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Disaster Relief in Japan: Animal Rescue & Vegan/Animal-Friendly Resources

Kelly Garbato — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:53:02 +0000

Last updated on 4/18/11 @ 11:15 AM CDT.

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
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1. Introduction / Choosing a Charity

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.

Charity Navigator – Charity Navigator evaluates and rates NPOs based on their financial health and responsibility. The website’s overview explains it best:

Specifically, Charity Navigator’s rating system examines two broad areas of a charity’s financial health — how responsibly it functions day to day as well as how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time. Each charity is then awarded an overall rating, ranging from zero to four stars. To help donors avoid becoming victims of mailing-list appeals, each charity’s commitment to keeping donors’ personal information confidential is assessed. The site is easily navigable by charity name, location or type of activity and also features opinion pieces by Charity Navigator experts, donation tips, and top-10 and bottom-10 lists which rank efficient and inefficient organizations in a number of categories. [...]

Charity Navigator accepts no funding from the charities that we evaluate, ensuring that our ratings remain objective.

The database is free and easy to use. Registered users can also rate charities to which they’ve donated, volunteered or received services from. A donation is optional, but shiny.

Humane Charity Seal – The Council on Humane Giving’s “Humane Charity Seal” program is administered by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). The website allows users to search its database of charities by keyword, location and/or status to find out which NPOs fund animal testing – and which don’t. You can make a donation to the group here.

Yahoo! Dollar-to-Yen Conversion Calculator – This may come in handy if you choose to contribute to a group based in Japan!

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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2. Human-Centered Disaster Relief, Vegan & Non

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.

The Red Cross – The overwhelming majority of requests for donations flooding the internet in the last week have focused on the Red Cross. According to an appeal distributed by MoveOn.org, the Red Cross operates 92 hospitals in Japan and has deployed 700 medical relief volunteers across the country already. As in international NGO, it is well-poised to provide aid in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster.

However, I strongly caution against supporting this group for a number of reasons:

The Red Cross supports animal testing. According to Humane Seal, the American Red Cross still funds experiments involving animals – but the Canadian Red Cross does not. The Beagle Freedom Project claims that, “1 in 4 biomedical researchers at the Red Cross conduct animal testing.” (No reference is provided for these numbers, so…grain of salt.)
The Red Cross has an ongoing history of misusing its funds and misleading donors. See, e.g., September 11 controversy and Hurricane Katrina controversy on Wiki.
As per US FDA policy, the Red Cross does not accept blood donations from gay and bisexual men. While it has been lobbying against this policy since about 2006, the group arguable should have stood opposed to this homophobic, discriminatory policy much, much sooner.
Though the Red Cross’s mission is to provide humanitarian aid impartially and without discrimination, former volunteers report that “the ARC relies heavily on religious organizations, most notably the Southern Baptist Convention, to provide actual disaster relief services not related to medical needs. Hence why we saw widespread discrimination during the Katrina Relief effort towards LGBT persons, especially transgender evacuees in Houston, who were subject to arrest just for showing up and asking for help. Even LGBT volunteers (myself included) had to be ‘redeployed’ home, because of said discriminatory behaviors.”
Finally, the Red Cross has a long history of racial discrimination, and during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, it resisted screening its blood for HIV, claiming that it would be cost-prohibitive. Additionally, it has been fined multiple times by the FDA for its failure to adequately monitor its blood supply. For more, please read The truth about the Red Cross: The right-wing, scandal-ridden “charity” that isn’t really a charity at the Socialist Worker.

The International Medical Corps (IMC) – Though not as ubiquitous as the Red Cross, the IMC is another organization I’ve seen mentioned on Twitter, tumblr and elsewhere. According to its Wiki entry,

Founded in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization that works to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in under served communities worldwide.

International Medical Corps provides life-saving relief while building self-reliance through programs that focus on education and training. As a result of this approach, approximately 96% of its field-based staff and health professionals are recruited from the local community, helping ensure that the skills stay within the area long after the program has ended.

The emphasis on capacity building through education and training is central to all International Medical Corps programs. Its central program priorities include: emergency response; health capacity building; women’s and children’s health and wellbeing; mental health; and clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. In addition to these priorities, International Medical Corps also runs programs providing nutrition services, economic and agricultural livelihoods support, and prevention, testing, and care for communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

As of March 18, IMC reports that it has an emergency response team on the ground in Japan, and

is assessing the post-disaster needs of isolated coastal villages north of Sendai that have yet to receive humanitarian assistance. They found acute shortages of food, water and some medicines, and survivors in need of mental health support. [...]

Based on its assessments at evacuation centers and a regional hospital where critical patients have been referred, International Medical Corps will work to fill critical gaps – including addressing the need for food, water and chronic medicines at shelters, providing psychological support, and if needed deploying four medical teams currently on standby.

While I was unable to find any complaints of discrimination against marginalized populations, it’s worth noting that IMC also runs a Livelihoods & Agriculture program, which encourages and facilitates animal agriculture. See, e.g., the Selected Examples page, which touts its microfinancing program in North Caucasus benefiting, among other things, “cattle and sheep breeding mini-farms.”

IMC has an emergency response fund to which you can donate directly; it’s unclear whether any of these funds will go to support the longer-term Livelihoods & Agriculture programs.

Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) – MSF is a secular, humanitarian-aid NGO comprised primarily of medical professionals and journalists. Founded in 1971 on the belief that “all people have the right to medical care regardless of race, religion, creed or political affiliation, and that the needs of these people outweigh respect for national borders,” MSF “provides health care and medical training to populations in about 70 countries, and frequently insists on political responsibility in conflict zones.”

In addition to health care and assistance (preventative and otherwise), MSF operates Therapeutic Feeding Programmes to combat malnutrition; helps to provide clean water and sanitation to the communities its serves; conducts epidemiology surveys to improve the care it provides; surveys rates of violence in politically unstable regions; and bears witness to injustice, oftentimes pressuring governments to act. You can read more about the group’s history, mission and principles here.

MSF is currently on the ground in Japan; as of March 15, it reports that,

MSF currently has a team of 10 people, divided into three teams, conducting mobile clinics and assessments in Miyagi prefecture, following the huge earthquake and resulting tsunamis last Friday.

The tsunamis have decimated coastal areas, which after huge efforts of Japanese authorities, are now becoming accessible by road.

“In one area around Minamisunriku, in northern Miyagi, we were told by officials there were 9,200 people in 20 evacuation centres who needed water, non-food items and medical attention,” said Mikiko Dotsu, the coordinator of the MSF team. [...]

MSF is now identifying specific needs – which include oxygen, non-food items, medical items and water – and will work with Japanese authorities to assist these populations.

More MSF personnel staff are standing by in Japan and other countries, to head to Miyagi prefecture to increase our assistance.

You can follow the group’s response on the main page of its website, where updated headlines appear daily. Donations are accepted through national offices (a list is available here), but cannot be earmarked toward any one program or disaster.

While some of the medicine and food that MSF distributes is no doubt animal-based, the exigent circumstances in which it operates complicates the situation, as does the lack of cruelty-free options when it comes to particular medications (e.g., vaccines). As an ethical vegan, I don’t believe that humans have the right to harm or exploit nonhuman animals unless doing so is absolutely necessary to our survival. I believe that MSF’s work is necessary and vital. Additionally, I appreciate that the group does not entrench animal exploitation in the communities it serves, such as through animal agriculture programs. It is also Humane Seal approved.

Skeptics and Humanists Aid and Relief Effort (SHARE) – A project of the Center for Inquiry (CFI) (and previously the Council for Secular Humanism), SHARE is a philanthropic, secular foundation that collects and redistributes donations in response to specific disasters. SHARE provides an alternative for atheists, agnostics, secular humanists and other who wish to contribute to a cause without the involvement of a religious group or intermediary:

Many people who are skeptics and humanists are frustrated that so many charitable organizations, especially those that help people afflicted by natural or human disasters, have efforts coordinated by religious organizations. These organizations sometimes proselytize to the people in need of their services. This is entirely unacceptable to skeptics and secular humanists.

The money collected through SHARE goes directly to secular relief efforts in the nations or areas afflicted. By donating to SHARE, you can pool your resources with other like-minded individuals who wish to effect change in the world.

The monies raised for SHARE’s Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Relief Fund will go to Doctors Without Borders. Donate here.

ShelterBox – ShelterBox distributes essential supplies to families affected by natural disasters. A typical kit includes:

Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items.

You can make a donation to ShelterBox here, and track where your box is sent through the group’s website.

In some situations, the boxes are distributed by ShelterBox Response Teams; those interested in volunteering can find additional information at www.shelterboxacademy.org.

The Search Dog Foundation (SDF) – Based in California, SDF recruits potential search and rescue dogs, trains them at a cost of roughly $10,000 per dog, and partners graduates with firefighters and other first responders to find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters. Dogs are not bred, but rescued and/or “donated,” and SDF promises that all dogs entered into the program (whether or not they graduate) have found a home for life. SDF currently has multiple teams on the ground and working in Japan.

To be honest, I’m puzzled as to why SDF is included on so many of the “animal rescue” lists currently circulating the internet. SDF is a human rescue group that just so happens to “employ” nonhumans. While I applaud SDF for rescuing dogs rather than breeding them, from a vegan perspective the idea of “working” animals is still somewhat problematic; doubly so when you consider the dangerous conditions in which these dogs are placed. The SDF’s own materials say it best:

Disaster search requires very specific talents and skills in both dog and handler. A disaster site is a treacherous environment: noisy, chaotic, dust-filled, and sometimes dark. Disaster search dogs must have the ability to perform at a high level in the worst setting imaginable. At Ground Zero, for example, the ‘pile’ was a mountain of debris seven or eight stories high composed of twisted steel and wobbly, uneven surfaces, hot spots and gaps in the rubble where fires were still burning. It takes an extraordinary dog-one with extreme boldness, energy, strength, agility and drive-to approach every training exercise, and every deployment, with energy and determination. These are dogs that LOVE to work, NEED to work, and want nothing more than to be out on the rubble, searching!

In the wake of disaster, search and rescue dogs inhale the same toxic fumes as do their human handlers; are deployed to unstable areas ravaged by earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods and the like (oftentimes, with the threat of dangerous weather ongoing); and ultimately put their lives on the line so that they may save others. A heroic task, indeed – and, while it’s a choice made freely by the humans involved, you simply cannot say the same of nonhuman animals. A love for the physical and mental stimulation of search and rescue work does not equal knowledge and consent of the risks it entails.

Food for Life Global (FFLG) – Many of you may already be familiar with FFLG, which distributes plant-based (vegetarian and vegan) meals to those in need worldwide – both temporarily, e.g. in response to man-made and natural disasters, as well as long-term, such as through the establishment of permanent food distribution centers. Via its Rural Academies for Youth programs, FFLG also trains youths in sustainable agriculture “centered on spiritual values.”

(Its emphasis on spirituality and religious leanings – in Hinduism, prasad is “a mental condition of generosity, as well as a material substance that is first offered to a deity and then consumed” – is one obvious downside for the secular donor.)

In a personal email, FFLG director Paul Turner told me that FFLG has a team on the ground in Japan, providing food and shelter to survivors. (I’ll link to the campaign page once it’s available on FFLG’s website.) FFLG is also calling on volunteers from abroad to help expand the effort in Japan:

Paul Turner, director of Food for Life Global said, “Our organisation was there to help during the Asian Tsunami of 2004 and so we expect to do much the same in Japan. The challenge is great but we are hopeful that the public will rally behind our volunteers to feed as many people as possible. Anyone wishing to volunteer, please contact us now.”

Volunteer opportunities at FFLG include food distribution; building infrastructure; providing medical assistance and education; and other pro bono professional services, both in the U.S. and internationally. In addition to monetary donations, FFLG accepts vehicles for resale and airline miles. FFLG maintains an emergency relief fund, but it does not seem as though a donation can be earmarked for a specific disaster.

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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3. Animal Rescue & Disaster Relief

This section in particular will be updated as new information becomes available, so check back often.

Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support – Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support is a coalition of three Japanese animal rescue groups: HEART-Tokushima, Animal Garden Niigata and Japan Cat Network (see below), all of which had been rescuing and rehoming animals in Japan prior to the 2011 earthquake (and all of which subscribe to a no-kill philosophy). You can make a donation to the coalition directly – all funds donated will go directly toward disaster relief – or through any of the three participating groups (but be sure to specify that these funds are meant for Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support). On its Facebook page, the group says,

Funds will be used directly for animal rescue and support. We can not yet know what international groups will be specifically donating but we expect our funds to be paying for veterinary care including vaccines, microchips, antibiotics, and medicine, food, cages, and cost of transporting animals.

Donations can be made through Paypal, ChipIn, money order or direct transfer; details will be posted and updated on the group’s FB page. JEARS is also in need of a volunteer professional web design/hosting firm to help develop and maintain a website, in order to facilitate their rescue efforts.

JEARS has been pretty awesome at keeping its supporters updated on Facebook, so be sure to “like” its page and share it with your friends. Those in Japan can also report and request help with injured or homeless animals – or otherwise communicate with the JEARS volunteers – via its Facebook page.

HEART-Tokushima – Based in the Shikoku area, HEART-Tokushima has rescued 600 animals in its four years of operation. Luckily, the group was not directly affected by the earthquakes and tsunamis:

Thankfully, our area of the country received no damage and now we have to get to work right away to help the animals in need. We are preparing to receive animal here at HEART and we are working closely with Japan Cat Network and Animal Friends Niigata to save as many animals as possible. Niigata is the closest to the affected areas and will be our base of operations. We will be going out tomorrow to distribute food and water and to try and make an initial assessment. Please check our regular reports on Facebook to find out what is needed and how you can help.

Please see the main page of the group’s website (in English) for ways to donate.

Animal Garden Niigata / Animal Friends Niigata – Established in 2008 by Niigata resident Isabella Gallaon-Aoki, Animal Garden Niigata cares for and rehomes some of the stray animals living in Niigata Prefecture, as well as other areas of Japan. It also conducts animal welfare outreach and education in the surrounding communities. As reported by HEART-Tokushima, the disaster relief response will be based in Niigata. For ways to donate, go to its how you can help page.

Japan Cat Network (JCN) – Dedicated to trap, neuter and return (TNR) programs and no-kill sheltering, JCN was founded by Susan Roberts and David Wybenga, “who have been living in Japan, teaching English, and helping cats since 1993.” The group assists communities in establishing TNR programs and conducts outreach programs. Its also operates a “small shelter to house, rehabilitate, and rehome cats or kittens in support of those working on active TNR projects.” In a recent blog post, JCR says,

We are all greatly saddened and have been continually horrified by news of the devastation, following the recent earthquake here in Japan. We, the kitties at the JCN Kansai shelter, and the shelter itself, are all fine. We’d like to thank everyone who has written to check on us, for their concern! We felt the initial earthquake at the shelter, as well as some aftershocks, but are far enough away from the hard hit areas to be safe. Many of our volunteers in the Kansai and Kanto regions have reported in as all being safe, as well.

However, we remain very concerned about the animals in the severely effected areas, who may be overlooked in the midst of so much immediate need to address human concerns. We are currently working with two other no-kill organizations to coordinate plans for getting animals from these areas out to safety, and have already begun helping people with pets in crisis. We are in need of volunteers willing to provide foster care, those able to transport animals, help expanding our potential shelter capacity, and funds or materials for use with rescue/rehabilitation efforts.

Click here to see how you can help JCN.

Animal Refuge Kansai (ARK) – Established in 1990, ARK operates two shelters, one each in Osaka and Tokyo. While the group primarily rescues and rehomes dogs and cats, its shelters are also home to the occasional “wild” animal. ARK’s shelters and network of foster homes will accept animals made homeless by the quakes and tsunamis:

At present we can only witness the devastation caused by yesterday’s earthquake and tsunami on our television screens and make contact with friends in Tokyo and other affected areas. Although a country like Japan experiences earthquakes frequently, nothing had prepared us for one on this scale. From our experience of the Great Hanshin earthquake on January 17th 1995, we know that the number of homeless pets may be immense. The priority after any earthquake is the saving of human life, moving people into emergency centres and then repairing the infrastructure. In the case of Kobe most of the animals that came to us came from the emergency centres where people has sought refuge with their pets. Others were ones that had been rescued from destroyed houses or off the street by local people. In that one year we took in 600 animals, mainly dogs and cats but also rabbits and birds.

Here at ARK we are preparing for what might be a huge influx of animals. We already have some facilities in place and a team of experienced staff able to deal with traumatised animals. We may have to build emergency shelters as well. The logistics of getting animal from the Tohoku/Sendai area is immense since roads and other transport links have been cut and may take time to restore. Our only means to get animals down to Osaka may be by helicopter, which was one method we used after the Kobe earthquake.

Please visit the group’s website for updates. Donation information is available here.

Nippon Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (SPCA) – The Kon Motoe Animal Shelter in Ibaraki – operated by the Nippon SPCA – suffered earthquake damage. According to Kinship Circle’s notes, “On 3/13/11, the Japan SPCA brought rescue supplies to its earthquake-damaged network shelter in Ibaraki and evacuated the most vulnerable dogs.” Additional information is available on the Nippon SPCA’s website (in English via Google Translator). Because it’s receiving aid from other Japanese groups whose operations were not disrupted by the quake, it may be best to donate through the Japan SPCA or JAWS (see below).

The Japan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and The Japan Animal Welfare Society (JAWS) – These groups’ websites are difficult for me to navigate due to the language barrier, but Best Friends Animal Society reports that,

The Japan Animal Welfare Society and the Japan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have launched a joint operation and are working to provide support for the animals in the disaster. The update on their website, translated from Japanese, reports that, “We have secured locations in three cities and are preparing to transport pet supplies. We’re communicating with local vet groups and municipal governments. We hope to be able to send rescuers to the disaster zone.”

Donation information for the Japan SPCA and JAWS can be found (in English, via Google Translator) here and here, respectively. Currently, it looks as though they are only able to accept wire transfers.

World Vets – Operating in 25 countries, World Vets provides “veterinary aid around the globe in collaboration with animal advocacy groups, foreign governments, US and foreign military groups and veterinary professionals abroad.” Its “Gift Catalog” offers a good overview of the services it provides.

On a special page dedicated to the crisis in Japan, World Vets reports that, as of March 16,

World Vets is in Niigata, Japan right now with a shipment of veterinary supplies. They are headed out in a few hours (daybreak) toward the hardest hit areas to make assessments and provide aid. World Vets veterinarian Dr Koji Fukumura will be arriving in Tokyo on Friday and will be staying long-term as our in-country coordinator and to provide direct assistance to animals in need. Several World Vets responder teams are currently on standby as we assess the situation and collaborate with groups in Japan. [...]

World Vets has a whole series of relief teams lined up and on standby pending the outcome of our first responder deployment. As long as radiation and nuclear threats remain we must consider the safety of volunteers and not contribute to potential victims of this unfortunate situation. At this time World Vets is not recruiting volunteers for its disaster response efforts in Japan. Should this change for follow up assistance in the long term we will select volunteers from our members database. If you are not a member and would like to join, please join HERE.

Veterinary supplies and/or medicines that are being requested from are the following: De-worming medicines, vaccinations, fluid replacements, wound treatments, and cages. Donations of these items can be shipped to: World Vets headquarters, 802 1st Ave N, Fargo ND 58102

Monetary donations can be made here.

Last Chance for Animals (LCA) – LCA has been on the ground in Japan since March 21st. In an email dated 3/28 (see below), LCA writes,

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.

You can follow LCA’s progress on a special blog dedicated to animal rescue in Japan (LCAJapanRescue), and make a donation here.

Kinship Circle – On its website, Kinship Circle reports that it would like to deploy a team of responders to Japan, in order to assist JEARS and the Nippon SPCA in its rescue efforts. Currently, it’s trying to raise at least $25,000 for this purpose. (See the newsletter dated 3/19/11, below.) It hopes to provide financial support to JEARS and the Nippon SPCA as well.

You can make a donation to Kinship Circle’s Animal Disaster Aid Fund here, or sign up as a disaster aid volunteer here. Additionally, it has compiled a comprehensive list of animal rescue resources here.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) – On its Animals In Disasters blog, the WSPA reports that its Disaster Assessment and Response Team (DART) from the WSPA Asia office arrived in Tokyo on March 15:

We are working with member societies such as the Japanese Animal Welfare Society (JAWS) and looking at ways to help them enter the restricted areas and help the animals people have taken with them into the evacuation shelters (when this has been permitted). The situation is still very serious; not only with the well reported story of the ongoing nuclear threat, but of the as yet under-reported story of what has happened to all the displaced people and their animals.

You can follow the WSPA’s progress on its Animals In Disasters blog.

U.S. residents can make a donation to the WSPA’s Disaster Relief Fund here; those living outside the U.S. can choose from the list of WSPA offices here.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) – The IFAW has expressed its desire to aid in the animal rescue efforts, beginning with the dispatch of a team to asses the situation. However, the latest update on its AnimalWire blog reads, “Due to increased radiation levels, the team is holding off on their departure – Will Update you all in the AM.”

You can follow IFAW’s progress on its blog or website. The IFAW maintains an Emergency Animal Fund, to which U.S. residents can donate here. (Those living outside the U.S. will have to choose their country from the drop-down menu on the top-right hand side of the page.)

American Humane Association (AHA) – As of March 16, the AHA reports that its Red Star Animal Emergency Services team is on stand-by and ready to deploy to Japan, but is waiting to be allowed in by the government. (Though its claim that “the Japanese government has not yet allowed even Japanese organizations to begin large-scale animal rescue operations” seems odd, given that other groups – international and local – are currently conducting animal rescue operations, if even on a limited scale. Go big or go home?) Updates will be posted on the AHA blog.

As far as donations go, the AHA writes,

Regarding the donations that are being received by American Humane Association, I can assure you that 100 percent of the donations received for Japan animal relief will go to helping the animal victims in Japan. That means American Humane Association will not even take a portion of donations to cover our actual administrative costs. Every single dollar raised goes to the animals in Japan. In the event that we are not able to deploy our Red Star Animal Emergency Services team to Japan to assist the animals directly, we will grant the funds we receive to the appropriate agencies that are providing animal emergency relief services in Japan.

You can make a donation on the AHA’s website; just be sure to select “Japan Relief Fund” from the drop-down menu.

fwiw, vegans have much to dislike about the AHA, from its promotion of “happy meat,” to its love for Temple Grandin and the legitimacy it adds to he exploitation of nonhuman animals in the entertainment industry. (On that last point, see the controversy over Flicka, during the filming of which two horses died.)

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and The Humane Society International (HSI) – In a post dated 3/14/11, the HSI reports,

In the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami double-strike that battered Japan’s northern coast and set off a mounting toll of death and destruction, Humane Society International and The Humane Society of the United States have deployed disaster response staff to the region, and reached out to Japanese partner organizations involved with animal care and rescue to identify where and how best to provide emergency support and veterinary attention.

HSI Lead Disaster Responder Kelly Coladarci is in the Philippines and has contacted Japanese organizations to help them evaluate all animal-related needs. Moreover, both HSI and The HSUS will provide aid to various Japanese organizations, supporting their efforts to assess the scope of the disaster’s effects on animals, to purchase and transport essential supplies, and to establish appropriate shelters and other needed bases of operation in or near the strike zone.

You can make a donation to HSI’s International Disaster Fund here, or a general donation to the HSUS here. Before you do, please know that the HSUS has an ongoing history of misusing funds (see, e.g., Hurricane Katrina), and has on occasion even committed outright fraud in the name of “fundraising.”

Helping Japan at #SXSW: A fundraising table at the Austin music and film festival South by Southwest, dedicated to disaster relief in Japan. Buttons and signage surround a box loosely filled with one, five, and twenty-dollar bills. One of the signs directs its audience to the website helpsavejapanatsxsw.net.
CC image via Flickr user Zadi Diaz.
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4. Vegan Fundraisers

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!

The Chicago Diner’s Disaster Relief Benefit – From March 18 through April 15, The Chicago Diner will donate $1 for each Titanic Burger, Lucky Leprechaun Shake, and copy of The Chicago Diner Cookbook it sells to Direct Relief International & AmeriCares.

Vegan Bake Sales! – Activism at its yummiest. While a comprehensive listing of all the scheduled vegan bake sales to benefit Japan is well beyond my abilities, I would like to point you to two resources in particular.

a) The PPK forum has an open thread where users can promote their individual bake sales for Japan. Isa started the thread with the intention of creating a centralized blog post in which to list them all. Though the post hasn’t materialized yet, you can keep an eye out on the PPK blog.

b) The Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale is fast approaching. Now in its third year, this year the bake sale will held between April 23 and May 1 (two weekends and the weekdays in between). Here’s how it works:

On April 23 through May 1 (two weekends and the weekdays in between), groups from across the world will hold vegan bake sales. Each participating group gets to choose its venue, what to sell, and how it uses the proceeds. We invite you to participate! You can hold the bake sale on any day during the period—or on more than one day if you like. Just about anyone can join in.

The main rule is that all items sold must be vegan, and no materials (e.g., books, pamphlets, etc.) encouraging animal exploitation may be distributed during the sale. Participating bakers can sign up here, and potential customers can scope out a list of sales here.

Each group designates a nonprofit to which the proceeds of the sale will be donated; no doubt, many of the sales will benefit disaster relief in Japan. (At the time of this writing, I counted seven.)

Food Fight Fundraiser Weekend for Japan – On March 19 and 20, Food Fight Grocery in Portland will donate 10% of its in-store sales to Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support. Now’s the time to stock up on Daiya and candy bars, people!

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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5. Armchair Activism

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
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6. News & (Somewhat Vegan) Views

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
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7. Newsletters & Dispatches

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!

Intersectionality ‘Round the Interwebs, No. 19: Brain Food (Vegan, Natch!)

Kelly Garbato — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:28:10 +0000

“Vegan Brain Food”: A mashup of book covers related to this latest edition of “Intersectionality ‘Round the Interwebs.” Clockwise from the upper-left: Sistah Vegan: Food, Identity, Health, and Society: Black Female Vegans Speak by A. Breeze Harper, ed. (2010); Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals by Anthony J. Nocella II and Steven Best, eds. (2004); Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women’s Anthology for a New Millennium by Robin Morgan, ed. (2003); The Pornography of Meat by Carol Adams (2004); The Year of the Flood: A Novel by Margaret Atwood (2009); Penelope by Marilyn Kaye (2007); Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism by Melanie Joy (2009); and VegNews, March+April 2010.
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Sistah Vegan Book: Win a Free Copy!

Editor Breeze Harper is giving away a free, signed copy of her upcoming anthology, Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health & Society. The catch? You have to answer a short essay question, which will (hopefully) get you thinking about issues of food, race, gender, and/or nonhuman animals in new (and fruitful!) way. The deadline is April 1st, so don’t delay!

Let Live Foundation: Food Justice w/ lauren Ornelas (3/21)

I’m so terribly jealous of all you vegan folks living on the east and west coasts; y’all always throw the coolest conferences and lectures! (There’s a reason I titled this link roundup “Brain Food,” yo!) This Sunday, March 21st, Let Live Foundation will be hosting speaker lauren Ornelas of the Food Empowerment Project. On the menu?: Food justice, veganism, and the intersections of human and animal exploitation. If you happen to find yourself in Portland this weekend, attend, take notes, and report back, mkay? (Pretty please? With an organic, raw, fair trade cherry on top?)

The Washington Times: Food For Life Global Is Coming Through Big In Haiti

Who says animal advocates only care about nonhumans, hmmm? Check out this nice writeup Food For Life Global received in The Washington Times, and then hop on over to Disaster Relief in Haiti: Animal Rescue & Vegan/Animal-Friendly Resources to see how else you can help with disaster relief efforts in Haiti (and Chile).

The Voracious Vegan: International Women’s Day: Why Feminism? and “Until We Are All Free”: International Women’s Day (@ Choosing Raw)

In honor of International Women’s Day (which took place on March 8th), the Voracious Vegan penned not one, but two posts. The first includes a short film that, in Tasha’s words explains why “women’s rights and feminism are still relevant and necessary in this day and age.” Additionally, in a guest post at Choosing Raw, Tasha discusses the intersections of feminism and veganism, including the shared ideologies and social systems which allow human, animal and environmental exploitation to thrive. It’s a lengthy piece but well worth it – she touches upon a number of salient points, including the objectification of women’s and animals’s bodies; the state’s (and businesses’) attempts to control the reproductive systems of females, human and nonhuman alike; food and environmental justice; and public safety and human health concerns.

Elaine @ Vegan Soapbox: Celebrating The Victories Of Vegan Women & Female Animals

Also in the International Women’s Day spirit (better late than never!), Elaine highlights the life stories and accomplishments of a few vegan/feminist/animal heroines (or sheroes, if you prefer), including several nonhumans. Little Red and Georgia are my persons of the day – and I long for a time when their rescue, recovery and rebirth will earn them a big fat feminist thank you from a certain popular third wave feminist blog (cough, cough).

Shannon Davis @ POP! goes The Vegan.: Penelope: A Nose by Any Other Name

In my newest baby’s very first guest post, Vegan Burnout Shannon Davis looks at the 2006 romcom Penelope – which stars a delightfully porcine Christina Ricci as the titular heroine – from a vegan-feminist perspective. Spoilers abound, so you may want to rent this one before checking out Shannon’s take!

Vegan Burnout: I do not want to live in a little house on the prairie.

In which The New York Times‘s Peggy Orenstein attempts to coin the newest trend, the “feminist” keeping (and slaughtering) of nonhuman animals. Not if Shannon can help it!

What is “The Femivore’s Dilemma,” you ask? Is it reconciling one’s anti-oppressive beliefs with, um, one’s own participation in the exploitation of sentient beings? Perhaps the term refers to the obvious discord between hijacking the bodies and reproductive systems of female nonhuman animals – all in the name of “feminist” self-sufficiency?

None of the above, you say?

Hayes found that without a larger purpose — activism, teaching, creating a business or otherwise moving outside the home — women’s enthusiasm for the domestic arts eventually flagged, especially if their husbands weren’t equally involved. “If you don’t go into this as a genuinely egalitarian relationship,” she warned, “you’re creating a dangerous situation. There can be loss of self-esteem, loss of soul and an inability to return to the world and get your bearings. You can start to wonder, What’s this all for?” It was an unnervingly familiar litany: if a woman is not careful, it seems, chicken wire can coop her up as surely as any gilded cage.

I guess “egalitarian” relationships are, in Hayes’s estimation, only those in which the human animals involved share equal rights and considerations. How very…conventional. *sniff*

Sociological Images: “Lovers Special” Pizza Deal

Meat is for men, vegetables are for women. Different advert, same tired old stereotypes. Cue: exaggerated eye roll.

Sociological Images: The Difference Between Male and Female Vegetarians: Self-Sufficiency!

The difference between (teenage) male and female vegetarians? Young men tell their parents what to cook for them; young women cook their own meals alongside their parents, thus demonstrating what they can eat. With all this gender conformity, I’m surprised the website authors don’t also presume that mom still cooks 100% of the family’s meals. Or that there’s one mom (and one dad) in the picture at all.

The Vegan Ideal: Exploitation and Resistance: The Story of Tilikum

Ida deconstructs the discourse surrounding the killing of Sea World employee Dawn Brancheau by Tilikum, a captive orca whale, showing how the dominant narratives reflect our attitudes about nonhuman behavior, intelligence, and intent. Ultimately, “Tilly’s” actions can be viewed not as a purely instinctual, “wild,” uncontrollable, unpredictable outburst – but as a deliberate act of resistance. Unfortunately, Sea World has yet to receive the message, as Tilikum remains a prisoner.

Finally, over at the Bitch Blogs, guest bitch Brittany Shoot has been busy! In no particular order:

The Biotic Woman: Vegans of Color

Vegans of Color founder Johanna Eeva shares with us the genesis of VoC, gives several examples of white privilege in the vegan community, and discusses the reactions to her work, both positive and negative, from vegans and non-vegans alike. If you’re not already a VoC reader, get thee to vegansofcolor.wordpress.com and subscribe to the blog’s feed, stat. Just be sure to lurk before you speak, and do check out the resources section for additional reading.

The Biotic Woman: What Natural Disaster Means for Chilean Women

In times of crisis – earthquakes, war, tsunamis, religious and ethnic conflict, you name it – women and children often bear the brunt of hardship, and not uncommonly in physically and sexually violent ways. The recent disasters in Chile (and Haiti) are no exception; here, Brittany details the risks faced by Chilean women, and in questioning to what extent these (and other) disasters may be linked to our destruction of the environment, uncovers yet another intersection between women, nonhuman animals, and the planet we all call home.

The Biotic Woman: The Dirty Politics of Coal

Coal mining (and burning) is neither clean nor sexy, despite what General Electric would have you believe.

The Biotic Woman: My Enviro-Oscars Roundup

Avatar, Avatar, Avatar! Also: can a huge, conspicuously consumptive, Hollywood wankfest like the Oscars ever truly be “green”?

See also: Domination and Rape in Avatar: This Is “Respect” for Animals?, to which I simply cannot link often enough.

The Biotic Woman: Legal Representation for Animals in Switzerland

Seizing upon a Swiss referendum which sought to give nonhumans legal representation in court (sadly, it failed) as a jumping-off point, Brittany briefly examines the history of prosecuting nonhuman animals in court, oftentimes for “crimes” of which they were arguably victims. Looking back, Westerners tend to view these practices as archaic; and yet, animals are commonly “tried” and “executed” – more often than not, sans the “luxury” of a jury trial – in modern times. (Three words: breed specific legislation. Two more: Save Spork.)

See also: Egypt’s Pigs: Beaten, Stoned, and Burned Alive (Part 1) and Religious Discrimination and the Killing of Egypt’s Pigs (Part 2), which I wrote for “the other blog” during the swine flu scare of last summer.

The Biotic Woman: A Profile of Celeb Chef Katie Lee

Brittany uses a New York Times Magazine profile of celeb chef Katie Lee to segue into a mini-rant about how the current trend towards “eco” living (and eating) rarely intersects with vegetarianism and veganism, which is – for those living in Western/industrialized nations, at least – the greenest of the so-called “green” diets.

See also: “(Car) Bon Voyage” (VegNews, April 2010), in which Farm Sanctuary’s Jasmin Singer picks a similar bone with the eco-tourism industry.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare patriarchy intersections parallel oppressions animals and women sexism misogyny gender feminism race racism violence stereotyping exploitation sex intersectionality kyriarchy megatheocorporatocracy pop culture speciesism flickr photos news in the news quick links link roundup link dump Intersectionality ‘Round the Interwebs international women’s day oppression food justice food for life global bitch the biotic woman coal green the oscars vegans of color sistah vegan race racism food Tilikum Sea World femivore The Femivore’s Dilemma sheroes heroines let live foundation lauren Ornelas Food Empowerment Project breeze harper books book covers flickr photos

Libby and Louie (a Valentine’s Day Love Story)

Kelly Garbato — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:37:40 +0000

If you are lucky enough to find yourself in Deer Trail, Colorado this Sunday, stop by Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary for a Vegan Valentine’s Day Brunch. In a delightful re-imagining of an otherwise blasé day, filled with tired gender roles and patriarchal mores, the Peaceful Prairie celebration will include a commemoration of animal love – that shared by chickens Libby and Louie – told over a plate of cruelty-free waffles, quiche, tofu scramble, fruit and coffee cake, of course!

A lame, silent hen and a handsome, fire-red rooster, respectively, these rescued birds have sought solace in one another’s presence – and one another’s presence alone – for the past five years and counting. If anything, their story serves as a gentle reminder that human animals do not have a monopoly on love – nor on kindness, compassion, selflessness, sacrifice, devotion, and family.

In Libby and Louie, A Love Story, Joanna Lucas writes of a love so pure and so true, undying and never-ending, such that any human would count herself lucky to be caught in its bonds.

And there they were. Just the two of them in the world. A monogamous couple in a species where monogamy is the exception. Determined to stay together even though their union created more problems than it solved, increased their burdens more than it eased them, and thwarted their instincts more than it fulfilled them.

It would have been easier and more “natural” for Louie to be in charge of a group of hens, like all the other roosters, but he ignored everyone except Libby. He paid no attention to the fluffy gray hen, the fiery blonde hen, the dreamy red hen, the sweet black hen dawdling in her downy pantaloons, or any of the 100 snow-white hens who, to our dim perceptions, looked exactly like Libby. Louie, the most resplendently bedecked and befeathered rooster of the sanctuary, remained devoted only to Libby – scrawny body, scraggly feathers, missing foot, hobbled gait and all. It’s true that, with our dull senses, we couldn’t grasp a fraction of what he saw in her because we can’t see, smell, hear, touch, taste, sense a scintilla of the sights, scents, sounds, textures, and tastes he does. But, even if we could see Libby in all her glory, it would still be clear that it wasn’t her physical attributes that enraptured Louie. If he sought her as his one and only companion, if he protected that union from all intrusions, it wasn’t because of her physique but because of her presence.

It would have been easier for Libby too – so vulnerable in her stunted, lame body – to join an existing chicken family and enjoy the added comfort, cover and protection of a larger group, but she never did. She stayed with Louie, and followed him on his daily treks in the open fields, limping and gimping behind him, exhausting herself only to be near him.

What bonded them was not about practical necessities or instinctual urges – if anything, it thwarted both. Their union was about something else, a rich inner abundance that seemed to flourish in each other’s presence, and that Libby nurtured in her silence and that Louie voiced, sang out loud, celebrated, noted, catalogued, documented, expressed, praised every day of their 1,800 days together.

Should we all – humans and nonhumans alike – be so blessed.

If, like me, you cannot attend the celebration, set aside an hour or two over the weekend (along with the big ole box of tissues), and read through just a few of the achingly beautiful sanctuary stories on the Peaceful Prairie blog. And then pledge to go vegan, if you haven’t already.

Peaceful Prairie has also put together a stunning, nonhuman animal-themed eCard for Valentine’s Day; the photo of Libby and Louie at the top of this post is a screenshot of their panel in the presentation. Share it with everyone you love, particularly those who eat “meat,” eggs and dairy – because everyone they eat has someone who loves them, too.

(And don’t forget your animal friends this Valentine’s Day, either!)

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alert events valentine’s day v-day colorado peaceful prairie peaceful prairie sanctuary animal sanctuary libby louie libby and louie a love story ecard chickens rooster hen love love is animal intelligence animal behavior animal emotions vegan veganism go vegan vegan brunch factory farming farmed animals flickr photos

lol ur empty gestures.

Kelly Garbato — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:53:18 +0000

When I opened this email from 350.org, I couldn’t help but snicker – after which, I inevitably felt a little guilty. (Hey, I’ve got lady bits; I’ve been indoctrinated into a sea of guilt, whether deserved or not.) Then, still feeling a pang of guilt, I snickered some more. You see, their hearts are (kinda sorta) in the right place; their tummies, not so much.

Apologies again for bombarding you with email, but we’re in the final stretch here at Copenhagen and I hope you can join us in doing two unusual things.

“Unsual”? Well, I’m up for most anything. Do tell!

They’re unusual things for us to ask, but this is an unusual moment. In a certain sense the Copenhagen conference is going better than we dared hope. The small nations of the world have really been quite remarkable this week–their calls for strong climate action have completely changed the tone of these negotiations. They have stood up to immense pressure from the big powers, and they continue to rally behind the banner that all of you have raised for them. These nations are still trying to insert “350 language” into the treaty text, at least as a symbolic aspiration for the future. This would be a remarkable acknowledgment of physical reality, and give us a good base to keep moving on.

But not all is well in Copenhagen. We’re not going to get the agreement that we need (current negotiations put us on track to hit a devastating 770ppm by century’s end) and this movement will need to fight on in the years ahead.

But right now, while the Copenhagen climate talks are still unfolding, we need one final push.

Yes, yes!? Quit with the teasing and spill the organic, fair trade, sustainably harvested beans already!

So, the two unusual requests:

1) Make a phone call.

We don’t usually ask you to make calls, but today we’re going to. At this link you’ll find a list of every head of state and his or her phone number. You’ll note that the countries are listed in either green or red type. If your nation is in green, it means they’re fighting the good fight for 350. We need you to leave them a message that either expresses your pride and gratitude for their commitment to keeping 350 in the treaty text, or your earnest wish that they’ll listen to the science and consider standing with the bloc of more than 100 nations standing for bold scientific targets.

Please click here to make the call–you’ll find everything you need: the appropriate phone numbers, a short script of what to say, and a sense of how your country’s leadership is standing on this issue.

Eh. I receive requests to call my reps every day – nay, every hour. As far as calls to action go, this one’s rather boring and mundane. Next!

2) Think about fasting for 24 hours on Thursday–part of a genuinely worldwide effort.

A hunger strike is not one of our usual tools either, but somehow it feels appropriate at what’s a very solemn moment. Some of our allies around the world have been going without food for more than a month, and they’ve asked others to join this fast for 24 hours–starting any time on Thursday. We know it’s late notice, especially for those of you in the eastern parts of the world–but everything just came together to pull it off. Many here in Copenhagen are doing so–including thousands of youth, members of the 350.org team, Vandana Shiva, and many more–and we wanted you to have the opportunity too.

As global warming kicks in, more and more people will starve–earlier this week, at the conference’s main religious service, there were shriveled ears of corn from drought-stricken parts of Africa on the altar. Most of us can’t know the true terror of hunger, because we know we’ll eat again soon, but we can join in what organizers are calling a Hunger Strike for Survival.

If you’re interested in joining in, please sign-up here. It’s true that we can’t promise fasting will have any practical effect, but it feels right to us right now.

Oh, my. How do I say this without sounding like a total asshole? While I agree that fasts can sometimes prove a potent form of protest – and I respect the fortitude and passion of the activists who have been fasting for days or even weeks on behalf of environmental justice – this is, will all due respect, bullshit. By fasting for 24 hours, I won’t do anything other than make myself miserable for a day. Seriously: I work at home, rarely eat out, and have enough staples to last through the winter stashed away in my pantry. No one will will miss my blip in consumption. (No one but me, that is.)

And, yes, I realize that the fast is largely symbolic, as most of the participants are scattered around the globe, thus hunger striking in their respective, isolated corners of the world. Even as a symbolic gesture, however, a 24-hour fast is rather empty – empty, that is, unless one drastically changes her patterns of consumption the other 8,736 hours of the year. You see, my regular dietary routine has a far greater potential to slow (and even halt) climate change, as well as deforestation, air and water pollution, habitat loss, world hunger, etc., etc., etc., than any amount of carbon caps possibly could.

If 350′s target audience was to forgo the 24-hour fast and instead pledge to eat vegan – not symbolically, for a day; not meatless on Mondays; not even for the entire month of December – but today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter for the rest of their earth-bound lives, well, now there’s a social movement with teeth! Not to mention, heart enough for everyone.

Consider, for example, that vegan diets, on average, emit 0.14 tons of CO2 per year, compared to 2.19 tons from omnivorous diets – and that these numbers will only become more disparate as western countries export their unsustainable ways to developing nations. Animal exploitation is not sustainable. Or, um, moral.

But, bah, I’ve said all of this before. Rather than repeat myself, I will instead direct y’all to the cantankerous pieces I wrote about animal agriculture and climate change for October’s Blog Action Day for Climate Change and the International Day of Climate Action (also from 350.org). Also check out Will Eating Less Meat Help Stop Climate Change? YES., by Michael Weber of FARM.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go stuff myself full of homemade butterscotch ice cream. Vegan, of course.

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Photo via Flickr user sea turtle.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare 350.org 350 climate change global warming events hunger strike fast copenhagen meat food animal agriculture empty gestures flickr photos weak dairy eggs vegan veganism vegetarian vegetarianism poverty hunger

On peace (/of mind)

Kelly Garbato — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:48:22 +0000

Now I can look at you in peace.
I don’t eat you any more.
- Franz Kafka, to a fish

Tomorrow marks the 28th annual International Day of Peace. The UN describes the holiday as

an annual observance of global non-violence and ceasefire. Every year, people in all parts of the world honour peace in various ways on 21 September.

Naturally – given that the observance was established by an anthropocentric organization – nonhuman animals are almost always excluded from celebrants’ circles of compassion. For example, the day’s “ceasefire” most certainly does not include the millions of cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, horses, dogs, rats, seals, foxes and other domestic and wild-living nonhuman animals who will be slaughtered for food, clothing, vivisection, entertainment and the like. Quite the contrary: humans’ exploitation of nonhumans will continue, unabated, throughout the day and across the globe.

Even so, that shouldn’t discourage animal advocates from observing the day with an emphasis on our nonhuman brothers and sisters. Indeed, it’s all the more reason to stress a truly inclusive and nonviolent day of peace. If not us, who?

When I think of “peace,” the first thought to come to mind is the above quote from Franz Kafka, a Jewish writer and vegetarian whose three younger sisters (and only surviving siblings) all perished in the Holocaust. Now I can look at you in peace. I don’t eat you any more. So simple, so beautiful, so true.

Peace in actions brings peace of mind. And what more fundamental actions do humans engage in than eating, feasting, consuming? Peace begins (but does not end!) on your plate.

Through its Roots & Shoots program, the Jane Goodall Institute has been celebrating its own Day of Peace since 2004. The idea began when the UN appointed Jane Goodall a Messenger of Peace in 2002:

Another action of the U.N. was to designate Messengers of Peace. People who are selected as Messengers of Peace are widely recognized for their achievements in music, literature, sports and the arts. Dr. Jane was appointed a Messenger of Peace on April 16, 2002 by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. To commemorate Dr. Jane’s appointment, Roots & Shoots members at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point first conceived of and created the Giant Peace Dove puppets through Puppet Farm Arts. Since then, Roots & Shoots members and friends have flown doves in more than 40 countries around the world.

Dr. Jane created Roots & Shoots Day of Peace in 2004 in honor of U.N. International Day of Peace; each year, Roots & Shoots Day of Peace is observed in late September. Roots & Shoots groups around the world fly Giant Peace Dove Puppets to celebrate Roots & Shoots Day of Peace for its symbolic meaning. They also plan and implement peace project initiatives to help make the world a better place for animals, the environment and the human community.

This year, the Roots & Shoots Day of Peace falls on September 20th; next year, it will be celebrated on September 18th. Though it’s too late to plan or attend an event, you can see what others are doing on the campaign’s events page. 2007′s activities are captured in a colorful ebook, available for download here. (‘twould be awesome if the JGI encouraged more specific and practical anti-speciesist actions, such as a vegan or even vegetarian diet, but I suppose merely mentioning nonhuman animal in the day’s festivities is a good start. Certainly, it’s a step beyond what the UN has done for our nonhuman kin.)

While searching for a video with which to conclude this post, I found a JGI web short featuring twin chimpanzees Golden and Glitter. More than any of the Roots & Shoots Day of Peace videos, Golden and Glitter’s story illustrates the concepts of peace, love, cooperation and family – and demonstrates that none of these are uniquely human phenomenon.

Peace for humankind means peace for animalkind. No one is free while others are oppressed.

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Videos in this post

Introducing Twins Golden and Glitter, 6/24/2009
The only known living twin chimpanzees in the wild, Golden and Glitter rely not only on the love and nurturing of their mother Gremlin and older sister Gaia, but on the strong bond they have with each other.

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Photo via Ari Moore on Flickr:

www.flickr.com/photos/arimoore/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Check out the rest of Ari’s awesome anti-speciesist artwork here.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts roots and shoots jgi jane goodall jane goodall institute day of peace un united nations franz kafka quote flickr photos video video blogging gombe chimps chimpanzees twins International Day of Peace holidays observances events intersectionality oppression peace speciesism

An American Opera Goes on an American Tour

Kelly Garbato — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:16:13 +0000

This past weekend marked the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Four years ago last Saturday, Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, causing untold property damage, environmental destruction and loss of life from Florida through Texas. At least 1,836 humans died, victims of nature, government ineptitude and indifference, and racism and classism. The number of nonhuman animal victims will never be known.

Though I didn’t observe the occasion here in writing, the anniversary didn’t pass me by unnoticed. The weekend’s birthday celebrations were bittersweet; while spoiling my dog-kids with homemade treats, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the many dogs who perished in the storm and its aftermath – some of them murdered in cold blood, by people who should have been their protectors.

A year after Katrina, I marked the day with a sort a photo retrospective, which I titled “The Greatness of a Nation,” after the much-loved Mahatma Gandhi quotation. Three years later, I don’t have much to add, so I invite you to go check it out if you haven’t already.

The past four years have seen a number of books and films made about Hurricane Katrina; see, for example, Douglas Brinkley’s The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast (2006); Jed Horne’s Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City (2008); and Josh Neufeld’s A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge (2009). Many of these projects have focused on animal rescue efforts: Mike Shiley’s Dark Water Rising: Survival Stories of Hurricane Katrina Animal Rescues (2006); Best Friends’ Not Left Behind: Rescuing the Pets of New Orleans (2006); Cathy Scott’s Pawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned (2008); and even children’s books, such as Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival (2008).

Released in 2007, Tom McPhee’s An American Opera: The Greatest Pet Rescue Ever! is a documentary recounting the spontaneous and titanic efforts undertaken by local and national animal activists to rescue the nonhuman animals caught in Hurricane Katrina’s wake:

Tom McPhee’s An American Opera: The Greatest Pet Rescue Ever! is a multi-award winning documentary film chronicling what happened during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana when pet owners were forced to evacuate without their pets. An American Opera follows the pets, vets, owners, officials, rescuers, and adopters of animals as they try to remedy the situation, revealing that not everyone had the same goal of saving animals. Tom McPhee directed, narrated, and produced the film with the production companies Man Smiling Moving Pictures and Cave Studio.

Interviewing leaders of animal organizations and volunteers who went to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, it is revealed that at the beginning, everyone had different ideas about how things should be done, but no one was willing to take charge because the problem was bigger than anyone could have imagined. The film champions the volunteers whose only concern was saving animals, unlike the animal organizations who were more concerned with the chain of command.

After about a month, the state put the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in charge who told the volunteers to stop rescuing. Anyone not with the LA/SPCA was considered ‘rogue’ and operating outside the authority. Meanwhile, the police in St. Bernard Parish were shooting dogs in what they say was a form of mercy.

Months after Katrina, many owners are still not reunited with their pets because they do not know where they are and do not have the means to find them. Some people have found that their animals have been adopted out and cannot get them back.

The film ends with Barkus, a Louisiana pet parade, indicating New Orleans was not washed away with the hurricane.

Most likely, viewers will recognize the names (if not the faces) of many of McPhee’s interviewees:

* Jane Garrison single-handedly saved over 1,300 animals during Katrina. Jane is a long time animal activist and she founded Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO) as a response to Hurricane Katrina.

* Susan Benezeck and Lamonte Chenevert are residents of Louisiana who were forced to evacuate without their dog.

* Wayne Pacelle, Chief Executive Officer of the Humane Society of the United States, tried to balance the bureaucracy of the authorities with the animal activism of the rescuers.

* Dr. Maxwell A. Lea, Jr., the State Veterinarian of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture, was a voice of authority during the crisis even though his expertise is eliminating livestock disease.

* Mark Steinway, co-founder and humane investigator of Pasado Safe Haven.

* Laura Maloney is the Executive Director of the LA/SPCA (Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). A controversial figure, she is hailed as a hero by some and a hindrance to rescue operations by others.

* Chris Acosta is a resident of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana who rescued many families during Katrina, including those left behind in St. Rita’s Nursing Home.

* David Leeson is a Pulitzer Prize winning staff photographer at the Dallas Morning News who got footage of the St. Bernard Parish sheriff deputies shooting dogs in the street.

* Mimi Hunley is the Louisiana Assistant Attorney General with the Criminal Division who investigated the animal abuse that occurred during Katrina.

An American Opera has won a slew of awards and honors; you can learn more about the film on its official website.

While the movie isn’t yet available on DVD, it is hitting the road: starting this summer, the film will be screened throughout the country, in order to raise money and awareness for animal rescue organizations. A list of dates and locations is available on the Rescue Party Tour website. Current cities on the stop include Lincoln, Nebraska; Junction City, Kansas; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Oneonta, New York; Providence, Rhode Island; Boston, Massachusetts; Concord, New Hampshire; Brunswick, Maine; Indianapolis, Indiana; and my own Kansas City, Kansas, to name but a few. The tour will continue through June 2010, visiting 120+ cities, all told.

According to the Rescue Party Tour’s FAQ,

Rescue groups will also be able to join the tour and set up tables with information at the screening. Filmmaker Tom McPhee will be at each screening for a meet and greet beforehand and a Q&A afterwards.

Tickets cost $10 in advance and $15 at the door, with a portion of proceeds benefiting local animal rescue organizations. At $25, VIP tickets will score you a meet and greet with the filmmaker and a signed poster, with $10 will going to local rescue groups.

There’s so, so much more on the Rescue Party Tour website, so do check it out. For instance, the Gimme a Shelter Film Festival offers young filmmakers an opportunity to submit shorts – 1-3 minute videos on animal/pet issues – the best of which will be screened before showings of the main feature (the cream of the crop, possibly at each subsequent stop!). Rescue groups can find out how to set up shop at a local screening, and if a screening isn’t yet scheduled for your city, the website provides contact info to help you make it happen. The Rescue Party Tour even has a dedicated Facebook group, of which yours truly is the newest member, natch!

There are several movie trailers and video clips available, both on the film’s website and on that of the Rescue Party Tour. Unfortunately, embedding is not enabled, so you’ll have to hop on over there to view them.

However, I did find a number of video clips on You Tube, including this interview with Tom McPhee, conducted earlier this summer during a stop in Muskegon, Michigan:

And, of course, the trailer embedded further on up in this post.

Was anyone lucky enough to attend an early screening? Is anyone planning on going when the tour stops in your city? Do tell!

My interest is piqued, but given the film’s subject matter, you can understand my trepidation at a public viewing – the whole affair might be too emotional to bear. (Yes, despite my bravado and potty mouth, I’m a sensitive soul, indeed.) Then again, strength in numbers.

The tour doesn’t pass through Kansas City until November, though, so I’ve got plenty of time to make up my mind.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts natural disaster hurricane katrina hurricane katrina animal rescue disaster relief pet companion animal animal companion dog canine cat feline an american opera movie film documentary film tour Rescue Party Tour Tom McPhee events video video blogging fundraiser animal advocacy best friends nola new orleans louisiana gulf coast anniversary recovery disaster recovery

#oink, #oink

Kelly Garbato — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:37:08 +0000

Photo via Farm Sanctuary

In Friday’s weekend activist link roundup, I included a piece by Tracy @ Digging Through the Dirt, Use Twitter to Advocate on Behalf of Pigs. Tracy put out a call to animal advocates to tweet in support of the pigs on Sunday the 16th, for example, by including links to undercover investigations of factory farm operations, talking about the swine flu, encouraging people to go vegan for the animals, etc., etc., etc.. In order to piggyback (pun intended) on the anticipated success of the animal ag. propagandists, all tweets needed to include the hashtag #oink.

I’ll let Tracy explain:

Animal exploiters on Twitter hope history repeats itself Sunday.

On Aug. 2 a group of dairy farmers worked to make “#moo” a trending topic on the social-networking site. They want to do the same for “#oink” on Sunday.

With “#oink” a trending topic, those in animal agribusiness want to convince people to call swine flu “H1N1.”

If the “farmers” succeed, animal advocates can use this opportunity to raise awareness of the suffering pigs endure in agribusiness.

If enough people use a word, phrase or hashtag, said word, phrase or hashtag will appear in all Twitter users’ right-hand sidebars, under the headline “Trending Topics.” These are fluid and change on a constant basis; while some topics, such as “American Idol” or “Les Paul” are rather intuitive, others – like #moo and #oink – are less so. Whether they’re familiar with the topics or not, many Twitter users look to the Trending Topics as a guide or sort of news ticker, clicking through to weigh in on a topic, or to see what all the fuss is about.

Animal exploiters (along with other spammers), then, hijack the Trending Topics tool in order to disseminate their industry propaganda. Whereas animal exploiters hoped to “educate” Twitter users about the safety of “pork,” extol the virtues of “happy meat,” and frame the debate about swine flu/H1N1, the goal of animal advocates was to counter their message with a healthy dose of reality.

(For more on Twitter, trending topics, etc. check out this Twitter FAQ.)

I’m not a big Twitter user – the 140 character limit is enough to make me pull my hair out – but I was vaguely aware of the #moo movement. So with the advance notice about Sunday’s planned #oink takeover, I pledged to participate this time around. To make things even easier, I developed a list of Tweets and links the day beforehand, since I knew I’d be in and out of the house on Sunday. (It’s a good thing, too, since my Internet connection was spotty throughout the day on Sunday.) I added to the list, which I stored in a Word doc, throughout the day on Sunday, mostly by copying and pasting RT’s – re-tweets, that is, tweets from other animal advocates on Twitter, which I “crossposted” on my own account. I also kept an eye on the Trending Topics and adapted my hashtags as necessary. (For example, #fact became a Trending Topic later in the day, so I added it to #oink where appropriate.) Every two, ten, twenty or 120 minutes, I’d post a tweet or two, then go back to whatever it was I was doing.

Other animal advocates were even more engaged, for example, responding to followers who wanted to know what all the #oink-ing was all about, arguing directly with animal exploiters, and providing further information to those interested in a vegan diet. Stephanie at Change.org falls into the first category, and has an excellent write-up of her online animal activism over the weekend” “Vick, Dogs, Dairy, Cows, Pigs, Twitter, and the Rape Rack,” Parts One and Two. Tracy also summarizes her experience here.

In a related note, Happy Herbivore is using Twitter hashtags in a different way. In a new section of the website called Weekly Eats, HH will feature recipes submitted by Twitter users, with a different theme for each day: “meatless Mondays, tofu Tuesdays, raw Wednesdays, tempeh Thursdays, fat-free (or gluten-free, if you prefer) Fridays, seasonal Saturdays and seiten Sundays!” To participate, you can either tweet about your recipe or meal idea, or email your submissions to HH directly. Try to use the hashtags #vegan and #meatlessmonday (or wev) – ‘twould be awesome to see #vegan elevated to a Trending Topic! Or keep an eye on existing Trending Topics, and tweet about your animal advocacy using existing popular hashtags where appropriate.

After the jump are my tweets for Sunday. Because I’ve more or less abandoned my other blog, I set up my delicious and Twitter accounts to post digests of each day’s activities to Smite Me!. So that’s how I came up with a nice lil’ roundup of Sunday’s #oink tweets, just in case y’all are wondering.

Before we begin, I should note that the @AFBFMace RT is a fake (re-)tweet. A fake tweet is akin to a deliberate misquote, or a quote that’s wholly fabricated (or, in this case, a tweet that’s wholly fabricated). In a word, it’s libel. It’s a big no-no, and could result in suspension of your account. I deleted the fake tweet from the digest that was posted to Smite Me!, but included it here as a word of warning.

While I didn’t create the fake tweet, I did inadvertently retweet it (I don’t want to single anyone out, but you can determine who initially used the fake tweet with Twitter’s search tool; I was the last to RT the fake tweet, about 12 hours after it first appeared). Several pro-”meat” users called me out on the fake tweet, and when I realized my mistake, I immediately apologized. (To be fair, all but one of the users were quite nice once I explained and apologized for the mistake.)

So please, use some real-world common sense when engaging with social media to further your cause. Intellectual dishonesty and outright lying do nothing to boost our credibility. Plus, you could land yourself, as well as other users, in trouble with the media site, if not the libeled individual/corporation/organization.

Okay, I’m done. Headed to bed. #oink, oink my vegan sisters & brothers! #
RT @veganinbrighton: Pigs are cleaner than you think, social creatures, & more intelligent than your dog! #oink #fact #
RT @choosevegan: want to see how “humane” pig slaughter is? Watch inside a “humane” slaughterhouse: bit.ly/61ouC #oink #fact #
RT @AFBFMace Pigs live in filthy, unsafe environments with a miserable death guaranteed. #oink bit.ly/15NKSx #fact #
RT @diggingTTdirt Michael Vick killed dogs, so does animal ag. Show u care about animals by not eating them. ChooseVeg.com #oink #fact #
Pigs and dogs are so much alike that they can make hybrid babies! My O-Ren is a dog w/piggy bits! bit.ly/mnhH3 #oink #fact #
RT @veganza: Can you help? Getting a count of atheists on twitter by hashtag! If you’re an atheist, RT this whole message #atheist #
RT @Lindsey_http://twitpic.com/e51mj – See pigs as more than a meal #oink www.tryveg.com #
Smarter Than a Three-Year-Old Child: bit.ly/9guO2 #oink #fact #swineflu #
This is where “pork” comes from: bit.ly/l0FGH #oink #fact #swineflu #
Swine Flu, Religious Discrimination & the Killing of Egypt’s Pigs bit.ly/l9N3y #oink #swineflu #fact #
Egypt’s Pigs: Beaten, Stoned, & Burned Alive Amid Swine Flu Fears bit.ly/YqIIE #oink #swineflu #fact #
Emily Deschanel knows pig “meat” isn’t green – vegan eats are! bit.ly/BzOBz #oink #fact #swineflu #
Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan positive for swine flu. bit.ly/XlvcS #oink #fact #swineflu #
Swine flu has killed 477 Americans; be patriotic, go vegan! bit.ly/YgZhW #oink #fact #swineflu #
RT @choosevegan: pigs are smarter than dogs. #fact. why love one but eat the other? #oink #swineflu #
RT @FARMUSA: Support pork “producers”? I’d rather support PIGS – by not eating them. #oink #swineflu #fact #
Down On Old McDonald’s Factory Farm – bit.ly/FkK9f – #oink #fact #swineflu #
If pigs are “horizontal humans,” sows are horizontal women (& piglets, horizontal babies): bit.ly/ZQ73i #oink #feminism #
Porcine love is a beautiful thing!: bit.ly/lABpK #oink #fact #swineflu #
RT @veganwordnerd RT @lisarimm: I’ll call it H1N1 when you call it “dead pig” instead of “pork.” #oink #fact #swineflu #
RT @20knotgirl In nature, pigs live for 15 yrs, but pigs on factory farms are sent to slaughter after just six months of life. #oink #fact #
#fact Smart Bacon – just 45 calories & 2 grams of fat per serving! bit.ly/cVl1i #oink #
RT @MissAnthropy15: #oink twitpic.com/e4kzr #
RT @diggingTTdirt: See what happens to pigs on a daily basis #oink: tinyurl.com/pmuul3 #fact #swineflu #
Moms, if u dislike breastfeeding ur babes in bathroom stalls, imagine how these mothers & babies feel bit.ly/3L7xss #oink #feminism #
RT @veganorama Pork: the other dead animal. It’s not an alternative to chicken or turkey; it’s an alternative to a live animal. #oink #fact #
Madonna and child: bit.ly/b2FlJ #oink #swineflu #
Hungry piglets nurse from their mom, as it should be: bit.ly/fe56v #oink #swineflu #
Swine flu esp. deadly to indigenous people – bit.ly/X6VLn – speciesism, colonialism & racism, #oink! #swineflu #fact #
RT @vegan_one Free Copy of “Introduction to Animal Rights” For Donating to Peaceful Prairie tumblr.com/xvy2p3q5z #oink #contest #
RT @veggietweets Facts about pork that you may not have known: bit.ly/RvTlk and bit.ly/Iwyne #oink #fact #swineflu #
RT @vegan_one: Every piece of bacon, every cut of ham, every bit of pork was once part of a living, feeling, thinking being. #oink #fact #
Fight for mothers’ rights – go #vegan! bit.ly/ZQ73i #oink #swineflu #feminism #
Swine flu symptoms: fever, body aches, chills, fatigue vomiting, diarrhea & DEATH! #oink #fact #swineflu #
Headed to a library book sale now; hope to find some animal-friendly books & #vegan cookbooks. #Oink! #
RT @vegtv Justifying a fault doubles it. French Proverb www.quoteactions.com #oink #swineflu #
RT @mary_martin I wonder what goes thru the mind of a person as they kill another sentient being? #oink #
RT @diggingTTdirt: I support farmers who grow crops, not those who kill animals. Visit ChooseVeg.com for more info. #oink #swineflu #
RT @TheVeganRD: If you can watch & listen to this & still eat pork, you must have a heart of stone. bit.ly/Iwyne #oink #swineflu #
In the kyriarchy, women = animals = meat. Opt out, ladies – go #vegan! www.goveg.com #oink #swineflu #feminism #
Do these babies look like “meat” to you? bit.ly/jYwiP #oink #swineflu #
“Pigs, who died in transit, dumped behind a truck at the slaughterhouse.” bit.ly/8bpJ #oink #fact #
Taking a shower now; hope to wash to stink of all this animal ag. propaganda from my self. #oink #
Happy pigs live at sanctuaries – not on farms: bit.ly/qfPK0 #oink #swineflu #fact #
Having #vegan cinnamon sugar oatmeal w/dried blueberries, cranberries & cherries for breakfast. The pigs #oink in delight! #
RT @wellonwheels All animals feel pain. See Babe’s true story www.chooseveg.com/pigs.asp #oink #fact #
#Prochoice? #fact – Pigs don’t decide to die for your dinner plate. Choose to go vegan, #oink! www.goveg.com #
RT @FARMUSA:Pop quiz! Would pigs rather be eaten after A) living in factory farm, B) living on “family” farm, or C) None of the above? #oink #
100 million pigs are birthed & murdered every year in the US alone: bit.ly/RvTlk #oink #fact #swineflu #
RT @choosevegan China, Russia, Thailand, the Philippines and United Arab Emirates have all banned imports of US pork due to Swine Flu #oink #
Loving pigs means never wanting to slaughter them for your dinner plate. #oink #swineflu #fact #
RT @TheShellyfish Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty. —Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, Polish poet & aphorist (1909–1966) #oink #fact #
And this little pig sang to the moon!: bit.ly/18vUEv #oink #fact #swineflu #
They were only six months old: bit.ly/lWHpm #oink #fact #swineflu #
RT@veganwordnerd #oink? Agribusiness is trying to increase profit from killing; animal lovers are speaking up for pigs bit.ly/3CPjgb #
Happy pigs come from Colorado!: bit.ly/aMTAu #oink #
Joan Jett thinks pigs are for cuddling, not eating. bit.ly/3QCEP #oink #
H1N1 is now a trending topic; should we add #swineflu to our #oink tag &/ start mentioning swine flu, ppls? Pls RT! #vegan #
Mexican state postpones school start because of swine flu fears – bit.ly/ETRT7 – #oink #
YouTube H1N1 videos: bit.ly/13xvHZ Let’s all call it SWINE FLU. #oink #
Had potato soup for dinner last night, topped w/Smart Bacon. Was delicious, & no pigs had to die for my gastrointestinal pleasure! #oink #
Do you know where your “pork” comes from? bit.ly/FkK9f #oink #
Animal advocates – are you #oink -ing for the pigs today? bit.ly/3CPjgb #
Happy pigs: Don’t buy the myth – www.humanemyth.org – #oink #

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare social media action alerts twitter oink moo trending topics pigs meat swine flu happy meat links link roundup factory farming farmed animals

Dog Deserve Better’s 6th Annual Chain-Off – Freedom for Chained Dogs

Kelly Garbato — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:13:11 +0000

The anti-chaining group Dog Deserve Better has been holding an an annual Chain-Off, on or around July 4th, since 2004. This year, the Chain-Off will take place June 27 through July 12.

Just what is a “Chain-Off,” you ask?

Chain Off has been held annually around the 4th of July since 2003, highlighting the reality that while Americans are celebrating their own freedom, there are tens of thousands of Man’s Best Friends in every state who are still not free: America’s chained and penned dogs. These dogs are found in backyards stretching from Delaware to Alaska, from Maine to Hawaii, throughout the provinces of Canada, and in countries around the world.

Chain Off has evolved from one woman chaining herself to a doghouse in 2003 for 33 hours, to 85 people chaining themselves in 23 states during last year’s 2008 Chain Off to raise awareness for chained dogs.

This year help us blow last year’s 85 total out of the water by chaining yourself in your own backyard, your neighborhood, a local park, or with us in South Carolina! Join up ‘in packs’ to make a local event of it, or take it low-key in a one-woman or one-man show in your own backyard. However it works for you, it’s ok by us! We’ve got more excitement than ever, with a large event in S. Carolina where activists will be chained, and new ways to fundraise in groups or on your own. We’d like to see over 100 people, and at least one from EVERY SINGLE STATE, living chained to doghouses sometime during the week from June 27th through July 7th. We can do it! You can do it!

In addition to being our biggest awareness campaign of the year, this is also our biggest fundraising event of the year, last year raising over $33,000 for our work with chained and penned dogs. $33,000? Let’s blow that out of the water this year too, with a goal of $60,000 raised during Chain Off! Be part of it! You can fundraise even if you’re not going to live chained to the doghouse…join an online fundraising ‘team’ in your state, start your own fundraising page, and make it happen.

We intended to do Chain Off in Denver, Colorado this year, but were asked by Denver Kills Dogs to stand in solidarity with them in a boycott of Denver. While we had been planning to use the opportunity to protest their pit bill ban, we decided it would be right for us to pull out of Denver. Hence a time crunch to find another location!

Given that we had so little time and needed on the ground help, we approached friend and founder of local anti-chaining organization Pawsitive Effects Mikael Hardy, and are chaining off in her neck of the woods so we can collaborate. Mikael was one of the 11 participantes in our 2006 Chain Off who spent days chained to doghouses hoping to win a new car, and took her passion for the cause to new levels!

We’d like to invite all the up and coming local Anti-Chaining organizations to Chain Off with us; this show of coordination and solidarity will take our cause even further!

Whether you are part of an organization or an individual animal advocate, we’d love for you to travel there to be chained with us, or set yourself up in your neighborhood, town, or your own backyard! We accommodate all participants, in whatever way works for you.

Make sure to visit our Chain Off Home Page and fill out the registration form to get you started. Special thanks to Susan Hartland, DDB Seattle Rep, for her diligent work in obtaining not only one but two Chain Off locations this year!

Chain Off Attire, with this gorgeous logo donated by DaftGeneration.com, will make the perfect 4th of July shirt this year! Gets yours at our cafepress store.

If the idea of chaining yourself to a dog house in the heat of July doesn’t appeal to you (and here, I should stop to note that it isn’t exactly a party for dogs similarly chained, either), you can make a donation to DDB, or sign on as a Team Sponsor for $100. And, naturally, there’s all that cool Chain-Off 2009 gear to be had!

In addition to the annual Chain-Off, DDB has also launched a “Dog-A-Day Summer Rescue Challenge”:

The Dog Days of Summer are upon us…and dogs will languish, suffer, even die in the heat.

DDB has a unique challenge this summer: Let’s Rescue a Chained or Penned Dog a Day! That’s 90 Chained or Penned Dogs in need of foster and vet care, not to mention new, inside, loving homes and families. Can we do it?

DDB founder Tamira Thayne explains the challenge, as well as her contribution in rescuing two dogs in one day, in this You Tube video:

Tamira reports,

Dogs #2, 3. Tamira Thayne, DDB founder, PA, had no sooner taken her pledge on June 3rd to rescue and foster two formerly chained or penned female dogs during the campaign than she rescued two formerly chained or penned female dogs the very next day! Both from Somerset County, PA, Kayta is a lab/shepherd mix, five years old, who she was told was living chained but was in a pen when she got there, and Shaggy (name will change) an 11-month old tiny terrier mix who’d already had one puppy and had the full boobies to prove it! To adopt either Katya or Shaggy, visit the adoption page.

You follow DDB’s progress – and, of course, make a donation to help with the vet bills – on the Dog a Day ’09 page. As of June 12th, they’d succeeded in rescuing twenty dogs, including one from Kansas City, Missouri (my neck of the woods).

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts ddb dogs deserve better animal abuse animal cruelty cruelty to animals dog canine pet companion animal chained dog animal companion tethering anti-tethering anti-chaining events chain-off animal rescue youtube video

June 20th marks the 1st International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos

Kelly Garbato — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:23:45 +0000

On June 20th (that’s a week from this Saturday, folks), In Defense of Animals will be holding the first-ever International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos (IDAEZ for short).

IDA describes IDAEZ as

a global event aimed at bringing mammoth attention to the plight of elephants in zoos and ending their suffering. On Saturday, June 20th, pro-elephant advocates will turn out en masse at their local zoos, holding outreach events and demonstrations to educate the public about the tragic effects of keeping elephants in small, impoverished zoo pens where they are suffering and dying prematurely.

Elephants are highly intelligent, complex and self-aware individuals who have evolved for long distance living. In the wild they range tens of miles a day, live in large, tight-knit family groups, and communicate with one another at great distances. Yet zoos keep elephants in tiny exhibits of a few acres or less, where lack of movement and standing on hard surfaces cause painful foot infections and arthritis, the leading causes of euthanasia in captive-held elephants. The stress and boredom of intensive captivity results in abnormal behaviors such as repetitive swaying and head bobbing. [...]

The elephants need your help! By participating in this event, you become part of a global community of pro-elephant advocates joined together on June 20th to end the suffering of elephants in zoos. We urge you to organize or join an event at your local zoo, write letters, educate your friends and family. It’s all about taking action. United, we are a powerful force for change!

Backed by an army of public relations personnel, the zoo industry has been largely successful in convincing the general public that zoos work for the public good: breeding endangered animal species which might otherwise go extinct; fostering in children a love and appreciation for nature and its inhabitants; throwing their weight behind sundry conservation efforts so that, one day, animals need not live in captivity for their species to survive. This is a lie.

Make no mistake: zoos are businesses. As such, their “exhibits” (read: sentient non-human animals) are determined more by popularity and ability to put asses in the seats than species survival and biological necessity. Once individual animals age and are no longer “cute,” or yesterday’s trendy species has gone the way of parachute pants, these animals may be sold to roadside zoos, “penned” or “canned” hunting facilities, collectors and the like. Lacking an interested buyer, “surplus” zoo animals might simply be “destroyed.” Additionally, maintaining wild animals in captivity is cost-prohibitive; t’would be more effective – and less expensive – to redirect a zoo’s annual operating costs towards habitat preservation, so that the members of these endangered species can live in the wild, where they’re more likely to thrive and reproduce of their own free will.

For additional information about the plight of animals confined to zoos, I highly recommend Joan Dunayer’s Animal Equality: Language and Liberation, which includes a chapter on the zoo industry (let’s just say that the language the industry employs to describe its practices is quite revealing of its collective attitudes and policies re: non-human animals), as well as this factsheet from Animal Rights Africa, which provides an excellent summary of the issue.

For information specific to elephants, see IDA’s The Truth About Zoos and Elephant Conservation; Elephant Life in U.S. – Zoos vs. Sanctuaries, also from IDA; and Puppy/Pachy Love, a post I wrote about Tara and Bella of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

In that last piece, I compared the Kansas City Zoo – which was voted one of America’s best zoos in 2008 – to The Elephant Sanctuary (one guess which of the two came out on top). I also included two videos of Ned, who came to TES in November 2008:

On Saturday, November 8, an emaciated Asian male elephant named Ned was confiscated from Florida based circus trainer Lance Ramos by the USDA for failure to comply with the Animal Welfare Act and was placed by USDA authority with The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. On Sunday, November 9th, at about 12:30 p.m., Ned arrived at The Elephant Sanctuary. Ned will reside only temporarily in his private facility at The Sanctuary until a permanent facility is ready for him.

Sadly, Ned succumbed to a lifetime of abuse, just six short months after finding freedom at TES:

Ned passed away May 15, 2009 at 3:47am CT in the company of a caregiver. He passed without a struggle, just two deep breaths and a sigh and then he was gone. We feel cheated by the little time we had with Ned but cherish every single moment we were allowed to care for and get to know this most amazing boy/man elephant known as Ned. We love you Ned, Namaste sweet boy.

In a press release, IDA blamed Ned’s death in part on the USDA:

Today’s tragic death of Ned, a 21-year old male elephant at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee may have been prevented had the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) not waited until the elephant was at death’s door to confiscate him from an abusive trainer, the animal protection organization In Defense of Animals (IDA) charged today.

Similar inaction by the USDA, charged with enforcing the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), is jeopardizing the lives of other captive elephants, IDA said. Currently at risk is an emaciated elephant named Jewel, who continues to travel and perform in circuses despite her debilitated condition, her handler’s chronic violations of animal welfare law and her possible infection with the human form of tuberculosis.

“Ned had an absolutely tragic life and the USDA knew about his life-threatening situation almost a year before it acted to confiscate him,” said Elliot M. Katz, DVM, IDA president. “Despite The Elephant Sanctuary’s heroic efforts, it was too late for Ned. How many more elephants have to die before the USDA starts fulfilling its legal responsibility to enforce our nation’s animal welfare law?”

No being deserves to suffer like this; least of all for the amusement of another.

On that note, back to the International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos.

IDA offers several ways to take action:

How you can get involved:

* Coordinate an event. Submit your event information here, and we’ll post it on our web site so others can join you on June 20 and help make your city’s IDAEZ event a huge success.

* Join an event. Check our events listing page to locate one near you (be sure to visit more than once as we’ll be adding more events up until June 20).

* Bring a friend or two to an IDAEZ event. Share information about the elephants’ plight with your family, friends and colleagues.

* Visit our web site for more ways you can help make the International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos a success for the elephants.

* Hold an elephant awareness party. If you do not live near a zoo that holds elephants but are passionate about taking action on June 20, hold an elephant party to raise awareness and donations for IDA’s elephant campaign. Contact us for materials and suggested videos to share.

Cruelty can’t stand the spotlight. So please join IDA and compassionate people around the globe on Saturday, June 20, to help bring an end to the suffering of elephants in zoos.

For more information, visit www.helpelephants.com/ or contact IDAEZ Event Coordinator Melissa Gonzalez: Melissa [at] idausa.org or call 707-981-7701.

Likewise, please consider making a donation in Ned’s memory to The Elephant Sanctuary.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts ida in defense of animals zoos circuses elephants tes the elephant sanctuary tennessee International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos IDAEZ events protest day of action ned abuse video video blogging you tube

Farm Sanctuary’s Country Hoe Down is this weekend!

Kelly Garbato — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:10:45 +0000

Photo via Farm Sanctuary & Connie Pugh; Farm Sanctuary supporter Rosebud makes peace with Calvin Pig at the 2008 CA Country Hoe Down.

If you find yourself in or around Orland, California this weekend, consider yourself one lucky activist! Farm Sanctuary is holding its annual Country Hoe Down this Saturday and Sunday. Writers, journalists and bloggers in particular should plan to be there, as there appear to be plenty of opportunities for interviews and networking!

Just be sure to have enough fun for the both of us; the animal advocacy community rarely holds its events in Kansas City, even though the city is technically located smack dab in the middle of the country. Sniff, sniff.

(You can view photos of previous Farm Sanctuary events here, btw.)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Meredith Turner
Date: Thu, May 14, 2009 at 7:38 PM
Subject: You’re Invited! Farm Sanctuary’s Country Hoe Down THIS WEEKEND!

Have plans for the weekend? Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, would like to invite you to attend/cover our annual Country Hoe Down at our Orland, CA Shelter this Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17. If you’ve never visited our farm, this whimsical two-day event is the perfect time to come out, meet the hundreds of rescued animals who call it home and enjoy a rejuvenating taste of the country life!

Please let me know if you would like to join us for a day of hayrides, farm tours, fascinating speaker presentations, delicious food, drinks, live music and an evening barn dance you won’t soon forget! For more information, please see the press release below. Gene Baur, Farm Sanctuary’s president and co-founder, will be available for interviews. We look forward to seeing you there!

All the best,

Meredith

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Meredith Turner
mturner [at] farmsanctuary.org
646-369-6212

Farm Sanctuary’s Country Hoe Down Coming to Orland, California Shelter

Annual Celebration Will Feature Best-Selling Authors, Live Music, Barn Dancing, Farm Tours, and More!

ORLAND, CA – May 11, 2009 – Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, is getting set to throw their yearly rustic soiree to celebrate and educate people about the friendly farm animals living at their bicoastal shelters. The non-profit’s annual California Country Hoe Down at its Shelter in Orland on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17 promises to be a whimsical two-day event filled with fun, learning and inspirational lectures by fascinating guest presenters. This year’s speaker lineup includes an eclectic mix of best-selling authors, acclaimed animal activists and a charitable marathon bicyclist

- Best-Selling Author and noted psychiatrist Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson has published numerous popular and critically-acclaimed books about animals. His latest volume, The Face On Your Plate: The Truth About Food, was released by W.W. Norton in March 2009.

- Vegan entrepreneur and publisher Josh Hooten has already raised more than $11,500 for Farm Sanctuary by biking from his home in Portland, Oregon to his final destination – the Orland shelter. Hooten plans to complete his 600-mile trek by arriving at Farm Sanctuary on the day of the Country Hoe Down, where he will favor attendees with a talk on “Spinning Your Wheels for Farm Animals.”

- University of Colorado ethologist Marc Bekoff, author (with Jessica Pierce) of Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals and many other books about animals, will speak about how non-human species experience and express empathy and emotions.

- Vegan Outreach Co-Founder and Executive Director Matt Ball, an inductee into the Animal Rights Hall of Fame, will present a lecture entitled “A Meaningful Life” advising activists on how to maximize their effectiveness and long-term fulfillment while working to help animals.

- Farm Sanctuary President and Co-Founder Gene Baur, author of the best-selling Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, published by Touchstone (a division of Simon & Schuster) in March 2008, will speak about the history of Farm Sanctuary and current advocacy efforts underway to protect farm animals.

Other daytime activities planned for the Country Hoe Down include hayrides and hourly guided tours of the 300-acre shelter (during which attendees will be able to meet some of the hundreds of rescued farm animals living at Farm Sanctuary), vegan cooking demonstrations with chef Jason Wyrick, and a guided yoga session. On Saturday night, however, the party turns to contra dancing with the traditional Irish sound of the Pub Scouts in the People Barn until midnight. Guests are offered the option of complimentary camping under the stars on the sanctuary grounds, as well as information about booking accommodations at the area’s many hotels.

*Media is comped – Tickets for the Country Hoe Down are $45 for adults and $20 for children 12 and under, and include a catered dinner, a continental breakfast, the barn dance, and all other activities. Those wishing to learn more about or register for this special event should log on to farmsanctuary.org.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the “food animal” industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare farm sanctuary ca california country hoe down events conference flickr photos sanctuary