Saturday August 23 SaveABunny Mill Valley-RSVP For Directions 3pm-5pm
Meet fun people,snuggle loving rescued rabbits and learn basic bunny care!
Learn more about volunteer opportunities with the Bay area's creative and progressive rabbit rescue group. Explore the many ways you can make an immediate difference in the lives of needy animals. You do not need to adopt or foster to help, though foster homes are also urgently needed.
Our award-winning, volunteer-run, nonprofit group welcomes volunteers from 13 years+ to help us care for animals, educate the public and promote rescue efforts.
Tech savvy? We need you!
Love to clean and organize? We need you!
Good with people on the telephone or in person? We need you!
Creative and artistic? We need you!
Like to research? We need you!
and....
Whatever your interests and skills we believe you can immediately help make a real difference and have the fun. Whether you are shy or extroverted you can be the one to care about animals and save a life!
You will see rescue first hand and also know that you are appreciated!
The SPCA has joined with SaveABunny and San Francisco Animal Care and Control to showcase rabbits awaiting adoption from San Francisco Animal Care and Control. Each Saturday and Sunday interested adopters can visit the SPCA and meet select rabbits from SFACC. San Francisco SPCA
Historically, the SPCA has been focused on the placement of adoptable cats and dogs and not small animals, such as rabbits. The city municiple shelter, San Francisco Animal Care and Control was the only San Francisco shelter assisting abandoned and unwanted rabbits.
Under progressive new SPCA leadership, rabbits will have more visibility and adoption options. In addition to showcasing SFACC rabbits at the SPCA, SaveABunny will be included at SPCA outreach events throughout SF, such as at Justin Herman Plaza.
SaveABunny Founder, Marcy Schaaf, has been working closely with SPCA staff to provide training on the care and adoption of rabbits, as well as teaching weekly rabbit classes at the SPCA humane education summer camp.
We are extremely grateful and touched by the efforts of volunteers and staff at the SPCA for reaching out to share their resources. In addition to the new "Bunny Weekends" at the SPCA, the counselors and kids at the SPCA summer camp raised over $1000 to help rescued rabbits at SaveABunny who had been special needs rescues from SFACC!
We also want to acknowledge the caring and devoted staff and volunteers at San Francisco Animal Care and Control for everything they do to help SaveABunny and SF rabbits, such as developing the program at the SPCA and working with us to help special needs and adoptable rabbits.
SaveABunny has been involved with San Francisco Animal Care and Control for almost 10 years and during that time the euthanasia rate of rabbits has declined from 80%-90% to under 10%. Some of the most caring people we've met work at SFACC.
To learn more about how you can help rabbits in San Francisco or to volunteer, please contact Marcy at 415-388-2790 or saveabunny@aol.com
Several companies in the UK are currently selling 'cats' made of rabbit fur. Please send complaints to these companies. The majority of rabbit fur and meat comes from animals raised in cruel factory-farming conditions, killed at 8-10 weeks old by neck-breaking or having their throats slit.
Nauticalia is one of the main suppliers of these cats. Send your complaints to:
Mr Lynn Lewis, Managing Director, Nauticalia Ltd, The Ferry Point, Ferry Lane, Shepperton-on-Thames, TW17 9LQ. Tel: 01932 244396 Fax: 01932 241679
e-mail: shop@nauticalia. com
Nauticalia tries to fob off concerns with a standard letter - see our response to that letter and use it to reply to Nauticalia's claims. Gift shop Birthday Boy, with 3 stores in the SW, also need some encouragement to stop selling these cats, so please contact them at bbinfo@birthdayboy.co.uk
We have also come across more internet gift companies selling the Cats (remember, the Gadget Shop and www.iwantoneofthose.com both stopped selling them after your complaints):
Gifts for the Girls, PO Box 16, Banbury, Oxon, OX17 1TF. Tel: 01295 750100 Fax: 01295 750800 e-mail: enquiries@giftsforthegirls.com
We are please to report that many shops selling these cats have refused to stock them again after the cruelty has been pointed out to them. These have included large retailers such as the Gadget Shop and internet gift shop iwantoneofthose.com; however, there are still many shops around the country selling these, so please look out for them and let us know the name and address of any shop selling them. Contact us for an updated list of retailers. We have produced a leaflet about these cats, useful for protests - contact us for details: caft@caft.org.uk
On April 4, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" aired an exposé on puppy mills that no doubt horrified everyone who watched.
Undercover footage showed dogs in filthy, overcrowded conditions, where they are confined for their entire lives, without human companionship or adequate veterinary care. These dogs are often killed once their reproductive capacity wanes.
The HSUS has been investigating and fighting against puppy mills for decades. With your help, we can advance our fight to stop puppy mills and the tragic consequences of pet overpopulation. Join us by signing the Stop Puppy Mills pledge. -- https://community.hsus.org/campaign/stoppuppymills_april_2008/na97bjkx6j?
To learn what else you can do right now, please visit https://community.hsus.org/humane/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=22214754
The puppy mill industry will thrive as long as consumers are kept in the dark about the “mass production” of purebred and designer dogs. With your help, we'll shed light on the cruelty of puppy mills and put them out of business for good. We can't do it without your help!
We need your help to stop California legislation that would threaten animals and consumers in California.
AB 2427, introduced by Assembly Member Mike Eng (D-49) would prevent local government from passing future animal welfare laws. The bill is targeted toward overturning West Hollywood's ban on de-clawing cats but would have widespread negative effects on local government.
The bill is being supported by the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) - they have actively challenged the West Hollywood ordinance in order to permit the painful de-clawing of cats.
AB 2427 is currently on the Senate Floor and will be voted on soon, so time is of the essence. See below for how you can help - thank you so much!
PS: Please share and pass this newsletter along to friends, coworkers, family or others interested in animal advocacy.
What You Can Do:
Write or call your Senator and urge them to vote NO on AB 2427. This is an urgent matter, so please contact your legislator as soon as possible. There are two ways to find your state Senator:
Go to www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html. Enter your zip code and press "search". You will be given the name and contact information of your Senator.
Call the Government Information Hotline at 916-322-9900. Give the operator your address - the operator will tell you the name of your Senator. You can also leave your message for him/her through the operator.
Talking Points
AB 2427 would overturn a West Hollywood ordinance that bans the de-clawing of cats. West Hollywood passed the ordinance using long-established powers that it held.
AB 2427 would eliminate the ability of local governments to regulate any act by other businesses or professions governed by the Department of Consumer Affairs. AB 2427 would gut the ability of local governments to advance interests that are different, but equally important, to those of the state.
AB 2427 would prevent cities and counties from establishing standards of practice within their boundaries. Under existing law, cities and counties can regulate licensed professions and occupations, in a limited manner and in limited circumstances, in order to advance local interests. There is a grave concern that AB 2427 alters the balance of shared state-local power.
While it is clear that the state has long held the authority to establish fundamental statewide regulatory policies over agencies licensed by the Department of Consumer Affairs, local governments also have had the flexibility to fine-tune those restrictions to effectively address local issues. Continuing to allow the state and local jurisdictions their respective roles is vital to effective long-term management as well as to the best interests of consumers.
The East Hampton Town Board will hold a hearing on the plan to expand hunting this Thursday, July 17. The meeting begins at 7:30 PM in the Town House (159 Pantigo Road, a section of Rt. 27, about 1/2 mile east of the town). We need to attend and speak up against the plan.
No more deer, birds, rabbits, raccoons, possum, or other animals should have to suffer and die for the sake of sport.
You might remember that the plan emerged last year, but was postponed. Our strong protest through letters and testimony achieved the postponement. Now the hunter-dominated Natural Resources Committee seems to have put the plan back on the table.
The plan would add deer hunting in Fresh Pond Park in Amagansett, shotgun hunting for water fowl on Gerard Drive in Springs, and three other, new hunting areas.
If you cannot make it, please send a letter to:
Mr. Bill McGintee, Town Supervisor,159 Pantigo Rd., East Hampton, NY
11937.
If you can, please send copies to Town Board Members Pat Mansir, Julia Prince, Pete Hammerle,and Brad Loewen. Please tell others to try to testify or write.
With the number of land animals raised and slaughtered for food worldwide every year now exceeding 50 billion (and still growing), there’s never been a more critical time to speak out for the voiceless. Animal activists around the globe work tirelessly to raise awareness, of course, but events may reach a peak on or around October 2 – World Farm Animals Day. Marking the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, an outspoken advocate of compassion for animals, World Farm Animals Day mobilizes activists in all 50 U.S. states and two dozen other countries. Participants include animal advocacy groups and individual activists; anyone who cares about animals is encouraged to join this global outcry against cruelty. And it’s not too early to begin planning for it.
World Farm Animals Day observances traditionally include vigils, marches, leafleting, tabling and exhibiting. More dramatic events include die-ins, cage-ins and video rigs. Activists encourage governors and mayors to issue special proclamations denouncing cruelty to farmed animals.
Among the activities to take place in North America will be Farm Sanctuary’s annual Walk for Farm Animals. This is actually a series of walking events held throughout Canada and the U.S. in September and October. As Gene Baur, Farm Sanctuary president and co-founder, explains, “The Walk for Farm Animals is a critical tool that provides an opportunity for animal advocates to demonstrate their support for animal protection, educate the public about why this is important issue and help raise the funds necessary to continue Farm Sanctuary’s distinctive work to rescue farm animals from abuse, and advocate for farm animal protection across the country through legislative, legal and corporate campaign efforts.”
National Walk participants can register at www.walkforfarmanimals.org, or call 607-583-2225 ext. 229. All participants receive a Walk t-shirt, specially designed by animal activist and artist Adam Durand, and walkers who raise $100, $250 or $500 or more will receive prizes.
Other ways to observe World Farm Animals Day include:
Leafleting: Leafleting is a simple activity, as it requires no permits, no equipment and little planning. Make sure to make the most of your efforts by hitting high-traffic areas like colleges and city streets at the busiest times. Lunch hour and quitting time are optimal times. Request literature from Vegan Outreach or the Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM).
Information Tables/Stalls: A simple and easy way to get the message out. Information tables require relatively little planning and allow activists to engage the public in meaningful, one-on-one dialogues. Pick a popular location and busy time of day, get a permit (if necessary), then show up for a few hours with a large table, display materials and handouts. FARM will provide the materials you need; simply register online or call 888-FARM-USA to get your free Action Guide and Event Pack.
Vigils & Memorial Services: Vigils and memorial services are somber events that focus attention on the tragedy of factory farming. They are a time to remember the losses suffered by each of the 50 billion individual land animals murdered by agribusiness each year. These events can be as elaborate as funeral processions or as straightforward as candlelight vigils. Props such as candles, black ribbons, somber music and funeral attire can create a very dramatic effect. Activists can also conduct a fast to increase the media appeal of the event and to bring attention to the millions of people who go hungry as grains are fed to livestock instead.
Video Rigs: Playing a video to expose standard farming and slaughter practices is a sure way to simultaneously grab attention and create awareness.
Exhibits: Exhibits are basically the unstaffed version of an information table or stall. The typical duration of an exhibit ranges from one week to one month. Libraries and student unions are popular locations for exhibits, which tend to be more visual than information tables. Display materials, including books, are usually under protective glass cover, while handouts are available to passersby. FARM can provide the materials you need.
Cage-ins: An excellent way to bring attention to the plight of farmed animals. They are highly effective in conjunction with videos and can attract a media attention.
Protests: A protest is a great way to express outrage toward an establishment’s treatment or policies regarding animals. It can also generate a lot of negative publicity for your target, if well-thought-out. If you are working on a campaign in your area, consider incorporating it into World Farm Animals Day by staging a protest on or around Gandhi’s birthday. Making your campaign part of an international day of action makes it much more newsworthy. When planning your protest, be sure to read up on local ordinances regarding the size, location, timing, and noise levels of protests. Depending on local laws, you may need one or more permits. And don’t forget: stay on public property!
KFC Demo: Kentucky Fried Cruelty demonstrations are a great way to support both World Farm Animals Day and the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign spearheaded by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Be sure to register your event with both PETA and WFAD.
Die-Ins: A visually powerful and symbolic form of protest, die-ins have traditionally been used to protest nuclear proliferation and war. World Farm Animals Day die-ins take a stand for animals (whose suffering is invisible and denied). The idea is for a group of activists dressed in black to lie motionless for a set amount of time (usually about 20 to 30 minutes).
Senator Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, have promised their daughters that win or lose in November, they are getting a dog.
The American Kennel Club is offering to help the Obamas find a dog, but most animal advocates would like to see them rescue a companion animal. "With 3 to 4 million dogs and cats killed in public and private shelters, there are many lives to be saved, and the simple act of giving a home to a dog who might have faced euthanasia would do wonders for the cause of adoption from shelters," says Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States.
Please contact Barack Obama and urge him to consider adopting a dog from a shelter or breed rescue group.
The Honorable Barack Obama
John C. Kluczynski Federal Office Building, Ste. 3900
230 South Dearborne
Chicago, IL 60604
Email: http://obama.senate.gov/contact/
Efforts to help animals at the San Francisco Zoo in California have reached a critical stage. Unfortunately, the zoo has mobilized its members, who are attempting to defeat Ordinance 080818, which was introduced by Supervisor Chris Daly. If it becomes law, the ordinance would establish a supervisor-appointed Zoo Animal Welfare Oversight Committee, which would transform the zoo into an institution that establishes animal welfare as the top priority and that primarily, but not solely, acquires animals who are in need (i.e., rescued animals).
Instead of Ordinance 080818, Mayor Gavin Newsom has proposed that the city add two animal welfare seats to the Joint Zoo Committee, which oversees the zoo. But this is not adequate to accomplish the fundamental reform that is necessary to address the zoo's longstanding animal welfare and management problems.
Currently, there might not be enough votes to pass Supervisor Daly's ordinance, but if the Board of Supervisors knows that the people of the Bay area want change for this troubled zoo, they could be compelled to take action to achieve reform.
Please visit http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/san_francisco_zoo for an easy email you can send now!
ALERT: Large Scale Rabbit Rescue IMMEDIATE HELP NEEDED FOR NEGLECTED and WOUNDED RABBITS
Watch the interview with ABC 7 View From The Bay reporter, Leigh Glaser.
On February 27, 2008 twenty-nine rabbits were surrendered by one person to a Bay area animal shelter placing a severe strain on shelter and rescue resources. Several rabbits required humane euthanasia because of the extent of their wounds and neglect. Many surviving rabbits require medical intervention or surgery. Donations for medical care, food and supplies are urgently needed, as are adopters, foster homes and volunteers to help care for the rabbits. Click here to contact SaveABunny
Adopters, foster homes and volunteers are urgently needed for other frightened and needy rabbits. Our veterinary expenses are estimated to run into the thousands. Donations are greatly needed. Click here to donate -- Please help us save them!
The so-called seal "hunt" began today, March 28, for the 2008 season. The quota this year has been set at 275,000 thousand seals, most of whom will be babies.
This is a disgraceful and indefensible assault on everything we as compassionate people stand for. There is an economic imperative driving this, so let’s help Canada see it is in their financial interest to stop the senseless slaughter by getting restaurants to boycott Canadian "seafood" products, not giving Canada our tourist dollars, boycotting goods imported from Canada, etc. It is important we let Prime Minister Stephen Harper know how we feel, too:
http://pm.gc.ca/eng/contact.asp
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
pm@pm.gc.ca
PLEASE do not let this massacre of innocents go unchallenged. Visit these sites for information on how you can help:
Sunday, July 27, 2008- POSTPONED! New Date TBD SaveABunny Foster and Education Center, Mill Valley 4 pm
It's that time again! Time for fun, food and bunny grooming and snuggling.
You asked for a weekend meet-up date and you got it!
The bunnies need you and miss you. Let's make sure the bunnies feel special, loved and "shiny" from being snuggled and groomed.
We'll have food and refreshments, but feel free to bring a vegetarian or vegan dish to share.
Please join our Bunny Lovers and Helpers Meet-up group at
Update: According to PETA, NIH has ceased funding this cruel project (7/9/08).
Medical experts agree that moderate exercise is good for pregnant women and their babies. This conclusion is based on both physician observation and more than 20 years of clinical studies. Kathleen O’Hagan, PhD, of Midwestern University in Chicago, however, is using $200,000 in government funds to investigate questions long settled by clinical research. In this case, O’Hagan wants to know how exercise affects the flow of blood to the uterus of pregnant women -- but she isn’t examining pregnant women. Instead, O’Hagan is impregnating 60 rabbits, implanting probes and catheters into them, and forcing them to run on a motorized treadmill. At the end of her experiment, O’Hagan kills the rabbits, cuts them open, and examines their fetuses.
How You Can Help
Please write a polite letter to O’Hagan and tell her what you think of her rabbit experiment. Tell her that animal experiments will not help women make decisions about exercise during pregnancy. Tell her that her grant money would be better spent on human trials or on addressing diet and other lifestyle factors that could be corrected through education and outreach. Ask that she stop her rabbit study and return the remaining grant money to the NIH. Finally, tell O’Hagan that she needs to use non-animal research methods, such as Doppler ultrasound, to study exercise in human pregnancy:
Kathleen O’Hagan, PhD
Department of Physiology
Midwestern University
555 31st St.
Downers Grove, IL 60515
630-515-6966
kohaga@midwestern.edu
Please write to Elizabeth G. Nabel, director of the NHLBI, and politely ask her to rescind the current grant to O’Hagan. Remind her that the NHLBI’s own Working Group on Hypertension in Pregnancy reported, “Animal models are of limited benefit because of significant differences in placentation among mammals, as well as differences in length of gestation and perhaps even posture between mammalian models and humans.” Point out that human-based research needs her organization’s support because, in its own words, “There are few obstetrician/gynecologists trained in rigorous clinical research and even fewer formal training programs”:
Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
31 Center Dr.
Bldg. 31, Rm. 5A52 MSC 2486
Bethesda, MD 20892-2486
301-496-5166
301-402-0818 (fax)
nabele@nhlbi.nih.gov
You can also help by writing letters to the editors of Illinois newspapers, such as:
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Sun-Times
Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary has joined with Animal Place in Vacaville and East Bay Advocates for Animals in Oakland to campaign against the construction of an Olivera Family 1-million hen egg laying facility in Stockton. Olivera has a record of animal welfare, environmental, and public health complaints. His proposed egg facility will undoubtedly threaten neighboring homes, depress environmental quality and intensely confine animals. His facilities have proven to be inhumane to the animal he houses in them.
We really need letters of objection to be mailed to the planning department before March 27. The website www.nomoreolivera.com is currently being updated with Olivera's past record and the complaints filed against him.
For more information, please contact:
Karen Courtemanche
Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary www.harvesthomeanimal.org
209-465-2985
510-329-4445 cell
On July 28 the New York Times newspaper ran a paid advertisement criticizing the US Department of Agriculture's seemingly arbitrary definition of the term "animal." According to the ad's copy, the USDA has now classified rabbits as "poultry" to avoid required protections for the species under the federal Humane Slaughter Act. The ad was placed by the Humane Farming Association with the support of Animal Rights International and the Animal Welfare Institute.
Among other things, this means that rabbits may be fully conscious while being slaughtered. With rabbit meat becoming more popular, this is very distressing. Rabbits are the third most popular companion animals in this country, yet if someone treated dogs and cats this way, the perpetrators would be charged with animal cruelty.
What you can do:
Please contact the USDA today to express your concern about rabbits. Please remind them that ALL animals, including chickens, turkeys and ducks, deserve equal protection under the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.
Write to:
Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Room 200-A
Washington, DC 20250
Letters sent through the mail may have more impact than an email.
SAMPLE LETTER – but please use your own wording
Dear Secretary Johanns,
I was shocked to learn that the USDA is now classifying rabbits as poultry. Under this new classification, these innocent creatures will be slaughtered while fully conscious.
Livestock agriculture is by definition a harsh business. But in our time, corporate farmers are held to no standards at all. And as in the case of other corporate abuses, the law must speak -- by upholding basic standards of humanity in the treatment of animals. Chickens, turkeys, ducks and now rabbits should not be tortured at the slaughterhouse.
We place heavy demands on the creatures reared for food, and the very least we owe them is a merciful end. Please take immediate action to stop the horrific acts of brutality that your own USDA inspectors are witnessing. We are relying on you to make a difference for these animals, all of whom experience pain and fear.
For years, PetSmart has assured PETA that sick and injured animals in its stores are provided with veterinary care when they need it. We didn't take their word for it. During an undercover investigation at the PetSmart store in Manchester, Connecticut, a store that has a Banfield Hospital right inside it and that PetSmart boasts of as having an "outstanding pet care team" and an "exceptional pet care record," PETA documented more than 100 small animals—including hamsters, domestic rats, lizards, chinchillas, and birds—deprived of effective veterinary care and slowly dying, out of customers' sight.
The small animals sold at PetSmart cost the multimillion-dollar company next to nothing and make up a minuscule percentage of the company's total sales. So why does PetSmart buy them by the thousands only to leave them to die from disease and injury?
The answer is simple. Tiny, adorable hamsters—who can feel pain just as keenly as any dog or cat—are frequently bought on impulse when parents can't resist their child's pleading to bring a small animal home. The hamster may not cost much, but supplies add up quickly. Cages, bedding, food, and other paraphernalia—as well as future supplies (as long as the little animal stays alive)—amount to millions of dollars in annual profit. But these tiny animals victimized by this business mogul often pay the ultimate price—forgotten and neglected in a messy back room where they depend on untrained employees to guess what ails them, hamsters and other tiny beings suffer horribly and often die, unseen and untreated.
We alerted PetSmart's corporate headquarters to animal suffering at the Manchester store while our investigator was working at the store undercover. An e-mail message sent to PetSmart executive Bruce Richardson, reporting "animals … routinely deprived of veterinary care [who] often suffer and die as a result" yielded nothing but a meaningless, dishonest reply from Mr. Richardson in which he wrote: "This particular store has an outstanding pet care team and an exceptional pet care record. No pet that has required a vet has been deprived of that service."
Just three examples of many disturbing entries from the PETA investigator's daily log: "On October 23, 2006, a hamster in cage 10 in the sick room was found dead. This was one of the hamsters that I took to the vet on October 20, 2006, due to her having wet tail and crusty eyes. [The Pet Care Manager] had brought her back to the sick room before the vet could see her and told me that … she did not need to see the vet." "On October 26, 2006, E [a supervisor] brought out a long-haired hamster who had died in the sick room. She had been isolated on October 22 for wet tail, and the chart records showed her slow and painful death. Initially the hamster had diarrhea, but she continued to deteriorate and the night before she died the log notes stated, 'eyes shut, hard, dying.'" "On December 21, 2006, [PetSmart's corporate communications department] sent an e-mail to all store managers stating that there has been an outbreak of salmonella in a couple of stores."
The PetSmart back room log notes document the suffering of animals who are "diagnosed" by store employees. Over a three-day period, three different supervisors—including the pet care manager—in the Manchester store wrote on a dying calico hamster's chart, "[Day 1, morning] wobbly, dehydrated, diarrhea … [Day 1, evening] very lethargic/dehydrated, regressing … [Day 2, morning] very wobbly, dehydrated … [Day 2, evening] dehydrated/getting hard, very lethargic … [Day 3, morning] dying, no meds given, can't swallow, regressed … [Day 3, evening] dead" but did not take the animal to a veterinarian even to have her put out of her misery.
The photos of some of the animals treated for diseases such as wet tail and upper respiratory infections show just how miserable they were as they languished, untreated, in PetSmart's custody.
PetSmart's millions mean nothing but penny-pinching shortcuts and misery for the little animals neglected by the company, which is clearly unwilling to or incapable of caring for animals, period. Please do not buy anything from PetSmart until it stops selling all animals. Buy your supplies online or at a store that does not sell animals.
Please call 1-800-963-2416 to voice your disgust and please inform them that you will boycott their products until they remove these barbaric items from their catalogs.
Michele Casper - Director Public Relations
Gerard Cunningham - Chief Marketing Officer
Karl Dahlen - VP and Senior Legal Officer
Lands' End Lane, Dodgeville, WI 53595
Or use this online email form:
https://www.landsend.com/cgi-bin/email_opt.cgi?mode=GRAPHIC
Last night [Oct 2], the Ballot Initiative Campaign Rally kicked off in San Francisco with a strong show of support from Bay Area residents. Over 140 local animal advocates packed the halls of the SF/SPCA to learn more about the benchmark drive to protect millions of animals in California agriculture.
East Bay Animal Advocates is committed to providing a strong base of support throughout the 13-month campaign to enact "The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act" into law. In fact, EBAA volunteers have signed on to collect at least 6,000 signatures before February 28, 2008. Our signature gathering efforts will be folded together with our public outreach for the Lunardi's Abuse Campaign. You can join on by emailing volunter@eastbayanimaladvocates.org.
The Associated Press ran a story today about the new campaign to ban battery cages, veal crates and gestation stalls in the Golden State. Read an excerpt from the news story:
"Nineteen million chickens in California produce about five billion eggs a year - making them the nation's fifth-largest supplier of omelets and scrambled eggs. Now, animal welfare groups hope to change the way the hens live and lay. The groups are collecting signatures for a ballot initiative to give the hens more room to roam. The measure would force farmers to change current practices that keep most egg-laying hens, veal calves and pregnant pigs in small cages or boxes for most of their lives. It would require that enclosures be big enough for the animals to fully extend their wings or legs, lie down, stand up and turn around."
Over the last several years, EBAA has examined the actual living conditions of animals in agriculture, especially egg-laying chickens, in the California's Central Valley. Watch our mini-documentary about California egg production online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hks86Xxx1ZE.
PetSmart recently announced plans to breed and sell dwarf rabbits in spite of its adoption partnerships with rabbit rescue groups all the more distressing. Their callous decision to sell rabbits while thousands of healthy bunnies languish in shelters across the U.S. and Canada will cause even more rabbits to be euthanized.
PetSmart claims that its sale of baby rabbits will not exacerbate the rabbit overpopulation problem because 1) all PetSmart dwarf rabbits will be spayed or neutered prior to sale, 2) PetSmart employees will be "trained to instruct the public" regarding their care, and 3) PetSmart will perform "customer-satisfaction surveys" after the purchase of a rabbit and will have a 14-day return policy, in case the rabbit "doesn't work out."
While spaying/neutering is good for the rabbit's health, reduces certain behaviors like marking with urine, and prevents further reproduction, it does not prevent rabbits ending up in shelters or dumped in parks. Potential guardians must be carefully screened to ensure rabbits are going to loving homes and have the skills to care for these special beings. Bunnies are high-maintenance animals; learning how to care for a rabbit takes time and certainly more instruction than you are likely to receive at a pet store (or even from the average veterinarian). Moreover, PetSmart's "14-day return policy" emphasizes the public's fickle nature and gives rabbit guardians a sense that these animals are disposable items, not intelligent, affectionate creatures who deserve our time and attention.
Every rabbit (or other animal) purchased from a pet store or breeder means there is one less animal saved from a shelter -- and potentially from death. Because of PetSmart's decision to breed and sell rabbits in spite of its adoption partnerships with rabbit rescue groups, animal organizations are now encouraging their members to shop elsewhere for their pet supplies.
What you can do:
Please speak up for animals and let PetSmart know that you are unhappy with their decision to sell rabbits in their stores rather than reach out to more rabbit rescue groups to expand their rabbit adoption programs. Please send PetSmart a polite letter or email, or give them a call to express your concerns:
Snail mail:
PetSmart, Inc.
19601 North 27th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027
You may also want to remind them that Philip Francis, Chairman and CEO of PetSmart, said in a July 1, 2000, interview with Allbusiness.com that "We try to stay on the side of angels with all animals. We do not sell certain animals for specific reasons." The article then goes on to note that "Rabbits are also taboo. Six weeks before the Easter holiday bunnies become popular pet purchases, but 10 days later the majority of them wind up in shelters. For this reason, PETsMART will not sell rabbits, but it will carry rabbit food and supplies."
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