Pets on Death Row on Facebook

I discovered Pets on Death Row on Facebook. They seem to be a group of volunteers who rescue and help cats and kittens get adopted in NYC. Their Facebook page puts out a daily list and album of cats and kittens that are to euthanized the next day, so a sense of urgency is pretty big. I find it incredible that a group of people would do this – it’s a lot of work, taking pictures and surveying the euthanasia list daily.

Please go to their Facebook page to find out more or if you’re ready to adopt a kitty. It’s pretty disheartening to see all these cute faces. Sadly, most of them have been put down (shown in these pictures). You can really help save a life.

Filed under: local issues, shelters, Take Action, adopt a cat, adopt a rescue, Brooklyn ACC, cat adoption, euthanasia of cats and dogs, New York City, volunteers

Save Wyoming’s Wolves

from Defenders of Wildlife

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the new Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe announced details of Wyoming’s wolf management plan that would allow wolves to be shot on sight across the state, reports Defenders of Wildlife.

It is no mystery that wolf preservation has been in the spotlight and is a controversial issues. Farmers and private land owners claim that wolves kill their livestock which gives the state imperatives to eliminate some of the wolf population. While this may be a temporary solution, it is a cruel and unnecessary one, since there seems to be other ways to control this issue. Wolves remain in the decline, even as they have flourished over the last decade since reintroduction in this region. In Alaska, Sarah Palin and the state offers bounty for $150 per wolf killed. Wolves are chased down to exhaustion by helicopters, poisoned, trapped. Pups are left in dens to die, and sometimes, hunters seek them out and shoot all the pups on site. “this is not only unethical, it undermines the continued recovery of (wolves)” and “sabotage wolf migration from Wyoming to Colorado, Utah and other areas where wolves have historically made their homes.”

Tell the Fish and Wildlife Service that you’re outraged by this in Wyoming. Call the Service at 1-800-344-WILD (9453)

And note this: there has never been a recorded instance where wolves killed humans UNPROVOKED. There is a lot of misunderstanding about how wolves are evil – they are severely misrepresented. And as they are at the top of the food chain, are essential to the natural order of the species. Think deers are overrunning the wild? Well, if you kill the wolves, then we would have a bigger problem, and that would mean, more hunting, more unnecessary, killings of deers and other wildlife.

Filed under: animal cruelty, hunting, local issues, wolves, defenders of wildlife, Fish and Wildlife Services, Wyoming wolves, yellowstone

Save Toby

We’ve all seen or heard about SaveToby.com, a website by some guy that features photos and videos of his cute little rabbit, but then threaten to cook and eat the rabbit unless he receives $50K.

I love rabbits, and I don’t eat them. I sympathize with animal lovers and activists who got so worked up about this. But I do think this got blown out of proportion, because I don’t think that guy was being serious even though he said he was. Anyway, funny or not, Toby has been saved, thanks to the coverage on NBC.

See the story here on MSNBC

Filed under: animal cruelty, local issues, toby the rabbit

The Bond: Our Kinship to Animals, Our Call to Defend Them

I’m looking forward to reading the new book, The Bond: Our Kinship to Animals, Our Call to Defend Them, by Wayne Parcelle, the President of the Humane Society of United States. Whether you’re a fan of the organization or not, there will be things here that you can learn about the general state of animal welfare and cruelty, and how we can contribute to make it a kinder world for animals and humans alike.  See except below:

“As harsh as nature is for animals, cruelty comes only from human hands. We are the creature of conscience, aware of the wrongs we do and fully capable of making things right. Our best instincts will always tend in that direction, because there is a bond with animals that’s built into every one of us. That bond of kinship and fellow-feeling has been with us through the entire arc of human experience—from our first bare-footed steps on the planet through the era of the domestication of animals and into the modern age. For all that sets humanity apart, animals remain “our companions in Creation,” to borrow a phrase from Pope Benedict XVI, bound up with us in the story of life on earth. Every act of callousness toward an animal is a betrayal of that bond. In every act of kindness we keep faith with the bond. And broadly speaking, the whole mission of the animal welfare cause is to repair the bond—for their sake and for our own.

In our day, there are stresses and fractures of the human-animal bond, and some forces at work that would sever it once and for all. They pull us in the wrong direction and away from the decent and honorable code that makes us care for creatures who are entirely at our mercy. Especially within the last 200 years, we’ve come to apply an industrial mindset to the use of animals, too often viewing them as if they were nothing but articles of commerce, the raw material of science, or mere obstacles in the path of our own progress. Here, as in other pursuits, human ingenuity has a way of outrunning human conscience, and some things we do only because we can—forgetting to ask whether we should.”

Pre-Order at Amazon.com

Filed under: animal cruelty, circus, environment, farm animals, humane farming, humane organizations, hunting, international issues, local issues, puppy mills, seal hunt, Take Action

Support PETCO’s First National Pet Food Drive

Help feed hungry pets and animals – from Care2Cause:

“PETCO and the PETCO Foundation, along with help from Best Friends Animal Society, are launching the first national pet food drive in the U.S. that will last November 5-15.

In March PETCO and the PETCO Foundation started a pet food drive in select stores. Now there are collection bins in over 1,000 locations throughout the country. So far, the venture has already collected more than 110 tons of food and litter.

With the guiding principle that people shouldn’t have to choose between feeding themselves, their kids or their pets, or giving up their pets in tough times, stores are partnering with food banks and rescue groups in their community to provide pet food and litter to pet parents in need. Hill’s Science Diet will also be matching donations bag-for-bag, up to 25,000 pounds, for every bag of their cat or dog food purchased at a PETCO store and donated to the drive.

Volunteers from Best Friends will also be at 198 stores on Nov 6-7 and 13-14 to help with the food drive and tell people about their No More Homeless Pets campaign. Check here to find a list of stores where they will be volunteering.”

Filed under: dogs and cats, farm animals, humane organizations, local issues, Take Action, Best Friends of Animals, pet food drive, petco foundation

Fur Still Alive and Strong in NYC

I haven’t blogged for a while, mainly because of my busy professional schedule, and to be honest, to let the steam cool off from my China Cat Massacre post that is getting a lot of debate, both positive and negative.

Fashion Week is one of the biggest event in NEW YORK CITY, and say what you will about PETA, though I’m not a big fan of their tactics, someone has to stand up against FUR. Like the years before 2010, PETA is holding a public protest, this year themed “Animal Prints. Not Animal Skin.” Though I don’t think spilling red paint on people’s fur coats just to make the point is cool by any means, I do think that showing up to show support for anti-fur can help make a strong statement.

Over the years, I’ve noticed a lot of brand name designers like Stella McCartney and other retail chains like Payless shunning the use of fur in their lines, and it’s a growing trend – many of my friends stopped buying fur trimmed coats and are more conscientious about shopping. But in the September issue of VOGUE for which I eagerly awaited (mostly for their insightful articles – truly), I was disgusted with the amount of fur ads and trend reports within. Even designers like Donna Karan had some fur pieces.

Looks like I’m going to have to add more labels to my boycott list. You think I am happy about that? NO. I love fashion, particularly the new Gucci and Fendi handbags – but I’m making a choice not to be a patron until they stop perpetuating the cycle of cruelty.

THE EVENT:

image via PETA

What: Anti-fur protest during NYC’s Fashion Week
When: Tuesday, September 14, 11:45 a.m.
Where: Sidewalk outside Lincoln Center by the main steps on Columbus between 65th and 62nd avenues (See this map.)

RSVP by e-mailing my colleague Ashley at AshleyB@peta.org or 757-274-9675.

Filed under: animal cruelty, Fur, humane organizations, local issues, Take Action, fashion, Fashion Week, fur, NYC, peta, protests

Why You Should Boycott the Circus

There are a lot of people out there who either don’t know the horror that goes on behind seemingly wonderful world of circuses, or those who insist that those like Ringling Bros or Big Apple Circuses has humane animal programs in place. But it’s no secret that animals get abused for our entertainment. Imagine baby elephants, pulled from their herd shortly after birth, shipped, then begin their training with ropes, beaten with bull hooks, forced to perform. It will break your heart.

Performing animals live their entire lives in trailers traveling from show to show, often endure long unhealthy journeys across the world in crowded, stuffy conditions. Worse, they suffer beating by their handlers in order to get them to perform UNNATURAL acts. Animals are not meant to dance, sit up on their hind legs, jump through fiery hoops. You may have heard that circus animals go wild and tromp their handlers to death. Who can blame them, to escape from such a life filled with discomfort and pain? The animals do not make any money, humans do. And if you go to the circus, you are paying for them to suffer.

Below are some pictures of a baby elephant in training, photographed by an undercover operative. I don’t care how anyone can justify this – the poor animal is miserable.

Circus like Cirque Du Soleil is a wonderful and even more spectacular alternative, as performed by only people. Set a moral example for your children – teach them that forcing animals to do anything just for fun is wrong.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t teach your dog tricks. You are its owner and you do it out of love and your dog loves you. You don’t beat your dog, at least I hope not.

Filed under: animal cruelty, circus, farm animals, local issues

Proctor and Gamble Helps Clean Gulf Animals

Oil covered animals via GreenExpander.net

Okay, I am first to admit that Proctor and Gamble is the enemy when it comes to animal issues. For years, P&G tested on animals for consumer goods, as with many other household brands. I’m not going to get into it right now, but kudos to them for shipping dish liquid to help animals from the BP massive oil spill. However, 1,000 bottles may not do the job, but it’s a start. Read more here

P&G has a ongoing partnerships with the International Bird Rescue Research Center and the Marine Mammal Center to provide Dawn and raise funds.

Filed under: international issues, local issues, ocean, BP oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, ocean animals in peril

Sarah Palin Does Not Belong on the Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel has signed a $1 million deal with Sarah Palin to host a reality TV show called “Sarah’s Palin’s Alaska”.  At first I did not believe it, thinking it was a hoax, but unfortunately, it’s confirmed by news sources. Read more here. Also on CNN.

As I wanted to keep an open mind about learning more about Alaska, I can hardly believe that Palin would the person to teach me about the last beautiful and wildest frontier of America. I mean, what is she going to teach us, that the Second Amendment gives her the right to kill wildlife and it’s part of life and necessity in her state? The Discovery Channel is home to Animal Planet, Planet Green, TLC (The Learning Channel), once know for its advocacy for the preservation for wildlife. Cashing in on Palin’s undeserved popularity is like turning its back on everything they once held sacred.

I don’t care how the Discovery Channel is going to justify this – Sarah Palin is the woman who proposed legislation for aerial hunting of precious wild wolves (here’s her comments on Huffington Post on hunt strategy), gutting moose and caribous for fun and tradition.  This is the woman who opposes global warming, who ridicules environmentalists and conservationists, who thinks whales and wolves should not be on the Endangered Species Act.

She is wrong for Discovery Channel. Wrong for the environment, and wrong for any sort of wildlife conservation. Urge the Discovery Channel to change their minds -PLEASE TAKE ACTION AND SIGN THE PETITION!!!!

Filed under: animal cruelty, Global Warming, hunting, local issues, Take Action, aerial hunting, alaska, discovery channel, Global Warming, reality tv, sarah palin, wolves

Goodbye to Blue Fin

In the film “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, the message is we as humans tend to wait until the absolutely critical point of the worst situation in order to change. This is true for the case for the Blue Fin Tuna, now on the verge of extinction.

“This week, at a meeting in Qatar, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) took a big step toward making sure that Atlantic bluefin tuna will no longer be classified as endangered.” reports Politics of the Plate.

Instead, the species soon may be classified as extinct. Read more here.

Filed under: international issues, local issues, blue fin tuna, CITES, sushi