———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Last Chance for Animals - campaigns [at] lcanimal.org
Date: Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 8:40 PM
Subject: Message from Chris DeRose - Requiem For a Pit Bull

Requiem for a Pit Bull

“Christina’s Court” will be airing a segment called, “Requiem for a Pit Bull,” that is inspiring and uplifting. The show’s Executive Producer, Peter Brennan, also was the Executive Producer of “A Current Affair” and “Hard Copy,” as well as the Creator of “A Current Affair.” Being the maverick he is, he allowed me to produce and report on dozens of hard core animal rights stories that no one else would touch with a ten foot pole. Peter alone has made strong animal issues in media a common household occurrence on many TV networks and cable stations. Now he has “Christina’s Court” and already he is taking no prisoners by having a show that sets a precedent in how animal cruelty should be dealt with. PLEASE watch the show below, it’s a half hour segment and worth every second of your time. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Chris DeRose
LCA President & Founder

Click here for “Requiem for a Pit Bull”

This case illustrated the divide between pit bull lovers and the people who fear them, right or wrong. The TV court show, “Christina’s Court,” has heard many cases where an ill-trained pit bull has caused injury and tragedy when let run loose. But in this case, the dog was a two-year-old hand raised well trained and much loved member of the family who played with other dogs and had never had a fight. Citing his fear of the dog, the neighbor went to his gun cabinet, took out a .22 caliber weapon and fired five bullets into the young dog. Apparently the reputation of his breed cost him his life.

Maybe there’s a lesson here about tolerance in general. The case is the “Christina’s Court” entry in the 2008 Daytime Emmy Awards. Feel free to forward the link to your friends and associates.

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

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts lca last chance for animals chris derose tv Judge Cristina Perez cristina’s court pit bull dog canine pet companion animal animal abuse cruelty to animals animal cruelty Requiem For a Pit Bull capone Allen Saadeh Louis Cross Austin Texas TX medianimals

But what of Kansas City? Sigh. It’s all just hay and megachurches.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Andrew Bennett
Date: Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Subject: Because They Have No Words

Hello Kelly –

I received your information from Lotti Pharriss, one of the playwright’s of BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO WORDS. The play tells the true story of Tim Maddock, who worked in the animal rescue efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans. We’re wondering if there’s any way you could mention the production on your site and to your readers. I’ve included a press release with more information, and if you have questions, just let me know!

Thanks!

Andrew Bennett

Production Manager
Piven Theatre Workshop
927 Noyes Street, Rm 110
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 866-8049
ajbennett [at] piventheatre.org
www.piventheatre.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT: Andrew Bennett (847) 866-8049
ajbennett [at] piventheatre.org

*PHOTO AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST*

PIVEN THEATRE CLOSES THEIR 07-08 SEASON WITH A CHICAGO PREMIERE

(EVANSTON, ILLINOIS) Piven Theatre proudly announces the Chicago Premiere of Because They Have No Words, written by Tim Maddock and Lotti Louise Pharriss, and directed by Emilie Beck.

• Production opens on Monday, May 12th
• Production runs from May 12th – June 15th
• Tickets: $23-25 / group rates available for groups of 10 or more.
• At the Piven Theatre, 927 Noyes Street in Evanston.
• Ticket and show information at (847) 866-8049 or www.piventheatre.org.

This production focuses on the true story of Tim Maddock who, in response to Hurricane Katrina, traveled to New Orleans and threw himself into the chaos of animal rescue efforts in the wake of the storm. In September of 2005, Tim loaded his car with food, water, clothing and rescue gear. He said goodbye to his partner and his dog, and drove straight into the heart of one of the greatest natural disasters in our country’s history.

During his time in New Orleans, Tim witnessed great human tragedy and stupendous bureaucratic blunders. From the stranded animals somehow able to weather the storm, to the frantic, grief-stricken families searching for the pets they were forced to abandon, the flood of emotion was a constant reminder of the failures of a city, a state, and a nation to respond when their citizens needed them most.

The play, written by Tim Maddock and Lotti Louise Pharriss received its world-premiere in L.A. under the direction of Piven Theatre Workshop alum Emilie Beck. Piven Theatre is pleased to reunite the playwrights with their original director, Ms. Beck, for this Midwest Premiere and to announce that the play’s author and inspiration, Tim Maddock, will be starring in the production.

This riveting true story has been called “Raw, moving, and darkly humorous” by the L.A. Weekly and Backstage West proclaims it “Reminds us of what good theatre is capable of achieving.”

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Dec 25, 2007 3:02 PM
Subject: DawnWatch Animal News year end round-up — 2007

It’s Christmas morning. Before I shut down my computer until January 3, 2008, I will enjoy fulfilling what has become a DawnWatch tradition — a scan of the media stories of the year. Because I feel so blessed to do this work, Christmas morning seems the most perfect time to sum up a year of it.

For dogs, 2007 was the year of “fake fur” coats made from real dog fur, of the Menu pet food crisis, of celebrity pet store blunders, and the year of Michael Vick.

(more…)

—– Original Message —–
From: Michelle Desilets
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 8:50 AM
Subject: primfocus: Orangutan Island Episode 4 tonight on Animal Planet

Please tune in…and let us know what you think! ORANGUTAN ISLAND: Lessons Learned, Lessons Lost

World Premiere Friday, November 30 at 8:30 PM (ET/PT)

The community now numbers 34 after an unexpected loss and the rainy season continues relentlessly. The inexperienced orangutans are still trying to figure things out – some learn new survival skills while others forget crucial lessons already learned.

Unexpectedly, Hamlet becomes a role model as the group learns to imitate his effective method of foraging for food in the flood waters. Meanwhile, Chen Chen keeps out of Hamlet’s sight on the platform, hanging out with his long-time friend Donald. But when Donald ventures out to look for food, the darkness and rising flood waters leave him scared and disoriented. Will Chen Chen realize Donald is missing and go searching for him? Cha Cha ignores vital lessons she’s learned and lets her curiosity lead her into a dangerous playdate with a snake. Then meet Jordan, a bit of a social outcast whose fond memories of being bottlefed could turn out to be deadly.

To find out more, please visit www.savetheorangutan.co.uk or our partner in the US, Orangutan Outreach at www.redapes.org.

Michelle Desilets
Director
Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK
“Primates Helping Primates”
www.savetheorangutan.org.uk

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts animal planet Orangutan Island Orangutan primates wildlife conservation tv animal behavior ethology Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK Orangutan Outreach

—–Original Message—–
From: Liz Owen
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 7:06 AM
Subject: Hurricane Katrina Volunteer’s Play Nominated For Prestigious 2007 Ovation Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Press Contact:
Liz Owen
liz [at] owenville.net
Phone: 323-404-3185

“BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO WORDS” FINDS STRONG VOICE AT LA OVATION AWARDS; Hurricane Katrina Volunteer’s Play Nominated For Prestigious 2007 Ovation Awards

HOLLYWOOD, October 15, 2007 - Weirdsmobile Productions’ (Lotti Louise Pharriss, Producer) production of Tim Maddock and Lotti Louise Pharriss’ “Because They Have No Words,” has been nominated for two LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards. Maddock and Pharriss as writers, and Pharriss as producer on behalf of Weirdsmobile received nominations for Best World-Premiere Play. The ensemble of actors - including playwright Maddock, Rufus Bonds, Jr. (”The Color Purple,” “The Lion King”), Lanai Chapman (”Grey’s Anatomy,” “Judging Amy”), LeShay Tomlinson (R. Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet,” “A Mighty Wind”), Tisha Terrasini Banker (”Criminal Minds”), Colin Walker, and Samantha Bennett - was collectively nominated for Best Ensemble.

The LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Called the “…highest-profile contest for local theatre…” by the Los Angeles Times, the Ovation Awards draws national attention to the quality and quantity of professional theatre in Los Angeles. The award ceremony will be held on November 12, 2007 at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre, and will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.

“Because They Have No Words” focuses on openly gay Maddock’s personal experiences as a volunteer rescuing animals in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina left thousands of people and animals homeless, a mere one year after his mother passed away. Leaving his long-time partner temporarily behind, Los Angeles-based Maddock headed to New Orleans and there witnessed the plight of the animals that survived the storm, the desperation of people searching for the animals they had been forced to leave behind, and the toxic conditions that both animals and people were forced to endure. In addition to the obvious destruction Katrina caused, he also encountered the bureaucratic problems borne out of an excess of red tape, an overloaded infrastructure, and people taking the system into their own hands. Nearly a year after the hurricane, this new play chronicled Maddock’s experiences as an animal rescue volunteer, the stories of those he encountered and the emotional journey that extended well beyond the time he spent in New Orleans.

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…and the early battle scenes in Qatar? In poor taste, to say the least. Watching American soldiers and Middle Easterners being blown to smithereens isn’t so much entertaining as it is depressing.

Also depressing was this statement, part of Optimus Prime’s endless moralizing: “All sentient beings deserve freedom”. (Or perhaps it was more along the lines of “All sentient being deserve the right to live”…I forget now.) Really? All sentient beings? Because, like, “sentient” isn’t codeword for “human+”.

Sentience refers to utilization of sensory organs, the ability to feel or perceive subjectively, not necessarily including the faculty of self-awareness. The possession of sapience is not a necessity. The word sentient is often confused with the word sapient, which can connote knowledge, consciousness, or apperception.

Sadly, and despite the obvious implications of such an animal-friendly statement, Transformers was hardly a pro-AR movie. On the contrary; one of Optimus Prime’s cronies (you know, the “good” “guys”) wanted to kill a dog (which he* saw as evidence of a “rodent infestation”) for pissing on his foot. Uh, yeah, maybe y’all should modify that statement to “All sapient beings…” I hate to break it to the screenwriters, but dogs are sentient, you dumbasses.

The effects were pretty cool, though.

* Though Shane doth protest, the Transformers are all clearly uber-masculine entities. Androgynous they aint.

(Crossposted.)

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Tagged: transformers animals animal rights animal welfare optimus prime ethics moralizing sentience war on terra movies medianimals

UPDATE, 7/5/07:

Holy shit. He totally won. Never underestimate the power of jowly, unfunny latenight “funnymen”, would be today’s lesson. Or something.

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Kevin Eubanks:
Big zucchini, or world’s biggest zucchini?

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jun 20, 2007 7:59 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Jay Leno nominates Kevin Eubanks as sexiest vegetarian 6/15 - 6/19/07

Perhaps you have heard of PETA’s “sexiest vegetarian” contests. They are in line with PETA’s general attempts to put an animal friendly message wherever there is public attention — and for as long as anybody can remember there has been plenty of attention on sex. The competition has leagues for sexiest vegetarian celebrities and also for the tofutti cuties and sultry soy boys next door.

The contests get a lot of press, and thanks to Jay Leno, millions of Americans heard about them over the last week. On the Friday, June 15th Tonight Show, Leno introduced the topic telling us that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking folks to vote for the sexiest vegetarian. He said, “I guessing the winner will be the guy with the biggest zucchini.” Then he said to the Tonight Show’s band leader, Kevin Eubanks, “Hey, Kev, you’re a vegetarian, I should nominate you. We should get people to vote for you.” Then he started teasing Kevin about having photos he shot of him at Pismo beach.

On Monday, June 18, Leno reminded viewers that PETA is looking for the sexiest vegetarian of the year and he said that he had nominated Kevin. And he said, “I want people to go to the PETA website and vote.” (The competition is at www.GoVeg.com )

(more…)

Here’s the TOC from IDA’s 6-13-07 newsletter.

Click on the links to take action, or read the whole newsletter online.

IDA Action Alerts

IDA Online - New Technology Advances Animal Advocacy; Join IDA’s social network, watch videos, and get your friends involved!

Bounty for California Goat Killer Up to $21,000; IDA adds $2,500 to reward for information leading to killer’s conviction

S. Korean Political Protesters Torture and Kill Pig as “Performance”; Urge Korean officials to prohibit animal abuse

Campaign News & Updates

Unchained: IDA Battles Dog Fighters over Anti-Tethering Law; Efforts to limit chaining in North Carolina gain momentum

IDA Rescues 11 Neglected Horses; Removed from squalor, horses now have new homes

New Episodes of Undercover TV Expose Animal Abuse; IDA’s groundbreaking animal rights program airs on over 100 stations

An archive of past IDA eNews newsletters is available here.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts ida in defense of animals flickr facebook myspace photobucket, youtube california Oakland hills goats animal abuse cruelty to animals animal cruelty goat killer pig piglet protest south korea north carolina dog canine pet companion animal chaining tethering Suzanne Roy dog fighting animal fighting horses neglect colorado boulder undercover tv documentary animal cops

UPDATE, 6/5/07:

—– Original Message —–
From: SledDogAC [at] aol.com
To: easyVeganAlerts-owner [at] yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 12:13 PM
Subject: ALERT: Film hyping cruel Iditarod wins Emmy Award - WRITE

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, www.helpsleddogs.org

On June 2, 2007, The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Northwest Chapter gave an Emmy Award to an Iditarod promotional film made by the Iditarod. The Emmy was given in the “News Specials” category.

The Academy say “News Specials” awards are given “For excellence in coverage of a one-time-only, significant, newsworthy event, occasion or topic aired outside any regularly scheduled news program. Subject should be an in-depth treatment of current topic.”

Tell The National Academy that films promoting Iditarod dog abuse should never receive an Emmy Award. Films that fail to detail the animal protection viewpoint of the race do not give in-depth news. They are pure hype.

EMAIL: dick.askin [at] emmyleader.org, rmesger [at] lippingroup.com, diane [at] asi-seattle.net

natasnw.org/awards/docs/44thAnnualRecipients.pdf

News Special

Iditarod Trail Productions, “Iditarod 34 - Mother Nature’s Turn to Dance”, Greg Heister, Producer/Writer/Editor, Terry Burge, Producer/Editor, Chas St. George, Executive In Charge (Chas. St. George is the Iditarod’s public relations director.)

Link to description of award: natasnw.org/forms/2007CallForEntries.pd

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(more…)

If so, CNN invites you to nominate him or her for their Hero Awards:

Do you know someone who should receive a CNN Hero Award? Click on the link below, tell us a bit about yourself and your Hero, pick a category, and tell us why your Hero should win. The most outstanding entries will be revealed at The CNN Hero Awards, a December broadcast hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

Among the listed categories is one that’s well-suited for readers of this blog: Defending the Planet. Hello, greenies! On the flip side, I’m not sure whether animal advocacy would mesh with this obviously environmental grouping…but there do seem to be some opportunities for slipping animal activists into some of the other categories. For example, crusaders against animal abuse would be perfect for “Fighting for Justice”, and younger activists of any stripe can be nominated as a “Young Wonder”. Plus, we all know what an animal lover the Silver Fox ™ is - let’s just hope he’ll be helping judge the entries. So get creative already!

And if you’re super-creative (and, um, geeky), here’s an extra credit assignment:

Tell us: What does it take to be a hero?

What are the qualities that make someone a hero? Send us a video telling us what you think. Start with the words: “A hero is…” The rest is up to you!

Right now I’m totally loving me some Sgt. Carri Lucas, Senator Sheila Kuehl, and activist pattrice jones. Problem is, I don’t actually know any of them personally. So if on the off-chance you do, do me a favor and give ‘em a shout out for me.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist action alerts cnn heroes contest anderson cooper the silver fox activism activist ireport CNN Hero Award advocacy advocate