There’s still time: defend NJ black bears

New Jersey’s black bears are very close to suffering a needless, cruel trophy hunt starting next Monday, Dec. 6. It’s more important than ever to keep calling on Governor Christie to cancel the hunt -- at this point, he’s the only one who can do so, and all it would take is an executive order.

Phone 609-292-6000. Ask to speak with a governor’s aide. Spell out the reasons against this hunt (mentioned here earlier and also available at www.APLNJ.org or www.SaveNJBears.com). Enlist friends and relatives to phone and do the same.

Attend the rally this Friday in Trenton to protest the hunt during working hours near the governor’s State House office. Friday, Dec. 3: 1-3 pm. Bring banners, posters, signs and noise-makers.

With questions or to RSVP, contact Edita Birnkrant, of Friends of Animals, one of the two groups (NJ's Heart for Animals is the other) behind this rally. Edita@FriendsOfAnimals.org or 212-247-8120 or Dustin Rhodes, at Dustin@FriendsOfAnimals.org, or 202-906-0210.
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This is the life . . . cats deserve

Imagine a place where homeless cats can go to live with hundreds of other cats; where they can roam free and have regular meals, fresh water, medical care and safety. They can be indoors or outdoors as they wish.

That would be Cat House on the Kings – California’s largest no-cage, no-kill lifetime cat sanctuary and adoption center. It was founded in 1992 by Lynea Lattanzio, who has devoted her life to the place ever since. (And BTW, the “Kings” refers to a nearby river.)

A video taken at Cat House on the Kings is accessible via the link below. You may be charmed into watching it many times (it’s a riot without sound, when the cats living the good life look like tourists at a resort) – besides checking out the sanctuary site itself. Naturally, donations help keep the place going, but how much more deserving can a place possibly be?

(http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/)
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Leopards lead big cats in survival

Leopards. Of all the big cats in the wild, leopards turn out to be the most successful at surviving today, according to a recent “Nature” program (“Revealing the Leopard”) on TV. Their first habitat was the African rain forest; now, scattered thinly through Africa and Asia, they cover nearly half the world.

Why and how are leopards succeeding?

Described as “the perfect predator,” the “clever” leopard – though slower than the cheetah and weaker than the lion, hunts with his/her wits. Usually nocturnal, leopards are shy and private, and careful killers. They also eat a wider range of prey than all other predators in the world.

Leopards are particularly adaptable, having learned of necessity to live in or near towns and cities; in India, for instance, they’re much more adaptable than lions and tigers.

One theory behind why leopards don’t eat humans is that prehistoric people may have terrified them; even now they avoid people.

“Panthers” are black leopards because a recessive gene has given them their different fur color. Think of red-haired humans; same thing.
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Happy (flesh-free) holiday!

3 degrees of well-being for 3 kinds of cats

“Tigers and leopards and domestic cats” doesn’t have quite the same ring as “Lions and tigers and bears (oh, my!),” but it’ll have to do because that’s what this post is about: three degrees of well-being among cats both large and small.

Tigers first. These beautiful creatures are gravely endangered. In fact, according to a NYTimes editorial on Nov. 23, “tigers could go extinct in the wild within 20 years.” Unbelievable? Not once you learn that a century ago “there were an estimated 100,000 tigers living in the wild” – and now “there are perhaps 3,200 left.”

A summit meeting underway right now in Russia may make the difference for tigers. It has drawn conservationists and World Bank reps as well as delegates from the “13 nations with tigers living in the wild, including India, Indonesia, Thailand and Russia.”

The hope is for a focused conservation strategy and an end to the trade in tiger parts. Details available via this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/opinion/24wed4.html?emc=eta1

(To be continued after Thanksgiving: leopards, who are reportedly making out much better in the modern world than tigers, and an amazing cat sanctuary in California.)
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Hard keeping up jeans -- and spirits

If you ever doubt that our world is conditioned to use animals – as food, as prey, as slaves, as laboratory subjects, as clothing -- just try to buy a belt that’s not made of leather these days. It’s hard to impossible. Woven leather, padded leather, studded and variously crafted leather; thick and thin leather belts, ad nauseam.

Somewhere back behind all the other belts, if you’re lucky, you may find a web belt -- and if your luck holds, it may not have leather trim. Handbags and shoes are all about leather, but belts?! Yes, those too. (See post for April 17, 2010: “Fur . . . & Skin”) In a related vein, it’s hard to find a breakfast menu that’s not replete with “meat.” Or a wait staffer who doesn’t ask, “What kind of meat would you like with that?”

And on top of all this comes the Trenton Times’ misleadingly named “Outdoors” column, all about hunting and fishing for those who “harvest” from nature the creatures who have often been provided for their “sporting” pleasure. Not to mention their hunting and fishing license fees.

The latest “Outdoors” opus is just that at 36 1/2 column inches long – talk about news values! In this seemingly unedited piece of writing, J. B. Kasper “reports” happily on how environmentalists’ efforts to ban the use of lead in ammunition and fishing tackle have been defeated once again.

It is almost funny to read the counter arguments put up by reps of hunters and fishermen. Almost.
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Taking ‘Save the bears!’ to the Governor

Although the last demonstration against the bear hunt was supposed to be it, APLNJ and other bear advocates have planned one more – this Saturday, Nov. 20 – in Governor Christie’s hometown. Christie is the only one who can halt the hunt at this point, and those against the hunt hope for a great show of strength.

DATE: November 20, 2010
TIME: 12 noon - 2pm
PLACE: 95 East Main Street, Mendham, NJ 07945

Contact APLNJ for more details: 732-446-6808 or info@aplnj.org.

Please bring your Stop the Hunt lawn signs. We also need signs such as:
* Governor Christie, DEP Cooked Numbers
* Governor Christie, Do the Right Thing
* Governor Christie, Call off Corrupt Hunt

Message from APLNJ: Mendham is Governor Christie's home town. Please help us show Christie just how many NJ residents are against the bear hunt. Bring friends, family, co-workers and everyone else you know. Make a day of it.

(A note on parking: Please disperse throughout the entire area and try not to park all in one place.)

Keep making those phone calls to Governor Christie: 609-292-6000. Talking points at www.APLNJ.org/black-bears.php. Black bear info at www.SaveNJBears.com.
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