would be better off if we consumed less meat and more vegetables.”

The June issue of Gourmet goes a step further, focusing not just on the environmental and human health effects of our meat-laden diets, but also on the animals. On the cover we read, “Investigative Report: A Chicken’s Life.” The story inside, starting on page 94, is headed, “A View to Kill” and sub-headed, “Americans eat almost 9 billion chickens a year, which requires megafarms and giant processing plants. Is there a better way for the birds to meet their end?”

Daniel Zwerdling opens his report by telling us that he was refused entry into chicken supply farms and slaughterhouses as he researched the story. He suggests that the “entire food industry is being kicked and shoved towards transforming the way it treats animals — and chicken executives are making a last ditch effort to resist.”

Unfortunately Zwerdling overestimates progress in other areas. He describes sow confinement pens “so tiny that the animals can’t even turn around” and writes, “In January, executives at America’s top hog producer, Smithfield Foods, stunned competitors by vowing to phase out all their confinement pens across the country. Their sows can now amble around.” That suggests an awfully quick phase-out. In fact, it will be 10-20 years before Smithfield hogs will be able to amble around — unless we pass more state ballot initiatives like the one that banned sow gestation crates in Arizona in 2006.

Yet Zwerdling has reason to write, “These are astonishing developments — especially when you consider that only ten years ago industry leaders shrugged off the animal-welfare movement as the province of kooks.”

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