SEPTEMBER 2005

 ORLANDO SENTINEL PIECE IN RESPONSE TO SCIENTIST'S ARTICLE ON ANIMAL RIGHTS TERRORISTS 9/1/05

On Sunday August 28, the Orlando Sentinel reprinted a piece from the July 17 Washington Post in which a researcher describes an attack on his laboratory by animal rights activists he calls terrorists. The alert about the original piece is on my website at

www.DawnWatch.com/7-05_Animal_Media_Alerts.htm#LAB  and the August 28 reprint is on the Orlando Sentinel website at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-insinsanimalrights28082805aug28,0,2528536.story

Today, Thursday, September 1, the Orlando Sentinel has run an opinion piece in response, headed "Appreciate animal-rights restraint." The author, Christopher Murphy, challenges the hyperbolic terms Blumberg uses to describe the attack. His piece is on line at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-myword0105sep01,0,6203015.story?coll=orl-opinion-headlines  and I will paste it below.

We can keep the issue of animal testing alive in the paper with letters either wholeheartedly supporting Murphy's piece, or condemning militant action but still discussing the tremendous suffering of animals in laboratories, in experiments often done for trivial purposes. The Orlando Sentinel takes letters at insight@orlandosentinel.com and advises, "Each letter should be 250 words or fewer and include the writer's name and day and evening telephone numbers for verification purposes."

Appreciate animal-rights restraint

Christopher Murphy

September 1, 2005

University of Iowa researcher Mark S. Blumberg's Sunday Insight piece describing vandalism and harassment by the Animal Liberation Front, whose members he suggests should be labeled as "terrorists," was so whiny and weak I was embarrassed for him, his family and the university. Intruders rescued rats and mice on which Blumberg and others were experimenting. They spilled chemicals and damaged equipment. They videotaped their visit and sent a copy to the university. They also called Blumberg and his colleagues mean names, sent him mean e-mails and signed him up for a lot of magazine subscriptions.

There was disruption, expense and loss of data. No one died. No one was injured. No one so much as suffered a paper cut, yet Blumberg describes the incident in terms so hyperbolic, I am concerned for his sanity. My favorite example, one that should get him fired from the university and laughed into hiding, was that he found the vandalism and insulting e-mails more harrowing than having his house broken into in the early 1980s by armed robbers who tied him up and stuck snub-nosed revolvers in his face. I mean, really, I can't think of a victim of a violent home invasion who wouldn't have preferred having his office wrecked while he was on vacation.

Blumberg goes on, with weepy righteousness, about how difficult it was for him to learn that after freeing them from their cages, the animal-rights intruders mixed baby mice with adult mice that weren't their mothers, all but ensuring they would be eaten. How much nicer it would have been for them to be killed by Blumberg via poison or freezing or other methods as painful. Readers aren't sure because nowhere in the piece does its author mention what really happens to them. Further, it's convenient that only rats and mice were saved from that University of Iowa lab. That way, Blumberg also can avoid mentioning the armies of cats, dogs, monkeys and chimpanzees he and others in the research industry torture and kill annually.

How stupid he must think his readers are.

Blumberg claims the folks who trashed his laboratory have a distrust of and disdain for science. I don't think that's true. I think they like science but have a distrust of and disdain for people who torture and kill animals in its name. Science can be furthered without animal experimentation. Regrettably, those who make money breeding mice, monkeys and beagles, the dog of choice for animal experimentation, are able to spend it in amounts sufficient to convince most people it can't.

No group in United States history has won rights without inflicting, and suffering, violence. The Revolutionary War, abolition, women's suffrage, labor rights, civil rights, rights of the unborn -- all these movements have been, and continue to be, stained with violence. Blumberg and his crybaby colleagues got off with broken computers, graffiti and subscriptions to Time and TV Guide. Instead of likening animal-rights activists to actual terrorists, they should be thanking them for their restraint.

Christopher Murphy lives in Orlando.

(END OF SENTINEL OP-ED)

HURRICANE KATRINA ON ANIMALS -- GUARDIAN AND OTHER PAPERS ON SNOWBALL -- 9/1/05

Much of our attention this week is turned to Hurricane Katrina. The suffering there is compounded by society's refusal to acknowledge the bond many of us have with our companions of other species. We read of people who could not evacuate because the shelters would not take animals.

On the front page of the Tuesday, August 31 Los Angeles Times we read about Billy:

"Patricia Penny had begged her son, Billy, 34, to leave. But he was afraid to abandon his five cats and the dog he was watching for friends, so he and his girlfriend stayed at their home on the east side of New Orleans. Penny last heard his voice in an 8 a.m. phone call. He was blunt: 'It's bad.' An enormous magnolia tree had fallen over in the front yard, and the storm had ripped a deck off the house. The water was rising and it was too late to leave."

There is a current Associated Press article, which appears in the Friday, September 2, International Herald Tribune and will probably be in many other Friday papers. It includes the following heart-wrenching story:

"The Superdome, where some 25,000 people were being evacuated by bus to the Houston Astrodome, descended into chaos as well.

...Many people had dogs and they cannot take them on the bus. A police officer took one from a little boy, who cried until he vomited. 'Snowball, snowball,' he cried. The policeman told a reporter he didn't know what would happen to the dog."

The full article is on the Guardian website at:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5249122,00.html

Many animal groups have relief efforts. Best Friends, the wonderful no kill sanctuary in Utah is among them, and has a comprehensive website providing regular news updates not just on its own work but also on that of other groups. It is set up as a clearinghouse of animal-related hurricane news and information for the media. You may wish to encourage your local media to visit it.

The site has chat areas and areas that provide information on ways people can help, not just with monetary donations (though they are needed and accepted!) but also with animal fostering. For example you can add yourself to a list of places able to foster horses.

Specific offers to help can be emailed to hrf@bestfriends.org

And the Best Friends website includes a "Good News Journal" where you can read good news, such as that about hotels relaxing their pet policies, and also includes an audio interview with their representative in the area. Check out www.BestFriends.org

NY TIMES ARTICLE QUESTIONS US AND THEM ATTITUDE TO OTHER SPECIES 9/4/05

The Magazine section of the Sunday, September 4, New York Times includes an article by David Berreby, headed, "Deceit of the Raven." (Page 20.) It opens noting studies of human-like intelligence in apes and ravens:

"It began with apes. In the 1960's and 70's, scientists taught captive chimps to use words and documented wild ones using tools and planning hunting expeditions. Then other smart mammals -- monkeys, elephants and porpoises among them -- also proved to have surprisingly ''human'' mental powers. And in the last few years, the circle has expanded to still other mammals and beyond.

"Last year, in the journal Animal Cognition, the behavioral biologist Thomas Bugnyar described a twist in an experiment he was conducting with laboratory ravens. The birds' job was to find bits of cheese hidden in film canisters, then pry open the lids to get the food out. One raven, Hugin, was best at this, but a dominant bird, Munin, would rush over and steal his reward.

"So Hugin changed his strategy: when the other bird came over, he went to empty canisters, pried them open and pretended to eat. While the dominant bird poked around in the wrong place, Hugin zipped back to where the food really was. He was deceiving Munin.

"To do that, Hugin had to grasp that 'what I know' and 'what he knows' are different. He had to understand, on some level, that other ravens have their own individual perceptions, feelings and plans, just as he does. It was big news when scientists found evidence that apes could grasp this. That some birds can as well is even more remarkable."

In a discussion reminiscent of Steven Spielberg's movie "AI," Berreby goes on to describe machines with increasingly human-like powers.

He then notes Mary Tyler Moore's plea on behalf of lobsters:

"In 1995, Mary Tyler Moore wrote an appeal for lobsters, saying they're 'fascinating beings with complex social interactions, long childhoods and awkward adolescences. Like humans, they flirt with one another and have even been seen walking 'claw in claw'! And like humans, lobsters feel pain.'''

He ends his article with:

"In other words, even as the clear list of differences between human and nonhuman gets shorter, the ancient rhetoric of Us and Them remains. People will never have any trouble dividing the human from the nonhuman. We've been doing it to one another for thousands of years."

You can read the whole piece on line at: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/magazine/04IDEA.html

It presents a great opportunity for letters to the New York Times magazine that give specific information on the impact our Us and Them mentality has on other species. You may wish to write about factory farming (www.FactoryFarming.com  is a great resource) or vivisection. Or those empathizing with what the nonhuman victims of Katrina are experiencing might make that link to this article. The Magazine section takes letters at magazine@nytimes.com

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.

COVERAGE OF KATRINA ANIMALS - CBS EARLY SHOW, UK DAILY TELEGRAPH AND MIAMI HERALD - 9/6/05

There has been some coverage of the animal disaster on the news networks. CNN's Paula Zahn and Anderson Cooper (who never ignores the plight of animals in his coverage of disasters) have covered the issue. Today, Tuesday September 6, CBS's Early Show did a piece, which you can read or even watch on line at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/06/earlyshow/living/petplanet/main817239.shtml

It covered animals being kept at the Houston SPCA for people who had smuggled them in bags and under clothing on the buses headed to Houston, telling us that 400 animals arrived that way. The coverage was touching, including, for example, the Houston SPCA president telling us: "There was a man in his 80s and he was with his wife, who came off the bus in a wheelchair. They were clutching a little white poodle. And he said 'This is Tasha. This is the most important thing in our lives. And this is all we have left."

The reporter told us, "the story is much darker for countless pets still stranded in Hurricane-affected areas. After a week of evacuating people, relief workers are now turning to the work of rescuing pets still trapped on rooftops and front porches." There is a list of relief agencies on the site. And there is a photo essay of animal rescues.

Please thank the Early Show for the coverage. (Note: Email to the Early Show will not be jamming up Blackberries of reporters in the field.) The show takes comments at: earlyshow@cbs.com

While the American Press has mostly avoided the animal issue, the Tuesday, September 6, Daily Telegraph (London) has a hard-hitting piece. It opens:

"Hundreds have drowned in the flood waters, their carcasses littering the city, and the yelps and cries of countless others echo through the deserted streets of New Orleans. Thousands of pets are stranded and starving to death, their owners dead or forced to abandon them as they were evacuated to emergency shelters. More than a week after the city was flooded, distraught owners have started coming forward to plead for information about the beloved animals they left behind. Others had to watch their pets die - or in some cases, had to kill them themselves - after being told they could not bring them along in rescue vessels."

We read how stubbornness can save the lives of our loved ones:

"Others refused to be evacuated without their animals. Diana Womble, who was picked up by boat six days after the flood waters surrounded her house, would not leave unless she brought her 15 cats. Her rescuer told her no shelter would accept them and said that on the previous day they had been shooting the dogs they were forced to leave behind. Miss Womble held fast and her cats were eventually boxed up and loaded into the boat."

And then one of the most heartbreaking stories to make the press:

"Gary Lee Mullins, 55, a lorry driver who was rescued after five days clinging to a tree, said he had to kill his beloved 16-year-old dachshund-chihuahua. He had saved her from the water, but was not allowed to take her with him. He said: 'I could not leave her alive in the tree, she was too old to survive.'"

That article is on line at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/06/wkat206.xml

You may wish to thank the Daily Telegraph for the kind of coverage we wish we had in the US. The Daily Telegraph takes letters at: dtletters@telegraph.co.uk

The Miami Herald also published a story on the issue, on Monday September 5. It is headed, "Stranded pets facing starvation;

People evacuating New Orleans left thousands of pets behind. Animal advocates are trying to save some of the dogs, cats and other animals." It discusses the pets abandoned because they were not allowed on evacuation buses. It tell us about James Lalande who "like many city residents, refuses to evacuate without his dog, Charlie, and his cats, Miranda and Babettes." Lalande is quoted:

''I've never cried in my life, but the saddest thing in the world is when all night long you hear dogs crying; big dogs, little dogs, medium dogs. People left thinking they'd be gone two or three days, but now they can't come back and their pets are starving. Tomorrow, I'm breaking in and feeding dogs.''

You can read that whole article on line at http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12566435.htm  and send an appreciative letter to the editor at http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/contact_us/feedback_np1/

The local zoos survived the storm and its aftermath. Two otters were killed but the other animals are safe in their cells. You'll find a piece on that issue the CNN website at: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/09/05/katrina.zoos/index.html

CHICAGO SUN TIMES PUBLISHES KAREN DAVIS'S DISCUSSION OF PETA'S ANIMAL LIBERATION SLAVERY COMPARISON 9/6/05

On Tuesday, September 6, the Chicago Sun-Times has chosen a response from Karen Davis to PETA's animal liberation campaign as its featured letter. It is available on line at http://www.suntimes.com/output/letters/cst-edt-vox06a.html and I will paste it below. The controversial "Animal Liberation Project" discussed in the letter can be viewed on line at: http://www.peta.org/AnimalLiberation /

-----------------------------------

Animal suffering similar to human slaves’

By Karen Davis

African Americans and other groups have expressed outrage over a PETA exhibit that compares animal slavery with human slavery. Yet not so long ago, anyone who dared to compare black people with white people in my neighborhood provoked similar outrage. As a 1960s civil rights activist, I fought with my parents and others incessantly over this point.

Now, as then, I uphold these dreaded comparisons. Reduction of a sensitive being to an object imprisoned in a world outside any moral universe of care links the human slave to the animal slave in laboratories, factory farms and slaughterhouses in ways that diminish the differences between them. Instead of bickering over who’s superior and who’s inferior, why not own up to the preventable suffering we cause and do what we can to stop it?

Resentment of comparisons between the suffering of humans and the suffering of animals in conditions of atrocity is not an isolated attitude, anyway. It’s part of a broader psychology of resentment at having one’s suffering linked with that of anyone else.

Resentment aside, it is reasonable to assume that animals in confinement systems designed to exploit them suffer even more, in certain respects, than do humans similarly confined, just as a child or a mentally challenged person might experience dimensions of suffering in being rough-handled, imprisoned, and shouted at that people capable of conceptualizing the experience can’t conceive of.

Indeed, those who are capable of conceptualizing their own suffering may be unable to grasp what it feels like to suffer without being able to conceptualize it.

But even if it could be proven that chickens and other animals suffer less than humans condemned to similar situations, this would not mean that these animals do not suffer profoundly or justify harming them. Our cognitive distance from animal suffering constitutes neither an argument nor evidence as to who suffers more under horrific circumstances, humans or nonhumans.

If we cannot imagine what it must be like for a bird or a sheep or a cow to be placed in a situation comparable to a human being shoved in a cattle car packed with other terrified people headed toward death; if we cannot imagine how chickens must feel being grabbed by their legs in the middle of the night by men who are cursing at them while pitching and stuffing them into the crates in which they will travel to the next wave of terror at the slaughterhouse, then perhaps we should try to imagine ourselves placed helplessly in the hands of an overpowering extraterrestrial species, to whom our pleas for mercy sound like nothing more than bleats and squeals and clucks – mere "noise" to the master race in whose "superior" minds we are "only animals."

Karen Davis,

United Poultry Concerns

Karen Davis is the founder and president of United Poultry Concerns, a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. ( www.upc-online.org  ) Her latest book is The Holocaust and the Henmaid’s Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities (New York: Lantern Books, 2005)

(END OF PIECE BY KAREN DAVIS)

----------------------------------------------------

You can respond to Karen Davis's commentary, either in support of the PETA campaign or not, but keeping the discussion of animal suffering alive, by sending a letter to the Chicago Sun Times from the paper's website at: 

http://www.suntimes.com/geninfo/feedback.html

OPRAH (9/6/05) and LARRY KING LIVE (9/8/05) ON IMPACT OF KATRINA ANIMAL POLICIES

Oprah's Katrina special on Tuesday, September 6, had a touching segment about animals.

Nate Berkus is a designer who is a regular on the Oprah show. He is no stranger to this type of tragedy, having been in the midst of the Tsunami and having lost his partner to it. He is down in New Orleans with the Oprah team.

Berkus says to the camera: "One of the saddest things about what's going on here, that people have saved their animals by putting them on rafts and keeping them out of the water. And now they're here and they're not allowed to take their dogs with them on the buses."

We see shots of beautiful dogs running around a mostly abandoned bus area, including a Chihuahua who could almost have fit in somebody's pocket.

We see a young man sitting and clutching an older rusty colored dog, who looks like a chow mix. He is crying. Another man, with his arm around him says, "We've been waiting here for days for everybody to go with everybody else, so we can get on with the dog, and then they just told us at the last minute we can't take the dog. Well, this guy and his dog rescued me off my roof. He's only 24, and he's had the dog for 14 years. Well, we're not leaving without the dog. We don't know what we're going to do."

Berkus says, "All right, guys. You know what? I'm not doing this for the camera. We don't give a (censored) about that."

(Note: Swearing can be a good way to make sure a piece doesn't make the show, so I think Berkus was sincere, but I am glad the producers decided to show the segment anyway.)

Berkus says, "We have a solution for you. Here's the story. We are going to send the dog," whose name, he learns, is Rafiki. "We're going to take him and two other dogs that we met here, and we're going to send him to a house in Baton Rouge. It's a private house where we're sleeping. And when you get back..."

At this point the young man collapses into Nate Berkus's arms, sobbing. Nate also begins to sob. The accompanying man is saying, "I told you it was going to be OK. I told you.."

Then we go to Oprah, who is in the announcer role. She is crying and says, "I've been crying for two days here, but I have to tell you, I'm a dog person, and that's pretty moving. Nate kept his word to Patrick and he and his beloved dog Rafiki were reunited the next day."

We see a shot of Patrick and Rafiki happily united and snuggled together on a bench-swing in a clean dry yard.

Nothing brings home a message like a personal story, and this one clearly showed the impact that the no-pet policies have had on people. Please thank Oprah for the coverage:

http://www.oprah.com/email/tows/email_tows_main.jhtml

I send thanks to Lori Golden from the Pet Press for making sure we knew about the Oprah coverage.

And here is good news. Thursday night, September 8, Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, will be on Larry King Live (9pm and midnight Eastern, and 6 and 9pm Pacific) talking about the tragedy that results from evacuation strategies that do not include people's beloved animal companions. Watch if you can. Larry King Live asks for comments on the show. After the piece has aired, please post a thank you.

The URL is http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?12

COVERAGE OF KATRINA ANIMALS - CNN, OPRAH, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, LOS ANGELES TIMES, NY TIMES 9/7-9/8/05

After a week of almost no coverage of the animal issue, this week the news shows are getting on it. Brian Williams has announced that NBC nightly news will cover the issue tonight, Thursday September 8. He mentioned that the network had been flooded with requests for animal coverage. Thank you to all who wrote.

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, is scheduled to appear on CNN's Larry King Live tonight, Thursday September 8. (9pm Eastern.)

He was on Wolf Blitzer's "The Situation Room" on Wednesday, September 7.

Pacelle said, "People treat their dogs and cats like family members. And if you say you must evacuate, and you must leave your pet, as if you're just saying you must leave your television set, people who have this emotional connection are going to say you're nuts. So I think the issue for us is trying to convey that whether you agree or disagree, it is the reality. People are bonded to their animals and they are not going to discard them."

Brian Todd commented, "Now that means, according to Wayne Pacelle, that many people have placed themselves in danger as a result. If there is not a better response planned soon for gathering pets, he says, more people will die."

Jack Cafferty, a reporter who has often made animal friendly comments, said "Yes, you know, there's a reason for those bonds between people and their pets being as strong as they are. The reason is that most pets are probably more dependable and reliable than a lot of people are. I mean, I've got a house full of pets, and I'd be hard pressed to leave any of them behind."

The Situation Room takes feedback at http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?65

Please thank them for having for their sensitive coverage of the issue.

Inside Edition had a report on the nonhuman victims of Katrina, on Wednesday, September 7, described on its website as follows:

"Back in the hurricane zone, the priority has been saving human live, but also stranded by the storm, countless dogs, cats and other animals. Inside Edition set out to find just what's happened to so many pets lost and abandoned in the chaos of the hurricane region."

Activist Cheryl Kuscera saw the report and tells me it was moving.

http://www.insideedition.com/

Inside Edition asks for viewer comments at iemail@kingworld.com

Please thank them for the story and ask for more on the animal issue.

Anderson Cooper, consistent with his past coverage of tragedies such as the Tsunami, and dogs left behind by the military heading to Iraq, has devoted good chunks of his show this week to the animal issue. We learned from him the astounding story of a woman who is legally blind, but whose dog, Abu, who she says is her service dog, was refused rescue. So for ten days she has stayed put. We saw police officers who said that she had to come with them but the dog would have to stay behind "temporarily." But the woman, Ms Connie, says, "No, dear. No, dear. I’m sorry. I’m not a being hard case. But I can’t see. My dog goes where I go.... I don’t trust very much law officials ..."

Then we learn that finally, the police rescue boats are relaxing their no dog policies. The rescue boats leaving now are full of animals, since most of the people still in the city were there because they would not leave without them. After ten days, with Anderson Cooper filming, the police decide to let blind Ms Connie take her service dog Abu.

Reporter Adaora Udoji, also on Cooper's show, followed a volunteer animal rescue team from San Diego going to addresses where people had reported leaving their animals. She reports, "On New Orleans’ waterlogged streets, you can hear the dogs for miles. They are trapped on boats, roofs, porches surrounded by blackened, putrid water."

Anderson Cooper takes comments at http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?10

Please thank him for the coverage. Public awareness of these issues will be important if we hope for change in the future.

Oprah's second Katrina special included another touching animal story, this time about a human hero. Matthew McConaughey arrived at a hospital where an anesthesiologist, Dr. James Riopell had been living in his office since the storm hit, with over fifty dogs and cats he had promised to do his very best to keep safe when their humans were forced to evacuate. (Oprah said he had been there with no food or water but he and the animals seemed exhausted but in good health so they must have had some nourishment.) McConaughey and Oprah's team loaded the animals onto boats and then helicopters. Riopell told McConaughey, "I'm tired. I wasn't sure I could go much longer. I'm mighty

glad to get out." And he said, "Every one of these dogs is highly loved, I can promise you that." There was a lovely shot of McConaughey on a helicopter surrounded by dogs he was petting, and shots of reunions of people with the animals who had been in Riopell's care.

If you haven't thanked Oprah for her wonderful coverage, please do. It will encourage similar coverage and also encourage good feeling between her show and the animal advocacy community, so that she may be more attuned to animal issues in the future. Oprah takes comments at http://www.oprah.com/email/tows/email_tows_main.jhtml

ABC's Good Morning America covered the reunion between a couple and their animals, who had left their dogs with Dr Riopell. That show will have a special "town hall meeting" on Friday and invites viewers to participate with: "Do you want answers about the government's relief effort or want to know what you can do to help the victims? Send your toughest questions to 'Good Morning America.' We'll give you straight answers on Friday's show." Many questions about the shortsighted way the relief effort dealt, or didn't deal, with animals, will mean that issue is covered. You can submit your question at:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1107020&page=1

The Thursday, September 8, Los Angeles Times (pg A15) has a strong story on the issue headed "Katrina's Aftermath;

Time Is Running Out for Stranded Pets; Thousands of dogs, cats and other animals left behind by hurricane evacuees are slowly dying as rescuers struggle to save them." It tells us of the animals: "They sit forlornly on the rooftops of flooded homes, slowly starving to death as rescuers in boats ignore them, looking for people instead. Some have even tried swimming to boats, only to be rebuffed. Many other pets didn't make it, and their bodies now lie in pools of scummy water or by the side of highways. Even those lucky animals whose owners refused to part with them, come hell or high water, have been suffering right alongside their masters."

Wayne Pacelle is quoted. He says there may be 50,000 pets in New Orleans homes. HSUS has received 2,000 calls and emails from people who left their pets and pleading for HSUS to rescue them.

And the article follows animal advocate Jane Garrison (an elephant specialist who worked for years with PETA) who is going house to house rescuing animals. You can read the article on line at

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-et-pets8sep08,0,3817557.story?coll=la-tot-promo&track=pacifictime  or http://tinyurl.com/anlb5

The Los Angeles Times takes letters at letters@latimes.com

The New York Times story on the issue, "Shelters for Pets Fill With Furry Survivors" (Pg 23) also quotes Garrison. We read,

"Jane Garrison, who is working with a Humane Society rescue team in New Orleans, said her best rescue was on Wednesday, when she heard a dog's cries and looked up to see a Labrador mix marooned on the second-story awning of a house that was completely crumbled.

'We went up by ladder and threw a leash around her neck,' Ms. Garrison said. 'She jumped down into my partner's arms and immediately started licking her.''' The article ends with this lovely line, "In the meantime, accounts trickle in of how pets and their owners escaped the wrath of the storm. A woman who came to claim her chow told Ms. Mercer, 'We swam out together, and she didn't give up on me, and I'm not giving up on her.''' You'll find the New York Times story on line at http://tinyurl.com/awp7s

The New York Times takes letters at letters@nytimes.com

Since every paper has coverage of Hurricane Katrina, please consider a letter to your local paper discussing how the official attitude to animals has devastated people. Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor.

KATRINA EVENING NEWS UPDATES FOR THURSDAY SEPT 9 -- CBS, NBC

Unfortunately HSUS President Wayne Pacelle's appearance scheduled for Larry King Live on Thursday September 8 has been postponed.

But from CBS Evening News, Thurssay, September 8:

"Also tonight, correspondent Lee Cowan will show us what's being done to care for the pets of hurricane victims. Many pets were separated from their owners during the evacuation and are now in temporary shelter until they can be reunited with their families."

Those on the West Coast can still catch that.

And from NBC Nightly News:

FOUR-LEGGED FRIENDS: The tragedy has separated families-- including precious pets from their owners. NBC's Martin Savidge has more on this story. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9174390/

If you have missed that piece you can watch the story on line. Go to the link above and click on the picture marked,

"Video: Saving animals -- NBC's Martin Savidge reports on the teams racing to rescue the four-legged victims of Katrina." 

CBS Evening News takes comments at: evening@cbsnews.com

NBC Nightly News takes comments at Nightly@NBC.com

Please thank them for the coverage.

FINANCIAL TIMES FRONT PAGE, NPR, AND GUARDIAN ON HLS AND NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE --  9/8/05

There is a story on the front page of the Thursday, September 8 Financial Times, UK and US editions, headed in the UK, "Animal test group postpones US listing." (Also in the Guardian, and on NPR, see below.)

It opens:

"Huntingdon Life Sciences, the medical research company, said it had postponed its listing on the New York Stock Exchange at the NYSE's request because of potential protests from animal rights activists.

"Shares in Life Sciences Research, the US parent company formed solely to buy the troubled HLS in 2001, were due to start trading yesterday. But LSR said the move was postponed at the request of the exchange. The NYSE had not responded to calls at the time of publication yesterday.

"HLS moved its headquarters to the US after a long campaign by animal rights activists in the UK, who objected to the company's use of animals in testing."

(For more details on the use and objections, see below.)

It tells us, "Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, the most prominent British group that campaigns against HLS, has targeted suppliers and other companies connected to HLS" and mentions the SHAC 7, who are awaiting retrial after being accused of conspiring to commit "animal enterprise terrorism".

The first few paragraphs are on line at:

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/bbe094ae-2006-11da-853a-00000e2511c8.html

Only subscribers can read the full article on line. You can get a free 15 day trial subscription. However the Financial Times article on the topic was brief -- not worth subscribing for, even for free.

The September 8 Guardian (UK) had a more detailed story headed, "Huntingdon delays listing after attacks." We learn that "The parent company, Life Sciences Research, was due to upgrade its listing to the NYSE yesterday but was asked by the exchange to delay the move. The exchange offered no explanation and refused to comment on the request."

About HLS, we read:

"Huntingdon was forced from the UK market in 2002 after a vigorous campaign by animal rights extremists during which bombs were planted in the cars of people loosely associated with the firm. US investors bought the company and it has since been listed on the junior OTC market in the US. It continues to conduct research....Huntingdon shot to fame in the late 1990s when activists recorded undercover film of mistreated animals."

You can read the full Guardian article on line at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1565018,00.html

The "mistreatment of animals" to which it refers can be viewed on the www.SHAC.net website. You'll find footage of a scientist yelling profanities at a beagle puppy and punching him in the face, and a primate conscious on an operating lifting her head with her chest cut wide open.

The place of militant action is hotly debated within the animal protection movement. But most people agree that there is no place for horrendous cruelty visited upon animals in laboratories for often trivial purposes. Regardless of how we feel about the manner in which the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty or SHAC campaign is conducted, this story gives us the opportunity to discuss the appalling status quo of the biomedical testing system. Interestingly, the Guardian has published too strong letters today questioning the role of animal testing. A great site for more information on that issue is www.CureDisease.com. And I will paste today's letters below:

The Guardian (London), September 8, 2005

Research and destroy:

Vioxx was tested on animals, so was Thalidomide (What have guinea pigs ever done for us? September 1). Why does Vivienne Parry ignore this when she assumes successful drugs work because they were tested on animals? The tests are invalid because animals have very different anatomies, physiologies and metabolisms to humans.

Martin Hunt

Pontllyfni, Gwynedd

Penicillin was delayed a decade by misleading rabbit tests - and would have been shelved forever, had it been tested on guinea pigs, which it kills. Kidney transplants were performed sucessfully in humans before success was achieved in animals. Cyclosporin revolutionised transplantation, though it was almost abandoned due to animal tests. Tamoxifen showed success in human breast cancer patients before it was ever tested in animals. It causes cancer in rats. Tamoxifen, like all medicines, came to market despite not because of animal tests.

Kathy Archibald

Europeans for Medical Progress

(END OF GUARDIAN LETTERS)

One doesn't have to know details such as in the letters above to write a short effective letter. A look at the SHAC footage, and the knowledge that the UK and US governments have propped up rather than closed down HLS, will probably be enough to inspire you.

The Financial Times takes letters at letters.editor@ft.com

The Guardian takes letters at letters@guardian.co.uk

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.

Finally, NPR's 'Day to Day' covered the issue. (I send thanks to Ken Guttman for pointing us to that story.) The coverage was balanced, though Stephen Beard from the Marketplace London Bureau said that Huntingdon Life Sciences is "in some quarters a very unpopular company because it uses live animals in some of its testing." The situation is considerably more complex than that. And Beard oddly described the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty campaign as an "animal welfare group." You can listen to the story on line at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4837503

Day to Day takes comments at http://www.npr.org/contact/  -- Select "Day to Day" from the program pull-down menu.

LOS ANGELES TIMES ON MILITANT TACTICS AGAINST LOS ANGELES ANIMAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT -- 9/8/05

The Thursday, September 8, Los Angeles Times has a story on the front of the B section headed, "Animal Activists Toughen Tactics. Some have moved beyond protesting to vandalism and threats against city officials."

It discusses harassment tactics being used against "David Diliberto, a high-ranking official in the Los Angeles Animal Services Department, whom activists blame for failing to stop the city from euthanizing thousands of stray dogs it picks up each year."

We read,

"The number of dogs euthanized in city shelters has dropped from 39,086 in fiscal 2001-02 to 29,624 in fiscal 2003-04, according to city officials. The Animal Services Department says it has pursued an aggressive campaign to get more dogs adopted and to persuade owners to spay or neuter their pets. There are also privately run shelters in the county that have no-kill policies.

"Activists, however, are not satisfied with the changes. They picketed the home of the agency's former chief, Jerry Greenwalt, until he quit, and also protested in the street in front of the home of former Mayor James K. Hahn.

"Greenwalt was replaced by Guerdon Stuckey, who has also drawn the wrath of animal rights advocates. Ferdin (of Animal Defense League of Los Angeles) said that the only reason activists haven't protested at Stuckey's home is because they haven't yet figured out his address."

There is a quote from Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California:

"When protesters move beyond protesting and break windows or write graffiti that's breaking the law. But passing an ordinance that says you can't protest in a residential neighborhood violates the 1st Amendment."

The article ends with a quote from Charlie Hutchinson, president of the Larchmont Village Neighborhood Assn: "My concern is that they're not using what I consider a constructive way to get their message across."

Many in the animal protection movement would agree. However this article offers us a truly constructive way to get our message across as it provides a great opportunity for letters to the editor regarding California's pet overpopulation crisis, encouraging spay-neuter and adoption, and legislation that encourages or enforces them.

You can read the full Los Angeles Times article on line at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-animal8sep08,1,1399264.story

The Los Angeles Times takes letters at letters@latimes.com

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.

ABC, CBS, NBC,MSNBC and KCAL ON KATRINA ANIMAL COVERAGE -- 9/8/05

ABC, CBS and NBC all covered the Katrina animal issue tonight, Thursday September 8 - see below.

PLUS...

On the KCAL website you can see a lovely story about a black Labrador who had saved a man from the water, was left behind afterwards, but who the KCAL team went back to rescue. Go to http://kcal9.com/homepage and scroll down the video list to "Heroic Black Lab 'Katrina' Rescued In New Orleans." KCAL takes comments at http://kcal9.com/feedback/

If they know the story is popular, they will run more animal friendly stories.

Lew Regenstein tells me that the coverage was beautiful on the Thursday night edition of the MSNBC show Scarborough Country, and that Joe Scarborough "got so chocked up he could hardly speak." That show repeats at 2am so you can watch or tape it.

Scarborough takes comments at: joe@msnbc.com

Please thank him for his sensitive coverage.

Also, Rita Cosby covered the rescue of two dogs on her MSNBC show "Rita Cosby Live & Direct." Apparently she said they were the most beautiful guests that had been on her show. If you caught the segment, and liked it, please take a moment to thank her -- Rita@msnbc.com

The Thursday, September 9, CBS Evening News show on the issue was terrific. It is now on line at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/08/eveningnews/main829079.shtml

I will paste the web-site print edition, more or less a transcript, below, then the ABC World News Tonight story below that. Please thank CBS Evening News at evening@cbsnews.com

Again, the more positive feedback news shows get for animal stories, the more they will cover.

Here is the CBS story print version -- though it is worth watching the video on line at the link above if you can:

Katrina Leaves Pets In Peril

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 8, 2005

They aren't counted among the dead, they aren't pointing fingers at who's to blame, but their suffering is hard to ignore.

Katrina's four-legged victims seem utterly alone, either left behind on purpose or turned away from evacuation buses.

We hear them barking from abandoned homes, we see them stranded on rooftops, and wandering the streets barely able to keep their heads above water, CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan reports from New Orleans.

"They're living out on the streets right now, and they're very sweet lovable dogs," New Orleans resident Kate Cummins says.

The rescue efforts we've seen are nothing short of heroic. A dog named Sam had to be cut out of a roof.

"Hey Joe, happy birthday dude, I've got Sam. I got him, he's alive," a man announces proudly to his friend over the phone.

Noah would have been proud. We've seen sea-going snakes, turtles, birds, even a pot-bellied pig.

"Once you get your hands on them, you can almost feel their body relax, they're so happy to have that human contact with them," Shirley Minshew of the International Fund for Animal Welfare says.

Shirley Minshew is the Dr. Doolittle of this disaster. She has a list of some 3,000 pets she's determined to save.

Minshew adds that she is basically going door-to-door, or, better put, rooftop-to-rooftop, to rescue the animals.

You might wonder who would risk their lives in this muck to save a dog, or a cat or a pot-bellied pig. It's not just about those eyes or those wagging tails. It's because the pets may very well be the only thing in these people lives that they can actually save.

"It's very heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching to see that they come here and all they want is their pets, because it's the only thing they have left," says Margaret Del Rossi, a pet rescue volunteer.

Daniel Lorentz lost his home and his two labs.

"It would be the greatest thing to me to get my dogs back," Lorentz says.

We watched as Lorentz searched every pen in this animal shelter, and nothing.

"I guess you gotta really be a pet owner to know how much it hurts," Lorentz says.

In a community of so much loss, the power of a pet seems boundless.

More information on animal rescues is available on the Louisiana SPCA Web site.

(END OF CBS story)

-------------------------

And here is the ABC story from http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1107049  which was the same story that played this morning on Good Morning America:

Reuniting Pets and Owners After Katrina Rescuers Scramble to Save Pets in New Orleans, Gulf Coast States

Valerie Bennett was reunited with her beloved dogs, Oreo and Lady. (ABC News)

Sept. 8, 2005 — Calls to pet shelters from animal lovers have prompted the rescue of thousands of pets left behind in Katrina's wake. In New Orleans, teams are going house to house in search of marooned animals. But uniting this growing city of beloved pets with their owners is another matter.

Lorne and Valerie Bennett were forced to leave their four pets behind when Katrina chased them from their Slidell, La., home to an Atlanta hospital. A local doctor had promised to stay behind and care for the pets.

"We never thought we'd see them again," Lorne said.

And miraculously from their Atlanta hospital room, they did. The doctor had kept his word, spiriting their four animals to a shelter, where they appeared on TV.

Then a Texas couple, hearing of the Bennetts' plight, drove 1,200 miles to pick up the pets. "It got put in our laps and we were destined to do it," said Jeff Caldwell, who helped with the reunion.

And then this miracle story ended in a happy sea of tears, as the Bennetts were reunited with their English springer spaniel, Oreo, their dachshund, Lady, their cat, P. Kitty, and their guinea pig, Piggy Wiggy.

It's difficult to estimate how many pets got left behind in New Orleans, said Racelle Carlson, field manager for the American Humane Society. But the AHS is performing lots of rescues, which are mostly dogs, she added.

"We've been in boats, getting descriptions of the houses and the pets and just going in and getting them," Carlson said.

"We're tranquilizing the ones that are aggressive," she added. "They're just scared right now."

The AHS is bringing all pets to the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La., where there are vets to care for them.

"We're not seeing many cats, but we have gotten about five so far. They're mostly just dogs," Carlson said. "We did have a report that a man had alligators and snakes he couldn't get to."

To reach the American Humane Society, call 800-486-2631.

To reach the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, call 888-773-6489.

You can view homeless pets on Petfinder.com

----------------------------------------

You can send a thank you to World News Tonight at netaudr@abc.com . Put WORLD NEWS TONIGHT in the subject line.

And for those who missed my earlier email, you can watch the terrific NBC Nightly News story on line at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9174390/

Click on the picture marked, "Video: Saving animals -- NBC's Martin Savidge reports on the teams racing to rescue the four-legged victims of Katrina."

NBC Nightly News takes comments at Nightly@NBC.com 

BEST FRIENDS REPORTS FROM KATRINA FRONT LINES -- 9/9/05

Over the last few days, I have sent out major major media reports about Katrina's aftermath, which show some of the animal suffering but tend to focus on the few happy reunions. If you missed them they are on the www.DawnWatch.com website under "Recent alerts and Archives." Today, I am forwarding reports from the front line from Paul Berry and Troy Snow of Best Friends. (www.BestFriends.org)

Paul urges people to contact their local media and get them to cover the animal story. If the public sees the horrible truth, and there is public outcry, policies may change. I recommend talking with your local media and finding somebody to whom you can forward these reports. You will find that your media are looking for stories and will be interested. If you know anybody in your local area heading down to the hurricane region to help the animals, that can be a perfect hook for a local story.

Also, on Wolf Blitzer's CNN show "Situation Room" Jack Cafferty (an animal friendly reporter) asks viewers to respond to questions. Today, Friday September 9, check out question number 3 and please respond:

"Cafferty File -- Each hour between 3 and 6 p.m. ET, Jack Cafferty will ask viewers a question keyed to the news of the day. Send your comments. Some will be presented on the show each day.

"3 p.m. ET: Should FEMA director Michael Brown be fired?

4 p.m. ET: Do we need a tax increase to pay for Hurricane Katrina?

5 p.m. ET: How much priority should be placed on getting people’s pets out of New Orleans?

"Send your comments to The Situation Room: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5t.html?65"

Here are the reports from Best Friends:

----------------------------------

Time running out for our boat in St Bernard Parish

Sept 8: Paul Berry reports from rescue ops on the water in New Orleans

We had two teams out on boats on Thursday. Troy Snow has written about his crew in an earlier posting. Ours was similar, so I’ll keep this brief.

Our team was me and Dr. Debbie Rykoff DVM. Also aboard and helping out was a crew from the Salt Lake Tribune. Leah Hogsten took photos for the Trib and gave these to us. (Thanks, Leah.)

The thing I want to say is simply that there are thousands upon thousands of animals stuck out here, on car roofs, on porches, cats on roofs of houses. We saw no other animal rescue orgs anywhere. I know they’re all doing good work on the peripheries … but, oh man … you see and hear these fluff pieces on TV of people being reunited with their pets, and you look around out here on the boats at this vast, endless wasteland of toxic water and animals hanging on, 11 days after the hurricane, and their time is running out.

What on earth is going on? We’re just on two boats. Heard about a veterinarian who’s on another boat. We need a whole freaking navy!

This is the story that’s not being told. Animals clinging to life, and dead human bodies lying and floating all around.

Please call your local media and tell them to get on to this. We just got a call from German TV – ZDF. Trying to hook up with us for today’s marathon on the water.

The only other boat we saw yesterday was an airboat from Fish & Game. They were scouting the ground behind. Rumors are they’re beginning to shoot the animals today. I believe these stories are now true. That’s what’s going to be happening.

WE NEED ALL THE OTHER ANIMAL RESCUE ORGS TO BUY/BORROW BOATS AND FOCUS ON THIS. These animals only have days at most, and are clinging to life. They are the forgotten ones. We can only manage about 10 at a time. They’re emaciated, starved, dehydrated. Literally “water water everywhere and not a drop to drink.” Dr. Debbie revives them in the boat as they start to lose consciousness. Gives them fluids. All those we took yesterday have survived.

Keep us in your prayers,

Paul.

-------------------------------------

Where time is running out

Sept. 8: In Orleans Parish, animals still cling to life and to trees, standing on car tops, in flooded areas as rescue grows more urgent

Reported by Troy Snow: We exit the I-10, drive down the off-ramp, and park our truck at the water’s edge of what were once the streets of New Orleans. Two bloated human bodies lies half-in, half-out, looking like they may explode any moment.

Ken Ray unhitches the boat. He’s a volunteer from Alabama, who came out to help, discovered we need boats, and drove another 700 miles to go and get his own boat.

We spend the day in roughly just a 3-block area. Three of us are on this boat: Ethan and Jeff, staffers from Best Friends Dogtown, and me, Troy, helping them and taking a few photos. First, we see two pit bull dogs standing on the edge of a recreational boat parked in a driveway. They must have been standing there since the hurricane blew in 11 days ago. We cut through the fence to let our boat come closer and pull up to the dogs. They jump aboard and smother us in kisses. These must have been fighting dogs. One of them is covered in old scars.

Next, we see two more pit bulls standing on the roof of a car. One of them dives into the water and starts swimming to us as we pull closer. We pull him aboard and navigate our way toward his pal. He looks just like Tawny – but tired and fearful and not sure whether we’re friend or foe. … OK, now we have him. He’s smiling now. He knows he’s safe.

In all, we gather up just 10 dogs. Each one means navigating up to fenced yards, cutting through the fence to get the boat in, grabbing tree branches to pull up toward the porch. Some pets are on porches, some still indoors. At one address where we have permission to enter, we hear a dog barking through the windows. We pull up to the window and see him inside, standing on the bed to stay above the water line. At other houses, we can’t break through the fence although we hear meowing.

Several times during the day, we go back to the freeway off-ramp to deliver the dogs to Ken who’s waiting at water’s edge. On one trip, we’re joined by a reporter from the Los Angeles Times who’s seen us from the freeway and stopped to see what we’re doing.

At the end of the day, with a boatful of dogs, we return to the freeway ramp once again. It’s beginning to get dark. We hitch the boat back up to the truck and are about to leave when we hear an eerie howl in the dusk, echoing across the neighborhood. First we say to ourselves, we’ll get him tomorrow. Then we look at each other, and unhitch the boat again. The dog is about 300 yards away, standing in the back of an old truck. Again, he’s been sitting there for 11 days, bewildered, emaciated, dehydrated. The water there is about five-foot deep. We bring him aboard.

On the way back we see a cat on a roof. Try to get there. Can’t do it.

We have photos, details, and addresses of every animal we’ve picked up. Hopefully, one day, they’ll all be reunited with families – at least if their families are not like the ones lying there on the off-ramp, half-in half-out of the water.

What we’ve done today is really just a drop in the bucket. There are thousands upon thousands more animals stranded like this, with only days, if that, before they too will just give out.

Why are we the only people in this entire area of town? Why are others being turned back when there is so much to be done? Will we even be allowed in tomorrow? At least, as we drive back to the sanctuary out of town, we have a few furry refugees with us. We comfort them as they comfort us.

(END OF BEST FRIENDS REPORTS)

WASHINGTON POST OP-ED BY KAREN DAWN ON DISASTER RELIEF NO PET POLICIES  9/10/05

I have an opinion piece in the Saturday, September 10, Washington Post, on the 'no pet' polices of disaster relief agencies. It is on line at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/09/AR2005090901824.html and on the DawnWatch website here, and I will paste it below.

I have received some wonderful notes from people who would never leave their animals. I hope people will direct those notes to the media. The Washington Post takes letters at letters@washpost.com  and advises, "Letters must be exclusive to The Washington Post, and must include the writer's home address and home and business telephone numbers." However, since Katrina is covered in every paper, I urge people to consider sending letters about the animal issue to their local papers. Also, I believe the piece below will be distributed on the Los Angeles Times/Washington Post news wire service, which is accessed by many papers, so you may be able to encourage your paper to publish it. It would be great to see this issue discussed in every paper, with op-eds, or letters, or both.

Washington Post

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Page A23

Best Friends Need Shelter, Too

By Karen Dawn

The week after Hurricane Katrina hit, the media covered the thousands of low-income people trapped for lack of means to get out. Almost two weeks later, thousands still hadn't left, in many cases because official policy would not accept the bond between people and their nonhuman family members. Members of a frustrated rescue team simplified it for a "Dateline" news crew: They said people were refusing to be evacuated simply because "they won't leave their pets."

There is a class issue involved here. While Marriott hotels welcomed the pets of Katrina evacuees as "part of the family," people who had to rely on the Red Cross for shelter were forced to abandon that part of the family or attempt to ride out the storm. It cannot be denied that many poor people are dead as a result of "no pets" policies.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Patricia Penny, who wondered whether her son Billy had survived. She had begged him to leave, but he was afraid to abandon his animals. CNN showed the rescue of a family, including a dog, sitting on a rooftop as a boat pulled up. The boat left without the dog. Staying with a dog and risking their own lives is not an option for people who have children to provide for. The parents were given no choice but to abandon the dog, and to break their children's hearts. As they pulled away they all watched their trusting, confused and terrified canine family member alone on the roof.

At Red Cross shelters there are families that have lost their homes and all of their possessions but are thanking God that they are all safe. Others are frantic, unable to think of anything besides the slow deaths of beloved companion animals they were forced to leave on rooftops or at bus boarding points. One woman, with no other possessions left, offered her rescuer the wedding ring off her finger to save her dog, to no avail.

A young boy carried a dog in his arms as he tried to board a bus to the Houston Astrodome. Dogs were not allowed. The Associated Press story reported that "a police officer took one from a little boy, who cried until he vomited. 'Snowball, Snowball,' " he cried." In a similar story, an old woman, traveling alone except for the poodle in her arms, was forced to leave him behind to wander the streets. We have read other stories of elderly people forced to choose between their lifesaving medications or their life-affirming pets. CNN's Anderson Cooper even reported on a woman, legally blind, who for 10 days had been told that she could not take her service dog with her if she was evacuated. She had stayed put until the CNN cameras arrived and the police relented.

Many large hotel chains, aware of the human-animal bond, now allow guests of varied species. Sadly, those organizations on which we rely, not when on vacation but in life-or-death circumstances, are not up with the times.

The pets pulled from people's arms would not have taken seats meant for humans. There is no reasonable explanation for abandoning them. They were the last vestiges of sweetness, in some cases the only living family, of those who had nothing left. But the police officers were just following orders -- orders that reflect an official policy inconsistent with how people feel about their animals.

Red Cross shelters that do not have animal-friendly areas, or do not coordinate with humane groups to make sure that there are animal shelters nearby, are out of touch with the needs of a society in which 60 percent of families have pets and many view them as intrinsic members of the family.

Karen Dawn runs the animal advocacy Web site DawnWatch.com and is a contributor to "In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave," edited by Peter Singer.

URGENT CALL FOR KATRINA VOLUNTEER HELP, PLUS NEW YORK TIMES, LOS ANGELES TIMES, CHICAGO TRIBUNE AND LARRY KING LIVE COVERAGE -- 9/11/05

This is a combined alert, including information on the desperate need for help in the Hurricane Katrina Disaster region and an update on some of the weekend's media stories (9/10-9/11) and suggestions for letters to the editor.

First -- I have spoken with Mark Garrison, whose wife, Jane Garrison, is in New Orleans, rescuing animals. She is the activist who was featured in the Los Angeles Times story on the issue on Thursday September 8 (Katrina's Aftermath; Time Is Running Out for Stranded Pets.) Jane says there is a desperate need for more people in the region to help. People are needed to go in and get the starving animals out, do food and water drops for those who cannot yet be removed, and to care for animals that have been removed to holding facilities. At first only trained emergency rescue people were being sought, but as holding sites fill up with animals, there are not enough people to do basic jobs such as feeding, watering and walking the animals. Sometimes animals, with nobody to get them out of cages, are sleeping in their own feces. The need for help is urgent.

Brenda Shoss, from Kinship Circle, has put together a list of places needing volunteers, contacts in the area, vaccinations one should have, and supplies one should bring. I have it on my website here -- www.DawnWatch.com/katrina.htm

Also, I have received an ASPCA alert calling for boats, which are desperately needed by rescuers. 12-15 foot flat bottom boats with outboard motors are ideal, but the alert suggests that boats of any kind are needed immediately. If you have any way of getting a boat to the rescue teams, please do. The alert says, "The staging area is in Gonzales LA. Lamar-Dixon Horse Expo Center 9039 Saint Landry Rd. From

Baton Rouge > I-10 Eastbound as though driving to New Orleans > Head for the city of Gonzales > Exit 177 (Tanger Mall and Lamar Dixon

Center) Report to the ASPCA volunteer center ASAP. And the alert concludes, "PLEASE GIVE THIS WIDEST DISSEMINATION IN ANY WAY YOU CAN AS WE ARE OUT OF TIME."

Best Friends, the UTAH sanctuary, has two boats on the water and a sanctuary in the region. Michael Mountain tells me that tomorrow their website will have detailed information as to the various ways people can help. www.BestFriends.org

Here is an update on some media coverage:

Larry King interviewed Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, and Michael Feinstein, a spokesperson for the ASPCA, on CNN's Larry King Live, Saturday, September 10. Please express your appreciation to King. Larry King takes comments at http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?12

The Sunday, September 11, New York Times, includes a column by John Leland (section 4, page 3) headed, "Dogs Are People, Too."

He writes, "As reactions to the Katrina rescue efforts have been divided along lines of class, race and political party, they have also highlighted another schism: between dog haves and dog have-nots. Animal owners around the country have responded with outpourings of sympathy, hurt and outrage: How could rescue workers have barred pets from helicopters and shelters?"

You can read the whole column on line at: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/weekinreview/11leland.html

Supportive letters should go to letters@nytimes.com

The Sunday, September 11, Los Angeles Times, has a big story on the issue, pg A33, headed, "Animal Refuge Strives to Corral Pets -- and Despair." You'll find it on line at: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-animals11sep11,1,6464227.story

You can send a letter to the editor at letters@latimes.com

On Saturday, September 10, the Chicago Tribune included a front page story that should be compulsory reading for armchair activists. It is headed, "Public howling turns tide for four-legged evacuees."

It told us:

"Heartbreaking stories about people being forced to leave pets behind--and estimates that 50,000 dogs and cats were stranded in Hurricane Katrina's wake--have filled Internet message boards. On Thursday, an urgent message told of 150 dogs on the rooftop of American Can Corp. in New Orleans, another of a man rescued through his roof who had to leave his dog and two cats with no food or water.

"Pet lovers throughout the country have joined in a massive effort to organize veterinarians, boats and food to help save displaced animals. Convoys have been coordinated through message boards at nola.com, petfinder.com and craigslist.org. And on Friday, authorities in Louisiana who have struggled for nearly two weeks to save human lives in this devastated swampland started making more time for the animals.

"The military began providing animal cages and equipment to homeowners who would evacuate only if they could bring their pets with them. 'We got the capacity,' said Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, 'and it seemed like the right thing to do.'"

Illuminating the difference one person can make, and the power those of us who are not in the disaster region have on our computers and on the phone, the article tells us: "The military's edict on pets answers a petition drive started by Margaret Barry, 64, of Webster, Mass., demanding that an evacuation order include pets. By Friday, she had collected 40,000 signatures."

You can read the article on line at:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509100056sep10,1,6901925.story

On that page you will see shocking photos of emaciated animals, highlighting the desperate need for immediate help in the region -- the animals are starting to die.

Finally, an Associated Press story, appearing in many papers including on the front page of the Saturday, September 10 Chicago Tribune, ("U.S. recalls FEMA chief") quotes Michael Brown, who has been removed from his post as head of Gulf Coast relief efforts:

"I'm going to go home and walk my dog and hug my wife, and maybe get a good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita and a full night's sleep. And then I'm going to go right back to FEMA and continue to do all I can to help these victims."

With letters to the editor we can point out the disgraceful irony, given FEMA's animal policies, in Brown's acknowledgment that the comfort of walking his dog is high on his priority list.

Letters to the editor are part of the "public howling" that makes a difference.

The Chicago Tribune takes letters at http://tinyurl.com/4lsug

And please send letters to the editor to your local papers, and call your local media and politely encourage them to cover this angle of the disaster.

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor.

NEBRASKA STAR KILLS THREE ESCAPED CHIMPS -- 9/12/05

There is disturbing news from Nebraska. The Monday, September 12, Journal Star includes an article headed, "Three chimps shot after escape from Zoo Nebraska."

It opens,

"Three chimpanzees were shot and killed by the director of Zoo Nebraska on Saturday after they escaped from their cage at the small zoo near Royal in northeast Nebraska.

"A fourth chimp returned to its cage shortly after escaping.

"Zoo Director Ken Schlueter Jr. said that when workers left the chimps' cage

after cleaning it, one of the padlocks was not clicked shut. Visitors and

employees saw the chimps lift the padlock and break out of their cage.

"Visitors were immediately moved into the office area and barricaded in for

safety, Schlueter said.

"'They were our first priority," he said.

"Deb Collins, spokeswoman for the Nebraska State Patrol, said no people were

hurt in the incident, which began at about noon and lasted about 45 minutes."

One of the chimps went voluntarily back into his cage, but the others, not surprisingly, could not be persuaded to join him. We read:

"Schlueter said he tried to pacify the chimps with a zoo tranquilizer gun, hitting two of them, but even after five minutes, the tranquilizers had not taken effect on the animals. 'That's when the decision was made' said Schlueter, who ended up shooting the three loose chimps with a deputy's service revolver."

He waited a full five minutes.

You can read the whole story on line at: http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2005/09/12/local/doc4324fa7f3601c238007438.txt  OR http://tinyurl.com/cmmwe

It provides a good opportunity for letters to the editor about the way we treat members of other species, particularly about the captivity of wild animals for human entertainment. Good resources are the Chimp Collaboratory site http://www.chimpcollaboratory.org/  , with which Jane Goodall is affiliated, and also PETA's fact sheet "Zoos: Pitiful Prisons" which is on line at

http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=67

The Journal Star takes letters at http://tinyurl.com/8ygsh

FRONT PAGE STORIES ON KATRINA ANIMAL ISSUE -- AND SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE ON CHICKEN RESCUE 9/10/05-9/13/05

An update on the Katrina disaster area: they are still desperate for volunteers. I have spoken with friends at the Gonzales shelter in Louisiana who say they have plenty of supplies and boats but not enough people. They suggest that if you are able to go down there, please just go.

Of particular need are large air-conditioned rigs that can transport many animals.

Mississippi is also in dire need of volunteers. There are thousands of animals and no people to care for them. Randy Grimm, guardian of the famous dog who last year survived the gas chambers, is in Mississippi and is calling for help. I hope to speak with him tomorrow, Wednesday, and have information for those who wish to go to Mississippi.

I have contact information for the HSUS shelter in Gonzales Louisiana and the Best Friends shelter in Tylertown, and a list of vaccinations one should get and supplies one needs to bring, compiled by Kinship Circle, all on my website at www.DawnWatch.com/katrina.htm 

Brenda Shoss is an excellent resource for information on volunteering. She is at info@kinshipcircle.org 

Animal rescue in the Katrina disaster area continues to fill the news. There was a wonderful story on the front page of Canada's Globe and Mail yesterday, September 12, which I have sent to Canada subscribers. On Saturday, September 10, Ohio's Akron Beacon Journal had a superb front page story on the issue, as did the Salt Lake Tribune on Sunday September 11. And the Chicago Tribune has a great story, and the Indianapolis Star has a particularly hard-hitting story today, Tuesday, September 13.

CNN's Anderson Cooper continues to cover the issue beautifully.

Also today, Tuesday September 13, the San Francisco Chronicle looks at an often neglected disaster issue, the suffering of animals trapped in factory farms (where they were already suffering -- see www.FactoryFarming.com  ). It looks at one happy case in the midst of the horror, where chickens have a better ending than they would have had without Hurricane Katrina. The article is headed, "1,000 chickens that rode out the storm now escape the frying pan. Vacaville woman leads rescue effort at Mississippi farm." (Pg B2)

The article includes a great quote from Kim Sturla, who runs the Animal Place sanctuary in Vacaville California and traveled to Miscopy after learning about the plight of the chickens on television:

"Some folks say, 'Why save chickens when there are people and dogs and cats to save?' I'm looking at it from the perspective of their lives. The life of the chicken is as important to him as the life of the dog or cat is to them."

We read: "In just two nights, the group collected about 1,000 birds -- including 19 that had been bulldozed into a burial pit with thousands of dead chickens and inches of maggots."

Farm Sanctuary will take half of the chickens, Kim will take at least 100, and they are looking for people to adopt some. You can contact Kim through www.animalplace.org

You can read the whole San Francisco Chronicle article on line a http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/13/BAGP6EMQ951.DTL

and send a chicken-friendly, perhaps veg-friendly, letter to the editor at letters@sfchronicle.com  and advises, "Please limit your letters to 200 or fewer words ... shorter letters have a better chance of being selected for publication."

The San Francisco Chronicle's Monday, September 12 article headed, "Bay Area Response; Airlift brings stranded animals to Bay Area; Pooches and cats orphaned by storm get temporary shelter" can be found on line at:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/12/BAGQQEM9ND1.DTL&hw=airlift&sn=001&sc=1000  OR http://tinyurl.com/b7zek

And you can respond at the letters address above.

The Tuesday, September 13, Chicago Tribune story is headed, "Letter from Gonzales: Refugee pets swamp holding centers."

It tells us:

"One of the great sadnesses of Hurricane Katrina and the evacuation of New Orleans is that people could be rescued, but not their pets.

Teary-eyed residents tied dogs to trees or locked their pets inside houses that had become islands, worn by the strain of living in a darkened, toxic city, lulled out by the promise that their pets would be rescued as soon as possible. In many instances, that has not been done. Even for the few thousand animals that have been brought out, it is difficult to find their owners....More than 1,200 animals are in a shelter at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, brought by people displaced in the flooding and temporarily unable to care for them....About 3,800 animals--most of their owners undetermined--were rescued and brought to the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, which has livestock holding pens and an open-air exposition house geared for 4-H shows."

You can read that whole story on line at

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509130071sep13,1,16047.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed  OR http://tinyurl.com/azq5b  and keep the animal discussion alive in the paper with a letter to the editor.

The Tribune takes letters at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-lettertotheeditor.customform  OR http://tinyurl.com/4lsug

The Tuesday, September 13, Indianapolis Star included a short, sad, but helpful article headed, "You can help pets affected by Katrina"

It opens: "The loss of human life and property as a result of Katrina is unspeakable. But at least one survivor still had something to hold onto. On camera, as she held her soggy kitten close to her chest, she said,' No, I did not lose everything. I thank God for what is spared,' as she petted her cat while tears streamed from her eyes.

"At the airport in New Orleans, one man muttered repeatedly, 'He saved my life.' He was talking about his dog. Now, authorities were asking him to give up the pet. He refused. And they refused to transport the man to a shelter. It's uncertain how that standoff ended, but it was a scene played out countless times."

You can read the whole article, which includes a list of groups involved in the animal disaster relief (though unfortunately omitting Best Friends - www.BestFriends.org  ) on line at http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050913/LIVING/509130331

You can keep the animal related discussion alive in the Indianapolis Star with letters to the editor. The Star takes letters at:

http://www.indystar.com/help/contact/letters.html

Florida's St. Petersburg Times had the story on the front page on Monday, September 12, headed, "Rescuers search city for marooned animals."

You'll find that article on line at: http://tinyurl.com/7wdsm

And you can keep the discussion alive in that paper with a letter to the editor at http://www.sptimes.com/letters/

CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed HSUS's Wayne Pacelle at the shelter in Gonzalez, Louisiana. Cooper mentioned that his show had received hundreds of emails on the animal issue. Cooper is clearly an animal friendly person, who would not completely ignore the issue anyway, but loads of positive feedback from viewers makes it much easier for a reporter to get clearance to do these stories. Please thank the show at http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?10

The big front page Sunday, September 11, Salt Lake Tribune story was headed, "Animal rescuers race against death." It followed Paul Berry and the Best Friends team. It tells us:

" Rigid bodies of animals - some of which reportedly have been run over by emergency vehicles or shot by soldiers and police - line the streets. After more than 10 sweltering days without food and clean water, many of the abandoned and orphaned pets are within hours of perishing. Berry, chief operations officer for the Kanab-based Best Friends Animal Society, and his Utah team are frantically working to get them out alive." You'll find it on line at http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3016921  and can send an appreciative letter to the Salt Lake Tribune

at: http://www.sltrib.com/contactus

And Saturday's hard-hitting front page Akron Beacon Journal story by Connie Bloom was headed, "Very little animal rescue after hurricane. Conditions horrible; pets abandoned, suffer."

It opens:

"When you're in the path of a hurricane, you pray for your life and cling to your family. Sometimes that's a Great Dane or an eight-pack of ferrets. To part with them when all else is lost would be unbearable, yet that's been the case for many pet owners in the aftermath of Katrina.

The world watched in horror as a rescue worker wrenched a puppy from the arms of a boy."

The article says that according to Dapha Nachmiovitch, a spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, "Rescuers have threatened to shoot dogs in order to force people to leave them behind.''

The article is the only one I have seen willing to put some of the blame on those who chose to leave their animals (those who evacuated early were not all forced to). It said in Waveland people could go to their homes and pick up their pets on Wednesday, but, according to one reporter, "most of the (able-bodied) people who lived there had homes completely destroyed and have no interest in picking up their animals."

Bloom comments, "Abandonment of a helpless family pet is the most heart-breaking human failure of all."

You can read her article on line at:

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/12609707.htm

The Akron Beacon Journal takes letters at vop@thebeaconjournal.com  and advises, "You must include your name, address and phone number to be considered for publication."

You'll find my alert on other coverage from last weekend -- a New York Times editorial, and stories in the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune on line at www.DawnWatch.com/9-05_Animal_Media_Alerts.htm#KATRINA7  and you'll find my Saturday, September 10 Washington Post op-ed on the Katrina animal issue at www.DawnWatch.com/op-ed-september10-2005.htm

HORSE SLAUGHTER BAN --  ST PETERSBURG TIMES, LOUISVILLE COURIER- JOURNAL and CHARLESTON GAZETTE  9/13/05

An agriculture appropriations bill amendment that would ban horse slaughter in the United States passed the House of Representatives earlier this year; it is now before the Senate and should be voted on this week, very likely tomorrow, Thursday, September 15. On the HSUS website you can learn more about the bill and electronically send a letter to your senators asking for their support.

Please, today, go to https://community.hsus.org/campaign/ensign_amendment

Most importantly, legislators expect and take close count of calls from constituents supporting or opposing bills. It takes just a moment to call your senator, state your name and where you live, and say that you are calling asking them to vote yes on the upcoming Ensign-Byrd horse slaughter amendment on the Agriculture Appropriations bill. If you are shy, you need not worry that you will be engaged in conversation. Please call.

You can reach your two Senators by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Yesterday, Tuesday, September 13, three newspapers included editorials (the newspaper editorial department's official opinion) in support of the ban.

The St Petersburg Times piece, headed, "Bring an end to horse slaughter" noted: "Each year, nearly 100,000 horses are subjected to a cruel end to their lives. Horse meat for human consumption hasn't been sold in the United States for decades and isn't even used in pet food here. If a horse is near the end of its useful life, there are more humane ways for an owner to get rid of it. Adoption groups offer horses a peaceful retirement, and if the horses need to be euthanized, it can be done painlessly and humanely for a couple hundred dollars."

You can read the whole article on line at: http://stpetetimes.com/2005/09/13/Opinion/Bring_an_end_to_horse.shtml  and send a supportive letter to the editor at: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/ . You might wish to use horse slaughter as a jump off point for a letter on other aspects of how we treat members of other species -- animals used for food are excluded from the federal Animal Welfare Act. Birds, approximately 95% of the animals slaughtered in the United States, are even excluded from humane slaughter laws.

The Louisville Courier-Journal (KY) piece is headed, "Horse sense in Senate." It tells us American horse meat is shipped to Japan and several European countries, and that "no horse is currently safe from that fate. Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner, was killed in a Japanese slaughterhouse when his stud services were no longer needed. This past spring, 41 wild mustangs were slaughtered for food in a Texas plant after being purchased through a program meant to give them new homes."

You can read that whole piece on line at

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050913/OPINION01/509130345/1055/OPINION  and send a letter to the editor at http://www.courier-journal.com/cjconnect/edletter.htm

And the Charleston Gazette (WV) piece, headed "Bill would stop slaughter" opens:

"Around 90,000 American horses are slaughtered each year for human consumption. Foreign-owned slaughterhouses on American soil kill about 50,000 of them; the other 20,000 are sent live to Mexico or Canada. Some are wild horses that still wander ranges of the West; others are unwanted, disposed of by their owners or unscrupulous dealers who promise they will go to good homes. Many of these creatures undergo extreme suffering en route to their final destination. Transport law allows them to go for 24 hours without food, water or rest, even if they are badly injured or heavily pregnant.

You can read the whole piece on line at http://wvgazette.com/section/Editorials/200509129  and send a letter to the editor to gazette@wvgazette.com.

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor.

OP-ED BY KAREN DAWN IN NY NEWSDAY ON NO-PET EVACUATION POLICY 9/14/05

I have an op-ed on the effect of "no pet" evacuation policies in the Wednesday, September 14, edition of New York Newsday. It is similar in theme to my September 10 Washington Post piece (see http://www.dawnwatch.com/oped-september10-2005.htm ) but it is not the same piece. It has new information and new arguments. It is on line at http://www.nynewsday.com/news/opinion/nyc-opdaw144425166sep14,0,636960.story?coll=nyc-viewpoints-headlines and I will paste it below.

Newsday has the eighth largest circulation in the USA so we should do what we can to encourage a discussion of these issues on the editorial pages. I have received many heartfelt notes from people who tell me they would never abandon their animals. I urge people to send such notes to the letters page. Newsday takes letters at http://cf.newsday.com/newsdayemail/email.cfm. Select "letter to the editor" from the pulldown menu.

And please consider a letter to your local paper on the issue. Local papers publish a large proportion of letters they receive. Public discussion and public outcry will help change official policy.

Here is the Newsday piece:

Shameful policy caused many pets' deaths

The ban against pets in Katrina rescues and shelters hampered the evacuation and killed people and animals

BY KAREN DAWN

Karen Dawn runs the animal advocacy media watch Web site DawnWatch.com and is a contributor to "In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave."

September 14, 2005

Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, many of us have seen distressing coverage of animals discarded on rooftops or at stations where people boarded buses for Red Cross shelters. We have read stories of small dogs grabbed by police officers from the arms of old people and sobbing young children.

Some stories are almost unbelievable in a civilized nation. One man survived for five days in a tree with his 16-year-old dachshund-Chihuahua. His rescuers would not let him carry the dog onto a boat. He killed his beloved companion rather than leave her to starve in the tree.

In the midst of such tales we also read the quote from Michael Brown as he left his post as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It began with, "I am going to go home and walk my dog." His policies stole that last sweet comfort from those who had nothing else left.

The refusal to acknowledge the bond people have with their animals hampered the evacuation, since some people refused to leave. It also increased, exponentially, people's loss.

Further, the official animal ban illuminated the class issue: Whereas Marriott hotels welcomed pets as part of the family, Red Cross shelters forced people to abandon that part of the family or to ride out the storm. Many people died as a result. Others remained for weeks in the disease-infested area.

Media stories have focused on the plight of the animals and of people frantic over the fate of their pets. Only a few have been insensitive to the issue. Perhaps most confused was a column in Slate Magazine that contended that although it was sad the dogs were starving, "their owners should have evacuated them - and themselves - before the storm hit, when pets could be accommodated more easily." As if the destitute folks without gas or even cars, who didn't head for the nearest pet-friendly hotel before the storm, had only themselves to blame.

That column actually suggested that the deaths of people who would not part with their pets were tragic, but not as tragic as the "chaos" pets would have caused at shelters. Interestingly, hospitals and nursing homes actually invite dogs in to raise patients' spirits. The presence of dogs, although inconvenient, also could have been a morale booster, whereas their absence has caused the greatest suffering for many people who are frantic about their fate.

If dog bites are a concern, then surely cheap disposable muzzles should be part of FEMA and Red Cross deployment equipment. And, yes, some people are allergic to animals, particularly cats, which is why people traveling with cats might have to be transported separately. It would also be fair to recommend that cats be placed in adjoining shelters - anywhere, as long as their families knew they were safe.

Let's compare our nation's treatment of animals to that of other countries: In France, official policy allows dogs in restaurants. One cannot imagine it would call for their abandonment during disasters. Do the French care more about their animals than we do? The photos of Katrina's aftermath answer that: people on rooftops or wading or swimming through filthy water, having left every one of their worldly possessions, but desperately clutching their beloved pets. But U.S. official policy is out of touch with that reality.

In Cuba last September, more than 1.5 million people were evacuated to higher ground before a storm. About 20,000 houses were destroyed, and nobody died. The people were told to take their animals, and veterinarians were provided. Far from causing chaos, the evacuation of animals prevented it. The Cuban government did not have to deal with people refusing to leave their animals and did not have to force them to leave them.

Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." How embarrassing it must be for our government to see that in emergencies the United States lags behind Cuba, whose treatment of animals saved the animals' lives and those of the people who care for them. In the wake of Katrina, the shameful no-pet policies of American relief agencies killed some people, mostly poor. It devastated many more, who will rebuild their homes but will never get over the awful choice a great nation should not have forced them to make.

NEW YORK TIMES AND CHICAGO TRIBUNE ON ATTEMPT TO BAN FOIE GRAS FROM CHICAGO RESTAURANTS 9/15/05

The proposed ban on foie gras in Chicago restaurants is the subject of a Wednesday, September 15, New York Times article, as well as a Chicago Tribune editorial, and was also a lead story in the Tuesday, September 14 Chicago Tribune.

The New York Times story, (pg A14) is headed, "A Chicago Alderman's Proposal to Ban Foie Gras Stirs Up a Debate."

It opens:

"This city is considering a proposal to trim fatty goose and duck livers from the menus of Chicago restaurants, stirring debate over whether it has a right to tell people what they can put on their plates.

'''Our laws are a reflection of our culture,' said Joe Moore, an alderman who has proposed banning the sale of foie gras in the city, as he addressed the council's health committee on Tuesday. 'Our culture does not condone the torture of innocent and defenseless creatures. And we as a society believe all God's creatures should be treated humanely.'

"Foie gras, which means'fatty liver' in French and is most commonly served in upscale restaurants, is produced by force-feeding grain to ducks and geese several times a day through a pipe that is inserted in their throats, causing their livers to expand up to 10 times their normal size within weeks."

We read about other anti foie gras legislation, "The proposal follows a unanimous vote in the State Senate to ban force-feeding birds for the production of foie gras in Illinois. It will be considered by the House next year. Last year, California banned the production and sale of foie gras starting in 2012, and legislation regulating it has been introduced in New York, Massachusetts and Oregon."

You can read the full article on line at: http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/09/15/national/15chicago.html

The editorial in the Wednesday, September 15, Chicago Tribune is headed "Duck, duck, goose." It says of foie gras: "The way it's made is pretty grisly and cruel, especially if you're a duck or goose selected for the honor. Tubes are jammed down the birds' gullets, and they are force-fed repeatedly until their insides swell and turn to a buttery goo."

But then it unfortunately takes the following stand:

"But why in the world does the City Council feel the need to meddle in something so small and so personal and so ... inconsequential ... as what a restaurant chooses to put on its menu?"

You can read the whole piece on line at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0509150101sep15,1,7605442.story

The Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, September 14 article, "Why is foie gras a big honking deal?" is on line at: http://tinyurl.com/9822h

I will share a terrific letter in response to it that was printed in today's paper:

-----------

Banning foie gras

Published September 15, 2005

As a veterinarian with over 30 years experience, I applaud Ald. Joe Moore for proposing a ban on foie gras in Chicago ("Why is foie gras a big honking deal?," News, Sept. 14).

The birds suffer greatly during the feeding process. The stomach tube that is forced into the bird's esophagus is done with great haste, leading to injury to some birds, which can include tearing of the esophagus, crop or stomach. The large amount of food being forced into the stomach in itself causes injuries in some of the birds due to expansion of parts of the upper gastrointestinal tract. The livers not only become enlarged, they also malfunction.

The ducks are kept in crowded, unnatural conditions which unquestionably deter from their well-being. Portions of their bills, which are rich in nerve endings, are removed with scissors and without anesthesia. It has been shown that this type of 'trimming' causes acute and chronic pain. Furthermore, bill trimming prevents normal feeding and preening. When comparing the privation these animals must endure to the reality of so many already available food choices, it seems that promoting duck products in the market reflects human indulgence at its worst.

Nedim C. Buyukmihci, V.M.D.

Professor of Veterinary Medicine (Emeritus), Univ. of California Davis

Dilley, Texas

(END OF LETTER)

Please don't think you need to be a veterinarian to weigh in the issue. Those unfamiliar with foie gras production can visit www.nofoiegras.com . Check out the photo gallery and the video from French activists. And you'll find footage shot on US farm at www.gourmetcruetly.com

The Chicago Tribune takes letters at:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-lettertotheeditor.customform

And the New York times takes letters at letters@nytimes.com

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.

ELEPHANTS: NEW YORK TIMES AND WASHINGTON POST FLUFF PIECES, CHICAGO SUN AND PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER ON ZOOS, CALGARY SUN PIECE ON CIRCUSES 9/13/-9/16/05

Elephants have been in the news this week (9/13-9/16). There have been some terrific pieces (see Calgary Sun and Philadelphia Inquirer below) and some fluff pieces that have, no doubt unintentionally, made light of their suffering.

Many animal advocates are familiar with the plight of Maggie, the lone elephant at the zoo in Anchorage Alaska. A superb article in the February 17 Anchorage Press is one of the best resources for information on her. You'll find it at http://www.anchoragepress.com/archives-2005/coverstoryvol14ed7.shtml . It includes photos of her in the miserable cell in which she spends much of her life given Alaska's long, freezing winters. We learn from that article that she was one of five baby elephants who, during a cull in Zimbabwe in 1983, watched "as all the adults in their herds, all the elephants they'd ever known, were cut down around their ears." She was eventually taken to Alaska to accompany Annabelle, who has since died. Female elephants are highly social and do poorly alone. They also do poorly without miles of walking every day, so Maggie's health is failing. Animal advocates have urged the zoo to let her spend her remaining years in the company of other elephants on the thousands of acres at the elephant sanctuary

in Tennessee ( www.elephants.com   ) but the zoo's solution was to order her a treadmill. It arrived this week. Sadly, an Associated Press story on the issue ignored the sorrow of her plight, and the major media stories have followed its tone.

The Thursday, September 15, New York Times gave the story just a few lines with the humorous heading "Now, If She Can Cut Back On Sweets." (Pg A20) You'll find it on line at: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/15/national/15brfs.html

Please send the New York Times a letter suggesting they treat Maggie's plight, and that of all elephants suffering in zoos that cannot provide for them, as something other than a light story. The New York Times takes letters at letters@nytimes.com

The Friday, September 16, Washington Post, has the story in the Style section (page C12) headed, "If you're a slightly overweight elephant facing an icy Alaskan winter where you can't get out and exercise much, what should you do? Work out on a treadmill, of course." That story, at least, notes, "Animal-rights activists worry that the frigid winters are too hard on Maggie, a 23-year-old African elephant." You'll find the brief article on line at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR2005091502028.html  The Washington Post takes letters at letters@washpost.com

Earlier this week, on Wednesday, September 14, the heading of a story in Chicago's Sun Times asked, "Are elephants just a memory for some zoos?" You'll find it on line at: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-eleph14.html.  The Sun Times takes letters at http://www.suntimes.com/geninfo/feedback.html

With serendipitous timing, on Tuesday, September 13, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an op-ed by Dr Eliot Katz the veterinarian who founded 'In Defense of Animals' ( www.idausa.org ) headed, "The real remedy for zoo elephants is to set them free" (Pg B02). It tells us,

"Inadequate zoo conditions such as hard, compacted dirt and concrete and a lack of space lead to a host of ailments for elephants, including digestive troubles, reproductive problems, degenerative joint disease, lameness, and chronic foot infections. Evidence that such maladies do not befall elephants in the wild has led growing numbers of experts to conclude that zoo life itself is killing them. How else can one explain that elephants in zoos live just half their natural 70-year life expectancy?"

You can read that piece on line at: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/opinion/local2/region/126289  Please send appreciative letters.

The Philadelphia Inquirer takes letters at: Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com 

A superb resource on this issue, where you can learn the history and sad fates of many elephants in zoos, for example the three elephants who died within two years of being transferred to Chicago's zoo, despite animal rights activists' warnings, is www.SaveWildElephants.com

Finally, the Thursday, September 15, Calgary Sun (Canada) included a piece by editor Licia Corbella that should be compulsory reading for anybody tempted to take their kids to see elephants in a circus, who does not know much about the show backstage. I will paste it below. Some of the footage she describes can be seen at www.Circuses.com

Here is the piece from the September 15, Calgary Sun, pg 4:

------------------------

CIRCUS ANIMALS FORCIBLY TRAINED; VIDEOS OF CRUELTY ARE VERY SHOCKING

BY Licia Corbella, editor

The other day one of my twin eight-year-old sons was playing Rollercoaster Tycoon II on the computer.

It's a game that requires the player to set up his own amusement park.

The longer one plays, the more attractions the player can offer his virtual guests. Eventually, my son was given the option of buying a small circus -- a round, red tent -- for $1,000.

But about 10 minutes later he called out that he had to get rid of the circus. I asked him why.

While the player cannot see inside the tent, my son said he heard an elephant's trumpet call from behind the canvas walls.

"I just can't support a circus that uses elephants or other wild animals in their show," said my animal-loving son.

Oh, how my heart swelled with pride.

I had told my sons that recently I had the opportunity -- or rather, the severe misfortune -- of watching several videos, made with the use of hidden cameras, that showed how wild circus animals are treated.

These hours of videos, shown to me by Carol Tarcey, a kind-hearted Calgary animal lover, gleaned from circuses across North America and Britain, showed the "training," transporting and the treatment of elephants, tigers and lions.

In one nine-minute video, a man described as an "animal care director" and a longtime elephant trainer with various circuses was caught on tape by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- an admittedly often extreme animal-rights group. Nevertheless, video doesn't lie.

In this gut-wrenching recording, this trainer, who learned the craft from his father, was then with the Carson & Barnes Circus. In the video, he instructs other wannabe elephant trainers how to use the bullhook, a metal rod with a knife-sharp hooked blade at the end, which is also called an ankus.

"Tear that foot off! Sink it in the foot! Tear it off! Make 'em scream!", he yells as he approaches Becky, an elephant he refers to as "you mother f****r." At that, this trainer attacks Becky with the bullhook and Becky screams four times.

This trainer continues. "When you hear that screaming, then you know you got their attention. Right here in the barn. You can't do it on the road. I'm not gonna touch her in front of a thousand people. She's gonna (expletive) do what I want and that's just (expletive) the way it is."

The video also shows an elephant dying in a trailer after spending countless hours being transported in sweltering heat. Some other tortured elephants can be seen going insane in front of a large live audiences, in some cases killing their trainers in the ring, or rampaging with children on their backs.

Yesterday I sp