Your calls asking lawmakers to ban devocalization of dogs and cats in New York State are getting their attention. BUT…this humane legislation has far to go before the 2011-12 session ends in six weeks.

Lawmakers are being pushed by the NY state veterinary association to defeat this humane legislation—vets profit from devocalization! They can do so by stalling it in committee OR by changing the language so it actually allows andlegitimizes this act of animal cruelty.

That’s why some aides are trying to confuse pro-animal callers. Some have been rude.

They benefit if you become discouraged. They want you to shut up and go away. Don’t.

Animals need you to stand your ground. They need your voice to protect theirs.

REALITY CHECK

1) The Senate Agriculture Committee—which has held Senate Bill 6167A (S6167A) since January—indeed can release it even if it does not match the weaker Assembly Bill 3431B (A3431B). Fact is, the Assembly Agriculture Committee released the unmatched A3431B on April 26.

2) The Assembly bill does not have to pass before the Senate bill can be released from committee.

3) Both bills must move without delay—through committees and onto the floor of their respective chambers—or this legislation cannot become law.

4) If the already weakened A3431B is amended further, or S6167A is amended beyond the language of A3431B, the result will be an empty—or destructive—law that allows and legitimizes devocalization.

Both S6167A and A3431B must pass committees and a floor vote in their respective chambers before June 30. It’s your job to persuade lawmakers to keep these bills moving—without amendments that would actually hurt animals.

To ensure your message is clear, it’s important to say the following words exactly—including the letter at the end of the bill number. You can add other thoughts if you’d like, but be brief. And always be polite, even if aides aren’t. Don’t let them confuse you. Don’t debate. If you encounter resistance, just repeat your message and say thank you.

START WITH THESE TWO POWER-BROKERS OF THE LEGISLATURE:-

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, 518-455-3791: “I’d like the Speaker’s help ensuring A3431B passes as written this session, without further amendments, so it can become an enforceable law prohibiting devocalization.”

- Sen. Majority Leader Dean Skelos, 518-455-3171: “I’d like the Senator’s help ensuring S6167A passes this session, mirroring but not amended beyond A3431B as written, so it can become an enforceable law prohibiting devocalization.”

MAKE SURE TO CALL THESE TWO CHAIRS, WHO ALSO DETERMINE THE FATE OF THE LEGISLATION—AND DOGS AND CATS:

- Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Patty Ritchie, 518-455-3438: “Please release S6167A from Agriculture promptly. I ask that it not be amended beyond the language of A3431B as written, so it can become an enforceablelaw prohibiting devocalization.”

- Assembly Codes Committee Chair Joseph Lentol, 518-455-4477: “Please release A3431B from Codes quickly and favorably as written, without further amendments so it can become an enforceable law prohibiting devocalization.”

THESE TWO SPONSORS NEED TO “WORK” THEIR BILLS—OR THEY WON’T PASS—WITHOUT FURTHER CAPITULATION TO PRO-DEVOCALIZATION LOBBIES:

- Senator Lee Zeldin, at 518-455-3570: “I appreciate that the senator introduced S6167A but I ask that he make sure it passes this session mirroring but not amended beyond A3431B as written so it can become an enforceable law prohibiting devocalization.”

- Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, 518-455-5735: “I appreciate that the Assemblyman introduced A3431B. I’d like him to ensure it passes as written this session, without further amendments so it can become an enforceable law prohibiting devocalization.”

HELPFUL HINTS

If you get voicemail, leave a short message, then call again till you can speak with an aide. Don’t give up!

Make sure your voice is counted—accurately. Ask the aide to read it back to you. And jot down his or her name too.

Be an informed advocate! Take a minute to learn about the issue and proposed amendments that would hurt animals.

Submit your comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ON OR BEFORE May 16

Urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to KEEP Wyoming wolves under the federal protection of the Endangered Species Act. Please see sample comments below.

Sample Comments:

RE: FWS-R6-ES-2011-0039-7450

The members of Friends of Animals urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to KEEP Wyoming wolves under the federal protection of the Endangered Species Act.

Wyoming recently completed four documents that clarify Wyoming’s approach to wolf management should the federal government delist the wolves of Wyoming, including revised State statutes, revised management regulations, revised hunting-season regulations, and an Addendum to the Wyoming Gray Wolf Management Plan. We reject the notion that the states of Wyoming and Idaho have offered a management plan appropriate to maintain recovery goals for the wolves who live in and between these states.

The rationale for the states’ heavy-handed management plans is the goal of reducing wolf impacts on farm and prey animals. The statistically low incidence of predation on cattle is not an ecologically sound reason to target any and all wolves. Wolves do kill prey animals including deer and elk; although this might impact hunting revenues, it is the role of the Endangered Species Act to protect not businesses but endangered communities of living beings. Nor is it the role of the federal government to placate special-interest groups. We oppose de-listing of the Wyoming wolves in the strongest terms.

Very truly yours,

Priscilla Feral, on behalf of Friends of Animals

L.A. NOW

May 9, 2012

Dolphin freed from Long Beach Harbor construction site
by Matt Stevens and Kate Mather

A wayward dolphin found its way out from a Long Beach Harbor construction site after crews cut away metal walls that would allow it to swim away. Credit: KTLA News

Hours of work by rescuers at a Long Beach Harbor construction site paid off early Wednesday when a wayward dolphin managed to swim back to sea unharmed, authorities said.

The dolphin had been confined to a space about the size of a swimming pool by vertical walls from an old wharf, said Port of Long Beach spokesman Lee Peterson. Officials believe the animal — which was first spotted by a construction inspector Monday morning — followed some fish into the redevelopment site during high tide.

When the animal continued swimming in the harbor Tuesday, officials sent divers to cut away part of the metal walls, hoping it would make it easier for the dolphin to swim over the top during the night’s high tide.

That’s basically what happened sometime after midnight, said Peter Wallerstein, director of Marine Animal Rescue in El Segundo. He said the dolphin probably swam through the “access” holes cut by the divers.

“The dolphin is gone,” Wallerstein said Wednesday morning. “The work that we did yesterday paid off…. He swam out himself.”

Wallerstein said “everything was perfect” with the dolphin, describing him as “young, strong and healthy.”

It’s the second disoriented dolphin spotted in Southern California in recent weeks. Marine experts and curious onlookers spent about two weeks monitoring a 7-foot common dolphin in the Bolsa Chica wetlands of Huntington Beach.

“It’s not rare that dolphins come into harbors, but it is rare that they get stuck in these unique situations,” he said.

video filmed and edited by Javier Soriano

When: Thursday, May 3, 2012, 5:30pm

Where: 780 Third Avenue, between 48th & 49th Street, Senator Gillibrand’s NY office

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, home to hundreds of native animals, and New York City’s only federal bird sanctuary — is under attack by US Senator Gillibrand’s new bill to require the USDA’s Wildlife Services agents to kill all the Canada geese and their goslings at Jamaica Bay refuge in June and July of 2012. This wrong-headed, shocking attack on native birds in a federally protected sanctuary has united Friends of Animals and others to oppose the wrong-headed scheme. Friends of Animals has announced a protest at Senator Gillibrand’s New York City office on Thursday, May 3rd, 5:30 pm at 780 Third Ave, between 48th & 49th Streets.

We are demanding that Senator Gillibrand Kill the Bill, Not the Geese. Please call NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Washington DC office and ask to speak to Legislative Assistant Jordan Baugh at 202.224.4451.

Gillibrand’s proposed legislation would force killing agents into the refuge, and it would require them to kill geese during their annual June and July feather molting season when they’re unable to fly.

Gillibrand’s targeting of Canada Geese is illogical, and ignores the fact that New York City is actually creating the situations that attract birds to airports, Friends of Animals says. Both Mayor Bloomberg and the FAA approved the creation of a massive garbage transfer facility to be built next to airport runways, a dangerous move that will guarantee birds being attracted to those areas

“Mayor Bloomberg and Senator Gillibrand may care about air safety yet they’re ignoring the obvious—that killing birds drawn to a refuge while attracting birds to use the grounds around airports won’t make plane travel safer,” Birnkrant says. “Geese are not going to be eradicated from the skies,” Birnkrant added.

By Steve Mosco

“This violent and brutal attack on wildlife is not strategic and not pro-active,” said Birnkrant. “If the geese are attracted to the area, no matter how many times you round them up for slaughter, they are going to come back. The landscape needs to be modified so it’s not attractive to birds.”

One landscape feature Birnkrant pointed at specifically is a planned garbage transfer station in College Point near the end of a runway at LaGuardia Airport.

“[The senator] should be concerned with the proposal to build a garbage dump near LaGuardia instead of inciting hysteria over kamikaze killer geese who are supposedly targeting you and your children,” she said.

Geese better find a new place to molt this summer since a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) would make rounding up the birds easier around area airports.

After a plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport was forced to make an emergency landing following a bird strike last week, the senator proposed legislation streamlining communications between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Park Service. This would allow for the swift removal of Canada geese from major city airports.

Gillibrand’s legislation would expedite the removal of Canada geese from the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge near JFK by requiring the USDA to act within 90 days of a determination by the Federal Aviation Administrator and the National Parks Service that geese residing on lands within 5 miles of a commercial airport pose a threat to flight safety.

Read more>

group of advocates

Friends of Animals was a sponsor of the Lobby Day in Albany on May 1st , 2012 for the bill that would ban horse-drawn carriages in New York City. 50 advocates attended and took a chartered bus at 8am to the Capitol in Albany from New York City. Upon arrival in Albany, we gathered in a hearing room in the Capital where NY Senator Tony Avella and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, sponsors of the carriage horse ban bill addressed the crowd and gave advice and pointers on speaking to their colleagues about supporting their bill.

NY Senator Tony Avella & Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal

Materials were distributed, including Friends of Animals color brochure Why Should New Yorkers Support a Ban on Horse-Drawn Carriages, which each legislator and lobby attended received. We broke up into 10 teams, and each team was assigned a team leader who was the lead spokesperson in each meeting. Edita Birnkrant, NY Director of Friends of Animals was a team leader and met with four Senators and Assembly members during the day. All together, the teams met with nearly 40 legislators, and presented their case for why each lawmaker should support and vote for the carriage horse ban bill.

The meeting room

Many Senators and Assembly members confirmed their support for the bill on the spot and pledged to sign on as cosponsors and vote “yes” when the bill comes up for a vote. For those who did not confirm a resounding yes of approval for the bill, we will follow up with them and continue to press for the passage of the bill.

Vikki Vargas reports from Bolsa Chica Wetlands for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on April 30, 2012.

“People think they’re happy, happy dolphins … but they do have a dark side. They have conflicts just like we do,” says said veteran sea mammal wrangler Peter Wallerstein of the El Segundo-based nonprofit Marine Animal Rescue group. Rescuers believe a dolphin that made its way into the Bolsa Chica Wetlands is staying put because a group of its own are bullying it.

Moving Dolphin From Bolsa Chica Wetlands to Ocean “Could Be Death Blow”

By Janet Kwak and Jason Kandel | Monday, Apr 30, 2012

The dolphin that’s been calling the Bolsa Chica Wetlands home for the last five days may be choosing to stay in its comfy coastal cul-de-sac.

After watching a dolphin in the shallows of the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve get bullied by dolphins in the Huntington Harbour Saturday, wildlife experts were monintoring the animal Monday and not trying to prod it into the ocean unless its health deteriorates.
Wildlife experts believe the dolphin knows how to get out, but it’s choosing to stay.

“We’ve got monitors 24-7,” said veteran sea mammal wrangler Peter Wallerstein of the El Segundo-based nonprofit Marine Animal Rescue group. “We’re not going to abandon this dolphin by any means.

The image of dolphin bullies is not wholly in line with people’s usualy conception of the creatures, Wallerstein said.

“People think they are happy loving animals but they have a dark side and can be aggressive with each other,” he said.

Rescuers are taking a hands-off approach, citing that the dolphin has plenty of fish to eat in the area where it’s stranded.

“There’s no reason to do anything prematurely,” Wallerstein said. “Its breathing rate is good.”

Marine mammal experts were able to get the nearly 7-footer under the Warner Avenue overpass into deeper water in Huntington Harbour Saturday, where some other dolphins apparently bullied it and it retreated back into the lagoon.

When: Thursday, May 3, 2012, 5:30pm

Where: 780 Third Avenue, between 48th & 49th Street, Senator Gillibrand’s NY office

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, home to hundreds of native animals, and New York City’s only federal bird sanctuary — is under attack by US Senator Gillibrand’s new bill to require the USDA’s Wildlife Services agents to kill all the Canada geese and their goslings at Jamaica Bay refuge in June and July of 2012. This wrong-headed, shocking attack on native birds in a federally protected sanctuary has united Friends of Animals and others to oppose the wrong-headed scheme. Friends of Animals has announced a protest at Senator Gillibrand’s New York City office on Thursday, May 3rd, 5:30 pm at 780 Third Ave, between 48th & 49th Streets.

We are demanding that Senator Gillibrand Kill the Bill, Not the Geese. Please call NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Washington DC office and ask to speak to Legislative Assistant Jordan Baugh at 202.224.4451.

Gillibrand’s proposed legislation would force killing agents into the refuge, and it would require them to kill geese during their annual June and July feather molting season when they’re unable to fly.

Gillibrand’s targeting of Canada Geese is illogical, and ignores the fact that New York City is actually creating the situations that attract birds to airports, Friends of Animals says. Both Mayor Bloomberg and the FAA approved the creation of a massive garbage transfer facility to be built next to airport runways, a dangerous move that will guarantee birds being attracted to those areas

“Mayor Bloomberg and Senator Gillibrand may care about air safety yet they’re ignoring the obvious—that killing birds drawn to a refuge while attracting birds to use the grounds around airports won’t make plane travel safer,” Birnkrant says. “Geese are not going to be eradicated from the skies,” Birnkrant added.

Pelley: Sully, why has the number of bird strikes increased so dramatically?

Sullenberger: Scott, the bird populations have increased and we’re flying more flights now that we’ve ever had before.

Pelley: What could airports do about this?

Sullenberger: Effective land-use planning around local airports is the best to prevent birds from roosting near the airport. It’s important that we not build anywhere near an airport anything likely to attract birds, especially trash facilities.

Pelley: You don’t want to build a garbage dump next to an airport, for example?

Sullenberger: Exactly. In fact, in New York City right now there are plans to do just that, and it’s a terrible idea to build something that is likely to attract birds. Video and full transcript

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, April 26, 3:11 AM

SEE AP UPDATE April 27 VIDEO

NEW YORK — The problem of birds living near some of the nation’s busiest airports is coming under renewed scrutiny after two emergency landings in a week and more than three years after the famous ditching of a jetliner in the Hudson River.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Wednesday proposed making it easier to round up geese from a federal refuge near Kennedy Airport and kill them, an idea that’s meeting opposition from wildlife advocates.

A JetBlue plane bound for West Palm Beach, Fla., made an emergency landing at Westchester County Airport north of New York City on Tuesday. A Los Angeles-bound jet made an emergency landing at Kennedy Airport after a bird strike on the right engine a week ago.

No one was hurt, but Grant Cardone, a sales training consultant who was on the flight out of Kennedy and was filming video from his window in seat 1D as the birds hit the plane, said it was scary.

“I felt like the plane was going to roll over on its right side,” Cardone said. “Those five or six seconds were terrifying.”

Cardone, 54, said he texted his wife that the flight was in trouble and added, “I love you and I love the kids.” Afterward, the pilot managed to stabilize the plane and land.

Gillibrand’s bill would empower the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove Canada geese from the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge during June and July when they are molting and can’t fly.

“We cannot and should not wait another day to act while public safety is at risk,” the New York Democrat said in a statement.

But the idea of a goose roundup at a wildlife refuge that is part of the National Park Service has its detractors.

“It’s the only bird refuge that we have in New York City,” said Edita Birnkrant, New York director of Friends of Animals. “If they can’t be protected in a wildlife refuge, then where can they be protected?”

Gillibrand’s legislation targets Kennedy, where bird-management programs have been in place for more than 30 years. The bill would expedite the removal of birds from parts of the wildlife refuge that are within 5 miles of the airport. Read more…

What You Can Do

Please call NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Washington DC office and ask to speak to Legislative Assistant Jordan Baugh at 202.224.4451. State your strong opposition to Gillibrand’s proposed bill which would change current law and open up the federally protected Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge to the USDA’s Wildlife Service agents and allow them to capture and kill the Canada geese in the New York City refuge.

We cannot allow this destructive bill to pass and set a dangerous precedent that would declare open season on wildlife in refuges that exist to protect them. Air safety will be only improved by focusing on deterring geese and other birds from airports through habitat modification, effective land-use planning and radar detection, not by killing birds

SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, 2012 PRNewswire-USNewswire — The Humane Farming Association (HFA) today announced the escalation of its campaign to stop the “Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012” (HR 3798). Referred to by many as the Rotten Egg Bill, HR 3798 was introduced by Rep. Kurt Schrader earlier this year. A Senate version is expected.

“The egg industry is seeking to establish egg factory cages as a national standard that could never be challenged or changed by state law or public vote,” said Bradley Miller, National Director of the Humane Farming Association. “This bill would preempt state laws, such as California’s Proposition 2, and is a direct assault upon egg laying hens, voters, and states’ rights.”

HR 3798 would codify a controversial agreement between the United Egg Producers (UEP) ­– the egg industry trade association recently sued for an alleged price-fixing scheme – and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) which is now endorsing the same egg factory cages it previously opposed.

Animated Short Released

HFA is releasing today an animated short entitled A Cage Is A Cage, which exposes the true nature of the Rotten Egg Bill (HR 3798). Told from a laying hen’s perspective, the piece highlights the fact that the bill would “trade one cruel metal cage for another, even though most people want hens out of cages.”

UEP Price Fixing: Motive for Egg Bill

The Humane Farming Association is also expanding its ad campaign to further expose UEP’s price-fixing scandal. UEP and several of the egg companies it represents have been sued repeatedly for alleged illegal price fixing, paying $25 million to settle allegations that they illegally manipulated the price and supply of eggs under the guise of instituting standards for animal welfare.

With active lawsuits pending against them from companies such as General Mills and Kraft Foods – UEP and its co-defendants are asking Congress to codify a set of standards that would, in effect, provide legal cover for the very activities of which they stand accused.

“According to the bill’s own sponsor, this bill has been introduced to protect the economic interests of the egg industry,” said Miller. “The American public overwhelmingly supports the banning of egg factory cages, not measures such as this which subvert the will of the people.”

Widespread Opposition From Animal Organizations, Advocates

“There is no such thing as an ‘enriched’ battery cage. HR 3798 is an outrageous attempt by the egg industry and its cohorts to enrich themselves at the expense of laying hens and the public at large,” said Priscilla Feral, President of Friends of Animals.

“The cages defined by the legislation will in no meaningful way reduce the unimaginable suffering endured by the hens,” said Nedim C. Buyukmihci, V.M.D., Professor Emeritus of Veterinary Medicine at U.C. Davis. (Read full statement here.)

“Even if HR 3798 passes, the majority of hens will remain entombed in battery cages on factory farms,” said Karen Davis, PhD, President of United Poultry Concerns. “They will be locked into a federal law administered by the USDA which does not even enforce the 54-year-old ‘Humane Slaughter Act.’”

“We urge people to contact their federal representatives to oppose this bill. Rather than outlawing cages, as voters demand, this cynical measure would outlaw the banning of cages,” said Miller.

In addition to the Humane Farming Association, opponents of HR 3798 include Friends of Animals, United Poultry Concerns, Last Chance for Animals, Action for Animals, Chicken Run Rescue, Northwest Animal Rights Network, Defend Animals Coalition, Political Animals, Animals Unlimited, SAFE, Associated Humane Societies, and the vast majority of rank and file animal advocates.

To view HFA’s just released animated short A Cage Is A Cage and learn more about HR 3798, please visit: StopTheRottenEggBill.org.

About HFA: Founded in 1985 and now over 250,000 members strong, the Humane Farming Association (HFA.org) operates the nation’s largest farm animal rescue and care facility and spearheads the Stop the Rotten Egg Bill campaign.

For media inquiries, contact Jill Mountjoy at 415.485.1495.

SOURCE: Humane Farming Association

Vegan caviar. Really!

We heard this Danish product was a hit when it debuted at the New York City Vegetarian Food Festival. At just about $10 a jar it’s a lot gentler than regular caviar on the wallet as well as on sea life.

But would such a product hold up to the expectations of a chef who knows the taste of sturgeon caviar?

I (Lee) had caviar—black, and, you know, the kind we shouldn’t be eating—about 30 years ago, before becoming vegan. It had a fairly strong taste. Cavi•Art is a bit lighter, with a less oily feel. It’s showy, versatile and great fun to experiment with: vibrant, delightful and real in its own right.

But who’s going to listen to me? I’m vegan.

To test my view, I met with chef Trish Sebben-Krupka.

Here’s everything laid out and ready for the serious business of tasting.

read full article

Meet Lady and other devocalized dogs: SEE VIDEO

Lady

Legislation is now pending to ban devocalization of dogs and cats—cutting vocal cord tissue just to stifle their voices—in New York State. Massachusetts took that humane step in 2010. This act of cruelty is also illegal throughout most of Europe. There’s good reason why:

• Devocalization is dangerous regardless of the vet’s skill or the instrument used, even laser. Scarring, a normal outcome of any surgery, can be fatal in the throat.

• There’s no benefit for the animal, not even assurance of a home. Shelters report that devocalized animals are abandoned like any other. Lady, for example, was given up twice after being devocalized.

• And it’s much more common than you may think. Devocalization of dogs and cats (yes, it’s done to them too) is a cruelty that’s easy to hide because unlike cut tails, ears and paws, vocal cords aren’t visible. People assume these animals have kennel cough or laryngitis—including those who unwittingly purchase or adopt devocalized pets. It’s hard to imagine that someone could be inhumane enough to have an animal’s voice surgically stifled.

Who Would Have an Animal Devocalized—and Why?

• Breeders, when they or neighbors don’t want to hear their many animals, or to hide an illegal breeding enterprise
• Show dog exhibitors, to keep dogs quiet in transit between shows or in the ring
• Sled dog racers, because huskies are a “barky” breed, and dogs in a pack tend to vocalize more
• Those who hoard animals or who fight dogs, to hide their activities
• Uninformed or selfish pet owners, because a breeder or vet recommended it—or because this dangerous surgery is easier than responsible selection, care, training and housing of animals

While many humane vets have endorsed this legislation—and yours should too!—professional associations exist mainly to protect all their members’ business interests, The New York State Veterinary Society is working to kill the proposed ban outright or turn it into a sham law that legitimizes cruelty. One way is by allowing some people, such as pet owners, to have dogs and cats devocalized.

There’s no ethical reason for that: Devocalized pets are abandoned for the same reasons as any other, or when owners can’t afford costly surgery to remove scar tissue blocking their pet’s airway, a common complication of devocalization.

Allowing pet owners to have animals devocalized is misguided and unenforceable. Worse, it would legitimize and promote what many societies and humane individuals rightly recognize as an act of cruelty. No one should be allowed to perpetrate cruelty.

This legislation already has been weakened to appease the veterinary lobby. It’s still viable. But further amendments, including the one above, would leave animals vulnerable to dangerous surgery they don’t need and are helpless to refuse. Don’t let that happen!

Stella

Stella’s first owner had her devocalized; her adopter paid $2,000 to remove scar tissue blocking her airway.

Act Now. Without Your Voice, Dogs and Cats Will Have None

Online petitions won’t pass an effective devocalization ban. And emails to lawmakers aren’t always read or counted. Call instead. It’s quick, easy and effective.

WHO TO CALL:

• Senator Zeldin’s Chief of Staff, Chris Molluso, at 631-585-0608 (district) or 518-455-3570 (Statehouse)

• Assemblyman Zebrowski’s Chief of Staff Chris Bresnan, 845-634-9791 (district) or 518-455-5735 (Statehouse)

WHAT TO SAY:

“I’m very disappointed that Assembly Bill 3431 was watered down for the veterinary lobby, which profits from devocalization. If there are further amendments to it or Senate Bill 6167, other animal lovers in your district and I will work to defeat it. We’ll be following this legislation. And we vote.”

HELPFUL HINTS:•

If you get voicemail, leave a brief message, then call back till you speak with an aide.

• Be brief and polite, but firm.
• Make sure your voice is counted: Ask the aide to repeat your message, name and address back to you. Get his/her name too; keep lawmakers and their staff accountable!

Posted on behalf of New York Against Devocalization

LEARN MORE

Thanks to this cash infusion, there’s a very good chance we’ll see more seals killed than in the last couple years, so we cannot just sit back and hope this thing fades into oblivion – we can expect tens of thousands of baby seals (they’re killed at about 3 weeks of age) to be killed this year.

What can we do in Victoria? Letters, of course, can be sent to the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and of course Newfoundland officials, but in our own city we can make a little difference: boycott Seed of Life, the downtown health food store, and tell them why.

This is our third year of encouraging cities in Canada to take responsibility for themselves – we cannot rely entirely on the rest of the world boycotting seal products, we must show dissent from within as well! By ensuring your city is ‘Seal Friendly’, and eliminating seal products (primarily fur products and seal oil capsules), the rest of Canada can also show Newfoundland that even at home, we’re not putting up with this.

If you’re an activist in another city, all you have to do is find out where seal products are sold, and then start a boycott – spread the word to your friends and families and co-workers, and get them to join in and tell others. If we make this an issue, then shops will have no choice but to stop selling seal products. Can we make areas of a province, or even entire provinces Seal Friendly? Let’s find out!

Seed of Life Natural Foods
1316 Government St
Victoria, BC V8W 1Y8

Thank you for speaking up for seals, and helping to bring this bloody slaughter to an end.

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent

Friends of Animals

LA Times

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske

April 3, 2012

Houston— The scimitar-horned oryx was listed as endangered seven years ago, but a special exemption from the federal Endangered Species Act allowed breeders of the rare African antelope to nonetheless sell and hunt the animals — at $5,500 a head. As a result, herds grew exponentially on exotic hunting ranches nationwide, especially in Texas.

That exemption for the oryx and two other African antelopes popular with Texas hunters, the addax and the dama gazelle, could disappear Wednesday unless a federal judge approves a last-minute appeal by ranchers for an injunction.

“It’s our private property. We bought these animals, we have propagated these animals and conserved them,” Charly Seale, executive director of the Exotic Wildlife Assn., told The Times. The Ingram, Texas-based group, which claims nearly 5,000 members, filed for the injunction from a federal judge in Washington, D.C.

The ranchers’ battle to maintain their antelope herds began years ago, when a Connecticut-based animal rights group sued to overturn the exemption.

Ranchers argue that they helped revive the rare species, noting that in 1979, Texas had fewer than three dozen captive-bred scimitar-horned oryx; as of 2010, it had more than 11,000. During the same time period, ranchers added, the number of captive-bred dama gazelles increased from nine to more than 800; the number of addax from two to more than 5,000.

But animal rights advocates at Friends of Animals, which has established a preserve for antelope in central Senegal, say the animals are not truly being conserved on Texas ranches.

“While ranchers and hunters might think that’s tantamount to conservation, we think that’s a hoax,” the group’s president, Priscilla Feral, told The Times. “They’re breeding those antelopes, they’re selling them and killing them and calling it conservation. You live a year or two before your head’s blown off — the Endangered Species Act wasn’t created for that.”

So far, only 58 people have applied for federal permits to register the antelopes, 52 to hunt them, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the Austin American-Statesman. All but one of the applications were from Texas.

Most breeders cannot afford to keep their herds without charging fees to hunt the animals; rather than apply for federal permits, they’ve focused on fighting the rules change, Seale said.

“They do not want government intrusion into their lives,” he said.

Seale’s group wants their animals removed from the endangered species list, on which he says captive-bred antelope do not belong. He noted that similar efforts to de-list other species have succeeded across the country; some populations of gray wolves were removed from the list last year.

Several Texas officials have supported the effort to block the rules change.

Last week, Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples submitted friend of the court briefs opposing the change. Abbott noted in a statement that the “burdensome new regulation” from the federal government” threatens the economic viability of Texas’ exotic game ranches and the continued preservation of these rare animals.”

“Leave it to the federal government to create a problem where one doesn’t exist,” Staples said. “All Americans should withstand overly burdensome and unnecessary regulations, and protect the rights of private citizens who have responsibly promoted the conservation of these exotic species.”

Seale said he’s sold his nearly two dozen oryx. He’s convinced that, if Friends of Animals succeeds in blocking the exemption, the group will continue to try to remove more exotic animals from Texas’ private hunting ranches.

“Once they get a foothold, they’re not going to stop with these three animals. It’s a ripple effect,” Seale said. “Like a sheep-killing dog — they get a taste of blood and there’s no way to stop them.”

Houston Chronicle

By Tony Freemantle

Its horns, sometimes up to 4 feet long, arc gracefully over its back, almost reaching its hindquarters when it lifts its head to sniff the wind. Vast herds of them once roamed the semi-arid plains of North Africa and the Sahel, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.

It was named in an inscription on the Egyptian tomb of Sabu of Sakkarah nearly 23 centuries ago, and is thought to be the inspirational template for the unicorn.

In 2000, after finally succumbing to hunting, loss of habitat, climate change and war, the scimitar-horned oryx was declared extinct in the wild.

But not in Texas, where it has returned from the brink and now thrives in greater numbers than anywhere on Earth, and where it finds itself at the center of a modern, protracted new battle for survival.

That battle is lost next Wednesday, Texas ranchers fear, when the scimitar-horned oryx and two of its African cousins - the addax and the dama gazelle - officially receive full protection under the Endangered Species Act.

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