Man Brings Camels to Australia...

It's the same old story...man introduces an animal species that is not native to a country to use for it's own purpose and then over the years, the plan backfires and then the animals that were once used for man's purpose become non-useful to man and so man feels it is necessary to kill the animals. Shame on man!

This is what is going on in the outback in Australia right now with camels. Camels were used by man in the barren outback for transportation, after being brought over from the middle east just for that. Now, years later, there is an overabundance of feral camels and they are invading small towns looking for water. So, now man has proposed to kill them...isn't there another solution, especially when it's man's fault to begin with!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/15/2845644.htm?section=justin

This is How we Treat our "Best Friends"?

From Sioux City's News channel 4....Their ban on pit bulls last year and a year was purely based on ignorance, as far as I am concerned and now this uninformed man wants to go even further...


SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) - Sioux City's pit bull ban could be going to the dogs. A year and a half after the ordinance was first put into place, Mayor Mike Hobart wants it repealed. But, not everyone agrees.
"To me, I think this is a compromise to what we have right now. I would presume pit bull owners would go along with," says Mayor Hobart, who came up with the changes.

Keith Radig believes, "Any dog can bite, any dog can attack, but how many dogs can kill, and your bigger dogs can, but what is most prevalent to that, and I think pit bulls are, I think that's the biggest liability of all."
Radig says the ban should go a step further to include any animal with a lethal bite.
Under the mayor's proposal, new pit bulls would be allowed inside city limits, and be treated as high risk animals.

New requirements for high risk animals-- like muzzles and micro-chips-- would be added to the ordinance. Owners would also have to put warning signs on their property.
Failure to follow those restrictions could lead to euthanization of the animal on the second or third offense.
Two of the newest members to the council, Tom Padgett and John Fitch, indicated they are not in favor of a breed-specific ban, and may support rescinding it.

Eli Roth Speaks Up Against SeaWorld

For all of the people that think that it's okay for places like SeaWorld to keep wild sea mammals captive in tanks, listen to the words from Eli Roth. He is just a growing number of people on this planet that are waking up and seeing the damage that we are doing to all species. Here is the letter that he sent to the head of the Blackstone Group, which owns the SeaWorld parks.

Hamilton James

President and COO

The Blackstone Group

Dear Mr. James:

I am writing on behalf of my friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). As you may know, PETA is the world's largest animal rights organization, with more than 2 million members and supporters around the world.

I feel that I speak for many people when I say that while I was deeply saddened and upset by the tragic death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, I was equally appalled and horrified by the conditions in which SeaWorld keeps its orcas (and other marine life) for the sole purpose of entertaining humans. As someone who works in the entertainment business, I can assure you that there are many humane alternatives available to introduce the public to orcas without having to hold them in captivity for a lifetime against their will. CGI technology, animatronics, and other state-of-the-art virtual reality exhibits could be used in place of the current live-animal shows to provide park visitors with an exciting, educational experience. In fact, showing visitors a more realistic version of what life is like for real marine mammals rather than displaying the captive animals' unnatural and repetitive behavior patterns‹which are linked to their oppressive environment‹is actually more educational, with no risk to human life. Having grown up in Massachusetts, I often went whale watching and cannot stress the impact on me of seeing whales in their natural environment, not cooped up in a tank performing mundane tricks.
The death of a SeaWorld trainer did not have to happen, and I urge you now to please take action so that it does not happen again. Would you please consider moving your captive orcas and other marine mammals to transitional coastal and wildlife sanctuaries now? Not only is it the humane thing to do, it may well also become, in the long run, the most cost-effective thing to do as public sentiment moves away from watching captive animals perform stunts for human amusement.

As you know, Keiko, the orca who starred in the 1993 movie Free Willy, was returned to his native waters in Iceland in September 1998 after many years of captivity in a facility in Mexico City. Keiko spent the last five years of his life in relative freedom, during which he swam from Iceland to Norway, successfully navigating more than 1,000 kilometers of open ocean. Tilikum deserves the same opportunity, and the wildlife experts who worked on Keiko's rehabilitation can and should be called upon to do the same for Tilikum. I have heard people say that Tilikum would die in the wild, but in truth many of us would rather see his life end in the freedom of the wild ocean, rather than spend the rest of his life trapped in a tank being forced to perform humiliating tasks.

Last month's incident, as you know, was not the first time that a trainer has been seized, thrown against the walls of the tank, and held underwater by a frustrated orca. It was far more horrific than anything I ever dreamed up in my horror films. All the violence and suffering in my films is pretend - no one is hurt, ever. Sadly, the same is not true at SeaWorld, which targets their entertainment at families and children. You are sending a far more dangerous message to kids, whose lives would be just as happy and fulfilled without seeing a large intelligent creature jump around to music for their entertainment, and would probably take a more active interest in protecting whales if they saw them out in the ocean where they belong.

I very respectfully urge the Blackstone Group to immediately proceed with a plan to release the marine mammals at SeaWorld theme parks to sanctuaries that can provide them with a more natural environment.

On behalf of everyone who wants to see whales and dolphins living free in their ocean homes, I thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Eli Roth

Jennifer Lopez - A Selfish Person

So, most of us know how Jennifer Lopez loves to wear fur and put it in her clothes line, without a thought to the poor animals that were electrocuted and skinned for this useless luxury. Well, there's more...

Now, apparently, a dog that her and husband Marc Anthony used to own, has attacked its owners. The german shepherd that these selfish celebrities bought from somewhere where it was trained as a guard dog by going through "military-style" training has become not-so-nice. Obviously, when you train a dog like this, they are not going to be a family-loving pet. They are forced to do things like attack on command.

Check out this story:

http://www.ohmidog.com/2010/03/18/more-trouble-for-floyd-j-los-former-dog/

The Circus is Coming to Town!

Everytime I read about the circus (I am talking about the ones who still abuse animals for "entertainment"), it makes me sick to my stomach. Why is there so much controversy over this, when it's a proven fact that these poor "wild" animals are beaten to perform. I'll tell you why. It's because people are selfish. The images that companies like Barnum and Bailey show show people make kids want to go and see lions jump through rings of fire and elephants marching around and doing tricks. People are just too greedy to teach their kids that this is not compassion at all and then they grow up not caring and this perpetuates until we evolve into the sick, cruel world that we are currently living in. It makes me really sad.

Ringling Brothers is ALWAYS having animals escape or "acting out". Obviously, these are wild animals and don't belong in captivity.

Not only are these circuses degrading to animals, they also teach kids poor values about compassion with people. Laughing at people who are different is not a compassionate way to live and this is also what creates terrible things like holocausts.

There is something we can do to stop this terrible cruelty and it's VERY simple. DON'T GO TO THE CIRCUS! There are many circuses that don't use animals, like cirque du soleil, which, in my opinion, are far more entertaining anyways.

The happy cow myth

When you talk about being brainwashed, the happy dairy cow comes to mind for me. The commercials on tv make them look happy to be giving up their milk, but reality is FAR different.

My question is...how "happy" would you be if you were forced to constanly be pregnant so your body could produce milk and everytime you had your baby, it was immediately taken away and either put in a small little crate only to be slaughtered in a few months as veal (never to be seen by its mother again) or forced to live its life like you and then when it was "spent", it was sent to be killed, just like you?? Is that "happy"?? Many words come to mind, but "happy" is not one of them...

The dairy industry would like us all to believe that we need milk, but reality is...we don't. My question to you is..why are we the only animal who drinks the milk of another species? Women produce milk when pregnant just like cows do. Don't you think there's a reason for that?

photo courtesy of CARE and the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project

My Letter to Oprah About KFC

photo courtesy of dave hogg

As you can see from my previous post, Oprah Winfrey was giving out downloadable coupons for two free pieces of chicken at KFC. Many people know (and hopefully soon, everyone will) that KFC has been known to be especially cruel to the chicken that they use. As Oprah has recently done shows on factory farming and even pledged to go vegan for 30 days, I really felt that this was really going back on the things that she has learned about this cruel industry. While I generally think Oprah is one of the most giving people out there, I believe that this is almost a step backwards, so I sent a letter in on her website...

Dear Ms. Winfrey,
While I think you are an amazing person who gives back more than most people ever do and has made such a difference in so many people's lives, I was a little stunned to see you promoting KFC on your website. Being that you have done shows on farm animal abuse and even vowed to go vegan for 30 days because of factory farming, I can't believe that you are promoting one of the most abusive companies towards animals. I am sure that you are aware how the chickens that are used in kentucky fried chicken are treated, but yet you stand behind this. As such a respectable person, so many people look up to you and I sincerely believe that this is sending out the wrong message for a world in such a fragile state.

Sincerely,
Devin Newmeyer