animal rights

Take Action for the Animals

By sarajean on 5/5/10 6:27am
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Attention all animal rights activists, environmentalists, and anyone else who simply cares: be sure to take action on the following issues this week!

Save Sea Turtles

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Host a Chimp Retirement Party on May 2

By sarajean on 4/15/10 2:54pm
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It never ceases to amaze me how we treat our animals. Remember what Gandhi said—“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” If we do this, we know that we’re absolutely not so great and not so moral. From our factory farms to countless cases of animal abuse and neglect, horse meat, animal races, circuses, zoos, and more—on a whole, we definitely do not treat our animals very kindly at all.

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Save the Spirit Bear

By sarajean on 4/2/10 7:43pm
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Ordinarily, the Spirit Bear might be something you’d hear about at Weird Animal Report. A white, non-polar bear must be some kind of albino creature, right? On the contrary, the Spirit Bear is really a type of black bear. One in ten black bears carry the recessive gene that makes the bears have white coats instead of black coats, resulting in the very rare bears considered sacred by many different native peoples. In fact, the National Resource Defense Council even uses the Spirit Bear in their logo.

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Care2 Adds Wolf Habitat to “Click to Make a Difference” Program

By sarajean on 9/2/09 9:29pm
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When I started out as an activist, Care2 was my hub. Though I’ve found several others since, Care2 is the one I always come back to. They have petitions—you can even create your own—helpful environmental articles, shopping resources, eCards, and a plethora of resources for both the budding and the seasoned activist.

One novel concept at Care2 that has made me visit daily, however, is its Click to Make a Difference Program. When I first joined Care2, I believe there were only three causes to click for—big cat habitat, rainforest habitat, and breast cancer. Perhaps there were one or two others.

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Circus Elephants Finally Freed

By sarajean on 8/22/09 3:26pm
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Following a heavy two-year campaign that included tens of thousands of letters and e-mails, demonstrations, and phone calls by concerned activists, three elephants—Tina, Jewel, and Queenie—are being freed from the cruelty they’ve endured from the traveling circus that purchased them.

On August 15, the USDA began to fulfill their promises of saving these animals by confiscating the most severely abused elephant, Jewel, who was obviously emaciated from food deprivation. The other two elephants remained with the Davenport circus family as they refused to cooperate with the USDA.

The FWS Steps In

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Take Action for Dolphins, See The Cove

By sarajean on 8/15/09 6:08pm
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The Cove is the new documentary about former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry and his fight to free dolphins today. O’Barry actually helped capture and train the dolphins used in the TV show “Flipper” and has since had a change of heart about using dolphins in captivity for entertainment.

O’Barry travels to Taiji, Japan, a community that is supposed to be devoted to dolphins and whales, supporting the creatures and their amazing uniqueness. However, once there, O’Barry encounters the cove—a remote area surrounded by barbed wire and “Keep Out” signs. He discovers that this is the place where fisherman secretly hunt for dolphin meat and perform dastardly acts to get it—and to keep it secret.

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President Obama is a Fly Killer!

By sarajean on 6/19/09 8:32pm
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I just knew there was some kind of catch. A man just couldn’t be that wicked cool, smart, tech-savvy and generally all-around groovy with two cute kiddies and an awesome, intelligent wife. Something had to give.

Behold, Obama the Fly Killer!

A fly on the wall has no business during a White House interview, says President Obama. While CNBC’s John Harwood attempted to get an interview in the East Room, the fly simply wouldn’t stop interrupting, buzzing his own intelligible questions into the president’s ear—and our Commander in Chief had had enough.

Swatting the offending creature once it landed on his hand, he put a quick end to the multi-eyed invader.

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Real Life Hero to Endagered Turtles

By becksta on 6/9/09 4:40pm
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Giant Leatherbacked Turtles are Making a ComebackGiant Leatherbacked Turtles are Making a ComebackYou've heard of the crazy cat ladies, but have you heard of the "Crazy Turtle Lady"?  She's not so crazy afterall, and is a real-life hero to the Giant Leatherback Turtles in her native Trinidad. 

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Celebs Go Naked to Save Bluefin Tuna

By sarajean on 6/8/09 11:14pm
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OK, animal lovers—no tuna jokes while these celebrity-activists are naked!

Though experts warn that the bluefin tuna may be beyond saving at this point, efforts are still being made in the fish’s defense.

Emilia Fox, Greta Scacchi, and Terry Gilliam have all gone naked in traditional PETA-style in support of this endangered creature.

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Say No to Shark Finning

By sarajean on 5/21/09 9:11am
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Shark FinningShark FinningIf humans were sharks, I wonder which part of us would be sliced off and used for soup-our ears, or an arm, maybe? It doesn't really matter; after it would be chopped off our skin, we'd just be thrown back into the water to survive without it.

That's exactly what fisherman do to sharks in the process of "finning." Finning involves slicing off a shark's fin--to use in a soup, of all things, because we all know that soup is important enough to condone amputating living creatures and using their appendages a nice, hot meal alongside a grilled cheese--and then tossing the finless shark back into the sea.

These fins are then used as an Asian delicacy, "shark fin soup," which sounds about as appetizing as monkey butt on a stick. The fin doesn't even have flavor on its own-it actually floats along in a bowl of chicken broth to make the soup look fancy. Chicken and shark-sounds like a Colonel Sanders special from hell.

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