IDA's Bay Area Alerts

Table of Contents:
1. Boycott Canadian Seafood: Attend Red Lobster Protest
2. Bizarro Baloney Show
3. Gopher Gardening at Ocean Beach
4. Walnut Creek Foie Gras Demo
5. International Day for Korean Dogs and Cats


1. Boycott Canadian Seafood: Attend Red Lobster Protest

The horrific slaughter of over 300,000 harp seals each year by Canadian fishermen continues despite massive worldwide protests. Now is the time to put an end to this atrocity once and for all by hitting the seal hunters where it hurts: their paychecks. While Canadian exports of seafood to the U.S. are worth at least $3.3 billion, Canadian fishermen make a mere $16 million from the seal hunt every year - a fraction of a percent of their total annual income. By boycotting the Canadian seafood industry, we can ensure that Canadian fishermen pay a high price for choosing to continue the cruel seal hunt.

A boycott against Canadian seafood is already well underway, with restaurants and retailers such as Legal Sea Foods, Down East Seafood and Whole Foods Market on board. Now it's time for Red Lobster - one of the largest importers of Canadian seafood - to stop supporting the seal hunt.

What You Can Do

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is coordinating a day of action against Red Lobster on June 25th, when activists will be organizing demonstrations at Red Lobster locations across North America. Please join IDA at a protest in the San Francisco Bay Area to let the public know that the franchise's purchasing decisions directly subsidize the inhumane seal massacre.

What: Canadian seafood boycott protest at Red Lobster
When: Saturday, June 25th from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.
Where: The Red Lobster at 1210 El Camino Real, San Bruno (click http://tinyurl.com/98wng for directions)

For more information and to RSVP, contact Alicia Moore at (415) 388-9641 ext 228, or Alicia [at] idausa.org . You can learn more about HSUS's campaign to stop the seal hunt at http://www.protectseals.org .


2. Bizarro Baloney Show

Dan Piraro, creator of the animal-friendly Bizarro comic strip ( http://www.Bizarro.com ) is coming to the Bay Area next week with the world premier of the new version of The Bizarro Baloney Show. The show features puppets, songs, videos, an animated short created by Piraro, audience interaction, a magic trick, funny costumes, props, sets, colored lights, and comedy aplenty, including some animal rights humor.

If you missed last fall's "Bizarro's PolitiComedy-a-Go-Go" tour or "Bizarro's Roadshow Humor Thing" at the 2005 San Francisco Sketchfest, you don't want to miss this show, which sold out every performance at the New York International Fringe Festival. Piraro is the winner of three consecutive Reuben Awards from the National Cartoonists Society and is the author/illustrator of the critically acclaimed book "The Three Little Pigs Buy the White House."

What: The Bizarro Baloney Show
When: Wednesday June 29th at 8:00 p.m.
Where: Throckmorton Theater, 142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley (visit http://www.142throckmortontheatre.com/event.php?eventid=150 for directions)
Tickets are $15 each.

What: The Bizarro Baloney Show
When: Thursday June 30th at 8:00 p.m.; Friday July 1st at 8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.; Saturday July 2nd at 8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.; and Sunday, July 3rd at 8:00 p.m.
Where: The Purple Onion, 140 Columbus Ave. (between Jackson and Pacific), San Francisco (click http://tinyurl.com/drbxy for directions)
Tickets are $12 - $15 each, depending on the date.


3. Gopher Gardening at Ocean Beach

Join the San Francisco Wildlife Protection Project, a joint effort by IDA and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, to create a wildlife "sanctuary" along the Great Highway. By landscaping the area according to the Parks Department's specifications, volunteers create a habitat for native gophers and prevent them from being trapped and killed. This is an ongoing monthly effort, and happens on the first Saturday of each month. Please give us a hand so we can help the gophers.

What: Gopher Gardening
When: Saturday, July 2nd from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Where: Corner of the Great Highway and Wawona Street, San Francisco, at the small brick Recreation and Park maintenance building. Click here ( http://tinyurl.com/4hnh2 ) for directions to this event.

For more information, please contact Kevin Connelly at (415) 388-9641, ext. 226 or kevin [at] idausa.org .


4. Walnut Creek Foie Gras Demo

California lawmakers approved a bill that will make foie gras illegal by 2012, yet many restaurants continue to serve this cruel dish because wealthy customers are willing to pay top dollar for it. That's why IDA started our sustained presence outreach and education campaign: to show restaurants that they will actually lose valuable customers by continuing to serve foie gras.

Join activists for an outreach event in Walnut Creek to convince upscale restaurant Le Bistro to permanently remove foie gras from their menu.

What: Foie Gras Demo
When: Saturday, July 2nd at 12:00 noon
Where: Le Bistro, 1606 N. Main Street, Walnut Creek

Please contact Paris Harvey at (925) 788-8296 or christian_vegetarian [at] yahoo.com to RSVP.

If you are unable to attend, please write or call Proprietors Jean-Paul and Kathleen Peluffo to politely let them know that you will not dine at Le Bistro until they stop serving foie gras.

Le Bistro
1606 North Main Street
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Tel.: (925) 407-8000
Fax: (925) 407-8002
Email: info [at] lebistro.fr


5. International Day for Korean Dogs and Cats

On July 15, 2005, IDA and other animal protection groups will hold worldwide protests to coincide with the first of Korea's "Bok days," which literally means the hot, dog days of summer. South Korea's dog meat consumption increases during this time of year because some superstitiously believe they can keep cool by eating animals that do not sweat. Some Korean men - apparently insecure about their masculinity - even gather in groups to violently beat and hang dogs to death in hopes that consuming the tortured animals' flesh will make them more virile.

Although consumption of dogs and cats is technically illegal in South Korea, the Government doesn't enforce the law. In fact, they are trying to effectively legalize it by regulating dog meat sanitation, which amounts to endorsement of the torment and killing of millions of dogs and cats. The Government's stamp of approval is particularly indefensible given that the vast majority of Koreans find the consumption of dogs and cats disgusting, and are ashamed that the practice has not yet been banned in their country.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, please join IDA for a protest against these atrocities:
What: International Day for Korean Dogs and Cats Protest
When: Friday, July 15, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where: Korean Consulate, 3500 Clay St. (near Laurel), San Francisco (click http://tinyurl.com/7qwg3 for directions)

For more information and to RSVP, contact Alicia Moore, the protest coordinator, at alicia [at] idausa.org or (415) 388-9641, ext. 228.

Click http://www.idausa.org/campaigns.html for more information on IDA's Korean Dog and Cat campaign.