IDA E-News: 5-4-05

1. Last Remaining Elephant from Lincoln Park Zoo Dies--Urge USDA to Investigate 2. IDA's May 2005 Auction for the Animals Has Started 3. Oregon Foie Gras Bill Passes Senate, Heads to House!
4. Whole Foods Market Joins Canadian Seafood Boycott to Save the Seals

1. Last Remaining Elephant from Lincoln Park Zoo Dies--Urge USDA to Investigate

We are very sad to report that tragically Wankie, the lone remaining elephant at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, was destroyed Sunday, May 1, at the age of 35. In a move deliberately hidden from concerned citizens and the media, the Lincoln Park Zoo trucked Wankie to the Hogle Zoo in Utah. While being transported 1,400 miles from Chicago to Utah, she reportedly collapsed in Nebraska, about halfway through the trip. Upon arrival at Hogle Zoo, Wankie was dragged from the crate and euthanized.

Wankie is the third elephant to die prematurely at the hands of the Lincoln Park Zoo in six months. After the October death of 35-year-old Tatima and the January death of 55-year-old Peaches, she was left alone without her only companions of more than 30 years.
Evidence suggests that Wankie's death was the direct result of a poorly planned and poorly executed transport. It is incredible that the zoo continued transporting Wankie for some 13 hours while she was down: Elephants cannot stay lying down in a certain way for extended periods as it interferes with their ability to breathe properly and the weight can crush their internal organs.

Section 3.140 of the federal Animal Welfare Act, Care in Transit, states that during surface transportation, "[t]he carrier shall provide any needed veterinary care as soon as possible. No animal in obvious physical distress shall be transported in commerce."

The zoo should have had a proper contingency plan, and it should have been prepared to make an emergency stop at another zoo or facility along the route. Under no circumstances should it have continued transporting Wankie while she was down.

What You Can Do

1. Please ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to launch a full thorough and objective investigation into Wankie's
death:

Chester A. Gipson, D.V.M.
Associate Deputy Administrator
USDA-APHIS-VS
4700 River Rd., Unit 84
Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
301-734-7833
301-734-4993 (fax)
Chester.A.Gipson [at] usda.gov

2. Please also write to your federal legislators and ask them to encourage the USDA to conduct a thorough and objective investigation into the three recent elephant deaths at the Lincoln Park Zoo:

To find your Representative and Senators, go to http://ga0.org/indefenseofanimals/home.html and type in your zip code.

For more information about elephants suffering in zoos, please visit SaveZooElephants.com.

2. IDA's May 2005 Auction for the Animals Has Started

IDA's Auction for the Animals on eBay began May 1, so you can now bid on an array of great items at http://www.ebay.com/ida that will benefit IDA. The auction gives you the opportunity to help IDA help animals while having fun bidding on a wide selection of over 250 elegant, exciting and unique items valued at more than $45,000 that have been donated to IDA for this very special online fundraising event. Auction items include fantastic travel and accommodation packages, special celebrity memorabilia, and tickets for great entertainment and sporting events.

Once you find an item that you like, click on the link to view its description, the current bid price, and how much time is left until the bidding ends. Place your bid and keep an eye on it to make sure that, by the time the bidding ends, it's YOURS.
The auction will run in three waves, one wave per week, with new items added May 1st, 8th and 15th. Visit http://auction.idausa.org for more details.

We are still accepting donated items to sell during the auction, so if you have an item that you would like to contribute, please contact Nicole Otoupalik at (800) 338-4451. All donations are tax deductible. If you already sell on eBay, now is a great time to designate 10-100% of your own auction proceeds to IDA by registering at http://www.missionfish.org/ , the partner of eBay Giving Works.

3. Oregon Foie Gras Bill Passes Senate, Heads to House!

On April 26, the Oregon Senate voted in favor of SB 861 18-8.
The Senate Environment and Land Use Committee previously voted in favor of SB 861 3-1. The bill will now be heard in a committee in the House of Representatives.

Senate Bill 861 would ban one of the cruelest farming procedures used today. Birds raised for this "delicacy" have pipes shoved down their throats and are forced to ingest massive amounts of grain in order to make their livers grow up to ten times their normal size.

At least fifteen countries--including the U.K., Germany, Poland, Denmark, The Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and, most recently, Israel--previously the world's fourth-largest producer--have all outlawed the force-feeding of birds for foie gras because of its inherent cruelty.

What You Can Do

Oregon residents, please contact your state Representative to urge support of this important bill. To find your State Representative visit http://ga0.org/indefenseofanimals/home.html
and enter your zip code.

If you live in one of the states currently considering legislation to ban force-feeding--Illinois, Oregon, Massachusetts, or New York--please visit
http://www.stopforcefeeding.com/page.php?module=article&article_id=25
for information on how you can ensure passage of this humane legislation. If you don't live in a state where legislation is pending to ban foie gras, please contact banfoiegras [at] idausa.org for information on how to begin the process.

4. Whole Foods Market Joins Canadian Seafood Boycott to Save the Seals

Whole Foods Market, Inc. has announced it is suspending any purchase of seafood from Canada, buying, instead from other parts of the world. The company made the decision after learning that fisherman from northwestern coast of Newfoundland and in and around the Magdalen Islands and Prince Edward Island in Canada slaughter baby harp seals in the off-season from fishing to earn extra money by selling the fur.

The company stated, "If it is determined that population control of the seals is necessary for the balance of the ecosystem and health of the seal population, then we will encourage the fisherman and the Canadian government to find more humane ways to achieve this."

In addition to sending notice of its decision to the fishermen in the areas where the seal hunt takes place, the company announced it will provide the Canadian government input on the seal hunt issue at their Seal Forum scheduled for September 2005.
The Canadian seal slaughter is undeniably cruel--baby and juvenile seals are clubbed or shot to death primarily for their pelts--many are skinned while still alive and conscious. The U.S. has long banned imports of seal products, but the market for seal pelts in Europe provides an incentive for the sealers to take to the ice every spring to kill as many seals as they can. This year's hunt, with over 300,000 seals slaughtered, was the largest killing of marine mammals in the world.

What You Can Do

Write, fax, e-mail, or call the nearest Canadian embassy. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you can look up the Canadian embassy in your nation. The contact information for the embassy in Washington, D.C., is below:

The Honourable Frank McKenna
Office of the Ambassador
Canadian Embassy
501 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20001
202-682-1740
Fax: 202-682-7701, 202-682-7678
canada [at] canadianembassy.org

Write to Whole Foods and thank them for taking a compassionate stand. Send letters via an online feedback form at http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/contact/index.html or write to:
John Mackey, CEO
Whole Foods Market, Inc.
550 Bowie Street
Austin, TX 78703-4677
512-482-7000 fax
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Socially Responsible Shopping in Support of IDA

The Vegetarian Site promotes veganism and animal rights by supporting a different non-profit each month. As The Vegetarian Site's charitable beneficiary in May, IDA will receive 10% of all of their sales for the entire month.

All of the products offered by The Vegetarian Site are vegan and made by socially responsible brands. They offer a wide variety of men and women's vegan shoes, books, videos/DVDs, personal care products, clothing, belts and accessories. They sell their wares at comparably low prices, and feature a great number of sale items as well.

Please visit their online store at
http://www.thevegetariansite.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv to shop in support of IDA during the month of May.
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Help Someone Kick the Meat Habit with FARM's Meatout Monday Newsletter If you know someone who says they'd like to cut meat out of their diet but thinks it's too hard, then tell them about Meatout Mondays, a free weekly e-newsletter designed to help those who don't want to quit "cold turkey" kick the meat habit one day at a time - starting with Mondays! Easy and fun to read, Meatout Mondays encourages individuals to make changes at a pace that is comfortable for them, and is an excellent tool for introducing vegetarianism to anyone.

Every week, Meatout Mondays includes tasty vegan recipes, new product and book reviews, important health information, and inspirational stories of people who have changed their lives for the better by cutting animal products from their diets. Click here to read the most recent issue:
http://www.meatoutmondays.org/05-05-02.htm .

Please visit http://www.meatoutmondays.org to review past issues and to subscribe your friends and family members. Meatout Mondays is a free e-newsletter, and individuals can easily unsubscribe at any time.
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The Cat Therapist Shares Her Wisdom

Got cats? Then you could probably use some advice from the Cat Therapist. Click here http://www.idausa.org/cat_therapist/index.html to read her latest column and to read about her new contest, "Men and Their Cats." More and more men are becoming smitten with cats.

Guys: the Cat Therapist wants to find out why you decided to live with a cat and how your cat inspires you. Click here http://www.idausa.org/cat_therapist/men_cats.html to learn more out about the new Cat Therapist contest.