more animal rights news

For Circus Cruelty see http://www.circuses.com/
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National Anti Fur Day 2004 Photos – Feb.14.2004
   Have a Heart, Don't Wear Fur was the Valentines message from anti fur protesters in Toronto today. Action against the cruel industry is an international effort with many protests taking place annually on National Anti Fur Day.
   Facts on fur cruelty can be found at http://www.freeanimals.org/boycottthebay/index.html
   Here are a few online photos of the Toronto demonstration by Gary Morton

    The key argument is that pets aren’t worth an emotional investment. Money would be better given to the homeless.
    English’s research indicates that stuff like tail wagging and purring are pretty much meaningless. Animals have no genuine emotions and evolution has selected those that have ticks that make them look cute. We are fooling ourselves by projecting emotions on animals.
    The conclusion is that an animal is a moral nullity, belongs as property and we shouldn’t waste time worrying about cruelty or the use of animals as food no matter how extreme the cruelty may be.
    Archer’s article does seem scientifically correct, but a bit of thinking reveals a number of problems. Let’s start with bad research.
    Let’s pick an animal – a cat for example since Archer seems to hate them.
    This particular moral nullity has a brain structurally similar to the human brain. Cats have frontal, temporal, occipital, and parietal lobes of their cerebral cortex, as we do, and these brain regions are composed of gray and white matter. Various brain regions are connected in the same way as they are in humans and identical neurotransmitters are employed in conveyance of data. Cats think similarly to humans, receiving input from the same basic five senses. Cats, like people, have short-term and long-term memory functions
    Cats learn, have wide ranging personality traits are highly adaptable and have two senses that are far beyond ours. They have three times our hearing range and a superior sense of smell. In the area of a sixth sense, cats have long been noted as gifted.
    With a brain 99 percent similar to our own, cats are much like us. And let’s not forget that we are animals, too.
    Yes there is one thing that distinguishes human beings above all others. That is our ability to completely destroy our planet’s environment, ourselves and all other animals.
    Perhaps it is us that should be chopped up for dog meal. It would make a better world.
   One where Eye hasn’t put itself in place as dated on animal rights issues … publishing op-eds that look like re-writes of the ancient religious rants that labeled women as property and morally unfit.
PJ
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* Seal Hunt Boycott of Canada May Fail Due to Greed – June.19.2003
- read the article
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- Greater protection for whales agreed
- Humane Society of the US protests Canada's seal hunt
- Elephants Protecting Forests in Indonesia
- Cats Shown to Offer Many a Better Night's Sleep
- Volunteers Rescuing Cats from Cull in Singapore
- China vs SARS: A good dog is a dead dog
- Researchers to Conduct SARS Tests on Animals
- SARS Prompting Isolation and Killing of Beijing Pets
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- Russia's Animal Price List
   Illegal sales of rare animals and plants are even better-paying than the arms trade
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Animals Suffer in Iraq War - April.2003
- President Bush - Torture King of the Baghdad Jungle
- Relief effort for Iraq's animals
Zoo Animals Suffer in Bush’s Baghdad Bombing
Fwd from Shadow the Black Cat
   The heaviest bombing in Baghdad is taking place at targets around the large Zawra Park and Zoo. It is on the same side of the Tigris River as the Presidential Palace, but a ways behind it. This is the palace that was shown on TV reports with huge fire bursts and mushroom clouds rising as President Bush sent his wave of 1000 cruise missiles into Iraq.
    The ten key targets of Shock and Awe form a ring around the zoo. The Air Force HQ, the Planning Ministry, the Council of Ministers, Baath Party HQ, The New Palace, Presidential Palace, Palace of Peace and Intelligence HQ encircle Zawra Park.
Some time ago human shields said they would protect zoos, but I don’t know if they are there. If they are, together with the animals and zoo keepers, they’re going through the most terrifying bombing experience in history. Blasts nearly as big as nuclear explosions all around, and the continuing earthshaking roar of planes, anti aircraft fire and more bombs.
   If the shock hasn’t killed the animals, then lack of food and water might. And as the waves of black smoke consume all of Baghdad they are endangered by stray missiles and simply being forgotten in the panic.
    Soon the Americans plan to invade to liberate Iraqis that don’t want to be liberated. Fighting will take place in the city and the park will likely be a battleground with Americans and Iraqis firing artillery rounds amidst continuing air attacks.
   Yesterday George Bush said that Iraqi soldiers could be charged with war crimes, and today I say that Bush should be charged with war crimes against animals.
   Don’t worry; he will get his in the end. His clouds of black smoke will come back to him and consume him and his hateful administration.
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Animals Can't be Patented in Canada - Dec.5.2002
- Environmentalists Applaud Supreme Court Decision that Animals Cannot be Patented
- Top Court Nixes Patent on Life
- Read the Supreme Court's full judgement
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At Now - Dec.2002
- Hogtown: Pity the local residents who have to put up with the stink and noise of the goings-on at Quality Meats.
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At eye WEEKLY - Nov.21.2002
- Second chance for city and humane society
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Elephant Abuse in Thailand- Dec.3.2002
Mother elephants are being shot while their nursing babies watch all for the sake of foreign tourism in Thailand and so that tourists can be entertained by elephant rides. The baby elephants are captured and "trained" by torture to accept rides. We are asking people to boycott tourism to Thailand until this brutal and inhumane treatment of baby elephants stops. You can also write to the Thai government urging them to enact a law banning the the private ownership of elephants. Royal Thai Consulate, Scotia Plaza, 40 Kings Street West, Toronto
To see footage of this terrible abuse of elephants go to:
http://www.peta.org/feat/thaielephants/index.html
There will be a demonstration and ongoing demos at the Thai consulate until this ends.
Tuesday,December 3rd, noon- 1 p.m., 40 King Street West
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- FUR PROTESTS AT THE BAY Toronto: Freedom for Animals is continuing the bi-weekly protests at the Bay (until it stops selling fur) beginning October 20th. Please note that the demos are now on Sundays not on Saturdays, as in the past. For more info on our Boycott the Bay campaign, visit: www.geocities.com/BoycottTheBay
Please mark your calendars…
The fur demos are from noon - 1 p.m. and they take place at the southwest corner of Queen & Yonge Streets. Join us on:
Sunday, December 15th

'The cruellest in the world'
This article was published on December 1st in the Guardian (U.K.)
Despite protests from animal rights activists, there is no sign that Canada's annual seal hunt will come to an end, says Anne McIlroy

Monday December 1, 2003
   Animal rights activists describe Canada's annual seal hunt as the largest, and possibly cruellest, marine mammal hunt in the world. Each year, thousands of baby harp seals are clubbed or shot, usually for their pelts.
   Sealers on the country's east coast - especially in the province of Newfoundland - say that the hunt is an important and environmentally sustainable tradition helping 12,000 families to make ends meet in what is one of Canada's poorest regions.
   For now, the hunt does not appear to be in any danger of abolition, despite anti-sealing campaigns in Canada, the US, the UK and throughout Europe.
    The Canadian government, which regulates the hunt, has increased the number of animals that can be hunted. It argues that the seal population, which last year stood at more than 5,000,000, is healthy.
    The new quota allows for 975,000 harp seals to be killed over three years. By May this year, around 270,000 harp seals had been hunted.
   But Rebecca Aldworth, seals campaigner for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, is doing her best to change that. She says most Canadians are unaware that sealers are still clubbing and shooting baby seals.
    In the 80s, protests involving celebrities such as actor Brigitte Bardot led to the protection of newborn harp seals with their pristine white fur. However, the creatures moult within two to three weeks of birth, and then become fair game. The federal fisheries department says that, by then, they have been weaned and are independent.
    Ms Aldworth says that not only are 95% of the animals killed under three months old, but that up to 42% of them are skinned alive and many carcasses are left to rot in the ice or water.
    She is convinced that, if Canadians understood what was happening, they would put pressure on the government to outlaw the cull. Part of the problem, she argues, is that footage of seals being killed is so gruesome few television networks will run it.
     However, stories about wounded animals left to die on the ice, and other cruelties, usually make the news at least once year, making it clear how difficult it is for the federal government to enforce rules on humane killing.
    This leaves the seal hunters on the defensive, even though a royal commission following the protests of the 80s ruled that clubbing seals with a tool known as a hakapick was a humane way to kill them.
   The Canadian Sealers Association says that it is committed to a "responsible, respectful and renewable" industry, according to its executive director, Tina Fagan. She says it is like any other industry that uses animals in consumer products.
    Most of the pelts are exported to Scandanavia, Russia and western Europe. The association's web site posts pictures of Newfoundland families that depend on the money they make from seals.
    "I am a sealer and my family has gone sealing for generation," says Wilfred Alyward. "Ever since the first settlers came to Newfoundland, sealing has been an important part of our history and our economy."
   But Ms Aldworth and other animal rights activists are also hoping that international pressure will save the seals. In November, they were boosted when a US senator introduced a bipartisan resolution urging the Canadian government to end the hunt.
   The resolution cited a 2001 study by a team of veterinarians, which found that the hunt failed to comply with animal welfare standards, and that regulations on humane killing were neither respected nor enforced.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is presently preparing our ship the Farley Mowat for a campaign to intervene against the seal hunt in March and April of 2004.

From the Ontario NDP – Dec.2002
AUDITOR SAYS PARKS ENDANGERED - Two terms of Conservative rule have left Ontario's provincial parks improperly patrolled, managed and maintained. And that, the provincial auditor recently reported, is endangering park patrons and animal and plant life. "The Conservatives have gone AWOL when it comes to preserving Ontario's provincial park heritage," NDP Leader Howard Hampton said. Provincial auditor Erik Peters' annual report revealed: 1) Provincial parks are improperly patrolled. Some 75 per cent of park superintendents report they don't have enough patrol officers on staff to properly protect park users and wildlife. 2) Provincial parks are falling apart. Peters found the vast majority of park buildings, roads, bridges, docks and water systems are 20 to 45 years old and in need of replacing. 3) Parks are poorly managed. Only 117 of the 277 parks have proper management plans. That has resulted in deteriorating parks and habitat destruction. 4) Animals and wildlife are at risk of extinction. The province has no plan to protect 24 of 29 animal species designated as "at risk." And there's no plan to protect any of the 31 animal species that qualify for but don't have "at risk" status because of government red tape. Disclosure of the deteriorating state of Ontario parks came on the same day Peters revealed the Conservatives wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on high-priced consultants. The auditor found that private consultants were being paid up to three times what it would cost for public sector employees to do the same work. In some cases, public sector workers quit then got hired as consultants the next day - for double the pay. "Talk about a double standard. The Conservatives have hundreds of millions of dollars to pad the wallets of their rich friends. But when it comes
to protecting Ontario's provincial park heritage, all they've got is a lump of coal," Hampton said.
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Leaked Cabinet Memo Reveals Eves Government Abandoning Tough Animal Cruelty Legislation- Wed, 18 Sep 2002 From: Mike_Colle-MPP@ontla.ola.org

(Toronto) - Today, MPP Mike Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence) released the contents of a Cabinet memo that showed that the Eves government has abandoned its commitment to effective animal cruelty legislation.

The note, prepared for today's Cabinet meeting in Sarnia, clearly shows the government is set to throw out the recommendations of a working group that has been working since 1999 to update the 80 year old Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. It also flies in the face of over 230,000 Ontarians who signed an OSPCA petition asking for effective animal cruelty legislation.

Instead, the government is set to proceed only with Bill 129, a private Member's Bill that has been rejected by the OSPCA and numerous animal welfare groups as inadequate.

"Bill 129 is a fraud," says Colle. "It's a PR stunt disguised as something first-rate when in fact it does absolutely nothing but give Ontarians a false sense that perpetrators of animal cruelty will be dealt with."

This decision represents an about face for Premier Eves, who had described adopting tough legislation for puppy mill operators as a priority during the spring. The Premier had speculated several times about incorporating parts of tougher cruelty legislation proposed by the Official Opposition, including Bill 105, Colle's Animal Cruelty
Prevention Act.

"It is clear that the Eves government has abandoned it prior commitment to stronger cruelty legislation," said Rob Sinclair, IFAW Provincial Issues Coordinator. "If passed, it will create a two-tier cruelty system where dogs and cats have inadequate protection and other animals have none at all."
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Peter Jennings Cries Wolf
September 18, 2002

The special was called "In Search of America," but when ABC News and Peter
Jennings addressed the issue of the reintroduction of wolves to Idaho
(9/3/02), they gave the strong impression that they’d already decided what
they would find before they started to look.

ABC told a story about the federal government forcing Idahoans to accept
wolf reintroduction against their will-- with the wolves, ravenous for the
flesh of cattle and sheep, now having a ruinous effect upon powerless
ranchers. As Jennings suggested to one Idaho source, "This was a case of
the federal government telling those of you here in the state that it was
going to do what it wanted to do and you didn't have an awful lot of say
in it."

You'd never guess from ABC's broadcast that, according to the Rocky
Mountain News (2/5/95), 71 percent of Idahoans polled actually said that
they supported reintroduction of wolves. Other polls in Idaho and around
the region have shown similar results (e.g., Idaho Falls Post Register,
2/4/98). The decision to bring back the exterminated animal was made over
the course of many years, involving numerous public discussions across the
region that resulted in significant changes being made to the rules for
reintroduction, largely to give ranchers more rights and protections.

Jennings calls wolves "one of nature's most efficient killers," and a
source describes them as "a land piranha and a wildlife terrorist." And
the network went out of its way to suggest financial disaster for
hard-working ranching families: "All of the profit that the ranch is
generating, the wolves are getting," one source claimed.

No statistics were provided to back up this assertion; Jennings says, "The
number of dead livestock is difficult to confirm." But the Fish &
Wildlife Service puts out a report on losses to wolves every year, based
on reports from ranchers; in 2001, the survey found a total of 138 sheep
and 40 cattle killed by wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. By
contrast, coyotes killed more than 14,000 sheep in Montana alone, where
domestic dogs killed another 1,100. Despite Jennings' claim that "the
wolves have found cattle and sheep to their liking," elk and other wild
animals provide the vast majority of the wolves' diet, and predation on
livestock has been lower than the government anticipated.

ABC suggested that ranchers are helpless to stop the wolves from attacking
their flocks and destroying their livelihoods. "As the wolf population
grows, so do the livestock losses and so does the ranchers' frustration,"
Jennings told his audience. "They are not allowed to hunt the wolf."
Actually, ranchers are allowed to shoot wolves that are attacking their
animals; this rule was not mentioned in the documentary. ABC also played
down the federal government's routine killing of wolves that prey on
sheep-- nearly 100 have been legally killed since reintroduction began in
1995-- referring to this controversial topic in a single sentence. In a
striking omission in a documentary that stressed the economic hardships
posed by wolves, the program completely ignored the compensation that the
environmental group Defenders of Wildlife pays to ranchers with documented
losses: some $60,000 last year alone.

"Almost everywhere we went in Idaho, including the state capital, this was
seen as a case of them in Washington vs. us," said Peter Jennings.
Actually, ABC found many more supporters of wolves than it chose to air.
The network shot footage at an Idaho wolf conference, for example, where
most of the participants were pro-wolf, but only used quotes from the
critics they found there (Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Report, 9/4/02).
Perhaps if the sourcing had been more balanced, ABC would not have found
so many inaccuracies when it went "In Search of America."

ACTION: Please tell Peter Jennings that you hope that future episodes of
"In Search of America" will show more balance and fairness than was
displayed in the misleading program on wolf reintroduction.

As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if
you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair@fair.org with your
correspondence.

A transcript of the "In Search of America" special can be found at:
http://www.fair.org/activism/search-america.html

Peter Jennings' response to critics of the program can be found at:
http://www.forwolves.org/ralph/ABC-Jennings-reply.htm

                                  FAIR
                             (212) 633-6700
                          http://www.fair.org/
                          E-mail: fair@fair.org
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Ernie Eves forms new rock group "Guns and Clearcuts" - Thu, 13 Jun 2002
From: Anita Krajnc <akrajn@chass.utoronto.ca>
Sierra Club Eastern Canada Chapter
   Toronto -- Today the Ontario Conservative government passed the Heritage Hunting and Fishing Act (Bill 135). "The tawdry record of the Tory government in preserving wildlife species and habitat continues on its undistinguished course," says Dan McDermott, Director of the Sierra Club Eastern Canada Chapter. "Ernie Eves and his OFAH (Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters) buddies are rocking and rolling to the Tory wildlife policy tunes of 'Guns and Clearcuts,'" says McDermott.
   The Tories' Fire Emulation Guidelines allow massive clearcuts in Ontario.
Today's passage of the Heritage Hunting and Fishing Act cements the increased role of the sports hunting and fishing industry in wildlife management in the province.
   Bill 135 establishes a "right to recreational hunting and fishing" and offloads government environmental responsibilities for managing wildlife to the sports hunting and fishing industry through the creation of a Fish and Wildlife Commission. Bill 135 allows for more and more control over wildlife management to be transferred from government to third party user groups which practice ecologically destructive activities, such as:
•       keeping deer populations unnaturally high in certain areas of Ontario through feeding of deer in the winter
•       promoting open season on hunting coyotes and wolves, which recreational hunters kill to protect deer populations
•       stocking Ontario's lakes and rivers with non-native species, such as Pacific salmon. These exotics interfere with the breeding cycle of indigenous fish, such as lake trout.
Bill 135 does nothing to protect ecosystems and species, and the hunting and angling lobby has little interest in protecting endangered species.

Website: www.sierraclub.ca/eastern/asp_bin/pressrelease.asp
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Revealed: the 582,000 animals that are genetically modified in Britain's labs
- Tue, 14 May 2002 17:42:14 -0400
Norfolk Genetic Information Network (ngin),
http://www.ngin.org.uk

"Scientists are getting carried away with gene hype and animals are
suffering. There is simply no justification for the genetic modification
and cloning of animals for use in agriculture, as drug factories or for
organ production," Dr Sue Mayer
---
Scientists condemn shock report by genetics watchdog as 'irresponsible'
John Vidal,Wednesday May 15, 2002, The Guardian

British scientists are genetically modifying and cloning hundreds of
thousands of animals a year with little health or commercial advantage,
according to a report by genetics monitoring group GeneWatch.

The great majority of the 582,000 animals genetically altered in Britain
in 2000 for medical or agricultural research were mice, but increasingly
sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, rabbits, birds, poultry and cats are being
used.

The scale of the genetic experimentation on animals was previously
unknown and shocked the RSPCA and other animal welfare groups.

But the report, which drew on peer-reviewed scientific studies and
patent applications made by companies, was condemned by leading
scientists as "irresponsible".

The report, which covers the development of GM animal technologies
worldwide, says that many experiments are highly inefficient, wasteful
of animal lives and frequently involve suffering. "Abortion, premature
death and infertility are regular side-effects of these genetic
technologies," it says.

"The extent of animal suffering and the reasons for it are being hidden
from public scrutiny and debate", says Dr Sue Mayer, one of the report's
authors who also sits on the government's agriculture and biotechnology
committee which oversees biotechnology development.

Of more than 10,000 attempts at animal cloning worldwide so far, says
the report, there have been only 124 live births and just 65 animals
have reached maturity. Many of these showed serious physical defects. In
one peer-reviewed study of 40 cloned calves, 34 showed prenatal
abnormalities, several had limb deformities, and most were described as
very slow or weak. In another study of 80 GM lambs transferred to
surrogate mothers, all but three died inside 12 weeks with abnormal
kidneys, brains or livers.

GM experiments and the cloning of animals have increased by 800% in the
past 10 years and now include attempts in the US to clone pets and
endangered animals. The majority of experiments, however, are aimed at
developing pharmaceutical proteins from transgenic animals to counter
multiple sclerosis, infant diseases, hepatitis, and blood and growth
disorders.

So far, says the report, at least 29 human therapeutic proteins have
been produced in transgenic animals, most in milk, but some in blood,
urine or sperm. While the companies argue that this could make drug
production for diseases such as diabetes cheap and readily available,
GeneWatch questions whether it is necessary to perform experiments on so
many animals.

"The use of GM animals in medical research must undergo a complete
review as the science does not support the vast abuse of animals that is
taking place," says the report.

"These experiments should only be undertaken when there is no reasonable
alternative. Balancing the needs of people for drugs with the welfare
and integrity of animal species is a complex ethical dilemma."

Other animals, especially pigs, are being genetically modified to try to
produce whole organs for humans in xenotransplantation experiments.
Because of the huge gap between the numbers of organs needed and those
available, this branch of genetic manipulation has attracted millions of
pounds of investment, but has had little commercial or scientific
success so far. Eight companies, including two in Britain, are working
on GM pigs to develop livers, kidneys, hearts and pancreas.

Yesterday the Roslin Institute, which developed Dolly the sheep, the
world's first cloned animal, was highly critical of sections of the
report. "All experiments on animals need to be justified on a case by
case basis. GM animals will be increasingly important to advancing
medical knowledge, the testing of new drugs and to the production of
treatments for cancer and other diseases at a price society can afford,"
said Dr Harry Griffin, assistant director of the institute.

"For GeneWatch to condemn a whole technology based on a few selected
examples is irresponsible and a gross disservice to the patients who
will benefit directly or indirectly in the future."

But he said that he agreed with GeneWatch when it criticised the
development of cloned pets or endangered species. "That is a nonsense,
and not a sensible way forward for the technology."

Dr Griffin also questioned the other major strand of GM animal research,
which is trying to develop increased food production. "It is very
premature to introduce cloning into agriculture and we need to look at
improved success rates," he said.

GeneWatch also says that governments and academic laboratories are
developing GM animals with increased agricultural productivity or
disease resistance. Genes coding for human growth hormones and vital
proteins have been inserted into a variety of animals.

The report says: "They have displayed enhanced growth, an increased
meat/fat ration and increased efficiency of feed conversion but there
have been high costs to the animals, including gastric ulcers, liver and
kidney damage, degenerative joint diseases, lameness, lethargy and
damaged vision."

Two types of sheep are now being developed for increased wool production
but peer-reviewed scientific papers suggested that the small increases
(6%) in production in year one were not repeated later.

But other scientists reacted strongly. Dr Mark Matfield, director of the
Research Defence Society, which represents UK scientists in the debate
about use of animals in medical research, said: "GM animals are proving
crucial in the understanding of many serious and fatal diseases from
cancer to cystic fibrosis and motor neurone disease. Scientists take
their responsibilities towards all laboratory animals, including those
that are genetically modified, very seriously."

GeneWatch called for an independent inquiry into the use of GM and
cloned animals in medical research, an end to secrecy surrounding such
experiments and tighter regulations to prevent their use in agriculture,
as pets, for drug production or as organ donors.

"Scientists are getting carried away with gene hype and animals are
suffering. There is simply no justification for the genetic modification
and cloning of animals for use in agriculture, as drug factories or for
organ production," said Dr Mayer.
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FREEDOM FOR ANIMALS
News Release April 17, 2002

Sentencing of Cat Torturers
Animal Activists to Launch a Brown and White Ribbon Campaign:
Zero Tolerance for Cruelty to Animals

Toronto - On Thursday, April 18, 2002, Jesse Power and Anthony
Wennekers will be sentenced by Judge Edward Ormston for the
unbelievably horrible death of a cat. Animal activists have named
this cat "Kensington," as s/he came from the Kensington Market area. This
case has been receiving international attention. The sentencing is at 2
p.m. at Old City Hall.

After the two men are sentenced, a brown and white ribbon campaign
will be launched called: ZERO TOLERANCE FOR CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

The ribbon campaign will be part of Kensington's living memorial. A
memorial fund called Kensington's Animal Legal Defence Fund (KALDF)
has been created; it will work to prevent acts of cruelty to animals
by educating and supporting the legal and law enforcement
communities, and by promoting a national policy of zero tolerance
for cruelty to animals.

"We vow to keep Kensington's spirit alive. Kensington will never be
forgotten," says Suzanne Lahaie, co-founder of Freedom for Animals.

"Cruelty to animals is a daily occurrence. Too many cases go
unreported and unresolved. The goal is to end animal abuse," says Susan
Krajnc, member of Kensington's Animal Legal Defence Fund.

Donations to Kensington's memorial fund should be made to:
Kensington's Animal Legal Defence Fund
P.O. Box 418
704 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5S 2S9
Tel: 416-593-9542

FREEDOM FOR ANIMALS
P.O. Box 418
704 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, Ont. M5S 2S9
Tel: 416-596-2331
Email: free_animals@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.freeanimals.org

Migratory Birds Need Better Protection - Feb 2002
From: Green Living <grliving@dsl.ca>

The Federation of Ontario Naturalists (FON ) and the Wildlands League have joined with
a number of other Canadian and American environmental organizations to demand that
Canada act on its treaty obligations to protect migratory birds. An investigation led by
the Sierra Legal Defence Fund on behalf of the groups has found no evidence of even a
single federal charge being laid over the destruction of migratory bird nests, despite
estimates that logging operations destroy as many as 85,000 such nests each year in
Ontario.
        The Wildlands League and FON have joined with Canadian Nature Federation,
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Earthroots, Federation of Ontario Naturalists,
Great Lakes United, Sierra Club of Canada and Sierra Club (U.S.) to ask NAFTA's
Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to investigate the Canadian
government's failure to enforce its own environmental legislation, resulting in the
widespread destruction of migratory bird nests during logging operations.
        The Canadian Migratory Birds Convention Act (MBCA), based on an international
treaty between Canada and the U.S., obliges each country to protect migratory birds.
Migratory birds can only thrive if their habitat is protected in both their nesting and
wintering grounds and along migratory corridors. Our failure to act to protect species
that may travel thousands of kilometres each year could be an indicator of a larger
failure to protect continental ecosystems.
        The CEC must now decide whether to investigate the Canadian government’s
failure to act on its responsibilities for enforcing the Migratory Birds Convention. (The
CEC has already started an international investigation of the U.S. government’s lack of
action to protect migratory birds.)

What You Can Do
You can email federal Environment Minister David Anderson (E-mail:
Anderson.D@parl.gc.ca - be sure to include your full name and postal mailing address)
and ask him why the Canadian government is not doing more to protect migratory
birds. Point out that Canada’s forests, as breeding and nesting grounds, are critically
important to the survival of these long-distance fliers and that we owe it to them and to
ourselves to ensure that Canada provides safe nesting sites that they can return to
year after year.

There's a more serious problem with the idea of disposing of tonnes of unsaleable GMOs into animal feed. Animals are refusing to eat it.

Recently, American journalist Steven Sprinkel recently spent four months collecting reports from farmers growing GM crops. His article, entitled "When The Corn Hits The Fan" details the following observations:

*A farmer said, "If you want your cattle to go off their feed, just switch them out to a GM silage."

*A farmer said that his cattle broke through a fence and ate the non-GM hybrids but wouldn't touch the GM Roundup Ready corn, even though they had to walk through the GMs to get to the non-GMs on the other side of the fence.

*A cattleman saw the weight-gain of his cattle fall off when he switched to GM feed.

*An organic farmer with a terrible deer problem on his soybeans found forty of them mowing down his tofu beans while across the road there wasn't one eating the Roundup Ready GM soy.

*Raccoons romped by the dozen in a field of organic corn, while down the road there wasn't one ear that had been touched in the Bt fields.

Sprinkel asks, "What is it that they know instinctively that most of us ignore?" He predicts, "When the rotting corn hits the fan, it will make a tremendous mess, with the debris lying equally on the tables of the great leaders of the world as well as on the plates of consumers."
=================

Hamilton, Ontario
Gore Park Deer
Fri, 30 Nov 2001 01:09:28 -0500
From: "Pete & Jane Murphy" <pmurphy148@cogeco.ca>
To: mayorwade@city.hamilton.on.ca

I know that you have many important issues to deal with, now that you are the mayor of "The New City Of Hamilton".I
am very glad that you are,I voted for you. I am a former 15 year resident of Ancaster, and could not think of a more
appropriate person to take on this responsibility.I stand behind you and I cannot imagine the frustration and "red tape"
you must be experiencing.
   Having said that, I need to express my concern about the deer that are penned in Gore Park over the pre-Christmas
season.I have just recently taken an interest in this,and I have been appalled at the conditions these creatures are
forced to be confined in.
   I have visited the deer enclosure twice in the past three days and I have noticed inadequate treatment. Particularly
Wednesday November 28th, there was a deer that was being attacked by the other's;they would not allow it to drink or
eat. It was also bitten several times in front of children and a camera crew from Mohawk Collage. At the time I spent
an hour and made three separate phone calls to City Hall ,Finally they sent an officer from the SPCA to check on the
situation.This accomplished nothing.
   A Hamilton city worker informed us that there had been a complaint lodged on the previous Saturday regarding a
similar incident.Obviously this situation was not taken care of appropriately .
Please stop this unnecessary abuse of innocent animals,all this does is teach children that this is acceptable;I for
one do not want my child to be taught this lesson.

   Federal Tory leader Joe Clark got embarrassed by protesters and their dogs as he attended a fundraising dinner tonight in Toronto.
   Folks from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Toronto Coalition For Bill C-15 and Freedom for Animals picketed at City Hall, across from the hotel and drew more media attention than Clark.
   Clark has been attacking Liberal Bill C-15, which would increase penalties for animal abuse. Some Tories have been listening to corporate farming and other interests that want exemptions put in the bill. Should that happen the bill would become a bill of cruelty rights, enshrining rights for researchers, pharmaceutical companies, factory farms and so forth to be as cruel as they wanted to animals.
   Though protesters did not confront Clark, I went across the street with a friend and entered the reception at the Grand Ballroom. We walked thru a thick crowd of mostly white males in expensive suits. These were nearly all famous Tories … and being a usual Tory opponent the scene had a nightmarish feeling for me. At one point Bill Davis and Hal Jackman were passing, Tony Clement and some Harris Tories were to the left, John Nunziata and friends to the right and so on.
   Finally Clark appeared, coming down the escalator. I stepped out in front of the cameras, gave him a flyer and asked him to support animal rights. He said he'd take a look at it then plunged into the waiting crowd.

Ontario Action Alert: Harris to Make Hunting a Legal Right! – 16.Oct.2001
From: "Plourde, Denise" <DPlourde@contactpsc.com
   On October 5th 2001, the Government of Ontario announced its plan to make hunting and fishing a "legal right" under the proposed Heritage Hunting and Fishing Act. If allowed to pass, this legislation would elevate the recreational slaughter of wildlife to the same level as such fundamental liberties such as the freedom of speech and assembly.
   The government has also proposed to establish a Fish and Wildlife Heritage Commission, to be made up of representatives from the hunting and fishing lobby. Under the proposed legislation, the Commission will gain almost exclusive control over wildlife management in Ontario.
WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS LAW TO PASS!!
   Ontario residents have only until NOVEMBER 4th to submit letters in opposition to the government's legislative proposal. Please print off and sign your name and address to the letter below (or better yet, write your own letter) and let the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources know that you object to the proposed Heritage Hunting and Fishing Act and the establishment of a Fish and Wildlife Heritage Commission.
*** To be sure that your letter is received and counted, please send it directly to PETA at the address below, and we will take care of delivering the letters to the Ministry of Natural Resources. Please mail or fax letters no later than October 31st to:
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
c/o Animal Alliance of Canada
221 Broadview Avenue, Suite 101
Toronto, ON M4M 2G3
Fax: 416-462-9647
letters must be hand written and must have the
Enviromental Bill of Rights Registry number which is EBR: AB01E6001 Without these two elements letters will not be considered at all.
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United Animal Nations - Sept.2001
AnimalAid Relief provided for the Companion Animals of the Terrorist Victims
- Full Story at www.uan.org/news/animalaid.html
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Peace on a Cloudy Afternoon - By Gary Morton, Sept.22.2001
    Three events that point to a lack of peace took place in Toronto today. One was titled A Call for Non-Violence! The others were Car Free Day and an anti-Fur Demonstration at the Bay.
- read the full article with photos
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Bill to Shut Down Puppy Mills - Aug.29.2001
   Liberal MPP Mike Colle has a Private Member's Bill to shut down 'Puppy Mills' and to give more power to the SCPA to protect animals.
Message:
   Through your efforts and countless others who want stronger laws for the protection of animals and tougher penalties for their abusers, we can succeed in passing Provincial legislation to put a halt to these fly-by-night operators who abuse animals and take advantage of pet owners.
Email, phone, or fax your local MPP and ask them to support my Private Member's Bill to protect innocent animals, consumers and to encourage speedy passage of my bill when the house resumes on September 24th 2001.
   If you want to know who your MPP is in your riding do the following: Go to http://www.ontla.on.ca and click Member and then Search By Address for the contact info that you need.
     You can also contact the S.P.C.A. website at http://www.ospca.on.ca or call them at 1-888-668-7722 to find out how you can help.
    If you want a copy of a petition calling for the shutdown of puppy mills to post at your local pet store or vet, please email my office.
Regards and thanks again for your support.
Mike Colle M.P.P.
Eglinton-Lawrence
Critic for Consumer and Business Services
( 416) 325-8707
http://www.mikecolle.com
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Where Cruelty is Cool - Art System's Showing of Aesthetic Evil
By PJ the Cat (Aug.25.2001)

* This new report is a true story of an Art Gallery and artists involved Animal Torture in the Kensington Market Area of Toronto.

* Since the article came out Bruce La Bruce wrote a column in EYE in defence of the artists engaged in animal cruelty. I include my letter on it first. Note also that LaBruce revealed that the rats Art System artists photographed after mutilation were purchased alive at a pet store. Earlier they had claimed they were dead. The letter also highlights anti gay and racist actions by a director of Art System

Bruce LaBruce is way off the mark in his August 30.2001 column covering Art System, Daniel Borins, Jubal Brown and the incidents of butchered cats and rats. His description of the gallery as 'one that makes the city seem cooler than it actually is' can only be seen as offensive.

LaBruce quotes the gossip mill and the story of ritual cat slaughter, dancing around pentagrams and so on by the directors of the OCAD student gallery (Art System). He concludes with a view of them as victims persecuted by the police and animal activists.

I did see Aesthetic Evil, the gallery show in question. It featured a video of a man having sex with dead fish and a large photo of a butchered rat. Other photos of rat mutilation were apparently seized by the police and a letter posted at the show by Richard K. assures us that the rats were dead before the work was done on them.

LaBruce's article reveals that the rats weren't dead. They were purchased at a pet store. So it looks like Richard K. wasn't telling the truth. Other facts were also misrepresented and since the only source is Jubal and company, we can only conclude that LaBruce got hoodwinked.

My own opinion after investigating it is that Art System has been trying to promote a new genre of animal torture as art. Jesse Powers did some revolting videos of cat skinning partially as an attempt to produce for that market, and that makes Art System culpable in the corruption of a young artist. It is not proper for a student gallery to leave animals dead and a person like Powers criminally charged and in need of psychiatric help.

LaBruce is also a prominent gay writer, and though I'm not gay, I have taken into account evidence relating to the possible anti gay and racist nature of Jubal Brown. In 1998 he posed for a photo op under a swastika and came under fire from the Black Students Alliance and the Jewish Collective at OCAD. He was also accused of stalking a South Asian woman and writing Jewish Dyke Control Freak on the poster of another who was the chair of Pink Out (OCAD Lesbians/Gays/Transexuals) at the time. Called to account before a student union meeting, Brown gave a Sieg Heil Hitler salute.

Yes there's a full moon this long weekend and perhaps Jubal and friends will be skipping around that pentagram again. They'll wave their dead rats, swastikas and piranhas and call out to Beelzebub. If they start to snicker it'll be over how easy it was for them to fool LaBruce.

The outdoor market area of Spadina thru Kensington used to be a stray cat's paradise. Its alleyways, spicy odors and tasty trash being soul food for fur and paws. A lifetime could be spent holidaying in the aging streets. Yes, it was that good.
It’s too bad that paradise is easily lost. In Kensington it didn’t last. The cat artists came and took it away.

This year police arrested 21-year-old Jessie Powersand Anthony Wenneker, 24 on charges relating to seventy videotapes depicting acts of cruelty, torture and indignities against animals -- including a cat, an orangutan, a fox and a pig. They seized animal remnants, live animals, old dentistry tools, 70 videotapes and a video camera.

One of the confiscated videotapes depicts Wenneker, Powers and a third suspect named Matt in a prolonged act of torturing a black and white cat. Details on the rest of tapes have not been released. Some videotapes were allegedly made by Powers while he worked for the Royal Ontario Museum in 1998, skinning dead exotic animals for researchers.

Art System is funded by the Ontario College of Art & Design Student Union through student fees. The co-directors of Art System, Jubal Brown and Daniel Borins, have been widely quoted in the press supporting their arrested friend Jessie Powers, saying that it is not for them to decide what is art.

Animal rights people think Art System either promotes or is involved in animal cruelty. In a recent post sources said that Jessie Powers used a live kitten in an art show at Art System. The kitten was placed in a cage and then on top of a burner. To try to keep her paws from burning the kitten was made to dance in the cage.

A week ago on Friday night, Art System threw a party. About 100 people showed for it. Some of them Toronto artists, anarchists and activists and fairly well known. Many came over after the Reclaim the Streets rally.

A person attending reported that the art showing featured morbid art of the usual variety but also included some perverse animal cruelty. Police raided the place that night but only to seize beer being served. The art on display was part of a show called Aesthetic Evil.

A number of people from Freedom for Animals live in the Kensington area, and on this endlessly sunny Saturday we met up with others and took a leisurely stroll through the crowded streets to Art System.

Evil is fleeting when friends are together, and we didn't notice anything out of place until we came off a side street onto Spadina. There we spotted a huge red pentagram in a second story window. This traditional symbol of witchcraft or Satanism being the only sign marking the Art System gallery.

Few cats would dare enter, but I did … and together with others in the group viewed the show.

A number of drawings had bits of animal mutilation and stuff like children with severed animal heads and so on. Much of that was in small works and hard to see.

Most people were not concerned with drawings. Art that uses real animals in scenes of cruelty, indignity or butchery is what bothers them. Especially when the display is created through torturing or killing live animals.
Sample of drawing
http://photosc.msspro.com/pic/asys2.jpg

Some of the art didn't involve animal cruelty and a few pieces were good. Others ranged from poor to pathetic. Retched porno photography showed a scene of an ugly fat man masturbating. A portrait type piece of a black man was included in the show and since there was no explanation as to how it fit in, some people must have saw it as a racist depiction of blacks as evil.

In the tradition of saving the worst for last, Art System had a TV at the back displaying an obscene video. Though I didn't watch it, others reported that it shows a man chopping the head off of a fish, having sex with the corpse and finally masturbating over shotgun shells.

Photo pieces created for the show got seized before being displayed. A letter mounted and signed by Ryan Worrell and Richard K. mentions that police grabbed the photos. A wall beside the letter features black squares that stand as a protest against the seizure.

These photos involved rats and the artists state that the rats they used were already dead. The letter also stands as a testament to their stupidity, as they took these photos into Blacks for developing and Blacks turned them over to the police.

Considering the indignities the artists at Art System can perform on fish, we should be thankful to be spared a vision of what they can do with rats. And there really is a question here as to whether these guys are artists or dirty rotten gutter rodents.

They may feel persecuted, but animals feel victimized, too. Not much sympathy will come from me because as a cat and a predator, I wouldn't mind chopping up a few psycho human artists for my next showing.

Censorship is a shadowy issue here. If you write fiction, editors are the vehicles for removing displays of bad taste and mindless cruelty. In art the claim seems to be that everything is censorship. Folks like Jubal Brown and Daniel Borins don't want to admit that in their quest to be on the Cutting Edge, they've left the realm of art and entered a genuine realm of evil called criminality.

I do have to credit them with being clever. Jesse, Jubal, Daniel and friends have managed to get the issue of art and animal cruelty into a political debate that stigmatizes everyone that gets involved. Animal rights activists get labeled as people that want censorship. Art critics, teachers and other defenders of art get labeled as supporters of hideous cruelty. Other students at the Ontario College of Art & Design are now stigmatized in the neighbourhood where they live, and OCAD in general is starting to be seen as a school of sickos.

OCAD and its student union are responsible for seeing that the gallery in some way reflects the expression of its students, the school and the community … yet Jubal and Daniel are on their own trip, and have hijacked Art System as a vehicle of their personal perversion.

Aesthetic Evil is the material they show in public. I'm more concerned about stuff that gets created for that market and isn't being shown, or is shown in secret. There are nasty people that will pay for sadistic films, so there is a strong profit motive that could corrupt some artists. Of course the other motive is that some forces in the art community are trying to categorize sick material as cool stuff. They want to create a new genre of animal snuff art.

Art System's next showing is by invitation only and it is called Magnum Spectaculum Monstruosum. So I gather they will move up in the cruelty world through it.

Here is an excerpt from Richard K. on Aesthetic Evil.
"… and when we people have had our minds filled with depravity are we then infected by it and therefore depraved? Not at all, because for better and worse we are all already depraved and refuse to be excited by anything less than rebelliousness, perversion or treachery. … Aesthetic Evil is the beauty … , our love and lust for the beauty in death and oppression…."

So in the end we walk away from Art System and into the warmth of a summer afternoon … and reflect on the idea that Art System isn't about freedom or freedom of expression. Death and oppression is the driving force there.

Contact Info: Art System
327 Spadina Ave
416 542 1222
email art-system@on.aibn.com
Next Showing by Invitation only
Magnum Spectaculum Monstruosum
Sept 7 to 15 12 to 5 pm

Ontario College of Art & Design
Mr. Ron Shuebrook
President
100 McCaul St.
Toronto, ON M5T 1W1
Tel: 416-977-6000 ext. 216
Fax 416 977 6006
Web http://www.ocad.ca/

Ontario College of Art & Design Student Union
100 McCaul St., Room 115
Toronto Ontario M5T 1W1
Tel: 416-977-6000 Ext. 241
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Support Stronger Animal Cruelty Laws - Federal Bill C-15 –July.22.2000
   Canada's animal cruelty laws have not been amended since 1892.
   From now until September it is extremely important that we contact our Members of Parliament to
support effective legislation against cruelty to animals!!!
   The Bill (C-15) proposes to amend the Criminal Code section on cruelty to animals to
-Raise the maximum penalty for intentional cruelty from two years to five years in prison.
-Not set limits for fines (the current limit is $2,000).
-Give judges the authority to order anyone convicted of cruelty to animals to pay restitution (for example, veterinary bills and shelter costs) to the animal welfare organization that cared for the animal.
-Prohibit anyone convicted of cruelty to animals from owning an animal for however long a judge considers appropriate.
-No longer treat offences as property crimes.
-Make it illegal to brutally or viciously kill animals.
Toronto Coalition For Bill C-15 Anti-Cruelty Legislation
Toronto Coalition Bill C-15 Anti-Cruelty Law
mailto:anne@anticruelty.ca
To find out who your MP is & their constituency office contact info:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Source=SM
or call: 1-800-667-3355
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Hamilton - CAGED Pickets the Wonderful World of Animals – Aug.12.2001

* Editor's note – The author criticizes http://news4hamilton.com/ and their coverage of the circus protest, but he seems unaware that the news4 article is standard corporate media journalism. They use a formula to provide fair coverage that gives a voice to both sides on an issue. Generally it works to give a big voice to corporate or powerful interests and a small meow to the forces of animal justice.

Fairness can't be created through a formula and attempts at it kill genuine insight and in-depth coverage. Human journalists in their present evolutionary state could do a bit better, but not much better. That's why this page is edited by a cat.
PJ the Cat
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The Big Lie Under the Big Top
Report by Gary Morton for PJ the Cat's Animal Rights Page:

Is the Wonderful World of Animals really all that wonderful? Well, let's begin with some Photos and Signs:

Yes - Don't be accused of Enjoying the Abuse
http://photosc.msspro.com/pic/hcircus6.jpg
inflicted upon Performing Prisoners
http://photosc.msspro.com/pic/hcircus7.jpg
as part of an Education in Cruelty.
http://photosc.msspro.com/pic/hcircus8.jpg
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We arrived at the Mountain Arena to find the protest underway, and had barely said hello when news4hamilton.com/ arrived. Later I checked their coverage on the Internet and in the public interest I include their text report at the bottom of this post.

Though the News4 written report paints a kindly picture of animal trainers, their video report mentions that they weren't allowed into the circus with a camera.

A couple of the younger women from Caged did get in with a camera and eventually got kicked out. They noted that some animals were held on chains that were far too short, and perhaps they would have discovered more had they been in there longer.

I feel that way because animal circuses are not drawing huge crowds and animal rights protesters are reducing the crowds even more. On such a low budget, trainers could not possibly have the money to properly care for the animals. Most profits would in fact come from squeezing money out of their care costs.

The Garden Brothers, owners of Wonderful World of Animals, have been hostile to protesters recently. At an initial protest in Welland they sent a belligerent drunk out to harass two young female protesters. It really does give the impression that they have something to hide.

Picketers did much better at the Mountain Arena. Elaine handed out free videos that detail the animal rights side of the story and they were gone quickly. We also managed to flyer many of the cars going in and out and got into the parking lot to ticket all of the vehicles with more leaflets.

The leafleting worked so well one little boy emerged shouting, "They only killed four animals today!" A woman exiting said she understood how the training was cruel after watching the dancing bears perform while reading our flyer.

It appears that public attitudes can be changed if enough dedicated people make an effort. Animal circuses can probably be put out of business completely if actions continue against them.

In Hamilton I didn't encounter many of the hostile sorts of people that feel animal rights activists are nuts. Instead I got that argument back in Toronto at a poverty protest event. Some of the guys at it came forward with the argument that animal activists are not progressive like they are … so I replied that animal rights groups from Toronto up to Niagara have a majority of women members while many of the usual Toronto activist groups have a surplus of shouting, fist-waving men … that do very little other than that.

Some males even try to humiliate other men over their involvement in animal rights stuff. Dan - in the photo listed above - had to endure a verbal assault from circus goons that called him a sissy and fairy and so on as they attacked his masculinity.

People that think animal activists aren't progressive should take a close look at some of the creepy people that run circuses and marine worlds. Circus trainers think it's progressive to beat, shock, stab and tie animals for trick training. They have no problem making animals travel in rail cars that can be smoggy, freezing or boiling hot … and they don't care when chained animals are forced to stand in their own excrement or beat their heads against their cages.
Gary Morton
-------

Here is a copy of the text from the Hamilton news. They also have video coverage at the site.
http://news4hamilton.com/
email info@news4hamilton.com
Circus Under Attack - 6:00 p.m. August 12, 2001.
By Leah Borkwood
   Kids lined up to see the lions, tigers and bears while the circus was in town. But CAGED picketers lined the streets in protest of the exploitation of circus animals.
   "We're protesting the cruel life of these animals," says action co-ordinator Elaine Marion.
   "These animals have been defeated by brutal training and are left in small cages that aren't suitable for their size or take into consideration the pack behaviour they have."
   But workers from the Wonderful World of Animals say animals at this circus are treated extraordinary well. One of the bear trainers, Derrick Rosire has worked with animals all his life and treats them like his personal pets. He says an animal the size of his bear would not be so friendly if it had been mistreated.
   "These animals are part of our lives not just a hobby," says Rosire. "I've spent thousands of hours with them."
   Part of the agreement with the city was for the SPCA to check in on the animals daily and it appears that everything is fine. In these types of situations the SPCA looks at living conditions and the availability of food, water and shade.
   "The conditions were fine," says animal control officer Joseph Lamantia. "All had fresh water and shade with feeding schedules and regular cleaning of the cages."
   The "Wonderful World of Animals" spent four days in Hamilton at the Mountain Arena on Hester Street and moves on Sunday to the next city.
--------
Contact CAGED animal rights group
info 905 526 8188
Email "E.M. Marion" <macinnem@muss.cis.mcmaster.ca>
==========
Email the Wonderful World of Animals (Garden Brothers)
Richard W. Garden
rgarden@gardenbrothers.com
Ian M. Garden Jr.
igarden@gardenbrothers.com
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Globalization & Animal Liberation
From: "pattrice le-muire jones" <pattrice@bravebirds.org
Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001
The international trade practices which commonly are grouped under the rubric of "globalization" pose a grave danger to our efforts to free the animals. International trade agreements such as those enforced by the World Trade Organization can and already have undermined national animal protection legislation. Moreover, as animal liberation and environmental activists in the U.S. and Europe have made progress against the animal agriculture industries, those industries have been making plans to export their operations to developing nations.
Right now, the meat industries are working hard to develop markets and establish operations in low-income nations, far from the prying eyes of animal liberation activists. Worst of all, they are doing so under the guise