Purrs 4 Peace Week 44: Free the Lab Animals

If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth - beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals - would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals? ~Attributed to George Bernard Shaw

April 24th, 2010 is World Lab Animal Day. This day was founded by the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) and is now recognized by the United Nations and marked by animal advocates on every continent. There will be a rally commencing at 11:30 a.m. at Cavendish Square in London. I wish I were in London to attend this event which is intended to bring attention and highlight the immense suffering endured by lab animals. These voiceless innocents endure suffering which is unnecessary, unscientific and unhumane.

This year in commemoration of this day I am going to participate in PETAs efforts to lobby Lufthansa to stop transporting animals to laboratories. Peta released heartbreaking photos of 50 beagles who had been confined in crates and loaded as cargo for transport from Marshall Farms (an animal breeding facility in New York) to Charles River Laboratories (CRL) in Scotland for purposes of experimentation. It is reported that CRL is one of the largest testers of animals subjecting them to poisoning, mutilation and death and has been cited for dozens of violations of the Animal Welfare Act in the U.S. Less than a day after the release of the photos (and the outrage it engendered), the airline announced a new policy prohibiting transport of dogs and cats to labs. However, now is the time to press Lufthansa to extend the policy to other animals.

In addition....we will purr. Purr to end the suffering of innocents for the sake of greed. Purr to end the destruction of our own human souls by the torture of animals. Purr to free animals imprisoned and tortured in laboratories. We will Purr 4 Peace.

Vivisection is a social evil because if it advances human knowledge, it does so at the expense of human character. ~George Bernard Shaw

Week 44 of Purrs 4 Peace details are as follows:

• Week forty-four”s appointed time is Sunday, April 18, 2010.
• Participants should purr for three minutes commencing at 3 p.m. Eastern (U.S.) which is 8:00 p.m. (20:00 hrs.) in the U.K..
• The cat’s human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at the appointed time.
• Please post your cat name and the country you purr in at www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com as a COMMENT if you are participating in this historic project. (posting a link to your own website-if you have one-is encouraged.) Or let me know by message on twitter or facebook.
• Posting purrs on facebook ( Acolytes of Confucius Cat or as friend to Alley Mason) and twitter (@ConfuciusCat) is encouraged, since it inspires purring in others, but not required. On twitter please use #purrs4peace in your tweets.

Peace * Paix * Frieden * Vrede * Pace * Paz * Shalom * Fred * Salaam * Om Shanti * Heddwch * Siochan

Purrs 4 Peace Week 43 Announcement: Just Say No to Leaving Pets in Parked Cars

"The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them, that's the essence of inhumanity." ~ George Bernard Shaw, Irish Playwright and Essayist

Spring is here. The hot weather is coming. Indeed, in the southern U.S. temperatures are already in the 80s. This sunny and warm weather is beautiful. It brings with it gorgeous flowers to smell, picnics, long walks…and a myriad of other wonderful experiences. But one of the cruel side effects of this weather is those humans who don’t seem to realize…or don’t care…about the dangers of leaving animals locked in a parked car on a sunny day.

Last weekend for example on Tybee Island, near where we live, my human aunt was working on renovations to a house on a lovely day that was in the upper 70s when she and a friend noticed a family park their car, get out (parents and kids) take their family dog, BUT leave their cat inside with one window exhibiting the barest of cracks.

After some minutes of distress over this cat my human aunt and friend found the family and confronted them about their cruelty and force them to take their cat out of the car or the authorities would be called. Outside working in the sun, it was extremely hot for the humans. A cat left to bake in that car could have been dead by the time they returned voluntarily.

Even mild days can be dangerous. I have read accounts of a dog who died in Albany, N.Y. when locked in a car on a sunny 67 degree day. Some humans don’t seem to get it that inside a parked car temperatures can climb in just a matter of minutes. Experiments indicate that on a mild 73ºF day, the temperature inside a car can reach 120ºF in 30 minutes. Adding to the danger, dogs and cat are unable to cool themselves as effectively as humans. Heatstroke therefore can come on quickly causing brain damage or death.

This week let us purr that this year humans will finally gain the insight, knowledge, and caring to STOP the torture of the animals who love them. Purr to prevent locking our canine and feline brethren in parked cars.

Week 43 of Purrs 4 Peace details are as follows:

Week forty-three’s appointed time is Sunday, April 11, 2010.

Participants should purr for three minutes commencing at 3 p.m. Eastern (U.S.) which is 8:00 p.m. (20:00 hrs.) in the U.K.

The cat’s human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at the appointed time.

Please post your cat name and the country you purr in at www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com as a COMMENT if you are participating in this historic project. (posting a link to your own website-if you have one-is encouraged.) Or let me know by message on twitter or facebook.

Posting purrs on facebook ( Acolytes of Confucius Cat or as friend to Alley Mason) and twitter (@ConfuciusCat) is encouraged, since it inspires purring in others, but not required. On twitter please use #purrs4peace in your tweets.

Peace * Paix * Frieden * Vrede * Pace * Paz * Shalom * Salaam *Om Shanti * Heddwch * Siochan

Purrs 4 Peace Week 37: Horse are not for Slaughter

If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth - beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals - would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals? ~Attributed to George Bernard Shaw

I was surprised to learn recently that although horse meat is not traditionally eaten in the United States, tens of thousands of American horses are slaughtered each year for human consumption. These horses - riding horses, carriage horses, race horses, wild horses and even children’s ponies - are purchased by slaughterhouse middlemen at auction. Sadly, many of these horses are brought to auction by their owners with the idea that the horse will find a good home. The sellers do not realize that killer buyers are at the auction along with families and horse rescue organizations. When purchased by these killer buyers, the horses are shipped long distances in cramped trailers without food, water or rest. The USDA has obtained information of horrific injuries suffered by horses in transport including dangling eyes, broken legs, back injuries...even horses dead on arrival. Most of these horses were young and healthy with years left of productive life. I will not even go into the horrendous slaughter process before their meat shipped to Europe and Asia.

There has been some action in the form of The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503/ S. 727) which would ban the slaughter of American horses for food and ban the export of live horses across borders for slaughter. I hope you will urge your congress men and women to support this legislation.

And this week I urge everyone to purrrrr. Purr for the majestic and beautiful creatures who deserve better than this treatment. They deserve care and safety. They deserve respect. They deserve PEACE.

Week 37 of Purrs 4 Peace details are as follows:

• Week thirty-sevens’s appointed time is Sunday, February 28, 2010.
• Participants should purr for three minutes commencing at 3 p.m. Eastern (U.S.) which is 8:00 p.m. (20:00 hrs.) in the U.K.
• The cat’s human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at the appointed time.
• Please post your cat name and the country you purr in at www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com as a COMMENT if you are participating in this historic project. (posting a link to your own website-if you have one-is encouraged.) Or let me know by message on twitter or facebook.
• Posting purrs on facebook ( Acolytes of Confucius Cat or as friend to Alley Mason) and twitter (@ConfuciusCat) is encouraged, since it inspires purring in others, but not required. On twitter please use #purrs4peace in your tweets.

Peace * Paix * Frieden * Vrede * Pace * Paz * Shalom * Salaam * Om Shanti * Heddwch * Síochán * 和平

Purrs 4 Peace- Week 16 Announcement - "Shelters" should live up to their name.

Atrocities are not less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called medical research.
--George Bernard Shaw

Pound Seizure. Two innocuous words but together they mean something horrific: animal shelters or humane societies-places that are supposed to protect animals and find them good homes- selling household pets for use in testing and research. With this practice some die quickly. Many others are subjected to tortuous and agonizing long-term laboratory studies. I won’t even go into all the gut wrenching details of what these animals are subjected to or that some suffer vivisection while still alive. Just looking at the information online for purposes of this post took mum’s breath away and made her physically ill.

I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence.
--Mahatma Gandhi

www.Care2.com has recently highlighted a heartrending story of a pet dog named Koda whose family was having a hard time and gave him up to a local shelter in hopes the shelter would find a good home for him. Instead, he was sold to a dealer and resold to the University of Michigan where he was deliberately inflicted with traumatic injuries as a subject in the University’s Advanced Trauma Life Support Class. Ultimately he was euthanized.

Koda’s story has led legislation proposed in Michigan to ban pound seizures in that state.

Although it has been proposed there is no Federal statute against this practice. I was only able to find 13 states that have outlawed pound seizure: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia. Some states actually mandate pound seizure, i.e., mandate that shelters must sell pets to dealers on demand. These include Minnesota, Oklahoma and Utah. Elsewhere it is up to local counties and municipalities to decide whether to mandate or to prohibit pound seizure. For more information see www.Americanhumane.org

This issue is even more crucial in this time when shelters are critical to the protection of animals. More and more are being made homeless due to the deployment of their humans in the military or due to the fact that their humans have lost homes to foreclosure or weather incidents.

Week 16 of Purrs 4 Peace details are as follows:

• Week sixteen’s appointed time is Sunday, September 27, 2009.
• Participants should purr for three minutes commencing at 12 p.m. EDT (U.S.) which is 5:00 p.m. (17:00 hrs.) BST in the U.K.
• The cat’s human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at the appointed time.
• Please post your cat name and the country you purr in at www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com as a COMMENT if you are participating in this historic project. (posting a link to your own website-if you have one-is encouraged.) Or let me know by message on twitter or facebook.
• Posting purrs on facebook ( Acolytes of Confucius Cat or as friend to Alley Mason) and twitter (@ConfuciusCat) is encouraged, since it inspires purring in others, but not required. On twitter please use #purrs4peace in your tweets.

This week we will purr to stop this barbaric practice of pound seizures. Purr to pursuade. Purr to protect. Purr for peace.

As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together.
--Isaac Bashevis Singer