Feature Archives

It appears to be that many animals in New Orleans died because Governor of LA Kathleen Blanco, FEMA and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin did not allow people affected by Hurricane Katrina to stay with their pets or to return to New Orleans to rescue their loved family pet members. Some 40,000 companion animals reportedly died because they had been left at home, either starving to death or suffering from injuries. Some pets who survived have been lost in the system because it took organizations several months to get organized enough to be able to list so many rescued animals. Many people have complained about incompetence of Humane Services of the United States in particular, saying that HSUS lost their pets in "the system." Volunteers in many areas are still overwhelmed with trying to take care of the displaced animals: Needs Assessment as of November

It appears that some 10,000 companion animals did survive. Animal advocates are asking for people to notify gulf coast residents and displaced people that there are now several resources that they can use to search for their pets..

Read resources and tips for finding animals

On Buy Nothing Day, November 25th, animal rights activists targeted the makers and sellers of fur throughout the Bay Area and across the country. In addition to sponsoring events in 20 states, In Defense of Animals (IDA) held one of the largest local demonstrations in San Francisco. Dozens of activists demonstrated in bustling Union Square and in front of the fur and fur-trim retailers Macy's and Neiman Marcus, educating shoppers about where fur comes from. Most fur, activists reported, comes from Chinese fur farms where, due to weaker animal welfare laws, the animals are treated inhumanely and skinned alive. Foxes, minks, rabbits, raccoons and dogs and cats are raised in poor conditions and slaughtered in the name of fashion. After being skinned, the carcasses of the animals are ground up and fed back to the trapped animals.

Photos & Video | Related

IDA's Fur Kills.org | PETA's Fur Is Dead.org

Indybay's 2004 Fur Free Friday Coverage

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Oakland's East Bay Animal Advocates (EBAA), and five poultry consumers filed suit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s policy of excluding chickens, turkeys, and other birds killed for human consumption from the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958. The animal protection organizations, representing more than nine million members and constituents, assert that current poultry slaughter methods are cruel. "These birds ... are being slaughtered by methods that are not humane," said Paul Shapiro, spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States. "It's only because the USDA fails to define poultry as livestock even though any dictionary definition demonstrates that farmed birds ought to be." The groups filing suit estimate that 9 billion birds, or about 95 percent of domestic animals raised on farms, are unprotected during the slaughter process. U.S. industry practices include hanging live birds upside down in metal shackles, then moving them through an electrified water bath that paralyzes them while still conscious, and sometimes drowning conscious birds in tanks of scalding water. The lawsuit said recent reports of abuse in slaughter plants in West Virginia, Maryland and Alabama, where workers jumped on, kicked and slammed chickens against a wall, increased the need to protect poultry. In those cases, neither the workers nor the plants could be prosecuted because poultry are not covered under the federal law for human treatment of livestock.

Read More: 1 | 2 | 3

HSUS's Still a Jungle Out There | EBAA's California Turkey Industry

Recent Holiday-related News: 1 | 2 | 3
Indybay's 2004 Coverage of Thanksgiving

Mark Hawthorne writes in the October issue of Satya magazine:
When the animal rights movement began widely focusing on farmed animals in the 1980s, it wisely chose the veal industry as a primary target. Images of baby cows locked in tiny crates spoke volumes, and most consumers were rightly appalled when they learned of the cruelties these male calves endured. As the public’s taste turned away from veal, countless restaurants dropped it from their menus, and, although the anti-veal campaign continues, their initial success buoyed animal protectionists to further action. It is not a stretch to say that the culinary extravagance known as foie gras, the “fatty liver” of male ducks and geese, is this decade’s veal. As with veal, foie gras is created by grossly manipulating an animal’s body—in this case the Moulard duck—to provide a fleeting gustatory pleasure to the palate. And like their bovine counterparts, the birds being exploited for their livers have activists around the globe championing their cause. More than a dozen countries have outlawed foie gras production, and last year, animal advocates sponsored a California bill that will ban the production and sale of the delicacy in that state in 2012. Similar legislation is pending in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Oregon. Read Full Article

Bearing signs saying “Liberate Primates” and “Stanford Kills Animals,” Stanford University graduate students, undergraduates, law students, and community members protested the use of animals in experiments at Stanford’s Research Animal Facility (RAF) on Friday, October 21. During a busy Friday rush hour that coincided with Stanford’s “Alumni Weekend,” the activists, members of Animal Rights on the Farm (ARF!), convened on El Camino Real, a major thoroughfare bordering Stanford University in Palo Alto. As passing vehicles honked enthusiastically in approval of the protest, the activists waived signs and distributed leaflets alerting drivers and pedestrians to the animal experimentation conducted on campus. The demonstration was held in commemoration of National Primate Liberation Week, and follows a recent on-campus press conference by Michael Budkie, executive director of Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN). Budkie presented his group’s findings on animal research at Stanford. SAEN’s report details the use of hundreds of primates at the RAF, which ranks 21st nationally in terms of federal research dollars received. Read more with photos.

October 2nd is World Farm Animals Day. Established in 1983, it is now a day when people in all 50 states and two dozen countries memorialize the suffering and death of 50 billion cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens, and other sentient animals in the world's factory farms and slaughterhouses every year. The specific date was chosen as it marks the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, an outspoken advocate for the humane treatment of animals.

In Santa Cruz, The Progressive Animal Rights Alliance chose to mark the day by demonstrating at the Kentucky Fried Chicken on Mission Street in an ongoing effort to draw attention to KFC's refusal to implement guidelines developed by its own animal welfare panelists for the treatment of the almost 800,000,000 chickens it processes every year. About a dozen activists handed out informational flyers to passing motorists and customers entering and leaving the fast-food restaurant. One KFC employee showed her displeasure with the demonstration by flipping the bird to the demonstrators and the outlet's manager kicked one activist in front of customers and another witness. Full Report with Audio and Photos

PETA's Ongoing Kentucky Fried Cruelty Campaign
Check Indybay's Animal Liberation Calendar for Future Local Events
Previous Indybay Coverage: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

University of California San Francisco this past week paid one of the largest fines for Animal Welfare Act violations in history. Last fall the U.S. Department of Agriculture had charged UCSF for 75 counts of animal welfare violations. "The gravity of violations is great," the USDA complaint stated. A UCSF insider recently noted, "Over the years, UCSF has had to cope with a handful of scientists who haven't always had the best attitude toward animals." Vivisectionist Stephen Lisberger was specifically listed in several of the charges. Now, the university has settled all of the violations by paying the fines for creating an atmosphere where employees are afraid to report complaints and several other charges. UCSF settled the case just days before formal hearings were scheduled to begin. Activists were disappointed in that the settlement means researchers were able to evade public scrutiny of the facts about their treatment of animals in the 600 to 800 experiments conducted at UCSF at any given time. Activists contend that the university seems especially determined to keep their researchers' actions hidden from the public, which pays for their experiments with millions in tax dollars. In Defense of Animals (IDA) began a new round of demonstrations at UCSF last week, focusing on educating the public about what is taking place inside UCSF labs while encouraging insiders to "blow the whistle" on UCSF's animal cruelty. Related Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Previous Indybay Coverage of UCSF Animal Issues and Demos: 1 | 2 | 3