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01/08/09
Karen Nichols
Those of you who’ve read about the Dewey the Library Cat know what a valuable addition a cat can be to a library. In Poland recently, a library cat name Kubus (pictured above) was recently evicted by an evil regional director. Please join me in an email campaign to return Kubus to his rightful place in the library. Here are the details:
@catster HELP A POLISH DEWEY KICKED OUT FROM A LIBRARY!
I just read a heartbreaking article in a Polish leading newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza about Polish Dewey… his name is Kubus and he just was kicked out from a small library where he was everybody’s favorite pet by a heartless regional director! The librarians and hundreds of readers are fighting to reestablish Kubus’s right to live in the library.
Interesting that original Dewey’s story is being used to fight for Kubus’s rights!
Please email the director: dyrektor@mbp.tychy.pl
I bet that emails of support for Kubus send from abroad will help all Polish supporters…
I suggest:
Subject: Support for Kubus from Your Town, Your Country
I support the right of cat Kubus to live in the library. Please change your decision removing Kubus from his home.
(you may add some extra text and sign)
[PHOTO CREDIT: Bartłomiej Barczyk / AG]
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01/06/09
Karen Nichols
WARNING: The following content describes the horrific treatment of cats, and is not for the squeamish.
There has been a recent increase in media reports and public outrage at the horrific cat meat trade in China. If you think it doesn’t get any worse than killing cats for meat, it does… the practice involves unspeakable cruelty and abuse, both in the handling of the cats prior to butchering and the manner in which they are killed. The following is from the Animals Asia website:
The struggle to end dog and cat eating in China, and the horrific cruelty associated with the trade, was a major reason for the formation of Animals Asia 10 years ago. Through our Friends….or Food? campaign, this issue remains very much at the core of our work.
Recent reports in the Chinese media have once again focused attention on this barbaric practice. The Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper, based in the southern city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province (the centre of dog and cat eating in China), reported on 17 December that a group of traffickers had shipped around 1,500 live cats from Jiangsu province into Guangdong, for sale to restaurants in cities there, and that thousands more were being transported every day.
 Chengdu Business Daily newspaper reported that around 10,000 cats were eaten in Guangdong province every day, many of which may have been cared for by local residents, and may even have been family pets. These poor creatures suffer a horrific fate. After being trapped and transported for hours crushed together in tiny bamboo or wire crates with no food or water, many are skinned alive and thrown into boiling water, before being served to restaurant goers.
Meat from cats can apparently fetch around 36 yuan (just over US$5) per kg in restaurants in Dongguan, Guangdong. Live cats caught for the trade in other provinces fetch just 3 or 4 yuan (US$0.5) per kg. Wholesalers, traffickers and restaurant owners all take their cut along the way.
There are rays of hope in China. The Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper recently conducted an online survey of readers in Guangdong, with 75% of respondents considering the eating of cats to be “ruthless”. Chinese animal welfare groups, some of which get financial support from Animals Asia, have organised protests in cities like Beijing and Guangzhou this month; indeed our very own China Relations director, Christie Yang, accompanied the Guangzhou group “Xixi Cat” to the train station to check for cats arriving from Hubei province, and gave interviews to the local press. The issue is generating far more media coverage within China than ever before.
 The problem is that there is currently no law in China under which the perpetrators of these activities can be prosecuted. What’s more, there is no public health inspection of these animals, so people eating cat meat may well be putting their own health at risk.
Animals Asia is writing to the Guangdong and Guangzhou government authorities to highlight the national and international concern surrounding this activity, and the need for animal welfare legislation in order to bring it to an end. In addition, we are writing letters to the Chinese embassies in countries where we work, in order to increase international awareness.
If you want to help, write a polite letter to your local Chinese embassy (www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/) explaining your concerns , and the urgent need for legislation to protect dogs, cats and other animals from this kind of horrific treatment. The Chinese authorities must be made to realise that these kinds of practices reflect badly on China and her people on the international stage. Also, please consider helping by donating to Animals Asia’s Friends….or Food? campaign.
Amazingly, in doing research on organizations that are taking action to stop this sickening abuse of cats, Animals Asia was the only org I could find (if you know of others, please let me know). Even PETA is not yet involved, other than issuing a statement decrying the cat meat trade in China.
Click here to read more about the recent protests.
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11/17/08
Karen Nichols
I just heard about a great new charity drive that helps Seniors and their pets fight hunger. Here are the details:
Season Of Suppers®, “A Pet Food Drive For Pets In Need,” taking place during November and December, aims to help more seniors and their Pets fight hunger.
For some seniors, getting around easily is not an option. Often, their best friend and only companion is a loving dog or cat. The Season of Suppers campaign, now in its third year, calls attention to the importance of Pets to the well-being of homebound seniors. Helping keep these companion Pets well- fed, healthy and part of the family for as long as possible became the motivating factor behind the partnership among Banfield, The Pet Hospital, the Banfield Charitable Trust (BCT) and Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA).
Phil Shippers, director of the Visiting Nurse Meals On Wheels program of Rochester, N.Y., knows the importance of getting the message out that homebound seniors with Pets are a vulnerable population.
“We know that many seniors in our community are compromising their own nutrition by sharing their meals with their Pets,” says Shippers.
 Last year, Banfield’s Season of Suppers campaign raised more than $51,000 to help 50 senior meal programs start or augment Pet feeding programs across the country.
In addition to donating Pet food and monetary contributions at local Banfield hospitals, supporters can participate in the campaign by purchasing full-color, Pet-themed note cards. A packet of eight cards will be sold for $10 and all of the proceeds from the note card sales, as well as monetary donations throughout the campaign, will be used to improve the lives of MOWAA recipients and their Pets.
Supporters may also purchase cards by contacting the Banfield Charitable Trust at (503) 922-5801 or writing to info@banfieldcharitabletrust.org
For more information, go to the Banfield website.
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10/17/08
Karen Nichols
 Many voters make their decisions based on a single issue, be it reproductive rights, environmental policies or health care. I’m not a quite a single-issue voter, but I strive to select candidates with strong records on the protection of animal rights. More precisely, I would never vote for a candidate with a dismal record on animal welfare issues. But how do you find out what the candidates’ voting records are without having to commit dozens of hours to research?
The Humane Society Legislative Fund provides data on how candidates across the country have voted on animal welfare issues: Their 2008 Humane Scorecard evaluates the animal rights voting record of every member of the 110th Congress.
The HSLF is a social welfare organization that was formed in 2004 as a separate lobbying affiliate of The Humane Society of the United States. It works to pass animal protection laws at the state and federal levels and support humane candidates for office (regardless of party affiliation).
One of our guiding principles at HSLF is that our endorsements are not about orthodoxy, but rather are about choosing the best candidate among those who are viable in any particular contest. HSLF is a nonpartisan organization that evaluates candidates based only on a single criterion: where they stand on animal welfare. We do not judge candidates based on party affiliation or any other issue.
In 2006, our first year of electioneering activity, the HSLF helped win landslide victories for animals on statewide ballot measures and to defeat, among others, the nation’s least animal-friendly member of Congress. In the U.S. Senate, 24 of the 28 HSLF-endorsed candidates were victorious. And 273 of the 301 HSLF-backed U.S. House candidates were elected to the 110th Congress.
 This Sunday, October 19, animal advocates across the country will gather at Party Animals house parties to learn how they can effectively come together to form a “Humane Voting Bloc” to give animals a voice in the voting booth this November.  The special guest for the Humane Bloc Party will be cartoonist and comedian Dan Piraro, creator of the “Bizarro” comic strip and a strong voice for animal protection and the humane treatment of all animals.
There’s still time to volunteer to host a Humane Bloc Party on Sunday. As a special incentive, HSLF will recognize the host that is most successful in their fundraising efforts by bringing that person to Washington, DC to take part in the 2009 Taking Action for Animals Conference from July 24-27!
Links:
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