The Reminder Pet Owners Need

The commonly known figures are 6 to 8 million for animals taken to shelters every year and about 4 million for animals that are euthanized at these shelters. When numbers get so large (above hundreds, thousands, millions) that we can't wrap our minds around them, a number merely remains a number and there is no impact on us. But what if you could see everyday a few of the faces of the cats and dogs whose lives will be purposefully ended because no one has come their way to save them?

What if I told you that this one year old dog named Trudy will be put down in Texas TOMORROW if no one decides to take her in?

What if I told you this 7 months old girl will be killed within hours, TODAY, in Las Vegas?

What if I told you this 7 months old kitty was already put down today..

..as well as this two years old female named Faith?

There is the most thoughtful application on Facebook called "Pet Pardons" that allows people across the states to post up information on animals in shelters whose lives have a decided timeline: http://apps.facebook.com/petpardons/

If you have a Facebook account, this is one of the best thing you can do for animals truly in need. Simply add the application and share postings with your social networks. If you know of any animals that will be put down at a shelter, this is also one of the places to spread the word and get help for the animal.

I will leave you with two more tidbits of information.

For those that have found an animal, please refer to the lists of NO-KILL animal shelters for each state via http://www.nokillnetwork.org/

Also, if you are a pet owner or guardian, please consider neutering and spaying your pet. If you are an animal lover, I know you would want other animals to get the same chance at life as your pet. Always remember, what if your pet was in the position of being an unwanted animal in a shelter because there are not enough homes for all the animals out there?

Edit: And just as importantly, please choose to adopt and save a life rather than buy.

Kids & Where Meat Comes From

Tonight I came across an article with an article of Ruby Roth, the author of the children's book That's Why We Don't Eat Animals. I found myself thinking that this woman has created the perfect book to lay down the truth about meat in a manner highly appropriate and suitable for children, while maintaining educational value. To see the article visit here: http://www.care2.com/causes/should-kids-know-where-meat-comes-from.html

This book is full of hand-illustrated graphics that explain farm factories, the lives of farm animals, and the consequences eating meat has on these poor animals as well as the overall environment. It is truly something I would consider reading to my future children so that they will grow up with an understanding of the meat industry and the sentience of animals. (However, the decision will ultimately be their own.) Here is an accompanying introductory video to this book that touched me because children are really true to their instincts about what they feel is right:

Just something to share with anyone wanting the children in their life to have the ability to make decisions regarding consuming animal lives.

The Real Planet of the Apes

Hi everyone,

I'm sure most of you know about one of the newest movies in theaters right now: Planet of the Apes. While production crew did not use real apes in the making (fortunately), the movie shows how cruel and sad it is for primates that are locked up in small cages for experiments. Theses animals who share 99% of our DNA are intelligent and share similar needs and emotions for us. They need socialization, fresh air, and natural lives just as much as we need love from others and our own will to do what we want. These primates suffer post-traumatic stress disorder and depression from living such miserable lives, just like we would in their position. Luckily for us, there is no higher and more powerful being that is sadistic enough to stuff us in cages 24/7, cut us up or probe us for their research and then toss us back into the cage when we are not being used. So who are we to take what (or who) we want for our own purposes while neglecting the basic needs of our primate cousins?

Sometimes experiments can be conducted humanely- however, as many animal welfare organisations have found, animals in labs are more often than not treated as lab objects- something you can cut up or inject chemicals into, something you can toss back into a cage until your next experiment. Their lives look a little something like this:


Furthermore, we are the last industrialized nation that continues to perform invasive operations on great apes, even when we know primates do not develop HIV or other diseases like Hepatitis C like humans do.

Whether it be chimpanzees, apes, or any other kinds of animals being used in experimental lab testing, more and more evidence is being found that the physiological effects of chemicals and substances do not manifest in the same  for us humans as it is for other species- in other words, animal testing is unnecessary, ineffective, and inaccurate (and perhaps even an obsolete method of testing) for "health and medicine" purposes.

There is a Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act that needs your support: please visit here and here to find out more.

Don't Support Brands That Sell Fur

Companies that sell fur steal the lives of others that don't belong to them. But really, I don't need to tell you why, just see for yourself.

photo credit: http://www.dkbunnybutcher.com/tenReasons.aspx?c=pfs

Don't forget, other animals used for fur suffer similar if not worse fates. Also, those who support cruelty to animals for unnecessary and unreasonable purposes really are not animal lovers- having pets does not count either.

"Why Love One But Eat the Other?"

You might have seen the title phrase above through animal compassion campaigns by Mercy For Animals.

This isn't just an ad, it's a nudge towards re-evaluating our core values because our beloved pet animals are inherently no different than the intelligent and social farm animals that suffer needlessly for our food choices. A new video (less than 3 minutes in length) uploaded by Mercy For Animals gives us a reason to stop, think, and hopefully make compassionate choices for these pigs that are abused beyond belief, just because we choose to eat pigs but not dogs when the lives of both are equally valuable.

The New Food Plate

USDA has come out with a new food guide in the form of the icon below. All information regarding these new dietary recommendations can be found here: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/ At the website you can click on one of the five components to find out what foods fall into each category. The USDA lists the following non-meat options to fulfill the protein category (source):

Beans and peas

black beans
black-eyed peas
chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
falafel
kidney beans
lentils
lima beans (mature)
navy beans
pinto beans
soy beans
split peas

Processed soy products:
  tofu (bean curd made from
   soybeans)
  white beans
  bean burgers
  veggie burgers
  tempeh
  texturized vegetable
   protein (TVP)

Nuts and seeds*
  almonds
  cashews
  hazelnuts (filberts)
  mixed nuts
  peanuts
  peanut butter
  pecans
  pistachios
  pumpkin seeds
  sesame seeds
  sunflower seeds
  walnuts

An interesting thing to note:

PCRM's new article on the food plate brings up the point that USDA's modified food icon is at opposition with federal subsidies for meat and diary. PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) states that currently over 60 percent of agricultural subsidies have instead supported meat and diary production, leaving only 1 percent to go towards fruits and vegetables. The USDA is advising people to take on a healthier diet with less fat content, and I wonder if it knows its suggestions clash with the federal government subsidies which give billions of tax money to the meat and diary industries.

PCRM also has a food guide that can be found here: http://pcrm.org/health/powerplate/ It is resemblant of the new USDA power plate and has "proteins" replaced with "legumes, definitely for good reason as about 68% of Americans are obese or overweight. According to the same PCRM article, more than 60 perecent of the deaths in the U.S. are caused by heart disease and other diet-related diseases. The PCRM power plate is also interactive, so feel free to click on the portions to find out how to best balance your diet!

Heartwarming Hug

I wouldn't mind being a "crazy" cat lady...