All four animals -horses, pigs, wolves, and bison have been on my
mind this week. There is good news for the pigs of Canada, but
other than that, the news is not good for our horses, wolves and
bison.
PIGS IN CANADA
From Andrew Rowan, President of the Humane Society International:
"The use of gestation crates to continuously confine pregnant pigs
will be phased out in Canada. This landmark decision affects more
than one million animals, and is the most significant victory to
date in our campaign to fight against factory farming."
How wonderful, and for those of us who care about animal suffering,
it is a cause to celebrate - Lent or no! However, nothing was
said about the time table and sadly - conversions like this usually
will not be done overnight. You better believe that when the idea
was first floated to build these gestation crates from hell -it was
done quickly. Let's hope I am wrong, and the impetus for conversion
to more humane dwellings will be swift and compassionate.
Just this week I was glad to read Nicholas Kristof's take on the
cruelty of pig confinement in the Cleveland Plain Dealer-though
animal right orgs like Mercy for Animals and the HSUS have reminded
us often re this cruelty. Here is a paragraph fron Kristof's article:
"They live out their adult lives without social exercise or meaningful
social interaction; it's like a life sentence of solitary confinement
in a coffin, punctuated by artifical insemination and birth. No wonder
the animals' muscles atrophy and they show sign of aggression and
stress." Well said, Mr. Kristof.
Kudos to Canada! I hope that the US is not far behind. Shame on us
that we do not lead in compassion.
WOLVES IN IDAHO AND OREGON.
How I wish that the wolves in Idaho could escape the terrible violent
killing of them there. Per Defenders for Wildlife: "Even as Idaho
launches new and diabolical wolf-killing antics, the neighboring
state of Oregon has become a beacon of hope for wolves and other
wildlife."
Oregonians are celebrating the growing wolf population in their
state. They are becoming a leading light in the practice of non-
lethal stategies for keeping wolves and livestock apart. The
wolves are basically residing in the Umatilla National Forest
under the watchful eyes of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatila
Indian Reservation.
Oregon's most famous lone wolf, OR-7, continues to make news as
he wanders along both sides of the California border. Oregon in
these early days of wolf recovery is showing great promise as
a shining example of how to do wolf recovery right.
THE PLIGHT OF OUR HORSES
What is holding up the passage of the SAFE Act which would immediately
stop any horse slaughter in the US and prevent our horses from being
snatched by the meat men at auction who send them to Mexico and Canada
for slaughter?
The answer to that is that there are not enough co-sponsors for the
SAFE Act. If you say you care about horses, I have to ask you - have
you written your 3 Congressional legislators asking them to co-sponsor
this act? I have, but sadly my Ohio legislators are not compassionate.
If you haven't written your legislators, then I am sorry to say but you
really don't care about horses.
Today I got a message from a horse organization which warned us, that
despite Senator Mary Landrieu's wonderful amendment to an appropriation
bill which withholds funds for meat inspection in America -this is only
a temporary fix.
Per this newsletter, a US Senator has secretly introduced a bill to
give the Killer Buyers the funding they need, and that this could come
for a vote any day now.
And even worse, they claim that some Killer Buyers are threatening
to sue our government to force horse slaughter to resume in America.
Please take the time now to write or e-mail your Representative and
two Senators that you care about what happens to our beautiful horses
and don't want horse slaughter houses to start up in the US as well
as putting an immediate stop to their being sent to Mexico and Canada
for slaughter. Just ask them to support the SAFE Act.
THREATENED BISON
Unbelievable - the slaughtering of bison. Comfrey Jacobs- concerned
for wild bison being threatened, placed his life on the line by blocking
the access road to Yellowstone National Park's Stephens Creek bison
trap. He hoped to prevent more of the last of America's wild migratory
bison to be shipped for slaughter.
What's wrong with us? All we seem to know how to do is to slaughter
wildlife like the wolves and coyotes and now the bison as well.
Per the Buffalo Field Campaign: "To date, approximately 450 wild buffalo
have been captured in Yellowstone National Park's Stephens Creek bison
trap, located in the Gardiner Basin. Most of the buffalo have been and
will be shipped to slaughter while some are going to government research
facilities. To date, more than 200 bison have been shipped to slaughter
and 250 more have been killed by hunters."
In my opinion, our government is not protecting wildlife - they are
making them available for hunting and slaughtering. I thought the Wildlife
Division was suppose to protect wildlife. Well you could have fooled me.
Twenty year old Comfrey Jacobs has more sense and compassion than most of the
Interior Department and the Wildlife Division put together. He was quoted
as saying:
"During my time in Gardiner I was feeling helpless as I watched wild
buffalo lured and trapped, fed hay like livestock, tortured with sorting
and testing, and eventually crammed into livestock trailers headed for
slaughter facilities, while simultaneously bison were being hunted just
outside the Park boundary."
When it comes to animal management in the United States, I find nothing
to prove that our country is caring and compassionate toward animals.
And to young Jacobs who blocked the road to prevent trailers from accessing
the trap by handcuffing himself to a hunter orange 55-gallon barrel filled
with concrete, and wire-mesh webbing spanning the entrance to the roadway,
I say you are indeed a beautiful, caring, and brave young man. May all
those who believe as you do, rally behind you as you face the penalties
for exercising civil disobedience. I only wish that I had your courage
and compassion.
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