Kinship Circle

1. Win! No More Fur For Urban Outfitters
3/24/09 — READ FULL STORY: Urban Outfitters Goes Fur-Free

SUMMARY: Urban Outfitters just announced that it has become fur-free! By making this commitment, Urban Outfitters joins Zappos, Juicy Couture, Polo Ralph Lauren, Gap, Forever 21, and dozens of other companies and designers that have made the compassionate decision to go fur-free.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 12/18/04: 'Tis The Season To Buy Fur?
• 2/20/02: Urban Outfitters Sells Fur

THE TRUTH NEVER LIES. DOWNLOAD THESE FACT SHEETS:

2. Canadian Seal Hunt Began Monday, 3/23/09
3/23/09 — READ FULL STORY: Canada begins seal hunt, under shadow of a ban

Baby white seal and images of them being killed.

Baby white seal and images of them being killed.

SUMMARY: Canada's annual seal hunt started 3/23/09, under pressure from a possible European Union ban on imported seal products. The world's largest marine mammal hunt was called "inherently inhumane" this month by a European Parliament committee that endorsed the bill to ban the import of seal products to the 27-member union. Animal rights groups say the hunt is cruel and difficult to monitor and ravages the seal population.

Fishermen sell seal pelts mostly for the fashion industry in Norway, Russia and China, as well as blubber for oil... The bill must be approved by the entire EU assembly and EU governments to become law, a move that could come as early as next month... Though acknowledging that the shooting or bludgeoning of the animals is a bloody practice, Canadian authorities contend the animals are killed quickly and do not suffer unnecessarily... EU legal experts say the ban could violate world trade rules, and Canada has warned it might challenge a ban before the World Trade Organization.

SUMMARY: Canada allows hunters in this year’s seal hunt to kill 338,200 animals — 55,000 seals more than in 2008, the fisheries minister said. MORE: http://silverscorpio.com/canadas-government-sets-quota-for-annual-seal-hunt/

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 3/7/09: Canada Seal Bill Dropped, No Debate. Demand End To Killing.

3. Win! Jamaica Says NO To Greyhound Racing
3/19/09 — READ FULL STORY: Jamaica Rejects Dog Racing!

SUMMARY: The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, has written to inform us that greyhound racing will not be authorized in his country. Thanks to everyone who sent a letter or email on behalf of the greyhounds! A proposal to legalize dog racing in South Africa is still under consideration. We’ll meet with government officials later this month to voice our concerns...

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• FRIENDS OF KINSHIP CIRCLE: Jamaica Wants Greyhound Races

4. Partial Seal Hunt Ban Is Passed In Russia
3/18/09 — READ FULL STORY: Russia Bans Hunt For Harp Seals Less Than One Year of Age

SUMMARY: Yuriy Trutnev, Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology announced a complete ban on hunting of all harp seals less than one year of age in the White Sea. This confirmation comes after an announcement last month that Russia would ban killing of whitecoat harp seals (unmoulted pups less than 2 months) and adults in the White Sea — and places Russia far ahead of Canada in terms of government response to public opinion... Minister Trutnev: "NGOs actively upheld their position against this hunt, raised public awareness and by all means contributed to the passage of ban on the seal hunt in Russia." [The] announcement follows a statement made earlier this month by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who called seal hunting a "bloody industry...that should have been banned years ago."

LET PEOPLE KNOW... DOWNLOAD THIS FACT SHEET: KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 3/7/09: Canada Seal Bill Dropped, No Debate. Demand End To Killing.
• Sept-Dec 2008 UPDATES: Netherlands Ban Products Made Of Cape Fur Seals
• Aug-Oct 2008 UPDATES: EU Proposes Total Ban On Some Seal Goods
• April-June 2008 UPDATES: Canada's Seal Hunt Ends With Lower Kill

5. Closing Arguments Heard In Ringling Abuse Trial
12/18/09 — FULL STORY: Closing arguments set for elephant abuse trial

A line of elephants tied up by their back fee.

LT PHOTO: Ringling elephants, Los Angeles Times. RT: nypost.com

SUMMARY: In 2000 American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Fund for Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, and former Ringling "barn man" Tom Rider file a lawsuit against Ringling Bros. Circus (world's biggest animal act with over $100 million in revenue annually) under the Endangered Species Act for its cruelty to Asian elephants. Records acquired under the Freedom of Information Act disclose:

• Virtually all Ringling endangered Asian elephants are exposed to
  TB. Former high-level employees say over last decade, many TB-
  positive and TB-infected animals perform in closed arenas. "They
  blow moisture from their trunks, hitting people in the face," one
  past worker claims.

• Chains and ropes are used to forcibly separate nursing elephants   from mothers at Ringling's Center for Elephant Conservation. Feld   Entertainment, the vast empire that owns Ringling, permits its   employees to beat, chain and wound endangered Asian elephants   with bullhooks.

2/4/09 - 3/18/09, Ringling trial from onset to closing arguments: Plaintiffs argue that bullhooks, chaining elephants up to 20 hours, and other practices violate Endangered Species Act's ban on "harming harassing or wounding" an endangered animal... No immediate ruling is expected from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who hears the case without a jury.

TRIAL UPDATES: awionline.org/legal_affairs/ringling_bros/trial_updates.htm

RELATED STORIES:
• ASPCA v. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
• Judge hears case alleging circus elephant abuse
• Ringling Bros. goes on trial for alleged elephant abuse

THE FACTS DON’T LIE. DOWNLOAD THIS:

6. Obama Bans Downer Cows, Closes Longtime Loophole
3/14/09 — READ FULL STORY: Obama bans ‘downer’ cows from food supply

PHOTOS: HSUS undercover video, Hallmark Meatpacking Company

A LONG TIME COMING: The first letter-writing campaign Kinship Circle issued a decade ago asked legislators to pass the Downed Animal Protection Act — to ban slaughter of cows, pigs, sheep and all “livestock” too sick and crippled to stand upright. A federal law STILL does not exist.

In 2003 the USDA authorized a downer ban in response to a Washington state dairy cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). But by 2007, Big Meat convinced Bush regulators to dilute USDA’s administrative rule. Collapsed cows with orthopedic (as opposed to central nervous system) injuries like broken legs or ripped tendons were kept alive to make hamburgers.

Many mad cows and beef recalls later, USDA’s ban remained wishy-washy. In 2007/2008, HSUS went undercover at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Co. in Chino, Calif. For the first time, mainstream eaters saw electric prods shock the heads, necks, spines and rectums of animals crumpled on concrete. They saw eyes blink as organs failed. They saw crushed bones and torn ligaments dragged over pavement. They heard cows scream (who knew?) as forklifts tossed their giant bodies like rag dolls. They even saw concentrated water jets fired into the cows’ noses and throats.

USDA recalled 143,383,823 pounds of Hallmark-tainted beef. Legislators cried “protect our food...ban downers!” Yet at a 2/28/08 hearing to assess inspection blunders, then Secretary of Agriculture Edward Schafer asked a Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee to strike down a ban on slaughter of downer cows. Apparently it was still “okay” for diseased cows to occasionally enter the food supply.

...Which brings us to the present: Without much fanfare, the Obama admin just permanently banned the slaughter of cows who can’t move on their own.

WHY WE CARE: Yes, sick cows make sick food -- from mad cow disease to E. coli or Salmonella. But Kinship Circle already advocates a plant-based diet. We care because no dying animal should be rammed upright with tractors and forklifts...hauled, shocked and pounded...so meat makers can eke about $30 out of her tortured body.

Obama’s signature solidifies USDA’s ban and closes the loophole that left certain downers unprotected. Now, maybe we can get Congress to pass the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act. With the close of the 110th Congress (2007-2008), the 111th Session (2009-2010) will likely initiate some version of this longstanding bill to safeguard downed animals. When it does, Kinship Circle will be close behind with action. ALSO, check here:
• www.nodowners.org/intro_dapa.htm
• www.govtrack.us
• www.washingtonwatch.com

TIME TO TELL THE TRUTH. DOWNLOAD THESE FACT SHEETS:

7. EU Ban On Cosmetics Animal Testing Goes Live!
3/11/09 — READ FULL STORY: European Union ban on cosmetic testing on animals begins

SUMMARY: March 11, 2009 marks the banning of cosmetics testing on animals within the European Union. For nearly two decades, the BUAV, leading sister organisations in the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE), has spearheaded the campaign across Europe to achieve this ban. The 7th amendment to the Cosmetics Directive means it becomes illegal to:

Test cosmetic ingredients on animals anywhere in the EU, irrespective of whether there is a non-animal alternative method available (testing on the products themselves is already banned).
Sell or import into the EU cosmetics ingredients or products where they have been animal-tested after 3/11/09, with the exception of certain type tests which have an extended deadline until 3/11/13.

FIGHT WITH THE FACTS. DOWNLOAD THIS:

8. Wolves Lose: Interior Secretary Salazar Takes Away Protection
3/6/09 — READ FULL STORY: Gray Wolves To Be Removed From Endangered Species List

On 1/14/09, an Interior Dept. rule under the Bush Admin removed gray wolves in the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky Mountains from the federal endangered species list. Then Obama froze and seemingly overturned this decision. In round 3, new Interior Secretary Ken Salazar once again stripped wolves of their protected status. Photo: National Geographic, Joel Sartore

SUMMARY: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will uphold the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to remove gray wolves from the federal endangered list in the Northern Rockies and western Great Lakes. Wolves will remain a federally protected species in Wyoming... But management will go to state agencies in Montana, Idaho and parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah...Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Wolves elsewhere in the Lower 48 states remain on the endangered list... The Obama administration had ordered a review of the decision made by the Bush administration shortly before departing. Salazar said he had concluded that dropping the wolf from the list was justified by its strong comeback in the two regions, which together have a population of nearly 5,600 wolves.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, the Calif. Democrat who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, promised to investigate whether Salazar's decision is consistent with the Endangered Species Act... Courts have overturned previous attempts to remove the wolf from the list, and future legal battles appear likely. Environmental groups immediately pledged a lawsuit over the estimated 1,600 wolves in the Northern Rockies...

Idaho and Montana already have crafted plans for public hunts to keep wolf populations in check... Idaho Gov. C.L. Butch Otter repeated his desire to get the first available wolf hunting tag so he can try to shoot one of the animals. "The fish and game population is really counting on a robust population of trophy animals to maintain that part of our economy," he said.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 1/22/09: Obama’s Freeze May Give Gray Wolves Reprieve
• 11/25/08: Save Gray Wolves From Bush Admin’s Kill Plan
• NOV 2008 KC DIGEST: Animals Would Like President-Elect Barack Obama To Know...
• 9/29/08 UPDATES / AUG - OCT: Bush Admin VS. Gray Wolves: GOP Losing
• 2/29/08 UPDATES / APRIL - JUNE: Gray Wolf Hunts Planned After De-Listing
• 4/27/04: Western Gray Wolves Under Attack

9. Obama Fixes Endangered Species Act, Post-Bush
3/3/09 — READ FULL STORY: Obama Restores Endangered Species Act Provision

SUMMARY: President Obama will restore rules requiring U.S. agencies consult with independent federal experts to determine if their actions might harm threatened and endangered species...marking yet another reversal of President Bush's environmental legacy... In Dec. 2008, the Bush admin changed a longstanding practice under the Endangered Species Act by issuing rules that let agencies [initiate] projects without seeking an independent review by either Fish and Wildlife Service or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Environmentalists and scientists said this shift allowed agencies to...hurt already-vulnerable species across the country.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 2/9/09: Fix The Endangered Species Act That Bush Broke

10. BLM Says Pickens Horse Sanctuary Won’t Work
3/2/09 — READ FULL STORY: BLM says Pickens deal for wild horses flawed

Wild horses gathered from the Fox & Lake Herd Management Area in near Empire, Nev., wait in a pen.

TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY: http://capwiz.com/madeleinepickens/issues/alert/?alertid=12943361&type=AN

SUMMARY: An offer from the wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens to establish a sanctuary for 30,000 wild horses is "problematic" and not viable as proposed, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said. Nonetheless, the BLM is willing to continue talks with Madeleine Pickens, Nevada state director Ron Wenker told the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board.

Pickens last fall proposed establishing 1 million acres, or 1,500 square miles, as a wild horse sanctuary after BLM said it was considering euthanasia to stem escalating costs of keeping animals gathered from the open range in long-term holding facilities. About 33,000 wild horses roam in 10 Western states, about half in Nevada. The horses and burros are managed by the BLM and protected under a 1971 law enacted by Congress.

The agency, which set a target "appropriate management level" of 27,000 horses in the wild to protect the herd, the range and other foraging animals, rounds up excess horses and offers them for adoption. Those that are too old or considered unadoptable are sent to long-term holding facilities, where they can live for decades. There are now about as many animals in long-term care as remain in the wild.

Wenker said there are two problems with Pickens' offer. One is the $500 per head, per year — or $15 million annually for 30,000 horses — she was asking to take the animals now in long-term holding facilities off the government's hands. Pickens last week told The Associated Press the stipend would used to finance a nonprofit foundation that would care for the animals. She estimated her plan would save the government as much as $700 million in costs otherwise spent for long-term holding by 2020.

The other problem with Pickens' proposal, Wenker said, is that government land Pickens has considered for the sanctuary is ineligible because federal law restricts horses to areas where they existed when the Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act was enacted. "At this point," Wenker wrote, "the BLM could contract with your foundation to care for wild horses strictly on private land. Alternatively, your foundation could own and care for the horses without compensation from the BLM, as you first proposed...” The BLM has said it would not implement killing healthy wild horses this fiscal year that ends Sept. 30...

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• Sept-Dec 2008 UPDATES: Hero’s Plan To Save Wild Horses Moves Forward
• 11/18/08: Update & Action - Doomed Wild Horses Have A Hero?
• 7/10/08: BLM Wants To Kill Wild Horses

11. Win! University Of Michigan To Use Simulators Only
2/26/09 — READ FULL STORY: Trauma training course will use simulators only

SUMMARY: Your letters, calls, emails and faxes made an impact. Six weeks after Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine (PCRM) alerted us to cruel and old-fashioned live dog labs for University of Michigan’s trauma training courses, UM publicly announced a switch to simulator usage only. Nonanimal research tools mean no one suffers. No one dies. Woof! Oink!

ANN ARBOR, Mich — After careful study, the University of Michigan Health System has decided to use only simulated models for the Advanced Trauma and Life Support courses conducted at the U-M Medical School. The decision comes from a recommendation by the Health System’s Graduate Medical Education Committee after a review of simulators that can be used to train medical professionals in trauma procedures. Media contact: Margarita Bauza, mbauza@med.umich.edu, 734-764-2220

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 1/19/09: Unnecessary - Live Dogs Cut Open To Train Med Students

12. Jailed Dogfighter Michael Vick Goes Home In May?
2/26/09 — READ FULL STORY: Vick Approved For Home Confinement

SUMMARY: Michael Vick has been approved for release to home confinement, possibly as soon as May 21, an official told the Associated Press. The NFL quarterback is serving a 23-month federal prison sentence in Leavenworth, Kan., for his role in a dogfighting operation at his home in Virginia... Vick would be on electronic monitoring and would be permitted to leave home only for activities approved by his probation officer, the AP reported. Vick had been scheduled to be released from prison in July.

He remains on suspension by the NFL. Commissioner Roger Goodell has to rule on Vick's eligibility to play before Vick can resume his NFL career. Vick remains under contract to the Atlanta Falcons but the team has announced that it intends to trade him. Vick could be released by the Falcons, leaving him free to sign with any interested team, if they're unable to trade him.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• Sept-Dec 2008 UPDATES: Michael Vick: Early Release & Back To NFL?
• Jan-Mar 2008 UPDATES: The Dogs That Vick Hurt
• Sept-Dec 2007 UPDATES: Vick’s Dogs...You Helped Save Their Lives
• 10/29/07: KC DIGEST - Ensure Vick’s Dogs Are Spared, As Promised
• 9/30/07: Vick Teammate Faces Unrelated Cruelty Charges
• 8/28/07: Salvation For Vick's Dogs?
• 8/21/07: Sick Vick Updates & Feedback
• 8/19/07: No Deal For Sick Vick’s Dogfighting Crimes
• 8/2/07: Michael Vick Dogfighting Files: Action & Updates
• June 2007 DIGEST: Massive K-9 Grave Found On Michael Vick's Property

13. Drill-Baby-Drill Rewind
2/26/09 — READ FULL STORY: Bush Oil-Shale Leases Canceled by Salazar

SUMMARY: In his second reversal of a Bush administration decision, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he is scrapping leases for oil-shale development on federal land in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Salazar rescinded a lease offer made last month for research, development and demonstration projects that could have led to oil-shale exploration on 1.9 million acres in the three states. Salazar also halted the leasing of oil and gas drilling parcels near national parks in Utah this month.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• December 2008, BUSH EXIT STRATEGY: The Rush To Ruin Everything

14. Nepal Orders Ban On Export Of Rhesus Monkeys
2/25/09 — READ FULL STORY: Nepalese Government Orders End To Export Of Monkeys

SUMMARY: The parliament committee has ordered Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation to stop the process of export of rhesus monkeys... According to the present Acts and Laws of the country, the committee has concluded that, it is not liable to export wildlife including monkeys to the third countries...

From W.A.R. (WIN ANIMAL RIGHTS), centcom@war-online.org — We’ve worked hard to judge the political situation in Nepal and come to the conclusion that a combination of Nepalese Parliamentary democracy and the forthcoming Supreme Court action should be sufficient to ensure the monkeys are released and monkey farming is permanently ended in Nepal. Thanks to your efforts, no monkey has been exported from Nepal and it seems less likely that any animals will be exported in the future. Therefore, as a show of faith, we call for an end to direct protests against the Nepalese government at their embassies and consulates... We will keep you informed of the latest developments, and if there is even the slightest hint that monkey farming is allowed to continue, we’ll call for immediate protests...

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 12/29/08: Cambodia Monkeys - Stolen From Trees, Sold To Research
• 6/24/08: Nepal's Monkeys Sold To Animal Experimenters

15. U.S. House Passes Primate “Pet” Bill
2/24/09 — READ FULL STORY: House okays Captive Primate Safety Act after chimp attack

TOP PHOTO: Chimps like this little guy are wild animals who naturally mature with aggressive tendencies. BOTTOM PHOTO: Travis: knifed, beaten, shot and killed after attacking a visitor at the home where he lived as a "pet." MyFOX NY

SUMMARY: The U.S. House of Representative approved the Captive Primate Safety Act (H.R. 80) with a majority vote of 323-95 (wow)! On 2/23/09, Kinship Circle issued an alert, “Wired To Be Wild” asking House Reps to cosponsor H.R. 80 and Senators to introduce companion legislation. We also blogged about Travis, the “pet” chimp shot dead on 2/16/09 after attacking his guardian’s friend in Stamford, CT. Perhaps Travis’ light in heaven showed Reps the dire need for a ban on the import/export and interstate traffic in primates as “pets.” In any case, the House moved fast!

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 2/24/09: Breaking News - House Passes Primate “Pet” Bill
• 2/23/09: Wired To Be Wild - Primates Aren't Pets
• BLOG: Travis once worked in show biz, commercials mostly...

16. Model California Spay/Neuter Bill Reintroduced In 2009
2/24/09 — READ FULL STORY: California’s SB 250 / The Pet Responsibility Act

SUMMARY: Each year, over $250 million is spent housing and euthanizing homeless dogs and cats in California. Approximately 1 million dogs and cats enter California’s shelters each year, and over half are killed simply because there are not enough homes... SB 250 provides a reasonable, fiscally responsible step towards reducing pet overpopulation in California. The bill requires that dogs be spayed or neutered unless their owner/guardian obtains an unaltered dog license when they license their animal. SB 250 also requires that roaming cats be spayed and neutered by their owner/guardian...

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 2/27/08: Los Angeles: Spay-Neuter Proposal Becomes Law
• 6/6/07: Healthy Pets Act Passes State Assembly
• 4/24/07: Make Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Law Reality
• 4/12/07: Support Landmark CA Law For Mandatory Spay/Neuter

17. First Charges Under Animal Terrorism Law?
2/20/09 — READ FULL STORY: BREAKING NEWS: Four arrested in animal rights attacks

SUMMARY: A terrorism task force arrested animal-rights protesters suspected of threatening researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. Federal and local authorities arrested Maryam Khajavi, 20, Joseph Buddenberg, 25, Adriana Stumpo, 23, and Nathan Pope, 26. They were charged under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

Crimes arrested activists are accused of:

Oct. 21, 2007: A group of 20 protesters demonstrated outside a UC Berkeley professor's home in El Cerrito. Some wore bandanas to hide their faces. They trespassed on his front yard, chanted slogans and accused him of being a murderer because of his use of animals in research.
Jan. 27, 2008: Demonstrations, including chalking, in front of the homes of several UC researchers.
Feb. 20, 2008: A group of five protesters tried to forcibly enter the Westside home of a UC Santa Cruz researcher during a child's birthday party. The researcher's husband was hit during the demonstration.
July 29, 2008: Flyers left at Caffe Pergolesi in Santa Cruz that contained the names, addresses and telephone numbers of several UCSC scientists. The fliers said the researchers were "murders and torturers alive and well in Santa Cruz" and stated "We know where you live. We know where you work. We will never back down until you end your abuse."

Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act: Whomever uses or causes to be used any facility of interstate commerce for the purpose of damaging or interfering with the operations of an animal enterprise, and in connection with such purpose intentionally places a person in reasonable fear of fear of death or serious bodily injury to that person or an immediate family member, or conspires or attempts to do so, by a course of conduct involving threats, acts of vandalism, property damage, criminal trespass, harassment or intimidation, shall be imprisoned for not more than five years.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 3/19/07: Invite Congress To AETA Briefing On The Hill
• 12/8/06: AETA UPDATE / Hope For Repeal?
• 11/16/06: Questions & Rumors: Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act
• 11/13/06: Done Deal? AETA Passes

18. California: Big Meat Wins Right To Abuse Downed Animals
2/20/09 — READ FULL STORY: Calif. Court Lets Meat Industry Use Sick, Disabled Animals

PHOTO: Farm Sanctuary

SUMMARY: A Fresno, Calif. federal judge grants a National Meat Association (NMA) and American Meat Institute (AMI) request to let sick, disabled animals into the food supply — overturning Calif. law (1/1/09) amended after an HSUS investigation exposed horrific abuse of downer cows at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. in Chino, CA. Hallmark had been the #2 ground beef supplier to the U.S. National School Lunch Program, until undercover video showed workers kick, ram, shock, harass, and "waterboard" incapacitated cows. This led to the nation’s largest recall of 143,383,823 pounds of beef in Feb. 2008. The 2009 ruling strikes down a Calif. amendment that had banned transport/marketing of downers and let prosecutors file criminal charges against violators.

TIME TO TELL THE TRUTH. DOWNLOAD THESE FACT SHEETS:

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• Aug-Oct 2008 UPDATES: Calif. Law Bans Slaughter Of Downers
• Aug-Oct 2008 UPDATES: Politics Trumps Mercy: Still No Downer Ban
• 7/14/08: No Downers. No Exceptions. NOW.
• Apr-June 2008 UPDATES: Downer News - Big Meat Backs Downer Ban + More..

19. Peanut’s Case Moves Forward - Slowly
2/18/09 — READ FULL STORY: Rescued With Love, Inc. website

PHOTO: www.rescuedwithlove.org/crueltycaseinmackay.htm

SUMMARY: 10/20/08 - Danielle and Karen Neilson's 7-month fox terrier, Peanut, was abducted from their home in Queensland (Australia). Trent William Cunniffe, 24, and Jonathon Connor Blake, 21, were arrested... Videophone images show the puppy wails as the men slash him with garden shears and a pocketknife — severing his nose, a front leg, rear leg and finally, his head. Cunniffe and Blake display the amputated body parts... Trent Cuncliffe’s case may be referred to Mental Health Court, where it could take up to 1 year to determine if he was of sound mind at the time of the offenses. He’s held in Mackay Base Hospital's psychiatric ward. Jonathan Blake’s court case was remanded until 5/29/09. He is detained in Capricornia Correctional Centre.

BOTTOM LINE: Both men are still in custody. Neither have entered pleas. Case is in limbo, at least until May. Kinship Circle will do it’s best to update you and alert you to further action.

CHECK FOR UPDATES:
• Rescued With Love, Inc.
• Horrendous case of animal cruelty

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 10/31/08: His Name Was Peanut - Torture And Death Of A Puppy

20. Grey Seals Spared In Canada’s “Other Hunt”
2/13/09 — READ FULL STORY: Grey seal nursery spared from Canadian hunt

Seal montage.

There is another slaughter of baby seals on the east coast of Canada each year. Fishermen, who pay just a few dollars for a sealing license, descend on recently weaned defenseless seal pups and proceed to shoot and bludgeon them to death. The pups' skin is then ripped from their bodies and oftentimes the carcasses are left to rot...

SUMMARY: Is the global boycott of Canadian seafood costing the Canadian seafood trade more than killing baby seals brings in? Is the demand for seal products drying up as fast as you can say “European Union ban?” Rebecca Aldworth, Director of Wildlife Issues for Humane Society of the U.S., thinks so:

“I’ve just returned from Hay Island, Nova Scotia, where the annual hunt for grey seals was scheduled to start. There, instead of sealers beating defenseless pups to death with wooden bats, I stood amidst protective, nurturing mothers and their babies. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Nova Scotia government had authorized another grey seal kill. But processing plants told seal hunters that they would not buy the skins of the baby grey seals, and the sealers stayed home...The grey seal pups are likely safe for now, but the true target of the world's largest slaughter of marine mammals — the harp seals — will be killed by the hundreds of thousands. Still, there is hope for harp seals too...”

With the European Commission evaluating an import/export ban on seal goods for the entire European Union — Kinship Circle continues to target Canadian and European officials, Olympics organizers, Canadian seafood producers... in campaigns to stop Canada’s annual bloodbath. For 2009 at least, grey seals are spared.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 8/5/08: The Other Canadian Seal Hunt - Grey Seals Of Nova Scotia

21. Iowa Pig Abuse Case Is Delayed
2/12/09 — READ FULL STORY: Trial Delayed in Iowa Hog Abuse Case

a pig has blue coloring on its snout. A pile of bloody dead piglets. A pig looks through bars.

PHOTOS: www.peta.org/actioncenter/iowa_pigfarm_gallery.asp

SUMMARY: Trial will be delayed for at least one person accused of abusing hogs at a Greene County farm in western Iowa. Shelly Mauch was slated to stand trial on (2/12/09) for animal cruelty, but County Attorney Nick Martino says it will be delayed until at least next month (March 2009). Mauch was one of six people arrested October 2008 after PETA released an undercover video that showed pig abuse at a MowMar Farms. Four others are scheduled for trial on Feb. 24, but Martino expects those to be delayed too. Shawn Lyons, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty earlier this month. Minnesota-based MowMar has said that it no longer employs the workers.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 10/26/08: Penalize Pig Torturers At Iowa Farm
• 9/17/08: Hormel's Pigs: Slammed, Cut, Spray-painted

22. Jail + No Animals For Man Who Filed Off Dog’s Teeth
2/10/09 — SOURCE: Emilie Bottiggi, ebottiggi@aol.com

SUMMARY: “Thanks to the many animal advocates who wrote, emailed, faxed, or called principal contacts. Thank you to Kinship Circle for mobilizing the wider animal advocate community about this case,” writes Emilie Bottiggi, a Tennessean who brings this case to our attention.

Every animal abuse court case helps build precedent for the next. In a Warren County courtroom where Christopher Barnett is convicted of Class A Misdemeanor Animal Abuse for filing Siberian Husky Lucas’ teeth down to the bloody gums — 48 hours in jail is the norm. But the McMinnville TN man gets 75 days behind bars. Moreover, after Barnett’s January 2009 jury trial, he is restricted to no future “ownership” of domestic animals and forced to relinquish his other dog, a Boxer, for adoption into a new home.

Barnett’s penalties for Class A Misdemeanor Animal Abuse include:
• 75 days in jail (similar cases usually get 48 hours, though 11 months/29 days is possible).
• 100 hours of public (community) service.
• Mandatory anger management class.
• $5,071.50 in restitution for the care of Lucas to the Humane Society of Warren County.
• Restricted to no future ownership of domestic animals, with exception of horses as Mr. Barnett is a farrier by
occupation.
• Surrender of Mr. Barnett's Boxer to Humane Society (Boxer had been in custody of Humane Society since seizure of Lucas).

Lucas underwent multiple surgeries at Sparta Road Veterinary Clinic and recovered last year. Seven unsalvageable teeth were extracted and 16 root canals performed, relieving Lucas’ pain and allowing him to eat. The Warren County Humane Society oversaw Lucas’ adoption into a new family.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 1/21/09: Man Who Filed Dog’s Teeth To Gumline Belongs In Jail

23. FDA Okays Goats As Drug Machines
2/6/09 — READ FULL STORY: F.D.A. Approves Drug From Gene-Altered Goats

PHOTO: A goat at GTC Biotherapeutics' farm.

SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug produced by livestock given a human gene. The drug, meant to prevent fatal blood clots in people with a rare condition, is a human protein extracted from the milk of genetically engineered goats. The FDA also approved the goats used to make the drug, the first such animals cleared under guidelines to regulate the use of transgenic animals in the nation’s drug and food supply. Made by a company called GTC Biotherapeutics, the human anticlotting protein is produced by a herd of 200 bioengineered goats living under carefully controlled conditions on a farm in central Massachusetts...

Turning animals into walking drug producers does not sit well with some environmental advocates and animal rights activists. There are other concerns: Animals could be harmed, animal germs might contaminate the drug, milk or meat from genetically engineered drug-producing animals might enter the food supply or animals might escape and breed with others, spreading the gene, with unpredictable consequences...

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 7/11/08: Franken-Goats? Say No To Animals As Drug Machines

24. Michigan Pound Renews R & R Research Contract, 6 Months
1/29/09 — READ FULL STORY: Montcalm County Renews Animal Contract

SUMMARY: Michigan’s Montcalm County has been the site of a fierce debate over animal research and the Montcalm County government. For over 30 years, Montcalm County has maintained a contract with R & R Research to give unadopted animals from the county’s animal shelter to the company... R & R Research obtains animals through a process called “pound seizure.” The relationship has been a target of animal advocates for years, with the contract being a frequent target of opposition... In response, the County crafted a “compromise” solution where the contract would be renewed for six months and a Concerned Citizens Coalition would investigate the relationship and report back to the Board of Commissioners.

RELATED STORIES:
• 3/11/09: Montcalm County Animal “Shelter” Cruelty Exposed

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 1/7/09: Misery For Profit At Michigan Pound

25. Los Angeles Zoo Keeps Billy & Bigger Elephant Display
1/29/09 — READ FULL STORY: Los Angeles won't send its pachyderm packing

SUMMARY: Los Angeles City Council voted to allow work on a $42-million Pachyderm Forest exhibit to resume at L.A. Zoo... They voted 11 to 4 to allow the zoo to complete the exhibit and keep its solitary Asian bull elephant, Billy... Opponents of the exhibit argued that zoo elephants should be retired to huge sanctuaries that mimic a wild preserve... A dozen zoos have already gotten out of the elephant-keeping business... "This isn't over," said Catherine Doyle, an elephant-welfare advocate. "As long as there are elephants at the L.A. Zoo, there is going to be controversy... We had experts from around the world saying elephants don't belong in zoos. It's appalling that the science has been ignored." Once the exhibit is completed, around 2010, the zoo plans to bring in more Asian elephants, an endangered species, for an ambitious breeding program.

KNOW YOUR ARGUMENT. DOWNLOAD THIS FACT SHEET:

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• FRIENDS OF KINSHIP CIRCLE - 1/9/09: Last Chance To Close Elephant Display & Free Billy
• FRIENDS OF KINSHIP CIRCLE - 12/1/08: Last Chance To Free Billy, End Suffering for Elephants

26. UK’s “SHAC 7” Go To Jail. Deja Vu?
1/21/09 — READ FULL STORY: Animal rights campaigners jailed

SUMMARY: Seven activists associated with SHAC-UK were arrested and jailed for protest activities against Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) in Cambridgeshire. Found guilty of “conspiracy to blackmail:
   • Heather Nicholson, 41, SHAC-UK co-founder: 11 years in jail
   • Gregg, 41, and Natasha, 39, Avery, SHAC-UK co-founders: 9 years jail each
   • Gavin Medd-Hall, 45: 8 years jail
   • Daniel Wadham, 21: 5 years jail
   • Gerrah Selby, 20: 4 years jail
   • Daniel Amos, 22: 4 years jail
   • Trevor Holmes, 51: cleared

Winchester Crown Court heard that during a six-year campaign members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) falsely claimed company managers were pedophiles. They also sent hoax bomb parcels and made threatening phone calls to firms telling them to cut links with HLS... They daubed roads outside managers' homes with slogans such as "puppy killer.” All were given indefinite Anti-Social Behavior Orders, banning them from traveling to the firms targeted. The court heard that between 2001 and 2007, SHAC, which was based near Hook, Hampshire, targeted companies in the UK and Europe that either supplied or had secondary links with HLS...

UPDATE ON SHAC-USA PRISONERS:

Picture of the Shac 7.

• Recap of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty “Terrorism” Appeal in Philadelphia
• UPDATES ON SHAC-USA PRISONERS

Oral arguments in the SHAC 7 appeal were heard. 1/6/09 - It will be many months before a decision is handed down... alfsg@lists.rbgi.net writes — Judges seem to be bothered by a conflict of the Animal Enterprise Protection Act with the First Amendment. Although that may not bring any immediate relief to prisoners still incarcerated, it may have consequences in the long run for the enforceability of Animal Enterprise Protection Act and similar laws.

SHAC-USA PRISONERS — Kevin Kjonaas, 72 months; Lauren Gazzola, 52 months; Jacob Conroy, 48 months; Josh Harper, 36 months; Andrew Stepanian, 36 months (released 12/8/08); Darius Fullmer, 12 months + 1 day (released 9/29/07)

RELATED STORIES:
• Activists guilty of six-year campaign of threats aimed at vivisection facility
• From a Hampshire cottage, animal extremists plotted campaign of violence
• Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, SHAC-UK

WHO ARE THE REAL TERRORISTS? DOWNLOAD THE FACTS:

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• Bear Witness: Inside Huntingdon Life Sciences, 2005
• Inside/Out: Diary Of Madness
• Move Over Al Quaeda! Animal Activists Top FBI Most Wanted
• Mommy’s A WHAT?

27. AETA-like Bill Is Squashed In South Dakota
1/21/09 — READ FULL STORY: Committee kills bill protecting animal researchers

SUMMARY: A measure that sought to give university researchers extra protection from terrorist acts by animal-rights extremists was rejected. A South Dakota State Affairs Committee voted 11-2 to kill the bill after panel members said current law already makes it a crime to commit all the acts covered in the measure. Some said the measure also went too far in closing state government records and could have made it a crime for a newspaper to publish a story about a research project...

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) Planned All Along?

28. Obama Appoints A True Animal Advocate
1/17/09 — READ FULL STORY: Cass Sunstein's The Rights of Animals: A Very Short Primer

SUMMARY: Harvard University Law School professor Cass Sunstein, Obama’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, doesn’t eat animals. “We ought to ban hunting,” he’s said. And: “Animals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representatives.” Could Sunstein’s appointment eliminate or lessen hunting, animal research, zoos, aquariums and animal circuses? We’re rooting for you Cass!

29. Palin’s Alaska To Block Protection For Whales
1/14/09 — READ FULL STORY: Alaska seeks to block U.S. protections for belugas

SUMMARY: ANCHORAGE (Reuters) — Five months after suing to keep polar bears off the U.S. threatened species list, Alaska's government said it plans to block federal protections for a struggling population of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, a mature oil-producing basin. Former vice presidential hopeful Gov. Sarah Palin said the energy-rich state believes the Endangered Species Act protections for belugas announced in October by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are unwarranted.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 9/27/08: Palin's Pro-Death Platform On Animals

30. Kinship Circle & Others Against Killing Wildlife
1/2/09 — READ FULL STORY: More Than 100 Organizations Say Federal Lethal Control of
Bears, Cougars, Coyotes, Wolves Is Cruel and Unnecessary

SUMMARY: In January, Big Wildlife coordinated a letter — signed by 115 conservation, animal protection, ranching, and faithbased organizations — to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging [Obama admin] to end the federal government’s systematic killing of wildlife...wolves, coyotes, bears, cougars, prairie dogs. Each year the Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services kills millions of wild animals, primarily on behalf of agribusiness.

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 1/22/09: Letter To Abolish Lethal Wildlife Services

31. European Cat/Dog Fur Ban Is Now In Force
1/1/09 — READ FULL STORY: Ban on imports, exports and trade in cat and dog fur

SUMMARY: Several years ago, Humane Society International asked Kinship Circle to create a global letter campaign to European Commissioners. We advocated enactment of a Written Declaration in the European Parliament to ban import, export, sale and production of cat/dog fur skins in Europe. A total ban passed and became active 1/1/09! A loophole that let commerce in companion-animal furs not “specifically” killed for fur is closed.

“Humane Society International, supported by Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson, first exposed the trade nearly a decade ago, revealing evidence of a thriving cat and dog fur market in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark... The EU-wide ban follows similar legislation in America and Australia. But China continues trading cat and dog fur, with a thriving market in Russia...”

KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 6/21/07: European Union Dog And Cat Fur Ban
• 5/1/07: Stop Dog/Cat Fur Imports To U.S. And Europe
• 2/8/07 KC DIGEST: Faux Fur Found To Come From Dogs, Cats
• 11/20/06 UPDATES / OCT-DEC: Cat/Dog Fur: European Commission Proposes Ban
• 10/24/03: Letters NOW For EU Ban On Cat/Dog Fur

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