Note To My Critics:

The links to the many sites that I've included contain information that I believe to be relevant, be it the graphics, the videos, the undercover investigations, etc. . Exposing & and ending the brutality and savagery inflicted on the non-human animals is what I am focused on. I strongly believe that every voice against animal abuse/exploitation is of value and -and- collectively we have the power to end it. I am here for the animals, not for anyone's approval and for that I make no apologies. ** I do not promote violence towards humans. ___________________________________________________ Bookmark and Share

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Animal Aid’s undercover investigation exposes shocking cruelty


National campaigning group Animal Aid has today released footage taken secretly at three randomly chosen abattoirs, which offers an unprecedented close-up of the true inner workings of typical British slaughterhouses.... that kill pigs, sheep and cattle. The film convincingly disposes of the myth of stress- and pain-free ‘humane slaughter’. The 40 hours of footage shows more than 1,500 animals being stunned and more than 1,000 being killed. Animal Aid anticipates the revelations will provoke a plain-speaking debate involving consumers, politicians, regulators and the industry.

Pigs and sheep are seen being kicked, shoved and – in one case – dragged into the stun room, which was packed with frightened animals. In the chaos, animals slip, fall and cry out. The electric tongs used to stun pigs and sheep frequently make contact for too short a time or do not span the brain, and deliver, instead, nothing more than painful electric shocks. Often, the suffering inflicted, the terror experienced and the indifference of the stun operator are shockingly apparent.


Animal Aid filmed:
Pigs and sheep going to the knife without adequate stunning
Pigs and sheep stunned and then allowed to come round again
Pigs, sheep and calves crying out and struggling to escape
Pigs being kicked in the face and sheep thrown to the floor
Pigs and sheep with illness or injury being slaughtered
A sheep too sick to stand – or possibly already dead – being brought to slaughter in a wheelbarrow
A ewe being stunned and killed while her young was suckling her
Ewes watching as their young are killed
Pigs falling from the slaughter line into the blood pit and being dragged out and re-shackled while other pigs look on
An inadequately stunned young calf lying kicking on the floor and the stun operator standing on him to keep him still



Kate Fowler, Head of Campaigns at Animal Aid, says:
‘We believe that millions of animals across the country are suffering untold torment when they are stunned and killed. In the stun rooms, we filmed terrified sheep and pigs running crazily in circles, looking for an exit or trying to make themselves invisible behind the hoist. Two sheep were so desperate to escape that they leapt through the hatch into the slaughter area where they landed in the blood pit below their bleeding and shackled mates. Many animals were partially stunned and left writhing or convulsing on the floor, while the stun operator ignored their plight. Animals were kicked, hit, goaded, sworn at and stood on. In our view, one worker in particular combined incompetence, stupidity and callousness. But even those workers who function as best they can, operate in a system that is pitiless.
‘The film we obtained shows scenes from hell and disposes of the myth that slaughter in the UK is, or can ever be, humane.’

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Bad cops of rodeo tries to stop humane investigation.



Phil
Lani-girl

From: Rodeo~A legalized abuse of animals for cowards!!
Date: 8/29/2009 2:07:00 PM

Subject: Bad cops of rodeo tries to stop humane investigation.


What happens when the Chief of Police of Altimont and the Sheriff of Effingham County in Illinois sponsor the Illinois High School Rodeo Association? These supposed law enforcement professionals obstruct and harass Approved Illinois Humane Investigators who are simply trying to document a rodeo and a rodeo producer with a history of abuse.

Part 2





Part 1



Who Sponsors Rodeo Cruelty?

CokeCruelty.com
DodgeRodeoCruel..ty.com
ATTcruelty.com
Wal-Mart
United States Air Force Thunderbirds
United States Army
Southwest Airlines
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Bank of America
Toyota
Holiday Inn
Anheuser-Busch
McDonald's
Coors
Jack Daniels
American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA)
Ariat International
Bayer

SHARK

Rodeo Reality Handout



Photobucket

"Tradition should never serve as an excuse for cruelty."


****


PLEASE SUPPORT SHARK'S work to defend animals and investigate and expose cruelty. Also sign our Petition for NBC to expose the TRUTH about Rodeo.

Sign Petition to ask Ask Cheyenne Frontier Days To Ban Cruel Steer Busting

Photographers Help Homeless~Animals







Repost Appreciated!

Photographers Helping Homeless and animals (update)







Photo by Tim Hulsizer

I would like to thank the photographers who are donating images to be printed and sold to raise money for 3 grassroots organizations helping animals. Images may be any subject and style. One of those orgs. is Feeding Pets of The Homeless, located in Nevada, but helping the homeless with pet food and vet bills nationally. They work on a shoestring budget and they are very thankful that a handful of photographers they have never met are willing to lend a hand. Contact me if you have images you are willing to loan for this project. zekeloftin@..yahoo.com or www.myspace.com/howardloftin


Zeke Loftin


A Pretty Good Day


Had a pretty good day for a Tuesday
On the street corner down by the mall
Got two dollars here and three dollars there
And pretty soon thirteen in all


And Dusty was cheerful as ever
For reasons I can’t even say
But when everything fails he’s still wagging his tail
All in all had a pretty good day


At Wendy’s we got Number Seven
And outside we sat near the door
The look in his eyes when we shared out the fries
Would have melted your heart to the core


For the burger he waited, so patient
Till I told him that it was okay
I just had to laugh as he gobbled his half
All in all, had a pretty good day


We don’t ask for much from our neighbors
We’re grateful for all that we get
I suppose I could use a nice, new pair of shoes
And maybe for Dusty a vet


And a wide-open space he could run in
And a rent we could manage to pay
You know, that’s not a lot, OH I almost forgot
Maybe just one more pretty good day


Written by Robert Leonard Reid of Carson City, Nevada



photo by Kirsten Bole

Please Feel Free To Repost and Share This Bulletin To Get The Word Out.





FEEDING PETS OF THE HOMELESS
2255 WATERFORD PLACE
CARSON CITY, NV 8973
PHONE: (775) 841-7463
FAX: (775) 841-7163
EMAIL: INFO@PETSOFHOMELESS.ORG
WEBSITE: WWW.PETSOFHOMELESS.ORG
A 501(C)(3) NONPROFIT TAX ID: 26-3010540

The Meatrix

Friday, August 28, 2009

Next Week, Japan Will Begin Massive Dolphin Slaughter



ADVOCATE FOR SAVING DOGS™

Wildlife

Moon Warriors


Next week dolphins are going to be slaughtered in mass in a little cove in Japan. People in Japan are mostly unaware of it. The Japanese government has also even created propaganda blaming dolphins for draining the world's fish populations and says that these dolphins are, as such, "pests". It is humans, not dolphins, which are the prime culprit of the destruction of the ocean's ecosystems and populations. It is humans which need to stop eating fish.

If there's anyone from Japan or has any or lots of friends in Japan please inform them. The Japanese government has a media blackout against any of this information. They are literally, deliberately keeping their population in the dark and misinformed.

(If you aren't in Japan, don't have any friends or connections in Japan, but still want to help, also click on the link below. There are things you can do to help too.)




"The Cove" Documentary Trailer

Save Japan Dolphins Campaign:



Bulletin Posted By Media for Animal Liberation

Media shapes views. Views shape choices.

(Don't forget to subscribe to Media for Animal Liberation's Youtube Channel or to check out longer videos at Media for Animal Liberation on Vimeo. Media for Animal Liberation now also has a wordpress blog)..




Roadhouse to slaughter - for your humane meat

 

Reposted with thanks by:
Martha


Nephesh ~ Abolition, Direct Action and Veganism

Photobucket




Dying to Live

Many who speak of "humane" meat are really referring to the conditions under which animals are raised—not killed. And there's a big difference. When their bodies are fat enough for the dinner table, spent and overused from producing eggs and milk, and no longer useful in the way they were meant to be, as in the case of male studs on dairy farms, animals from both conventional and "humane" farms are all transported (first to the feedlot in the case of "beef cattle") to the slaughterhouse..... The transportation process is excruciating and often fatal. The only law designed to "protect" animals in transport does not pertain to 95% of the animals killed for human consumption, as birds and rabbits (all classified as "poultry" are not protected). As a result, in transport, animals are forced to endure oppressive heat, bitter cold, stress, overcrowding, and respiratory problems from ammonia-laden urine.

Regardless of how they're raised, all animals killed for the refrigerated aisles of the grocery store are sent to mechanized slaughterhouses.... where their lives are brutally ended. By law, animals must be slaughtered at USDA-certified facilities, where horrific acts of cruelty occur on a daily basis. Everyone from federal meat inspectors to slaughterhouse workers have admitted to routinely witnessing the strangling, beating, scalding, skinning, and butchering of live, fully conscious animals. At small farms, where the owners can kill the animals themselves (in the case of birds), every one of them will tell you that, though it was hard in the beginning to slit the throat of the animals, it gets easier after awhile. I don't believe anyone would agree that it's healthy to detach and compartmentaliz....e our emotions and become desensitized to violence and suffering. Compassionate people all have the same goal: the elimination of oppression, exploitation, and violence. Abuse, violence, cruelty -- they all spring from the same source, and they all have the same effect -- more abuse, more violence, more cruelty. The link between cruelty to animals and violence toward people has been well established

When we tell ourselves we're eating meat from "humanely raised animals," we're leaving out a huge part of the equation. The slaughtering of an animal is a bloody and violent act, and death does not come easy for those who want to live.

From Cradle to Grave: The Facts Behind “Humane” Eating

By Colleen Patrick-....Goudreau
..

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Welcome: Email - Contact Judge For Kitten Baked In NYC Oven

 


IDA Home
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Kitten Baked To Death In Oven

Demand Justice For Tiger Lily

Please send polite letters and faxes to the Judge, as soon as you can. Help educate about the link between violence to other species and violence to people.

On May 6, 2009, Cheyenne Cherry (age 17) of the Bronx, New York, and a 14-year-old accomplice (whose name has not been revealed due to her age) ransacked the home of Cherry’s ex-roommate, Valerie Hernandez. Not content to limit their destructive rage to Hernandez's apartment, in an act of unspeakable viciousness they stuffed Hernandez’s kitten, Tiger Lily into a hot oven and left her there to burn to death.Tiger Lily

Cherry admitted to the police that the two fled the apartment so that they wouldn’t hear the kitten screaming and desperately scratching at the oven door. At her court appearance, Cherry admitted that she left the apartment knowing the kitten was in the oven with the heat turned up to 500 degrees. She told police that action was committed as “a joke.”

The shocking case of animal cruelty is expected to come to a close next week with the probationary review of Cheyenne Cherry in Bronx Supreme Court.

A plea bargain in July reduced Cherry’s felony animal cruelty charge to a misdemeanor, though she was convicted on the felony burglary charge. She was sentenced to one year for felony burglary and one year for misdemeanor animal cruelty, to run concurrently (one year total).

However, at the July 31 hearing for sentencing, it was revealed that Cherry had violated her probation. Not surprisingly, Cheyenne Cherry is a dangerous criminal with a prior record of armed robbery. We say "not surprisingly" because the link between violence to other species and violence to people has been conclusively proven, so much so that the link is utilized by FBI profilers.

Adolescents who commit brutal crimes against people usually begin with non-human animals. Indeed, the intentional burning of an animal is a "particularly significant predictor of violent and even homicidal behavior," says Dr. Randall Lockwood of the ASPCA's Anti-Cruelty Initiatives and a frequent law enforcement consultant.

What You Can Do

The case has been adjourned to September 2 for probationary review, so all comments must be received by the Judge by September 1. IDA is hopeful that the latest additional information about Cherry’s violation of probation will lead Judge Clancy to conclude the two one-year sentences should run consecutively, not concurrently.

Polite letters are needed to Judge Margaret Clancy to ask that the two sentences run consecutively so there is independent punishment for the animal cruelty charge. Scroll down for talking points for your letter, and contact information for the Judge.

The unnamed 14-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in juvenile detention. According to news accounts, she was the initiator of the plan to place Tiger Lily in a hot oven, though Cherry made the decision that they should flee to avoid hearing the kitten’s cries.

Contact Info:

It is important to keep letters polite to be effective. This case has generated a great deal of anger, but that anger should not be vented on the Judge. Write (and fax) to:

Case #:02546-2009
RE: Cheyenne Cherry
Honorable Judge Margaret Clancy
Bronx County Supreme Court
265 East 161st Street
Bronx, NY 10451
Fax: 718-618-3573

Talking Points:

  • Thank Judge Clancy for this review of the case, expressing that you are hopeful the review will result in a longer jail sentence for someone with such a violent past.
  • Emphasize that Cherry is a repeat offender, with two prior armed robberies.
  • Cherry should be barred from ever "owning" or working with animals in the future. In July, Judge Clancy ruled that Cherry be barred from "owning" animals for only 3 years. This is not enough. Given the reckless disregard for animal suffering she exhibited in this case, and her lack of remorse reported in the press, the prohibition should be imposed permanently.
  • Ask the Judge for Post Release Supervision of Cherry along with psychological counseling for both Cherry and her juvenile accomplice. This is extremely important because of the tendency for animal abusers to commit repeat offenses, as well as escalate crimes. Adequate psychological counseling for both Cherry and her accomplice is the only way to address the root cause of their violent actions and total lack of empathy for living beings.
  • Adolescents who commit brutal crimes against people usually begin with other species. Indeed, the intentional burning of a non-human animal is a "particularly significant predictor of violent and even homicidal behavior," says Dr. Randall Lockwood of the ASPCA's Anti-Cruelty Initiatives and a frequent law enforcement consultant. Dr. Lockwood's conclusions about "the link" have been confirmed and cited by the FBI.

Tiger Lily Demo

New York City demonstration for Tiger Lily outside courthouse.

Welcome: Email - Contact Judge For Kitten Baked In NYC Oven

Pregnant Mother and Baby Murdered

 

Pregnant Mother and Baby Murdered

from The PETA Files

If you visited PETA's Web site during the month of November, you probably saw turkey slaughter footage. And no, I don't mean Sarah Palin's infamous turkey pardon fail.

But have you ever seen slaughter footage from Turkey? Turns out animals are killed as cruelly there as anywhere else.

Turkey Slaughterhouse

This video was taken in a slaughterhouse in Turkey, but pointlessly cruel abuse like this can happen to any animal anywhere—from the 8-day-old calf who was beaten and kicked while on her way to slaughter in the U.K., to the conscious chicken plunged into scalding-hot water in an Indian slaughterhouse, to any of the animals enduring the many horrific abuses we've documented in the U.S. at Pilgrim's Pride, Smithfield Foods, Butterball, and AgriProcessors facilities, among others.

If this video upsets you, please run, don't walk, over to GoVeg.com and order a copy of our free "Vegetarian Starter Kit." For those of you who are already vegetarians, keep this video handy and show it to the next person who asks you why you refuse to eat anybody who had a mother.

Posted by Jeff Mackey

Google Reader (1000+)

REPOSTED WITH THANKS TO PETA:

11:13 AM (2 hours ago)

Win an iPod by Helping Stop Deadly Training Exercises on Animals

from The PETA Files

The U.S. military has declared war on animals by burning, stabbing, and shooting them in unnecessary training exercises, and it's time to fight back! Animals need you to enlist in the army of animal lovers willing to speak out against these cruel exercises. If you go above and beyond the call of duty for this mission, you'll be in with a great chance to win an iPod shuffle.

Enlist Now
Join the battle for animals by signing our Facebook petition to end military trauma training on animals.

Recruit Your Friends
Click "Ask Friends to Sign" on the petition page to recruit your friends to this cause. The more invites you send out, the more people you will recruit. Tell them how live pigs are shot, stabbed, and burned; live goats have their legs broken with bolt cutters and cut off with shears; and live monkeys are poisoned with harmful chemicals.

Facebook Petition

Go Home Victorious
The individual who collects the most petition signatures by September 10, 2009 wins the iPod Shuffle. We'll announce the winner on September 14, 2009.

Share the petition on your Facebook wall and everywhere else you can. The harder you fight, the larger the impact you'll make, and the greater the chance is that you'll go home with an iPod in hand.

Please take action today for all the monkeys, pigs, sheep, and other nonhuman victims killed in military training. Humane, responsible training is essential in our effort to work toward a peaceful world. Learn more about this campaign at PETA.org/trauma.

Heads up: By entering the contest you're acknowledging that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy and terms and conditions.

Good luck, soldier!

 

      Aug 26, 2009 (18 hours ago)

      Imprisoned Vegans Win Fight for Ethical Shampoo

      from The PETA Files

      1 person liked this

      tusb.stanford.edu / CC

      Hooray!

      Vegan prisoners in the U.K. have just won the right to order cruelty-free hygiene products, including essentials such as shampoo and sunscreen. So, you might say that the incarcerated vegans1 will now be protected in their right to bare arms (ba-dum, ching!).

      The Vegan Prisoners Support Group has successfully petitioned for inmates to have access to nuts and dairy alternatives as well. Next up? Vegetarian shoes, of course.

      While I don't know the state of lip balm in U.S. prisons, I do know which states have the tastiest vegetarian prison food2—and you can check out our celebrated Top 10 List here.

      Posted by Amanda Schinke

        Aug 26, 2009 (18 hours ago)

        PETA vs. Armani: The Gloves (and Clothes) Come Off

        from The PETA Files

        Recently, members of PETA Asia-Pacific and Animosa stripped down to their daisies and took to their coffins outside the Giorgio Armani store in Taipei.

        Armani demonstration

        In 2007, Armani vowed to stop using fur, but several months later, his collection was full of rabbit fur.

        PETA Asia-Pacific wanted to remind the designer that the pelts, ripped from the bodies of rabbits who kick and scream before they are hung upside down and decapitated, are indeed fur—and that fur is dead.

        Posted by Karin Bennett

        Add starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags

           

           

            Aug 26, 2009 (18 hours ago)

            Ella Can't Catch a Break

            from The PETA Files

            Snubs by Missouri cities have PETA's "Ella PhantzPeril" statue singing the blues.

            Ella

            Poor Ella PhantzPeril. Everywhere she tries to go, she gets a chilly reception, even though she is drop-dead gorgeous and was designed by renowned New Yorker cover artist Harry Bliss.

            First, Kansas City gave her the cold shoulder when we tried to arrange for her to take up residence in a city park for a month to coincide with a visit from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The city banished her because of her "political" message. Now, St. Louis has said she is unwelcome because she is an "advertisement."

            Since all we want to do is remind the public about the abuse that elephants endure while constantly traveling and performing in circuses, separated from their families and their natural environment, we are crying "foul."

            We say that both rejections sound an awful lot like infringements on free speech, and we're not taking them lying down.

            Keep checking back, and we'll be sure to let you know when Ella finds a home.

            Posted by Alisa Mullins

            Orangutan Outreach

            PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW TO THIS WONDERFUL WEBSITE .

            Orangutan Outreach

            ______________________

            Orangutan Outreach

            Wednesday, August 26, 2009

            Chimpanzees in danger from illegal online trade

             http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/illegal-online-sales-endanger-cameroon-chimps-20090825-expc.html

            Illegal online sales endanger Cameroon chimps

            A baby chimpanzee is worth thousands of dollars in illegal online trade.

            A baby chimpanzee is worth thousands of dollars in illegal online trade. Photo: AP

            August 25, 2009

            Advertisements on the Internet to woo buyers into taking "playful primates" from Cameroon into their homes have become one of the primary means of further threatening already endangered species.

            Such sales would be illegal, since dealing in primates is forbidden in the central African country. In the past three years, however, the Internet has led to a flourishing trade in endangered species, according to an environmental activist in the front line.

            Ofir Drori directs a small non-governmental organisation, the Last Great Ape Organization (Laga-Cameroon), which works in conjunction with the Cameroonian ministry of forestry and wildlife to try to stem the lucrative trade in beasts both dead and alive.

            "Kiki is ready for a new family. He has gentle and charming manners. Kiki is handsome and playful," reads an advertisement on the Internet to sell a chimpanzee from Cameroon.

            The ad says that the chimpanzee comes with "veterinary health documents, a "permit" from CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and a year's health care guarantee."

            CITES, whose ban on trade in listed endangered species is a ban on international trade, does not, however, issue such individual "permits".

            The seller alleges that he lives in the forested region of Kilum and "is incapable of giving Kiki the good home and all the care that he deserves," but the whole advertisement is a scam.

            Laga-Cameroon tries to infiltrate the black market sales networks and carry out investigations in conjunction with the police. They found and partially dismantled eight groups of Internet fraudsters between 2007 and August 2009.

            "To begin with, we thought that the sellers we found on the Internet were simple swindlers, who extorted money without providing the product announced," Drori said. But some of the traffickers were genuinely dealing in endangered species, including animal heads and hides for use as trophies, he said.

            In February, the police arrested a 27-year-old man who had in two years made 22 sales on the Internet, mainly for the skulls of primates, but it took a team effort to track him down.

            Authorities in the United States helped Laga and Cameroonian officials to locate him via his exchanges on the Internet, and the man now faces up to 20 years in jail.

            To reassure clients, the cyber-dealers use a false sales permit, with the forged signature of the wildlife minister. They are able to do this because trading in some protected species is legal under a quota system.

            In 2008, another trafficker was arrested while he was trying to sell turtles to a Malaysian importer with the help of a Cameroonian accomplice based in China.

            John Sellar, the enforcement assistance chief at CITES in Geneva, said that "the Internet certainly facilitates illegal trade in wildlife, but it is very difficult to assess the scale," in email comments to AFP.

            "We are aware of some of the work that has been conducted in places like Cameroon with regard to trade in primates and recognise that the Internet is used to sell live animals," he said. But he said the majority of such offers he has seen "are simply criminal frauds" to scam people out of money, with no intention to supply live animals.

            He said CITES has issued fraud warnings and "in general are examining trade that is facilitated by the Internet." In fact the anonymity of the Internet has helped law enforcement agencies in catching some criminals, he said.

            To initiate contact with clients, the dealers generally place advertisements on specialist websites, and demand is high in the United States, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Belgium and South Africa, particularly for primates like gorillas and chimpanzees.

            A successful sale can be rewarding. A baby chimpanzee sold locally for 75 euros ($128) can sell for 100 times or even 200 times that much abroad.

            The Internet has "a potential that can facilitate connections between the buyers abroad and the local dealers," Drori said. "One of the things that up until now has prevented a massacre of animals has been the absence of such a connection."

            A specialist in wildlife crime who asked not to be named added that people trying to prevent the traffic were hindered by corruption and "complicities in the public administrations, the banks, airports and the police."

            "For the struggle to make progress, the authorities should get more involved," the source added.

            AFP

            Chimpanzees in danger from illegal online trade

            Orangutans illegally killed in the past decade: 20,000--Prosecutions: 0: Scientific American Blog

            Aug 25, 2009 04:43 PM

            Orangutans illegally killed in the past decade: 20,000--Prosecutions: 0

            By John Platt in 60-Second Extinction Countdown

             

            Dead orangutan being carried off of a palm oil plantationMore than 20,000 orangutans have been poached, killed by loggers or sold into the illegal pet trade in the past 10 years, according to a new report (pdf) from Nature Alert, Ltd., in Bath, England, and the Jakarta, Indonesia–based Center for Orangutan Protection (COP) that says not a single person in Indonesia has been prosecuted for these lucrative crimes.
            The population of the endangered Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is currently estimated at fewer than 50,000 by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species—half what it was 60 years ago. The Bornean orangutan's cousin, the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan (P. abelii), has an estimated population of just 7,300 animals—an 80 percent decline in the past 75 years.
            International trade in orangutans is forbidden under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and orangutans are protected in Indonesia, where it is illegal to kill, capture, transport or even injure one of the rare apes.
            And yet, the killings continue. "The problem is, the law is never enforced, largely because the Ministry of Forestry has never shown any interest in serious wildlife or habitat protection," says Sean Whyte, director of Nature Alert.
            As to why so many orangutans have been killed, it basically boils down to one word: greed. It's not the orangutans themselves that have commercial value. Rather, it's the land that they live on, which is being burned down to make room for massive (and often illegal) palm oil plantations. Palm oil is a common ingredient in many processed foods. Around 90 percent of the world's palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia.
            "Indonesia's forests are being destroyed at a rate equivalent to six football fields a minute," says Richard Zimmerman, director of Orangutan Outreach in New York City, which helps to raise funds for the COP and helped to fund the new report. "When you fly over Borneo today, all you see is mile after mile of oil palm plantations where only a few years ago you would have seen pristine tropical rainforest. The forest is simply gone. And every creature living in it has been slaughtered."
            When forests are cleared, adult orangutans are often shot and killed, but not before they are otherwise mistreated. "These peaceful, sentient beings are beaten, burned, mutilated, tortured and often eaten. Babies are torn off their dying mothers so they can be sold on the black market as illegal pets to wealthy families who see them as status symbols of their own power and prestige. This has been documented time and again," Zimmerman says.
            The palm oil plantations are "miles and miles long," he says. To make matters worse, "it's a monocrop that destroys the soil. When satellite imagery is taken of the region, you see scorched earth where the forests have been destroyed."
            Hardi Baktiantoro, director of the COP, puts that into context, with the following prepared statement: "The palm oil industry must be one of the worst, maybe even the worst, environmentally damaging industries in the world."
            Nature Alert and the COP are calling on the government of Indonesia to start enforcing its existing laws and to stop issuing new permits for logging or palm oil plantations in area where orangutans live.
            Until Indonesia takes action, all three groups say that people around the world can help by not buying products that contain palm oil, and to ask their retailers not to sell those products. "Consumers have real power, if only they will use it," Whyte says. "In the U.S. especially, we need lots more people to start questioning their retailers. In Europe it has been successful and this past week in New Zealand, Cadbury's have promised to remove palm oil from their chocolate."
            "Awareness is first and foremost, especially in this country," Zimmerman says. "So many people have no idea what palm oil is, where it comes from, or why it's a problem."
            Image: Dead orangutan being carried off of a palm oil plantation, courtesy of the Center for Orangutan Protection

            Orangutans illegally killed in the past decade: 20,000--Prosecutions: 0: Scientific American Blog

            Tuesday, August 25, 2009

            Transportation of Farm Animals Investigation

            Originally Posted by:
            Lizzie Wylder Apr 22

            This is a video of a 2005 investigation of a US farm animal transportation done by Compassion Over Killing. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. Animals being transported to slaughterhouses are crammed tightly into trucks, and travel for more than 28 hours without food, water or rest. They are exposed to harsh weather, and die from heat exhaustion or freeze to death -- often being frozen to the side of the truck -- before even making it to the slaughterhouse. These animals are treated as nothing more than money gaining products from the time they are born, during transport, and when they are slaughtered. They have done harm to no one, and yet are given no mercy. Go to tryveg.com and cok.net to learn more about animals who are raised for food and the best way you can help them.







            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeUWDdngafQ&feature=player_embedded

            The Slaughter House



            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lam12pZLlY8&feature=player_embedded


            'Nuff Said.

            Sunday, August 23, 2009

            Medical marijuana advocates support patient facing drug charges | Cannabis News - Medical Marijuana, Marijuana News, Hemp, Cannabis

             

            Medical marijuana advocates support patient facing drug charges

            Tagged with: Medical Marijuana Patients, New Jersey

            Sunday, August 23, 2009, 21:31   Email This Post

            This news item was posted in Featured category and has 0 Comments so far.

            Medical marijuana advocates support patient facing drug charges

            Proponents of medical marijuana gathered at the Somerset County Courthouse in Somerville to support a Franklin Township man who faces drug charges for growing marijuana in his backyard. John Ray Wilson, 36, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2002, but because he does not have health insurance, he says he cannot afford prescription medicines. He has tried a number of therapies, including honeybee stings, but says marijuana is the best medicine he has found. His attorney, James Wronko, of Somerville, says Wilson didn’t want to continue buying marijuana from drug dealers so he decided to try and grow it himself. But a helicopter pilot spotted the 17 plants, which were over six feet tall, in his backyard and alerted authorities. Wilson was charged with maintaining a drug production facility, a first-degree offense, and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, up to 10 years without parole. In July, Superior Court Judge Robert Reed ruled Wilson cannot mention his illness at trial because personal use of marijuana is not a legal defense in New Jersey, even though the state legislature is currently considering a law that would legalize medical marijuana. Wronko has appealed the decision. (Video by Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger)

            Medical marijuana advocates protest at Somerset courthouse

            Medical marijuana advocates protest at Somerset courthouse
            Medical marijuana advocates protest at Somerset courthouse
             

            Medical marijuana advocates support patient facing drug charges | Cannabis News - Medical Marijuana, Marijuana News, Hemp, Cannabis

            IAMS DOG FOOD KILLS,MAIMS ANIMALS FOR RESEARCH! - ASPCA Online Community

            (NOTE: Please read the comment at the bottom of this post for another point of view from one of my blog readers) 

            IAMS DOG FOOD KILLS,MAIMS ANIMALS FOR RESEARCH!

            "IAMS - the awful truth
            1. Kidney failure and death inflicted on dogs
            The first study referred to in the Express article tells how:
            "...24 young dogs had their right kidneys removed and the left partly damaged to investigate how protein affects dogs with kidney failure. Eight dogs were killed to analyse the kidney tissue.
            Dogs which became sick were not treated because it would have undermined the test results."
            This study was part-funded by The Iams Company and reported in White J. V. et al, "Effect of dietary protein on functional, morphologic, and histologic changes of the kidney during compensatory renal growth in dogs", Am J Vet Res, Vol 52, No. 8, August 1991, pp. 1357 - 1365 (No.2 in tabulated file).
            In the study, 24 young adult mixed breed dogs were given 'acute' (meaning 'rapid onset, severe symptoms') renal [kidney] failure. This was achieved by cutting the dogs twice in the abdomen area, removing one of the kidneys and destroying 75% of the remaining one by cutting off the blood supply to that proportion of the kidney. Thus the dogs were left with only one-eighth of normal renal function.
            As many guardians of companion animals know only too well, kidney failure can cause terrible suffering. If kidneys don't function properly, waste products end up in the blood rather than being excreted. This blood poisoning can cause serious and fatal illness. Dogs with kidney failure may suffer "depression, loss of appetite, thirst and vomiting. The back may be arched, and there may be stiffness. There is fever, and sometimes ulcers are present in the mouth." (Black's Veterinary Dictionary: 292)
            After renal failure was inflicted on the animals, 22 of them (it doesn't say what happened to the other two, maybe they died during the renal failure procedure?) were studied for up to 14 months as their kidney slowly regained some lost function.
            The paper states:
            "Dogs that became dehydrated were administered replacement fluids... Other supportive treatment was not administered."
            Four dogs had to be put down during the experiment because of "severe uremia" ('the presence of excessive amounts of... waste products in the blood. ...their accumulation in the blood occurs in kidney failure and results in nausea, vomiting, lethargy, drowsiness and eventually death.' Oxford Medical Dictionary. Black's states that in cases of uraemia 'death may be preceded by convulsions and unconsciousness.')
            After seven months, eight dogs were killed so the condition of their remaining quarter kidney could be examined. Seven months later the remaining ten dogs were killed.
            2. Cats cut open and killed
            This is the second experiment referred to in the Express piece:
            "In another experiment, the stomachs of 28 cats were exposed so scientists could analyse the effects of feeding them fibre. The animals were operated on for at least two hours and then killed."
            This study was also part-funded by IAMS and was reported in Bueno A. R. et al, "Feline colonic microbes and fatty acid transport: effects of feeding cellulose, beet pulp and pectin/gum arabic fibers", Nutrition Research, Vol. 20, No. 9, pp. 1319-1328, 2000. (No.1 in tabulated file)
            The study used "twenty-eight adult female cats... All cats were short-haired females, 2 to 5 years of age and purchased from a government approved class-A distributor [Eds note: i.e. a vivisection breeding establishment]". The cats were split into groups of two or three, housed in indoor enclosures and fed differing diets for 2 to 3 weeks. One of the cats "was removed from the study for an unthrifty appearance." ['Unthrifty' is not a term found in medical dictionaries. Animals will be excluded from experiments if they differ from the rest of the group in a significant way, e.g. if their state of health is different, as this would undermine the design of the experiment. It doesn't state whether or not the cat was killed.]
            On the day of the "colonic perfusion study" the animals were anaesthetised and "maintained at surgical anaesthesia", laid down on their sides, and their abdomens cut open. A catheter placed into the colon and a tube placed in the animals' rectum. Their bowels were then flushed empty.
            For two hours, a test solution was pumped through the cats' bowels and collected every ten minutes.
            This paper does not say whether the animals were killed before, during or after the next stage of the study - the removal of parts of their large intestine systems (caecum and colon), as this part of the study was reported in a different paper.
            Although most of the cats may not have endured severe illness and suffering during the study, keeping animals in small indoor environments inevitably raises concerns about their ability to fulfil psychological needs, and the vivisection, killing and dismemberment of the cats are destructive and murderous acts.
            3. Cats made obese and then starved - liver damage observed
            This is the third experiment mentioned in the Express:
            "The research team sterilised 24 female cats, which were over-fed until they become obese. They were then starved on a crash diet and when they had lost a third of their weight their livers were examined to investigate the link between weight loss and liver disease."
            This IAMS-supported study is reported in Ibrahim W. H. et al, "Effect of dietary protein quality and fatty acid composition on plasma lipoprotein concentrations and hepatic triglyceride fatty acid synthesis in obese cats undergoing rapid weight loss", AJVR, Vol 61, No. 5, May 2000, pp.566-572. (No.13 in tabulated file)
            The paper states: "Twenty-four female cats between 2 to 5 years old were purchased from a commercial dealer (Harlan Sprague Dawley, Indianapolis, Indiana.) Cats were individually housed..." After a week the cats were "ovariohysterectomized". They were then fed on a "high quality energy dense diet" (Eukanuba, produced by The Iams Company) until they became clinically obese (minimum of 30% over normal body weight) and could not gain any more weight - this point was reached at about eighty days. The researchers themselves note that:
            "Obese cats are reported to be at greater risk for development of certain diseases, such as osteoarthritis, ligament injuries, perineal dermatitis (inflammation of the skin around the genitals), diabetes mellitus, lower urinary tract disease, and cardiomyopathy (heart disease). Mortality risk is also increased."
            None of the cats are reported to have died during the study period as a result of obesity, though their clinical condition during their obesity was not commented upon.
            Once the cats had reached obese proportions, they were placed on a diet that only provided them with 25% of their "energy requirements for 7 to 8 weeks, or until cats had lost 30 to 40% of their obese body weight". This was to mimic "rapid weight loss in cats". Two of the cats did not even manage to consume a quarter of their nutritional needs.
            The researchers themselves acknowledge:
            "Safe, rapid weight loss in cats can be difficult, because cats have special dietary requirements that appear to make them more susceptible than other species to HL."
            HL stands for hepatic lipidosis, a disease of the liver which results in impaired liver function. The paper reports that the study caused three cats to develop HL during the weight loss period."
            The cats also had to undergo three liver biopsies during the study.
            4. Severe allergic reaction provoked in husky puppies
            The Express article states:
            "The company also sponsored research in which 14 husky puppies were repeatedly injected with live vaccines and allergy causing pproteins for the first 12 weeks of their lives. They developed permanent illnesses in the test, which was designed to see how severely allergic they would become."
            This description is based upon an IAMS-funded study described in: Olson M. E. et al., "Hypersensitivity Reactions to Dietary Antigens in Atopic Dogs", Proceedings of 2000 IAMS Nutrition Symposium, p. 69-77. (No. 24 in tabulated file.)
            This paper presents a study where 11 "Crossbred sled" new-born puppies were repeatedly (10 times over the first 85 days of life) injected with attenuated live virus vaccines containing Distemper, hepatitis and parvovirus together and subcutaneous injections of the food antigens. Another three animals were not sensitised but were subjected to the same procedures as the other dogs.
            Skin tests were performed on the animals when they were six (to see if they had been "successfully" sensitised) and ten months of age. No mention of even a local anaesthetic (anaesthetics are referred to elsewhere in the paper - e.g. in describing the gastroscopic examinations). Four concentrations of each food allergen (soy, casein and chicken liver) were injected "intradermally". In most case the lowest concentration caused a skin reaction. The highest concentration that the dogs were injected with was 100,000 times stronger than the lowest concentration (0.02 micrograms vs 2000 micrograms). Histamine (causes inflammation) was also injected as a positive control, and saline as a negative control. Some of the higher concentration injections caused weals (similar to swellings caused by nettle stings or hives) averaging over a centimetre across.
            Similar sensitivity tests (gastroscopic food sensitivity) were conducted by injecting the allergens into the stomach lining of the puppies. These were performed under anaesthetic. Once again, the higher concentrations caused marked allergic reactions: moderate to severe inflammation characterised by fluid filled swelling and redness caused by expansion of blood capillaries (erythema & oedema).
            The results of these skin and stomach tests were reflected in the health of the allergic puppies when they were placed on allergic diets for a month. All eleven puppies:
            "developed moderate to severe diarrhea and lost weight (data not shown). Furthermore 8 of the 11 sensitized dogs demonstrated dermatological reactions that included hair loss and pruritis [itching, similar to that found in eczema]... Clinical signs developed within the first week of feeding the sensitising diet and persisted as long as the diet was provided... Moderate to severe pruritis, with and without lesions, was also observed in sensitised dogs receiving diets containing the allergens."
            5. Skin wounds inflicted on 36 dogs and puppies
            The final experiment mentioned in the Express describes how:
            "Twelve huskies, 12 poodles and 12 labradors were regularly given chest wounds to see if diet could affect fur regrowth. This was justified in the study on the grounds that 'dogs are enjoyable to touch and look at. Dogs with coat problems are simply not handled as much.' "
            This IAMS-supported study is reported in Credille K. M. et al, "The Role of Nutrition on the Canine Hair Follicle: A Preliminary Report", Proceedings of the 2000 IAMS Nutrition Symposium. (No.23 in tabulated file)
            The study involving repeated skin biopsies from 36 puppies and older dogs (12 Siberian Huskies, 12 Minature Poodles, 12 Labrador Retrievers). Each of the dogs had two 6mm sections of their skin removed under local anaesthetic every three weeks for 18 weeks. One would imagine this would cause soreness and discomfort to the dogs afterwards, each of which would end up with 12 wounds on their bodies after the 18 week study.
            The researchers report that:
            "Overall, there was little to distinguish the dogs fed the high- and low-quality diets;"
            6. Finally... SmithKline Beecham helps supply dogs for IAMS vivisection
            In an IAMS-funded lethal experiment on 15 healthy beagles which was reported in 1996 and was similar to the second experiment described above, the authors of the report "express their thanks to SmithKline Beecham Animal Health Laboratory... for their support in development and use of the research animals." (Hallman J. E. et al, "Colonic mucosal tissue energetics and electrolyte transport in dogs fed cellulose, beet pulp or pectin/gum arabic as their primary fiber source", Nutrition Research, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 303-313, 1996 (No. 9 in tabulated file).) SmithKline Beecham is now known as Glaxo SmithKline. It is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and has a direct influence on UK Government policy, including animal experimentation policy, for which it has lobbied for a relaxation of regulations"
            "Summaries of studies
            Below are brief summaries of the IAMS animal experiments:
            28 CATS' BELLIES WERE CUT TO SEE THE EFFECT OF FEEDING THEM FIBRE, THEN THE CATS WERE KILLED
            University of Nebraska-Lincoln and The Iams Company. (AR Bueno, GD Sunvold & GA Reinhart (both IAMS CO.) et al., "Feline colonic microbes and fatty acid transport: effects of feeding cellulose, beet pulp and pectin/gum arabic fibers", Nutrition Research, Vol 20, No.9: 1319-1328 (2000).)
            24 YOUNG DOGS WERE INTENTIONALLY PUT INTO KIDNEY FAILURE; SUBJECTED TO INVASIVE EXPERIMENTATION, THEN KILLED
            University of Georgia and The Iams Company. (JV White, DA Hirakawa (IAMS CO.) et al., "Effect of dietary protein on functional, morphologic, and histologic changes of the kidney during compensatory renal growth in dogs", Am J Vet Res, Vol 52, No.8, August 1991: 1357-1365.)
            31 DOGS' KIDNEYS WERE REMOVED TO INCREASE THE RISK OF KIDNEY DISEASE, THEN THEY WERE KILLED AND DISSECTED
            University of Georgia and The Iams Company. (Delmar R Finco, Daniel P Carey (IAMS CO.), Diane A Hirakawa (IAMS CO.) et al., "Effects of aging and dietary protein intake on uninephrectomized geriatric dogs", Am J vet Res, Vol 55, No.9, September 1994: 1282-1290.)
            BONES IN 18 DOGS' FRONT AND BACK LEGS WERE CUT OUT AND STRESSED UNTIL THEY BROKE
            University of Wisconsin and The Iams Company. (Thomas D Crenshaw, Allan J Lepine (IAMS CO.) et al., "Nutritional Effects on Bone Strength in the Growing Canine", Proceedings of the 1998 Iams Nutrition Symposium: 29-40.)
            10 DOGS WERE KILLED TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF FIBER IN DIETS
            Mississippi State University and The Iams Company. (Randal K Buddington, Greg D Sunvold (IAMS CO.) et al., "Influence of fermentable fiber on small intestinal dimensions and transport of glucose and proline in dogs", AJVR, Vol 60, No.3, March 1999: 354-358.)
            18 MALE PUPPIES' KIDNEYS WERE CHEMICALLY DAMAGED; EXPERIMENTAL DIETS WERE FED; TUBES WERE INSERTED IN THEIR PENISES, THEN THE PUPPIES WERE KILLED
            Colorado State University and The Iams Company. (Gregory F Grauer, Gregory A Reinhart (IAMS CO.) et al., "Effects of dietary n-3 fatty acid supplementation versus thromboxane synthetase inhibition on gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicosis in healthy male dogs", AJVR, Vol 57, No.6, June 1996: 948-956.)
            8 DOGS' KIDNEYS WERE REMOVED TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF PROTEIN ON RECOVERY FROM KIDNEY REMOVAL
            University of Georgia and The Iams Company. (JV White, DA Hirakawa (IAMS CO.) et al., "High dietary protein intake does not accelerate development of renal lesions during recovery from renal mass reduction in dogs", ACVIM Abstracts, Vol 3 No 2, p.131)
            28 CATS WERE SURGICALLY FORCED INTO KIDNEY FAILURE AND EITHER DIED DURING THE EXPERIMENT OR WERE KILLED TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF PROTEIN
            University of Georgia and The Iams Company. Delmar R Finco, Gregory D. Sunvold (IAMS CO.) et al., "Influence of Protein and Energy in Cats with Renal Failure", Proceedings of the 1998 Iams Nutrition Symposium: 413-424.)
            15 DOGS' BELLIES WERE CUT OPEN; TUBES WERE ATTACHED TO THEIR INTESTINES, THE CONTENTS OF WHICH WERE PUMPED OUT EVERY 10 MINUTES FOR TWO HOURS, THEN THE DOGS WERE KILLED
            University of Nebraska-Lincoln and The Iams Company. (JE Hallman, GA Reinhart (IAMS CO.) et al., "Colonic mucosal tissue energetics and electrolyte transport in dogs fed cellulose, beet pulp or pectin/gum arabic as their primary fiber source", Nutrition Research, Vol 16, No.2: 303-313 (1996).)
            16 DOGS' BELLIES WERE CUT OPEN AND PARTS OF THEIR INTESTINES TAKEN
            University of Alberta and The Iams Company. (Stefan P Massimino, Michael G Hayek (IAMS CO.), Gregory D Sunvold (IAMS CO.) et al., "Fermentable Dietary Fiber Increases GLP-1 Secretion and Improves Glucose Homeostasis Despite Increased Glucose Transport Capacity in Healthy Dogs", Journal of the American Society for Nutritional Sciences: 1786-1793 (1998).)
            HEALTHY PUPPIES, CHICKS, AND RATS HAD BONE AND CARTILAGE REMOVED TO STUDY BONE AND JOINT DEVELOPMENT
            Purdue University and The Iams Company. (Bruce A Watkins, Allan J Lepine (IAMS CO.), C. Gregory Aldrich (IAMS CO.), Michael G Hayek (IAMS CO.), et al., "Relationships of Fat Quality and Antioxidants in Bone and Cartilage", Proceedings of the 2000 Iams Nutrition Symposium: 505-514.)
            INVASIVE PROCEDURES WERE USED TO STUDY BACTERIA IN 16 DOGS' INTESTINES
            Texas A&M University and The Iams Company. (MD Willard, G Reinhart (IAMS CO.), et al., "Effects of dietary supplementation of fructo-oligosaccharides on small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in dogs", Am J Vet Res, Vol 55, No.5, May 1994: 654-659.)
            24 CATS HAD THEIR FEMALE ORGANS AND PARTS OF THEIR LIVERS REMOVED; WERE MADE OBESE, THEN WERE STARVED
            University of Kentucky and The Iams Company. (Wissam H Ibrahim, Gregory D Sunvold (IAMS CO.) et al., "Effect of dietary protein quality and fatty acid composition on plasma lipoprotein concentrations and hepatic triglyceride fatty acid synthesis in obese cats undergoing rapid weight loss", AJVR, Vol 61, No.5, May 2000: 566-572.)
            56 DOGS HAD THEIR FEMALE ORGANS REMOVED TO STUDY BETA CAROTENE
            Washington State University and The Iams Company. (BC Weng, AJ Lepine (IAMS CO.), et al., "Beta-Carotene uptake and changes in ovarian steroids and uterine proteins during the estrous cycle in the canine", J. Anim. Sci. 2000. 78:1284-1290.)
            16 DOGS' BELLIES WERE REPEATEDLY CUT TO TAKE PARTS OF THEIR INTESTINES
            Texas A&M and The Iams Company. (MD Willard, DP Carey (IAMS CO.), GA Reinhart (IAMS CO.) et al., "Characterization of naturally developing small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in 16 German Shepherd Dogs", JAVMA, Vol 204, No. 8, April 15, 1994: 1201-1206.)
            6 DOGS HAD TUBES IMPLANTED INTO THEIR INTESTINES AND FLUID DRAINED REPEATEDLY TO STUDY CEREAL FLOURS
            University of Illinois and The Iams Company. (SM Murray, GD Sunvold (IAMS CO.), GA Reinhart (IAMS CO) et al., "Evaluation of Selected High-Starch Flours as Ingredients in Canine Diets", J. Anim. Sci. 1999. 77:2180-2186.)
            30 DOGS WERE WOUNDED AND PATCHES OF SKIN CONTAINING THE WOUNDS REMOVED TO STUDY WOUND-HEALING
            Auburn University and The Iams Company. (Mark A Mooney, Gregory A Reinhart (IAMS CO.) et al., "Evaluation of the effects of omega-3 fatty acid-containing diets on the inflammatory stage of wound-healing in dogs", AJVR, Vol 59, No. 7, July 1998: 859-863.)
            5 DOGS' BELLIES WERE CUT OPEN AND TUBES WERE INSERTED FROM THEIR INTESTINES TO THE OUTSIDE OF THEIR BODIES TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF FIBER
            University of Illinois and The Iams Company. (HE Muir, GA Reinhart (IAMS CO.) et al., "Nutrient Digestion by Ileal Cannulated Dogs as Affected by Dietary Fibers with Various Fermentation Characteristics", J. Anim. Sci. 1996. 74: 1641-1648.)
            PARTS OF 28 DOGS' LARGE INTESTINES WERE REMOVED TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF FIBER
            University of Missouri and The Iams Company. (MD Howard, GD Sunvold (IAMS CO.), GA Reinhart (IAMS CO.) et al, "Dietary fiber sources alter colonic blood flow and epithelial cell proliferation of dogs", J. Anim. Sci. 1997. 74(Suppl. 1).)
            PARTS OF 16 DOGS' INTESTINES AND IMMUNE SYSTEM WERE CUT OUT TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF FIBER
            University of Alberta and The Iams Company. (Catherine J Field, Michael G Hayek (IAMS CO.), Gregory D Sunvold (IAMS CO.) et al., "Interaction of Fiber Fermentation and Immunology of the Gastrointestinal Tract", Proceedings of the 1998 Iams Nutrition Symposium: 523-530)
            5 DOGS HAD TISSUE FROM LARGE AND SMALL INTESTINES REMOVED TO STUDY INTESTINAL TRACT NEEDS
            University of Illinois and The Iams Company. (James K Drackley, Gregory D Sunvold (IAMS CO.) et al, "Energetic Substrates for Intestinal Cells", Proceedings of the 1998 Iams Nutrition Symposium: 463-472.)
            8 HEALTHY DOGS HAD TUBES INSERTED THROUGH THEIR CHESTS TO STUDY FAT ABSORPTION
            The Ohio State University and The Iams Company. (Jennifer D Newton, GA Reinhart (IAMS CO.), et al., "Transport Pathways of Enterally Administered Medium-Chain Triglycerides in Dogs", Proceedings of the 2000 Iams Nutrition Symposium: 143-152.)
            SECTIONS OF 36 DOGS' SKINS WERE CUT OUT TO STUDY EFFECTS OF DIET ON FUR
            Texas A&M and The Iams Company. (Kelly M Credille, GA Reinhart (IAMS CO.), GM Davenport (IAMS CO.) et al., "The Role of Nutrition on the Canine Hair Follicle: A Preliminary Report", Proceedings of the 2000 Iams Nutrition Symposium: 37-53.)
            14 PUPPIES WERE INJECTED WITH SUBSTANCES THAT GAVE THEM LIFE-LONG ALLERGIES, MADE THEM SICK, AND GAVE THEM DIARRHOEA
            University of Calgary and The Iams Company. (Merle E Olson, Michael G Hayek (IAMS CO.) et al., "Hypersensitivity Reactions to Dietary Antigens in Atopic Dogs", Proceedings of the 2000 Iams Nutrition Symposium: 69-77.)
            Please contact IAMS to let them know your disgust at these animal experiments. Phone them on 0800 426 785 or email customer.service@Iams.com."
            HERE IS THE LINK TO JOIN THE CAUSE TO STOP THIS BEHAVIOR! THIS CAUSE IS LOCATED ON FACEBOOK -
            http://apps.facebook.com/causes/22063/23193445?m=cc366e79
            INFORMATION RESOURCE
            http://www.uncaged.co.uk/iams01.htm

            IAMS DOG FOOD KILLS,MAIMS ANIMALS FOR RESEARCH! - ASPCA Online Community

            ___________________________

            TO BE FAIR AND HONEST ABOUT THE ABOVE POST PLEASE READ THE COMMENT BELOW:

            Hi Patty. I've commented on your blog before. I work for Iams, and respectfully I ask that you consider other opinions here: 

            If you are interested in what ASPCA Senior Vice-President Dr. Steven Hansen has to say about our research, please view this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dExk5nJY6AI 

            Also, in regards to the article posted above, here is what the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) has to say:
            http://www.iamstruth.com/iamstruth/en_US/jhtmls/article/IT_Article_Page.jhtml?li=en_US&pti=WO&articleID=7

            And here's what the American Veterinary Medical Association has to say: 
            http://www.iamstruth.com/iamstruth/en_US/jhtmls/article/IT_Article_Page.jhtml?li=en_US&pti=WO&articleID=11

            Saturday, August 22, 2009

            Improving Military Medicine~Ban Military's Torture of Animals

            ~THIS IS SO SAD~ PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION

            Watch the Monkey and Goat Training Videos

            Chemical Casualty Care Training on Monkeys

            Seizures, breathing difficulty, and possible death: The vervet monkeys used in the military’s chemical casualty care training experience horrific symptoms. The animals are given a toxic dose of the drug physostigmine in an exercise designed to simulate the effects of a nerve agent attack. The exercise—which takes place at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland—is demonstrated in the video below obtained by PCRM through the Freedom of Information Act. Using monkeys in this exercise is profoundly inhumane, and it also distracts military personnel from the real-world, clinically valid training they need to treat chemical casualties.

            Combat Trauma Training on Goats

            An instructor cuts a live goat with a scalpel to create traumatic wounds in the military video below, obtained by PCRM through the Freedom of Information Act. The use of goats and pigs for combat trauma training is suboptimal due to, among other issues, the animals’ anatomical and physiological differences from humans. Compared with humans, goats and pigs have smaller torsos and limbs, thicker skin, and important differences in anatomy of the head and neck, internal organs, rib cage, blood vessels, and airway. Many of these differences are demonstrated in this film for the Army Medical Departments Tactical Combat Medical Care course. The instructor in the training film repeatedly references significant differences between training on live goats and human casualties.

            ____________________________________________________ Combat Application Tourniquet and Pressure Dressing

            Tube Thoracostomy with Chest Tube Insertion

            Combat Application Tourniquet and Pressure Dressing

            Learn more about the superior training methods that could replace this animal use.  PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION

            PCRM >> Research >> Improving Military Medicine

            POSTED WITH THANKS TO:

            http://www.pcrm.org/resch/dod/training.html

            Don't Kill Urban Coyotes, Enact Stronger Urban Planning Instead - The Petition Site

             

            Target: Your state's governor
            Sponsored by: Care2

            You've seen the headlines: Coyotes are attacking humans with more and more frequency. One wandered into a Chicago sandwich shop. Another lives in Central Park in New York. Five people have reported coyote attacks in the Denver area. Five coyotes have been killed in Austin so far this year. Our government spends millions of dollars to trap, shoot and poison more than 90,000 "urban coyotes" every year.
            But the real problem isn't coyotes attacking humans, it's human suburban sprawl that increasingly takes over the habitat of wild animals like coyotes. Rather than hunting down and killing animals whose habitat has been destroyed by human subdivisions, we should enact stronger urban planning laws that protect the habitat of our nation's wildlife.
            Urge your governor to work with your state's legislature and local county commissioners to ensure that humans don't further encroach on wild lands! Only then will we see a decline in the amount of these "urban coyote attacks."

             

            Don't Kill Urban Coyotes, Enact Stronger Urban Planning Instead - The Petition Site

            Thursday, August 20, 2009

            Hurry Up and Die

             

            posted by: Angel Flinn 3 days ago

            Hurry Up and Die

            Many readers have likely heard the story of Elizabeth Carlisle, a 20-year-old employee of Petland in Akron, Ohio. Elizabeth recently became the latest target of the anger of animal advocates, after she posted a gruesome picture of herself on her Facebook page. The picture, taken by the store manager, shows Elizabeth grinning as she holds up the limp bodies of two rabbits she had just drowned.
            In Elizabeth's own words, supposedly from her Facebook profile, "The manager took the pic for me. She reminded me that there were people outside as I was swearing at them (the rabbits) to just hurry up and die but then she was so kind as to take this picture."
            There has been quite a bit of commentary about this incident. Elizabeth is facing charges, and animal advocates are imploring the concerned public to demand that she be punished to the full extent of the law. Petland has closed the store, and has issued a predictable statement:
            "This is an isolated incident that is horrific and inexcusable and will not be tolerated. Petland will take any and all action necessary as this does not, in any way, represent the culture and dedication to animal care of the thousands of caring Petland employees working across the country every day… Petland will in no way, shape or form tolerate any abuse of animals in its care… We are outraged at this gross violation of Petland's animal care standards."
            Let's take a quick look at Petland's animal care standards, shall we? According to one website dedicated to exposing the unpleasant realities of this mega-chain of animal exploitation:
            "People who take jobs at Petland because they love animals sooner or later find out, as one told us, 'It's all about time and money.' This employee saw a lot of deaths among the small animals at the Fairfax City store, particularly birds and hamsters, and saw that many of the puppies arrived with respiratory problems. The puppies also had sores from lying on the hard mesh cage floors. Another Fairfax City Petland employee tried to nurture the puppies and was told something along the lines of, 'They don't need petting; they're just money. If you want to do that, go to the shelter.' An employee from another Petland told us that puppies are taken from their mothers at 5 weeks old and go through so much stress and handling that Petland recommends that once the puppy arrives at the store, he or she be left alone for 48 hours. Our local Petland puts puppies on display immediately, and they are available for sale about 24 hours later."
            In Petland stores, puppies are housed in rows of mesh-floored cages and, "if they're lucky, a hard floor tile, about 1 foot by 1 foot, which is supposed to serve as their bed." A number of stores have been found in violation of the law that forbids floors made of mesh wide enough to allow the animals' feet to fall through, which often causes injuries. Kittens, rabbits, parakeets, parrots, chinchillas, ferrets, hamsters, fishes, and a variety of other animals are also housed in cramped cages or aquariums and are sold with a minimum of instruction on how to properly care for them.
            In 2008, an investigation linked Petlands all over the U.S. to puppy mills. No surprise there. Puppy mills are animal factories, where dogs are treated as breeding machines. Laws provide little meaningful protection for animals being used for profit, so gross welfare violations are common in these facilities. Tens of thousands of baby animals every year, many of them seriously sick or even dying, are sold at Petland stores, frequently after being shipped over several hundred miles.
            It's outrageous to think that this business remains legal, while every year, millions of animals in shelters – many of them abandoned after being purchased from places like Petland – are 'put to sleep'. Put to sleep – how's that for the ultimate euphemism? Let's tell it like it is. These homeless animals are not put to sleep. They are killed, slaughtered, murdered.
            It sure is hard to believe, sometimes, what the human species is capable of justifying.
            But as for Petland, was this display of callousness toward the living merchandise really an isolated incident?
            Petland is a huge chain of pet stores that treats animals like merchandise, complete with a price tag and a warranty. These animals are economic commodities – mass-produced, warehoused and transported like any other merchandise, and bought and sold like inanimate objects. Baby animals, only barely separated from their mothers, are sold to anyone who walks in off the street, ending up with a 70% chance of being abandoned two years down the line.
            It is all so grotesquely absurd… With all our cold-heartedness toward animals – we eat them, we wear them, we kill them for sport, and pay money to watch them be abused – somehow, we still long to be near them, to share our lives with them, and to take joy in their beauty and innocence. And so, in some horrible confusion, we buy them, sell them, and thereby enslave them.
            And now Elizabeth Carlisle appears on the stage, unwittingly stumbling into her fifteen minutes of fame as the latest animal abuser toward whom we can channel our collective and individual guilt-turned-anger. Carlisle's actions, of course, were contemptible, but it seems to me that she offers us an opportunity to address a more significant issue.
            When a person takes pleasure in inflicting suffering, it indicates something deeply disturbing within the individual, but it also indicates something deeply disturbing about the culture which produces such individuals. I'm not talking about Elizabeth's family, or her upbringing, or her circumstances. I'm talking about something much more universal – the cultural paradigm we are all born into, which teaches us that animals are not entitled to the most basic of all rights: the right to life, the right to freedom, and the right to live on their own terms, without being the property of another. This is true for all animals, from dogs and cats, to cows and pigs, to whales, dolphins, tigers and elephants. They have no real protection under the law. As long as there is profit to be made from using them, they will be used. And as long as they are used, they will be abused.
            Every day, all over the world, pets, entertainment animals, victims of vivisection, and animals used for food, clothing and other human pleasures suffer horrific abuses, and all over the world, people go on as if there is nothing wrong with this. Some of the same people who are rightly horrified at the behavior of Elizabeth Carlisle and her manager are not willing to acknowledge their own participation in the legal torture endured by other animals.
            When we cast stones at Elizabeth Carlisle and Co, we should remember that these abuses exist as a result of something much bigger than one person taking delight in cruelty. Petland, puppy mills, slaughterhouses and other animal abuse factories exist because regular people believe they have a right to buy and own an animal's life. As long as people maintain such a belief, our society will continue to manufacture cold-hearted killers, like Teressa Groenewald-Hagerman, Michael Vick, Sarah Palin, and most recently, Elizabeth Carlisle.

            Hurry Up and Die

            Tuesday, August 18, 2009

            Change.org - Shot for a Tulip - say NO to Cayuga Heights NY's deer-killing plan

             

             

            Shot for a Tulip - say NO to Cayuga Heights NY's deer-killing plan

            To: Trustee Kate Supron (Cayuga Heights Trustee), Trustee David Donner (Cayuga Heights Trustee) and Mayor Jim Gilmore (Cayuga Heights Mayor)

            Started by: Jennifer Stein

            Cayuga Heights -- a village embedded within the larger community of Ithaca, New York -- has been said to have the most Ph.D's per capita of any municipality in America. Yet its trustees are about to approve a dangerous, immoral, and frankly bizarre plan that would call for every single deer in the village to be either violated or killed. It seems these human-habituated animals’ appetite for tulips, heirloom tomatoes, and ornamental shrubbery has, in the minds of the current mayor and trustees, created a situation so dire and unacceptable, that action of the most extreme sort is not only justified, but urgently required.

            The first phase of their plan involves capturing 30-60 female deer, surgically sterilizing them, then puncturing their ears with numbered tags and encumbering their necks with radio collars. These are the "lucky" individuals. The intended fate of every other deer in Cayuga Heights, including pregnant does and fawns, is to be shot dead at bait sites at undisclosed locations and times. This annually performed massacre will be carried out by out-of-town contractors who earn their living exterminating wildlife. The ethical grotesquery of this plan appears to be lost on those who conceived it, who seem to be oblivious to the mental and emotional torture that will be experienced by the few deer chosen to survive, not to mention the many people who care about these gentle animals. Year after year, deer in and around Cayuga Heights will be lured by piles of corn into the kill zone, and those marked for survival will watch as their herd mates are brutally killed right in front of them. Were such a sadistic policy to be carried out against dogs or cats, or horses, an outraged crowd would spontaneously rise up to stop it. But the deer, ironically, because they live free of direct human control and are no individual's private property, are somehow seen as unworthy of moral consideration. The plan was just announced in July, yet the village trustees voted to BAN ALL PUBLIC COMMENT about their deer-killing proposal at their August and September meetings, during which they are expected to approve this controversial proposal. Because those who have tried to be voice of the voiceless have been silenced themselves, we need people around the world to contact these legislators and demand that they let voices on all sides of the issue be heard, and that they adopt proven, non-violent alternatives to the outrageous killing plan they have proposed. Do we really want to live in a society where bureaucrats meet behind closed doors to arbitrarily decide how many of each species are allowed to live, then send technicians out to mark the few chosen to survive as ornamental reminders of a bygone era, doomed to move among us as freaks festooned with the trappings of their utter domination by humans? Do we want to cover the eyes and ears of our children as unsuspecting animals are methodically executed in our neighbors' backyards? There are many people in and around Cayuga Heights who, through wise plant choices, and skillful use of fencing and deer repellents, enjoy beautiful gardens without causing harm to anyone. Mass killing and extreme control of the area's indigenous wildlife is neither necessary, nor ethical, nor safe. And if it is scientific at all, it represents science at its most twisted. Everything about this plan is emblematic of the mindset that is destroying our planet. Because the trustees of Cayuga Heights have rejected proven and practical non-violent approaches to reducing deer-human conflict, because they refuse against all reason to allow residents to erect fences high enough to safeguard their plantings, because they have silenced public comment on their controversial proposal -- should the rest of us just sit back and do nothing? Should we accept armed men firing deadly weapons in residential neighborhoods, to protect tulips? Or is it possible, with all the brilliant, creative and compassionate people living in Cayuga Heights and the Ithaca community, that a more sensible approach can be found? Help us be heard! The letter below will go to the Mayor and two key members of the board of trustees. PLEASE ALSO COPY THE TEXT OF THIS LETTER AND SEND BY EMAIL TO THE OTHER TRUSTEES:

            Trustee Robert Andolina: randolina@cayuga-heights.ny.us

            Trustee Ron Bors: rbors@cayuga-heights.ny.us

            Trustee Diana Riesman: driesman@cayuga-heights.ny.us

            Trustee Bea Szekely: bszekely@cayuga-heights.ny.us

            Visit our special “Conscience Calling Card” pages and find out how you can help:

            http://www.cayugadeer.org/conscience/gilmore.htm

            THANK YOU for speaking out for those who are trying to be a voice of the voiceless and who have now been silenced themselves. .•This petition ends on Sep 21.

            Thursday, August 13, 2009

            This is What a Rescue Looks Like

            August 13, 2009

            This is What a Rescue Looks Like

            I told you yesterday about a dramatic puppy mill raid in Texas, with more than 500 dogs rescued. Our video team has just filed this insider account, and it’s a must-watch item.


            Why Do the Same Groups Oppose Health Care and Energy Reform?

            13 August 09

            Why Do the Same Groups Oppose Health Care and Energy Reform?

            Health care reform seems a long way from climate change but they share something very important in common: well funded interest groups that want to keep things just the way they are.

            For instance, the Manhattan Institute has been railing against proposed health care reform, churning out adizzying number of reports and op-eds about why “Obama-care” is wrong for America. They also expend abundant effort slagging climate science, last year feting Danish doubter Bjorn Lomborg. The Manhattan Institute has so far received $235,000 from ExxonMobil, as well as funding from various other conservative organizations.

            The Media Research Center is conservative media watchdog that has received $257,500 from ExxonMobil, and regularly gripes about biased the US media is towards the “theory” of climate change and the health care reform.

            Other groups working hard to derail Obama's efforts to improve the medical system include the notorious Heartland Institute. Desmog Blog readers will remember their remarkably unethical efforts to associate unwitting climate researchers with their propaganda campaign against climate science.

            They also just released a thick report objectively entitled “Obama Health Plan: Rationing, Higher Taxes, and Lower Quality Care”, authored by Peter Ferrara.

            Mr. Ferrara is truly a multi-talented researcher. Not only is he apparently an expert on health care and medical policy, he has also spilled buckets of ink hectoring the scientific communityfor their slap dash research on climate change.

            Just this spring Ferrara was holding forth in the national press that the “UN’s global warming reports involve shoddy science skewed to favor the theory of man-made global warming…despite growing evidence from first-rate, blue chip scientists who are increasingly concluding that humans have little effect on global temperatures…”

            Who knew that one man could know so much? It's amazing what they teach you in law school...

            So why are the same groups that oppose reducing carbon emissions also fighting against health care reform? Perhaps the best explanation is that great unifier, money.

            An interesting case study is the anti-health care reform front group Conservatives for Patients Rights was founded by Richard L. Scott, a man who has a rather vested interest in keeping US health care in private hands.

            In 1988, Scott co-founded the Columbia Hospital Corporation (Columbia/HCA). He and his business partners aimed to transform US health care by “doing for hospitals . . .what McDonald’s has done in the food business and what WalMart has done in the retailing business.”

            Scott apparently intended to own 25% of the nation’s hospitals and predicted that rash of closures might clear the field of unprofitable ““teaching hospitals and children’s hospitals” – increasing market share for Columbia/HCA.

            This fixation on the profit motive was illustrated in 1995 when one quarter of Columbia’s administrators were earning bonuses equaling at least 80 percent of their salaries.

            Scott apparently wondered out loud, “Do we have an obligation to provide health care for everybody? Where do we draw the line? Is any fast-food restaurant obliged to feed everyone who shows up?”

            By 1997, Columbia/HCA was the largest health care provider in the world with annualrevenues of $23 billion.

            That July, they were also raided by the FBI in five states and later convicted of fourteen felony charges relating to Medicare fraud and doctor kickback schemes. Columbia/HCA eventually paid $1.7 billion in fines – the highest in US history at the time. Three HCA executives were indicted, and Scott was ousted as CEO by the board of directors – with a $10 million severance package and more than $300 million in stock.

            Since then he formed an investment company, Richard L. Scott Investments, with a thick portfolio of private health care ventures. In 2001, Scott also co-founded Solantic, a chain of medical clinics that this year raised $40 million in private equity.

            Scott has ambitious plans for Solantic to become a national brand of emergency medical clinics with 35 clinics open by the end of the year with $100 million in annual revenues, and potentially “a thousand locations”.

            Fast-forward to 2009 when one month after Obama was sworn in, Scott foundedConservatives for Patients Rights with $5 million of his own money and $15 million more from undisclosed sources. According to the WSJ, this campaign was aimed to “pressure Democrats to enact health-care legislation based on free-market principles.”

            So what do the voices shrilly opposing health care and energy reform have in common? Money. Both stand to lose big if Obama succeeds in enacting the agenda the American people elected him to do.

            Keep that in mind the next time you see an expensive ad telling you to fear efforts to make our health care more accessible, or our energy more sustainable.






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