I have been on the road, in DC and New York, without a working laptop for over a week. So DawnWatch has fallen way behind! Today I send out a couple of important articles from the last week. There are developments on the Dallas-based elephant Jenny, published in the New York Times. There was a wonderful big piece in the Washington Post "Sunday Source" on my book and trip to Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary. And we have news of a promising series beginning on Animal Planet this Sunday, which opens with an episode on the rehabilitation of the Vick dogs.
The Sunday Source, in the August 17 Washington Post, included a half page (above the fold!) review, photo, interview and event plug for Thanking the Monkey, by Dan Zak, headed "Animal Advocate Envisions a Vegetarian World."
Zak's opening is fun:
"I should've eaten my ham sandwich before picking up Karen Dawn's "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals." After reading her description of how the deli meat got to my Tupperware container, I put off lunch until late in the afternoon. But I was so hungry I had to eat the sandwich at some point. With each bite into the ham, I heard the shrieking of pigs in my head.
"When will the pigs stop screaming, Karen Dawn? When?
"When the world converts to vegetarianism, she writes in the book. This will happen eventually. She's not militant about this point. She's logical. She's levelheaded. She's funny. That's why her message is so . . . darn . . . persuasive.
"'Thanking the Monkey' is a glossy, nearly 400-page, eminently readable book that's not just about forgoing meat; it's about fur and animal testing and the merits of hunting and fishing and the badness of pet stores, circuses and the Navy sonar systems that make the ears of gray whales bleed. It celebrates the progress of the animal rights movement. It provides sensible rationales for treating animals with near-absolute equality. It criticizes the National Wildlife Federation (for protecting hunting interests), the organic food fad ("organic" doesn't necessarily mean animals have been treated well) and Jack Hanna (for supporting dove hunting and glossing over problems in horse racing).
"Jack Hanna, for crying out loud. The woman's got some nerve."
Then it goes into an interview with me. You'll find it on line at http://tinyurl.com/5qvp6p
(Thanks Mary Finelli, for that link, and your incredible activism.)
As always, even if you aren't going to read the whole thing, it is a great idea to click on and briefly check out animal friendly pieces as paper's take notice of which articles get the most clicks and forwards.
I wish I had got it out sooner, nevertheless it is definitely still worth letting the Post know how much we appreciate this animal friendly coverage. Positive feedback encourages similar coverage in the future. And your letter to the editor keeps animal issues alive at least on the Post editorial page. You can use the article as a launch pad for a note on any animal issue that moves you.
The Washington Post takes letters at letters@washpost.com
Now, Jenny:
If you are new to DawnWatch, you might not yet know the plight of Jenny, the lone elephant at the Dallas Zoo. You can catch up a little at:
http://www.dawnwatch.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/archive/dw1000000dawnwat/20080705164930/
or at this Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/66u94n
That page tells of activists battling a plan to send Jenny from the Dallas Zoo to a Mexican Safari park, where there are no other African elephants. We have pushed to get her sent instead to the wonderful Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee (www.elephants.com)
This week, Thursday August 21, an article by James C. McKinley in the New York Times is headed, "Distraught Elephant to Remain in Dallas." (Pg A17)
It opens, "The Dallas Zoo has decided to keep a troubled elephant named Jenny and build a larger exhibit for her after a public outcry over plans to send the animal to a wildlife park in Mexico."
We read:
"Facing irate citizens on one side and the zoo association on the other, Mr. Hudson found a compromise. He said he would speed up construction of a new 15-acre habitat for large African mammals -- elephants, giraffes, lions and warthogs -- and acquire a second elephant to give Jenny companionship. A four-acre parcel is to be completed within 18 months, officials said."
But we read that advocates for Jenny, now 32, are afraid she won't even live to see it.
You'll find the full article on line at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/us/21elephant.html
It presents a great opportunity for letters to the editor against holding wild animals captive for human entertainment.
The New York Times takes letters at letters@nytimes.com
Activist Margaret Morin and Concerned Citizens for Jenny point out that The Elephant Sanctuary is a natural-habitat refuge that provides 300 acres for its three resident African elephants and is world recognized for its expertise and experience healing troubled and ailing elephants. They tell us that Jenny has been in solitary confinement in the barren enclosure at the Dallas Zoo for three months and that just last week she was seen to be obsessively swaying, a sign of stress in elephants. You can view that video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AusZYAAzhW4
Concerned Citizens for Jenny ask us to redouble our calls and emails to the Dallas Mayor and City Council and politely but firmly urge him to intervene in the zoo's decision to keep Jenny in Dallas and request that she be sent to The Elephant Sanctuary instead. Contact him at:
Mayor Tom Leppert
Dallas City Hall
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5EN
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Main Phone: (214) 670-4054
Fax: (214) 670-0646
tom.leppert@dallascityhall.com
Those who live in Dallas should go to www.concernedcitizensforjenny.net to learn what else they can do.
This isn't only for poor Jenny. It will set a precedent for all wild animals used in entertainment.
Finally thanks to Casey Carter for making sure we knew about "Animal Witness" a series starting Sunday at 10pm on Animal Planet and airing many times throughout the week. Check out details and air times at
http://animal.discovery.com/tv/animal-witness/index.html
The first episode is on the rehabilitation of the Vick dogs. If you like what you see, please make sure to thank Animal Planet at http://extweb.discovery.com/viewerrelations
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)
Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read reviews of Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals” and watch the fun celebrity studded promo video.
To discontinue DawnWatch alerts go to http://www.DawnWatch.com/nothanks.php
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Date: Fri Aug 22 14:31:56 2008
