Care2: Make a Difference

Featuring yet another time on my blog is Care2 (http://www.care2.com/) A site dedicated to bringing awareness to various global and local, human, environment, animal causes. It is a great community to join to keep up on the important issues that affect the world. If you’re not up for doing the leg work, they do it all. They create polls, petitions and provide ways for people to take actions on issues important to them. The link to animal welfare is here.

Filed under: friends, humane organizations, Take Action, Care2 Petition Site

Etsy For Animals

Another great way to help animals this holiday is by shopping www.etsy.com, a community of talented artists who create art for sale.

From Etsy:

Etsy gets even better with the team Etsy for Animals (EFA), which is made up of a group of amazingly talented independent artists and crafters who use their abilities to benefit animals. EFA members donate anywhere from 10 to 100 percent of their sales to an animal charity of their choosing, or to the team’s featured charity of the month.

Read full article here on Care2

Filed under: friends, Take Action, etsy, help animals, holiday

Help Animals This Holiday And Get a Tax Write-offs!

The holiday season is here. One of many things I do for good during this time is making nice donations to my favorite animal welfare organizations, of course, I donate to Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders too. The best thing about this is you get to deduct your donations and cut down on taxes owed to the government on April 15. But you have to do it before 2011.
If you’re not sure to whom, I’ve listed a few reputable ones here. You can always go on their site and see how they use this money to help run their orgnizations and help animals!

1. Humane Society of the United States
2. Defenders of Wildlife
3. ASPCA
4. International Funds for Animal Welfare
5. The Marine Mammal Center

There are many more. Another way to find good resources to good causes go to http://www.socialvibe.com

Filed under: animal cruelty, animal causes, animal welfare, donations, holiday

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

The Horror of Meat

I was raised to eat meat. I was taught that as humans I was born with the instinct to survive, and my superior intelligence entitles me to hunt and eat inferior animals. And when I say “I” or “me”, I actually mean all humans and you.

This will all change when I first saw the movie “Faces of Death” when I was 13 years old. A particular series tell the story of slaughterhouses. I did not want to see it, but it was shown at a youth center I went to after school, surprised that they would show this to young teens anyhow. I tried to forget I saw this series, because the horrors of it still lives with me to this day.

I understand that it is extremely hard to not eat meat, and a lot of people I know start off small – by cutting out beef, then pork, then chicken and so on. Most people love a good burger, and so do I. Most people will try to ignore the fact that our meat comes from horrible cruelty, and eat it with a distant guilty conscience, like I do. When I saw a video 10 years ago of how baby pigs were killed, I stopped eating ribs and bacon for 2 years. I believe I can do this again very easily. And I will.

Then today, I came across this website, no doubt it’s probably from PETA, a video featuring Paul McCartney. I immediately regurgitated my dinner, and instantly regretted at pressing the “play” button. But the reality is, that it reinforced my decision to become vegetarian.

I sympathize with those who loves to eat meat, but I just want to ask you to take a moment, and think about not only the harm that it does to your body (at least the non-organic meats), but how cruel the industry really is. If you are interested, see this video here. I warn that it is not easy.

I took screenshots of so screens here. The first one is a cow hung by its feet, throat slit and bled out. Its head is almost falling off, but he’s still alive, and twitching. A little piglet is getting stomped on and electrocuted. Can you imagine the pain and suffering billions of livestock go through for your taste buds?

Please stop eating meat.

 

Filed under: animal cruelty, farm animals, meat, meat.org, paul mccartney, peta, piglets, slaughtehouse, vegetarian

All the Buzz at Piperlime: Faux Fur

Kudos to Piperlime, one of my favorite online fashion store — they are featuring a season of faux fur coats, vests, and jackets in fabulous styles and prices. I’m a little bit suspicious about jackets with “fur trim”, especially if made in China, and waiting to hear back from them on whether it’s, indeed, faux. As you may or may not know, China claims that their fur trim are faux but recent investigation revealed that the fur are actually made of dog and cat fur. Raccoon dogs are also a big one.

However most of the coats here use 100% acrylic, man made textile that mimic anything from cashmere to fur. Girls – if Piperlime promotes faux fur, why not go faux and be fabulous at the same time?

Check out Piperlime here.

Filed under: Fur, fashion, faux fur, piperlime

10 Reasons Why Fur Is Wrong

If you just could just humor me for a minute, let me express why fur is wrong.

1) The fashion industry represents corporate America. It is here to make you spend money on fabulous clothes (which I am a victim of). They are contributors to credit card debts, anorexia, bad body images in young women everywhere, for the sake of profit.

2) Animals are bred for their fur, the rest of their bodies mostly get discarded, so they’re not even used for its fullest potential.

3) Faux fur look almost exactly like real fur, and you don’t have to think about having something dead hanging around your neck.

4) Cats and Dogs are beaten to a pulp. And many of these are pets which have been abducted from owners in certain countries.

5) Rabbits are hung by their legs, twitching, bleeding, screaming, while they are electrocuted, knifed, and their fur stripped from their bodies while they are still alive. Bunnies!!!

6) In the wild, minks and foxes chew their own arms and legs off to free themselves from traps. How horrific is that?

7) You can eat meat and still be against wearing fur. It’s not an all-or-nothing deal, so don’t let the hard-core vegetarians tell you otherwise.  At least livestock get all their meat consumed and their lives were not totally wasted for vanity. Although I don’t eat red meat anymore so don’t even think about calling me a hypocrite.

8) Teaching your children that fur is wrong only makes them to grow up compassionate beings.

9) Animals are not disposable. In one form or another, all countries have their version of loving pets. If you look at the bigger picture, animals are living beings, capable of feelings, sensations, and certain emotions.

10) and… you can honestly say that you are a compassionate human being if you just don’t indulge in fur-trim coats.

You get the picture.

Filed under: animal cruelty, Fur

They’re Just Rabbits—not.

Sure, rabbits are rodents, and many find rodents repulsive. But many find bunnies to be furry little creatures that bring children joy, and we all grow up know bunnies are one of the cutest animals on earth.

And they feel love, sadness, and pain. Yes they do. Just watch this video of rabbits scream in the midst of horrible slaughter, if you can stomach it. It will break your heart. “…narrated by actor Gillian Anderson, shows rabbits kicking and screaming during slaughter. After the skin is ripped from the rabbits’ bodies, it is sold to designers such as Giorgio Armani—who uses rabbit fur in his new designs.”

Write to Armani and let him know you think fur is not necessary for fashion, at the address below:

Please also send polite comments to:
Giorgio Armani Corporation
114 Fifth Ave., 17th Fl.
New York, NY 10011
212-366-9720

Filed under: animal cruelty, Fur, Take Action, Bunnies, fashion, fur, giorgio armani, Rabbit

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

BP Oil Spill: A Sad Affair

It pains me much to think about the BP oil spill that has devastated so much of our oceans and life within. It is clear that this sad event was not an act of god or simply the fault of any one party. Sarah Palin blamed this on the Europeans, of course. What else would you expect a simpleton to say?

Sadly, this is not just a political issue, and as we all know, it’s a serious environmental (as well as business as usual) issue. Everyday, as we sit back and enjoy our lives, turn on the news to hear about the continued leaking of millions of gallons of oil into our seas, whales, dolphin, sea turtles, sea birds die. Two weeks ago was 250 sea turtles that regularly migrate in the Gulf area, last week was birds coated with oil, and this week was dead sea mammals. What’s left of our ocean’s healthy corals wither away.

We can’t, for one second, believe that things will eventually be resolved and go back to normal. The oil spill was an extraordinary event that calls for extraordinary action, on the part of corporations, government, and people. Whether you question the legitimacy of domestic oil drilling, dependency on foreign oil, alternative fuels, there is no one answer. We can only hope hat our dependence on oil and relentless rape of the earth’s natural resources need to end. The blame game of this disaster will get us nowhere, it’s no one party’s fault, it’s the fault of everyone, and every nation. BP need to plug up that hole, Obama needs to get really pissed, GreenPeace and environmental agencies need to fight hard. And we need to learn from this, and learn big.

Filed under: environment, international issues, ocean