IDA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Environment’

I can’t think of a better way to start a Monday morning than opening my e-mail to find someone thanking me for helping them make the leap to becoming vegan. A few weeks prior a man named Russell wrote to IDA to ask if dairy goats were treated any better than dairy cows. According to him he had “given up meat and eggs, but was looking for any excuse to continue eating cheese”. This is a situation in which many vegetarians find themselves.

I explained to him that the unfortunate reality is that dairy products cause just as much suffering for animals as the production of meat.  For example, for an animal to produce milk they must be pregnant.  Just as humans produce milk to feed their children, other species are no different. Cows and goats in the dairy industry are kept pregnant every year so they will produce milk, which is very hard on their bodies and would not happen in nature. The kids (baby goats) and calves (baby cows) are taken from their mothers at birth, and are often sent to slaughter. They are a by-product of the dairy industry; milk would be wasted feeding them when it can be sold for a profit. These Mamas don’t get a retirement either; as their milk output wanes they go to slaughter by about 4 to 6 years old – the human equivalent of their teens.

Luckily, we do not have to support this, and instead can follow in the footsteps of Russell.  “I started out three years ago just giving up beef, and little by little, as I became more educated, I have been dropping animal products one by one. It is so much easier to live with myself this way… I thought it was going to be difficult, but the hardest part was just making the decision to do it. I’m actually having a lot of fun learning new ways to cook and eat, I feel better physically and mentally, and I don’t feel guilty anymore.” states Russell.

I know a lot of people find it difficult to even think about making the leap to vegan. However, in understanding the importance, the benefits and the rewards veganism offers, the leap becomes easy! If you are already vegan, I encourage you to open up this conversation with others in your life.  As Russell told me, “I wanted to thank you. There have been many influences pushing me in this direction, but you were the person who got me over the edge”.  You never how your words will change someone, but for the animals who are not able to speak up for themselves, we must not stay silent.

IDA is here to support you no matter what phase of veganism you are in. If you have any questions, comments, etc about going vegan, don’t hesitate to write me at Jessica@idausa.org.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has reported the first sea lion trap and kill of the season on the Columbia River. Named “Lionel” by students from Redland Elementary School in Portland, but known to wildlife agencies by the brand “C653,” the sea lion was trapped and killed by lethal injection on Wednesday. Sixty-four California sea lions are listed on the government’s kill authority letter and are at risk of being trapped or shot by wildlife officials. IDA is skeptical about the Oregon and Washington state wildlife agencies’ ability to correctly identify and humanely handle targeted sea lions.

Yesterday protesters from IDA and the Sea Lion Defense Brigade confronted wildlife officials responsible for the lethal removal of the protected sea lions, to voice concerns and ask questions about a plan that is misguided, has not met the criteria set forth in Section 120 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, fails to accurately identify specific sea lions as required by law, and will do nothing to resolve issues that endanger salmon populations.

Fishing quotas for salmon on the Columbia River this year were raised to 16 percent from last year’s 13 percent, while sea lions at the Bonneville Dam are being killed for eating what will likely be only about one percent of the 2010 spring run. These wildlife agencies are not making sound, biology-based decisions regarding salmon recovery. And the agencies’ track record has been abysmal, with multiple incidents of malfunctioning traps and seven sea lions who have died unintentionally in state custody.

Yesterday, in the case of ASPCA et al. v. Feld Entertainment/Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, Judge Emmett Sullivan ruled against the advocates for elephants on technical grounds – concluding that plaintiffs Tom Rider and the Animal Protection Institute (API) had not established the standing required for bringing a lawsuit in federal court. The case was dismissed on a legal technicality; the judge never addressed the merits of the case or the claim that the circus’ routine beating and chaining of elephants violates the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

We will have more to say about this monumental legal case as we analyze and digest the judge’s 57-page decision, but we reiterate that this ruling is by no means an endorsement of Ringling’s treatment of their elephants, or even a finding that the elephants are treated humanely or appropriately.

Ringling will no doubt try to spin the decision as a victory for the circus, but it is not a vindication of their brutal training and management practices. In fact, the record established by this trial documents Ringling’s routine abuse of elephants, as Ringling employees and even CEO Kenneth Feld acknowledged under oath and in sworn documentation that:

the elephants are routinely hit with bullhooks,

they are regularly chained in box cars for more than 26 hours at a time and for as long as 100 hours without a break while traveling across the country for 11 months of the year, and for as much as 22½ hours each day in Ringling’s breeding center,

baby elephants are forcibly separated from their mothers for training at age two or younger.

The trial record will stand as a stunning indictment of this circus and its archaic elephant acts, though we will have to wait a bit longer for legal redress.

IDA and all elephant advocates owe a huge debt of gratitude to the attorneys, organizations and individuals behind this lawsuit, including lead Plaintiff Tom Rider, the former Ringling employee who made the legal action possible. We are disappointed that there was no decision on Ringling’s treatment of its elephants, but you can be sure we will continue the fight until there are no more elephants performing in circuses anywhere.

This blog was contributed by Deborah Robinson, IDA’s Captive Elephant Specialist.

Westchester County, NY, a quiet suburb just north of New York City, has implemented a plan to kill deer using bows and arrows in several county parks.

I attended a meeting last Thursday, November 12, that was set up to explain to county residents why this slaughter is necessary. It seems we have lost biodiversity and now we must kill the deer to regain it.Here’s how it works. Once upon a time, before 1800, we lived in an idyllic landscape consisting of approximately 15 deer per square mile. Then the human species got busy, clear cutting the forests and killing predatory species like wolves and coyotes. Deer, too, were virtually wiped out by 1850.

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