On feminism and animal rights

http://carolglasser.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Brock-Review-2011_Glasser.pdf

Make your own FB Ad

Ok, I have to do this. I can pay for adverts on Facebook and for as little as a dollar per day I could spread awareness about animal abuse. http://www.farmsanctuary.org/CompassionateCommunities/?page_id=35

Competition

Note to self: Enter this competition and speak for animals! http://www.wolfoundation.org/home/About.html

So proud of Anita and Toronto Pig Save

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1175879--porter-toronto-pig-save-activists-protest-slaughter-weekly-at-quality-meat-packers-abattoir?bn=1#photo

Great websites to understand water usage

Main website: http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/home

Calculate your water footprint: http://www.waterfootprint.org/index.php?page=cal/WaterFootprintCalculator#result

National water consumption/production: http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/WaterStat-NationalWaterFootprints

Publications: http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/Publications

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/graphic/2012/feb/14/water-footprint-world-map

These websites are not vegetarian sites, but provide irrefutable evidence of the enormous water footprint of animal products.

Green-fur add found misleading

The ASA found an advert stating that fur was "eco-friendly" to be misleading and said that the ad could no longer appear in it's current form. LINK

Some blogs to read

Veggie Revolution

Farm Sanctuary

Morality in animals

Franz De Waal's TED talk on reciprocity and compassion in animals

Ag-Gag Bills in the US

Brilliant interview with undercover investigator on Green is the New Red.

Human rights violations in meat-packing plants

Blood, Sweat and Fear is a report by Human Rights Watch documenting the human rights abuses of workers, often poor immigrants, working within slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants in the U.S.. Although, it does not question the fundamental brutality and oppression of the activity in itself, it documents very clearly the exploitation of humans working there.  It makes it quite clear that these circumstances arise not by accident, but by deliberate design.  If the corporate powers are willing to treat humans with such utter contempt, one can understand why it's even more terrible for animals, who have no protection, and are bred and raised for the sole purpose of exploitation and slaughter.

Wait for Me

A poem for those who cannot sleep at night thinking of the untold suffering of countless unseen animals around the world.

Desire for babies

Paedophagia – the sickness of society

Melanie Joy again

This a brilliant lecture by Melanie Joy about the disconnect between the animals we eat and the animals we love.  She raises the great point that there is NO FREE choice without awareness and knowledge.

The first 100 chimps

http://first100chimps.wesleyan.edu/

A very interesting journal

I happened upon this interesting journal called Nature Loving.

Stunning wolfdog sanctuary in Alberta.

I discovered this sanctuary today.  Beautiful photos of wolf dogs and they're anti wolf hunting!

The Human Cost of Animal Suffering.

The human cost of animal suffering. A compelling article about the hidden violence of slaughterhouses written by Mark Bittman for meat-eaters.

How can we continue to turn a blind eye to this?!

I shouted out in pain watching this video.  I have seen similar before, but it always shocks me to the core.



GOOD people CANNOT support industries so cruel and evil. Good people CANNOT turn a blind eye to this SLAUGHTER and TORTURE. Good people CANNOT sit by and do nothing while BILLIONS OF ANIMALS die like this every year.

The fact is, that as a whole, as a society, we do not give animals the slightest moral consideration. Every single one of their interests is secondary to any one of our interests, no matter how trivial ours are. Even fashion, fake eyelashes, and entertainment trump their rights to life, freedom from confinement, and freedom from the most grotesque torture imaginable. 

Happy film on animal farming ;)

Portraits of dogs just before death

This is beautiful and sad. Yun-Fei Tou is an artists who captures the soul of these animals moments before they are euthanized. 

Websites and blogs I like to read.

Animal Emotions by Marc Bekoff
Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach Approach by Gary Francione
Carol J. Adams
On Nonhuman Slavery
On the Road to Liberation by David Sztybel
Our Hen House by Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan
The New Animalist  by Andrew Westoll
The Veganomaly
Vegan.com by Erik Marcus

Zoocheck Perspectives by Zoocheck Canada

Nutrition and Science
Jack Norris RD
PaleoVeganology
The Vegan RD: Thoughts on being a vegan by Ginny Messina

Recipes
Chef Chloe
Chocolate-Covered Katie
Happy Herbivore
Mouthwatering Vegan Recipes
Our Veggie Kitchen
Vegangela
We Love Food

Politics
Green Is The New Red 

Other recently discovered
Pythagorean Crank
Skeptical Vegan
Speciesist Vegan
The Rational Vegan
The Vegan Skeptic

Apology to a slaughtered cow

Wow, this video is really moving and brought me to tears. John apologises to the spirit of a cow who was murdered brutally for food.  It is very personal and helped me connect to that particular cow, and all the particular cows and animals who are slaughtered every day for food.

Link

The not-so-heroic truth about Edison

How were we not told that Edison electrocute an elephant and numerous animals to prove the point that AC current is dangerous!   Not only this he paid for the creation of the first electric chair to kill human beings.

See wikipedia's extract:

" Edison carried out a campaign to discourage the use^[18] of alternating current, including spreading disinformation on fatal AC accidents, publicly killing animals, and lobbying against the use of AC in state legislatures. Edison directed his technicians, primarily Arthur Kennelly and Harold P. Brown,^[19] to preside over several AC-driven killings of animals, primarily stray cats and dogs but also unwanted cattle and horses. ^[20] Acting on these directives, they were to demonstrate to the press that alternating current was more dangerous than Edison's system of direct current.^[21] He also tried to popularize the term for being electrocuted as being "Westinghoused". Years after DC had lost the "war of the currents," in 1903, his film crew made a movie of the electrocution with high voltage AC, supervised by Edison employees, of Topsy, a Coney Island circus elephant which had recently killed three men.^[22]

Edison opposed capital punishment, but his desire to disparage the system of alternating current led to the invention of the electric chair. Harold P. Brown, who was being secretly paid by Edison, built the first electric chair for the state of New York to promote the idea that alternating current was deadlier than DC."

Here's a video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMmslGfaNls

The comments are almost as vile as the act itself. 

Here is some more horrific information about the history of the electric chair: http://www.capitalcentury.com/1907.html

Honestly, what is the explanation of such wanton and careless cruelty? Is it male ego? Really, what is it?

Richard Dawkins interviews Peter Singer

I couldn't imagine a more interesting pair of people to have a discussion.  My only surprise is how easily Peter Singer has Richard Dawkins on the ropes. I admire Richard for being humble though and acknowledging the logic of Peter's arguments. Many interesting philosophical topics are presented here, which all relate to animal eating.

Nelson Mandela

When I read quotes by Nelson Mandela I am struck by how powerful, inspiring and beautiful his sentiments are.  Although he was my president I did not realize what a beautiful mind he has. I feel so fortunate to have been alive and in South Africa when he was freed and became president.  I hope that his words and life are an inspiration to all to strive for peace and equality on earth, to work bravely for the oppressed.

Homage to writers

Incredible writing that explains exactly what is so wrong with the slaughterhouse.

"The uproar was appalling, perilous to the ear-drums; one feared there was too much sound for the room to hold--that the walls must give way or the ceiling crack. There were high squeals and low squeals, grunts, and wails of agony; there would come a momentary lull, and then a fresh outburst, louder than ever, surging up to a deafening climax. It was too much for some of the visitors--the men would look at each other, laughing nervously, and the women would stand with hands clenched, and the blood rushing to their faces, and the tears starting in their eyes. Meantime, heedless of all these things, the men upon the floor were going about their work. Neither squeals of hogs nor tears of visitors made any difference to them; one by one they hooked up the hogs, and one by one with a swift stroke they slit their throats. There was a long line of hogs, with squeals and life-blood ebbing away together; until at last each started again, and vanished with a splash into a huge vat of boiling water. It was all so very businesslike that one watched it fascinated. It was pork-making by machinery, pork-making by applied mathematics. And yet somehow the most matter-of-fact person could not help thinking of the hogs; they were so innocent, they came so very trustingly; and they were so very human in their protests--and so perfectly within their rights! They had done nothing to deserve it; and it was adding insult to injury, as the thing was done here, swinging them up in this cold-blooded, impersonal way, without a pretence at apology, without the homage of a tear. Now and then a visitor wept, to be sure; but this slaughtering-machine ran on, visitors or no visitors. It was like some horrible crime committed in a dungeon, all unseen and unheeded, buried out of sight and of memory.”
― Upton Sinclair, The Jungle. (photograph Gail Eisnitz) (jb)

animals as commodities

Rhino poaching in South Africa has sky rocketed with 1 or more rhinos killed per day in 2011.  

They are killed for their horns which are extremely valuable in Asia for "medicine" and decorations.  

They are not always killed first, rather their horns are hacked off and they are left to die in agony.  This is terrible and heartbreaking. Not only will these beautiful animals go extinct very soon, but they are suffering tremendously and having their lives terminated.  I hate that this is a completely illegal act ignoring the will of the majority of South Africans, but it is also totally part of world system that views animals as commodities of utilitarian benefit to humans.  The only difference is that South Africans value these rhinos as a symbol of national wilderness and beauty, while Asians view them as medicinal and decorative commodities.  South Africans are not necessarily against the murder of rhinos as legal hunting continues in South Africa.  If these animals tasted good then we would eat them as indifferently as all the other millions of animals that are raised for our consumption.  My heart is aching. 

A news story.

An environmental argument for reducing meat.

Link by Ezra Klein

Powerful

link
Dr Steve Best's video definitely has the feel of propaganda, but the videos of animal abuse are real and normal in all forms of animal exploitation.  It is a powerful video, but I don't think I would share this to convince others as I don't think the truth needs to be made so slick to be effective.  I prefer a more compassionate and educational approach.

Interesting interview with former animal researcher

Link

National Research Institute

Science board of NSDA.

Melanie Joy's theory of Carnism

Carnism

Cruel and useless animal experiments

Another example of cruel and useless experiments done on rats, mice and dogs. It makes me so sad.  If you're willing to accept that animal testing is morally acceptable, it seems that every ill-conceived and deplorable experiment can be carried out. How about we study humans when we want to know something about them?!

Forks Over Knives

I finally watched Forks Over Knives and it is provides convincing evidence and arguments of the health benefits of eating a whole-food plant based diet.  It also briefly discussed the environmental problems of eating animal products, and hinted at animal welfare issues. It wasn't much but it provides the seed for caring about farm animals.

I want one of these

I want one of these t-shirts and broaches!

Sue Coe is my hero

Sue Coe is an incredible artists who raises awareness of invisible social injustices. She's done powerful sketches about war, HIV, apartheid in South Africa and animals.  Please watch an interview with her here and a great video of her art set to music by Black Angels.

Sue Coe: Art of the Animal from Our Hen House on Vimeo.

Learn about pigs

Collean Patrick-Goudreau's podcast on pigs

The value of zoos

Here's a great little article by Marc Bekoff about zoos and their lack of conservation effectiveness and concern for the animals they house.  Here's a quote from the article, 


"... we need to accept that we humans are the reason these and numerous other animals are imperiled and keeping them in cages and flying them here and there allowing them to make babies does nothing for them or their (very few in some cases) wild relatives."

Fact about fish

Fish, like other animals sentient animals feel pain and there is scientific evidence to prove this.

Do fish feel pain?

Fish do feel pain.


If you're a scientist how can you over look these studies and continue to fish or eat fish?

I know that for most of my life I held a bias against fish. Somehow I believed that they were different and didn't really suffer as much as the rest of us.  I don't know what evidence I based this assumption on! None! It allowed me to eat fish occasionally during my "vegetarian" days. I've stopped finally.  There are no excuses for that.

I also recall as a young adult accompanying my dad and uncle when they went fishing on my uncle's farm. I was told to carry the live fish by hooking my fingers through their gills. I don't know why I agreed as my instincts told me right away that this was cruel and wrong.  How would you like to suffocate? Or be carried by your lungs?  I've come to realize that I am quite a passive person. I've also come to realise that as a young person, even though I loved animals tremendously, I was often quite oblivious to obvious wrongs being done to them in front of me. It must be true that our personhood, moral awareness and compassion develops as we get older. 

Ingrid Newkirk's great speech

I have had some misgivings about PETA, but Ingrid Newkirk's speech is compelling. 

It's called: Non-violence includes animals.

If you believe in non-violence, peace and kindness, it only makes sense to extend these principles to animals as well as humans, since they, like us, experience pain, joy, fear, and a totally subjective sense of self.  You cannot inflict violence on a rock, or other inanimate objects, since they have no self-awareness.  Violence requires a conscience and sentient being on the receiving end.  This is the reason why why violence is bad, since it harms a sentient being.  You could argue that the destruction of buildings, an inanimate object, is and act of violence, but I would say this is only the case since these structures support the well-being of humans through providing shelter, psychological meaning, etc.  Hence this kind of destruction hurts humans, but not the building itself.

This music video is sweet

Cruelty free companies

Check it out

Great speech

Take a look at this

France: Non-violent protestors protest just before a bull fight and are beaten by the crowds!

Deliberately distorted labelling and supression of democratic principles

This is a great interview with Will Potter who wrote "Green is the New Red."  It briefly explains how and why animal and environmental activists are increasingly labelled Eco-terrorists in the U.S.  Our Hen House also has an interview with Will which goes into the various ways the U.S. government tries to suppress freedom of speech and animal activism in the U.S.

It makes me absolutely furious to read these things. More evidence that government supports corporations, not people, nor the principles of democracy. If I were not in a foreign country I most definitely would join in the Occupy Wall Street protests.  Strength to them! I support them wholeheartedly.

Animal welfare versus abolitionist movement

Bruce Friedrich from PETA wrote an interesting article about why animal welfare movements are important and  can lead to the eventual abolition of animal slavery.  The comments following the article are for once not cringe-worthy and contribute to the debate. I am undecided on the issue. I am certain that we must strive for abolition, not just welfare reform, but decreasing the suffering of animals immediately seems like a worthwhile goal too.  It seems to me that most people will never go directly from being indifferent to food animals to veganism unfortunately. I didn't!  It took me years of increasing awareness and self-reflection to realize that veganism, rather than vegetarianism, is the right thing to do. Though I give credit to authors/bloggers like Erik Marcus and Gary Francione who helped me see that.  However, considering the opportunity cost, or the limited time and money available, what will produce the biggest changes, promoting veganism or animal treatment reform?  This is an important and empirical question!

Tolstoy quotes

"This is dreadful! Not the suffering and death of the animals, but that man suppresses in himself, unnecessarily, the highest spiritual capacity—that of sympathy and pity toward living creatures like himself—and by violating his own feelings becomes cruel. And how deeply seated in the human heart is the injunction not to take life! "

"What I think about vivisection is that if people admit that they have the right to take or endanger the life of living beings for the benefit of many, there will be no limit for their cruelty."

Riveting essay by Tolstoy

Who else could express the inhumanity of killing a living creature but Tolstoy himself? Why try to write about it myself when expressed so vividly and clearly by the master himself. Here is the piece. It is an extract from the larger article which is also fascinating. You can find here.

Meat Market Chapter One Audio

Erik Marcus reads his chapter 1 in Meat Market which provides a background to animals used in food and the expansion of modern industrial farming business. It's very interesting, give it a listen here

This is lovely

It's important to see how animals can be when they're not confined in miserable conditions. It almost tugs at the heartstrings more than watching heinous torture movies of animal suffering.

More videos from Animals Australia

Little Green Blackbird

This album is lovely.

Striking at the roots

Here's an excellent argument on why single-issue campaigns are ineffective at stopping widespread and systematic cruelty and abuse of animals.

Mercy for animals and veganism

I just came back from a both horrifying and inspiring talk by the Mercy for Animals founder Nathan Runkle. Nathan Runkle grew up on a small family farm surrounded by farmers and hunters and saw untold abuses of animals, including animals being skinned alive by trappers. As a teenager he started Mercy for Animals which has been growing strong for over a decade. He truly is remarkable. From the talk I gathered that Mercy for Animals does vegan outreach and education, tries to improve laws, and does intensive under cover work at animal farms and slaughter houses where they reveal the most appalling abuses. In fact he showed us a 12 minute video called "Farm to Fridge" made my Mercy for Animals which rapidly shows what really goes on in the animal food industry.

When he said that he was going to show the film, my heart sank in absolute terror. I knew it would be bad and I had been avoiding it for a while. So I bore witness to 12 minutes of terrible violence and murder, many were scenes out of a horror movie. I felt sickened and desperate to the core. If only everyone could see this, they could no longer berate the vegan lifestyle and surely they would seriously question their own. Yet it truly is so terrible to watch that most will probably turn away in seconds. But I think I must share it on Facebook. People can still make a choice not to watch it, but the animals have no choice. Nobody wants this kind of cruelty to occur! Watch for yourself:

On that note, it reminds me that I am still not a vegan. I want to be a vegan but the societal pressures are making me struggle the most. Living with a meat-eating (although reduced) boyfriend, and all the pressures of his family. We just had thanksgiving and his chef uncle cooked me a delicious vegetarian meal, while everyone had stuffed quail. However, I wanted to bring my own food, but it would have been an insult. As it was I was already teased mercilessly. If it were just me, it would be easier, but I don't want my boyfriend to feel uncomfortable either. But the animals! What horror the must endure. Every day I learn of new unthinkables. Today I learnt that baby pigs are not neutered fully conscious. I in fact knew this was the case with bulls, bulls but I didn't know how. I'll tell you now. While the little piglet is awake and writhing they slit his testicle sack, and then using their fingers rip out the testes! These guys are not vets, they are just poor farm workers doing a terrible job. The pigs bleed and scream, and many never recover. They simply die in agony. You may wonder, isn't this a loss of profit? Well, pigs (and other animals) are worth soooo little in comparison to paying staff, implementing standards, etc. that loosing a few pigs is far cheaper than improving it by any other means. There are so many standard practices that are absolutely appalling but accepted. If that weren't enough, brutal and brutalized workers torture animals in many ways. I won't go into the detail, watch the videos, or read the books yourself. It's hard not to be in constant despair thinking of this accepted atrocity which occurs at a scale like never before in the history of the world.

Remember this

"Every time we choose to do one thing, we are choosing not to do another."

Matt Ball

Interesting article on animal activism

This article by Matt Ball provides some interesting insights to inform your approach for animal activism. He's article on why the "health argument" does not promote vegetarianism and veganism is an important read too.

I love this guy too

Before I forget, Myq Kapan is a comedic genius with a great knack of playing with words. When I get around to it I'd like to purchase his "Vegan Mind Meld". Check him out here .

Bizarro

Check out Bizzaro, a whacky cartoonist, who cares about animals. I have to buy one of his shirts.

Great site for men who want to make ethical consumption choices

We definitely need more super cool, intelligent men, like Joshua Katcher, who promote ethical consumption. Why does society condemn men for caring and considering the effects of their choices on the planet and other living beings? Take a look for yourself:
The Discerning Brute. It's a fascinating and inspiring read for women too.

Share this on Facebook

This video shows some of the truth behind the dairy and veal industry. Although it includes some disturbing footage, it has a positive message which will make it more palatable to people are naive and not wanting to know the ugly truth.

How much should humane eggs cost?

Going vegan with Ellen

She's great: http://vegan.ellen.warnerbros.com/blog/

I want to be vegan! I know it's the right thing to do. I am utterly convinced, and yet I fail repeatedly despite trying. It's difficult when there is barely a vegan thing to eat anywhere. Also, I'm terrible with time management. I cannot find the time to do most of the things I want to do, so it's difficult to plans meals ahead, buy all the necessary groceries, and then cook, cook, cook so that I have the food I need during the week. On top of it, I'm a totally untalented cook so I seldom have inspiration for vegan meals using whatever's available in my kitchen. I have cut out all dairy and eggs at home, but I still struggle when I'm out with friends or, at work where there are so few options. I know it will be better when I'm in Toronto, but ideally I should stick to my convictions where-ever I am.

If I'm having a hard time as a non-mother, I can only imagine how hard it would be for a mother with a job or studies to try to convert to vegan cooking. It seems evident that animal activism, should include two goals : 1) to raise awareness about the terrible cruelties involved in any production of animals for profit, and 2)to provide affordable and convenient vegan alternatives.

I'm thinking that when I move to Toronto I will make an effort to increase vegan options in my community by requesting or suggesting vegan alterntives at restaurants, coffee shops, and grocery stores. It's not much, but it's a start. I'm new to activism. As my confidence and experience grows I hope to do more.

A video about where your meat comes from

If you eat meat, you have a responsibility to yourselves and the animals to know where it comes from. Warning: Movie has disturbing scenes.

Excellent podcast

Our Henhouse interviews Mercy for Animal undercover investigator of animal abuse on factory farms. The interview starts with a long discussion on Chicago food, but be patient, after that it goes into the interview.

Great music play list for animals

Here is the play list:

1. Prince - Animal Kingdom
2. The Colourfield - Cruel Circus
3. Luminous Frenzy - McEmotion
4. Robert Wyatt - Pigs (in there)
5. The Style Council - Blood Sports
6. The Playthings - Life in a Bowl
7. Howard Jones - Assault & Battery
8. Cerrone - Supernature
9. Poison Girls - The Offending Article
10. Cecil McCartney - Sacrifice
11. Paul McCartney & Wings - Wild Life
12. X-Ray Spex - Peace Meal
13. The Smiths - Meat is Murder
14. Consolidated - Stoned (Live Bass Mix)
15. Dead Prez - Be Healthy
16. The Playthings - Nursery Rhymes
17. Crass - Merry Crassmas

There are some great songs here. Love Pigs (in there), Sacrifice, Wildlife, and Meat is Murder

Give your opinion on animal tests

The University of British Columbia is doing a survey on public opinion of lab tests on animals. I'm going to fill it in and will definitely bare in mind the findings of this article which rigorously discusses the effectiveness of animals to predict human responses.

A list of companies that test on animals (or don't)

While I don't like many of PETA's publicity stunts and tactics, they have provided a list of companies that sell personal and household product that do or do not test on animals. It is quite shocking to see which companies test on animals for such benign products like tooth paste! Please consult and try to modify your purchases as much as possible. We vote with our money! Our purchases should reflect our values and ethics.

Is animal testing a useful predictor of human reaction?

Read this paper for a fascinating, compelling and thorough discussion on the predictive power of animal vivisection.

This excellent academic paper uses evidence from many decades of animal testing to argue convincingly that animal studies which test the effects of medicine and the toxicity of chemicals do NOT predict the performance of medicine or toxic effects in humans. The success of prediction is sometimes worse than tossing a coin, i.e., worse than random, and this is the case for even our closest relatives. Yet animal experimentation is on the increase in many places (The U.K. for example), and primates, dogs and cats are still used to this day in the US and Canada. Unfortunately, animal testing will probably increase with increased public pressure to test whether chemicals are carcinogens, as well as the toxicity of GMOs. While many top scientists have pointed out how ineffective animal studies are in predicting effects in humans, many scientists argue that they are "useful", especially when they can cherry-pick particular results to benefit their companies. This is a clear example of how so-called objective scientists who do "real" science, are completely blind to their own lack of objectivity and scientific credibility.

So if many scientists recognise how useless animal studies are for predicting human response, and considering that animal experimentation necessarily inflicts terrible pain and suffering to animals, why do they continue? I wonder if it is simply to whitewash the public, make us feel that the products and medicines we consume are safe.

It's hard to believe that I wanted to be a scientist. Of course, not all scientists have to be completely closed-minded, accepting of the status quo and unethical. Just a large proportion of them, like most human beings.

It's also completely bizarre to me how people can train to be vets, presumably out of some love of animals, and in the end be warped to support the status quo of terrible factor farming, slaughter houses, and medical testing. These vets supposedly do check-ups on these places, and turn a blind eye to the attrocities that they see there. The one thing that has become clear to me now is that people will generally just go with the norm, no matter how terrible and injust it is.

Conscientious carnivore

From The Atlantic on being a conscientious carnivore.

Tracking animal abuse

This is a web application that tracks where the latest animal abuses in agriculture have occurred in the U.S. It's an example of one animal activist activity that can be achieved geospatial web technologies. Any other ideas? Is there anyway I can use my boring GIS and mapping skills to help animals?

We love animals?

Needless suffering

It's ok to eat eggs. Chickens aren't killed for them.

I wish it were ok to eat eggs. But this is very horrible and sad

Dairy cows = happy cows?

click here

Dearest pigs what they suffer

..
Call on Hormel to make changes for animals!

Eating meat

Thanks to Stuart for finding this article about the environmental costs of eating meat. The findings don't really say anything new except update the figures and it's still worthwhile to read to remind ourselves of the true costs of eating meat.
Add the cost of animal suffering with over 10 billion animals slaughtered in the U.S. alone and it's enourmous.

Being passive and obedient to authorative figures is a terrible affliction

Last night I suffered from passive authority-fearing behaviour which caused my cat to suffer tremendously unneccessarily.

I wonder why I am like this? Is it the way I was brought up? The culture of my country?

My wonderful young cat, Josie, who is only about 8 months old, was bitten by a stray cat that continouly makes a fearsome presence in the garden of my flat complex.
Last night for the second time in 2 months the tom bit Josie, this time with 2 puncture wounds. She was terrified and bleeding slightly, but she gathered herself quite quickly. However, fearful of infections and possibly HIV, I took to the emergency vet.

A young uncertain man greeted me and insisted on taking her away to be shaved. He said something about clearing the wounds. I really wanted to be present, but he was highly discouraging so I relented. But I thought he would come back after shaving her. Sitting in the waiting room, I heard one and then several screams from my cat in the distance. At first I thought it was simply being shaved over the wound. Then I hoped that there was a parrot or other animals in the clinic. I couldn't take it any longer and started pacing about trying to find where I could get access to where she was. The hygenic operating area said "staff only" so I obeyed. I knew that he'd taken another route to the theatre but I was again too fearful to go through without permission. So I asked the receptionist if that was my cat screaming. And he said yes it was, but it was normal and it was because of the injections. I was unhappy but let that quieten me.

Josie came back terrified, shell-shocked with wounds cut open. Flesh about 1cm long and 5 mm wide was cut from the wound and was leaking blood. No wonder she was crying so much! I had no idea. I said nothing and meekly took my injured animal home. She was so much worse off. She hid in the cupboard, was painful and sullen.

What I find particularly disturbing is that when I took her to the day clinic the last time she was bitten, there was no fuss at all. No shaving, no cutting, no screaming. It was over in 5 minutes and Josie didn't even cry.

I feel like I allowed her to be tortured for at least 30 minutes and did nothing because I was too afraid to ask questions and see for myself what was going on. It's pathetic. It's my beloved pet and it's my right to know what is happening. Why didn't I insist on being present and informed of the proceedings?
Why because I was trusting and fearful of the vet. But who is the vet, just a young kid straight out of varsity. I have my own judgement, experience and mind and I have a right to use it.

Motto of the day: Don't be passive when you know something is wrong! Don't be afraid to ask questions.

I'm back with questions

After a long break from blogger - nearly a year - a comment on this blog reminded me that my blog still exists and inspired to post a few thoughts.

Here are a few things I've been thinking about:

1. Are conservationists hanging onto something (i.e. keeping nature pristine) that can never remain as is, and by trying so hard to protect this "sacred" state are we causing stagnation? Are we like those people who cannot accept and embrace change? There are good arguments for keeping nature as is. One commonly used argument is that nature in its pristine state is essential for maintaining micro- and macro-scale ecosystem services that sustain our existence (e.g. wetlands, mountain water catchments, soil production, genetic diversity, etc.) There are also spiritual and ethical arguments - for me the preservation of all the diverse animal species is one. But I'm not sure how pristine it needs to be. I have a feeling that pollution is bad and filling up the entire landscape with monoculture farms, urban structures and garbage is also detrimental to our environment and our psychology. But I don't have quantitative figures.

2. I have this feeling that it is unethical to create a world where species can no longer survive, where the Earth is no longer their home. I believe it is unethical to kill animals (via hunting or habitat destruction) when its not necessary for our survival. But sometimes when I watch nature documentaries, filled with the desperate struggle of eating and being eaten in pretty gruesome and painful ways, I wonder why we would want to preserve something so cruel, something that causes so much suffering. An Anaconda slowly strangles its victims to death. As the victim breathes out, it tightens its coils. Others snakes swallow their prey live. Lions do not have effective killing mechanisms and sometimes just hang on until the victim expires or they start eating it alive. Nature is inhumane and filled with suffering! I don't think the individuals are cruel - they have no choice like us humans. But they were not equipped with kind and humane ways of killing and eating their prey. Why do we want to preserve this kind of existence? But as a friend of mine pointed out, humans do inflict this kind of cruelty on each other all the time and we still want to continue existence. This is true, yet I always hope that somehow humanity will elevate itself to more kind ways of living. This doesn't seem possible now, but Stuart believes that through artificial intelligence and neurological enhancement we could make ourselves better people – I hope so.

A dangerous idea

I have written for ages, but I must share this with you. There's a fantastic site where prominent intellectuals in Science are asked what they think the most dangerous idea is, assuming it were true.

Irene Pepperberg, Research Associate, Psychology, Harvard University, studies parrots and has found them to be supremely intelligent, comparible to chimps.

Her dangerous idea is 'The differences between humans and nonhumans are quantitative, not qualitative'.

Why is it dangerous? Because we'll have to start taking animals seriously which will mean rethinking the way we use them for animal experimentation, food production and other forms of exploitation. Even how we destroy and pollute the habitats in which they live.

She's great and has some really fascinating research.

The voices are telling me to kill you

voices
Originally uploaded by Tracy Leigh.

This is just one of the hilarious pictures on this site . It was really hard to choose which one to put on the web, so go please go look the rest!

The Meatrix

Check this out!

"Incovenient Truth"

I saw "Inconvenient Truth" on Friday night. It's a documentary warning about the effects of Global Warming produced by Al Gore. It's really about his mission to make people aware of global warming, why it's happening, what the effects are and what we can do about it.

In some cases it might have been quite sentimental (which is ok), but generally I found it interesting and quite inspiring (i.e. it makes me want to take action). I covered some theory about global warming in my geography courses at UCT and was pleased not to notice any major inconsistencies between the facts presented and my education.

I think Al Gore makes a really strong argument why we should take global warming seriously while trying to make the science understandable and adding a human touch.

The human suffering caused by storms and droughts will be immense, but what really upset me was the reminder of how global warming will effect animals. In the Arctic, it's been found that polar bears are drowning before they are able to find the shore of the rapidly receding ice shelf : ( And, really it won't just be the polar bears that suffer as life cycles are put out of sink and habitats made inhospitable.

We really are heading to a mass extinction. It also makes me wonder if I'm investing my time in the right conservation activity. Trying to protect little remants of vegetation to preserve habitats etc. won't really help when that habitat transforms with climate change.

I didn't search long but here's quite a nice post about the movie.
I urge you to go see it and "The March of the Penguins" to make you realise how they will be effected too.

kill the tiger!

That's my new motto. Of course I support the slaughter of lions and leopards too. And your cat. Actually, it's not my new motto, but maybe it should be. How about just locking tigers up and feeding them tofu? What about following them around and shooting their prey in the head just as the tiger is about to get them?

I think this paper is interesting.

So why do we care about biodiversity?

In the context of my new job, I keep asking myself this question: Why do conservationists and I care about biodiversity?

Personally, I find it a hard-to-define, but certain feeling that biodiversity and nature must be protected in its pristine state. It is partly to do with its utilitarian value, but somehow I value it intrinsically and especially the individual life forms that live within nature. I also believe that we have so much to gain "spiritually" from appreciating and experiencing nature and wild animals. But at the same time I feel that I have to give more concrete reasons in terms of economics, environmental sustainability, food security and all the potential medical and technological discoveries, to other people to make them care about nature. And for that reason, because I want them to value biodiversity, I am always on the look out for arguments and facts in its favour.

This is why I found my reaction to a National Geographic magazine featuring biodiversity strange - I was disappointed and disturbed. From the first line of this "celebration" of biodiversity it only focussed on the utilitarian aspect of biodiversity from a human perspective and quickly went further to discuss how many bugs were foggered in the jungles of South America for a scientist's investigations and how the liver of some type of shark is an anti-cancer agent, and how frogs secrete powerful antibiotics when hurt. It made me realise that the only reason why many humans want to preserve biodiversity is to use it for science experiments and exploitation. It's not that I don't appreciate the amazing technology in nature and how it can help humans, but I am terrified that all this leads to is more suffering for animals that are captured, killed, sliced-and-diced, tested and milked for our benefit.


I just wish people would start to question the things that they do to animals. I realise animals are not as intelligent as us but we must question whether we have right to torture them even if it will help us dramatically. Medical research would probably be best tested on humans, but we don't do that because it is simply unacceptable.

Another heroine

Mary
Originally uploaded by Tracy Leigh.

I read a short biography about Mary Wollstonecraft this Saturday and found that my admiration for her increased ten-fold. I was already convinced by her work: “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” written in 1792, that she was not only the “first feminist”, but a compassionate and great thinker. This is an amazing book which passionately and reasonably argues for equal opportunity for men and women based on broader philosophical arguments about morality, religion and duty.

She makes an excellent point when she says that our moral decisions must be based on our own rational thought and feeling rather than by blindly following rules we don’t understand or the commands of others. Although she makes a general point, she particularly wished this principle to be applied to women, who, above all else had to be “virtuous”, yet were not properly educated to use their own reason and were encouraged to slavishly obey the men in their lives (fathers, husbands, brothers, etc.). And as she most observantly points out, why should women follow such imperfect beings as men?

There is so much wisdom in the book which is still relevant today that I can’t discuss it all here without writing an entire essay. What I find even more amazing is that her ideas, which were revolutionary for her time, seemed to develop without any outside influence, but rather from her own observation, thought and freewill. If so, she entirely independently realised the injustice of the way women (and the poor) were treated in those times. She rebelled against norms which were oppressive and immoral and at all times fought to follow her heart and own integrity. In short, she is amazing.

Please, please, read about Mary and be inspired by a truly brave, compassionate and individualistic thinker.

the vegetarian vice

Here's a post on my blog about the vegetarian vice. What do you think?

My point isn't that environmentalism is bad, just that it shouldn't be synonymous with vegetarianism. Ideally, declaring your views on meat eating should be similar to declaring your religion. Interesting maybe; but not a dead giveaway about your views on a bunch of other subjects.

Lessons of the cat commune

Much to my unhappiness I discovered yesterday that the fluffy-scruffy-looking cat in my block of flats is just skin and bones. I had noticed a while ago that this once much-protected luxurious cat was no longer anything special to its owners. It now shuffles around outside and has serious problems trying to fit in with the other cats who only remember seeing it as kitten being walked on a lead.

This cat Pippa, is starving. And as any concerned citizen of this local community I simply cannot let it starve. So it's going to get food from me as long as I live there. What choice do I have? How could I carry on living there with my cats all fat and happy and this unfortuante creature dying a slow death?

This makes me think of all the unhappy people out there suffering the same fate. Surely it is the responsibility of those who have food to help those who don't?
Yet I know I would struggle to become so personally involved. Perhaps it's because cats' problems are much simpler to fix than people's? Perhaps it's because the situation of poverty is so overwhelming and much too large for one person to tackle?

My ration of food for Pippa however could be compared to a minimum income given to all people no matter who they are or what their circumstances. (Stuart enlightned me to this idea.) Why should a person have to prove that they are unemployed and cannot find work before being given much needed money? The beaurocracy behind this is often so intense, demanding and time-consuming that the poor don't get their money before they are already on their hands and knees, if at all. The minimum income would come from taxes and not really make a difference to the rich, but to the poor it would. I don't know about the financial and logistical issues surrounding this, but it could be a good idea. What do you think?

My webpage has been updated

Finally I have updated my webpage on vegetarianism. It includes a little more new information on the Environment and Vegetarian resources and a new layout which I think is very pretty. A beautiful photo provided by our project botanist, Rupert Koopman inspired the layout (which still needs a little work, I admit). in fact it all needs work and revising, but hey, I'm a working girl!

You can check it out here .

By the way http://www.freewebs.com is quite a nice place to host your website for free.

I've discovered Diane Fossey

I'm housesitting in Scarborough (it's amazing) and discovered in it's bookshelves, "Woman in the Mist". The title is similar to "Gorilla's in the Mist", a book written by Dian Fossey and a movie about her life and is in fact about the passionate Dian

I never really paid attention to the movie, but I was intrigued by this book and once I started reading it, I've been engrossed in another world full of passion, tragedy, discovery and war. Dian is truly a remarkable woman and though some may have called her unstable and crazy, she was driven by a great love and compassion for her fellow creatures. she lived life to the full, with passion and honestly.

This strange bushwoman was also not a stranger to love of and from men. Men of all ages would fall passionately in love with this headstrong woman. Sadly none of these relationships were fated for success (or so far, I'm still reading).

It's set in an interesting place, the jungle-covered mountains between Congo and Rawanda during a time of conflict and uprising in Congo (Zaire), which is providing some fascinating background to my current perception of these countries.

The story is also disturbing and sad. Dian was fighting a losing battle against the most gruesome and persistant poaching of all the animals in the mountains where she lived, a supposed protected area. Gorillas hands and heads were chopped off in the most brutal way. Reading the book, it's easy to see what intelligent and beautiful animals, gorillas are and the connection between us and them. It's also easy to understand why Dian went to such great lengths (at her own personal risk) to try protect them. But very few people cared like her.

I only wonder what has happened to the gorillas now...

Beautiful bulbs!

Beautiful bulbs!
Originally uploaded by Tracy Leigh.

This is just one of the many many species of flowers found in Nieuwoudtville which is rapidly becoming grazed by sheep or ploughed for Rooibos.

This amazing photo was taken by Rupert. Thanks Rupert!

Nieuwoudtville paradise

I just spent a wonderful, informative and allergic 3 days in the bulb paradise of the world. This small area has an extremely high biodiversity of beautiful bulbs. Flowers of every shape and size. You also don't have to drive far to see the awesome plataeus stretching into the Karoo, roaring waterfalls and mysterious Kookeboom trees.

It's also baie Afrikaans! No vegetarian food for me. Well they tried but a vegetarian option simply meant added peas and carrots. I suppose I was vegetarianism is pretty unheard of in this sheep territory. Though rapidly turning into rooibos monoculture.

I will attach photos soon! Keep watching.

Darwin, animals and naturalism

I discovered an interesting book called "Pilgram on the Great Bird Content" by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. It sounds like a fascinating story about nature, birds and Darwin's unique character, which covers important scientific, philosophical and emotional issues related to evolution and nature.

Although I haven't read it, I have read the first chapter which was absorbing and thought provoking. You can check it out online too.

I'd love to buy it but I've already just bought Jane Goodall's "Harvest for Hope and have a million other books to read. Harvest for Hope is "easy to read" in the literary sense, but tough emotionally. Besides all the environmental damage our food production systems cause, there are some horrific stories of cruelty to animals. But she does at least give positive alternatives and ways to take action. All I can say is, buy organic when you can. It's better for your health, the environment and animals. Although it may be more expensive, I wonder if it really would be if other farmers were not subsidised by the government for their inefficient and cruel ways of farming?

I suppose I'm painting a picture that farmers are all evil when they aren't (except those that torture animals!). It's tough to make a living from farming, so even those that do like the idea of conservation still want to make the most money that they can out of their land so that they can feed their family, educate them, etc. It makes you wonder if feeding 6 billion people is really viable?

What's the big deal about GMO foods?

I must admit that I've been rather ignorant about GMO's for a long time now. I couldn't really understand what the big deal was about. After all we have been modifying animals and plants through selection for thousands of years. True, some of the results aren't great: cows' udders are known to cause them pain, persion cats can't eat properly because of their flat faces, etc.

I bought a book by Jane Goodall about food (I can't remember the title now) which described some of the problems of GMO food. Genetically modified foods have genes taken from other life forms and transformed genes which make them bigger, "better", and resistant to pesticides and herbicides. Some of the problems are

1) We are not sure what sort of negative effects food like this could have on humans.

2) Natural cross fertilisation results in genes being spread from genetically modified crops into other crops. This means that all crops whether you like it or not can and probably will become infected with GMO genes.

3) The spread of GMO crops is putting more and more of the land under monocultures with very little genetic diversity.

4) These genetically modified plants can spread everywhere and are resistant to herbicides and pesticides so won't be easy to remove.

5) GMO companies are gaining a monopoly over food and own the rights to certain genes.

Another question I've been wondering about is why is variety in genes important? The reason that I've discovered is that variety of genes means robustness. When a disease or change in environment starts affecting an area, variety in genes will allow some plants to survive and therefore prevent the extinction of the species. Genetic monocultures make humans vulnerable to food crisis.

Also GMO seed companies have patented their seeds, meaning that farmers are not allowed to grow these seeds without purchasing them, but with the natural cross fertilisation farmer's crops are being contaminated without their permission and then being sued by big GMO Seed companies!

It's just crazy and I certainly will be more wary of GMO food. With natural biodiversity already under great threat we certainly don't need to add further pressures. Also what are the ethical concerns of one or two companies owning the genes of certain life forms?

The rights of owning land

Today was the 4th day at my new Biodiversity Planning job and I am loving it! everything about it... the beautifal natural surounds, the passion of the people and the subject matter. To remind you, I am providing technical support for a project which aims to produce conservation plans for several important and threatened biodiversity areas in the Cape.

Pondering the more political and philosophical implications of this project, has already brought me into conflict with my boyfriend (as usual). The question is once these plans, indicating which areas cannot be developed and what other land use is suitable for other areas, are developed how far should we go to inforce it? If a precious natural habitat is found on someone's farm, can we inforce the landowner to not to develop, farm or mine it? Many, especially economists, would say that this is against his or her rights. But in my opinion, owning land should entail some rights, but not all possible permissions. Afterall what does it mean to own land which is something continuous, interconnected and "eternal" compared to our lifespans? That land also belonged to many others before, will be passed down to new generations in the future and is currently inhabited by many living creatures who depend on it for their survival. Once land is altered, it is usually always changed forever. A piece of land is also not an island. Ecosystems need to be connected to each other to maintain viability, and waste dumps, for example, frequently effect the surroundings (e.g. water contamination, property devaluation). There is also the added limitations of the capibility of one person to think long term and holistically. Combined with the pursuit of personal interests, how will they know what is best now and in the future? Also, if it is a time where preferences are to prize and protect rich natural heritage, what would happen if those preferences changed? Yet the scientific necessity of maintaining natural systems, nor the ethical considerations of those many animals who would be lost to themselves and future generations wouldn't.

I admit it does seem risky to allow someone else to tell you what to do on your land, but in the case of our project, it's many, many people from different backgrounds who inform the project. Also the analysis of what areas need to be conserved is based on the best available scientific practices. It's not hodge-podge speculation. I think it's better than letting the natural world be developed in a random way. Human's are notorious for being short-sighted and destroying land. And no, it's not always true that as something becomes more scarce people value it more. Think of Easter Island, where the inhabitants cut down all the trees. This changed the climate and destroyed the soil, causing poverty and hunger, but they couldn't even build a boat to escape this dreadful scenario!

Yes, I'm still alive

I must apologise for the lack of posts lately. With things winding up in my current job before I take the new one in Kirstenbosch, I just haven't had time. So I shouldn't be surprised that I've lost all my readers... But I'll keep posting when I can.

new post!

It's been almost 3 weeks since the last post, so I thought I should do something about it. I think you should charge over here and pummel my opponents into the ground.

Half man, half mouse

Refering to my post below, I think it's an interesting idea: a human's brain inside a mouse! Quoting from the article:
'Professor Henry T. Greely, director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences and leader of the committee that considered the proposal, ..., (said), "We concluded that if we see any signs of human brain structures . . . or if the mouse shows human-like behaviors, like improved memory or problem-solving, it's time to stop."'

Can you imagine that?! For the first time, humankind will finally be able to get the perspective of being another animal!

But really I wonder why they want to do this? According to this article it's to investigate brain diseases like Alzeimers, schizophrenia, etc.. I still don't if I like the idea. I know people and families suffer with these dreadful diseases but we don't test on people. Why not? because we say that human's have some inalieble human rights. Why don't animals have rights? I think any form of testing should be voluntary. Since animals can't give their permission perhaps they shouldn't be used.

Mixing mice and men

Shock-horror when I discovered this article while following links from the site recommended in my previous post saying that they are going to implant human brain cells into a developing mouse's brain. They also discuss other animal testing such as pigs trying artificial corneas and monkeys get gene manipulations as if it were the most fun thing in the world! Sometimes I just don't like scientists! Their desire to discover things before anyone else, change the world and people's minds, which is often and mostly driven by the Ego, far outweighs the suffering that they may cause. grr....

Everyday myths derailed

I found a cool link to this science site where every day myths like the fact that we use only 10 % of our brains or that bubblegum takes 7 years to digest if swallowed or that the Great Wall of China is the only manmade object visible from space by astronauts.

It's strange...

how people can feel so much sympathy and love for cats, dogs and other animals that we adopt, whether they be tortoises, parrots or rabbits, yet happily eat cows, sheep, pigs and chickens. A lot of people really connect with domestic animals, they observe and appreciate their unique personalities, quirks and especially the companionship they give. These people believe that their pets do think and feel, and they really dislike seeing an animal being badly treated. I think it's wonderful to see the connection that can be built between humans and animals, but I also find it so odd that we (it was me too until recently) do not make the link between us and farm animals. Somehow these animals don't feel or think, and are not capable of building relationships or appreciating their lives. If that's what we think then yes it's fine for us to eat them. We need not think more about it.

I suppose we can also justify eating meat by saying it's the natural order of things. Lions eat buck and it's not pretty (I cringe at nature documentaries showing the hunt and kill). This is where I find myself struggling with what seems to be conflicting viewpoints, as someone who believes in nature and evolution (only) and places humans firmly amongst other living creatures, yet believing that human beings can strive for such high ideals and ethics through being aware and having the power to make truly liberated decisions (can we really? more confusion!).

The latter also seems to imply that yes we are ultimately better and above other animals? Well, I don't think it should be a question of superiority but simply one of difference. Each animal is uniquely and beautifully adapted to fit into its environment. A cat is not somehow deficient because it can't do maths, it is supremely athletic and agile, has lightening reflexes, insatiable curiousity, great eye-sight and hearing. How is it deficient for what it's meant to do? It's perfect. So how are we better? Especially when we don't use our natural abilities (like thinking, reflecting, compassion and caring).

There are a lot of things that are natural. It's suggested that rape, racism, war are natural, but that doesn't mean that those are principals we should strive for. I think on some reflection and especially, when we build understanding and empathy for others, we would wish to build a society that is not violent, but peaceful in all ways.

New Job at Kirstenbosch!

Well, I have finally made a decision regarding my future and what I want to do. That's why I have accepted a job offer (for much less money) to work for Cape Nature as a GIS Technician on project for Fine Scale Biodiversity Planning. I'm very lucky to be based at the spectacular Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens . Now who wouldn't die to have an office environment looking up onto the mountains and the lush forests down it's slope. I feel very lucky to have been given this opportunity to direct my career into biodiversity conservation at such a beautiful place.