Help Stop U.S. Military Weapons Testing on Animals

Take Action at:
https://secure2.convio.net/pcrm/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&\
id=215&AddInterest=1781

The U.S. military continues to use live animals in medical training
even though superior nonanimal methods are widely available. PCRM is
working with Rep. Steve Rothman and Sen. Robert Byrd (Both have
contacted DOD about this important issue.) to end animal use in these
courses. We need your help. Please urge your representative to ask the
Secretary of the Army and the Army Surgeon General to stop using these
archaic methods for training soldiers. Contact your representative now
by sending an e-letter at:
https://secure2.convio.net/pcrm/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&\
id=215&AddInterest=1781

It is time for the military to modernize its medical teaching methods
and forgo animal use in all training of infantry, medics, and
physicians. Today, 95 percent of medical schools no longer use animals
to teach medical students, and the trend in advanced medical training
is away from animal use.

In trauma training courses, the military is shooting pigs in the face,
repeatedly exposing monkeys to a neurotoxin, and amputating goats'
legs with gardening tools. This animal use violates the Department of
Defense's (DOD) own animal welfare regulation, which states that,
"Alternative methods to the use of animals must be considered and used
if such alternatives produce scientifically valid or equivalent
results to attain the research, education, training, and testing
objectives." Nonanimal methods are widely available and can handle
every aspect of military medical training. These methods range from
high-tech simulators to commonsense approaches, like the use of
military and civilian trauma centers.

Contact your representative and urge them to ask the Secretary of the
Army and the Army Surgeon General to adopt better methods in medical
training—soldiers would benefit from better training, and countless
animals' lives would be spared. Call or e-mail your representative
today, and then forward this message to your friends.

Tell Congress to Help Pets of People in Foreclosure Too

During this global economic crisis, Americans have been hit hard,
and many are forced to look for a little extra help to put food on
the table. But what about our four-legged, feathered or scaly family
members?

Tell Congress to help struggling, hungry families

Take action here and forward widely:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/319415443

Many animal owners are struggling to find enough food for their
whole family, including pets. And beyond food, the cost of caring
for birds, dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, and turtles is rising while
incomes are falling.

Companion animals are known to increase the quality of life for
their owners, which two-thirds of Americans already know. But
American families cannot afford the rising cost of food and care for
themselves and companion animals.

However, some food pantries recognize the struggle of families with
pets, and distribute pet food with household groceries for needy
families. Albeit wonderful, their efforts are not enough. Tell
Congress that families including our pets need help accessing
affordable food »

Take action here and forward widely:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/319415443

Tell Obama: Ban on Torture Should Include Animals!
Source:  Peta2

There has been a lot of talk about President Obama's decision to ban
torture on human beings. But did you know that thousands of live
animals are shot, stabbed, dismembered, burned, and poisoned every
year in Department of Defense (DoD) training exercises? That seems
pretty torturous to me!

Please take one minute to help animals who suffer for military
training by asking President Obama to extend his ban on torture to
include animals used in military trauma-training exercises.


You can send a letter here:
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/p2_obama_dod

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

Some of the biggest wearers of fur are opera stars.  Each week, the
Metropolitan Opera broadcasts feature questions from listeners.
Please consider submitting a question about the wearing of fur by
divas and other opera stars.  It is, quite frankly, doubtful that your
question will be read on the air, but I believe a number of such
questions can raise the issue as to whether fur wearing is indeed a
sign of glamor. Please be creative in asking your question:

You may post your question online at:

http://www.operainfo.org/int_submit.htm

SUBMIT A QUIZ QUESTION

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE OPERA QUIZ BY MAIL OR ON-LINE!

Each season thousands of listeners send in questions to be considered
for use on the Metropolitan Opera Quiz. Listeners whose questions are
selected for use on a Saturday broadcast receive a gift package of
opera recordings and publications.

All questions become the property of The Metropolitan Opera. In case
of duplicates, the one with the earliest postmark or e-mail date will
be selected. Please be sure to mention the station on which you hear
these broadcasts.
Mail questions to:

     Metropolitan Opera Quiz
     Metropolitan Opera
     30 Lincoln Center
     New York, New York 10023

The Washington Post reported that boys are stoning nesting geese to death in a
park in Springfield, Virginia (Fairfax County.)  See:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/28/AR2009032801626_\
2.html

Please contact the Fairfax County Police and ask them to assign a detective to
this case.  Mention that these animal abusers are exhibiting severe psychiatric
disorders and the FBI has found they often progress to crimes against humans. 
Make your request online at:
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/contact/MailForm.aspx?agId=2068

For ideas to include in your request, you may want to reference information
found at: 
http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/first_strike_the_connection_between_animal_cruelt\
y_and_human_violence/

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

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

Senseless Violence in Springfield (Virginia)
March 29, 2009

There is a pond near a bike path between the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station
and the Greenwood Community in Springfield. Each year, Canada geese arrive at
the pond in the fall to nest and raise their families.

Recently, some young neighborhood boys have found a new hobby: They have been
stoning the geese to death. Above is a photo of their latest prize and his mate,
standing over the body. The goose has been standing vigil for many days now,
waiting for her to join him. They mate for life, you know.

He wards off all other geese that come near, as if he were protecting her in a
nest. Her final repose does give that illusion. I am beginning to worry that he
may himself expire for lack of nourishment, and I had thought of removing the
body in the hopes that he might move on. But then I thought I'd just be making
things worse. I have a tendency to think that his reactions are instinct and
just nature's way.

But nature didn't cause this.

Perhaps the boys who did this will see this picture and reflect on what they
have done. Perhaps not.

-- Tom Norato, Springfield

Jennifer Howard's review of "The Foie Gras Wars" and "The Face on Your Plate"
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/03/AR2009040301316\
.html) was thoughtful and insightful.

Some of the comments, however, are anything but, and sorely need to be refuted:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/03/AR2009040301316_\
Comments.html


        How narrow we selfish, conceited creatures are in our sympathies!  How
blind to the rights of all the rest of
creation!
          John Muir - Founder Sierra Club

Apologizing for this late notice, but your calls, emails and faxes about this
hideous torture case need to reach the Lexington Courthouse by tomorrow. 
Virginia has had too few prosecutions and serious sentencing for animal abuse
and must hear from the public.  See sample letter below.

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY AND CONTACT IMMEDIATELY!

SAMPLE LETTER: Remember to include your name and address and please change some
of the words you use.

TO: Hon. D. Bruce Patterson
Email: dBPatterson@...  (courts.state.va.us)
Ph:  540-463-2232; Fax:  540-463-3850

TO:  Commonwealth's Attorney Robert N. Joyce
E-mail:  Bjoyce@...  (lexrocketca.net)
Ph:  540-463-7337

Lexington/Rockbridge County Circuit Court
2 South Main Street, Lexington, VA  24450

RE: Jury Trial of Donald Blake and Steven Clark on April 7, 2009 -- Please
impose maximum sentencing with psychiatric treatment as these boys are a Serious
Danger to the Safety of Residents and Visitors to Virginia (Case Numbers
GC08010355-00 and GC08010307-00)


Dear Honored Officials:

On 9/9/08, Steven Clark and Donald Blake threw gasoline on a cat and set the
animal on fire.  When the cat ran away, they caught it and tied it to a cinder
block with Weed Eater string and set the animal on fire once again.  Veterinary
necropsy results revealed that damage to the lungs showed that the cat had
inhaled hot gases while still breathing.  Blake and Clark face Class 6 felony
charges for torturing and willfully and inhumanely inflicting pain and maiming
and mutilating a companion animal resulting in its death.  At the Preliminary
Hearing in General District Court on 12/10/08, the Commonwealth's Attorney's
office presented evidence and the Judge decided the evidence warranted
presentation to a Grand Jury.  The case went to the Grand Jury on 2/2/09, an
indictment was returned, and a date for a jury trial in the Lexington/Rockbridge
Circuit Court has been set for 4/7/09.

I ask you to prosecute these vicious killers to the fullest extent of the law
and impose maximum sentencing to include psychiatric treatment. As I pray that
you are aware aware, law-enforcement officials and mental health professionals
consider cruelty to
animals a precursor to violent crimes against humans. The American Psychiatric
Association identifies animal cruelty as one of the diagnostic criteria for
conduct disorders, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uses reports of
animal cruelty in analyzing the threat potential of suspected and known
criminals. Experts agree that it is the severity of the behavior — not the
species of victim — that must be taken into account.

As the trail of sad examples below shows, and recent violence across our country
attest to; it is time to send a clear message to people capable of intentionally
inflicting serious injury or death to helpless animals, that such brutal and
senseless crimes will not be tolerated and there are guaranteed consequences for
those who would show such disdain for the law.

Please take this case seriously. These boys must be detained and treated before
they harm anyone else: human or non-human alike. Please take action to protect
others from being harmed by this
sadistic killers.

Sincerely yours,


ATTACHMENT: ANIMAL VICTIMS / HUMAN VICTIMS:
REPORTS FROM POLICE CASE FILES

Lee Boyd Malvo (D.C. Area "Sniper" and serial killer) killed & tortured cats as
a child

Russell Weston Jr., tortured and killed 12 cats: burned and cut off their tails,
paws, ears; poured toxic chemicals in their eyes to blind them; forced them to
ingest poison, hung them from trees (the noose loose enough to create a slow and
painful death.) Later killed 2 officers at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.

Robert Alton Harris murdered two 16-year-old boys, doused a neighbor with
lighter fluid and tossed matches at him. His initial run-in with police was for
killing neighborhood cats.

Jeffery Dahmer staked cats to trees and decapitated dogs. Later he dissected
boys, and kept their body parts in the refrigerator. Murdered 17 men.

Kip Kinkle shot 25 classmates and killed several in Springfield, Oregon. He
killed his father and mother. Said he blew up a cow once. Set a live cat on fire
and dragged the innocent creature through the main street of town. Classmates
rated him as "Most Likely to Start World War 3."

Charles Cullen, ex-nurse who says he killed as many as 40 patients under his
care at hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, also brutally beat and
tortured his two pet dogs.

As a boy, Albert De Salvo, the "Boston Strangler," placed a dog and cat in a
crate with a partition between them. After starving the animals for days, he
removed the partition to watch them kill each other. He raped and killed 13
women by strangulation. He often posed bodies in a shocking manner after their
murders.

Richard Allen Davis set numerous cats on fire. He killed all of Polly Klaus'
animals before abducting and murdering Polly Klaus, aged 12, from her bedroom.

11-year-old Andrew Golden and 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson tortured and killed
dogs. On March 24, 1998, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Golden and Johnson shot and
killed 4 students and 1 teacher during a fire drill at their school.

After 16-year-old Luke Woodham mortally stabbed his mother, killed 2
classmates and shot 7 others, he confessed to bludgeoning his dog Sparkle with
baseball bats and pouring liquid fuel down her throat and to set fire to her
neck. "I made my first kill today," he wrote in his court-subpoenaed journal.
"It was a loved one...I¹ll never forget the howl she made. It sounded almost
human." In June 1998, Woodham was found guilty of 3 murders and 7 counts of
aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 3 life sentences and an additional 20
years for each assault.

Theodore Robert Bundy, executed in 1989 for at least 50 murders, was forced to
witness a grandfather who tortured animals. Bundy later heaped graves with
animal bones.

At 4-years-old, Michael Cartier dislocated the legs of rabbits and hurled a
kitten through a closed window. He later shot Kristin Lardner 3 times in the
head, before shooting himself.

Henry Lee Lucas killed numerous animals and had sex with their corpses. He
killed his mother, common law wife, and an unknown number of people.

Edward Kemperer cut up 2 cats. He later killed his grandparents, mother and 7
other women.

Richard Speck threw a bird into a ventilator fan. Killed 8 women. Randy Roth
taped a cat to a car's engine and used an industrial sander on a frog. Killed 2
of his wives and attempted to kill a third.

David Richard Davis shot and killed 2 healthy ponies, threw a wine bottle at a
pair of kittens and hunted with illegal methods. Murdered his wife, Shannon Mohr
Davis, for insurance money.

Peter Kurten, the Dusseldorf Monster, tortured dogs, and practiced bestiality
while killing animals. Murdered or attempted to murder over 50 men, women and
children.

Richard Trenton Chase, "The Vampire Killer of Sacramento," bit the heads off
birds, drained animals for their blood, killed animals for their organs, and
later killed 6 people in random attacks. One police officer present at the scene
of the first murder, confessed to having nightmares about the crime for months
afterwards.

"The Kobe Killer,² an as yet unnamed 15-year-old boy in Japan, beheaded a cat
and strangled several pigeons. Decapitated 11-year-old Jun Hase, and battered to
death a 10-year-old girl with a hammer, and assaulted 3 other children in
separate attacks.

Richard William Leonard's grandmother forced him to kill and mutilate cats and
kittens when he was a child. He later killed Stephen Dempsey with a bow and
arrow. He also killed Ezzedine Bahmad by slashing his throat.

Tom Dillion murdered people's pets. He shot and killed Jamie Paxton, aged 21;
Claude Hawkins, aged 49; Donald Welling, aged 35; Kevin Loring, aged 30; and
Gary Bradely, aged 44.

At 9-years-old, Eric Smith strangled a neighbor's cat. At 13, he bludgeoned
4-year-old Derrick Robie to death. Smith lured the little boy into the woods,
choked him, sodomized him with a stick, then beat him to death with a rock.

David Berkowitz, "Son of Sam," poisoned his mother's parakeet out of jealousy.
He later shot 13 young men and women. 6 people died and at least 2 suffered
permanent disabilities.

Arthur Shawcross repeatedly threw a kitten into a lake until the kitten drowned
from exhaustion. Killed a young girl. After serving 15- 1/2 years in prison, he
killed 11 more women.

Michael Perry decapitated a neighbor's dog. Later killed his parents, infant
nephew and 2 neighbors.

Jason Massey's killing resume began with cats and dogs; at 20 he decapitated and
disemboweled a 13-year-old girl and fatally shot a 14-year old boy. He claims to
have killed 37 cats, 29 dogs and 6 cows.

Patrick Sherrill stole neighborhood pets, tethered them with baling wire and
encouraged his dog to mutilate them. He killed 14 co-workers and himself in
1986.

Keith Hunter Jesperson, "Happy Face Killer," bashed gopher heads and beat,
strangled and shot stray cats and dogs. He is known to have strangled 8 women.
He said: "You're actually squeezing the life out of these animals...Choking a
human being or a cat--it's the same feeling...I'm the very end result of what
happens when somebody kills an animal at an early age."

Carroll Edward Cole, executed in 1985 for an alleged 35 murders and reputed to
be one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history, confessed that his
first act of violence was to strangle a puppy under the porch of his house.

May I please reach out to the group for support of a petition to be heard soon
within the Colorado Division of Wildlife?

The petition challenges the recent unjust placement of the raccoon on their
prohibited species list. It asks the state to allow sanctuary for an animal in
times of extenuating circumstances, and to not prohibit those who are federally
licensed with a Class C license.

Such extreme prohibition equals death. There has not even been a case of raccoon
rabies in the state in 46 years.

More information and a forum for comments on the petition can be found at:
www.SunChaserWildlife.com

Katherine McGill

THANKS & PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY.  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A COLORADO RESIDENT TO
SIGN THE PETITION

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30173033

PLEASE CROSS POST

Please let Obama know he's now responsible for dogs dying in shelters and for
setting a BAD example! This decision to buy a dog from a breeder will be
responsible for the upcoming deaths of thousands of animals in "shelters." First
because buying from a breeder will now be elevated and emulated, with him as a
model..Second because the idea of saving an animal from a "shelter" will be
degraded. Third because more animals will be bred by breeders. And fourth 
because more "bred" animals will eventually be dumped and killed.

Submit Comments To: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

For more on what designer dogs mean to future puppies and dogs in shelters, see
newsweek online at:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/192478?tid=relatedcl

PLEASE CROSS POST

Yes, that's right; after starving their corral of horses, two cruel men asked
some boys to dump them in a ravine as "coyote bait." This rural community has
never heard of the violence connection and the "escalation" from cruelty to
animals to cruelty to people, and has chosen not to prosecute.  PLEASE
WRITE/CALL THE OFFICIALS LISTED BELOW & FORWARD WIDELY.

--------------------------------------------------------
Friends, I learned about a disgusting incident which occurred in Oconto County,
Wisconsin sometime in late March.

A man walking his dog in the Michickanee forest came upon the bodies
of these horribly abused horses.  A local horsewoman took several good photos
and contrary to what the so-called owners are saying, these horses were STARVED.
I'm not an expert but they have almost no flesh on their bodies and if you
compare them with the photos of horses appearing in the attached body weight
scale, you'll see that they more than likely starved to death and that their
appearance is NOT due to decomposition. According to the sheriff, he tracked
down the owners and was told by them they had been dead for four weeks and died
of "natural" causes.

If this were anywhere else, the man would have been prosecuted. But the sheriff
in rural Wisconsin decided to simply bury the horses.  See link to news story
at:
http://www.nbc26.com/Global/story.asp?S=10104859&nav=menu1454_2

The naive sheriff never bothered to have a veterinarian examine the horses to
determine if there was foul play involved or that they were indeed dead from
being starved to death.  Instead, he buried their bodies and accepted the story
from the two owners.

Please demand that the District Attorney does a proper investigation to
determine what caused these horses to die.  If they indeed were starved to death
as all information provided thus far indicates, the owners need to be charged
with gross neglect and animal cruelty.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE POLITELY WRITE/CALL/FAX OR EMAIL THE FOLLOWING OFFICIALS.  SAMPLE
COMMENTS FOLLOW THESE OFFICIALS' NAMES, BUT PLEASE DO NOT COPY WORD FOR WORD--
USE ONLY AS A GUIDE.

Hon. Jay Conley, Oconto County District Attorney
Phone: 920-834-6865
Fax: 920-834-6803
Email: http://www.co.oconto.wi.us/contact_us/?department=1567274d1eaf

Michael C. Hodkiewicz - Clerk of Courts
Phone: 920-834-6857
Fax: 920-834-6867
Email: http://www.co.oconto.wi.us/contact_us/?department=9a9dd3db7712

Gerald Beekman
Chairman, Oconto County Judiciary Committee
Tel: 920-835-5477
http://www.co.oconto.wi.us/county_board/?i=3eb5e156cac4

Melissa Wellens
Member, Law Enforcement/Judiciary Committee
Tel: 920-834-5756
http://www.co.oconto.wi.us/county_board/?i=7ded43ded8fc

Leland T. Rymer
Chairperson of the Oconto County Board
Tel: 920-846-3730
http://www.co.oconto.wi.us/county_board/?i=d9ababa1f10a

Ron Korzeniewski
Vice-Chairperson of the Oconto County Board
Tel: 920-899-3687
http://www.co.oconto.wi.us/county_board/?i=ebb606c2268f

Michael Jansen, Head of Oconto Sheriff's Department
Phone: 920-834-6919
Fax: 920-834-6915
Email: http://www.co.oconto.wi.us/contact_us/?department=e587ce08a9a0

I am writing to ask you to thoroughly investigate an incident that happened last
month involving the discovery of two young, dead horses found lying in the
Michickanee woods in Oconto County.As a person who cares about animals, I am
very disturbed that no charges have been brought against the owners of these
animals.

A citizen provided very graphic photographs that clearly showed these animals
were in very malnourished--starved would be a better word!--condition at the
time they were discovered.According to the sheriff who supposedly investigated
and tracked down the owners, he reported that the owners told him the horses had
died four weeks before of natural causes and they couldn't afford to have
someone dispose of the carcases so they paid a nephew and his friend. to dispose
of them.  Instead the nephew and his friend just dumped them to rot in the
forest.

Please, in your investigation, consider these important questions:

1.  Why wasn't a veterinarian contacted to examine these horses to determine the
cause of death?

2.  The owners are reported to have other animals.  Why weren't those animals
checked for health and overall welfare?

3.  Why did the sheriff "bury" these animals before a determination was made as
to the cause of death?

The sheriff claims the animals looked "starved" because of decomposition.  I am
certainly not an expert, but wouldn't these animals be in a far less
recognizable state if they were in fact, dead for four weeks, prior to be
discarded in that wooded area? Here again, a veterinarian should have been
called to the scene to determine if these horses were extremely malnourished or
simply decomposed. It appears that the sheriff, for whatever reason, decided not
to investigate this incident properly.  I'm sure your state has clear laws that
address animal cruelty and neglect.

Here was an incident that raises a red flag about cruelty and neglect and yet no
action has been taken to find out what really happened. It is truly
unconscionable to allow an animal to starve to death and should be a crime in
your state.  There are organizations and concerned citizens that could have
stepped in to help.

To turn a blind eye to cruelty to animals is not unacceptable in a truly
civilized society. I call on you to do your job and file charges against the
owners of those horses.

People who are cruel and abusive to animals generally have little regard for
their fellow man.  A lack of empathy and compassion can easily result in violent
treatment to humans.  Volumes have been written on the link between animal
cruelty and human violence.  I believe that crimes against animals should be
vigorously prosecuted to stop the escalating cycle of abuse.  No matter if the
victim has two legs or four, fins, feathers or fur--it suffers!   Society as a
whole is becoming far less tolerant of cruelty to animals and recognizes
suffering regardless of victime.

Sincerely yours,

In just a few weeks, the mass killing of wolves could begin in
Idaho and Montana -- and not even newborn wolf pups and their
nursing mothers will be spared.

We cannot stand by while this slaughter unfolds. On May 4, the
wolf's federal protection will be lifted, and government agents
will be free to open fire. After that, the states will launch
public hunts, targeting wolves.

We must act now to call off the guns!

That's why NRDC is launching "The Big Howl" campaign to mobilize
Americans everywhere to protect wolves in the Northern Rockies
from the crossfire.

Add your voice now to our campaign:
http://www.nrdconline.org/ct/M1_pOsS14PCM/

Tell Interior Secretary Salazar to reverse his decision to kick
wolves off the endangered species list.

This is absolutely the wrong time to rip away federal
protections from these struggling wolves. Over the past year,
the wolf population in Yellowstone National Park has declined by
27 percent, with more than 70 percent of wolf pups succumbing to
disease.

One pack alone lost all 24 of its pups!

If the federal protections are lifted on May 4 as planned,
newborn wolf pups and their nursing mothers traveling outside
national parks will be in the line of fire.

That's why NRDC and our partners are filing suit in federal
court to block this disastrous policy. But we must do more: we
must raise a nationwide outcry that the Obama Administration
cannot ignore.

And so we're calling on everyone who cares about wolves to take
part in "The Big Howl" campaign:
http://www.nrdconline.org/ct/M1_pOsS14PCM/

Please call on the Interior Department to go back to the drawing
board and submit this cruel plan to the kind of rigorous
scientific review the Obama Administration has promised.

Because you have always stood up for wildlife, I'm contacting
you first to take part in "The Big Howl" campaign.

After you send your own message, I will let you know about an
easy way to spread the word to your friends and family. We need
at least one million messages to save the wolves -- so get ready
to rally your friends and family to add their own voices to "The
Big Howl."

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

IMPORTANT for VIRGINIA Residents & Visitors

It is important for all Virginia residents, or those who plan to visit Virginia,
to write these officials about the sentencing of this case.

Background:  On September 9, 2008 Steven Clark and Donald Blake threw gasoline
on a cat and set the animal on fire. When the cat ran away, they caught it and
tied it to a cinder block with Weed Eater string and set the animal on fire once
again. Veterinary necropsy results revealed that damage to the lungs showed that
the cat had inhaled hot gases while still breathing.

On April 3, 2009 sentencing was as follows:

5 year prison sentence
3 years 3 months suspended
21 months active prison term
3 years supervised probation
Restitution of any and all bills in connection with this incident.

I think it is important to ensure that these two men receive psychological
evaluation and treatment.  Otherwise they will be released to continue to
torture and kill other innocent victims.  Please join me in inquiring as to
their follow-on treatment while serving 21 months in prison.  PLEASE ASK FOR A
REPLY.  We don't want them walking the streets with our children, neighbors and
animal friends.

For examples to include in your letter, see cases from police files at the
bottom of the letter at:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AnimalAdvocacy/message/5096

A Sample Letter and Contact Information are below.  Please write, fax or email
and forward widely.  You could also enclose information about the animal-human
violence connection from such sites as:

www.psyeta.org/beyond_violence.html
www.animalcrueltyisfamilyviolence.org
www.pet-abuse.com/pages/abuse_connection.php

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

TO:

The Honorable D. Bruce Patterson
Clerk of Rockbridge Circuit Court
2 South Main Street
Lexington, VA 24450
FAX: 540/463-3850
email: dBPatterson@...  (courts.state.va.us)

The Honorable Robert N. Joyce, Jr.
Office of the Commonwealth Attorney
17 Court House Square
Lexington, Virginia 24450
FAX: (540) 463-6628

Mayor Mimi Elrod
300 East Washington Street
P.O. Box 922
Lexington, Virginia 24450
FAX: 540-463-5310
e-mail: mimicobb11@...  (gmail.com)

Case #Case Numbers GC08010355-00 and GC08010307-00) - Blake and Clark
Concern with Sentencing

Honored Officials:

On September 9, 2008 Steven Clark and Donald Blake threw gasoline on a cat and
set the animal on fire. When the cat ran away, they caught it and tied it to a
cinder block with Weed Eater string and set the animal on fire once again.
Veterinary necropsy results revealed that damage to the lungs showed that the
cat had inhaled hot gases while still breathing. Blake and Clark faced Class 6
felony charges for torturing and willfully and inhumanely inflicting pain and
maiming and mutilating a companion animal resulting in its death.

Thank you treating these cases as serious crimes, and for sentencing these young
men to prison on April 3, 2009. I am, however, concerned that you suspended over
three years of your five-year sentence.  No mention was made of any type of
mandated pyschological evaluation and treatment.   In 21 months Steven Clark and
Donald Blake will again be walking the streets as a threat to our children,
neighbors and companion animals.

As I'm sure you are aware aware, law-enforcement officials and mental health
professionals consider cruelty to animals a precursor to violent crimes against
humans. The American Psychiatric
Association identifies animal cruelty as one of the diagnostic criteria for
conduct disorders, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uses reports of
animal cruelty in analyzing the threat potential of suspected and known
criminals.

Please don't allow potential serial killers, of which we have seen several
examples unfortunately in recent days in the US and Europe, to fester in our
jails and be released into our community untreated. Many animal abusers have
"graduated" to equally horrific crimes against humans.

I would like to know if the charges for incarceration will include psychological
evaluation and treatment.  Let's not release monsters back into our society to
commit further atrocities to our loved ones.

Respectfully,



--- In AnimalAdvocacy@yahoogroups.com, AnimalAdvocacy@yahoogroups.com wrote:
>
> Apologizing for this late notice, but your calls, emails and faxes about this
hideous torture case need to reach the Lexington Courthouse by tomorrow. 
Virginia has had too few prosecutions and serious sentencing for animal abuse
and must hear from the public.  See sample letter below.
>
> PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY AND CONTACT IMMEDIATELY!
>
> SAMPLE LETTER: Remember to include your name and address and please change
some of the words you use.
>
> TO: Hon. D. Bruce Patterson
> Email: dBPatterson@...  (courts.state.va.us)
> Ph:  540-463-2232; Fax:  540-463-3850
>
> TO:  Commonwealth's Attorney Robert N. Joyce
> E-mail:  Bjoyce@...  (lexrocketca.net)
> Ph:  540-463-7337
>
> Lexington/Rockbridge County Circuit Court
> 2 South Main Street, Lexington, VA  24450
>
> RE: Jury Trial of Donald Blake and Steven Clark on April 3, 2009 -- Please
impose maximum sentencing with psychiatric treatment as these boys are a Serious
Danger to the Safety of Residents and Visitors to Virginia (Case Numbers
GC08010355-00 and GC08010307-00)
>
>
> Dear Honored Officials:
>
> On 9/9/08, Steven Clark and Donald Blake threw gasoline on a cat and set the
animal on fire.  When the cat ran away, they caught it and tied it to a cinder
block with Weed Eater string and set the animal on fire once again.  Veterinary
necropsy results revealed that damage to the lungs showed that the cat had
inhaled hot gases while still breathing.  Blake and Clark face Class 6 felony
charges for torturing and willfully and inhumanely inflicting pain and maiming
and mutilating a companion animal resulting in its death.  At the Preliminary
Hearing in General District Court on 12/10/08, the Commonwealth's Attorney's
office presented evidence and the Judge decided the evidence warranted
presentation to a Grand Jury.  The case went to the Grand Jury on 2/2/09, an
indictment was returned, and a date for a jury trial in the Lexington/Rockbridge
Circuit Court has been set for 4/7/09.
>
> I ask you to prosecute these vicious killers to the fullest extent of the law
and impose maximum sentencing to include psychiatric treatment. As I pray that
you are aware aware, law-enforcement officials and mental health professionals
consider cruelty to
> animals a precursor to violent crimes against humans. The American Psychiatric
Association identifies animal cruelty as one of the diagnostic criteria for
conduct disorders, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uses reports of
animal cruelty in analyzing the threat potential of suspected and known
criminals. Experts agree that it is the severity of the behavior — not the
species of victim — that must be taken into account.
>
> As the trail of sad examples below shows, and recent violence across our
country attest to; it is time to send a clear message to people capable of
intentionally inflicting serious injury or death to helpless animals, that such
brutal and senseless crimes will not be tolerated and there are guaranteed
consequences for those who would show such disdain for the law.
>
> Please take this case seriously. These boys must be detained and treated
before they harm anyone else: human or non-human alike. Please take action to
protect others from being harmed by this
> sadistic killers.
>
> Sincerely yours,
>
>
> ATTACHMENT: ANIMAL VICTIMS / HUMAN VICTIMS:
> REPORTS FROM POLICE CASE FILES
>
> Lee Boyd Malvo (D.C. Area "Sniper" and serial killer) killed & tortured cats
as a child
>
> Russell Weston Jr., tortured and killed 12 cats: burned and cut off their
tails, paws, ears; poured toxic chemicals in their eyes to blind them; forced
them to ingest poison, hung them from trees (the noose loose enough to create a
slow and painful death.) Later killed 2 officers at the U.S. Capitol in
Washington, DC.
>
> Robert Alton Harris murdered two 16-year-old boys, doused a neighbor with
lighter fluid and tossed matches at him. His initial run-in with police was for
killing neighborhood cats.
>
> Jeffery Dahmer staked cats to trees and decapitated dogs. Later he dissected
boys, and kept their body parts in the refrigerator. Murdered 17 men.
>
> Kip Kinkle shot 25 classmates and killed several in Springfield, Oregon. He
killed his father and mother. Said he blew up a cow once. Set a live cat on fire
and dragged the innocent creature through the main street of town. Classmates
rated him as "Most Likely to Start World War 3."
>
> Charles Cullen, ex-nurse who says he killed as many as 40 patients under his
care at hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, also brutally beat and
tortured his two pet dogs.
>
> As a boy, Albert De Salvo, the "Boston Strangler," placed a dog and cat in a
crate with a partition between them. After starving the animals for days, he
removed the partition to watch them kill each other. He raped and killed 13
women by strangulation. He often posed bodies in a shocking manner after their
murders.
>
> Richard Allen Davis set numerous cats on fire. He killed all of Polly Klaus'
animals before abducting and murdering Polly Klaus, aged 12, from her bedroom.
>
> 11-year-old Andrew Golden and 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson tortured and killed
dogs. On March 24, 1998, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Golden and Johnson shot and
killed 4 students and 1 teacher during a fire drill at their school.
>
> After 16-year-old Luke Woodham mortally stabbed his mother, killed 2
> classmates and shot 7 others, he confessed to bludgeoning his dog Sparkle with
baseball bats and pouring liquid fuel down her throat and to set fire to her
neck. "I made my first kill today," he wrote in his court-subpoenaed journal.
"It was a loved one...I¹ll never forget the howl she made. It sounded almost
human." In June 1998, Woodham was found guilty of 3 murders and 7 counts of
aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 3 life sentences and an additional 20
> years for each assault.
>
> Theodore Robert Bundy, executed in 1989 for at least 50 murders, was forced to
witness a grandfather who tortured animals. Bundy later heaped graves with
animal bones.
>
> At 4-years-old, Michael Cartier dislocated the legs of rabbits and hurled a
kitten through a closed window. He later shot Kristin Lardner 3 times in the
head, before shooting himself.
>
> Henry Lee Lucas killed numerous animals and had sex with their corpses. He
killed his mother, common law wife, and an unknown number of people.
>
> Edward Kemperer cut up 2 cats. He later killed his grandparents, mother and 7
other women.
>
> Richard Speck threw a bird into a ventilator fan. Killed 8 women. Randy Roth
taped a cat to a car's engine and used an industrial sander on a frog. Killed 2
of his wives and attempted to kill a third.
>
> David Richard Davis shot and killed 2 healthy ponies, threw a wine bottle at a
pair of kittens and hunted with illegal methods. Murdered his wife, Shannon Mohr
Davis, for insurance money.
>
> Peter Kurten, the Dusseldorf Monster, tortured dogs, and practiced bestiality
while killing animals. Murdered or attempted to murder over 50 men, women and
children.
>
> Richard Trenton Chase, "The Vampire Killer of Sacramento," bit the heads off
birds, drained animals for their blood, killed animals for their organs, and
later killed 6 people in random attacks. One police officer present at the scene
of the first murder, confessed to having nightmares about the crime for months
afterwards.
>
> "The Kobe Killer,² an as yet unnamed 15-year-old boy in Japan, beheaded a cat
and strangled several pigeons. Decapitated 11-year-old Jun Hase, and battered to
death a 10-year-old girl with a hammer, and assaulted 3 other children in
separate attacks.
>
> Richard William Leonard's grandmother forced him to kill and mutilate cats and
kittens when he was a child. He later killed Stephen Dempsey with a bow and
arrow. He also killed Ezzedine Bahmad by slashing his throat.
>
> Tom Dillion murdered people's pets. He shot and killed Jamie Paxton, aged 21;
Claude Hawkins, aged 49; Donald Welling, aged 35; Kevin Loring, aged 30; and
Gary Bradely, aged 44.
>
> At 9-years-old, Eric Smith strangled a neighbor's cat. At 13, he bludgeoned
4-year-old Derrick Robie to death. Smith lured the little boy into the woods,
choked him, sodomized him with a stick, then beat him to death with a rock.
>
> David Berkowitz, "Son of Sam," poisoned his mother's parakeet out of jealousy.
He later shot 13 young men and women. 6 people died and at least 2 suffered
permanent disabilities.
>
> Arthur Shawcross repeatedly threw a kitten into a lake until the kitten
drowned from exhaustion. Killed a young girl. After serving 15- 1/2 years in
prison, he killed 11 more women.
>
> Michael Perry decapitated a neighbor's dog. Later killed his parents, infant
nephew and 2 neighbors.
>
> Jason Massey's killing resume began with cats and dogs; at 20 he decapitated
and disemboweled a 13-year-old girl and fatally shot a 14-year old boy. He
claims to have killed 37 cats, 29 dogs and 6 cows.
>
> Patrick Sherrill stole neighborhood pets, tethered them with baling wire and
encouraged his dog to mutilate them. He killed 14 co-workers and himself in
1986.
>
> Keith Hunter Jesperson, "Happy Face Killer," bashed gopher heads and beat,
strangled and shot stray cats and dogs. He is known to have strangled 8 women.
He said: "You're actually squeezing the life out of these animals...Choking a
human being or a cat--it's the same feeling...I'm the very end result of what
happens when somebody kills an animal at an early age."
>
> Carroll Edward Cole, executed in 1985 for an alleged 35 murders and reputed to
be one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history, confessed that his
first act of violence was to strangle a puppy under the porch of his house.
>

What a wonderful list of books to help young people appreciate animals.  Buying
one or more also benefit United Animal Nations -- the first responder to animal
victims of disasters.  See the list at:

http://www.uan.org/index.cfm?navId=183

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

How narrow we selfish, conceited creatures are in our sympathies! How
blind to the rights of all the rest of creation!
-- John Muir, Founder Sierra Club

Please sign a letter to President Obama making him aware of many issues relating
to animal abuse, cruelty and environmental issues.

I am trying to build as much awareness of these issues as possible. Please sign
the petition and forward the link to as many people as possible.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/6/help-animals-environment-sign-letter-to-obama

Thank you for taking the time to help me spread this crucial message.

Barbara Schiano
New York, NY

Why eBay Should Stop Selling Guided Hunts for Wolves, Bears and Cougars
Blood Sport Auction
http://counterpunch.com/genovali06122009.html
By CHRIS GENOVALI

There is an amazing array of things one can purchase on EBay, from used lawn
furniture to vintage dolls to bongs allegedly used by Olympic athletes. Among
the myriad items being sold on EBay are guided hunts of North America's grizzly
bears, black bears, wolves and cougars. It's hard to believe, but these
recreational killing opportunities are now bought and sold on the world's
largest internet auction site; EBay has become an online marketplace peddling
the trophy hunting of the continent's top-level predator species.

ACTION:  Please email and/or write the following individuals and demand that
eBay stop this atrocious practice:

Matthew J. Bannick, President, eBay International:  matthewb@... 
(ebay.com)

Bill Cobb, President eBay North America:  billcobb@... (ebay.com)

You can also write a letter to them at:

eBay Inc.
2145 Hamilton Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125

PLEASE WRITE AND FORWARD WIDELY!

Help Stop Military Tests on Animals

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY and take action at:
https://secure2.convio.net/pcrm/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&\
id=267

It's a horrifying prospect. The United States military currently uses live
animals in medical training programs.

In one training course, vervet monkeys are given a toxic dose of a drug that
causes seizures and difficulty breathing and can result in death. In another
course, an instructor cuts a live goat with a scalpel to create traumatic
wounds, causing severe bleeding.
These practices continue despite the existence of nonanimal training methods,
including training in civilian trauma centers and simulator use.

Thankfully, Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia is working to end the cruel use
of monkeys, pigs and goats in military medical training. Congressman Johnson and
our friends at PCRM need your help to get the U.S. military to change. Please
urge your congressperson to co-sign Rep. Johnson's letter to the Army that asks
for an end to the use of animals to train military personnel.  Go to:
https://secure2.convio.net/pcrm/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&\
id=267

Ask Your U.S. Representative to Support H.R. 3501 to Allow a Deduction for Pet
Care Expenses up to $3500

Please sign and forward widely!  Then call your Representative and ask him/her
to co-sponsor this bill.  For contact information, type in your zip code at
www.congress.org

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/995438286?z00m=19783021

What would life be without companion animals? During these difficult economic
times however, more and more people find that the financial cost of giving pets
the care they deserve becomes a burden, or worse, unbearable.

The Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act (H.R. 3501) was
just introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives and referred to the House
Committee on Ways and Means. The Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code to
allow an individual to deduct up to $3,500 for "qualified pet care expenses" -
including veterinary care - for a legally owned, domesticated, live animal.

As you, your family members or your neighbors may be trimming budgets to make
ends meet, innocent animals should not have to go without adequate care! Even a
small tax deduction for responsible pet owners will go a long way to meet the
needs of companion animals, ease the tax burden of those who own a pet (63
percent of all households) and may even encourage more people to provide loving
homes to the countless animals filling America's shelters.

Urge your representatives to co-sponsor the HAPPY Act at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/995438286?z00m=19783021

Please sign and forward widely!  Then call your Representative and ask him/her
to co-sponsor this bill.  For contact information, type in your zip code at
www.congress.org

-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Government of the Corporations, by the Corporations, for the Corporations..."
Had enough? Wake Up and Get Involved! http://www.thewhitehouseproject.org/

Pls Sign Petition to Unchain Dogs & Forward Widely

They don't care if you live in West Virginia. They're looking for numbers. The
purpose of the petition is to enact laws regarding chaining/tethering.

Go to:  http://unchainmorgancounty.info/   and select "Our New Petition" at the
bottom of the list on the left on the page.

They're trying to get 500 signatures and they've got about 90 right now. Please
sign today and forward widely!

URGENT: Faxes Needed for NY Cruelty Case by Sept 1st

Source:
http://ida.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=7361.0&printer_friendly=1

In May, two New York City teenagers ransacked the home of an ex-roommate,
Valerie Hernandez. Not content to limit their destructive rage to Hernandez's
apartment, in an act of unspeakable viciousness they stuffed Hernandez's kitten
Tiger Lily into a hot oven and left her there to burn to death.

The older of the two admitted to the police that they fled the apartment so they
wouldn't hear the kitten screaming and desperately scratching at the oven door.
She admitted that she left the apartment knowing the kitten was in the oven with
the heat turned up to 500 degrees. She told police that action was committed as
"a joke."

The shocking case of animal cruelty is coming to a close next week with the
probationary review of Cheyenne Cherry in Bronx Supreme Court.

The case has been adjourned to September 2 for probationary review, so all
comments must be received by the Judge by September 1. IDA is hopeful that the
latest additional information about Cherry's violation of probation will lead
Judge Clancy to conclude the two one-year sentences should run consecutively,
not concurrently.

Polite letters are needed to Judge Margaret Clancy to ask that the two sentences
run consecutively so there is independent punishment for the animal cruelty
charge. Scroll down for talking points for your letter, and contact information
for the Judge.

The unnamed 14-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in juvenile detention.
According to news accounts, she was the initiator of the plan to place Tiger
Lily in a hot oven, though Cherry made the decision that they should flee to
avoid hearing the kitten's cries.

Contact Info:

It is important to keep letters polite to be effective. This case has generated
a great deal of anger, but that anger should not be vented on the Judge. Write
(and fax) to:

Case #:02546-2009
RE: Cheyenne Cherry
Honorable Judge Margaret Clancy
Bronx County Supreme Court
265 East 161st Street
Bronx, NY 10451
Fax: 718-618-3573

Talking Points:

     * Thank Judge Clancy for this review of the case, expressing that you are
hopeful the review will result in a longer jail sentence for someone with such a
violent past.
     * Emphasize that Cherry is a repeat offender, with two prior armed
robberies.
     * Cherry should be barred from ever "owning" or working with animals in the
future. In July, Judge Clancy ruled that Cherry be barred from "owning" animals
for only 3 years. This is not enough. Given the reckless disregard for animal
suffering she exhibited in this case, and her lack of remorse reported in the
press, the prohibition should be imposed permanently.
     * Ask the Judge for Post Release Supervision of Cherry along with
psychological counseling for both Cherry and her juvenile accomplice. This is
extremely important because of the tendency for animal abusers to commit repeat
offenses, as well as escalate crimes. Adequate psychological counseling for both
Cherry and her accomplice is the only way to address the root cause of their
violent actions and total lack of empathy for living beings.
     * Adolescents who commit brutal crimes against people usually begin with
other species. Indeed, the intentional burning of a non-human animal is a
"particularly significant predictor of violent and even homicidal behavior,"
says Dr. Randall Lockwood of the ASPCA's Anti-Cruelty Initiatives and a frequent
law enforcement consultant. Dr. Lockwood's conclusions about "the link" have
been confirmed and cited by the FBI.

Legal Handbook for Animal Rights and Environmental Activists
http://tinyurl.com/l5oasj

"Government of the Corporations, by the Corporations, for the Corporations..."
Had enough? Wake Up and Get Involved! http://www.thewhitehouseproject.org/

Need Calls re: Dick's Sporting Goods refusing to sell Michael Vick jerseys

Dick's Sporting Goods is refusing to sell Michael Vick jerseys.
Please call them toll-free at 866-677-4771, choose "0" and thank the operator.
They're keeping a tally of the calls they receive in support of this decision.

I called and the operator confirmed that they are keeping track of the
support for this decision.

PLEASE CALL & FORWARD WIDELY.

There is a petition going on for stopping the torture of bulls in Spain due to a
festival. The case is this: A bull that has balls of flammable material attached
to its horns which are lighted, is set free in the streets at night for dodging
during Spanish festivals. You can image the pain and the agony of the animal.
Please sign the petition and if you like join our group and send mails and
postcards to the officials of Spain.

The link for the petition is
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/firebull---stop-the-burning-of-live-bulls

The group link is  http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/FireBull

Thank you all for your support!

Maria Papadopoulou

Dear Animal Advocates,

Introduced by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, H.R. 3501—known as the Humanity and Pets
Partnered Through the Years ("HAPPY") Act—is a federal bill that would reward
responsible pet parents by allowing them to keep more money in their pockets
come tax time.

We all want to give our animal companions the best care we possibly can, but it
seems that pet care costs are always on the rise—and these days, it's harder
than ever to stretch the family budget. That's why the ASPCA supports H.R. 3501,
which would amend U.S. tax code to allow qualifying pet care expenses, including
veterinary care, to be tax-deductible.

This means that when you prepare your income taxes, money you spent on pet care
that year would count as non-taxable income—and you can deduct up to $3,500 per
year!

Please help us support the HAPPY Act, H.R. 3501 by signing a letter at:
https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=26\
05&JServSessionIdr002=uj6vmbid54.app227b

Thank you for supporting this bill and being part of our team!

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

...but for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh, we deprive a soul of the
sun and light, and of that portion of life and time it had been born into the
world to enjoy.

                                   Plutarch

Tell Land 'o Lakes that Horrific Cruelty to Dairy Cows not Acceptable

SHARE WIDELY AND TAKE ACTION TODAY at:
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2515

Source:  PETA

You probably recognize the name Land O'Lakes. You've seen the company's butter
and milk products lined up on grocery-store shelves, and you may even purchase
its products for your family. Now, please consider the immense suffering of
these cows¯who are given little more than a numbered tag punched through their
ears¯documented by PETA during our new undercover investigation of a Land
O'Lakes supplier.

On the supplier's Pennsylvania farm, our investigation documented the suffering
of cow #506, who gave birth after a nine-month pregnancy and then collapsed on
April 11. A day later, she was found struggling outside without food, water, or
shelter from freezing temperatures ¯- the flailing of her head had carved a
small trench in the ground under her face. She was eventually shot and killed.

Cow #826 would not stand up when urged, prompting the farm's co-owner to
electro-shock her to her feet. Her condition continued to decline over the
course of 21 days, until she was finally shot and killed. Like many other cows
on this farm, she was not given veterinary care or put out of her misery in a
timely manner. Instead, she was left to suffer for weeks.

While being milked by a machine, cow #36's gangrenous, infected teat ruptured,
and workers were told to "amputate" it by binding it with a tight elastic band.
Her condition deteriorated over the course of 11 days, until she finally died.

These are the stories of just a few of the cows whose painful experiences our
investigator documented on the farm of this Land O'Lakes supplier. Others
suffered when their newborn calves were torn away from them shortly after birth
or when their tails were tightly wrapped with elastic bands in order to "dock"
them, and they were all forced to live in perpetually wet pens and sheds full of
deep excrement, which leads to the spread of disease. Watch our investigation
video to learn more.

This blatant disregard for animal welfare is routine in the dairy industry. Cows
are kept constantly pregnant in order to make them continue to produce milk, and
they are hooked up at least twice a day to machines that extract the milk
intended for their own calves. When their exhausted bodies are "spent" and can
no longer provide enough milk, they are sent to slaughter, usually for hamburger
meat.

Please take just a few minutes right now to help cows like #506, #826, and #36
who are still suffering for Land O'Lakes products. Write to the company today.
Demand that Land O'Lakes executives watch the horrific undercover investigative
footage and adopt PETA's 12-point animal welfare plan, which will eliminate some
of the worst abuses of cows raised for milk. Of course, the best way for you to
help prevent cows from enduring this type of abuse is to go vegan and stop
consuming dairy foods.

SHARE WIDELY AND TAKE ACTION TODAY at: 
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2515

Land 'o Lakes - Additional Places to Submit Your Comments

1.)  Here's a comment form on their Corporate Responsibility page:
http://www.landolakesinc.com/utility/contact/default.aspx

2.)  Here's another on their cheerful recipes and product info page:
http://www.landolakes.com/contactus/ContactUs.cfm

3.)  Care to comment on their "product performance?"  Go to:
http://www.landolakesfoodservice.com/about/ContactUs.aspx?Type=Performance

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

Tell Land 'o Lakes that Horrific Cruelty to Dairy Cows not Acceptable

SHARE WIDELY AND TAKE ACTION TODAY at:
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2515

Source: PETA

You probably recognize the name Land O'Lakes. You've seen the company's butter
and milk products lined up on grocery-store shelves, and you may even purchase
its products for your family. Now, please consider the immense suffering of
these cows¯who are given little more than a numbered tag punched through their
ears¯documented by PETA during our new undercover investigation of a Land
O'Lakes supplier.

On the supplier's Pennsylvania farm, our investigation documented the suffering
of cow #506, who gave birth after a nine-month pregnancy and then collapsed on
April 11. A day later, she was found struggling outside without food, water, or
shelter from freezing temperatures ¯- the flailing of her head had carved a
small trench in the ground under her face. She was eventually shot and killed.

Cow #826 would not stand up when urged, prompting the farm's co-owner to
electro-shock her to her feet. Her condition continued to decline over the
course of 21 days, until she was finally shot and killed. Like many other cows
on this farm, she was not given veterinary care or put out of her misery in a
timely manner. Instead, she was left to suffer for weeks.

While being milked by a machine, cow #36's gangrenous, infected teat ruptured,
and workers were told to "amputate" it by binding it with a tight elastic band.
Her condition deteriorated over the course of 11 days, until she finally died.

These are the stories of just a few of the cows whose painful experiences our
investigator documented on the farm of this Land O'Lakes supplier. Others
suffered when their newborn calves were torn away from them shortly after birth
or when their tails were tightly wrapped with elastic bands in order to "dock"
them, and they were all forced to live in perpetually wet pens and sheds full of
deep excrement, which leads to the spread of disease. Watch our investigation
video to learn more.

This blatant disregard for animal welfare is routine in the dairy industry. Cows
are kept constantly pregnant in order to make them continue to produce milk, and
they are hooked up at least twice a day to machines that extract the milk
intended for their own calves. When their exhausted bodies are "spent" and can
no longer provide enough milk, they are sent to slaughter, usually for hamburger
meat.

Please take just a few minutes right now to help cows like #506, #826, and #36
who are still suffering for Land O'Lakes products. Write to the company today.
Demand that Land O'Lakes executives watch the horrific undercover investigative
footage and adopt PETA's 12-point animal welfare plan, which will eliminate some
of the worst abuses of cows raised for milk. Of course, the best way for you to
help prevent cows from enduring this type of abuse is to go vegan and stop
consuming dairy foods.

SHARE WIDELY AND TAKE ACTION TODAY at:
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2515

To view the thread go to:
http://forums.manhattanbirdclub.com/post?id=3699900

Subject: Jay Leno & Chris Rock

Apparently Chris Rock was on Jay Leno last night and part of the conversation
about Michael Vick went like this:

Jay Leno:  "It's amazing to me that you mistreat a dog and you lose your career
and go to jail for two years."

Chris Rock: "What the hell did Michael Vick do, man? A dog, a pit bull ain't
even a real dog. A pit bull, that's the white stuff. Dogs are white mans best
friend - dogs have never been good to black people."

Please write to NBC and/or the (horrible) Jay Leno Show and express your outrage
that these kinds of comments and minimizing of abuse will not be tolerated.
Thank you.
http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Contact_Us/

(Select "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" since they haven't updated their show
list yet.)

Actions Everyone Can Take to Stop Canned Hunts in D.C. Area Public Parks

No matter where you live, this should concern you. Even our international friends can express outrage that this is being proposed in parkland so close to our nation's capitol.   There is enough bloodshed in the world without promoting it in areas where visitors to Washington D.C. bring their families to enjoy nature.

TIME SENSITIVE:  Canned hunts are scheduled to begin on November 14^th.

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY AND CALL OR EMAIL TODAY! 

ISSUE:  Fairfax County, the largest, most prosperous County in northern Virginia (which borders Washington, D.C.), plans to turn its public parks into canned hunts for bow hunting beginning November 14th.  After sneaking plans past public scrutiny, the Park Authority plans to initiate bow hunting in Colvin Run Park, and expand it to other Fairfax County Parks. 

ACTION :  Please call or email both Sharon Bulova and John Dargle, Jr. immediately.    Please mention that you and your friends, family members and children would like to visit the area to enjoy the parks and do not want to be exposed to the horrors of bow hunting (see more talking points below the list of additional officials.) 

Sharon Bulova, Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors           

Email:  chairman@...  (fairfaxcounty.gov)                                                

Tel: 703-324-2321

John Dargle, Jr., Director of Fairfax County Park Authority                            

Email: john.darglejr@...  (fairfaxcounty.gov)                               

Tel: 703-324-8702

EXTRA HELP: If you want to go the extra mile to help the deer and our surrounding population, please call or email one or two, or all of the officials listed below.  (All email addresses end in fairfaxcounty.gov )

Fairfax County Executive, Anthony Griffin, (703) 324-2536 coexec@...

Supervisor John Foust (703) 356-0551(Dranesville District) dranesville@...

Supervisor Catherine Hudgins (703) 478-0283 (Hunter Mill District) hntrmill@...

Supervisor Michael Frey (703) 814-7100 (Sully District) sully@...

Supervisor Linda Smyth (703) 560-6946(Providence District)  provdist@...

Supervisor Jeff McKay (703) 971-6262 (Lee District) leedist@...

Supervisor Penelope Gross (703) 256-7717 (Mason District) mason@...

Supervisor Gerald Hyland (703) 780-7518 (Mount Vernon District)  mtvernon@...

Supervisor John Cook (703) 425-9300 (Braddock District) braddock@...

Supervisor Pat Herrity (703) 451-8873 (Springfield District) springfield@...

TALKING POINTS: Please be polite and use these talking points in your call or email:

n      Bow hunting is dangerous and unpredictable; visitors to the parks and residents of the surrounding area can be injured by this brutal activity.

n      Even the "best" bow hunters almost never kill the deer immediately.  The hunter waits 45 minutes to an hour for the deer to run, bleed out and become exhausted. Then, the hunter attempts to follow the blood trail to find the deer and finish killing it, often in front of children and visitors to the park.

n      It exposes children and impressionable adults to extraordinary animal cruelty and teaches them that killing animals is OK – mental health officials and the FBI consider cruelty to animals a precursor to more violent crimes against humans who are perceived as vulnerable; is that the lesson we want our children to learn?

n      Bow "hunters" are often inexperienced and have a high rate of injuring, rather than killing deer, leaving them to die a slow, agonizing death; many deer can be seen fleeing with arrows piercing their limbs and organs.

n      There is no way to know how far the deer will run, if she will die, what injury will occur, if she will die over weeks, or run into backyards and roads, and die a painful death.

n      It causes a public safety hazard: panic-stricken animals often flee their pursuers, running into roads causing car accidents.

n      It serves no purpose; the deer return in subsequent years to breed and multiply; nature abhors a vacuum

n      It makes Fairfax County and the metropolitan Washington , D.C. area look cruel, barbaric and primitive to the rest of the world.

n      This is not rural park area; this is within densely populated, urban land.

An eight-month PETA undercover investigation at the University of Utah has
documented the daily suffering of dogs, cats, monkeys, rats, mice, rabbits, and
other animals in the school's laboratories.

Homeless dogs and cats—who were bought for $15 to $25 from local animal shelters
through a Utah state "pound-seizure" law, which requires government-run shelters
to turn animals over to laboratories that request them—were used in cruel,
invasive experiments. In one study, a litter of kittens born to a cat bought
from an animal shelter died after they had a chemical injected into their brains
to cause fluid to build up.

In other experiments, mice whose back legs were paralyzed, rats suffering
epileptic seizures, and mice with huge, ulcerated tumors covering their bodies
were left to suffer without adequate veterinary care. Many animals died and were
left for days before anyone noticed.

Please be a voice for the animals suffering in labs at the University of Utah.
Take a minute of your time to urge the university to stop taking advantage of
the animal overpopulation crisis and stop acquiring animals from shelters, which
are supposed to protect animals from harm. Also, please call on administrators
to release to the public complete records on all the animal experiments at the
University of Utah funded by tax dollars, including grant proposals,
experimental protocols, veterinary records, and minutes of oversight committee
meetings.

Putting your subject line and letter into your own words will help to draw
attention to your e-mail. Send an e-letter to Lab Director, Thomas Parks, at:
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2673

You can also contact the man who performs the majority of "surgeries" at:

Bradley Greger, Ph.D.
Phone: (801) 585-5795
FAX: (801) 581 8966
bradley.greger@...  (utah.edu)
University of Utah
Department of Bioengineering
Biomedical Polymers Research Building 20 - South 2030
East Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9458

You might want to remind these gentlemen that using animals for medical
"research" is intellectually lazy and morally reprehensible.

To learn more about parallels to the Mengele experimentation program within Nazi
concentration camps, visit: http://isurvived.org/drMengele.html

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY AND WRITE TODAY!

How do they do it? Men & Women who harm animals in research labs

There may be some clues in this analysis of the behavior of Joseph Mengele:

http://isurvived.org/Frameset4References-3/-Mengele-7.html

When we look at our treatment of animals today throughout the world, it is clear that Nazi horrors were not unique in history.  Some observations:

Atrocities are no less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called 'medical research.' -- George Bernard Shaw, Irish Playright and Critic

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men... -- St. Francis of Assisi, Roman Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans order

Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives. -- Albert Schweitzer, Alsatian Theologian, Musician, and Medical Missionary

As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together. -- Isaac Bashevis Singer

For a additional animal rights quotations you may want to use and share, visit: http://www.sniksnak.com/advquotes.html

--- In AnimalAdvocacy@yahoogroups.com, AnimalAdvocacy@yahoogroups.com wrote:

An eight-month PETA undercover investigation at the University of Utah has documented the daily suffering of dogs, cats, monkeys, rats, mice, rabbits, and other animals in the school's laboratories.
 
Homeless dogs and cats—who were bought for $15 to $25 from local animal shelters through a Utah state "pound-seizure" law, which requires government-run shelters to turn animals over to laboratories that request them—were used in cruel, invasive experiments. In one study, a litter of kittens born to a cat bought from an animal shelter died after they had a chemical injected into their brains to cause fluid to build up.
 
In other experiments, mice whose back legs were paralyzed, rats suffering epileptic seizures, and mice with huge, ulcerated tumors covering their bodies were left to suffer without adequate veterinary care. Many animals died and were left for days before anyone noticed.
 
Please be a voice for the animals suffering in labs at the University of Utah. Take a minute of your time to urge the university to stop taking advantage of the animal overpopulation crisis and stop acquiring animals from shelters, which are supposed to protect animals from harm. Also, please call on administrators to release to the public complete records on all the animal experiments at the University of Utah funded by tax dollars, including grant proposals, experimental protocols, veterinary records, and minutes of oversight committee meetings.

Putting your subject line and letter into your own words will help to draw attention to your e-mail. Send an e-letter to Lab Director, Thomas Parks, at: https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2673

You can also contact the man who performs the majority of "surgeries" at:

Bradley Greger, Ph.D.
Phone: (801) 585-5795
FAX: (801) 581 8966
bradley.greger@... (utah.edu)
University of Utah
Department of Bioengineering
Biomedical Polymers Research Building 20 - South 2030
East Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9458
 
You might want to remind these gentlemen that using animals for medical "research" is intellectually lazy and morally reprehensible.
 
To learn more about parallels to the Mengele experimentation program within Nazi concentration camps, visit: http://isurvived.org/drMengele.html

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY AND WRITE TODAY!

IMPORTANT:  Need large citizen turnout to speak out against deer bow hunting in
public parks.

PLEASE, we need a large turnout of concerned citizens to keep this cruel,
barbaric method of "deer control" from spreading across all our public
parklands.  Many jurisdictions will take the lead from Fairfax County, so your
support is crucial.

Details:

Fairfax County Park Authority Public Meeting (billed as a listening session).

The meeting is this Thursday Nov. 19th at 7:00 p.m. at the Fairfax County
Government Center 1
2000 Government Center Parkway in Fairfax, VA
Rooms4/5.

This huge building is AKA the Taj Majal. The members of the Fairfax County Park
Authority should be there as well as possibly some Fairfax County Supervisors.
People have sent hundreds of communications regarding the uselessness,
inefficiency, cruelty and threat to public safety that the bow hunt of "as many
deer as possible - excluding only antlered bucks"  presents. It is scheduled to
start in the Colvin Run Parks on Monday Nov. 16th and run through Saturday
January 16th, 2010. It will involve hunters in tree stands shooting arrows at
deer from before dawn til after dusk. A similar hunt is planned for the
Chesterbrook neighborhood of McLean in the near future. Other county parks are
likely to be targeted as well. Let's stop this before it spreads throughout the
region.

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW IN THE DC AREA!


--- In AnimalAdvocacy@yahoogroups.com, AnimalAdvocacy@yahoogroups.com wrote:
>
> Actions Everyone Can Take to Stop Canned Hunts in D.C. Area Public Parks
>
>
>
> No matter where you live, this should concern you. Even our
> international friends can express outrage that this is being proposed in
> parkland so close to our nation's capitol.   There is enough bloodshed
> in the world without promoting it in areas where visitors to Washington
> D.C. bring their families to enjoy nature.
>
>
>
> TIME SENSITIVE:  Canned hunts are scheduled to begin on November 14th.
>
>
>
> PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY AND CALL OR EMAIL TODAY!
>
>
>
> ISSUE:  Fairfax County, the largest, most prosperous County in northern
> Virginia (which borders Washington, D.C.), plans to turn its public
> parks into canned hunts for bow hunting beginning November 14th.  After
> sneaking plans past public scrutiny, the Park Authority plans to
> initiate bow hunting in Colvin Run Park, and expand it to other Fairfax
> County Parks.
>
>
>
> ACTION :  Please call or email both Sharon Bulova and John Dargle, Jr.
> immediately.    Please mention that you and your friends, family members
> and children would like to visit the area to enjoy the parks and do not
> want to be exposed to the horrors of bow hunting (see more talking
> points below the list of additional officials.)
>
>
>
> Sharon Bulova, Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
>
> Email:  chairman@...
> <http://us.mc319.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=chairman@...\
> &subject=Subscribe%20to%20Newsletter>   (fairfaxcounty.gov
> <http://fairfaxcounty.gov/> )
>
> Tel: 703-324-2321
>
>
>
> John Dargle, Jr., Director of Fairfax County Park Authority
>
> Email: john.darglejr@...
> <mailto:john.darglejr@...>   (fairfaxcounty.gov
> <http://fairfaxcounty.gov/> )
>
> Tel: 703-324-8702
>
>
>
> EXTRA HELP: If you want to go the extra mile to help the deer and our
> surrounding population, please call or email one or two, or all of the
> officials listed below.  (All email addresses end in fairfaxcounty.gov )
>
>
>
> Fairfax County Executive, Anthony Griffin, (703) 324-2536
> coexec@... <mailto:coexec@...>
>
> Supervisor John Foust (703) 356-0551(Dranesville District)
> dranesville@... <mailto:dranesville@...>
>
> Supervisor Catherine Hudgins (703) 478-0283 (Hunter Mill District)
> hntrmill@... <mailto:hntrmill@...>
>
> Supervisor Michael Frey (703) 814-7100 (Sully District)
> sully@... <mailto:sully@...>
>
> Supervisor Linda Smyth (703) 560-6946(Providence District)
> provdist@... <mailto:provdist@...>
>
> Supervisor Jeff McKay (703) 971-6262 (Lee District)
> leedist@... <mailto:leedist@...>
>
> Supervisor Penelope Gross (703) 256-7717 (Mason District)
> mason@... <mailto:mason@...>
>
> Supervisor Gerald Hyland (703) 780-7518 (Mount Vernon District)
> mtvernon@... <mailto:mtvernon@...>
>
> Supervisor John Cook (703) 425-9300 (Braddock District)
> braddock@... <mailto:braddock@...>
>
> Supervisor Pat Herrity (703) 451-8873 (Springfield District)
> springfield@... <mailto:springfield@...>
>
>
>
> TALKING POINTS: Please be polite and use these talking points in your
> call or email:
>
>
>
> n      Bow hunting is dangerous and unpredictable; visitors to the parks
> and residents of the surrounding area can be injured by this brutal
> activity.
>
> n      Even the "best" bow hunters almost never kill the deer
> immediately.  The hunter waits 45 minutes to an hour for the deer to
> run, bleed out and become exhausted. Then, the hunter attempts to follow
> the blood trail to find the deer and finish killing it, often in front
> of children and visitors to the park.
>
> n      It exposes children and impressionable adults to extraordinary
> animal cruelty and teaches them that killing animals is OK – mental
> health officials and the FBI consider cruelty to animals a precursor to
> more violent crimes against humans who are perceived as vulnerable; is
> that the lesson we want our children to learn?
>
> n      Bow "hunters" are often inexperienced and have a high
> rate of injuring, rather than killing deer, leaving them to die a slow,
> agonizing death; many deer can be seen fleeing with arrows piercing
> their limbs and organs.
>
> n      There is no way to know how far the deer will run, if she will
> die, what injury will occur, if she will die over weeks, or run into
> backyards and roads, and die a painful death.
>
> n      It causes a public safety hazard: panic-stricken animals often
> flee their pursuers, running into roads causing car accidents.
>
> n      It serves no purpose; the deer return in subsequent years to
> breed and multiply; nature abhors a vacuum
>
> n      It makes Fairfax County and the metropolitan Washington , D.C.
> area look cruel, barbaric and primitive to the rest of the world.
>
> n      This is not rural park area; this is within densely populated,
> urban land.
>