Save Wolf Mountain Sanctuary

Target: Dena Smith, Director Land Use Services Department
Sponsored by: Care2.com

Exploratory drilling operations could begin in the Chukchi Sea as soon as July 1. Please urge President Obama, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to stop Shell Oil from drilling that could devastate these pristine coasts and kill whales, polar bears and other wildlife.

Actions needed:
55,000

Please help to make a difference, bacause  no matter how small it is,  it will go a long way… May the passion be your power, to rekindle the human spirit.

PETA’s original McCruelty campaign logo

In the slaughterhouses of McDonald’s U.S. and Canadian chicken suppliers, birds are dumped out of their transport crates and hung upside down in metal shackles, which can result in broken bones, extreme bruising, and hemorrhaging. Workers have the opportunity to abuse live birds, and birds have their throats cut while they are still conscious. Many birds are immersed in tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still alive and able to feel pain.

In 2000, following the launch of PETA’s (original) McCruelty campaign, McDonald’s made some basic animal welfare improvements. Since that time, the company has refused to eliminate the worst abuses that its chickens suffer, including abuses during slaughter. This cruelty could be illegal if dogs or cats—or even pigs or cows—were the victims.

There is a less cruel method of slaughter available today that would eliminate these abuses, yet McDonald’s refuses to require its U.S. and Canadian suppliers to switch to it.

Help stop McDonald’s cruelty now!

Electric-immobilization systems require that birds be handled and processed while they are still alive and conscious, which causes them great suffering. In the slaughterhouses of McDonald’s U.S. and Canadian chicken suppliers, birds are dumped out of their transport crates and hung upside down in metal shackles, which can result in broken bones, extreme bruising, and hemorrhaging. Workers have the opportunity to abuse live birds, and birds have their throats cut while they are still conscious. Many birds are immersed in tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still alive and able to feel pain.

Traditional poultry slaughterhouses are dimly lit, stressful, filthy places, which results in poor conditions for workers and an extraordinarily high turnover rate: an annual average between 75 and 100 percent.

(PS: I’m sorry I can’t seem to embed the video without fail..)
HERE”S THE LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4smUBY0P1Q

Watch the video to compare CAK to the standard form of slaughter.

Controlled-atmosphere killing could eliminate many of the problems associated with electric immobilization slaughter. With CAK, oxygen is removed from the birds’ atmosphere while they are still in their transport crates. The birds are not “gassed” (i.e., asphyxiated); they die from lack of oxygen, or anoxia, which is a painless process. Approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), CAK is currently used to kill 75 percent of turkeys and 25 percent of chickens in the U.K. and 10 percent of all birds in the European Union.

CAK eliminates the numerous animal welfare, economic, and worker-safety issues associated with electric immobilization. With CAK, birds are dead before they are even removed from their crates—there is no violent flapping of wings or defecation, the air is cleaner to breathe, and there is no opportunity for abuse by workers.

Learn more about CAK and be sure to write to McDonald’s and demand that it phase in the exclusive use of chickens killed by CAK by requiring its suppliers to switch to this method.

Adapted from: http://www.mccruelty.com/CAKSlaughter.aspx

New policy coincides with national expansion of breakfast menu

The SUBWAY® restaurant chain, with more than 32,000 locations worldwide and more U.S. restaurants than any other quick-service restaurant chain, will begin phasing in the use of cage-free eggs.

The move coincides with the national launch of the SUBWAY® chain’s breakfast menu.

“Subway’s new animal welfare policy will help improve conditions for animals within its supply chain and throughout the nation,” stated Matthew Prescott, corporate outreach director for The Humane Society of the United States’ factory farming campaign. “The Humane Society of the United States applauds Subway for beginning to phase out its use of eggs from hens confined in cages.”

As part of its new animal welfare policy, the SUBWAY® chain will ensure that, to start, 4 percent of the eggs used for its breakfast menu nationwide do not come from hens crammed into battery cages. The brand plans to switch 100 percent of its eggs to cage-free and has already done so in the United Kingdom.

The SUBWAY® brand’s new policy also includes giving purchasing preference to pork and poultry suppliers that use more humane methods of housing and slaughter, respectively. Currently, the SUBWAY® brand uses a significant amount of pork from suppliers that are phasing out the use of gestation crates to confine breeding pigs, and more than 5 percent of its turkey comes from suppliers that use “controlled-atmosphere killing,” which has been shown to dramatically reduce the suffering of birds during slaughter.

Michele DiNello, director of corporate communication for the SUBWAY® brand, said, “We have made a commitment to be more environmentally and socially responsible. We are working with our partners at The Humane Society of the United States and our franchisee-owned Independent Purchasing Cooperative, which sources products and negotiates pricing contracts for SUBWAY® franchisees to take the steps needed to do this. There is much work to be done, but we are committed to conducting business in a manner consistent with accepted social practices.”

Denny’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Quiznos, Sonic, IHOP, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, and Red Robin have created similar animal welfare policies, and the extreme confinement of certain farm animals in cages and crates is outlawed in seven U.S. states.

Facts

• About 95 percent of egg-laying hens and 70 percent of breeding sows in the U.S. are cruelly confined in cages and crates so small the animals can barely move for their entire lives.
• Seven states, including Michigan and California, have passed laws to phase out the extreme confinement of certain farm animals.
• Cage-free hens generally have two to three times more space per bird than caged hens. Cage-free hens may not be able to go outside and may have parts of their beaks cut off, but they can walk, spread their wings and lay their eggs in nests—all behaviors permanently denied to hens crammed into battery cages.

  Adapted from: http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2010/03/subway_032210.html

We should make every hour Earth Hour. No, every minute, every second instead. Earth has provided us humans with so much necessities.
Don’t you think it’s time to show gratitude?
(Alright, maybe we should have done so earlier, but it’s best to start now that we know it(: )

Climate change is the biggest environmental threat to life on this planet – including our own. WWF-Canada has created the Living Planet Community to help Canadians make changes in their lifestyles to reduce their carbon footprint on the planet, and to encourage others to do the same. Small steps, when taken together, can add up to great carbon savings. Already this group of people have saved over 100 million kilograms of greenhouses gases – the equivalent of taking over 45,500 homes off the grid for one year, or over 16,600 cars off the road for a year. Join to be a part of the solution.

It couldn’t opened its eyes, and there was pus all around it. I feel so saddened seeing such a thing, more to say that I was in a joyous mood. Saddened with how irresponsible they were with the rabbit, and the rabbit was in a wire cage ever since they bought it. Maybe some people think that confining rodents in a wire cage is alright, but imagine what happens if our flooring are like them. It’ll be so sore, the same applies for them too.

Sometimes I just don’t understand why humans can get so contradictive at times…

Mammalodon probably lived by sucking small animals up from the seafloor

An ancient “dwarf” whale appears to have fed by sucking small animals out of the seafloor mud with its short snout and tongue, experts say.

Researchers say the 25 million-year-old fossil is related to today’s blue whales – the largest animals on Earth.

The ancient animal’s mud slurping may have been a precursor to the filter feeding seen in modern baleen whales.

These whales strain huge quantities of tiny marine animals through specialised “combs” which take the place of teeth.

The research is published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

The fossilised remains of the primitive baleen whale Mammalodon colliveri were discovered near Torquay, in Victoria, Australia.

This animal still had teeth; it had not yet evolved the baleen plates – used for filter-feeding – which characterise present-day baleen whales.

Although Mammalodon was discovered in 1932 and named in 1939, it has not been widely studied, according to Museum Victoria, which holds specimens of this group.

The study’s author, Dr Erich Fitzgerald from Museum Victoria, said that his study of the fossil led him to the conclusion that Mammalodon was a bottom-feeding mud-sucker.

Splinter group

The idea would support Charles Darwin’s observation about whale evolution in his seminal book On the Origin of Species.

In it, Darwin speculated that some of the earliest baleen whales may have been suction feeders – and that this served as a precursor to the filter feeding of today’s giants of the deep.

Mammalodon had a total body length of about 3m. But it appears to have been a bizarre evolutionary “splinter group” from the evolutionary lineage which later led to the 30m-long blue whale.

It was effectively a dwarf whale; the
research suggests that Mammalodo
may have evolved into a relatively
tiny form from larger ancestors.

Mammalodon belongs to the same family as Janjucetus hunderi, fossils of which were also found in 25 million-year-old Oligocene rocks near Torquay in Victoria. This family appears to be unique to south-east Australia.

“Clearly the seas off southern Australia were a cradle for the evolution of a variety of tiny, weird whales that seem to have lived nowhere else,” said Dr Fitzgerald.

The baleen plates which allow today’s baleen whales to filter their food from water, distinguish this group from the toothed whales – a group which includes beaked whales and dolphins.

Baleen whales are a taxonomical group which includes not only the majestic blue whale, but also the right whales, fin whales and humpbacks, to name but a few.

WARNING: Some of the images below may be graphic.

From NetEase:

Yesterday evening, my friend Ouyang called me and said: tomorrow morning, our deer barn is sawing deer antlers. Bring your wife to Lian Village to drink deer blood. Enthused, I asked if a few of my friends could come. He laughed and said, you think we’re drinking tap water here? I wasn’t thwarted, and said that they only wanted to watch. Rather upset, he said, “If they come, how can you let them see you with blood over your mouth without offering them some? You really think we’re hunting bulls? Just you two.”

This morning, plans changed. Organized by a local website, my wife and some friends went to the countryside to visit veterans from the Second Sino-Japanese War. (Don’t forget that today is the 64th anniversary of victory in the China-Japan war!) Alone, I ventured into a small but famously beautiful village in Langshan–Lian Village. Ouyang Landscaping Ltd. is located here.

[Note: Langshan=崀山 is the name given to the mountain ranges around Shaoyang city, Hunan Province.]

The first thing I saw upon arrival was Mr. Ouyang holding a steel saw in his left hand, and a bottle of Shaoyang Rice Liquor, to mix with deer blood, in his right.

After some small talk, we surreptitiously entered the deer barn. First, he used a long metal rod to shoot a deer with an anesthesia-laced needle. Moments later, the deer collapsed to the ground. A few workers adroitly tied its four legs. Immediately, Ouyang started sawing deftly. The blade slowly sank into the antler, and my heart trembled like metal cutting glass.

When the first antler came off, a guy beside me took it and started drinking from it.

As Ouyang sawed the second antler, he said to me, “You have the second one!”

Weakly, I said, “I’m afraid…I don’t want to drink. Just give me some processed antler blood later.”

“Afraid of what? Antler blood is the antler’s essence. It combines the earth and heaven’s spirits, it is sentient, a treasure among blood. It can nourish your chi and blood, protect your kidneys and sexual health, improve metabolism, promote longevity…most people don’t get a chance!”

“I don’t know how.”

“Raise your head, put your mouth at the cut, and drink. It’s like kissing.”

As we talked, the second antler had already come off. Ouyang handed it to me, I shakily raised the warm antler to my mouth…

A warm, salty liquid flowed into my throat. The taste was weird, I almost threw up.

“Aiya, this is much harder than kissing my wife!” I shouted.

Everyone laughed out loud.

Exiting the barn, we followed Ouyang to a room next door, and watched him process the deer blood with familiarity. When he finished, he found a water bottle and filled it for me, sealing the rest.

The two antlers, one weighed 450g, 720 RMB, the other 394g, 630 RMB, were sold immediately.

While they chatted, curiosity led me back into the deer barn.

That deer previously displayed its antlers with pride and looked arrogantly at me. Now, it’s curled up in a corner. On its head, small bumps where its antlers used to be were callously bandaged with two pieces of white fabric.

Lifeless eyes stared at me in despair.

My heart clenched, I staggered back a few paces, broke eye contact, and fled.

This was adapted from: http://www.chinasmack.com/stories/drinking-deer-blood-from-freshly-cut-antlers-in-langshan/

My heart really go out to them… It’s really disturbing & torturing to always know of such stuffs.. & not yet able to really do anything to help them, except for me to keep posting all these kinds of articles & feeling very frustrating in the inside..

Is this what you really call life…? Where souls are in every living matter, only that they’re in different forms, & hence they get different treatment? Hmmm… Doesn’t really get to me.

You can help end Canada’s annual war on seals by boycotting a product that is vital to the country’s economy: maple syrup. Canada produces approximately 85 percent of the world’s maple syrup, with the U.S. as its largest consumer, and by buying this Canadian product, you are supporting Canadian cruelty. By pledging to boycott Canadian maple syrup, you’ll be speaking up for baby seals in Canada, for whom life isn’t so sweet, and telling Canada that you won’t support its product until you can support its practices.

So, here’s the website: https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2209
Go ahead, and sign this petition.

If we can make a difference to the world, why not do it now?

Or you can join the peition on Facebook,
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/84