If you need some background on the issue, previous alerts are available here, here and here.

For more on humane methods of mouse control, please see a series of articles I wrote on the subject:

How to Tell If There’s a Mouse in Your House (Article 1 of 3)

How to Mouse-Proof Your House (Article 2 of 3)

Spare the Snap-Trap and Have Mercy on the Mice (Article 3 of 3)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: PETA
Date: Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 4:27 PM
Subject: Skin Ripped Off and Left to Suffocate - Tell Lowe’s No More Glue Traps!

Thank you for participating in the action alert that targets Lowe’s for its sale of cruel glue traps. I’m sure that you received Lowe’s automated response, which stated, “We…have changed our merchandise offering to cut in half the number of glue traps we offer, and only carry the products that contain Eugenol, which is an anesthetic.”

Unfortunately, Eugenol can only act as an anesthetic when injected directly into an animal’s bloodstream or given through a tube into the stomach. Topical application—which is how animals caught in glue traps would come into contact with Eugenol—would not result in any pain relief whatsoever. In fact, it could cause the animals to experience an additional painful burning sensation, vomiting, difficulty breathing, and seizures. These “modified” glue traps are every bit as cruel as standard glue traps.

Please contact Lowe’s at 1-800-445-6937 and let them know that Eugenol does nothing to ease the suffering of animals caught in glue traps. Also ask that they stop selling all glue traps immediately.

Thank you for everything that you do for animals.

Sincerely,

Emily Allen
Special Assistant to the Vice President
Cruelty Investigations Division
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for PETA’s Online Community.

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

————————-

Tagged: Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts peta people for the ethical treatment of animals lowe’s glue traps mouse traps humane traps mice pests

Action Alerts

Audubon: Help Save Internationally Important Wetlands
The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most important habitats for migratory birds in the entire Pacific Flyway. But this globally significant wetland is under threat from a new bill (S. 1680/ H.R. 2801), which would remove Wilderness protection for an unnecessary and expensive road through the heart of the Refuge.

Environmental Defense Fund: Take Action to Protect America’s Oceans and Fisheries
Our oceans are in trouble. Fisheries are collapsing, pollution is creating dead zones, and global warming is causing the death of corals. A new study in the journal Science recommends “catch shares”—a fishery management system pioneered by Environmental Defense Fund—as the best solution to end overfishing and restore America’s fisheries.

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW): Urge Your Senator to Help Save Cats and Rare Canines from Extinction
The Great Cats and Rare Canids Act is modeled after a highly successful conservation program that leverages public funding against private donations to produce real, on-the-ground benefits for wildlife. The program is already working to save other wildlife species like Asian and African elephants, tigers, orangatans, sea turtles, and rhinos. Please contact you Senators and urge them to support the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act ( S. 1033), and vote yes when the bill comes to the Senate floor.

Oceana: Speak out against Congress’s flawed overfishing proposal
Bottom trawlers, longlines, and gillnets allow fishermen to catch unsustainably huge amounts of fish and other marine life. After years and years of overfishing, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has finally proposed a rule to combat this unsustainable and damaging practice. Unfortunately, the rule falls dangerously short in a number of ways. Please take action today and tell NMFS to do it right.

Save the Internet.com: Open White Spaces for Everyone
A fight for universal Internet access is being waged in Washington over spectrum white spaces — empty frequencies between television channels that have the potential to connect millions to the information superhighway. The powerful corporate lobby would rather hoard this spectrum for themselves. The Federal Communications Commission now faces a critical choice: Open this spectrum to bring more Americans online or side with the lobbyists and block innovation.

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Yeah, I know it’s the New York Post…and maybe this is their misguided attempt at “satire” (dog, I hope this is supposed to be satirical!)….but still. FELONIOUS BALL OF FUR DESERVED EVERY BLOW - WTF!?

THE stupid cat had it coming.

Forgive me, all you animal- rights nuts, you freaky lovers of things furry, fierce and woefully incontinent. I’ve got something to say to all assorted people who’ve got nothing better to do with their days than stick their noses in another man’s litter box.

The dead cat at the center of a whacked-out catricide trial now eating up precious court time and tax dollars in downtown Manhattan is no innocent wittle victim.

PHOTOS: Man On Trial For Cat Killing

Norman the Cat, who was pummeled to death last year at the age of 8 by an inarguably hot, allegedly drunk, former Met minor leaguer and bit-part actor named Joseph Petcka, had serious issues.

The first of which may have been his name.

Owner Lisa Altobelli testified yesterday that she named Norman after the zhlubby character Norm from “Cheers” - “my favorite show.” Norman Bates sounds more accurate.

No one likes to see a little frisky drowning in a pool of his own blood. Well, not many.

But Petcka had grown tragically fixated on the idea of getting along with the pet pussy that Altobelli called “my little buddy.” He wrote in his diary that he’d made “progress” getting the pea-brained flea bag to allow Petcka to pet him.

Early on March 27, 2007, Altobelli testified, Petcka had too much to drink. She said he chanted, in a weird, sing-songy voice, “Nor-man. Nor-man!”

So Altobelli did what anyone overly attached to a neurotic hairball would do when danger was afoot: She left Petcka alone in her apartment with her beloved cat.

Hours later, Altobelli returned. She found the puss under a table.

“He was cold,” she said, crying crocodile tears and hanging her head petulantly.

Petcka claims the thing sank his teeth into his hand. So he had to violently knock him away.

Innocent victim? Or kitty provocateur?

Why can’t we just ask Petcka to clean a few hundred litter boxes, and end this fiasco?

Petcka, if you couldn’t discern from the dreck above, is currently on trial for killing his girlfriend’s cat Norman - pummeling him to death with his fists. Petcka’s “defense” is that Norman attacked him, thus justifying the beating. Trouble is, Norman’s declawed. And, erm, even if he weren’t - there are other ways to deal with an angry cat. It’s a fucking cat, ferchrissakes, not a cougar.

Petcka is a liar, a psychopath, an animal- and (future) woman-abuser. He allegedly killed Norman in a jealous rage because Altobelli loved the cat more than him. A woman who cared for an innocent, fluffy, unconditionally loving sentient being more than her cold, unfeeling asswipe of a boyfriend - you don’t fucking say!

If you’d like to fire off a complaint to the New York Post, here’s there online form for submitting letters to the editor. Andrea Peyser - the sub-human who wrote this piece - can be reached at andrea.peyser@nypost.com.

Please keep the misogyny and death threats to a minimum, people; instead of calling her a bitch or cunt or suggesting that you send your own C-list actor over to her place so that she, too, can experience the joy of being beaten to a bloody pulp, why not remind her of the link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence?

Also, here are a few related petitions you can sign, if so inclined:

NY Post Columnist Says Beaten Cat Deserved to Die!

Celeb. Boyfriend Kills Girlfriends Cat in Jealous Rage

(Crossposted from.)

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts petitions the petition site new york post animal abuse animal cruelty cruelty to animals Joseph Petcka Norman cat feline pet companion animal New York NYC Lisa Altobelli interpersonal violence Andrea Peyser

Action Alerts

Alaska Wilderness League: Drilling Is Almost Here… Help Us Stop It!
The House of Representatives voted to end the moratorium on new offshore drilling. Big Oil can smell drilling on the horizon, and they’re getting even greedier – now they want to get their hands on the Arctic Refuge, too… We need to show the Senate that we see through Big Oil’s bluff. Oil is already down $50 a barrel from its high of $147 this summer. Drilling won’t mean a drop at the pump. When people speak up, we cannot be ignored.

Color of Change: Lose your home, Lose your vote? - Demand that John McCain stand up against his party’s shameful strategy to challenge voters
This year, Republicans in Michigan have hit an all-new low–they plan to target homeowners subject to foreclosure and prevent them from voting. Join us in demanding that John McCain denounce this plan and call on Republican leaders–in Michigan and around the country–to end this illegal strategy.

CREDO Action: Tell Harry Reid: Don’t cave on offshore drilling.
On Tuesday, September 16th, House Democrats reversed the position they’ve held for 26 years. They voted to allow offshore oil drilling. The House “compromise” bill will now come up for a vote in the Senate. As if this bill weren’t bad enough, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has stated that he will also allow a vote on a Republican bill that allows even more drilling than the House approved.

Defenders of Wildlife: Help Ensure a Lasting Future for Wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies
In March 2008, the Bush/Cheney Administration eliminated Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies. For months, wolves were slaughtered… until Defenders of Wildlife and our conservation allies prevailed in court and restored federal protections for these magnificent animals. Now the federal government is rescinding its plan to remove wolves from the list of federally protected species and going back to the drawing board for a new plan to manage wolves in the Northern Rockies.

(Note: If you use the sample letter, please remove the speciesist language prior to sending, e.g., “I also hope that you will work with conservationists, states, ranchers and other interested parties to craft a science-based, responsible and balanced federal management strategy that will benefit wolves, ranchers, hunters, Northern Rockies residents and all Americans who care deeply about wildlife conservation.”)

Earthjustice: Yes to Renewable Energy Tax Credits, No to the “Gang of Ten”
The Senate is poised to take up the New Energy Reform Act, also known as the Gang of 10 proposal, this week. Pro-drilling members of the Senate tout this bill as a bipartisan compromise, but in effect it is more of the same giveaways to Big Oil and King Coal that got us into our current energy and climate predicament in the first place. This time they are wrapped in a blanket of renewable energy and energy efficiency tax credits.

(more…)

Action Alerts

Environmental Defense Fund: Take Action to Urge Global Warming Debate Questions
Global warming is the most serious environmental threat facing the planet today. Americans need to know exactly where the candidates stand. It’s up to the debate moderators to press the candidates for jargon-free, specific answers for how each plans to combat our nation’s energy crisis and stop the effects of global warming.

Greenpeace: Kimberly-Clark: Don’t Blow Ancient Forests on Kleenex
There’s no excuse for destroying ancient forests — especially when the forests are used to make disposable products such as tissues and toilet paper.

Invisible Voices: Gold Butte’s burros need your voice
Gold Butte’s burros need your voice. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has proposed a new Herd Management Area (HMA) Plan for Gold Butte’s burros in Nevada, effective for the next 10-20 years. The Gold Butte HMA is the last of three HMAs in the Lake Mead Conservation Area BLM has not yet zeroed out: the area used to be the third largest concentration of wild burros in the West with an estimated population of 800, with 600 in Gold Butte alone. The plan authorizes round-ups every 4-5 years with a population target of just 22 burros.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Tell D’Agostino to Stop Promoting Ringling!
After PETA learned that supermarket chain D’Agostino was giving away coupons for discounted Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus tickets to customers and offering other promotions, we immediately contacted the company to urge executives to end the company’s annual promotion. D’Agostino President Nicholas D’Agostino and Marketing Director Anderson Chung have ignored our e-mails and requests to meet and discuss this important matter.

Public Citizen: Don’t Let Congress Hand the Auto Industry a Blank Check
The auto industry has created a nice little mess for itself. For years Detroit automakers have ignored consumer desires for cleaner, more fuel efficient vehicles and continued churning out massive, gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles to secure handsome profits. They disregarded rising gas prices and lessons learned from the oil embargoes and shortages of the 1970s. Now these corporate giants are descending on Washington hat in hand to request that the taxpayers bail them out. They want as much as $50 billion in loan guarantees so they can continue business as usual.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 2:54 PM
Subject: Stranded By Ike: In Vermilion, Lafitte, Plaquemines

KINSHIP CIRCLE ANIMAL DISASTER AID NETWORK
www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters

9/16/08: Stranded By Ike - Animals In Vermilion, Lafitte, Plaquemines

Kinship Circle Is not managing volunteers for these efforts.
RESPOND DIRECTLY TO CONTACTS BELOW.

1. Vermilion Parish: Cows On Levees, Trapped By Floodwaters
2. Lafitte, Plaquemines: Animals Need Food

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

1. Vermilion: Cows On Levees, Trapped By Floodwaters

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

PHOTOS: 9/14/08, Vermilion Parish — Cows stranded in water. Hay is ruined… Notify Debra Barlow (HHERO) ASAP if you can join relief convoys bringing supplies and aid to these animals. (CONTACT INFO BELOW)

CRITICAL NEED TO HELP COWS IN VERMILION PARISH

As happened during Katrina, Ike’s wrath has saturated pastures with saltwater. Cows are standing on levees, stranded by floodwaters. Help and supplies are urgently needed to save these animals.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 8:32 PM
Subject: LaFourche Parish: Volunteers/Supplies Needed Now

KINSHIP CIRCLE ANIMAL DISASTER AID NETWORK
www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters

9/15/08: Volunteers & Supplies Needed In Flooded LaFourche, LA

VOLUNTEERS CALLED TO LAFOURCHE PARISH

Kinship Circle and MuttShack volunteers are needed in LaFourche Parish, Louisiana where MuttShack has a joint MOU with LaFourche Parish, by and between La Fourche Parish Government, COLAA (the Coalition of Louisiana Animal Advocates), MuttShack Animal Rescue and Humane Society of Louisiana.

La Fourche Parish Animal Shelter was destroyed in recent storms. Animals need care now, even during cleanup and rebuilding. A main supply structure (60ft X 80ft) was ravaged as well, and cannot serve as a temporary holding area for animals until we construct a cinderblock foundation (or substitute with plastic/rubberized pallets). This marshy area is prone to flooding, even with minimal rainfall. All supplies and vaccines were ruined when power went down, but power is currently back on.

The return of residents — along with area properties and perimeter fencing wrecked in storms — promises a large influx of rescues and surrenders. Volunteers can help counsel residents and urge them to care for their own animals, as we provide kenneling, crates and food.

As an adjunct to the recovery effort, the MOU partners will try to implement a TNR and Spay/Neuter program — perhaps attracting residents with food incentives so they bring in their animals.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Date: Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Subject: Alert: BORDC Issues New Booklet, The “War on Terror” and The Constitution

BORDC Issues The “War on Terror” and The Constitution

“This booklet .. provides the basic tools with which the citizenry can begin to act to make this America again.”
- Nat Hentoff

The Northampton, MA, September 17, 2008 — “The ‘War on Terror’ and The Constitution,” a new booklet by the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC), is a concise summary of how key anti-terrorism laws and policies enacted since September 11, 2001, affect Americans’ constitutional rights. The new laws are organized into chapters corresponding to sections of the U.S. Constitution and articles of the Bill of Rights. Stories in each chapter show how the lives of innocent Americans and foreign detainees have been affected. BORDC is issuing the 24-page booklet on Constitution Day, the 220th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution.

Nancy Talanian, BORDC’s director and the booklet’s author, sees the booklet as a roadmap to show Americans the current status of their rights and liberties compared to where they should be according to the Constitution. “Armed with that knowledge,” she said, “they can work with one another and with their legislators to restore the essential rights they have come to expect.”

Nat Hentoff, a nationally recognized authority on the Bill of Rights, agrees. “No matter who the next president is or what the composition of the next Congress is,” he said, “the extent and the depth of what the Bush administration has done to the Constitution and to our standing in the world will remain unless and until enough Americans know how much remains to be done-and this booklet by the Bill of Rights Defense Committee provides the basic tools with which the citizenry can begin to act to make this America again.”

According to Talanian, “We now have substantial proof that human failures within our government, not the laws and policies in place prior to September 11, 2001, contributed to the terrorist attacks on that day. Furthermore, no proof has been offered to substantiate executive branch claims that new laws and policies such as the USA PATRIOT Act have made this country safer. One could argue that the government is wasting resources prying into the lives of innocent people and storing millions of their private records in databases and treating potentially all of us as terrorism suspects.”

“The ‘War on Terror’ and the Constitution” (24 pages, $3.00) is available from the Bill of Rights Defense Committee at www.bordc.org/store.php. Download the booklet (PDF, 6.7 MB) at www.bordc.org/resources/war_on_terror.pdf.

In 2002, BORDC spearheaded a nationwide campaign that put city, county, and state governments on record for upholding their residents’ constitutional rights. The passage of eight statewide resolutions and more than 400 local resolutions and ordinances led Congress to strengthen its oversight when it reauthorized the PATRIOT Act in 2006. BORDC’s current focus is on the People’s Campaign for the Constitution, a grassroots effort to hold members of Congress accountable to their oaths to uphold the Constitution.

# # #

Links:

Download high and low resolution PDFs of The “War on Terror” and the Constitution: www.bordc.org/press/war_on_terror.php

Order booklets online: www.bordc.org/store.php

Bill of Rights Defense Committee, www.bordc.org

People’s Campaign for the Constitution, www.constitutioncampaign.org

Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Address: 8 Bridge Street, Suite A, Northampton, MA 01060
Web: www.bordc.org/
Email: info [at] bordc.org
Telephone: 413-582-0110
Fax: 413-582-0116

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Tagged: Bill of Rights Defense Committee bordc booklet civil liberties war on terra war on terror terrorism

Action Alerts

Alaska Wilderness: Clean Energy, or More Irresponsible Drilling?
Congress is back and determined to address our energy crisis. An overwhelming majority of the American public agrees that now is the time for us to take real steps toward a smarter, cleaner energy future. But Big Oil has their dirty hands in every part of this process and is working to make sure they can drill anywhere, anytime, anyhow. The only way to achieve the sustainable future we need is by showing Congress the strength of our call for clean, renewable energy.

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Urge Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign a groundbreaking climate bill to reduce sprawl and pollution
The California legislature recently passed a groundbreaking bill that would reduce pollution associated with sprawl and help curb global warming in the process. Tell Governor Schwarzenegger to sign AB 375 right away.

Pacific Environment: Demand real energy security solutions!
With only five months left in office, the Bush Administration is pushing to ram a new 5-year offshore drilling plan through Minerals Management Service (MMS) that would put large coastal areas in the hands of oil companies and aggressively expand current drilling. Expert after expert has said we can’t drill our way to energy independence. Tell the MMS today to stop new oil drilling and demand real energy solutions!

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS): Lower Gas Prices by Supporting Clean Energy Not Drilling
Continuing our dependence on dirty fossil fuels won’t protect consumers from rising gas prices—or the planet from rising temperatures. As Congress considers new energy legislation this week, they have the opportunity to save consumers money, create jobs, and protect us from global warming. But to do so, they need to prevent the Bush administration from tampering with the fuel economy standards Congress raised last year and support smarter energy solutions like wind, solar, and other renewable sources of electricity.

(more…)

Action Alerts

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Declare yourself a Constitution Voter.
Download your own “I’m a Constitution Voter” sign right now — or make your own. Then send us a photo of you with your sign. We’ll use it in an online advertising campaign we’re launching next week.

American Freedom Campaign: Tell the presidential candidates to discuss the Constitution on Constitution Day (September 17)
At a time when our constitutional form of government is threatened by an overreaching executive and a meek and compliant legislative branch, it is critical that the candidates who seek to serve as the next president of the United States clearly state what they would do in office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

DawnWatch: Diet and global warming on Access Hollywood, Time Magazine and UK papers Sept 7-10, 2008
This week, the link between meat eating and climate change is all over the news. Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has discussed the effects of diet on global warming (see www.ciwf.org.uk for video of highlights talk) and recommended that people have at least one meat free meal per week. His recommendation has been a lead story in the UK all week, and is starting to make it over to the US — it is now on Time Magazine’s website and that of Fox News.

International Fund for Animal Welfare (FAW): Exposed: Secret Meeting Could End Whale Protections
We’ve learned about a secret meeting that could mean the end of years of whale protection. From September 15-19, a group of member countries from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will meet in St Petersburg, Florida to consider lifting the ban on commercial whaling. Please take action now to stop this from happening by sending and email to Secretary of Commerce, Carlos M. Gutierrez, and ask him to keep whale protection a public issue.

National Wildlife Federation (NWF): Urge Congress to Push America’s Energy Policies in a Bold New Direction
In the coming days Congress will vote on a new set of energy policies that if passed will mark a hey-day for Big Oil’s efforts to keep our country on lock down, while causing a huge detriment for the future of wildlife and the natural resources we all depend on.

(more…)