United Poultry Concerns <https://www.UPC-online.org>
15 June 2023
 

 
Thinking Like a Chicken Podcast – News & Views!
 
In today’s podcast I discuss the advantages versus the disadvantages of
Single-Issue Campaigns for animals, including the difference between
Focused Campaigns and Closed-Circle Campaigns and why this difference
matters. Please join me.
 
 
*Listen to the Podcast
<https://www.upc-online.org/podcasts/230616_focused_campaigns_versus_closed_circle_campaigns-what_would_a_chicken_say.html#podcast>*
 
 
Transcript
 
*Focused Campaigns versus Closed Circle Campaigns: What Would a Chicken
Say?*
Hello, and thank you for joining me today. I’m Karen Davis, the founder and
president of United Poultry Concerns, a nonprofit organization that
promotes compassion and respect for chickens, turkeys, ducks, and other
domesticated birds. Today’s podcast reflects an article I wrote a few years
ago in response to the claim by some members of the animal advocacy
community that what they call “single-issue” campaigns blocks the
advancement of animal liberation and veganism.
 
So I am in Brooklyn, New York on a fall day looking at a stack of crates on
the sidewalk filled with live chickens. Sickened by this sight, do I, as an
animal rights activist, just skip over the chickens and proceed to tell
anyone who will listen to Go Vegan?
 
What if a passerby is upset about the chickens crammed in the crates
without food, water or shelter, and asks what can be done to help them? Do
I simply say that these particular chickens are suffering for a sacrificial
ritual, then move on to note that the ritual, while totally cruel, is no
worse than what chickens go through in slaughterhouses every day, urge the
person to Go Vegan and proceed to expound the philosophy of Abolition or
Nothing?
 
Will ignoring the chickens in front of our eyes advance the abolition of
all animal abuse better than if we paid attention to these particular
victims who are helplessly suffering right in front of us?
 
For some Abolitionists, all campaigns focusing on particular animals- in
this case chickens used for a brutal sacrifice – frustrate the ultimate,
worldwide goal of Abolition, Animal Rights, and Veganism. (Veganism most
broadly is a philosophic and practical commitment to justice, compassion,
and nonviolence.) My organization, United Poultry Concerns, promotes the
compassionate and respectful treatment of domesticated birds with a focus
on birds in the agribusiness sector. Does our focus hamper efforts to
liberate all animals from all forms of oppression everywhere on the planet?
 
A point to consider is that every category of animal, animal abuse, and
advocacy can be called “single issue,” whether the category is Chickens,
Farmed Animals, Furbearing Animals, Aquatic Animals, Rodeos, SeaWorld, Save
the Elephants, Vivisection, or other categories.
 
Campaigns on behalf of specific human groups have been waged throughout
history. Was the campaign to end Apartheid in South Africa a “single-issue”
campaign that thwarted the overall effort to liberate people everywhere
from legalized discrimination? What about the women’s movement or the civil
rights movement or the LGBTQ movement in America? Aren’t they “single
issues” within the universal drive for social justice? And do they not
break down further into specific campaigns for voting rights, equal
opportunity in education, housing, sports, and employment?
 
If so, then we must ask whether addressing a particular category of animals
or animal abuse necessarily precludes advocacy on behalf of all animals.
Does focusing on chickens prevent me from putting their suffering within a
broader range of issues? My experience as a Chicken Rights activist for 33
years, since 1990, says that one can develop the skills to do this while
pursuing specific objectives.
 
One can, because a focused objective and the Big Picture are not separate.
Cockfighting, for example, is one “detail” within the larger dimension of
staged animal fights within the broad category of using animals for
entertainment. Using animals for entertainment is part of an entire system
of animal abuse in which the individuals of other species are defined by
humans as property, objects, commodities and resources, without dignity or
rights.
 
Paradoxically, instead of a “detail” versus “dimension” divide (“single
issue” versus Big Picture), the dimensions are in the details and vice
versa, similar to the paradox of individuality and ecology. “I am in the
world, the world is in me,” is how the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead
summarized the cosmic interaction between the Unit and the Ubiquity.
 
 
 
*Closed Circle Campaigns*
That said, not all single issues are the same. Some are closed circles. An
example of a closed circle approach to helping animals is where one group
of exploited animals is used as bait to win funding and favor for another
group. A fundraiser for dogs and cats featuring a chicken dinner,
reassuring your member of Congress that while you oppose experimenting on
animals you have no objection to hunting, fishing or eating them – this
type of advocacy is a closed circle. By contrast, even though United
Poultry Concerns focuses on the plight of birds in the food industry, we
would not hold a fundraiser featuring a lobster dinner or raffle a fur coat
to raise money for our chicken sanctuary. We would not lobby Congress for
chickens at the expense of other animals.
 
 
 
*Thinking Like a Chicken*
Every campaign for animals provides an opportunity to promote the goal of
animal liberation. I like the term animal liberation better than abolition
because animal liberation is a positive sounding goal that highlights the
animals themselves. It’s easy for the animals to disappear in closed-circle
discourse about Ideology and Food. Exclusive use of the word VEGAN can get
in the way of the animals’ faces, their experience, their particular
situation. As animal advocates, we cannot let this happen.
 
In a debate about single issue campaigns, prompted by an Abolitionist
critique of the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos
<http://www.endchickensaskaporos.com/> (a project of United Poultry
Concerns), Alliance cofounder, Rina Deych, of Brooklyn, New York, wrote:
“While I completely agree that veganism should be promoted, I do not agree
that so-called single issue campaigns and the promotion of veganism are
mutually exclusive. In fact, many people (including myself) became vegan
after becoming sensitized to the individual issues. Not all of us can
relate to the concept of tens of billions of animals being slaughtered for
food. For many of us, it becomes a reality when we see one animal suffering
(and, hopefully, ultimately being saved). It’s harder to block out that one
image than one of a sea of animals we can conveniently blur into one blob
and tuck away into our unconscious mind and ignore.”
 
The poet William Blake said that we must learn to see the universe in a
grain of sand. Similarly, animal activists must strive to insinuate vegan
advocacy and animal liberation into all of our efforts to help nonhuman
animals. We must advocate passionately for the ultimate goal of Animal
Liberation – and we must advocate with equal justice, passion and
conviction, and do the very best we can, for *these birds, this bird* who
is alive in the flesh, just like ourselves, in the here and now. *These
birds, this bird* needs and deserves our focused attention, our immediate
help, even as we work to liberate all animals from the tragedy of misery
and oppression that we have brought to them.
 
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast and that you will share it with your
social media network. Please join me for the next podcast episode of *Thinking
Like a Chicken – News & Views!* And have a wonderful day.
 
 
KAREN DAVIS, PhD is the President and Founder of United Poultry Concerns, a
nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful
treatment of domestic fowl including a sanctuary for chickens in Virginia.
Inducted into the National Animal Rights Hall of Fame for Outstanding
Contributions to Animal Liberation, Karen is the author of numerous books,
essays, articles and campaigns. Her latest book is *For the Birds: From
Exploitation to Liberation: Essays on Chickens, Turkeys, and Other
Domesticated Fowl* published by Lantern Publications & Media.
 
—
United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes
the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl.
Don’t just switch from beef to chicken. Go Vegan.
https://www.UPC-online.org/ http://www.twitter.com/upcnews
https://www.facebook.com/UnitedPoultryConcerns
 
View this article online
<https://www.upc-online.org/podcasts/230616_focused_campaigns_versus_closed_circle_campaigns-what_would_a_chicken_say.html>

• Updated: Jun. 13, 2023, 1:50 p.m.|
• Published: Jun. 13, 2023, 12:05 p.m.

4,084

https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2023/06/its-triplets-for-this-incredibly-rare-nw-mammal.html

shares

By 

• Chuck Thompson, Columbia Insight

More good news for wolverine fans. On June 3, Cascades Carnivore Project announced the discovery of three new baby wolverines (called kits or cubs) in the South Cascades in Washington.

The mother is “Joni,” a wolverine that has now given birth for the past four years.

“Heather Rolph, Cascades Carnivore Project field crew lead, made this rare discovery when checking one of our wolverine integrated monitoring stations that has been running just outside [Mount Rainier National Park] all winter long,” said Jocelyn Akins, the organization’s conservation director, in an email.

Joni was first discovered in 2019 near Paradise at the park and named after Joni Mitchell.

During spring 2020, as landslides and then the global pandemic closed access to the park, Joni—and her mate—more or less had the park to themselves. That same spring, CCC discovered Joni had a litter of kits, marking the return of a wolverine population after a century.

The father of the new triplets is likely a wolverine named “Van.”

“Joni’s territory is within (Van’s) territory and they are often photographed at our stations together,” Akins told Columbia Insight. “We first discovered him near Bumping Lake on the William O. Douglas Wilderness (in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest) in 2017. He is a big, old wolverine. His home range extends from the headwaters of the Little Naches River, almost to Snoqualmie Pass, across the Norse Peak Wilderness, across the entire Mount Rainier National Park and down toward White Pass.”

https://473ee4b270aa061902b56c2e351c6f4c.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

Despite the ongoing births, wolverines still have it tough. For Joni, finding find food for herself and her kits is a daily challenge, according to Akins.

“We continue to monitor the small and growing South Cascades wolverine population in the hopes of new individuals arriving, possibly from the north, as we work to understand what is needed for the wolverine to regain its foothold in Washington’s Cascades,” said Akins.

Chuck Thompson is editor of Columbia Insight.

##

Columbia Insight, based in Hood River, Oregon, is nonprofit news site focused on environmental issues of the Columbia River Basin.

• By Nina Wu 
• Today 
• Updated 10:48 am

• https://www.staradvertiser.com/2023/06/14/breaking-news/young-hawaiian-monk-seal-found-dead-on-oahu/

Unlimited access to premium stories for as low as $12.95 /mo.

Get It Now

• COURTESY HAWAII MARINE RESPONSEHawaiian monk seal pup RS48, also known as Hoʻomau Lehua, was found dead on June 12 on Oahu’s North Shore.

Another endangered Hawaiian monk seal has been found dead on Oahu, according to federal wildlife officials.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a young, female monk seal, identified as RS48 and known to many as Ho‘omau Lehua, was found dead on Monday on Oahu’s North Shore. She was just under four months old.

NOAA said a post-mortem exam will be conducted to determine the cause of her death, which remains unknown at this time.

The discovery of Ho‘omau Lehua’s death occurred three months after another seal, Malama, was found dead at Ohikilolo on Oahu’s west side on March 12.

A post-mortem exam revealed that Malama died of blunt force trauma suspected to be an intentional killing, and NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to successful prosecution.

NOAA said Ho‘omau Lehua was born Feb. 23 to a seal known as Lei Ola, or RH48.

Don’t miss out on what’s happening!

Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. Best of all, it’s FREE to sign up!Get It Now

By clicking submit, you agree to Star-Advertiser’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

With only about 1,500 left in the wild, Hawaiian monk seals are one of the most endangered seal species in the world, protected by state and federal laws.

Anyone with information should contact the NOAA Enforcement hotline at 800-853-1964.

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson

from HSUS.org

June 09, 2023

For too many years, horse racing has treated horses as mere commodities, routinely seeing its athletes die on the field and discounting such deaths as the cost of doing business. iStock.com

On June 2, Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, suspended horse racing upon the recommendation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority after 12 horses died in a span of a few weeks at the track.

Just 10 days prior the Authority finally gained the power to fully enforce the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, landmark legislation that passed in 2020. After the recent spate of horse deaths, the Authority recommended that Churchill Downs suspend racing and conduct an extensive safety review. Remarkably, the track heeded this call.

We are determined that this be just the first of many such racing industry moves that prioritize horse safety and welfare. This moment is the culmination of years of advocacy and collaboration with forward-thinking industry leaders. Despite repeated attempts by some industry outliers to block these reforms, the Authority can finally fully enforce the HISA’s racetrack safety and anti-doping measures. Trainers with records of horse fatalities and drug violations who have remained seemingly untouched by the scandals that surround them may finally come to reckon with the penalties they deserve.

But the Authority still faces obstruction within the industry, most notably from the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which has filed lawsuit after lawsuit to block the changes the HISA seeks to make.

In listening to the Authority and stepping up to halt operations and prioritize horse safety, Churchill Downs has done the right thing. This act of responsibility and transparency is a step toward reforming horse racing, but more needs to be done.

No more lives can be lost. Nothing can bring back those 12 horses who perished at Churchill Downs, nor the hundreds who have died over the years in accidents at tracks across the country that may have been prevented. Anyone obstructing reforms that put animal welfare first in horse racing cares not at all for the equines that make the sport possible. To laud these horses and yet see their injuries and deaths as a mere cost of doing business is a truly brutal way to treat these animals.

As the final race of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, approaches this weekend, we are insisting that horse racing should not be a matter of life or death.

Sara Amundson is president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund.

The post In historic move, Churchill Downs suspends racing after 12 horses die at the track appeared first on A Humane World.

Related Stories

• There is simply no way to make horse slaughter humane
• It’s time to put an end to mink farming
• It’s time to put an end to mink farming – Enclosure