Guest guest Posted August 27, 2002 Report Share Posted August 27, 2002 Note: forwarded message attached. Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance. THE ANIMAL FARM FOR POW’S Newsletter for August 27, 2002 The Animal Farm for POW’s, P.O. Box 364, Lamar, Missouri 64759 What’s new at the Animal Farm? Find out at http://www.powanimalfarm.homestead.com (Want to ? See bottom of Animal Farm News) Feel free to forward this newsletter to others. You may print this newsletter for future use. + TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: Naked Protest, Cats’ Shotgun Execution, Iowa Farm Break-in, Baby Cow Beating Ruling + TODAY’S WISE WORDS + ETHICAL ISSUE: Animal vs. Human Slavery + TODAY’S VEGAN FACT: The Statistics + EDUCATIONAL ISSUE: “But it Doesn’t Hurt the Cow”: Dairy Industry: A Slaughter Industry + TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON + HEALTH NEWS: Meat Link to Cancer + TODAY’S LEGAL ISSUE: Companion Animal Wrongful Death + THE RELIGIOUS WORD + TODAY’S VEGAN RECIPE: Chocolate Tofu Ice Cream + UPCOMING EVENTS + ACTION ALERT: Healthy Dairy Alternatives for School Lunch Programs ] CURRENT NEWS TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS Naked Protest at Animal Lab (Daily Echo, August 24, 2002) Hampshire – Naked animal rights activists held a brazen demonstration outside a Hampshire science laboratory. Eight protestors waved banners bearing anti-vivisection slogans yesterday outside the controversial Wickham Laboratories. Police were forced to warn three of the protesters to cover up after fears were raised that passing motorists would be put off their driving. Naked demonstrator Martin Masterman-Lister said: “We wanted to do something different to get people’s attention and let people know exactly why we are here. We thought this would be a good way to attract people’s attention to the appalling work that is carried out here.” The group was led by veteran animal rights campaigner Helen Nelson, who began the demonstration outside the Winchester Road site around 4:30 p.m. She said: “Our message is people would rather go naked than work here. Too many people drive past here and don’t realize what goes on. Hopefully this will show them.” By 5 p.m. police officers in three patrol cars and a van had arrived to keep a watching brief. Acting sergeant Andy Lainson said: “We are here to ensure that it remains a peaceful demonstration. Everybody has a right to demonstrate according to their beliefs. We are just here to see that this is a peaceful one.” Eventually the demonstrators were ordered to get dressed or be arrested. All the workers at the laboratories, who were held up leaving the site, had left by 4:30 p.m. Cats’ Shotgun Execution Wasn’t Illegal, Judge Says (AP, August 23, 2002) Frederick, MD – A landlord who shot to death two cats after a tenant refused to get rid of them was acquitted of felony charges, the first court test of a new Maryland law designed to stiffen penalties for animal cruelty. A judge ruled that Eric Grossnickle destroyed the cats in a legally acceptable manner when he blasted them with a 12-gauge shotgun. “I don’t like what he did, but it’s not a crime under Maryland law,” Circuit Judge Mary Stepler said Wednesday. The ruling left the cats’ owner, April Ritch, frustrated and tearful. “There is no justice whatsoever,” Ritch said, clutching a tin box containing the cats’ remains. Although the state prohibits inflicting unnecessary pain and suffering on animals, it allows killing them humanely for food processing, hunting, scientific research, pest control and agricultural practices. Since Grossnickle killed the cats quickly, using a method accepted by farmers and with no intention of causing them unnecessary suffering, he did not break the law, Steplar said. Group Breaks Into Iowa Farm to Release 1,200 Mink; Half Recaptured (AP World Politics, August 22, 2002) Waverly, Iowa – Members of an animal-rights group cut fences and broke open pens at an Iowa mink farm over the weekend, releasing hundreds of the cast-sized animals prized for their fur. Becky Demuth, who owns the farm with her husband, Nick, said about 1,200 mink escaped and half had been recovered by Monday. She said others had been run over by vehicles or killed by dogs. “Those that are recovered are in high stress. They’re not used to running free,” Demuth said. “We’re talking thousands of dollars in damage. Our family farm has truly been hit in its heart.” The mink were scheduled to be killed in October, Demuth said. Animal Liberation Front spokesman David Barbarash said he received an anonymous e-mail in which members of the group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack at the Misty Moonlight Mink Ranch. He said members target mink farms to give the animals “a chance of freedom.” “A percentage will die, there’s no doubt about that,” said Barbarash, who lives in Courtenay, British Columbia. “But all of them would die at the hands of the mink farmer if they weren’t released. Outside their cages, they do have a fighting chance of survival.” According to the FBI, the Animal Liberation Front and its companion, the Earth Liberation Front, make up the largest and most active U.S.-based terrorist group, committing hundreds of attacks costing tens of millions of dollars since 1996. The farm is about 20 miles south of another farm where the group claimed responsibility for releasing more than 14,000 mink in 2000. The FBI and sheriff’s officials are investigating. Men Fined for Beating Baby Cow (AP, August 15, 2002) Two southwest Missouri men and one from Arkansas have pleaded guilty to felony animal abuse in the Memorial Day weekend beating of a 3-week-old cow. Before the plea, no one in the state had ever pleaded guilty or been convicted of felony animal abuse in a case involving farm animals. Brent Colville, 27, of Pineville, Rick Roark, 27, of Anderson, and Jeff East, 22, of Garfield, AK, pleaded guilty on Thursday in McDonald County Associate Circuit Court to one count each of felony animal abuse and misdemeanor animal abuse. They were given suspended sentences, placed on probation for three years, fined $1,000 and ordered to do 300 hours of community service with the Missouri Department of Conservation, McDonald County Prosecutor Steve Geeding said. Geeding said the felony count stemmed from the men dragging the calf around and breaking its spine. The misdemeanor count relates to “mental anguish” suffered by the calf’s mother, which apparently witnessed and tried to prevent its abuse. The case marks a first time in Missouri that anyone has been convicted of animal abuse for causing mental anguish to an animal, said Allen Miller, chief statewide investigator of the Humane Society of Missouri. Because of her broken spine, the calf had to be euthanized. During court proceedings, the defendants gave similar descriptions to the judge about their actions. “We got drunk on the Elk River and went to Bob Parish’s farm,” Roark said. “We caught a calf and dragged it around, and it had to be put down.” “We had too much to drink”, Colville said. Geeding said the fact that none of the three had a prior criminal record played a role in his agreement to let them go without serving any jail time. “I think these guys are not criminals, but they did a criminal act that was not justified by them being drunk in any way, shape or form,” Geeding said. “They still received a suspended sentence, but these are still felony convictions and they will remain with them.” TODAY’S WISE WORDS “The obligations of law and equity reach only to mankind; but kindness and beneficence should be extended to the creatures of every species, and these will flow from the breast of a true man, as streams that issue from the living fountain.” *Plutarch (46-120 A.D.) “But for the sake of some little mouthful of meat, we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy.” *Seneca “The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.” *Charles Darwin ETHICAL ISSUE Animal vs. Human Slavery Consider some of the reasons that are and have been offered historically to deny according animals the basic right not to be our property: Consider the view that animals do not really have any interests because they do not have language abilities. For example, a dog does not have an interest in not being beaten with a baseball bat because the dog cannot use human vocal or sign language and therefore has no " mind " that can possess interests. The dog is a sort of a " robot. " This view--that animals are merely machines without the capacity for thought and without any interests--was popular several hundred years ago, and has some present-day defenders as well. Consider the view that it is appropriate to treat animals as property because God created animals as resources for humans and " gave " animals to humans as a type of " divine " property. It is important to understand that the idea that animals are our property and have no value except as economic commodities is based on particular interpretations of the Old Testament. Ironically, although some maintain the animal rights position is a " religious " one, it is the idea that animal are property that is directed based on religious doctrine. In any event, the Old Testament also condones human slavery and virtually no one argues that we ought to have human slavery because it is in the Bible. Why is animal slavery any different? After all, it is clear in Genesis that in the Garden of Eden, there was no killing and eating of animals--a practice that developed only after humans fell from God’s grace. We review the claim that some factual difference between humans and animals justifies our treating animals as our property. For example, we maintain that animals cannot think rationally or abstractly, so it is acceptable for us to treat them as our property. In the first place, it is as difficult to deny that many animals are capable of rational or abstract thought as it is to deny that dogs have tails. But even if it is true that animals are not rational or cannot think in abstract ways, what possible difference could that make as a moral matter? Many humans, such as young children or severely retarded humans, cannot think rationally or in abstract terms, and we would never think of using such humans as subjects in painful biomedical experiments, or as sources of food or clothing. Despite what we say, we treat similar animal interests in a dissimilar way, and thus deprive animal interests of moral significance. There is no characteristic that serves to distinguish humans from all other animals. Whatever attribute that we may think makes all humans " special " and thereby different from other animals, is shared by some group of nonhumans. Whatever " defect " we may think makes animals inferior to us is shared by some group of us. In the end, the only difference between them and us is species, and species alone is not a morally relevant criterion for excluding animals from the moral community any more than is race a justification for human slavery or sex a justification for making women the property of their husbands. The use of species to justify the property status of animals is speciesism just as the use of race or sex to justify the property status of humans is respectively racism or sexism. If we want animal interests to have moral significance, then we have to treat like cases alike, and we cannot treat animals in ways in which we would not be willing to treat any human. If we apply the principle of equal consideration to animals, then we must extend to all sentient animals the one basic right that we extend to all human beings: the right not to be treated as a thing. It is crucial to understand that the theory of animal rights--or at least the one that I present in the book--does not require that we see humans and nonhumans as " the same " or believe that animals have all of the same rights that humans may have. Rather, the theory of animal rights requires that we accord only one right to animals--the basic right not to treated as a human resource--to animals. But just as our recognition that no humans should be the property of others required that we abolish slavery, and not merely regulate it to be more " humane, " our recognition that animals have this one basic right would mean that we could no longer justify our institutional exploitation of animals for food, clothing, amusement, or experiments. If we mean what we say and we regard animals as having morally significant interests, then we really have no choice: we are similarly committed to the abolition of animal exploitation, and not merely to its regulation. *Source excerpts from Your Child or the Dog, by Gary L. Francione. TODAY’S VEGAN FACT The Statistics It takes 2,500 gallons of water, 12 pounds of grain, 35 pounds of topsoil and the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline to produce one pound of feedlot beef. 70% of US grain production is fed to livestock. 5 million acres of rainforest are felled every year in South and Central America alone to create cattle pasture. Roughly 20% of all currently threatened and endangered species in the US are harmed by livestock grazing. Animal agriculture is a chief contributor to water pollution. America's farm animals produce 10 times the waste produced by the human population. *Source, Food Choices and the Planet The number of gallons of water needed to produce one pound of edible product: Apples 49 Carrots 33 Potatoes 24 Tomatoes 23 Beef 2,500 *Source, 1981 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science EDUCATIONAL ISSUE “But it Doesn’t Hurt the Cow” Dairy Industry: A Slaughter Industry Whether they be free-range or factory farmed, dairy cows are no strangers to the slaughterhouse. Scientific Farm Animal Production states: Some Holstein cows produce extremely large amounts of milk--more than 100 lb/day [over 18 tons a year]. Thus, in Holsteins and other high-milk-producing cows, great stress is placed on udder ligaments, which can break down and no longer support the udder. If an udder breaks down, it is more susceptible to injury and disease, often necessitating culling [i.e., killing] the cow. Even when the udder doesn’t break down, it is unprofitable to keep cows alive once their milk production declines. Under more natural conditions, dairy cows would live fifteen to twenty years. This is not the case on modern dairy farms, as Scientific Farm Animal Production points out: The average productive life of a dairy cow is short (approximately 3 - 4 years). Many cows are culled primarily because of reproductive failure, low milk yield, udder breakdown, feet and leg weaknesses, and mastitis. USDA statistics show that in 1940, cows averaged 2.3 tons of milk per year. Despite large milk surpluses in the U.S., Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) was approved in 1993 to further increase milk production. The 1997 average was 8.4 tons of milk per year. Some BGH treated cows have produced more than 30 tons of milk in a year). This year, Canada banned the use of BGH, citing concerns for cow and human health; but BGH use continues in the U.S. Dairy cows are milked for ten months, and then are “dry” for two months. They give birth at the end of the two month dry period, causing them to start producing milk again. Scientific Farm Animal Production says: Many commercial dairy operators dispose of bull [male] calves shortly after the calves are born. Some bull calves are fed for veal, while others are castrated and fed [i.e., raised] for beef. If the calf is lucky, he is killed in the few days after he is born (known as " bob " veal). If unlucky, he is raised to become " special fed veal, " which is regarded as gourmet cuisine by some. Calves raised for special fed veal are normally kept in individual stalls chained by the neck on a 2 to 3 foot tether for 18 to 20 weeks (USDA, Animal Welfare Issues Compendium, 9/97). Because they are often very young, or have not been able to walk for most of their lives, calves often have a hard time walking as they are prodded through the chutes leading to the slaughter floor. Dairy cows are pushed to their physical limits. Some become crippled on the way to the slaughterhouses and they cannot walk off the truck. This can result in being dragged from the trucks by chains. An excerpt from a New York Times article (October 22, 1999), Urban Sprawl Benefits Dairies in California, has some interesting statements by dairy farmers: The farms are operated with machine-like precision and a pure business philosophy. Asked if their cows had names, the farmers here chuckled. " On a lot of those farms in the Midwest and back East, every cow has a name, " Mr. Koopman said. " They're sort of pets. It's not like that here. A cow's a piece of machinery. If it's broke, we try to fix it, and if we can't, it gets replaced. " Today, every cow has a number and a page on the computer. " Mrs. DeBoer said she had never milked a cow by hand, and never expected to. In the factory that is her barn, the employees, almost entirely Latino, manage the machinery. " It's just a factory is what it is, " she said. " If the cows don't produce milk, they go to beef. " Sources: Vegan Outreach Scientific Farm Animal Production (1998) The Associated Press USDA, Animal Welfare Issues Compendium, 1997 The Down Side of Livestock Marketing (1990) TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON It may surprise you to learn our early ancestors lived on a semivegetarian diet for several million years. Some anthropologists have fostered the stereotype of " man the hunter, " but studies of contemporary " hunter-gatherers " suggest that early humans lived primarily on a diet of plant foods, with supplementation from animal flesh. Studies of tribal Australian aborigines and the Kung-San of South Africa-groups that live under conditions similar to those of our ancestors-show that only about one fourth of their caloric intake derives from animal products. Nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables are the staple foods of these groups. A view of early humans as gatherers rather than hunters is a more accurate portrayal. Like most good ideas in the West, vegetarianism was developed by the ancient Greeks. Pythagoras and Porphyry were the best-known practicing vegetarians, but the list of those who advocated a vegetarian diet includes Diogenes, Plato, Epicurus, and Plutarch. The Greeks favored vegetarianism for a variety of reasons. Pythagoras and his followers believed that animals as well as humans have souls, and that after death, an animal may be reincarnated as a human and vice versa. According to this view, animals should not be killed and eaten because all souls have equal worth. Plato, in The Republic, described a vegetarian diet as being best suited for his ideal society. Plant foods were preferred, according to Plato, because they promote health and because they require less land to produce than do animal foods. Other Greek thinkers felt that eating animal flesh was naturally repugnant and should be rejected on aesthetic grounds. The Romans borrowed many ideas from the Greeks, including vegetarianism, and in spite of their penchant for feeding undesirables to the lions, vegetarian ideas survived throughout Roman times. The poet Ovid and the philosopher Seneca are examples of Romans who expounded the cause of vegetarianism. HEALTH NEWS Meat link to Cancer Scientific evidence clearly shows that diet has an important influence on prostate cancer risk. Frequent consumption of meat and dairy products is linked to increased risk, due, at least in part, to the amount and type of fat they contain. Animal products also lack the protective nutrients found in vegetables and fruits. The disease is rarer among populations consuming more rice, soybean products, and green or yellow vegetables, and among vegetarians. The most important message is that while consumption of meat and dairy products appears to increase cancer risk, diets rich in vegetables and fruits cut risk, giving men more control over their health than they might otherwise have had. TODAY’S LEGAL ISSUE Companion Animal Wrongful Death: Recovery of Damages in Criminal Prosecutions The first way to recover damages involves a criminal prosecution of the perpetrator. The local prosecutor can file a criminal complaint charging the perpetrator with a violation of the state’s anti-cruelty laws if the injury or killing of a companion animal was willful or purposeful. Most, if not all, states have anti-cruelty statutes that will not only punish the perpetrator, but allow you, the human victim, to recover damages. For example, in Alabama, the anti-cruelty statute provides that any person, who unlawfully, wantonly or maliciously kills, disables, disfigures, destroys or injures any animal or article or commodity of value which is the property of another must, on conviction, be fined not less than twice the value of the injury or damage to the owner of the property nor more than $1,000.00 and may also be imprisoned in the county jail, or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not more than six months, and so much of the fine as may be necessary to repair the injury or loss shall go to the party injured. (Alabama Code Section 3110, emphasis added.) In virtually all states, even where an anti-cruelty law does not mention damages, the caretaker can still generally be compensated for the injury or death of the companion animal if the defendant is convicted. In California, for example, restitution is mandatory for all persons convicted of any crime, and cruelty to animals is no exception. You, or your attorney should contact the local prosecutor’s office, probation department or clerk of the criminal court for more information. Purposely injuring or killing a companion animal is a crime. You should call the local police department or sheriff’s office and file a complaint just as you would if someone stole your car, robbed you, or assaulted you. The police officer, sheriff’s deputy, or humane officer will generally take a report and file the case with the local prosecutor. Citizens are also entitled to file complaints directly with the county prosecutor, which is useful if the local police do not respond as thoroughly as the situation may warrant. THE RELIGIOUS WORD In the beginning, God instructed Adam and Eve to eat only seeds and fruit... " I have given you all plants that bear seed everywhere on earth, and every tree bearing fruit which yields seed: they shall be your meat... " (Genesis 1:29, 30) " Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, except for the fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil " . (Genesis 2:16, 17) Even the animals at this time were vegetarians... " And to the animals on earth, and to all the birds under the heavens, and to everything that creeps over the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so. And God saw everything that He had made and it was good. " (Genesis 1:30) *From the Universal Equalitarian Church The Universal Equalitarian Church “Where All Species are Created Equal” Find out more about Equalitarian religion and our Church! Finally, a Church for all species! To be added to our mailing list, email us at jkwriter TODAY’S VEGAN RECIPE Tofu Chocolate Ice Cream Ingredients: 1 box 12 oz. Mori Nu Soft Silken Tofu, do not use low fat, do not drain 1 12 oz. bag vegan chocolate chips, melted on low heat and cooled 1-2 Tablespoon Vanilla 1 cup Rice Milk or Soy Milk Directions: Put the tofu in a blender and process until very smooth. Add the melted, cooled chocolate and process until well combined, you will have to stop and scrape the sides of the blender. Add the rice milk and vanilla and process until well blended. Pour into a covered container and chill until ready to use. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer directions. This makes a lot of tofu ice cream mix so you may only be able to freeze part of it. Serves: 8 Preparation time: 15 minutes UPCOMING EVENTS Compassion Fest 2002, September 22, 2002: A Celebration of Humanity’s Ability to Extend Compassion to all Creatures in the Circle of Life: Cincinnati, Ohio www.compassionfest.org Worldfest 2002, September 29, 2002: Woodley Park, Van Nuys, California www.worldfestevents.com ACTION ALERT Encourage the U.S. Government to Add Healthful Alternatives to Dairy Products to the School Lunch Program The USDA has extended the deadline for public comments. Please call today and voice your support for soy milk and other milk alternatives in our public school systems. The Special Nutrition Program, part of the Food and Nutrition Service under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is now taking comments about adding soy and rice drinks as alternatives to milk to the food programs in our nation’s public schools. Currently, funding is not readily available for these alternatives and schools are only required to provide them to students with medical conditions that require such an option. With enough support from the public—especially from students, parents, and educators—the Special Nutrition Program will draft a legislative proposal asking Congress to amend the Child Nutrition Acts to make available alternatives to milk in school cafeterias. Please call and write, and ask all your friends and family to do the same, in support of the addition of soy and rice drinks to the food programs in our public schools. Peter Murano, Associate Deputy Administrator Special Nutrition Program USDA Food and Nutrition Service 3101 Park Center Dr. Rm. 510 Alexandria, VA 22302 Tel.: 703-305-2052 Fax: 703-305-2782 *Resource from PETA ***Become a Member of the Animal Farm for POW’s! Help make a difference in the lives of animals! Your membership is 100% tax-deductible! For membership information, visit our website at http://www.powanimalfarm.homestead.com To send comments, reply, or news stories, email: jkwriter To , hit reply and type “Un” in the Subject box. GO VEGAN! THE ANIMAL FARM FOR POW’S P.O. Box 364, Lamar, Missouri 64759 http://www.powanimalfarm.homestead.com “To Provide an Open Range for all Beings to Roam” A Non-Profit Organization Copyright @ 2002 Dixie Publishing _______________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 28, 2002 Report Share Posted August 28, 2002 Note: forwarded message attached. Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 28, 2002 Report Share Posted August 28, 2002 Note: forwarded message attached. Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance. THE ANIMAL FARM FOR POW’S Newsletter for August 27, 2002 The Animal Farm for POW’s, P.O. Box 364, Lamar, Missouri 64759 What’s new at the Animal Farm? Find out at http://www.powanimalfarm.homestead.com (Want to ? See bottom of Animal Farm News) Feel free to forward this newsletter to others. You may print this newsletter for future use. + TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: Naked Protest, Cats’ Shotgun Execution, Iowa Farm Break-in, Baby Cow Beating Ruling + TODAY’S WISE WORDS + ETHICAL ISSUE: Animal vs. Human Slavery + TODAY’S VEGAN FACT: The Statistics + EDUCATIONAL ISSUE: “But it Doesn’t Hurt the Cow”: Dairy Industry: A Slaughter Industry + TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON + HEALTH NEWS: Meat Link to Cancer + TODAY’S LEGAL ISSUE: Companion Animal Wrongful Death + THE RELIGIOUS WORD + TODAY’S VEGAN RECIPE: Chocolate Tofu Ice Cream + UPCOMING EVENTS + ACTION ALERT: Healthy Dairy Alternatives for School Lunch Programs ] CURRENT NEWS TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS Naked Protest at Animal Lab (Daily Echo, August 24, 2002) Hampshire – Naked animal rights activists held a brazen demonstration outside a Hampshire science laboratory. Eight protestors waved banners bearing anti-vivisection slogans yesterday outside the controversial Wickham Laboratories. Police were forced to warn three of the protesters to cover up after fears were raised that passing motorists would be put off their driving. Naked demonstrator Martin Masterman-Lister said: “We wanted to do something different to get people’s attention and let people know exactly why we are here. We thought this would be a good way to attract people’s attention to the appalling work that is carried out here.” The group was led by veteran animal rights campaigner Helen Nelson, who began the demonstration outside the Winchester Road site around 4:30 p.m. She said: “Our message is people would rather go naked than work here. Too many people drive past here and don’t realize what goes on. Hopefully this will show them.” By 5 p.m. police officers in three patrol cars and a van had arrived to keep a watching brief. Acting sergeant Andy Lainson said: “We are here to ensure that it remains a peaceful demonstration. Everybody has a right to demonstrate according to their beliefs. We are just here to see that this is a peaceful one.” Eventually the demonstrators were ordered to get dressed or be arrested. All the workers at the laboratories, who were held up leaving the site, had left by 4:30 p.m. Cats’ Shotgun Execution Wasn’t Illegal, Judge Says (AP, August 23, 2002) Frederick, MD – A landlord who shot to death two cats after a tenant refused to get rid of them was acquitted of felony charges, the first court test of a new Maryland law designed to stiffen penalties for animal cruelty. A judge ruled that Eric Grossnickle destroyed the cats in a legally acceptable manner when he blasted them with a 12-gauge shotgun. “I don’t like what he did, but it’s not a crime under Maryland law,” Circuit Judge Mary Stepler said Wednesday. The ruling left the cats’ owner, April Ritch, frustrated and tearful. “There is no justice whatsoever,” Ritch said, clutching a tin box containing the cats’ remains. Although the state prohibits inflicting unnecessary pain and suffering on animals, it allows killing them humanely for food processing, hunting, scientific research, pest control and agricultural practices. Since Grossnickle killed the cats quickly, using a method accepted by farmers and with no intention of causing them unnecessary suffering, he did not break the law, Steplar said. Group Breaks Into Iowa Farm to Release 1,200 Mink; Half Recaptured (AP World Politics, August 22, 2002) Waverly, Iowa – Members of an animal-rights group cut fences and broke open pens at an Iowa mink farm over the weekend, releasing hundreds of the cast-sized animals prized for their fur. Becky Demuth, who owns the farm with her husband, Nick, said about 1,200 mink escaped and half had been recovered by Monday. She said others had been run over by vehicles or killed by dogs. “Those that are recovered are in high stress. They’re not used to running free,” Demuth said. “We’re talking thousands of dollars in damage. Our family farm has truly been hit in its heart.” The mink were scheduled to be killed in October, Demuth said. Animal Liberation Front spokesman David Barbarash said he received an anonymous e-mail in which members of the group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack at the Misty Moonlight Mink Ranch. He said members target mink farms to give the animals “a chance of freedom.” “A percentage will die, there’s no doubt about that,” said Barbarash, who lives in Courtenay, British Columbia. “But all of them would die at the hands of the mink farmer if they weren’t released. Outside their cages, they do have a fighting chance of survival.” According to the FBI, the Animal Liberation Front and its companion, the Earth Liberation Front, make up the largest and most active U.S.-based terrorist group, committing hundreds of attacks costing tens of millions of dollars since 1996. The farm is about 20 miles south of another farm where the group claimed responsibility for releasing more than 14,000 mink in 2000. The FBI and sheriff’s officials are investigating. Men Fined for Beating Baby Cow (AP, August 15, 2002) Two southwest Missouri men and one from Arkansas have pleaded guilty to felony animal abuse in the Memorial Day weekend beating of a 3-week-old cow. Before the plea, no one in the state had ever pleaded guilty or been convicted of felony animal abuse in a case involving farm animals. Brent Colville, 27, of Pineville, Rick Roark, 27, of Anderson, and Jeff East, 22, of Garfield, AK, pleaded guilty on Thursday in McDonald County Associate Circuit Court to one count each of felony animal abuse and misdemeanor animal abuse. They were given suspended sentences, placed on probation for three years, fined $1,000 and ordered to do 300 hours of community service with the Missouri Department of Conservation, McDonald County Prosecutor Steve Geeding said. Geeding said the felony count stemmed from the men dragging the calf around and breaking its spine. The misdemeanor count relates to “mental anguish” suffered by the calf’s mother, which apparently witnessed and tried to prevent its abuse. The case marks a first time in Missouri that anyone has been convicted of animal abuse for causing mental anguish to an animal, said Allen Miller, chief statewide investigator of the Humane Society of Missouri. Because of her broken spine, the calf had to be euthanized. During court proceedings, the defendants gave similar descriptions to the judge about their actions. “We got drunk on the Elk River and went to Bob Parish’s farm,” Roark said. “We caught a calf and dragged it around, and it had to be put down.” “We had too much to drink”, Colville said. Geeding said the fact that none of the three had a prior criminal record played a role in his agreement to let them go without serving any jail time. “I think these guys are not criminals, but they did a criminal act that was not justified by them being drunk in any way, shape or form,” Geeding said. “They still received a suspended sentence, but these are still felony convictions and they will remain with them.” TODAY’S WISE WORDS “The obligations of law and equity reach only to mankind; but kindness and beneficence should be extended to the creatures of every species, and these will flow from the breast of a true man, as streams that issue from the living fountain.” *Plutarch (46-120 A.D.) “But for the sake of some little mouthful of meat, we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy.” *Seneca “The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.” *Charles Darwin ETHICAL ISSUE Animal vs. Human Slavery Consider some of the reasons that are and have been offered historically to deny according animals the basic right not to be our property: Consider the view that animals do not really have any interests because they do not have language abilities. For example, a dog does not have an interest in not being beaten with a baseball bat because the dog cannot use human vocal or sign language and therefore has no " mind " that can possess interests. The dog is a sort of a " robot. " This view--that animals are merely machines without the capacity for thought and without any interests--was popular several hundred years ago, and has some present-day defenders as well. Consider the view that it is appropriate to treat animals as property because God created animals as resources for humans and " gave " animals to humans as a type of " divine " property. It is important to understand that the idea that animals are our property and have no value except as economic commodities is based on particular interpretations of the Old Testament. Ironically, although some maintain the animal rights position is a " religious " one, it is the idea that animal are property that is directed based on religious doctrine. In any event, the Old Testament also condones human slavery and virtually no one argues that we ought to have human slavery because it is in the Bible. Why is animal slavery any different? After all, it is clear in Genesis that in the Garden of Eden, there was no killing and eating of animals--a practice that developed only after humans fell from God’s grace. We review the claim that some factual difference between humans and animals justifies our treating animals as our property. For example, we maintain that animals cannot think rationally or abstractly, so it is acceptable for us to treat them as our property. In the first place, it is as difficult to deny that many animals are capable of rational or abstract thought as it is to deny that dogs have tails. But even if it is true that animals are not rational or cannot think in abstract ways, what possible difference could that make as a moral matter? Many humans, such as young children or severely retarded humans, cannot think rationally or in abstract terms, and we would never think of using such humans as subjects in painful biomedical experiments, or as sources of food or clothing. Despite what we say, we treat similar animal interests in a dissimilar way, and thus deprive animal interests of moral significance. There is no characteristic that serves to distinguish humans from all other animals. Whatever attribute that we may think makes all humans " special " and thereby different from other animals, is shared by some group of nonhumans. Whatever " defect " we may think makes animals inferior to us is shared by some group of us. In the end, the only difference between them and us is species, and species alone is not a morally relevant criterion for excluding animals from the moral community any more than is race a justification for human slavery or sex a justification for making women the property of their husbands. The use of species to justify the property status of animals is speciesism just as the use of race or sex to justify the property status of humans is respectively racism or sexism. If we want animal interests to have moral significance, then we have to treat like cases alike, and we cannot treat animals in ways in which we would not be willing to treat any human. If we apply the principle of equal consideration to animals, then we must extend to all sentient animals the one basic right that we extend to all human beings: the right not to be treated as a thing. It is crucial to understand that the theory of animal rights--or at least the one that I present in the book--does not require that we see humans and nonhumans as " the same " or believe that animals have all of the same rights that humans may have. Rather, the theory of animal rights requires that we accord only one right to animals--the basic right not to treated as a human resource--to animals. But just as our recognition that no humans should be the property of others required that we abolish slavery, and not merely regulate it to be more " humane, " our recognition that animals have this one basic right would mean that we could no longer justify our institutional exploitation of animals for food, clothing, amusement, or experiments. If we mean what we say and we regard animals as having morally significant interests, then we really have no choice: we are similarly committed to the abolition of animal exploitation, and not merely to its regulation. *Source excerpts from Your Child or the Dog, by Gary L. Francione. TODAY’S VEGAN FACT The Statistics It takes 2,500 gallons of water, 12 pounds of grain, 35 pounds of topsoil and the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline to produce one pound of feedlot beef. 70% of US grain production is fed to livestock. 5 million acres of rainforest are felled every year in South and Central America alone to create cattle pasture. Roughly 20% of all currently threatened and endangered species in the US are harmed by livestock grazing. Animal agriculture is a chief contributor to water pollution. America's farm animals produce 10 times the waste produced by the human population. *Source, Food Choices and the Planet The number of gallons of water needed to produce one pound of edible product: Apples 49 Carrots 33 Potatoes 24 Tomatoes 23 Beef 2,500 *Source, 1981 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science EDUCATIONAL ISSUE “But it Doesn’t Hurt the Cow” Dairy Industry: A Slaughter Industry Whether they be free-range or factory farmed, dairy cows are no strangers to the slaughterhouse. Scientific Farm Animal Production states: Some Holstein cows produce extremely large amounts of milk--more than 100 lb/day [over 18 tons a year]. Thus, in Holsteins and other high-milk-producing cows, great stress is placed on udder ligaments, which can break down and no longer support the udder. If an udder breaks down, it is more susceptible to injury and disease, often necessitating culling [i.e., killing] the cow. Even when the udder doesn’t break down, it is unprofitable to keep cows alive once their milk production declines. Under more natural conditions, dairy cows would live fifteen to twenty years. This is not the case on modern dairy farms, as Scientific Farm Animal Production points out: The average productive life of a dairy cow is short (approximately 3 - 4 years). Many cows are culled primarily because of reproductive failure, low milk yield, udder breakdown, feet and leg weaknesses, and mastitis. USDA statistics show that in 1940, cows averaged 2.3 tons of milk per year. Despite large milk surpluses in the U.S., Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) was approved in 1993 to further increase milk production. The 1997 average was 8.4 tons of milk per year. Some BGH treated cows have produced more than 30 tons of milk in a year). This year, Canada banned the use of BGH, citing concerns for cow and human health; but BGH use continues in the U.S. Dairy cows are milked for ten months, and then are “dry” for two months. They give birth at the end of the two month dry period, causing them to start producing milk again. Scientific Farm Animal Production says: Many commercial dairy operators dispose of bull [male] calves shortly after the calves are born. Some bull calves are fed for veal, while others are castrated and fed [i.e., raised] for beef. If the calf is lucky, he is killed in the few days after he is born (known as " bob " veal). If unlucky, he is raised to become " special fed veal, " which is regarded as gourmet cuisine by some. Calves raised for special fed veal are normally kept in individual stalls chained by the neck on a 2 to 3 foot tether for 18 to 20 weeks (USDA, Animal Welfare Issues Compendium, 9/97). Because they are often very young, or have not been able to walk for most of their lives, calves often have a hard time walking as they are prodded through the chutes leading to the slaughter floor. Dairy cows are pushed to their physical limits. Some become crippled on the way to the slaughterhouses and they cannot walk off the truck. This can result in being dragged from the trucks by chains. An excerpt from a New York Times article (October 22, 1999), Urban Sprawl Benefits Dairies in California, has some interesting statements by dairy farmers: The farms are operated with machine-like precision and a pure business philosophy. Asked if their cows had names, the farmers here chuckled. " On a lot of those farms in the Midwest and back East, every cow has a name, " Mr. Koopman said. " They're sort of pets. It's not like that here. A cow's a piece of machinery. If it's broke, we try to fix it, and if we can't, it gets replaced. " Today, every cow has a number and a page on the computer. " Mrs. DeBoer said she had never milked a cow by hand, and never expected to. In the factory that is her barn, the employees, almost entirely Latino, manage the machinery. " It's just a factory is what it is, " she said. " If the cows don't produce milk, they go to beef. " Sources: Vegan Outreach Scientific Farm Animal Production (1998) The Associated Press USDA, Animal Welfare Issues Compendium, 1997 The Down Side of Livestock Marketing (1990) TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON It may surprise you to learn our early ancestors lived on a semivegetarian diet for several million years. Some anthropologists have fostered the stereotype of " man the hunter, " but studies of contemporary " hunter-gatherers " suggest that early humans lived primarily on a diet of plant foods, with supplementation from animal flesh. Studies of tribal Australian aborigines and the Kung-San of South Africa-groups that live under conditions similar to those of our ancestors-show that only about one fourth of their caloric intake derives from animal products. Nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables are the staple foods of these groups. A view of early humans as gatherers rather than hunters is a more accurate portrayal. Like most good ideas in the West, vegetarianism was developed by the ancient Greeks. Pythagoras and Porphyry were the best-known practicing vegetarians, but the list of those who advocated a vegetarian diet includes Diogenes, Plato, Epicurus, and Plutarch. The Greeks favored vegetarianism for a variety of reasons. Pythagoras and his followers believed that animals as well as humans have souls, and that after death, an animal may be reincarnated as a human and vice versa. According to this view, animals should not be killed and eaten because all souls have equal worth. Plato, in The Republic, described a vegetarian diet as being best suited for his ideal society. Plant foods were preferred, according to Plato, because they promote health and because they require less land to produce than do animal foods. Other Greek thinkers felt that eating animal flesh was naturally repugnant and should be rejected on aesthetic grounds. The Romans borrowed many ideas from the Greeks, including vegetarianism, and in spite of their penchant for feeding undesirables to the lions, vegetarian ideas survived throughout Roman times. The poet Ovid and the philosopher Seneca are examples of Romans who expounded the cause of vegetarianism. HEALTH NEWS Meat link to Cancer Scientific evidence clearly shows that diet has an important influence on prostate cancer risk. Frequent consumption of meat and dairy products is linked to increased risk, due, at least in part, to the amount and type of fat they contain. Animal products also lack the protective nutrients found in vegetables and fruits. The disease is rarer among populations consuming more rice, soybean products, and green or yellow vegetables, and among vegetarians. The most important message is that while consumption of meat and dairy products appears to increase cancer risk, diets rich in vegetables and fruits cut risk, giving men more control over their health than they might otherwise have had. TODAY’S LEGAL ISSUE Companion Animal Wrongful Death: Recovery of Damages in Criminal Prosecutions The first way to recover damages involves a criminal prosecution of the perpetrator. The local prosecutor can file a criminal complaint charging the perpetrator with a violation of the state’s anti-cruelty laws if the injury or killing of a companion animal was willful or purposeful. Most, if not all, states have anti-cruelty statutes that will not only punish the perpetrator, but allow you, the human victim, to recover damages. For example, in Alabama, the anti-cruelty statute provides that any person, who unlawfully, wantonly or maliciously kills, disables, disfigures, destroys or injures any animal or article or commodity of value which is the property of another must, on conviction, be fined not less than twice the value of the injury or damage to the owner of the property nor more than $1,000.00 and may also be imprisoned in the county jail, or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not more than six months, and so much of the fine as may be necessary to repair the injury or loss shall go to the party injured. (Alabama Code Section 3110, emphasis added.) In virtually all states, even where an anti-cruelty law does not mention damages, the caretaker can still generally be compensated for the injury or death of the companion animal if the defendant is convicted. In California, for example, restitution is mandatory for all persons convicted of any crime, and cruelty to animals is no exception. You, or your attorney should contact the local prosecutor’s office, probation department or clerk of the criminal court for more information. Purposely injuring or killing a companion animal is a crime. You should call the local police department or sheriff’s office and file a complaint just as you would if someone stole your car, robbed you, or assaulted you. The police officer, sheriff’s deputy, or humane officer will generally take a report and file the case with the local prosecutor. Citizens are also entitled to file complaints directly with the county prosecutor, which is useful if the local police do not respond as thoroughly as the situation may warrant. THE RELIGIOUS WORD In the beginning, God instructed Adam and Eve to eat only seeds and fruit... " I have given you all plants that bear seed everywhere on earth, and every tree bearing fruit which yields seed: they shall be your meat... " (Genesis 1:29, 30) " Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, except for the fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil " . (Genesis 2:16, 17) Even the animals at this time were vegetarians... " And to the animals on earth, and to all the birds under the heavens, and to everything that creeps over the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so. And God saw everything that He had made and it was good. " (Genesis 1:30) *From the Universal Equalitarian Church The Universal Equalitarian Church “Where All Species are Created Equal” Find out more about Equalitarian religion and our Church! Finally, a Church for all species! To be added to our mailing list, email us at jkwriter TODAY’S VEGAN RECIPE Tofu Chocolate Ice Cream Ingredients: 1 box 12 oz. Mori Nu Soft Silken Tofu, do not use low fat, do not drain 1 12 oz. bag vegan chocolate chips, melted on low heat and cooled 1-2 Tablespoon Vanilla 1 cup Rice Milk or Soy Milk Directions: Put the tofu in a blender and process until very smooth. Add the melted, cooled chocolate and process until well combined, you will have to stop and scrape the sides of the blender. Add the rice milk and vanilla and process until well blended. Pour into a covered container and chill until ready to use. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer directions. This makes a lot of tofu ice cream mix so you may only be able to freeze part of it. Serves: 8 Preparation time: 15 minutes UPCOMING EVENTS Compassion Fest 2002, September 22, 2002: A Celebration of Humanity’s Ability to Extend Compassion to all Creatures in the Circle of Life: Cincinnati, Ohio www.compassionfest.org Worldfest 2002, September 29, 2002: Woodley Park, Van Nuys, California www.worldfestevents.com ACTION ALERT Encourage the U.S. Government to Add Healthful Alternatives to Dairy Products to the School Lunch Program The USDA has extended the deadline for public comments. Please call today and voice your support for soy milk and other milk alternatives in our public school systems. The Special Nutrition Program, part of the Food and Nutrition Service under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is now taking comments about adding soy and rice drinks as alternatives to milk to the food programs in our nation’s public schools. Currently, funding is not readily available for these alternatives and schools are only required to provide them to students with medical conditions that require such an option. With enough support from the public—especially from students, parents, and educators—the Special Nutrition Program will draft a legislative proposal asking Congress to amend the Child Nutrition Acts to make available alternatives to milk in school cafeterias. Please call and write, and ask all your friends and family to do the same, in support of the addition of soy and rice drinks to the food programs in our public schools. Peter Murano, Associate Deputy Administrator Special Nutrition Program USDA Food and Nutrition Service 3101 Park Center Dr. Rm. 510 Alexandria, VA 22302 Tel.: 703-305-2052 Fax: 703-305-2782 *Resource from PETA ***Become a Member of the Animal Farm for POW’s! Help make a difference in the lives of animals! Your membership is 100% tax-deductible! For membership information, visit our website at http://www.powanimalfarm.homestead.com To send comments, reply, or news stories, email: jkwriter To , hit reply and type “Un” in the Subject box. GO VEGAN! THE ANIMAL FARM FOR POW’S P.O. Box 364, Lamar, Missouri 64759 http://www.powanimalfarm.homestead.com “To Provide an Open Range for all Beings to Roam” A Non-Profit Organization Copyright @ 2002 Dixie Publishing _______________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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