Viva!USA Alert 12/9/05

Viva!USA www.vivausa.org
P.O. Box 4398, Davis, CA 95617
530/759-8482 - info@vivausa.org

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Viva!USA Alerts 12/9/05

1.  Donate to run our Heather Mills McCartney Turkey PSA

2.  Holiday Pig Protest planned near you?   

3.  Urgent update: Adidas blocks Viva!USA lawsuit

Last week, our request for donations to run our holiday Turkey PSA quickly met with success. We received a donation enabling it to run on Animal Planet in prime time in San Francisco at least 5 times the week of December 19th! Our message will easily reach thousands of viewers, asking them to think before celebrating the season with a tortured turkey dinner. 

We hope that this season of giving will encourage more of our members to help us spread the word. Below are ad rates for northern California locales, though you can donate for other cities as well. Please consider this wonderful way to make the holidays meaningful for the animals!

Sacramento (Animal Planet) $30 primetime, $15 weekends/daytime

Berkeley (Animal Planet) $7 primetime, (VH-1) $22 primetime

To view our PSA with Heather Mills McCartney, visit our turkey website at www.vivaturkeys.com

2.  Holiday Pig Protest planned near you?  

Our annual holiday Honeybaked Ham protests are gearing up in a city near you!  Each year, Viva!USA activists get together outside Honeybaked Ham stores to protest the treatment of pigs on factory farms and in slaughterhouses. Each year, some customers turn away when they learn the truth about how pigs are treated. You can make a difference this year by joining us. Currently, events are planned at Honeybaked Ham stores in Sacramento, San Jose, Orangevale and Eagle Rock, CA; Erwin, TN; Gulf Shores, AL and Stamford, CT. 

If you would like to join us in one of these cities, send your contact information to info@vivausa.org with "pig events" in the subject line. If you don't see your city and would like to organize an event of your own, also provide your address and let us know if we can share your contact information. We'll send you 100 leaflets to get you started.

3.  Urgent update: Adidas blocks Viva!USA lawsuit

The court of appeal recently issued its opinion in Viva!USA’s lawsuit against Adidas, ruling in favor of Adidas. We and many others in the animal community are surprised by the court of appeal’s decision, which appears to be based on the incorrect belief that California and other states cannot pass laws that are more protective of wildlife than the Federal Endangered Species Act. We are currently considering the option of seeking the California Supreme Court’s review of the court of appeal’s decision.
 
The good news is that media coverage regarding the case has aided in exposing to the public how Adidas is responsible for the deaths of kangaroos just to make soccer cleats!
 
www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/13234741.htm

www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=844 

California law currently prevents the sale of products made of kangaroo skin in California, although the law has never been enforced.  In recent years, this law has repeatedly faced amendment efforts in the Legislature to remove the protection for kangaroos. Each time, Adidas has lobbied in support of the proposed bills to remove the protection, but we have successfully defeated them every time.  

Unfortunately, a similar bill will be heard again in January. If you have signed up for the kangaroo alerts, we will keep you posted.  Sign up at roos@vivausa.org.  We intend to continue our efforts to defeat this bill as we evaluate the next steps in terms of the lawsuit against Adidas.

For ordering materials: orders@vivausa.org
To sign up on our e-mail alert list: list@vivausa.org
For student e-mail list or materials: ACT@vivausa.org