From v at vaalea.com Thu Jan 19 23:52:57 2006 From: v at vaalea.com (vaalea) Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 18:52:57 -0500 Subject: [4animals] Seals Need Your Vote This Election Message-ID: <001d01c61d53$792b9bf0$6d00a8c0@v> ----- Original Message ----- Vaalea, will you please send this to the group - all they have to do once they click the TAKE ACTION box is to fill in their name and address and then right away their local candidates bios pop up and you tick each one you want the email send to (all candidates, i would hope - although green party is the only party against slaughter) and then you are asked to confirm to send. very easy. thanks from katherine "Fred O'Regan, International Fund for Animal Welfare" wrote: Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2006 09:10:52 -0800 Subject: Seals Need Your Vote This Election From: "Fred O'Regan, International Fund for Animal Welfare" International Fund for Animal Welfare January 13, 2006 Seals Need Your Vote This Election Ask Your Candidates to Pledge for Seals Dear Katherine, Many Canadians like yourself, as well as citizens of other nations around the world, continue to be appalled by the needless cruelty of Canada's commercial seal hunt. Yet in just a few months, more than three hundred thousand baby seals are likely to be clubbed or shot to death. More than 95% of the seals killed will be less than three months old. Despite scientific evidence that such a high quota is unsustainable, the government claims the hunt will not harm seal populations. Nor do they take into account the continuing evidence of the inhumane treatment of seals during the hunt. Every veterinary study done in recent years has documented unacceptable levels of cruelty, including seals being hooked and dragged across the ice while still conscious. The upcoming election is the perfect opportunity to move the seal hunt back onto the political agenda. Highly contested elections and a recent condemnation of the government subsidized commercial seal hunt by Canada's Green Party make this the right time to speak out and be heard. Please take a quick moment to ask your candidate to pledge their opposition to the commercial seal hunt. A Very Small Economic Market Driven by Canada's Government Itself Significant amounts of money continue to be spent by the Canadian government through hidden subsidies to promote the hunt abroad, as well as to develop new markets for seal products. But despite years of research by the Canadian government trying to develop new seal products, the only economically valuable parts of the seal are the pelts of defenseless seal pups, a non-essential luxury product no one really needs. In many countries, this hunt would be completely illegal. One way the Canadian government justifies its support of the seal hunt is to claim that seals in the North Atlantic eat too many cod. But there's no scientific support for this claim. In fact, two of the government's own scientists reported in 1994 that the true cause of cod depletion in the North Atlantic was over-fishing. From Beauty to Devastation in Just a Heartbeat Female harp seals gather by the hundreds of thousands on newly formed sea ice to give birth to their pups from late February until mid-March, transforming the once barren ice floes into a huge, white nursery. Yet just days later, this pristine wonderland is transformed into a makeshift factory for the mass killing of baby seals as sealers descend upon them in boats, helicopters and snowmobiles, armed with clubs and guns. As a result of this commercial seal hunt, more than a million seals were bludgeoned or shot to death in the past three years, all in the name of profit. Now is the time to stop this cruelty. Please send a letter to your electoral candidates asking them to share their views on the seal hunt issue with their constituents. I hope that you will join me in taking a stand this election to make sure that your new MPs protect Canada's natural heritage and finally put an end to the largest commercial slaughter of marine mammals on earth. Thanks for all you do, Fred O'Regan President and CEO P.S. There's never been a better time to speak out against the commercial seal hunt in Canada. Candidates need your vote more than ever. Tell them your vote depends on their opposition to the seal hunt by sending them a letter right now. IFAW ? 2006 This message was sent to: pekieca at yahoo.com All gifts to IFAW represent a contribution to IFAW's entire mission. Donations will be used where they are most needed to help animals. Worried about Donating online? I used to be too ... so I made sure our online system is safe, secure, and state-of-the-art. It also eliminates check-processing costs, so more money goes directly to saving animals. But if you prefer to donate by phone or mail, simply click here for address information. NOTE: To make sure you continue to receive further emails from IFAW, please add fred at ifaw1.org to your email Address Book. If you use a spam filter program, please assign this address a status of "safe" or "trusted." If you have an AOL, Hotmail, or Yahoo email address, this is particularly important as we receive many "bounce backs" from these email addresses. Suite 612, 1 Nicholas Street . Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7 . Canada www.ifaw.org To remove yourself from all mailings from IFAW Canada (English), please click here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Find your next car at Yahoo! Canada Autos -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.ottawaveg.com/pipermail/4animals/attachments/20060119/0e881367/attachment.html From v at vaalea.com Fri Jan 20 03:34:38 2006 From: v at vaalea.com (vaalea) Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 22:34:38 -0500 Subject: [4animals] Smarter than Jack - Animal Tales Message-ID: <1d5701c61d72$710cf670$6d00a8c0@v> Smarter than Jack story of the weekHey guys, not sure if I mentioned this before but http://www.smarterthanjack.com/ uses submitted stories to raise over US$185,000 (so far) for various animal welfare charities. Here are a few that I've been mailed, and you can sign up for stories using the link at the bottom.... Smarter than Jack story of the week Hi v, here's a story for you! A cat with a mathematical bent My husband's parents had a Siamese cat called Josie who loved to help in the vegetable garden. Her talent shone through at planting time. She would watch the first few seedlings being planted out, and note the distance between each hole and the previous one. Then she would join in at the front of the advancing line, using her paw to make small holes exactly where each new plant would go. The holes just had to be deepened a little and the plants could go in. Her help meant that whoever was planting could concentrate on the plant itself, rather than worry about alignment and spacing. Wendy Willett Queensland Australia Even crows have fun I woke up early one morning to a scratching sound. The sound went away so I drifted back to sleep. A few minutes later I woke to the same sound. This time it persisted. I decided I should get up and find out where it was coming from. My house isn't very big. Just a modular home on a nicely treed lot in Kitimat, British Columbia. I had seen many animals walk, trot, climb, gallop or waddle across the yard, but I'd never seen what I witnessed that bright spring morning in 2003. In the kitchen, I heard the noise above me. I looked up to the ceiling, to see a crow step on the upper edge of the high-impact plastic skylight. It did a little sidestepping and then slid down the plastic skylight. To my amazement, there were two other crows doing the same thing. The first would go down the 'slide', walk back up and wait its turn. This went on for about five minutes, until one looked down with a sideways glare. They'd seen me watching. With one caw they were gone. Daniel Carter British Columbia Canada Sheba took her duties seriously Sheba was one of four puppies left at the gate of my sister's boarding kennels. She was the runt of the litter and we decided to keep her. She grew up with my children and they couldn't go anywhere without her following. My parents had a bach at Tinopai and the kids loved to go swimming whenever they could. As they splashed around with their armbands and kickboards, Sheba would be paddling around and looking after her brood. But once she'd had enough, everyone had to get out of the water. First she'd take one kickboard to shore, using her mouth. She'd swim out for the next, much to the kids' disgust as by then they knew what was in store. She would swim out, grab hold of an armband and, as it deflated, proceed to tow the disgruntled child ashore. With the child safely on the beach, she would head out to retrieve the other child, who by this time was trying desperately to get ashore before she too had only one armband. Another time, the kids were playing at the neighbours' house. I called them to come home for their bath and dinner. Just as they were getting into the bath we heard a terrible noise coming from the driveway. We looked out to see Sheba with the handle of a plastic ride-on motorbike in her mouth, pulling the bike home. Once in the gate she dropped it and turned smartly back up the road to get the other bike. The kids are adults now. They tell me that Sheba should have been named 'Mum'. Odele Fenton New Zealand Gypsy knows best It's a well-known fact that, when horses are travelling in a herd, individual animals do not leave the safety of the group. It takes intelligence to know when it is better to leave this place of safety to seek help elsewhere. While working around the barn one hot summer afternoon, the owners of the riding stable where we boarded our horses noticed two of the animals moving away from the herd, which was grazing at the far end of the thirty acre field in which they were enclosed. Slowly the horses worked their way towards the barn, and as the people watched, they began to realize that one of their mares, Roxy, was being driven towards the stable by my 3/4 thoroughbred mare, Gypsy. Roxy was clearly reluctant to leave the herd, constantly turning back, or stopping completely. Gypsy was, by turns, leading Roxy or moving in behind to nip at her rump to keep her heading in direction of the stable. As the horses neared, the owners opened the gate and went into the field to meet them and take Roxy's halter. Immediately they had hold of Roxy, Gypsy turned and trotted back to the herd. The owners, thoroughly puzzled by now, began checking over the mare, and soon discovered a severed artery in her pastern. Had she stayed with the herd she would quickly have bled to death. Thanks to an intelligent decision made by another horse, Roxy was cared for and lived for many years after. Eleanor Westgate London Ontario Pippi the baby sitter There is much for us mere humans to learn from the natural world of animals if we are humble enough and open-minded enough to watch. This is a true story about a budgerigar and a family of guinea pigs. Pippi was a little male budgie and Patch and her four babies were guinea pigs. Normally the guinea pigs lived in the garden in their large grassy enclosure, but the weather turned really wet and cold just when the babies were born and we felt that they needed more protection and brought them into the house. We made an enclosure in the corner of the family room with a shoebox for a house and some space in front for exercising. Pippi also lived in the same room in his cage, but he was allowed to fly freely within the room and so his door was left open during the daytime. To save space, his cage was placed on top of the guinea pigs and we noticed that he spent a lot of time leaning over to watch the antics of the babies racing around in their enclosure below. One day we went out and left Pippi shut in the family room as usual. When we arrived home, we went to greet him but could not find him anywhere. We looked in all his usual perching places and called him over and over again, and were just beginning to panic when we looked in the guinea pigs' enclosure. We could hardly believe our eyes, for there was Pippi on the floor with his wings outstretched and a slightly smug expression. Under his wings nestled four tiny guinea pigs - two under each wing, all sound asleep. Patch was also enjoying a nice rest in her house. How was this arranged between two such diverse species? What trust and tolerance was shown! Anne Baulch Victoria Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: Smarter than Jack To: v Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 2:59 PM Subject: Smarter than Jack story of the week Smarter than Jack story of the week Hi v, here's a story for you! A canine real estate agent It is widely recognised that moving house is the next most stressful experience to a marriage break-up or bereavement. One of the most traumatic and disheartening aspects is the process of showing prospective buyers around your house. This onerous task was lifted from us in an unexpected way. During the showing round our Ibizan hound/whippet cross Trefle would accompany us, presumably noting how it was done. One day she 'took over' the task, preceding the procession and giving a gentle nudge to the prospective buyers if they lingered too long in one room. She would lead them into each room and up the two flights of stairs in a precise order. We soon left it to her, for the buyers were amazed and intrigued by their unusual guide. I'd hear them say, 'Look, she wants us to go that way now' or 'She is telling us to go up the stairs'. Then she would conduct them around the garden and outbuildings, hustling them round any shabby areas and lingering in the better ones. Needless to say, the procedure became a pleasure rather than a chore, and before long we started to get offers which they were obliged to give to us rather than Trefle. Sadly, we lost her when she was 11, so when we next want to move we won't have this help, as we don't think any of our present dogs will undertake the role. Trefle was never asked or trained to do it; she seemed to sense that we didn't like the task and willingly volunteered her services. She was perceptive and seemed to know our inner thoughts. Valerie and Gillian Rogers Wales -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you have a story to tell? Right now, we are after stories about cheeky, rescued or baby animals. Visit www.smarterthanjack.com You have received this e-mail because you are subscribed to the Smarter than Jack story of the week. a.. Click here if you no longer want to receive this e-mail. b.. Click here if you have been forwarded this e-mail and want to receive it directly. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.ottawaveg.com/pipermail/4animals/attachments/20060119/168422fd/attachment.html From v at vaalea.com Fri Jan 20 03:44:19 2006 From: v at vaalea.com (vaalea) Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 22:44:19 -0500 Subject: [4animals] testing... Message-ID: <1d8c01c61d73$cbb26af0$6d00a8c0@v> Sorry guys, I don't seem to be receiving my own emails... (seals/smarter than jack)... -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.ottawaveg.com/pipermail/4animals/attachments/20060119/1b80f421/attachment.html From edandrea at magma.ca Mon Jan 30 01:51:50 2006 From: edandrea at magma.ca (Edelweiss D'Andrea) Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 20:51:50 -0500 Subject: [4animals] Rabbit fur scarves from China being sold at Shopper's Drug Mart Message-ID: Hello, I was saddened today to see rabbit fur scarves (pompoms of fur strung together) being sold at my local Shopper's drug store. Each scarf was selling for a mere $29.95! The next time you're at Shoppers, you might want to look out for these scarves and complain to the manager of the store (usually the head pharmacist) if you see them. The manager of the store I was at didn't know rabbit fur was being sold, and he said he would check into it and take them off the shelves. I'm also going to complain formally at www.shoppersdrugmart.ca. Please feel free to use my letter below to complain, if you like. Edelweiss ---------- Letter to Shopper's: I enjoy shopping at Shopper's Drug Mart for its convenience and wide selection of products. However, today I was stunned to see scarves made out of strings of rabbit fur being sold at my local Shopper's drug store (corner Walkley and Bank in Ottawa). The scarf's brand name is Stephanie, and the distributor is C.S. Distribution. The fur trade is horrible. According to PETA, fur farmers use slaughter methods that keep the pelts intact but which can result in extreme suffering for the animals. Small animals may be crammed into boxes and poisoned with hot, unfiltered engine exhaust from a truck. Engine exhaust is not always lethal, and some animals wake up while being skinned. Fur farming in China is especially cruel as animals are skinned alive (http://www.furisdead.com/feat/ChineseFurFarms/). I notice that some of the models in you online ads are wearing fur, too. Please refuse to sell fur and don't have models wear fur. If you continue to sell and advertise fur, I will be forced to stop shopping at Shopper's, and I will suggest to my animal-loving friends that they do the same. From pekieca at yahoo.com Mon Jan 30 15:03:20 2006 From: pekieca at yahoo.com (K) Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 10:03:20 -0500 (EST) Subject: [4animals] Rabbit fur scarves from China being sold at Shopper's Drug Mart In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20060130150320.17829.qmail@web52715.mail.yahoo.com> Yes, I saw those too the other day at the Metcalf Albert Street store, in the aisle with haircare products. I also noted fur-lived gloves as well. Thanks for providing the letter. Will also send one. Regards, K Edelweiss D'Andrea wrote: Hello, I was saddened today to see rabbit fur scarves (pompoms of fur strung together) being sold at my local Shopper's drug store. Each scarf was selling for a mere $29.95! The next time you're at Shoppers, you might want to look out for these scarves and complain to the manager of the store (usually the head pharmacist) if you see them. The manager of the store I was at didn't know rabbit fur was being sold, and he said he would check into it and take them off the shelves. I'm also going to complain formally at www.shoppersdrugmart.ca. Please feel free to use my letter below to complain, if you like. Edelweiss ---------- Letter to Shopper's: I enjoy shopping at Shopper's Drug Mart for its convenience and wide selection of products. However, today I was stunned to see scarves made out of strings of rabbit fur being sold at my local Shopper's drug store (corner Walkley and Bank in Ottawa). The scarf's brand name is Stephanie, and the distributor is C.S. Distribution. The fur trade is horrible. According to PETA, fur farmers use slaughter methods that keep the pelts intact but which can result in extreme suffering for the animals. Small animals may be crammed into boxes and poisoned with hot, unfiltered engine exhaust from a truck. Engine exhaust is not always lethal, and some animals wake up while being skinned. Fur farming in China is especially cruel as animals are skinned alive (http://www.furisdead.com/feat/ChineseFurFarms/). I notice that some of the models in you online ads are wearing fur, too. Please refuse to sell fur and don't have models wear fur. If you continue to sell and advertise fur, I will be forced to stop shopping at Shopper's, and I will suggest to my animal-loving friends that they do the same. _______________________________________________ 4animals mailing list 4animals at ottawaveg.com http://lists.ottawaveg.com/mailman/listinfo/4animals --------------------------------- Find your next car at Yahoo! Canada Autos -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.ottawaveg.com/pipermail/4animals/attachments/20060130/2270fdd9/attachment.html From pekieca at yahoo.com Mon Jan 30 15:31:12 2006 From: pekieca at yahoo.com (K) Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 10:31:12 -0500 (EST) Subject: [4animals] Rabbit fur scarves from China being sold at Shopper's Drug Mart In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20060130153112.96357.qmail@web52708.mail.yahoo.com> Here is Shoppers email address: http://www.formdesk.com/shoppersdrugmart/contact_us In addition to PETA, here is a ref to a Canadian animal group which recently had successful campaigns against BEDO and Jacob. May wish to include a reference to them as well in any letters. Lots of facts re the fur trade on their site. http://www.gan.ca/campaigns/fur+trade/bedo+goes+fur+free.en.html --------------------------------- Find your next car at Yahoo! Canada Autos -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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