Blogs

SOMEBODY IS TALKING ABOUT YOU 
<!-- END care2msg_inner_subject --><!-- BEGIN care2msg_inner_message -->http://zmagsite.zmag.org/May2007/cooney0507.html

Battle Of The Beagles

By Nick Cooney 

In case you hadn’t heard, FBI Deputy Assistant Director John Lewis has identified the number one domestic terrorist threat to the U.S. and it’s not radical Muslims. Or right-wing paramilitary types. Or gun-toting pro-lifers. Nope, guess again. It’s animal rights and environmental activists who have never hurt or killed a single person in the U.S. in their 25-year history. 

What they have done is cause millions of dollars in damages and even more in lost profits to the logging, construction, SUV, pharmaceutical, and fur industries—all of which (with the exception of the fur industry) are major lobbying powers in Congress. 

Among the many opportunistic post-9/11 agendas pursued by the outgoing Republican majority is a drastic increase in funds, per- sonnel, and judicial leeway granted to law enforcement agencies like the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) for pursuing grassroots animal rights activists. Some cases in point: in 2002, over 100 FBI agents investigated a single animal rights group, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA (SHAC-USA). PATRIOT Act- sanctioned wiretaps of phones and emails of animal activists have become commonplace, as have airport detentions on both domestic and international flights for members of non-profits like Hugs For Puppies and Student Organization for Animal Rights chapters. FBI employees and FBI-backed investigators have engaged in romantic and sexual relationships with activists to try to pry information out of them. Raids on the homes of activists by armed JTTF agents are also a regular occurrence. In November 2006 seven individuals in Santa Monica, California had their homes ransacked by government agents for the “crime” of attending a peaceful demonstration against the POM Juice Company, which funds animal tests. One of these individuals was former child star Pam Ferdin, the voice of Lucy in the classic Peanuts television show. Lucy getting her house raided by the JTTF? It’s enough to make even Snoopy cry. 

But not enough, apparently, for the federal government. In a much-touted case, six volunteers with SHAC-USA were each sentenced in September 2006 to up to six years in federal prison for operating a website and newsletter and organizing protests at the homes of pharmaceutical executives. On November 27, 2006 President Bush signed into law the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), a bill which labels as terrorists those who engage in sit-ins, civil disobedience, trespass, or any other crime in the name of animal rights. 

To be clear, this bill is not aimed at squeaky clean groups like the Humane Society or even at the controversial People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)— both of which have the financial and legal resources to take on spurious charges. AETA, and the corresponding crackdown, is aimed at grassroots animal activists who lend their weekends and occasional evenings towards speaking out against cruelty to animals. Most have little money, no legal experience, and often belong to informal volunteer organizations. 

The nature of the Bush administration’s war on grassroots animal activists bears similarities to that of the war in Iraq. The first is the use of loaded language and fear- mongering to create an easy to loathe enemy. Iraq was part of an “axis of evil” and supposedly had weapons of mass destruction it planned to use against the U.S. Animal activists are “domestic terrorists” out to end scientific research and attack anyone with a piece of meat on their plate. Second is the violation of the civil liberties of a now-marginalized group. Third, the war against this perceived terror threat is being waged even though a majority of Americans don’t see a need for it and don’t want to pay for it. Ask a dozen people on the street to list their top ten safety concerns and you can be sure “animal rights activists” won’t be making it onto any of those lists. They probably wouldn’t even crack the top 100. 

The final similarity is that the bottom line is corporate profit. The industries targeted by animal activists are wealthy, influential, and, apparently, very vulnerable. Take, for instance, Huntingdon Life Sciences (HL, a major contract animal testing laboratory based in New Jersey and targeted by animal rights groups like SHAC USA after undercover exposes showed a worker punching four-month-old puppies in the face. Focused protest pressure in the U.S. and abroad has left HLS $100 million in debt, kicked off of every stock exchange in the world, and forced to sell all of its property just to stay afloat. Major pharmaceutical companies like Roche, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, and others have been targeted by activists for contracting experiments at Hunting- don; many have responded by cutting their financial support for HLS. 

visit http://zmagsite.zmag.org/May2007/cooney0507.html

for entire article

The following are great ideas from www.stopthekilling.net that Los Angeles and all other cities should implement to help Stop The Killing of Companion Animals!

Low cost, easily accessible and truly mandatory spay/neuter laws for every resident.

Free spay/neuter services to all low income residents.

A city-wide policy allowing free trap, neuter and return (TNR) programs for feral cats.

Open all shelter spay/neuter clinics sitting idle immediately and enlist veterinarians to volunteer and give backӔ to their community by doing a certain amount of free spay/neuters every month at these clinics (physician/surgeons are expected to do this by operating and then following up on the patients who dont have health insurance; why shouldnҒt veterinarians?)

Volunteers/employees must be required to counsel the public who are either "relinquishing" their pet or seeking to adopt one.

Increase the fees currently charged to relinquish "dump" an animal.

Each person "relinquishing" an animal must speak with a volunteer and or employee before they do so and provide their drivers license information.

Require pet shops to offer animals for adoptionӔ rather than selling puppies from puppy mills resulting in the death of thousands of innocent animals every year.

Outlaw the purposeful breeding of animals for profit; its a disgrace and results in thousands of healthy, loving animals (many of whom are purebreds) being executed in our shelters every week.

Require a complete, outside volunteer peer-review audit of LAAS finances, policies and practices.

Clearly outline and have an independent volunteer council witness the LAAS policies and procedures, then publish the TRUE number of animals taken into the shelters every month and all adoption, rescues and number of executions; including holding periods and the reasons for execution. (This will prevent the LAAS from lying about the true number of animals being killed and why.)

Investigations regarding animal cruelty and neglect inside and outside the city shelters to be done by an independent, competent committee who, unlike Commander David Diliberto of L.A., do not involve his friends, fellow union employees or drinking buddies who are allegedly perpetrating the crimes.

The General Manager and the commissioners who sit on the LAAS board are to be appointed by an outside committee made up of several 501c3 rescue groups in Los Angeles (this will prevent the power to appoint these important individuals to be solely at the discretion of the Mayor.) The commissioners must spend time in each of the six city shelters at least once a week.

Change city code to allow more than three animals per household (if an LA city resident is allowed to have more than three children, they ought to have the right by law to have more than three dogs or cats.

Human over population is far more devastating to our natural resources, our living conditions and the spread of disease, than having four, five or even more dogs/cats living in a household
Landlord and builders be required to allow tenants to have a pet(s). Landlords cannot discriminate against tenants with children, (and children do MUCH more property damage than pets!) So they should NOT be allowed to discriminate against tenants who live with a companion animal.

Establish policies and programs to actively place companion animals in retirement and HUD housing.

Mandatory training and retraining of shelter employees (including supervisors) to require they be courteous, knowledgeable, humane and meet a minimum set of standards for aiding the public in adopting a companion animal.

Require that shelter employees allow all animals up for adoption to be seen by the public; (some adoptable animals are kept behind locked doors for absolutely no valid reason). These animals locked away include but are not limited to those with treatable conditions like sprains, sniffles, fleas, etc.

Furthermore, every single employee is to be required to inform the public about Shelter Care insurance policy, which covers the treatment of these medical conditions for free; and to offer every adopter an application form.

Shelter employees are required to allow all animals to be seen and photographed by volunteers and rescuers seeking to help them get adopted by advertising them on web sites, etc.
Volunteers/employees must be required to take out animals from their cages and give them exercise by either walking them or taking them to an exercise area on shelter property.

The six LA city shelters must be educational and helpful environments, where volunteers and the public can come in and interact with the animals outside their desolate, filthy cages. Currently the shelter staff donҒt even allow the volunteers, who take a training course, to walk the dogs around the block giving them the exercise they so desperately need; and the staff NEVER takes the time to do this. So our shelters currently feel like depressing, unfriendly and disorganized poundsӔ, where the smell of fear, misery and deathӔ permeates the air.

The Public Relations officer is to be required to have previous experience in adoption and rescue of shelter animals and to have expertise in advertising, public relations and be bilingual.
Replace the current paidӔ LAAS volunteer staff with enthusiastic, caring animal people, who will establish an aggressive volunteer recruitment program and increase the mobile pet adoption venues, to reach out to the millions of residents who want a companion animal.

The entire LAAS web site and any educational information available at the shelters be bilingual. A ten minute educational and welcome loopӔ video in both Spanish and English is required to be watched by potential adopters and those giving upӔ their pets, and then be required to speak to a volunteer or employee to discuss any questions they may have.

Require the staff and Public Relations officer is to give at least one school assembly lecture per week or neighborhood council lecture per week, talking about the importance of spay/neuter, adoption, caring for and respecting companion animals, including feral cats and wildlife. They should also be required to go on local news shows (both Spanish and English) at least once per week to advertise the shelters and encourage the viewers to adopt.

Require that some of the LAAS department's budget be spent on bilingual TV and radio advertising to encourage adoption, give the shelter locations, hours open for adoption and information on low cost and free spay/neuter.

The Following Information is from a friend


Love the Planet Using Recyclable Toilet Paper:



Do you know that virgin forests are cut down every day to make toilet paper for us humans?



Here֒s what we can do to stop it.



Toilet Paper Fact:



If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees.



_________________________________________________



Toilet Paper Companies



________% Recycled % Post-Consumer Bleaching Process



365 (Whole Foods) _ 100 >80 PCF



Ambiance 100 80 PCF



April Soft 100 80 PCF



Best Value _ 100 <40 PCF <br>

Earth First _ 100 80 PCF



Fiesta 100 80 PCF



Marcal _ 100 40 PCF



Planet 100 80 PCF



Pert 100 <40 PCF <br>

Seventh Generation 100 80 PCF



Sofpac _ 100 40 PCF



Charmin AVOID _ 0 0 ECF



Cottonelle AVOID _ 0 0 ECF



Note: You can also save trees by using recycled facial tissues, paper towels, and paper napkins which are also produced by many of the same brands above.



Three Reminders You Can Do To Help Save Our Forests:



1. Buy paper products with recycled content especially post-consumer fibers.



Look for products that have a high recycled content, including high post-consumer content. Post-consumer fibers are recovered from paper that was previously used by consumers and would otherwise have been dumped into a landfill or an incinerator.



2. Buy paper products made with clean, safe processes.



Paper products are bleached to make them whiter and brighter, but chlorine used in many bleaching processes contributes to the formations of harmful chemicals that wind up in our air and water and are highly toxic to people and fish. Look for products labeled totally chlorine-free (TCF) or processed chlorine-free (PCF). In some cases, elemental chlorine-free (ECF) may be acceptable.



3. Tell tissue manufacturers to stop using virgin wood for throwaway products.



If a brand you buy for your home doesnגt have any recycled content, contact the manufacturer. Tell the company to use more recycled fibers, to avoid sourcing from ecologically valuable forests such as those in the Cumberland Plateau and Canadian boreal, and to ensure any virgin fibers used are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Saving forests also helps reduce global warming pollution.



Source: The Natural Resources Defense Council. To learn more, go to www.nrdc.org.