IDA E-News: 3-15-06

IDA ACTION ALERTS
1. Truth in Fur Labeling Act Can Save Cats and Dogs
2. Four Seasons' "Foie Gras Festival" is in Bad Taste
3. State Animal Crimes Bill Needs Support
CAMPAIGN NEWS & UPDATES
1. Help Get IDA's Primate Research Announcement to TV Viewers from Coast to Coast
2. SHARK and Starbucks Meet to Discuss Rodeo Sponsorship
3. Wild Animal Ban for British Traveling Circuses


IDA ACTION ALERTS

1. Truth in Fur Labeling Act Can Save Cats and Dogs
Urge Your Representative to Support Animal and Consumer Protection Bill

Every year in China, millions of cats and dogs are killed for their fur which is then exported to countries around the world, including the U.S. While it is strictly illegal to sell cat and dog fur in America, there is a loophole that makes the law almost impossible to enforce. That is, clothing stores are allowed to sell fur garments without specifying whether the fur is real or synthetic, the species of animal the fur comes from or the country where the garments were made as long as the fur's value is $150 or less. This means that as many as 500,000 or one in seven fur garments sold in the U.S. lack labels specifying this important information. This leaves most American consumers unaware that their clothing could contain dog and cat fur, but most would be disgusted and outraged if they knew.

The Truth in Fur Labeling Act, now being discussed in the U.S. House of Representatives, would uphold consumers' right to know by requiring all fur garments to include information about their origins regardless of price. The bill's passage would drastically reduce the amount of cat and dog fur sold in the U.S. (manufacturers could still deliberately mislabel garments as originating from a different species, as some do now, but only illegally). Accurate labels would also allow consumers to easily identify and choose faux fur over real fur garments made from dead animals. Therefore, it's no wonder that the fur industry opposed such labeling when the U.S. banned dog and cat fur products in 2000. Through intense lobbying, the industry managed to kill a proposed labeling requirement then, and they are likely to put up strong resistance again.

Today, fur-trimmed garments are becoming increasingly popular, and the industry expects the amount of fur used for trim to soon exceed that used to make full-length fur coats and jackets. These marketplace realities make complete fur garment labeling more crucial than ever. Congress passed the original Fur Products Labeling Act over half a century ago, well before the technology to create realistic faux fur existed and before fur trim was widely used in fashion. Nowadays, a $500 coat containing $150 worth of fur can be sold without any information about whether the fur came from animals and if so what kind. Even though it costs only $150 or less, a real fur garment is likely to contain the pelts of many animals. A rabbit fur coat, for example, could be made from as many as 30 rabbits (each pelt being valued at approximately $5). Given that modern consumers have legitimate concerns about quality and animal welfare, the law desperately needs to be updated for the 21st century.

What You Can Do:

Click http://ga0.org/campaign/HR4904 to urge your Representative to support and co-sponsor H.R. 4904, the Truth in Fur Labeling Act. Please also contact your Representative by phone or postal mail. You can get contact information for your elected officials by clicking http://ga0.org/indefenseofanimals/home.html and entering your zip code.


2. Four Seasons' "Foie Gras Festival" is in Bad Taste
Urge Hotel to Stop Serving Diseased Livers of Force-Fed Ducks

With foie gras set to be outlawed in California as of 2012 and several other states considering similar bans, dozens of restaurants have chosen to take the "delicacy" off of their menus after learning about the cruelty ducks and geese are forced to endure in its production. In contrast, a small minority of restaurants has reacted to the public's raised awareness and concern about animal abuse by desperately digging in their heels and promoting foie gras like it's going out of style (which, in fact, it is).

The latest example of this sad trend comes from Four Seasons, one of the world's largest operators of hotels and resorts. They are holding a "Foie Gras Festival" in one city throughout the month of March during which diners are offered a dish made from foie gras with every course (even dessert). With all the controversy surrounding foie gras in recent years, the owners of Four Seasons must know that it is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese 20% - 30% of their body weight daily. Some birds literally explode from having too much grain pumped into their stomachs, while others die when the feeding tube punctures their esophagi. Those who survive are so obese and sick that they can barely move by the time they are slaughtered for their diseased organs.

It is hard for humane people to eat comfortably in a restaurant that financially subsidizes this extreme form of animal cruelty. Restaurants like Four Seasons that serve foie gras do so because they say there is a demand for it. Yet no matter how much consumer demand there is for foie gras (or, in other words, how much money restaurants can make from selling this expensive gourmet item), nothing can justify the horrible pain and sickness birds endure during force feeding.

What You Can Do:

Write or call Four Seasons and politely urge them to stop serving foie gras. Be sure to let them know if you've eaten or stayed at the Four Seasons before, and that you will patronize another restaurant or hotel until they take animal cruelty off their menu.

Four Seasons Hotels, Inc.
c/o Chairman and CEO Isadore Sharp
1165 Leslie Street
Toronto, Ontario M3C 2K8, Canada
Tel: (416) 449-1750
Fax: (416) 441-4374


3. State Animal Crimes Bill Needs Support
New Yorkers: Urge Agriculture Committee Chair to Bring Bill Up for a Vote

In our February 22nd e-newsletter, we wrote about "Buster's Bill II," a piece of proposed legislation that would increase penalties in New York State for those who use animals to commit crimes. New York's Republican Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco and Senator Frank Padavan introduced the bill last month after Columbian drug dealers tried to smuggle illegal narcotics into the U.S. by surgically cutting open ten Labrador puppies' stomachs and sewing them back up with bags of liquid heroin inside. Though the puppies were taken into custody after the plan was foiled, three of them died from infection once the drugs were removed from their bodies. Buster's Bill II would ensure that the criminals face felony animal cruelty charges that could mean an additional two years in prison on top of their drug smuggling sentence.

The original Buster?s Law, authored by Tedisco in 1998, was the first to make aggravated cruelty to animals a felony-level crime in New York, where before it was considered a misdemeanor at most. Tedisco says he wants to bolster the existing law because "When [legislators] passed the original bill we hadn't yet imagined the sick new ways that criminals had come up with to exploit and abuse animals to further their criminal activities." He is now concerned that if Buster's Bill isn't updated, defense lawyers could get animal cruelty charges thrown out by arguing that their clients (the drug dealers) never intended to harm the dogs (even though it seems likely that they would have simply killed the puppies to retrieve their contraband had they not been caught and arrested).

Buster's Bill II is currently being reviewed by the Agriculture Committee, chaired by Assemblyman Bill Magee. If approved by the Agriculture Committee, it will move on to the Assembly floor for a vote. It is important that the law is updated quickly to ensure that the drug smugglers do time for so callously endangering puppies' lives.

What You Can Do:

- New York residents: click http://ga0.org/campaign/BustersBill to urge Assemblyman Bill Magee, Chair of the Agriculture Committee, to bring Buster's Bill up for a vote. You can also contact him by phone, e-mail or postal mail using the information below.

Assemblyman Bill Magee
LOB 828
Albany, NY 12248
Tel: (518) 455-4807
E-mail webpage: http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=111&sh=con

- U.S. residents: encourage your legislators to introduce bills that mete out stiff punishments to those who harm animals. Remind them that criminologists have drawn a conclusive link between violence against animals and violence against humans. You can get contact information for your elected officials by clicking http://ga0.org/indefenseofanimals/home.html and entering your zip code.


CAMPAIGN NEWS & UPDATES

1. Help Get IDA's Primate Research Announcement to TV Viewers from Coast to Coast
Donate to the "WWAIL 2006 Commercial Campaign"

IDA's public service announcement (PSA) about the horrors of primate research is a cost-effective and strategic way to expose millions of viewers to the horrors forced upon animals in laboratories. The PSA features world-renowned primatologist, conservationist and animal ambassador Dr. Jane Goodall.

In a calm yet urgent voice, Jane makes a powerful case for compassion while viewers see shocking footage of abused monkeys from the Oregon National Primate Research Center that was shot secretly by IDA. "To allow such barbaric conditions to continue," Goodall states in the spot, "is a very black mark against humanity."

You can view the ad at http://www.idausa.org/psas/psa.html .

IDA would like to place this commercial around the U.S. in time for World Week for Animals in Laboratories (WWAIL). The PSA has already aired in Portland, Oregon and with your help, we're hoping to add more cities to reach more viewers.

Please donate to IDA's WWAIL 2006 Commercial Campaign - 100% of your contribution will be used to buy air time on TV stations nationwide. Your tax-deductible gift of any amount goes a long way in this cost-effective campaign. While prices vary from city to city, the average cost per impression is just pennies!

Visit https://secure.ga0.org/02/JGPSA to make your donation, and don't forget to visit http://www.wwail.org for information about World Week for Animals in Labs, to request free materials, and to register your event.


2. SHARK and Starbucks Meet to Discuss Rodeo Sponsorship
Order Posters from IDA and Organize Your Own Starbucks Outreach Event

IDA and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) continue to target Starbucks Coffee for sponsoring rodeos. Sadly, many animals are injured and killed every year in these violent competitions, and, after a lifetime of abuse and confinement, most ultimately end their lives in the slaughterhouse. As a company that claims to be guided by humane values, Starbucks has no business supporting a cruel blood sport that brutalizes animals for entertainment.

To bring this message directly to the American public, SHARK's founder and President, Steve Hindi, has taken his Tiger Truck on an eye-opening cross-country road trip. Equipped with 100-inch television screens, LED displays and loudspeakers, the Tiger Truck is a traveling multimedia marvel. Spectators often stand for several minutes watching footage of calves, horses and steers being roughly lassoed, tripped, tackled and body-slammed in the course of rodeo events. Often the truck is accompanied by activists on the sidewalks handing out leaflets as people watch the footage. As part of our joint campaign, IDA and SHARK co-coordinated several successful San Francisco Bay Area and Portland, Oregon demonstrations earlier this month against the coffee giant's rodeo support using the Tiger Truck.

After months of avoiding and denying the issue, Starbucks has finally agreed to sit down and negotiate with SHARK, indicating that perhaps the company is ready to do the right thing. Another sign came during a recent Starbucks shareholders' meeting in which Chairman Howard Schultz stated, "We are reviewing this practice [of giving Starbucks stores free rein over local sponsorships], specifically as it relates to rodeos. We understand the sensitivity of the question and our responsibility as a company."

Starbucks current policy allows local stores to sponsor any community events they choose. SHARK and IDA are seeking a written agreement from Starbucks pledging to change this policy to prohibit sponsorship of events that could result in the abuse, injury or death of animals. Otherwise, we will continue our campaign and urge people to buy their coffee elsewhere. If Starbucks fails to live up to their caring corporate image, Hindi and his Tiger Truck will have an extended stopover in Seattle (where Starbucks has its headquarters) before continuing to tour the U.S.

What You Can Do:

- Help IDA and SHARK show Starbucks that we mean business by organizing an outreach event outside of a Starbucks in your neighborhood. You can download and print flyers at http://www.sharkonline.org/BuckStarbucks.pdf to hand out to people. Also be sure to order IDA's new posters to get your point even from a distance. Contact Program Coordinator Melissa Gonzalez at (415) 388-9641, ext. 228 or Melissa [at] idausa.org to order your free posters and for help organizing your event.

- Please write a short, polite letter to Starbucks and urge the company to live up to its socially responsible reputation by adopting a company-wide policy prohibiting the sponsorship of any events involving cruelty, potential injury or death of animals.

Howard Schultz, Chairman
Jim Donald, CEO
Starbucks Corp.
P.O. Box 3717
Seattle, WA 98124
Tel: (206) 447-1575
Fax: (206) 447-0828
Email webform: http://www.starbucks.com/customer/contact_forms.asp?nav=3f&cookie%5Ftest=1E-mail


3. Wild Animal Ban for British Traveling Circuses
Elephants, Bears, Big Cats and Other Species May No Longer Perform

The British government last week announced its intention to prohibit the use of some species of wild animals in traveling circuses. The new regulations will be part of the UK's new Animal Welfare Bill, widely considered Britain's most significant piece of animal welfare legislation since the Protection of Animals Act was passed in 1911. The government is currently developing a process for determining which species the ban should include, but any changes will not apply to animals in permanent circus venues, zoos, or the movie and television industries.

British animal welfare advocates are understandably excited about the victory. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has identified welfare problems for numerous species used in traveling circuses - including elephants, bears, big cats, camels and zebras - and has encouraged the government to ban all wild animals from being used in circuses. Animal Defenders International (ADI) chief executive Jan Creamer says, "This is wonderful news and the culmination of more than 10 years of hard work for us." Many credit ADI's undercover investigations of traveling circuses in the UK for raising public awareness and setting the stage for the ban. The group has now expanded their efforts to Ireland as part of a global campaign to end the use of wild animals in circuses.

In the wake of Britain's announcement, Green party representative Mark Ruskell MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament) introduced an amendment to his country's Animal Health and Welfare Bill that calls for a similar ban on wild animals in traveling circuses. Citing a recent poll indicating that over 80% of the population opposes the use of wild animals in traveling circuses, Ruskell has urged other MSPs to support his amendment to Scotland's Animal Health and Welfare Bill, which is now being discussed in Parliament.


IDA's Vehicle Donation Program

Did you know that your car, truck, boat, RV or motorcycle could save a life?

If you have an old vehicle that's taking up space in your driveway or garage, you could donate it to IDA through our Car Program to help us save the lives of animals!

It's simple to do. Just visit our web site at http://www.idausa.org/supportf.html and follow the link under the heading "Donate Your Used Vehicle" which will direct you to a form that you can fill out and submit to us electronically. Or give us a call at (415) 388-9641, ext. 218, and Sage, our Member Services Assistant, will help you.

Help us stop animal cruelty by donating your unwanted vehicle to IDA today, and make a difference in the lives of animals.