Tag Archives: animal abuse

What More Can We Say to Hunters?

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Yesterday a loyal reader sent the following comment in response to my post, Top Ten Retorts to Hunter Fallacies: “Trying to talk with people who won’t listen takes us nowhere. They are going to hunt and their mythology and ideology that excuse the killing are the voices they hear.”

Well, I agree—I’ve known that for a long time now. The fact is I never really write anything in hopes of changing hunters or talking them out of their blood sport.

I know that killing animals is too much in their blood (so to speak) to expect them to change for the better. As if to prove this point, a typical hunter tried (unsuccessfully) to leave this comment to a post about a man shooting and killing his grandson in a hunting accident. It started out like so many others, with “You people…” (a dead giveaway that it’s going to be from a hunter, and therefore unworthy of approval): “…are fucking idiots. This grandfather is suffering the worst tragedy of his natural life, and you people make it into a gun control issue. How do you think you all are able to go out and eat a steak dinner, or a chicken wrap, or any other meat product? Animals were put on earth to feed humans, period. Get your heads out of your asses, morons!!!”

If killing their own grandsons is not reason enough for them to swear off hunting, I don’t know what else to say to them.

Call it preaching to the choir, but the things I write, like the Top Ten Retorts to Hunter Fallacies are in fact either to inform or entertain my fellow advocates.

Not that they need to be educated. But the magnanimous few occasionally may need affirmation or a ready list of replies to the same old, worn out hunter dogma that have a little more thought behind them than, “Get your heads out of your asses, morons!”

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2015. All Rights Reserved

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2015. All Rights Reserved

 

Corps Has “Removed” 125 Cormorants (So Far)

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http://tdn.com/news/local/corps-has-removed-cormorants-eggs-from-east-sand-island/article_c21937cc-fd1a-5743-b27d-1cb40ff8a81a.html
June 12, 2015  •  By Shari Phiel

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During the day, crews from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services typically survey the island and the cormorants’ habitat, corps spokesman Matthew Eppard said Friday.

The birds are shot at night using rifles equipped with silencers and lead-free ammunition, as required by the environmental impact statement. Teams work in two and threes and are armed with .22 caliber rifles, using night vision scopes. Shooting at night is meant to reduce disturbances to other species and also helps hunters identify cormorants that have chicks (they’re trying to avoid killing roosting pairs to avoid leaving hatchlings without parents).

Shot cormorants are removed from the island and surrounding waters as quickly as possible using all-terrain vehicles and small, inflatable boats. They’re taken to a nearby disposal area where they are either buried or incinerated.

Current plans are to continue removing birds from the island for several more months.

“I know it will go into the fall,” Eppard said.

The corps has said it needs to substantially reduce the number of cormorants in the Columbia River estuary to protect salmon and steelhead runs protected by the Endangered Species Act. The corps’ three-year plan calls for killing about 11,000 adult birds, more than a third of the 30,000 birds on the island, and spraying vegetable oil on more than 15,000 eggs to keep them from hatching.

A federal judge earlier this month rejected an attempt by a coalition of animal rights groups to block the project. District Court Judge Michael Simon said the groups failed to show the plan would cause irreparable harm to the species, which biologists say eat millions of juvenile salmon annually.

Each Thursday by 9 a.m. the corps will update results from culling and egg oiling that occurred during the previous week on the cormorant EIS web page at http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Current.

URGENT! Frogs to Be Impaled for School Fundraiser!

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american-bullfrog© iStock.com/Sir_Eagle

“Gigging” is an especially barbaric form of hunting that involves stabbing small animals through the body with pitchfork-like spears called “gigs,” causing victims to endure slow, agonizing deaths from shock, organ failure, or blood loss. Despite a public outcry, a Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation program in DeKalb County is encouraging students and other members of the community to gig up to 15 frogs each as part of its annual “Giggin’ for Grads” fundraiser to benefit one graduating high school senior. The event is scheduled for June 19, so your voice is desperately needed today!

Please urge Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation and DeKalb County School District officials to put a stop to this exceedingly inhumane event, and then share this alert widely. Remind them that there are many ways to raise money that don’t involve cruelty to animals.

Polite comments can be directed to:

  • Danielle Collins, Interim Director of Schools
    DeKalb County School District
    615-215-2116
    dcollins@k12tn.net (or please click here to send an e-mail)http://www.peta.org/action/action-alerts/urgent-frogs-impaled-school-fundraiser/

Remember trying to walk home from school?

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https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/8521237-remember-trying-to-walk-home-from-school

by Susie Duncan Sexton

description A Yale professor, who spoke of teaching the -ISMS (racism, ageism, sexism), said that never did he have more dissension or hatefulness issuing from students than when he attempted to teach SPECIESISM.

He believed the collective guilt of having already eaten meat for a lifetime and laughing at animals and never stopping to face the reality of all the abuse other species suffer at the hands of humans is the primary reason humans become so stubbornly heinous. Yet, some of us become compassionate and wish to change. We are the true brave hearts. The others are cowards playing with murderous weapons. Nothing but cowards.

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And as usual they – those who want to make an ugly point of their God(?)-given “dominion” over, well, everything, it seems – are once again taking their vileness and coarseness and ignorance out on the innocent – even stepping it up. Pretty odd stuff – sociopathic and psychopathic and bizarre. A bully is a bully is a bully.

Those types are as nuts toward humans as they are animals, in spite of any insincere attempts (on their part) at denial of such. Often…usually always…the swaggering grows due to gang-like behavior. Humans trying to impress other humans and to be accepted in some nightmarish club or other. Just unbelievable to observe.

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But so goes history….ethnic cleansings, world wars, crusades, feeding ____ to lions, gladiator contests, rodeos, bull-fights, turtle tossing, quail shooting, and ………………… and all manner of kinky, mean, smug, creepy, stupid stuff.

Remember trying to walk home from school? And the little cliques that lay in wait? Well, those kids never change. And they seldom seem to pay for their nasty behavior. They manage to raise their little fists and display their Wal-Mart weapons in photo ops because maybe they really always wanted to be movie stars or quarterbacks or cowboys or roller derby dolls or something?

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And they should have been disciplined by parents (who often maneuvered their way on to school boards) or teachers (who often wish to be popular with the meanest kids so that their work day goes smoother!).

C’mon 99% can relate to the horrors of the public school system then and now. Same old same old. And look where we all are today…putting up with the ugly fireworks I just described and whatever else the entitled want to impose on the rest of us.

______________________

Secrets of an Old Typewriter Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl by Susie Duncan Sexton

More Secrets of an Old Typewriter Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels by Susie Duncan Sexton

Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels – print and ebook versions of both are available on Amazon (click the title).

The books are also carried by these fine retailers: Ann Arbor’s Bookbound and Common Language; Columbia City’s North Side Grille and Whitley County Historical Museum; and Fort Wayne’s The Bookmark.

And you can download from iTunes.

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can’t … Or Won’t

Zoos Bring Out the Worst

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http://www.komonews.com/news/national/Elephant-escapes-from-circus-kills-man-in-Germany-307258541.html

Elephant escapes from circus, kills man in Germany

By Associated Press Published: Jun 13, 2015 at 8:52 AM PDT

BERLIN (AP) – A German man taking his regular morning stroll was killed by an elephant who had escaped from a nearby circus, police said Saturday.

The 65-year-old man was walking in the woods near Buchen, a town in southwest Germany, when the African elephant attacked him shortly after 5 a.m. (0300 GMT), said Heidelberg police spokeswoman Yvonne Schmierer. She declined to say what injuries the unnamed man suffered.

The 34-year-old female elephant, called ‘Baby,’ was captured and returned to the circus. Police are now investigating whether someone let the elephant out of its secure enclosure, and why the animal acted aggressively toward the man.

“There’s evidence of third party involvement,” said Schmierer. “Either someone forgot to shut the enclosure, or the elephant was released intentionally.”

German news agency dpa reported that the elephant had previously injured people. It quoted a representative of the German branch of animal rights group PETA calling for authorities to take the elephant away from the circus.

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Gored bullfighter who lost testicle glad ‘nothing vital’ was damaged

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/11663285/Gored-bullfighter-who-lost-testicle-glad-nothing-vital-was-damaged.html

Marco Galán, a bullfighter who lost a testicle after being gored, says he is relieved “no serious damage was done”

Spanish assistant bullfighter Marco Galan is tackled by a bull in Madrid

Spanish assistant bullfighter Marco Galan is tackled by a bull in Madrid Photo: REUTERS/Javier Barbancho

By James Badcock, Madrid

5:45PM BST 09 Jun 2015

Marco Galán, a bullfighter who lost a testicle after being gored at Madrid’s Las Ventas bullring, said on Tuesday he was relieved that “no serious damage had been done”.

Mr Galán, a banderillero, was caught by a bull on Sunday as he was driving two decorated iron-tipped batons (banderillas) into the beast’s shoulders.

“I didn’t want to pull out of the move and the bull caught me; that’s bullfighting,” Mr Galán said from hospital. “But I am happy because things looked bleak there for a while.

“It turns out that the goring is quite a clean one and didn’t touch anything vital.”

Mr Galan during the fight (REUTERS/Javier Barbancho)

He was hoping to leave hospital on Tuesday and return home with his wife to recuperate before returning to the bullring. The couple do not have any children.

Animal rights groups have criticised the battered bullfighter for taking part in the blood sport.

“Banderillero Marco Galán’s injuring a testicle in the bullring will undoubtedly have been a painful tragedy for him personally, but the cruel and bloody spectacle of bullfighting is a national tragedy for the reputation of Spain,” said Wendy Higgins, the European spokesperson of Humane Society International, an animal rights association.

Mr Galán said the Spanish breed of fighting bulls are born for combat in the ring and lead a “pampered existence” in the countryside before their day of destiny arrives.

“But I don’t care what they say. Just let people do what they want and enjoy the art of bullfighting and stop criticising something they don’t know,” he said.

 

 

Animal Rights Activist Being Sent to Jail: “The Animals Have it Far Worse.”

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Animal Rights Activist Being Sent to Jail: “The Animals Have it Far Worse.”

Amber Canavan is spending the month of July in jail. Her crime? Entering a foie gras facility, where tens of thousands of ducks are intensively confined and force fed through metal pipes, and rescuing two of them.

Amber Canavan entered Hudson Valley Foie Gras to document and expose the cruelty

“We still live in a world where people who commit the abuses are victims and those who expose them are criminals,” said Ms. Canavan. “I don’t want to go to jail, but my time there will be a cakewalk compared to what animals are forced to endure in foie gras factories.”

Ducks cower in fear at the side of their cage at Hudson Valley Foie Gras (photo: still shot from footage taken by Amber Canavan)

In 2011, Ms. Canavan and another activist whose identity she has protected paid a late night visit to Hudson Valley Foie Gras in upstate New York, the largest foie gras producer in the United States. While there, she documented the “deplorable” conditions in which the ducks are kept. The footage she captured was used in a foie gras exposé produced by the Animal Protection and Rescue League and narrated by actress Wendy Malick.

In February, the NY Times published a lengthy story about the incident, which linked to the video and informed readers about the “force feeding” required to produce this “controversial” dish. “I take comfort in the fact the NY Times article and the footage that I took have helped to expose the atrocities being committed against these animals,” said Ms. Canavan.

Excerpt from NY Times story about Amber Canavan and Hudson Valley Foie Gras

After several weeks of intensive care, the two ducks rescued by Ms. Canavan recovered from their injuries and are “flourishing” at a sanctuary, where they have access to fresh air, proper care and water for swimming. Ducks and geese are aquatic animals, but they have no access to water in foie gras factories.

Ducks are aquatic animals but have no access to water in foie gras factories. These two ducks were rescued by Amber Canavan.

Liberemos a Paul Watson de la persecución de las Mafias de la Pesca Ilegal

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This petition is awaiting approval by the Avaaz Community
Liberemos a Paul Watson de la persecución de las Mafias de la Pesca Ilegal
100,000
82,123

82,123 signers. Let’s reach 100,000

The greedy interests of the very few who enrich themselves ravaging the life seas have turned his main defender, captain Paul Watson, a fugitive from the supposed “justice”. They are using no other than the courts of the country that boasts itself as “environmentalist”, which chase him for nearly thirteen years with a judicial cause invented by illegal shark fishermen and supported by illegal fishing mafias who kill marine wildlife in cold blood and without restrictions. It’s time to say “ENOUGH” to such injustice!

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Fiscalia_CR_Liberemos_a_Paul_Watson_de_la_persecucion_de_las_Mafias_de_la_Pesca_Ilegal/edit

Transform Rattlesnake Roundups Into Humane Festivals

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https://takeaction.takepart.com/actions/transform-rattlesnake-roundups-into-a-humane-festival?cmpid=action-eml-recurring-snakes

In most towns it would be considered unthinkably cruel to have a contest where citizens catch and kill an animal with no limit. But in the Southeast two rattlesnake “roundups” still exist where killing wildlife is supposed fun.

The target of the two roundups—in Whigham, Georgia, and Opp, Alabama—is the rare eastern diamondback rattlesnake. Populations of the snake have been so destroyed that, following a Center petition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that these rattlers may need protection as an endangered species.

Rattlesnakes play a key role in the food web, especially in terms of rodent control. Because hunters often use gasoline to drive snakes from their dens, roundups are also harmful to hundreds of other species that share the dens as a home.https://takeaction.takepart.com/actions/transform-rattlesnake-roundups-into-a-humane-festival?cmpid=action-eml-recurring-snakes.

Take action below: Urge the mayors of Whigham and Opp to convert their roundups into wildlife-friendly festivals where no snakes are killed.

Transform Rattlesnake Roundups Into Humane Festivals

(Photo:Kristian Bell/Getty Images)

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At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.