Cute Cat of the Day

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times. Cuteoverload.com is one of the best websites on the internets. The animal-speak commentary just adds to the cuteness of all of the photos of adorable animals on the site.

Today’s cuteoverload.com pic of the day:

This cat’s face just cracks me up! Check out the site for more great animal photos!

Montana Representative Wants All Pit Bulls in the State Killed

Photo courtesy of www.downtownpet.com

Robyn Driscoll, a Democrat who represents the 51^st District, has introduced a bill that would authorize the state sanctioned killing of all pit bulls in the state.  If the bill is made into law, any person who owns a pit bull will have to surrender their dog(s) for euthanasia within 10 days. If a person who has a pit bull refuses to cooperate under this scenario, any officer can obtain a search warrant to seize the dog(s).

As a person whose pets are like her children, I cannot imagine anything more horrible.At the risk of sounding too cliched, dogs become a threat when they are not raised, trained, and cared for properly. Any animal can bite, and any animal can turn vicious. Be it a pit bull, a shi tzu, a snake, or a parakeet, any animal that is kept as a pet has the potential to strike out at a human or another pet.

The National Canine Research Council reports that between 1965 and 2008, there were 3 fatalities in Montana from dog bites.  Yes, 3 in 43 years.  In 2005 alone, just one year in Montana, 1,400 people died from smoking and 251 in traffic accidents.  (Maybe Driscoll should work to protect Montanans from smoking and second hand cigarette smoke or negligent or drunk drivers; that would at least be something useful.)

The NCRC notes, “All the dogs involved … were …not spayed or neutered….All three cases involved unsupervised children left alone in a yard with unfamiliar dogs (2 cases) or the child wandering off and encountering an unfamiliar, chained dog (1 case).

source: Animal Law Coalition

Neville - Photo courtesy of the Animal Farm Foundation

Neville is a beautiful pit bull who was rescued from Canada after breed-specific legislation (BSL) forced him into a shelter. He is now a happy, healthy, and much loved bomb-sniffing dog in United States. Read his story here.

Dogs are not designer bags. It is unfair and shortsighted to single out one breed simply because it looks a certain way. You can help to put a stop to this unfair, cruel legislation. Contact Robin Driscoll and other legislators and remind them that BSL is misguided and wrong!

• Robyn Driscoll, (406) 534-4874, rdriscoll@peoplepc.com

• Contact the House Local Government Committee by calling Joe Kolman, 406-444-9280

• Find Montana legislators and email, fax or call them and urge them to say no to H.B. 191.  Here is the fax number for the House: 406-444-4825

If you aren’t sure what to write, just remember, be respectful, don’t insult the person you are writing to, and always be sure to proofread. If you still aren’t sure, feel free to copy and paste what I sent. Try to add your own thoughts, though.

Dear Ms. Driscoll:

I am writing to express my concern over the unfair breed specific legislation that you have introduced in Montana. Breed specific legislation is, at best, shortsighted. Proposing to kill all of the pit bulls in the state is cruel and inhumane.

Please, take the time to learn more about the breed that you are working to eradicate in name of misguided fear. No animal should be punished for ignorance or because it has an irresponsible and/or incompetent owner.

Thank you for your time.

A Vegan Thanksgiving

Well, it’s nearly Thanksgiving again. Time to get together with the family, watch football, and stuff ourselves. I love the tradition and nostalgia that comes with Thanksgiving. I could do without the guest of honor.

Every year in the US, around 50 million turkeys will be slaughtered just to be the centerpiece on millions of Thanksgiving dinner tables.

Unless your turkey came from your neighbor’s farm, chances are it came from a large, commercial farm. Many of these turkeys are punched, kicked, bludgeoned, and tortured before they are slaughtered. They don’t live on a green, grassy farm where they can run and socialize and rest. They live in cages that are packed and stacked with thousands of other turkeys. They are so close, in fact, that they often deficate and urinate one one another. Even worse, their beaks and claws are often severed when they are born so that they can’t hurt each other. They are in such close quarters that disease can spread quickly. In an attempt to avoid this, farmers load them up on antibiotics. They can’t walk, play, or sleep.

If that isn’t enough to make you reconsider your meal, consider this. Money. That’s the name of the game for commercial farmers. When they sell their turkeys to a retailer, they are paid by the pound. Then it goes without saying that the larger their turkeys, the larger their profit. So what is a factory farmer to do? Pump the animals full of hormones to make them grow bigger as quickly as possible. Sometimes, they grow so heavy theat their bones cannot support their weight, and they can no longer stand. These downed animals are sick, but that won’t stop farmers from selling them to you under the guise of thanks, joy, and peace.

Take a look at the following video from one of Butterball’s farms.

I would venture to guess that most people would be horrified if they were served cat on Thanksgiving instead of turkey.  Both are equally as horrifying. Turkeys are affectionate, sociable, and loving animals. So are cats. How does one justify eating one and not the other? I’m not sure.  Why not try to pass on the turkey this Thanksgiving? I promise, you won’t miss it. Believe it or not, a complete, traditional Thanksgiving meal can be made completely vegan, and completely delicious. That’s something to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving should be about showing grace, not just saying it.

Now That’s a White Powder She Isn’t Used To

  

Lindsay Lohan has never been a favorite of animal lovers. She has worn fur unashamedly despite activist groups calls for her pledge to go fur free.

While I obviously think humans wearing the fur of animals is disgusting, I more or less dislike Lindsay Lohan because she is famous for nothing. She was adorable in Freaky Friday, and I’ll admit that I liked Mean Girls, but aside from that, she has done absolutely nothing of significance besides make the human skeleton fashionable. And we all know that Lindsay’s frightening physique was the result of her being doused in another white powder altogether. But I digress.

Lindsay and her partner Samantha Ronson were in Paris last week, and while walking into the VIP room on the Champs-Elysées, she was doused with flour by an anti-fur activist. You can check out the photos of the scene at X17. Apparently, the heckler shouted “”Lindsay Lohan—fur hag!” Again, what exactly is she a VIP of? Anyone? Here is the video:

While I agree that fur is disgusting if it isn’t on its rightful owner’s back, and I certainly have no sympathy for Ms. Lohan, this is just stupid. The person who threw flour on Lindsay Lohan is not an activist. Far from it. This behavior hurts more animals than it helps. All this does is bring out the “PETA are a bunch of wackos” crowd. That particular variety (who think that all vegetarians, vegans, and animal rights activists are crazy) eat this stuff up. I have long argued that these kinds of tactics do nothing for the cause of animal rights, and, in fact, they detract from it. Take this comment from X17’s website, for example:

‘I’m no fan of Lindsey, but I would personally go kill a few animals just to spite PETA. I’m not talking eating or wearing them, either… just mounting their heads on my wall as a big F-U to PETA.’

When I first stopped eating meat several years ago, I went down the preachy, shock-tactic path. I think everyone does. I soon learned, however, that it was getting me nowhere. The point was not to upset people by telling them about the horrors that go on in slaughter houses or on factory farms, it was to explain why I  made the decision not to eat animals. I hoped that maybe once people heard the stories, they would make more compassionate choices. In a sense, it backfired. It only made people defensive.

These days, I rarely initiate conversation about my veg*anism unless it is necessary for meals, etc. I find that when people learn that I don’t eat animals, they are genuinely curious. They are also much more responsive to my answering their questions rather than accosting them over their medium-rare steak.

I think that the animal rights movement would be much better served by compassionate, reserved actions as opposed to those that insist it is all right to assault these vapid celebutants on the streets. Which, I’m sorry, it is not.

What do you think?