<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2963" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV>Hello,</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>For various
reasons, </FONT></FONT>I have decided that I need to reduce my involvement level
in animal rights. I hope that my efforts with OAA so far might have
made some difference for animals at some level. I am also very open to the
possibility of 'handing over the reigns' to someone interested and capable
so please let me know if you are interested or know someone who might be. The
OAA site has been a really good resource in that it is a very professional
looking site.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If no-one expresses interest, I would still hope to post others'
iniatives, such as those posted on the Ottawa Veg '4animals' forum (to join this
forum you can sign up @ <A
href="http://lists.ottawaveg.com/mailman/listinfo/4animals">http://lists.ottawaveg.com/mailman/listinfo/4animals</A> ) and
definately still participate in and possibly organize or co-organize some
demos or information tables. At this time I will post the following items:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2><EM><STRONG>Fur in the Rideau
Centre</STRONG></EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Below is a report from a 'mystery shopper' who
donated their time to see which stores in the Rideau Centre already had fur
stocked. The list is below although it may not be completely accurate as many
stores did not have their winter collections out at the time of the compilation
of the list. At this point, I thought that the results looked encouraging and I
think the sucess of getting fur out of stores like Suzy Shier, Smart Set,
Reitmans and Jacob is a major accomplishment. As someone mentionned, it looks
like Tristan and America has also made the decision not to carry real animal
fur. Despite efforts I was not able to get a confirmation from GAN, the group
who initiated the campaign. Has a</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>nyone been in
Tristan and America lately?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2><EM><STRONG>Meeting to plan possible
anti-fur and/or anti-seal hunt actions</STRONG></EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There were only 3 </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>of us at the meeting in October but we did </FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>come to the conclusion that without a joint national
effort like with the National Tristan and America campaign, that it may not be
the best use of time to focus on a big chain like GUESS or Laura. We
thought of</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> perhaps a local store selling fur
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>or a more conceptual/theatrical </FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>approach to a fur protest eg. dressing up
like </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>'Cats' or assembling some dogs together
(more than 2!) </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>T</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>he
National Anti-Fur Day and the National Anti-China Fur Day are both in the new
year so there would still be time to plan for something if there was enough
interest. Also, <FONT face=Arial size=2>I recently saw another awful
picture</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> of the seal hunt in a recent Sea
Shepherd update and I was wondering if there is any interest in putting
something together this Spring? </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2>Th</FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2>ere seems to be momentum with the
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>seafood boycott and with</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2> Germany imposing an official ban on seal
'p</FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial
size=2>roducts' </FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial
size=2> from Canada <A
href="http://www.harpseals.org/hunt/press/german_ban.html">http://www.harpseals.org/hunt/press/german_ban.html</A> </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
size=2><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2><STRONG><EM>Animal
A</EM></STRONG></FONT><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2><STRONG><EM>lliance Demo
for Farm Animals</EM></STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">
<DIV><FONT color=#ff0000><FONT size=2><FONT size=3>Animal Alliance Canada is
asking if there is </FONT><FONT size=3>a group (6 people minimum) that would do
a demo in Ottawa for laying hens this month I believe. They provide
the costumes.</FONT> </FONT><FONT size=3>Is anyone interested? More info will
hopefully follow if there is enough interest in </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#ff0000><FONT size=3>participation. </FONT></FONT><FONT
face=arial size=2><A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1162728965849&call_pageid=970599119419"
target=_blank>http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1162728965849&call_pageid=970599119419</A>
</FONT><BR> <BR><B>Activists vs. factory farms</B><BR>Groups want consumers
to force changes in egg and pork production </DIV>
<DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">
<DIV>Nov. 6, 2006. 05:26 AM</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">STUART LAIDLAW, Toronto Star<BR>FAITH AND ETHICS
REPORTER<BR><BR>Smelling blood in the food industry, animal welfare activists
in Canada and the U.S. are preparing to step up their campaigns against
factory farming, with much of their focus on how eggs and pork are produced.
<BR><BR>"Eggs are the new veal," Paul Shapiro, of the Humane Society of the
United States, told a conference on humane food in Toronto. <BR><BR>With farm
group representatives sitting in the audience, Shapiro and his Canadian
counterparts urged the food industry to stop their costly public relations
campaigns and to spend the money instead on making real changes to animal
welfare. "If you are taking part in brutal, cruel practices, your days are
numbered," said John Youngman, director of the Canadian Coalition for Farm
Animals, which sponsored the conference. <BR><BR>Industry spokesperson Jackie
Wepruk, who attended the conference for the National Farm Animal Care Council,
an umbrella group for food companies and farm groups, said the industry is
interested in good animal welfare. "We are looking at renewing the codes of
practice" for animal care, she said, pointing out that they have not been
updated for more than 20 years. <SPAN></SPAN><BR><BR>Youngman's group is an
umbrella organization of 27 humane societies and animal welfare groups across
the country that have already held several protests outside grocery stores
mostly those belonging to the Loblaw chain with more in the works. <BR><BR>The
coalition has also launched postcard campaigns in which consumers are asked to
mail pre-written cards to the heads of food companies such as Loblaw or Maple
Leaf Foods asking them to require more strict animal welfare standards from
their suppliers. <BR><BR>Based in Manitoba, where the hog industry has been
booming in recent years thanks to a Maple Leaf plant in Brandon, Youngman has
put much of his effort into fighting the use of narrow crates to house sows in
giant barns. <BR><BR>One of his tactics is to set up one of the crates outside
a grocery store, with a life-sized sow doll inside. He said most people are
shocked to see the living conditions under which sows live, in crates so small
they cannot turn around. Many challenge him on whether such conditions really
exist, he said. <BR><BR>"Once you convince them, you can get them to sign
anything," he says, referring to the postcards and petitions he always has on
hand at such a demonstration. <BR><BR>Stephanie Brown, another director of the
coalition and the food animal co-ordinator of the Toronto-based Animal
Alliance of Canada, said consumers should expect to see more such
demonstrations and postcard appeals outside their grocery stores. <BR><BR>One
postcard, aimed at Loblaw, calls on the company to ensure that the eggs it
sells are not from hens housed in tiny cages known as battery cages, which
restrict their movement and allow farmers to put more hens in one barn,
increasing efficiency. <BR><BR>Shapiro said battery cages provide each hen
with a space smaller than an 8 1/2 by 11 letter-sized sheet of paper.
<BR><BR>Another postcard, targeting Maple Leaf Foods, Canada's largest hog
slaughtering company, calls for the phasing out of gestation crates to house
sows. The idea of the postcards is to convince the companies that their
customers want these changes, Youngman said. <SPAN></SPAN><BR><BR>The
coalition has made chicken costumes and human-sized battery cages that it will
be shipping to protests across the country over the next few months and into
the spring. Protests have already been held in Toronto, Guelph and Halifax,
with more planned for Winnipeg, Montreal, Vancouver and Courtenay, B.C.
<BR><BR>At the protests, demonstrators wear the costumes and get in the cage
to show how cramped the conditions are. Other protestors then hand out the
postcards and petitions. <BR><BR>Wepruk rejected the idea that the industry
does not know what consumers want, saying they are represented in her group in
several ways: through the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and
associations that represent grocery and food manufacturing companies such as
Loblaw and Maple Leaf. <BR><BR>Shapiro said consumer-based campaigns can be
effective, citing companies from McDonald's to Ben and Jerry's that have made
public commitments to getting their food ingredients from more ethical
sources. <BR><BR>"Agriculture has not been at the forefront," he said.
"Companies that are retailers have been at the forefront."
<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <B><U><FONT size=2>
<P align=center>Fur at the Rideau Center 2006</P>
<P align=center></B></U><U>Stores without any visible fur</P></U>
<P>Trivium NO fur policy</P>
<P>Garage NO fur </P>
<P>Warrens NO fur </P>
<P>Tommy Hilfiger Nothing visible</P>
<P>Banana Republic Nothing visible</P>
<P>Jacob Nothing visible</P>
<P>TieRack No Fur</P>
<P>Le Chateau No fur</P>
<P>RW&Co No Fur</P>
<P>American Apparel NO Fur</P>
<P>Smart Set No Fur</P>
<P>Suzy Shier No Fur</P>
<P>Artizia Nothing visible</P>
<P>Bennetton Nothing visible</P>
<P>Cleo Nothing visible</P>
<P><U>Last years offenders</P></U>
<P>Aldo Accessories Nothing visible yet but normally carry</P>
<P>Sirens Nothing visible yet did carry fur last year and will sell it if
distributors send it</P>
<P>Urban Behaviour Nothing visible but did sell last year</P>
<P>Dynamite Nothing visible but did carry last year</P>
<P>Jacob Nothing visible </P>
<P>Tristan Nothing visible yet did carry last year</P>
<P>Mexx Nothing visible</P>
<P>Club Monaco Nothing visible</P>
<P>Shoppers Drug Mart Nothing visible</P></FONT><FONT color=#ff0000 size=2>
<P>This years offenders Stores with visible fur in store</P>
<P>Sears FUR scarves, accessories</P>
<P>Fairweather FUR scarves</P>
<P>Melanie Lynn FUR scarves</P>
<P>Fancy Sox Fur trim on slippers</P>
<P><STRONG>This years offenders THE BIG ONES!</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>DANIER LEATHER LOTS OF FUR</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Cliqot LOTS OF FUR visible in window display gloves, scarves,
shawls, collars, fox and rabbit</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Shepherds LOTS OF FUR - visible in window display gloves,
scarves, shawls, collars, fox and other</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Carriere LOTS OF FUR wool coats with fur collars, scarves,
pom-pom accessories</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>JMichaels LOTS OF FUR wide variety of fur scarves</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>GUESS LOTS OF FUR whole jackets, vests, scarves One of the
biggest offenders this year! Rabbit fur. Salespeople claim it is from shaved
rabbits</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>The Bay Of course! One of the Big players</STRONG></P>
<P><FONT color=#000000>I have also noticed fur at Winners as usual, </FONT><FONT
color=#000000>as well as</FONT><FONT color=#000000> rabbit fur hats at
Mark's Work Warehouse and fur trim on boots at </FONT><FONT color=#000000>Pay
Less Shoe Stores.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3>Please let me know if you
are interested in an </FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000
size=3><EM><STRONG>Animal Alliance factory farming demo ASAP
</STRONG></EM></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3>or
getting together at some point with other interested activists to</FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3> discuss possible
anti-fur/anti-seal hunt iniatives.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3>Thanks,</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000
size=3>Victoria</FONT></P></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#ff0000>
<P><FONT size=3></FONT><FONT
face=Arial></FONT> </P></FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>