Sometimes, to those of us involved in the Animal Welfare cause, it seems like the odds are overwhelming and that we will never stem the tide- or even make a dent in it.

But when we take a look back at what has been accomplished in the last decade, we can see some significant victories.

For example, the Michael Vick case. It  turned out to be the weapon of mass destruction to dog fighting. It exposed it in a light that made it a cultural hot button. Most people were unaware that such activity existed.  Now just mention it to anyone and you see a look of revulsion.  Thanks to the raised public awareness, dog fighting has become the focus of federal-level law enforcement via the FBI.

The case also showed how formidable animal welfare activism has become. When Vick was arrested, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and others of that ilk were ready to pounce.  In a typical attempt to gain publicity, they claimed the case was based on racism and demanded Vick’s release. The Humane Society of the United States and other animal welfare groups took the opposite stance and Vick’s supporters…found something else to do.

Another major achievement was in the battle against  puppy mills. This one is tough because, unlike dog fighting, it is makes money for some big proponents, among them Petland and the America Kennel Club .

Yes the AKC opposes puppy mill legislation. Breeders, who make up majority of the membership, fear it could impact their ability to sell expensive pure bred puppies.

Yet we were able to get congress to provide record funding for the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act.  It is anticipated that 34 states will pass laws against puppy mills.

More importantly, thousands of dogs were rescued this year in dozens of puppy mill raids.

We need to make Petland the “Michael Vick” of the puppy mill issue. Get Petland to stop selling puppies and that removes a lot of money from the puppy trade.  It would also send a very clear message to other pet stores that sell puppies: you’re next. Another huge plus is that it would drive people who want pets to adopt from animal shelters.

These are all victories that we can take a moment to savor.

So where do we need to go from here?

There needs to be a push to unite animal welfare groups on every level from the HSUS and ASPCA down to the people who walk dogs and scoop poop at the local shelter. The only way we are going to win it is to work *together*.

We have accomplished a lot but how much more could we do as a united front? And we have a lot to do.

Dog fighting still exists. Petland is still selling puppies provided by canine concentration camps.  There are the issues of factory farms and other inhumane agricultural practices, laboratory animals, hoarding, overpopulation and a host of other issues. We have joined the battle and have done a great job. But the war rages on and it promises to be long and hard fought.

To my colleagues in the fight, thanks for all you do!

In Memory of Fay. A symbol of Hope to All Fighting Dogs

Link: vancouver humane society: eat less meat

honestly guys, it’s not zero meat, it’s less meat. and you won’t die earlier, too!

The World is Vegan.

Taken from Gary L. Francione’s site. PoSt it, mAil it, seNd it.

Widget – (n.) |ˈwijit| A widget is a placeholder name for an object or, more specifically, a mechanical or other manufactured device. It is an abstract unit of production. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “An indefinite name for a gadget or mechanical contrivance, esp. a small manufactured item” and dates this use back to 1931.)

There are three main ways to kill animals for human use. All of these ways result in humans using animals as resources, even though eating animals or their secretions is clearly not necessary. Since all farm animals are eventually killed, those who produce milk or eggs are used as resources during their life, and again after their death. Domesticated animals are considered legal property, to be bought and sold, similar to an iPod, and used as resources like a head of lettuce, or copper. However, in some (non-legal) cases animals are considered persons; with names, celebrated birthdays, and Christmas stockings, and, although purchased originally, would never be thought of as property or sold, but as family. This is not limited to dogs and cats- pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, and many other traditionally “food” animals are kept as “pets” in our society. People are charged with felony animal cruelty for committing the same acts against companion animals as we commit en masse to billions of so called “food” animals every year with little or no concern. We are clearly confused about how we ought to view and treat domestic animals.

Wild animals are usually considered as “common” resources, property of everyone, but an injured deer struck by an automobile can invoke sympathy and a sense of “personhood” from the same hunters who purposely kill deer on a regular basis. Most of us have compassion for suffering animals in our immediate presence, yet think nothing of killing, or paying someone else to kill, animals in general so we can use them merely as resources. It is only when we deem an animal as a person, for example a “pet” or companion animal, that we find a moral obligation to treat particular animals as people, not property, and choose not to eat, milk, or steal eggs from, that specific animal. If animals are property to be used as resources, why treat them different than any other resource? If animals are worthy of humane treatment, how can we treat them as resources? Could we treat a human as a resource, as property, and be humane? We are lying to ourselves if we think that there is a way to use animals as resources and be humane, regardless of the method, especially when all methods ultimately kill them in the end. It is because of our confusion about where animals lie on the property—>personhood spectrum that it is hard to know what’s honest, fair, and what’s just plain ol’ trickery when it comes to our use of animals as resources.

Factory farming is the most honest way to kill an animal for his or her flesh.

The factory farmer says simply, “You are my property. I’m going to use you as a resource, from the day I breed you, to the day I kill you. You are of economic importance to me, and that is it. I will use you as I see fit, like the property you are, and there is no reason for me to do anything but that which serves an interest of mine. And like a clock or a car, no one is to tell me how to treat my property. I will cut off your beak, gouge out your horns, mutilate your genitalia, violate you sexually, etc., with no regard for you as an individual” If we are to use animals simply as resources at all, factory farming is the most honest way to approach the use of the animals they kill- as nothing but resources. Factory farmers kill for money, and that’s all there is to it. Animals are born widgets.

Hunting is the fairest way to kill an animal for his or her flesh.

The hunter says, “If I catch up with you, I will turn you from common property into my property by killing you. I’m going to use you simply as a resource. I’m not going to imprison or torture you, just kill you. I’ll even give you a (very small) chance of escaping and surviving.” Besides the fact that many of the “wild” animals hunted are bred by wildlife authorities, the animals that are hunted at least get to live out some of their truly natural life before being stalked and killed. Also, the animals hunted are usually not slow-moving and docile like domestic cows or pigs, but agile and quick animals (for the thrill of the chase). Because of the animal’s ability to easily evade us, humans have devised tools and methods to make up for certain shortcomings of our physical abilities. The sadistically violent and inhumane methods hunters use to lure, trap, track, stalk, kill, disembowel and dismember carcasses are stunningly atrocious and not very honest or fair, but I don’t think the animal would engage in a “fair” fight even if the hunter were bold enough to challenge… Hunting is not fair, it’s just the fair-est of the three. However, the more tools one uses, the less fair it gets. The fairest hunter would leave the gun, bow, or knife at home and use his or her highly advanced physical predatory prowess to chase and catch a wild animal, tear into the animal’s jugular with his or her razor sharp human incisors in the most “humane” way possible, and rip open the tough hide with his or her extremely sharp human claws. Most hunters have access to all the slow-moving, plant-based food they could ever eat and don’t have to purposefully kill animals. Seeds cost less than bullets. While hunters might be the fairest, they still reduce the animals they hunt to being nothing but resources. Serial-killers kill for pleasure. Whether it’s the “thrill of the chase”, the taste of the flesh, or the decapitated head on the wall, hunters kill for pleasure, and that’s all there is to it. Hunters transform animals from wild to widgets.

“Humane” farming is the most fiendishly dishonest and hypocritical way to kill an animal for his or her flesh.

The “humane” farmer says, “You are my property, but I’ll treat you like a person for a short while. I’ll consider some of your basic wants and needs, and possibly even befriend you. You will come to trust me. You will trust that I will feed you and keep you safe. I will still control your breeding, violate you sexually, and mutilate your genitalia, but hopefully you won’t hold it against me. As long as it serves my superficial interests, I’m going to use you as a resource; as merely chattel property and then kill you.” “Humane” farmers recognize some moral obligation to animals, and might act on it somewhat and for a short time, until it serves their superficial interests to negate that obligation by ending the life they claim to care so much about. A better term would be “temporarily less inhumane” farmers. Sure, as a chicken, I’d choose the “temporarily less inhumane” farmer, but in the end I know I’ll die at both of their hands, so neither is really a good option. It seems as though “humane” farmers are at once friend and enemy. They are the ultimate backstabbers. They are your best-friend that fucked your wife- for years. They are the “it’s just business” talk from the company you’ve been “downsized” from after 30 years. They are the tranny from “Crying Game”. “Humane” farmers are Judases. They are the wolves in sheep’s clothing, excuse the lame pun, but it fits well. These farmers actually have themselves convinced that they are in the best interest of the animals they kill. (I don’t think the animals are buying it, but what can they do?) Some farmers even go as far to say that they are keeping the animals safe from predators. I don’t think the chicken cares who steals her eggs, or who he or she gets eaten by… and I think I’d rather take my chances on the other side of the fence, thanks. They are deceiving themselves and they are taking many otherwise intelligent people with them. “Humane” farmers treat animals slightly better than factory farmers to try and reconcile deviating from their own recognized moral obligations to the animals they kill for money, and that’s all there is to it. “Humane” farmers pretend to care about their widgets, but in the end, the animals are widget’s nonetheless.

So what is a person to do? Be honest with yourself about how you think you ought to view animals. If animals are nothing but resources, widgets, then we owe them no moral obligation, and factory farms and hunting are for you! If we do owe them some form of moral obligation, let’s not lie to ourselves and hide behind a crude facade of friendliness and humanity which ultimately amounts to slightly less torture with the same deadly end, and instead treat all animals as persons, not as resources. If we consider a dog and a cow both people, we won’t eat or wear either. If we consider a cat and a pig both merely property or resources for humans to use, we will use both however we please. But to eat one and not the other is not honest, or fair. To pretend that we have the interests of the animals at heart when our true interests lie on our plates is cruelly deviant, and we are only lying to ourselves and displaying our confusion about our relationship to animals when we differentiate between animals arbitrarily. As George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm, “Some animals are more equal than others.” Though Orwell was not [metaphorically] talking about animals in Animal Farm, this statement holds true of our relationships with animals. Most consider all humans equal, but some animals are considered people and some are considered property and used as resources. We are deceiving ourselves if we think we can continue thinking like this. Until we choose how we are to categorize animals, property/resources or persons, we will always be debating how we should be using them. Unless we choose not to use them at all, and then the debate is over.

If this seems too black-and-white, consider slavery, racism, sexism, heterosexism. Are there grey areas here? Consider the humane slavery analogy; would anyone entertain an argument from a “humane” slave owner who advocates the enslavement of some people to benefit the greater good? It is easy to see through that argument, once one recognizes our moral obligation to humans directly contradicts our use of them as resources. “Humane” slavery is an anachronism which is just as oxymoronic as “humane” farming. If one recognizes our already existing and widely accepted moral obligation to animals, no logical moral conclusion can be drawn that includes using animals as resources.

Peace is coming for you. Go vegan and speed up the process.

Once again there are a bunch of anti-regulation/dogs are property-no more, no less folks who find every way imaginable to claim that any seizure or rescue of a breeder’s animals is unfair, wrong, illegal, unconstitutional, theft, WHATever.

To their minds, a dog in a neglectful home is better off than that same dog in a shelter – but god forbid we should ask those same apologists to adequately fund shelters!

And if a breeder wants to leave their dogs exposed to all manner of weather, with minimal vet care or human contact or even exercise, well, that’s their right, right? Right?

Wrong.

While I can almost see the argument to consider dogs as property, they are a special class of property in that they are living beings, and, under law, are considered companion animals.

As such, they require adequate food, water, shelter, vet care and socialization. If they are being used to make (mill) more dogs for the sake of profit, then vet care must be more than adequate, it must meet the need to protect consumers and their families and friends from diseases that could be carried by said ‘property.’

Which means that ‘property’ must be wormed, vaccinated, treated for any bacterial or viral diseases. And it must be what it is both implied and inferred to be – a COMPANION animal. Socialized. Biddable. Which means that it cannot be removed from mother and siblings too early (much of a puppy’s restraint is taught by its mother and littermates) and it should be handled gently and lovingly while still young so that it learns that humans are good things to have around. It should not be tossed around or struck or yelled at, or stuck away in a dark cage.

I certainly do not consider my dogs to be mere property. They are companions, housemates, helpers, entertainers, teachers, students, and so much more. It took each of them time to get to that point. One was used as bait in a dog fighting operation, one was left with an injured eye untreated until a rescue stepped in to take over his care. Another two were abandoned as strays by those who couldn’t be bothered to tag or chip or contain their animals, even those who could have served them well as herders and guardian dogs.

My other dog was not mistreated, but was simply imperfect and therefore not saleable. Rescue stepped in before he could be put down as a waste of food. He lacked early nutrition and never learned much from his mother, but he’s coming along nicely now. Were he simply property, he would likely have been dead before I could ever have heard of him.

There have been several seizures across the country this past week. The conspiracy theorists blame it on shelters needing dogs to sell. Yeah, right. They don’t consider that when a woman says she just put the pups outside (in subfreezing temperatures) while she cleaned their cages, she might have been ‘cleaning cages’ all day without consideration for the dogs in the freezing weather. One conspiracist’s response was that they’re dogs, they SHOULD be outside.

Now, I’m a believer in fresh air and sunlight and exercise and all, but puppies without shelter (or, apparently, their mother) do NOT belong out in the cold for prolonged periods of time.

It’s interesting, too, to see the apologists humming right along until it is their own breed that has been put at risk. Then, suddenly, there ought to be a law and that law damn well better be enforced.

There are laws. They are being tweaked and improved and made easier to enforce. And they will be.

Those who abuse living beings, human or ‘property,’ will face justice. If not now, later. Apologize for the abusers all you want, neither God nor Karma will be swayed.

Humane Society of Cobb County

Great new video for Humane Society of Cobb County. Please pass on and please make donations to www.humanecobb.com.

Let me start by saying that I am not a seafood lover. I would rather look at sea life then eat it. Unless of course it’s wrapped in bacon, then all bets are off.

With that said, one night in a bar that had a live lobster tank, I saw a very drunk and outgoing patron reach into the tank and proceeded to free every lobster from the tank onto the bar.  He screamed, “Be free! Be free!” as he placed the lobster all over the bar top. The rest of the bar could do nothing but look on astonished. Myself included.

He then started to explain how lobster claws worked and took the largest of group and placed his pinky finger between the pincer claws. Hilarity ensued. He screamed in pain. We laughed at his pain. This back and forth between the performer and the audience went on for about ten minutes. Annoying the hell out of the bartender, who just wanted to clean up the now tainted bar top.

However funny that part of the story is, it was not the most shocking. One of the drunks’ friend took one of the lobster that was flopping around and stood it on his head. He then rubbed the lobster head until it was a small lobster lantern frozen on the bar. I was astonished. Who the hell is this Lobster whisperer? Was he raised as a child by kind-hearted lobster that found him abandoned on the beach? Or is he a NY Lobster Dundee? Whomever he was, didn’t matter. It was some cool shit what he was doing and I wanted to learn.

Hence, why Learning to Put a Lobster to Sleep was added to my list. Google searches came up with articles explaining that putting a lobster to sleep or hypnotizing one, was the humane way to prepare a lobster for their dip in the hot tub. I really don’t think I could ever cook a lobster. I can imagine hearing the little screams of the poor guy as he boils in the pot. Lobster shouldn’t be eaten they have personality.

But, if you are one of the millions of people on this planet that look at a lobster as dinner rather than a pet, please put them to sleep before boiling them. You will feel better about yourself if you do.

Here are the pictures of me playing and then putting “Lenny the Lobster” to sleep in a lobster pound in Maine.

If you too have a heart, here is how to put a lobster to sleep.

Step 1: Pick up your lobster and place it on its head. Some lobsters are bad ass and will take a little  convincing before it will stand on its head. For these lobsters I suggest getting to know them a little better. Buy your lobster and drink, ask your lobster it’s likes and dislikes, act interested. If all else fails, slip him a roofie.

Step 2: Rub, ever so gently, the lobsters’ head. Start out slow, cup the lobsters’ tail. Most importantly look your lobster in the eyes, with your best bedroom eyes. Listen to your lobsters body language, he will tell you when to rub faster or harder.

Step 3: Once your lobster is rendered unconscious, cuddle with him, scratch his back, smoke a cigarette. Then when your done, place the lobster into the boiling hot water and bam! You are done!

Step 4: Clean yourself up. Take a shower you dirty girl. And don’t worry your lobster knows it was just a one night stand, the lobster will not be calling you the next day. Why would he want to date someone who will rub him all over on the first date anyway?

The Lancaster Humane League seeks your help to relocate to two beloved pets.

My Links : DIY home http://diyhouse.cariblogger.com/ diyfashion.blogs.thaihealth.net diy-kitchens.blogs.thaihealth.net

Fantasy In A Night Garden: Gelatin Silver Print, 11" x 14"

1987, Chengyen Lee, San Francisco

Among all colors I pay the most attention to black and white. This is not only because of the contrast created by these tow opposites, but also, these extremes symbolize my feeling and knowing: Black may suggest something mysterious and profound; while white may suggest something bright and pure.

For this reason in my visual experience I am often attracted to situations where something is surrounded by dark. My favorite scene is when, in total darkness, there are whites and colors glittering and twinkling to consolidate what I call a "a spirit-force". This kinetic force is a kind of emanated aura being invisible but perceivable. It is a kind of nature force having immanent impetus that would easily lead my attention into a dimension of concentration, in which the visual, the feeling, and the knowing senses could include mind-thought. The thought could reach deeply into the unpredictable, the endless and the unknown.

We don’t constantly perceive this spirit-force because because it consolidates and scatters alone with time, light, and environment. It exists in a space where there is a n area or a volume between specified boundaries. These boundaries are the physically exiting substance, and a metaphysically perceptible domain.

In reality, we may relate this visual experience to a lighted stage with the audience in darkness. On the stage, under glittering and twinkling theatrical lighting, performers express their own interpretations of the characters they portray. The comprehension is however different in every audience’s mind. It is a result based upon everyone’s different attention, concentration, and sensitivity.

The idea of creating the "Fantasy In A Night Garden" originally came from the acknowledgment of the above thoughts. After a long period of experimentation trying to locate the right stage for the right performers, the final production is the formalized images of "a stage of a night garden upon which plants perform with sets under theatrical lighting".

In the actual process of the production, I used my yard as the stage. I photographed the featured plants and other objects at night with black and white film. The subjects were treated with dramatized lighting in order to achieve an effect that goes beyond normal. Every effort was made to portray these plants as spiritual, fantastic, and unrealistic. They are, in fact, quite different than they usually appear in daylight.

For extending the creativity to a place where the viewers could use their imagination more deeply and wildly, I introduced lights, round shapes, my paintings, and frames into the images much the same as props and sets that are used by performers on stage.

The use of lights in the images is intended to lead the viewers to relate it to the stage. The white round shapes are the light sources themselves, and are made by the photographic process of masking. They symbolize simply the brightness in the dark, the source of hopes, orienting directions, or in some cases, the suggestion of "bouncing" giving the still image a feeling of movement.

Having my paintings and frames joined in the scene is a consequent extension of the previous attempt. Their joining created even more complexity in the images. The surrealistic quality of the painting and the frames existing between spaces suggest dividing and isolation, the dimension of the images becomes vague, ambiguous, or even ambivalent, allowing viewers to go anywhere they wish.

The various appearances of these images could either be traceable reality, mythical thought, or both. They generate the paradoxical feelings of simplicity and complexity that are departing from, and standing in between, hat is know and believed through our comprehension, and what is perceived through our sensibility.

The methods of this production include direct photographing, negative masking and sandwiching, collage, and a little painting technique. this is a play of Photography being on the one hand "a making process" and also "a taking process". The acrylic color painted images are return to the reality of this colorful world.

The creativity of this body of work came from my life experience. I attribute the formation of my work to the study of Modern Art History, Contemporary Art, and History of Photography. In which the Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and some contemporary movements that inspired and left me with a feeling that art making could be unboundedly free. I also realize clearly that the spiritual force of photographs does exist. It consolidates invisibly but potentially at rest within the formed image.

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<黑夜的舞魂>

在許多顏色當中，我最喜愛黑色與白色。這不僅是黑白組合的極端對比吸引我的視覺，同時也因為黑白兩色其個別象徵的意義能引起我的共鳴：黑色深沉，予人深邃與不可知的神祕感；而白色亮麗,予人潔白及代表率直,純真的素淨感。

也因如此，我的視覺時常被黑色所籠罩的景像所吸引。我最喜愛的景像是:在黑暗中，白色的光點匯集了其它色彩，如星光般地閃爍其間,而生出我名為“激盪力”的推動力量。這是一種自然散發的不可見力，它的存在，我們不僅可以感受，而它的力量，亦將我們感知的注意力引領到一個完全專注的時空裡。於此時空中，人的視覺，感覺，知覺，會自然合成而引導出所謂"思考"的活動。活動的結果，將會因為前述的視覺，感覺，知覺，及其它各種的變動因素的加入,而到達一個無法預期，無盡，且未知的想像空間裡。

在一般的時空裏，此種"激盪力"並非一直到處存在的。它的凝聚，散逝，與它存在的當時時間，光影組合，及周遭氛圍，有密不可分的直接闗係。它僅存在於特定的時空中，此特定時空，是物理具實的疆域，也是超乎形體之外的感受領域。

在現實生活中,上述的時空可被視爲與舞台演出類似.對台下的觀衆言,舞台由黑暗籠罩,在燈光照射下的演出者,披著各式不同的衣飾,在變化多端的佈景道具襯托下,詮釋心靈藝術地展現.台下的觀者,也在黑暗的時空裏,領受舞台上傳出的訊息.訊息,能否在觀者心中投影,植入,澎湃,飛馳,取決於觀者自身的想像及編織意念.

黑夜的舞魂,其基本創作表現的型態與舞台演出類似.它是將創作的意圖擬入前述理念,經多方面嚐試組合後所獲得的具像.具像的外觀風貌,應是有脈絡可循的視覺現實,也是不着痕跡的想像超現實,亦或二者兼俱.但不論其外觀風貌如何,它的内在是因觀者在同時間内,視覺到多重元素的同時呈現,而蘊生出多層時空的想像複雜.此内在的蘊生乃基於觀者的感性知性二者併存共激.因感性的覺察能轉成對思考的刺激而成爲知性的領悟,知性的領悟之後,再進而導出更多,也更豐富的感性循廻.對觀者的思路引發言,此二者不但相容相通且互為因果;而對觀者思考内容的擴大與層面的提升,此二者並行不悖,共行互提,其延伸可以是無終無止,無盡無涯的.

在實際的創作過程中,我以黑白攝影作爲第一媒體,在黑暗的夜裏,利用舞台式的人工光源拍攝後園裡具有生命的植物.後園是舞台,而這些具有生命的植物即為舞台上的演出者.在黑夜的時空中,戯劇化的燈光投射下,舞者們搖曳地展現完全有別於白日的風采,他們風姿婥約,各擅勝場,呈現出靈性,空幻,與超現實的生命境界.

舞台演出,一般除表演者外,多有道具襯飾.這是為何燈的本身,白色圓球,我的繪畫,及畫作外框被引入畫面的原因.由於視覺與感覺因素的增加,觀者的觀想空間,有了更多的延伸.

燈元素的進入,純粹只為產生與舞台掛鈎的聯想.白色圓球,有些來自攝影的光源,有些是攝影暗房作業的技巧.它們象徵光亮的泉源,在某些畫面裏,有賦予方向的意義,在另些畫面中,也帶出跳躍而有令靜止畫面移動的力量.

我的繪畫與其外框的加入,使得畫面裏的影像衍生出更多樣多姿的時空組合.因為繪畫本身的超現實元素,使得整體的視感空間,增添了多樣性,隱喻性,與豐富性.白框的存在,象徵時空的切割與隔絕,將現實與非現實的意像,多次反覆地重現於觀者眼前與心裏.裡可以是外,外可以是裡;裡外分離,裡外合一,分合之際,曖昧衍生.

黑夜的舞魂的完成,我使用了包括直接拍攝,暗房技巧,拚貼,及繪畫的數種方式.在完成的攝影畫面中利用彩色壓克力顏料加工,是為讓非現實感的黑白影像回到現實的感覺而添作的.

台上的聲光會滅曲會終,簾幕會謝人會散,囘到現實的感覺一樣美好.

李誠彥

註：此攝影系列曾展於台北市立美術舘

Enjoying the view from up here

The cold and the snow will be here soon, and we’ll be spending more time inside for the winter.

I always like to have something to do to keep my hands busy at night while we watch the news, or just relax.

While I was looking for some sewing ideas yesterday, I ran across The Snuggles Project website.

The Snuggles Project is people knitting, crocheting, sewing, or quilting little blankets for cats and dogs that are in shelters.  Here’s how it got started:

“The Snuggles Project was founded by our president and founder, Rae French, in 1996 because of her heartfelt need to do something for the innocent victims who find themselves in animal shelters without a bit of comfort to call their own. Picturing them in their hard cold cells made her heart ache to do something to help. So she got the idea of security blankets for shelter animals. The security blankets are called “Snuggles.” Each animal would get a Snuggle to cuddle up with to feel warmth and comfort. Most shelter animals are kept in areas with stainless steel braces and hard plastic flooring or even bare concrete floors. The Snuggles would allow them to have a little reprieve from the coldness of the pen they are kept in.” ~from The Snuggles Project website

It breaks my heart to think of any animal being unwanted or abandoned. It’s sad to think of them being alone and scared once they are brought to a shelter too.

I’m not the greatest seamstress on earth, but I do love animals, and I have a big fabric stash, so I’m going to be trying my hand at making some Snuggles this winter.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, visit The Snuggles Project website to learn about what sizes and types of Snuggles are needed. (They have free patterns.) They also have a list of many shelters and rescue organizations that are glad to receive the Snuggles we make.

I grew up near Chicago. At the time I knew little of puppy mills or dog auctions or any of the miserable ways companion animals were exploited for proft.

I do know now. I’ve seen it, I’ve cleaned up after the mess, I’ve helped to rehab some of the victims. I like to think that my thinking has evolved.

Apparently there are still too many who just haven’t quite gotten it yet. Or maybe they just don’t want to. After all, if they admitted to the realities of puppy mills, they might have to admit that their participation in a throw-away culture could be part of the problem. If they have gotten a dog on a whim, without planning, research and commitment to the animal for the whole life of that animal… well, failure on any of those counts does, indeed, contribute to the problem.

I just found out that there is a pet store selling puppies near where I grew up. It used to be that you either found a breeder (not an easy task years ago) or went to the shelter for a pet. Not so any more!

Between the Internet, slick salesmen and people’s increasing willingness to hawk anything for a buck, you rarely have to spend more than 15 minutes looking for whatever purebreed or mix you want. And many of those selling those dogs would deny with their dying breath that they are puppy millers or that puppy mills even exist.

Sigh.

I haven’t yet had the opportunity to go looking for the physical publication, but I am willing to take the word of the Chicago Dog Training Examiner on the Examiner.com when she writes “according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a “Puppy Mill” is defined as “a commercial farming operation in which purebred dogs are raised in large numbers” – a definition with which I agree (even if the dictionary weren’t referenced!).

I wish that I could believe that all state and federal inspectors had the best interests of the dogs at heart, but I have seen some of them who just want to be pals with everybody, including the “commercial kennel” operators whose mantra seems to be out of sight (even if not out of hearing range), out of mind. I’ve been to auctions attended by those federal and state inspectors where outdated medications and vaccinations were sold off along with other equipment and where lack of teeth, eyes, or limbs were seen as no obstacle (and perhaps even a plus) to the dog doing its job of making lots more dogs.

Heck, one of the reasons all those ‘other’ registries got started was so that dogs could be sold with papers without having to go through all of the inconvenience of providing a paper (and occasionally DNA) trail to the AKC.

I have seen cages stacked on top of each other, sick dogs sold, dogs that have been injected to mask symptoms until well after the sale was completed. I’ve seen people with a lot of dogs whose dogs are well cared for – those are people who breed ONLY when they have enough background on their dogs’ pedigrees and health histories and when they honestly believe that they can produce dogs that will be better than the current generation.

I’ve seen backyard breeders who realize their dog was coming into heat who call out for a male of the same breed, background be damned, they just don’t want to miss the opportunity for a few extra bucks.

Companion animals should be just that – companions. Not profit centers. Not machinery to produce goods for sale.

Our dogs give us their trust, their devotion, their protection, their companionship.

Can’t we give them the dignity and care they deserve, by treating them as living beings rather than a crop?

Imagine yourself walking alone in a black and cold night, the kind of night that sends shivers down your spine, one that also leaves you shivering under layer of clothes.

All of a sudden, you hear a soft but distinct sound, coming not too far from you. You look around you and your eyes come across a box poked with holes. Your sense of curiosity is evoked and as you walked towards the sound-emitting box, you start wondering silently to yourself.

What could be in that XS-sized coffin box? A new born baby dumped by his underaged Mum? A spoilt barbie doll?

As your fingers touched the cover of the box, your heart said a few prayers and you closed your eyes in anticipation.

Meoooooooooowwwwww.

The ear piercing sound broke the silence of the night. You look into the box and then saw the cutest little creature with eyes as blue as topaz. You look at the kitten in the box. It’s fur was wet and dirty. It looked pathetically at you, as though you’re it’s Mummy. Even though you do not speak feline language, you know that the kitten is hungry.

What would you do next? Walk away and leave that kitten hungry?  Or scoop it up and call it your own?

I’d do the latter.

And I can’t imagine being around someone who would do the former.

I found this fantastic link on twitter…

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_barber_s_surprising_foie_gras_parable.html

Titled: Dan Barber’s foie gras parable.  It is about  the dilemma of a chef trying to eat sustainably and ethically, but loving foie gras,  and a farmer in Spain, Eduardo Sousa that has managed to make the best foie gras without the force feeding (gavage) of ducks or geese.  The whole video is about 20 minutes, but I think it is well worth it.

Dan tells the story of how, with foie gras we have industrialised a natural process (yet again), and how by revisiting nature, we end up with a much better tasting, more ethical, more environmentally freindly and sustainable food.

He sums up by saying that the way we produce food now is an “insult to history, an insult to nature and an insult to biology”.  Whether we are talking about Beef Cattle (in a feedlot) or chickens (in factory farms) or Broccoli (in large monocultures)…. and might I add pork (in factory farms)

I think that we often forget about the cost to the environment that we make even when we choose to go vegetarian, if we support the type of farming that is the standard today… monoculture, pesticides, herbicides, GMO’s, chemical fertilisers.  Too many of us forget about that sort of thing because we cant see the suffering and cant connect with that living being (I myself have never hugged broccoli for example, or petted an earthworm, even when we grew organic broccoli, but I will Kiss a Pig… can’t help myself, they are a lot more cuddly.)

He also states that “The most ecological choice for food, is also always the most ethical choice for food, whether we are talking about brussel sprouts or foie gras.  And it is almost always… I haven’t found it otherwise… the most DELICIOUS choice”

That is certainly what we have found on farm.  Wild pigs actually try to come and live on our farm, they think life here is even better than what they have in the wild. The flavour of our pork is amazing as well.  Even with our leaner pigs, the pork is sweet… Nearly everyone tells you that the sweet flavour comes from the fat, but ours is still sweet when it is really lean.

I keep telling people  at the markets that I never used to eat pork until we grew our own… most people probably think it is a load of BS to get you to buy more, but it is true.  Jack used to beg me to cook a pork roast, but I couldn’t.  I could smell something wrong about it when it was cooking (a really dirty smell that actually made me nauseous (I have a similar thing with factory chooks… like they are marinated in ammonia or something)) and then the taste of it was very similar, definitely not an experience I wanted very often.  I was actually worried about eating our own pigs, because I didn’t think I would like the meat… couldn’t have been more wrong.  I could eat it every day, and did for about 8 months, but then Jack started asking me to cook beef…

I had squirrels for three years… I paid several “pro” big name wildlife and pest control companies big money to eradicate the squirrels (… and the rats and the bats and…well you get the idea…the wildlife was just one problem after the next)…and they all kept coming back year after year.

Keith from   www.bigfootwildlife.com   animal control 678 314 7828  came out and he said he could solve my problems… and for a reasonable cost!

He saw the problems differently then just “animal control of pesky critters”. He seemed to understood the way the animals think and why they kept finding their way into my home. He modified the landscape environment by showing me what to remove that was attracting the animals, and also he sealed the perimeter of “invisible to the untrained eye” but easy access entry points, which the animals were easily finding.

• Bam! The problem was solved and he didn’t have to kill them or eradicate them, he just cage trapped them safely and humanely as my wife insisted, and got rid of the animals! He got rid of the way they would get into my house…
• Keith’s knowledge of humane animal control techniques prevented the rascals from reentering and terrorizing my family this year and for this I am grateful …my home is finally trap and wildlife animal free …CALL KEITH    678 314 7828

The Pilgrims may have traveled quite a distance to celebrate the first Thanksgiving, but their food didn’t. They learned to source their sustenance locally, a tough task in a new world, and they celebrated with a feast that eventually turned into modern-day Thanksgiving.

Getting food today doesn’t require nearly as much work for most of us as it did for those Pilgrims in the 1600s, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think about where it’s coming from.
 
Dinner’s Ready
Concerned about the way animals are treated? Try celebrating this year vegetarian-style. There are so many yummy meat-free foods at Thanksgiving, you may not even miss it. But if the big feast just won’t be the same without a bird on the table, look for pasture-raised, free-range turkey. This tells you that the animal lived outside, without harmful chemicals and hormones pumped into its body. Here are some other labels, classified by the World Society for the Protection of Animals, to look for when buying food:
 
A GOOD Start
“Cage free” (eggs)
“Free range” (eggs, chicken, goose, duck, turkey)
“Grass fed” (dairy, beef, lamb)
 
The “Good Start” labels indicate a meaningful animal welfare standard, but the standard covers only one aspect of animal care, and compliance with the standard is not verified by a third party.
 
Even BETTER
“Free range” (beef, bison, pork, lamb)
“Pasture raised” (dairy, eggs, chicken, goose, duck, turkey, beef, bison, lamb, pork)
“USDA Organic” (dairy, eggs, chicken, goose, duck, turkey, beef, bison, lamb, pork)  
 
The “Even Better” labels generally indicate a higher level of animal welfare because the standards are more meaningful than those for the “Good Start” labels, but the standards are either not verified by a third party or cover only a limited aspect of animal care.
 
The BEST Options
“Certified Humane” (dairy, eggs, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork) 
“American Humane Certified” (dairy, eggs, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork) 
“Animal Welfare Approved” (dairy, eggs, chicken, turkey, duck, goose, beef, lamb, pork, rabbit) 
 
The “Best Options” labels cover multiple aspects of animal care, and compliance with the standards is verified by an independent third party.
 
To get your local store to carry products with these labels, just ask. Have your friends do the same, and the store will likely listen. You can download a request card to put in a store’s comment box or mail to its headquarters.
 
The Ambience
Decorate your table not with cheesy Thanksgiving-print napkins and paper plates but with pumpkins, gourds, apples, and all the other wonderful edible treats the fall season has to offer. If the thought of doing all those dishes makes you want to scrap the holiday altogether, try Preserve Tableware, an environmentally friendly alternative to the disposable stuff. The dishes and cutlery are made from 100 percent recycled plastic and are strong enough to be reused dozens of times (or just recycled when you’re done).
 
Top off the look with soy candles and a few sprigs of pine, and you’ll have authentic décor that would make even those who came over on the Mayflower proud.
 
When It’s Over
After the meal’s done and the leftovers picked through, compost the rest. Of the waste Americans send to landfills, 24 percent of it is organic waste (i.e., kitchen scraps). Keeping that waste out of landfills saves space and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, making it a win-win however you look at it. Making your own compost is easy!