IDA News: 3-09-05

In the ten years since she started Project Hope in Mississippi, Doll Stanley has rescued hundreds of animals from abject cruelty and unbearable suffering. Her courageous investigations have resulted in many animals being seized and rehabilitated and their tormentors brought to justice under the law. Her tireless efforts to save animals' lives and educate people about their plight are an inspiration to everyone whose life she has touched.

Two recent cases illustrate the importance of her work. In one case, she managed to seize 61 pit bulls from a breeder who was raising them for dog fighting. This cruel "sport" is illegal in all 50 states, yet remains active in many areas as entertainment for a violent subculture that glorifies killing. Thankfully, with the help of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and local authorities, Doll was able to rescue these dogs, who had spent so much time chained by stiff collars to the ground that the hair and flesh was worn away from their necks. Doll is committed to seeing that this breeder is tried and convicted for his crimes against animals.

In another investigation, Doll found dozens of animals - including cows, horses, pigs and goats - languishing in hellish conditions on the property of an unscrupulous animal dealer, foraging for food among the rotting corpses of their former companions. Fortunately, between Doll and the dealer's son, homes were found for the animals that could recover, and humane euthanization was arranged for those who were beyond help. Doll returned to Project Hope that night with a young goat named Melanie who is doing well now under Doll's care. You can read Doll's diary entries for both of these cases by clicking here:
link to Doll's diary.

Your assistance is crucial to Project Hope's ability to continue saving the lives of animals. You can support Project Hope by financially adopting a needy animal. Click here
(http://www.project-hope.net/adoption_gallery.html) for pictures and descriptions of these animals. If you live in Mississippi and can provide an animal with a loving home, you can visit the Project Hope sanctuary and meet the animals available for adoption. In addition to monetary contributions, Project Hope is in need of various supplies for the sanctuary. Click here
(http://www.project-hope.net/wycd.html) to see a list of items and services that are needed.

We appreciate all that you do to enable us to help the animals.

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Table of Contents:


IDA Action Alerts & Events

1. Bills to Ban Foie Gras Take Hold in More States
2. Don't Let Wisconsin Hunters Shoot Cats
3. Join the International Day of Protest Against Seal Slaughter
4. Volunteer to Air Animal Rights TV Show in Your Community
5. IDA Remembers Zoo Elephant on the Anniversary of Her Death

Campaign News & Updates

1. Study Shows Complex Emotions & Intelligence of "Farmed" Animals
2. Soy Milk: It's Not Just For Vegans Anymore
3. Grassroots Animal Rights Conference Coming to NYC
4. Miracles Happen: Stray Rescue Founder Shares Quentin's Story of Survival


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IDA Action Alerts & Events


1. Bills to Ban Foie Gras Take Hold in More States

IDA's campaign to end the sale and production of foie gras in the U.S. has raised the nation's consciousness about how inhumanely the foie gras industry treats ducks. The sustained presence of IDA activists outside of restaurants that still serve this "delicacy" has brought the issue directly into the public eye and the media spotlight. More and more people nationwide now see that people who eat foie gras are not only consuming fattened, diseased duck livers, but also supporting the cruelty that is inherent to foie gras production, given the fact that foie gras cannot be made without force-feeding. With all this, it is no surprise that many restaurants have dropped foie gras from their menus and that caring people want the foie gras industry outlawed for good.

Following California's example, where a bill to phase out the production and sale of foie gras passed last fall, compassionate Senators and Representatives have introduced legislation to ban foie gras in New York, Massachusetts and Illinois. In fact, the Illinois Senate Executive Committee today voted unanimously to outlaw the force-feeding of birds for foie gras! Senate Bill 413, sponsored by Senator Kathleen Wojcik, will now go to the full Senate floor for a vote.

What You Can Do

If you are an Illinois resident, please call the President of the Senate, Senator Emil Jones, at (217) 782-2728 and urge him to work for the passage of SB 413. Also contact your Senator and urge him or her to vote in favor of this bill. Click here
(http://ga0.org/campaign/illfoiegras) to send an automatic email to your State Senator.

If you live in New York or Massachusetts, please urge your Representatives and Senators to support the bill in your state to ban the sale and production of foie gras. Click on the links below to send an automatic email to your legislators.
New York: http://ga0.org/campaign/foiegrasny
Massachusetts: http://ga0.org/campaign/foiegrasmass



2. Don't Let Wisconsin Hunters Shoot Cats

On April 11, a proposal to allow hunters to shoot cats who are not wearing collars will be presented at the Wisconsin Conservation Congress spring hearings. Click here
(http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/nrboard/congress/sh/cca/index.htm) to see the wording of the proposal.

Proponents of the proposal say that cats, as a non-native species, are upsetting the ecological balance by preying on native species (like songbirds) and taking food from native predators, and should be designated an "unprotected" species.
The proposal's opponents cite the results of a comprehensive field study showing that killing feral cats does not necessarily decrease their numbers, and that humane trap-neuter-release
(TNR) programs are far more effective at reducing feral cat populations.

Legalizing cat hunting would inevitably also endanger animal companions that are loved and cared for by their guardians. Even if a cat is wearing a collar, there is no guarantee that a hunter will see it before shooting the animal. In addition, most guardians who put collars on their cats only use "break away"
collars for safety, because a standard collar can get snagged on a branch, trapping the helpless cat indefinitely. If the proposal were approved, however, open season would be declared in Wisconsin on any cat without a collar.

What You Can Do

Click here (http://dnr.wi.gov/WWWFeedback.html) to tell the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources that allowing hunters to kill "unclaimed" cats is cruel, and that a TNR program would be more humane and effective. You could also mention that the tens of millions of people who love their cat companions may not want to visit Wisconsin if this proposal is passed, and that tourism in the state may suffer as a result.



3. Join the International Day of Protest Against Seal Slaughter

Although it looks like the Canadian Government will proceed with their plans to murder some 350,000 baby seals, the unprecedented Unified Opposition of animal protection groups that has formed to protest the slaughter is determined to make sure they regret it. Harpseals.org, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, Friends of Animals, the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and IDA are just a few of the dozens of organizations taking a strong stand against the massacre with street demonstrations, petitions, boycotts and other methods of protest. Click here (http://www.harpseals.org/opposition/unified.html)
to read more about the effort.

What You Can Do

Join the Unified Opposition's International Day of Protest on Tuesday, March 15. Demonstrations will be held in countries all around the world. So far, protests have been confirmed in seventeen U.S. cities with more pending, plus almost thirty foreign cities, including a few in Canada. You can check out the list at http://www.harpseals.org/helpstop/cityprotest.html . Please attend the protest nearest you! If your city is not on the list and you can organize a protest, please write to contact [at] harpseals.org and they'll add your information to the protest page and send you a resource toolkit and leaflets.

Also click here (http://www.harpseals.org/helpstop/index.html)
to learn about more ways you can help make this campaign as effective as possible.



4. Volunteer to Air Animal Rights TV Show in Your Community

Though more than ten billion land animals are killed in the U.S.
every year for food, American television viewers rarely get to see what goes on inside the factory farms that make this mass slaughter possible. The virtual media blackout serves the interests of the meat, dairy and egg industries: by deliberately keeping the public ignorant of industrialized animal agriculture's inherent cruelty, they help prevent people from questioning their dietary habits. The networks play along because meat, dairy and egg producers and businesses that sell animal products spend billions of dollars every year on commercial airtime to convince consumers to keep eating animals.


By airing undercover investigations, interviews, lectures and documentaries about the treatment of "farmed" animals, VegVideo
(http://www.vegvideo.org) serves as the antidote to the mainstream media's silence and propaganda. Sponsored by IDA, VegVideo is one of the only television shows to address the issue of "farmed" animal rights and actively promote veganism as an alternative to the standard American diet. Viewers routinely tell VegVideo producer and IDA staff member Gabe Quash about how the show has changed their lives for the better, leaving no doubt about its potential to open even more people's eyes to the suffering of "farmed" animals.

What You Can Do

VegVideo airs on community television stations in San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle and thirty other cities across the country.
Volunteers are needed to submit episodes to stations in those cities where VegVideo does not already air. VegVideo will send you boxes of videos, so all you need to do is deliver a new tape to your local public access station every month or two. This is a simple yet highly effective way to help animals by exposing the cruelty of factory farming on television for everyone to see. For more information, check out the VegVideo website
(http://www.vegvideo.org) or e-mail vegvideo [at] yahoo.com.



5. IDA Remembers Zoo Elephant on the Anniversary of Her Death

On Monday, March 7, IDA, Citizens for Cruelty-Free Entertainment and local residents gathered at the San Francisco Zoo to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the untimely death of Calle. The 37-year-old Asian elephant was euthanized at about half of her natural lifespan due to chronic foot and health problems. Like most elephants kept in zoos, these disorders are attributable to urban zoo conditions that prevent normal exercise and social development for elephants while forcing them to stand on hard, compacted surfaces that exacerbate joint and leg problems.

Calle's death, along with the unexpected death of the 43-year-old Maybelle less than two months later, helped convince the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to establish the highest standards for elephant care in the country. The Board also sent the Zoo's two surviving elephants, Tinkerbelle and Lulu, to the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary in San Andreas, California in an attempt to prevent their early deaths and undo some of the physical and psychological damage caused by decades of confinement.

What You Can Do

IDA is calling upon zoos across the country to close their elephant exhibits and send pachyderms to the two sanctuaries in California and Tennessee capable of providing lifelong care for elephants in naturalistic environments. In order to do this, we have formed our Elephant Task Force as a grassroots campaign to document and expose the suffering of elephants in our nation's zoos. We are looking for activists living in cities with zoos that have elephant exhibits to join our Elephant Task Force and help us win freedom for elephants by taking pictures, making phone calls and organizing demonstrations. With your help, we can save the elephants still languishing in zoos around the nation before it is too late.

If you are interested in joining the IDA Elephant Task Force or would like more information about the ways you can get involved, please send an email to zoos [at] idausa.org today. Include your full name, city, telephone number and the name of the zoo nearest you.



Campaign News & Updates


1. Study Shows Complex Emotions and Intelligence of "Farmed" Animals

Researchers at Britain's Bristol University have recently completed a study that shows remarkable emotional similarities between "farmed" animals and human beings. The results - which demonstrate that cows, pigs, goats and chickens experience pain, fear and even anxiety about the future - will be presented next month at a conference in London sponsored by Compassion in World Farming.

The study also found that animals can become excited by solving intellectual challenges. Both brain wave activity and heart rate significantly increased when animal subjects figured out how to open a door to get some food. The researchers called this phenomenon the "Eureka moment."

According to Christine Nicol, professor of animal welfare at Bristol, "every animal we intend to eat or use is a complex individual" with needs and problems. She also suggests that, in light of the study's findings, we must reconsider and drastically reform our agricultural practices to minimize the suffering of "farmed" animals and create new approaches that take their emotional and intellectual capacities into account.

Click here
(http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12390397-13762,00.html) to read an article on the study.



2. Soy Milk: It's Not Just for Vegans Anymore

Great advancements in the manufacture and marketing of non-dairy soy milk have been made in recent years. The lactose-free beverage has been steadily increasing in popularity as it appears on the shelves of mainstream supermarkets across the country. There are now more brands of soy milk than ever before to meet a wide range of individual tastes, and it comes in all kinds of flavors.

The variety of choices makes switching from cows' milk to non-dairy soy milk simple. Choosing soy milk is good for people (especially those trying to cut down on cholesterol) and cows (who suffer in a myriad of ways while being used for their milk and are sent to slaughter when their production declines). If you still drink cows' milk, click here
(http://www.ksat.com/food/2064945/detail.html) to read an article that will give you some basic information about how to make the switch to healthy, delicious and cruelty-free soy milk.



3. Grassroots Animal Rights Conference Coming to NYC

Liberation movements throughout history have relied on the energy, passion and creativity of grassroots activists. From March 31 to April 3, grassroots animal rights activists from across North America will join together at the first annual Grassroots Animal Rights Conference (GARC) in New York City.
GARC will feature prominent speakers (including IDA Issues Specialist Lawrence Carter-Long and Project Hope's Doll Stanley), skill-building workshops, networking sessions and demonstrations.

GARC was created based on feedback from hundreds of animal rights activists: it is an event designed by grassroots animal rights activists for grassroots animal rights activists. As such, GARC addresses the specific needs of activists at different levels of experience, and also welcomes those who want to become active for animals. GARC's talks and workshops bridge theory and practice while exploring critical contemporary issues, such as the link between animal abuse and other forms of oppression and ethnic/cultural diversity within the animal rights movement.

GARC is pleased to be able to provide FREE housing and FREE vegan food; registration is inexpensive or free for those who qualify on a first-come, first-serve basis. To view the program or to register, visit http://www.grassrootsar.org .

Come learn, organize, mobilize and meet with other animal rights activists in New York City. Hope to see you there!



4. Miracles Happen: Stray Rescue Founder Shares Quentin's Story of Survival

Stray Rescue of St. Louis Founder Randy Grim knows all about heartache and miracles. One dog, Cain, who later became known as Quentin the Miracle Dog after surviving a St. Louis gas chamber, forever changed Randy's life. Randy tells Quentin's story in his heartwarming new book "Miracle Dog: How Quentin Survived the Gas Chamber to Speak for the Animals on Death Row." Purchase Randy Grim's new book April 1 through IDA's marketplace, IDAUSA.org/marketplace.html.

"This book uncovers so much of the cruelty that goes on behind the scenes in the so-called 'civilized' world." - Dr. Jane Goodall



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. This week's Meatout Mondays includes an article on hosting a workplace feed-in. Click here
(http://www.meatoutmondays.org/05-03-07.htm) to read the latest issue.

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.



Development Director's Message

You are kept apprised of our on-going efforts to fulfill our mission to "protect the rights, welfare and habitats of animals" - thanks to the help of tens of thousands of caring and committed supporters like you who have given funds and contributed their time.

Conducting our many campaigns that honor our stated mission and commitment to helping animals requires the tireless efforts of our capable staff and enthusiastic volunteers and the involvement of many, many people - supporters like you, who take action when we ask you to send an e-mail, letter or postcard or sign petitions in support of our goals. Of course, we truly could not accomplish all that we do for animals without the financial support that compassionate people around the world provide to IDA in the defense of our animal friends.

To carry out our work for the animals and to help us generate the money needed, we strive to provide a variety of ways for you to lend financial support to our efforts. There are several different methods that you can choose from to make a gift to IDA in the best and easiest way for you.

In addition to sending a gift in response to the mailings that we send throughout the year encouraging our members to support a critically important campaign or to share the stories and vital needs of our Project Hope sanctuary in rural Mississippi and our chimpanzee rescue center in Cameroon, Africa, there are a variety of ways that you can help provide the funds vital to our efforts in defense of animals.

You can find many simple and easy ways to help on our website at http://www.idausa.org/supportf.html . For example:

You can make a difference each and every month by joining the compassionate and committed supporters in our President's Circle Monthly Giving program. It's an easy way to give and it saves you time and IDA resources.

Did you know that you car can save a life? Our car donation program is a simple way to turn your unwanted vehicle into funds to help us help animals.

You can also make a gift in honor of or in memory of a beloved friend, family member or animal companion with a Loving Tribute by completing the information on our on-line secure donation form.
Or consider giving the gift of a lifetime by remembering IDA in your will and estate plans. You can explore the various planned giving options available to you by visiting our website at http://www.idausa.org/support/plannedgiving.html or by contacting our very knowledgeable Planned Giving Coordinator, Nicole Otoupalik at (714) 389-2823 or via e-mail at Nicole [at] idausa.org.

Whichever way you choose to help, we appreciate your support.
Thank you for all that you do to help animals and for your support of IDA's efforts.



The Cat Therapist Shares Her Wisdom

Please take a moment to read the latest advice from the Cat Therapist. Click here for her new column:
http://www.idausa.org/cat_therapist/index.html.


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Team IDA encourages teammates to take part in local athletic events to raise awareness of animal issues and much-needed funds to rescue and protect animals from cruelty and abuse. You don't have to be an avid runner or a serious athlete to sign up. Just by cheering and wearing your Team IDA apparel you can show your pro-animal attitude.

Wear your Team IDA t-shirt whenever you are running, biking, walking, or just hanging around your neighborhood to help promote a cruelty-free world. If you have a Team IDA t-shirt and have received comments about it, we want to hear from you! If you do not already have a Team IDA t-shirt, please call (415)
388-9641 to inquire. Also, if you have participated in any events in your area on behalf of Team IDA, or would like your picture and bio posted on our website, please let us know!

You can also make Team IDA even more successful by spreading the
word: a great way to do this is by distributing Team IDA brochures at races and placing them in athletic stores and clubs. Team IDA brochures are always available free of charge by
(415) 388-9641.

We are always interested in learning more about your experiences and hearing your ideas regarding Team IDA. Please send an email to teamida [at] idausa.org and tell us your story. Visit http://www.teamida.org for more information. Join Team IDA today!

http://ga0.org/join-forward.html?domain=indefenseofanimals


You can sign up for In Defense of Animals Action Center at:

http://ga0.org/indefenseofanimals/join.html