Since we're already talking about vegetarian-ism ... ish

Here's a great story I found on Slate today ... Yeah I realize it's from 2008 ... so sue me...

Vegetarian like me.

As you read this article ... one point I wanted to make:

"Which leads me to a vital point for friendly omnivore-herbivore relations. As you're enjoying that pork loin next to me, I am not silently judging you. I realize that anyone who has encountered the breed of smug vegetarian who says things like, "I can hear your lunch screaming," will find this tough to believe, but I'm honestly not out to convert you."

I'd like to say ... for those of you out there who've encountered that self righteous vegetarian ... I apologize .... but don't view all of us that way.

Thanksgiving

Ah yes, the holidays have once again descended upon us like the sword of Damocles. A mixture of reverence, fear, anxiety strike us in the middle of the night. Again, being the person I am ... I'm having a vegan thanksgiving. I understand that not everyone is having that, so if you're eating turkey ... ok ... but beware of where that comes from.


'Grace': PETA's Thanksgiving ad

With that said, understand something. I'm not a huge PETA fan. I think that they can be a rather extremist group. They don't always speak for me or my kind. In fact, I'd like to say that they represent an idea, possibly an ideal world, for some people and sometimes are a bit ham-handed at bringing that point across. That's my .02 for the day. Have a happy Thanksgiving ... however you choose to celebrate it.

Cats Against Climate Change

Right and Wrong

This video was one of the first videos that I'd ever seen that made me question what I was doing. I was a young lad, about 16. Watch, shudder, learn.

Interspecies communication

From the New Yorker:

When Paul Nicklen, a biologist and photographer for National Geographic, decided to travel to Antarctica to document the leopard seal, a large, aggressive animal that dominates the Antarctic waters, he didn’t realize he would be getting one of the best shots of his career. Leopard seals are imposing, even frightening. They’re sexually dimorphic—the females are larger than the males by up to thirty per cent—and they weigh in excess of eleven hundred pounds. In 2003, a British scientist named Kristy Brown was snorkeling in the Antarctic and was fatally pulled underwater by one. “With its massive serpentine body, reptilian head, and sinister black eyes, the leopard seal looks positively prehistoric,” writes Nicklen in his new book “Polar Obsession.” Yet leopard seals are often unfairly cast as villains; their gait and playfulness can often be mistaken for aggression. (Investigators of Brown’s death believe the seal had been trapped inland all winter and was starving.) Nicklen was determined to capture a different side of the animal, one that demonstrates their intelligence and capacity to interact with humans. In the video below, Nicklen describes an incredible four-day experience with an enormous female leopard seal (she was roughly thirteen feet long and three feet wide), which created one of the most compelling chapters in his new book.

This video speaks for itself:

Slowly but surely

So it seems that people are starting to get the message on some of the more minor things about care for animals. At this point, I'll take anything I can get.

Two Southern California cities have voted to ban the declawing of cats, joining San Francisco and Santa Monica which recently outlawed the practice.

Article can be found here

For those of you who still declaw your cats here's a little bit of information:

Before you make the decision to declaw your cat, there are some important facts you should know. Declawing is not like a manicure. It is serious surgery. Your cat's claw is not a toenail. It is actually closely adhered to the bone. So closely adhered that to remove the claw, the last bone of your the cat's claw has to be removed. Declawing is actually an amputation of the last joint of your cat's "toes". When you envision that, it becomes clear why declawing is not a humane act. It is a painful surgery, with a painful recovery period. And remember that during the time of recuperation from the surgery your cat would still have to use its feet to walk, jump, and scratch in its litter box regardless of the pain it is experiencing. Wheelchairs and bedpans are not an option for a cat. (taken from here)

Where Does Bacon Come From?

This story from Change.org again ... speaks wisdom. As American's we see horrific things everyday from our own lives to the media we see on TV. If you've ever watched Animal Cops on Animal Planet, you've seen some of the terrible things that are done to our animal friends. What would happen if we started showing stories like this on TV? How soon do you think we could change people's minds about eating meat?

Bacon

Your dose of sweet for the day

I found the link to this story from Change.org and thought it was a nice but also very telling story about kids and learning to grow up vegan:

Is This Vegan?

Resolution To Make Austin A No Kill City Passes Unanimously

Sorry ... in the hurried life of last week, I forgot to post this:

Austin, TX (myFOXaustin.com) - The City Council passed a resolution Thursday that will mandate Town Lake Animal Center to implement the policies and programs recommended by the Animal Advisory Commission to make Austin a "No Kill" city. The recommendations brought forth to the counci will give a clear plan to achieve a 90% save rate at Town Lake Animal Shelter within 18 months by changing some existing policies and implementing new programs.

The full story (with video) is here

Theres also more about the story here

This is WONDERFUL news and couldn't make me any more happy.

Signs of Intelligence

I'm a foodie ... there, I've said it. Without going through stages of self help, without having any kinds of withdrawal, that admission came easy. I am capable, on my more sloth like days, to watch hours of either the travel channels Man Vs. Food and ponder how one man can eat so much meat and still live, to watching No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. I've bought Mr. Bourdain's book Kitchen Confidential for friends, read some of it myself, and reveled in the fact that among foodies, he's like a rockstar. I know that he also has a dislike for me and people like me. I'm a vegetarian you see and he thinks that people like me, don't "get it" about eating meat. I suspect that he stole part of that riff from Denis Leary and his "Oh you will eat the meat" from No Cure For Cancer. You've seen it ... I KNOW you have. Hell I even own that one. So it saddens me to think that I may have to stop watching Mr. Bourdain after he commented recently on Larry King Live that

"it was OK for humans to kill and eat animals because we've been designed to chase down "smaller and stupider creatures."

(See the story here on Huffington Post)

It's Speciesism. Blantant. Defined by wikipedia speciesism is as follows:

The assigning of different values or rights to beings on the basis of their species membership.

I've said it before and I'll repeat myself. As a species, it is imperative for us to understand that intelligence and instinct are NOT specifically inherent to JUST humans. I think that we as a creature need to redefine what intelligence is and is not and not to define how smart an animal is by how well it manages to avoid being killed by us. We're pretty pesky creatures us humans ... and we're also really good at finding ways to kill most creatures, if we're not careful, using logic like Mr. Bourdains, we could find ways to kill ourselves.

Jonathan Foer on NPR

In my last post I made mention of Jonathan Foer and his new book. Here's an interview with him I heard on NPR the other day. It's a good listen.

NPR Audio Link

Also,

The Humane Society's no-kill shelter in Killeen burned Sunday night and 138 little lives were lost. They are in desperate need of monetary donations, volunteers, and materials to help rebuild the facility. If you can, please donate any of the needed items or volunteer your time. Please see the shelter's website link below for needed donations, as their need changes on a daily basis:

http://www.centexhumanesociety.com/fire110109.shtml

I'm going to try to spend some time volunteering this weekend. If you're in Central Texas, please try to donate some money or some time.

Lastly, this is an e mail sent to me from Fix Austin:

Dear friends of Austin's animals,

In perhaps the most important animal-related Austin news in years, the City Council will consider a resolution this Thursday that will mandate Town Lake Animal Center to implement the policies and programs recommended by the Animal Advisory Commission to make Austin a "No Kill" City. The Commission's recommendations, viewable at this link, provide a clear plan to achieve a 90% save rate at Austin's shelter within 18 months by implementing proven policies and programs including a comprehensive adoption program (including off-site adoptions at multiple sites) and a large-scale foster program. The plan also calls for continued low-cost spay-neuter services, a moratorium on the killing of healthy, adoptable animals while cages sit unused, and a robust return-to-owner program.

At FixAustin.org, we have been on the forefront of advocating for these very reforms for the last 5 years. We feel that this is an historic opportunity for our community's homeless pets, and we are 100% in support of the City Council's resolution.

The resolution is sponsored by Council Member Laura Morrison and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez. They deserve special recognition for their continued advocacy for lost and homeless pets. But the entire Council needs to hear that Austinites are firmly in support of the reforms called for in this resolution. So please take a moment (it'll take less than 5 minutes) to e-mail the City Council to thank them for supporting Item #40 on this Thursday's Council Agenda, which will mandate the implementation of the Animal Advisory Commission's "No Kill" recommendations.

You can e-mail the entire Council by clicking this one link.

Thanks, in advance,
FixAustin.org