Vote for Animal Rights Changemakers

by Stephanie Ernst

category: Activism and Actions

Published October 23, 2009 @ 10:30AM PT

In the past few weeks, even though I've neglected to write about it, you've possibly nevertheless seen a new section of Change.org devoted to "Changemakers," where you can vote for various people of prominence within individual causes "who have demonstrated the ability to create change on one or more issues of importance." Eventually, some of these folks "will be invited to periodically write on an issue they’re passionate about and have their content featured on Change.org." See the FAQ here.

You have 10 votes to use across the Changemakers voting (i.e., not 10 votes per cause), and you can nominate new people as well as vote for some of the nominees already listed in the Animal Rights category, including the fellas pictured above, for example (click on the names to vote):

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In the Blogs: Fur Farms, Reforms, Strategies, Shelters, and More

by Stephanie Ernst

category: Animals in the Blogs roundups

Published October 22, 2009 @ 03:03PM PT

Image by Mike Licht, uploaded to Flickr

Prepare yourselves: now that I've found the above perfect image, I may have to use it regularly. Anyway... on to the roundup! It's a long one.

On Michigan's Animal Welfare Reforms from Animal Place Sanctuary

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child from easyVegan.info

Toward an Awareness of All Victims from Animals & Society Institute Diary

The Power of a Word from Vegan Feminist Agitator

Two Thumbs Up for Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet from heeb'n'vegan

Holistic Veganism from L.O.V.E.

Bound Angels – Videos of LAAS Shelter Animals from The Vegan Collection

Breyer v. AVMA from Animal Law Blog

Utah Impedes Fur Farm Protest from Digging Through the Dirt

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"Shooting a Moose Is an Accomplishment Whether You're 12 or 38"

by Stephanie Ernst

categories: Hunting, Wildlife/FreeLiving Animals

Published October 22, 2009 @ 04:03AM PT

The latest in the ongoing series of "Yay! We taught kids to kill!" stories: "12-Year-Old Bags a Moose in Hunt of a Lifetime."

"I feel really happy and proud,’’ Kelly said Wednesday. "Shooting a moose is an accomplishment whether you’re 12 or 38 – you’re going to put the same amount of effort into it. It’s a big sense of accomplishment because I am 12. The moose is as wide as I am tall. I can sit inside his antlers.’’

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Green Scare Updates: SHAC 7, Knowing Your Rights, and Double Standards

by Stephanie Ernst

categories: Activism and Actions, Green Scare, Politics and Law

Published October 21, 2009 @ 08:17AM PT

The usual weekly (or biweekly, sometimes, I know) Animals in the Blogs roundup is on its way soon, but in advance of that, I want to direct you to the latest goings-on at Green Is the New Red in a separate post because Will Potter has published multiple important reports this past week. For example, as many know by now, the SHAC 7 conviction was upheld, and this is bad news for all activists, as Will notes:

This case is much bigger than the SHAC 7, and it is bigger than the animal rights movement. The AETA 4 are facing terrorism charges for chalking slogans and protesting with masks. Climate groups are organizing massive civil disobedience campaigns. These movements continue to grow, and so does the crackdown against them.

This is critical time in American history. Corporations, working alongside ambitious prosecutors, are radically expanding cultural and legal conceptions of “terrorism” in order to push a political agenda. Mainstream animal and environmental groups, the press, civil liberties groups, they have all largely remained silent on this historic case. As a result, this appellate court has issued its sweeping ruling with impunity.

Appellate Court: Encouraging Civil Disobedience Is Not Protected Speech: Will examines the SHAC 7 ruling and its implications in detail here. This post is a must-read.

Pet Shop Protesters Shot -- Will It Be Labeled Terrorism?: "If an animal rights activist had committed a crime like this, against an animal researcher for instance, they would undoubtedly be prosecuted as a 'terrorist' under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act."

Activist to Iowa Grand Jury: “We will not be intimidated. We will not cooperate.”

Know Your Rights Booklet for Activists (image, above, of the booklet cover courtesy of the Center for Constitutional Rights)

Worldwatch: Livestock Account for 51% Greenhouse Gases; Meat and Dairy Must Be Replaced

by Stephanie Ernst

categories: Environment and Global Warming, Farm Animals

Published October 20, 2009 @ 04:26PM PT

An article just published by the Worldwatch Institute's World Watch magazine comes to some must-read -- and must-heed -- conclusions (my thanks to Laura P. for alerting me). Environmental researchers Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang have determined that even the high percentage of greenhouse gases for which we already understand animal agriculture to be responsible is a gross underestimate (emphasis in the following is mine):

Our analysis shows that livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32,564 million tons of CO2e [CO2 equivalent] per year, or 51 percent of annual GHG emissions.

This is a strong claim that requires strong evidence, so we will thoroughly review the direct and indirect sources of GHG emissions from livestock. Some of these are obvious but underestimated, some are simply overlooked, and some are emissions sources that are already counted but have been assigned to the wrong sectors.

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Illinois: Where Hog Farming Dollars Trump Environment and Human Health

by Stephanie Ernst

categories: Environment and Global Warming, Farm Animals, Politics and Law

Published October 20, 2009 @ 06:56AM PT

Illinois is a hog farming state. If you live in more rural areas of Illinois, you probably know at least one hog farmer. Having grown up there, I directly know at least three, with at least one of these operations being a CAFO -- run by members of my own family. Only Iowa, North Carolina, and Minnesota are home to more hog farms (and hogs) than Illinois.

So given the numbers and the pull of Illinois' pig farmers and its trade group, the Illinois Pork Producers, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised by the story I just learned of this morning. Two and a half years ago, in a rural area near Springfield, a farmer was preparing to start an operation in which he would raise 3,750 pigs for slaughter at a time. Neighbors objected. And they were dismissed. And now the court has ruled that they owe the hog farmer damages.

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Sadness to Sweetness

by Stephanie Ernst

categories: Animal Profiles, Farm Animals, Investigations and Rescues, Videos

Published October 19, 2009 @ 02:40PM PT

Perhaps you've read Angelo's story by now? Angelo is a lamb. He was born last month -- while his mother was crammed in a truck of sheep bound for slaughter in New York. His mother and the other hundred sheep met their horrible fate, but a passerby rescued Angelo upon seeing his newborn figure during the unloading. Like nearly all the nonhuman animals we exploit for their flesh, milk, eggs, skin, wool, and more, Angelo did not get to know his mother. And she did not get to know him. She didn't experience just the usual trauma of transport, abuse, intense fear, and violent death -- she simultaneously had to experience the loss of her baby, the distress of not being able to comfort him, care for him, or even know what became of him after his birth. And a newborn lamb was left without a mother in a frightening new world.

But Angelo is still one of the rarest of the rare; he was rescued instead of slaughtered and taken to Farm Sanctuary. And though it's impossible not to mourn for him and mourn for his mother -- and for the billions of others like them -- there is still joy to be found in witnessing Angelo's now-protected life. Following are 75 seconds of a baby's bliss (and other sanctuary residents' curious interest in the energetic young fellow):
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