Sticky's torturer ID'd

It sounds as if Sticky, the little tabby cat who was wrapped in duct tape (link to story in last post), has lots of friends.

First, well-wishers boosted the amount of the reward offered for the conviction of the person who did that to her. Then, a telephone tip led enforcement officers for the Penna. SPCA, based in North Philadelphia, to a suspect who has been arrested. Finally, since no one could offer proof of being Sticky’s human parents – it’s hard to say “owners” – she will be adopted out to one of the hundred or so families offering her a home. Happy ending.

But then a nagging afterthought: the 19-year old who was arrested for this cruel act sounds incompetent and untrustworthy. The words he reportedly said to the arresting officer offer no comfort to other cats, other animals. How can he – or any human being – still act as if (other, non-human) animals are inconsequential and have no feelings, no needs, no rights? It’s scary to have such people in the world.

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/nation/suspect-arrested-for-duct-taping-abandoning-cat-in-phila

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"The good news"

Out of fiendish animal cruelty, some good can (sometimes, finally) come. First case, an innocent young cat, who became the victim of one human’s act – and then the recipient of lifesaving help from many other people. The story of “Sticky” is told via this link:
(http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/nation/authorities-searching-for-person-who-duct-taped-cat).

Another piece of happy, humane news was reported late last week in The Press (of Atlantic City). Atlantic County has “announced plans to establish a regional pet-evacuation center at the Atlantic City Race Course, to be used during weather and other emergencies.” How welcome is that? And what a beautiful change it represents compared with the atrocious treatment of companion animals during and after Hurricane Katrina – which subject, BTW, is documented in a recently released film, “An American Opera: The Greatest Pet Rescue Ever!”

According to a film review in the Sept. 25 TimeOFF section of the Princeton Packet, producer/director/narrator Tom McPhee went to New Orleans to help. There, as part of an effort to reunite rescued animals with their families, he photographed the animals. He also shot video footage, which became part of this movie. It will be shown at Princeton’s Garden Theatre on Oct. 1 at 8 pm.
(http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2009/09/27/time_off/movies/doc4aba4e453d22f353657156.txt)
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One 'right' approach?

In many ways, last Sunday’s Farm Sanctuary walk for farm animals was a model for public expression of opinion: participants were quiet and orderly, while firmly against factory farming; neither signage nor flyers was strident or inflammatory; peace prevailed as points were made.

It was all very civilized.

It was also worlds away from the anti-fur demos in New York City that I’ve become familiar with in the last few years: chants and bullhorns; gory (i.e., reality-based) signs and videos; critical exchanges with passers-by wearing fur; protesting from behind barricades (in front of stores that sell fur), with police protection.

There’s no argument that both causes – terribly abused farm animals and fur-bearing animals, both slaughtered for human use of their bodies or their fur – are equally worthy. And yet the two approaches to getting the message out are so different. Why? and which way is more effective at “winning hearts and minds,” at moving people away from eating flesh and wearing fur?

On reflection, Sunday’s walk was itself rather bucolic, peaceful. Was that a deliberate reminder of what we still idealize farms as being like -- before we let ourselves remember what factory farms are like? Then what’s to be said about how anti-fur demos proceed: angrily, from the start? Does the difference come down to being a matter of who’s heading up the event, rather than the issue itself – diff'rent strokes and all that?

It may simply require more experience with demonstrations to conclude which approach seems to work best – or even to decide which “style” participants are most comfortable with.
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Walk for farm animals

An uplifting event took place yesterday afternoon in Princeton. At least 70 people walked along a four mile route, carrying signs and giving out flyers, to show their compasssion for farm animals. Literally billions of land animals are slaughtered each year in the US for food; untold additional billions of fish meet the same fate.

And how these creatures "meet their fate" is almost worse than the fact that they do. It's all about factory farming and how that heinous system causes animals to be treated.

The walk was an annual event sponsored by Farm Sanctuary, one of 66 such walks taking place this fall across the US and in Canada for the same cause. I walked and took pictures and talked with other participants -- a very diverse mix yet all quietly committed. Afterwards, I was glad to have the chance to write about the walk, twice, for publication.

Now, if some of the bystanders and drivers who saw the walk underway would only feel/act more open to the horrific information that Farm Sanctuary exists to provide. (http://farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/) Not that they should become vegetarians or vegans on the spot; their merely cutting down on flesh consumption would be a good start. Positive reactions can start small -- then build. It all begins with willingness to listen, read, think. #

'Harvesting' column inches

My last post, about the awful "Outdoors" column from the Times of Trenton earlier this month, prompted my checking yesterday's paper to see if it's a weekly thing. Apparently so. Even worse: the latest one was way long -- would you believe about 27 column inches? That in contrast to the length allowed the Times' "regular" columnists, which this morning was about 17 inches in the case of Sharon Schlegel. Her reward for writing well is to get less space, whereas his turgid, disingenuous drivel goes on and on.

It looks to me as if "Outdoors" is (believe it or not) a paid column -- that is, he or his interest group may pay the Times for the right to hog space and be published, without benefit of editing beforehand. All in the interest of "the harvest"!

The only good news here is that my letter to the editor of the Times was printed today. Essentially, it's the same as the post before this one, "Who is he kidding?", except that my deliberate "bloody vein" was for reasons unknown to me changed to "gruesome vein." Too sanguine? Or too un-euphemistic?
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Who is he kidding?

“There is no question that autumn is in the air.” The words of a real nature lover? No, definitely not, in the sense of enjoying the beauty or taking care of it all. On Sept. 11, The Trenton Times’ “Outdoors” columnist continued: “Goose season got off to a good start and the next season that will garner the attention of hunters is the start of the fall archery deer season.”

And on and on in that bloody vein. This guy tells time by which animals can be killed. If it’s autumn, he can go after geese and deer. And he can refer to the “harvest” as if he’s discussing root veggies. If weather comes into it at all, it has to do with “more comfortable hunting conditions.”

“Harvest” stands in for “kill” five times in just two paragraphs. Then he moves on to permits -- without using the word “hunting” as a modifier – in relation to “managing” the deer population. New Jersey’s “deer management zones” are ranked based on the number of deer “taken” or “harvested” – never “killed” -- with the “top zone” posting the highest number of dead deer.

Finally, he bemoans the loss of deer hunters (what, not “harvesters” or “managers”?) to other states because New Jersey’s system is “too complex and costly.” Such impediments “only further hurt the sport.” (“Sport”?!)

He quotes one hunter’s complaint that “the division” (i.e., Fish and Wildlife) is more interested in profit than “protecting hunting in the state.” But who is protecting the fish and wildlife?

How about changing the column name to “Go get ‘em!” or “Ready, aim, fire!”?
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Animal Qs in transit

A weekend trip to the North Carolina coast generated a variety of observations and Qs about animals. Answers to questions are invited and welcome!

* baby seagulls: even though this isn’t the baby bird season, the question remains -- who has seen them? where are they raised? why are “adult” seagulls always the ones we encounter on the beach?

* seashells and critters: is every seashell automatically a home/shelter for some kind of animal? (are seashells always functional as well as oftentimes beautiful?)

* what’s the recommendation about feeding feral cats? I encountered a long, lean black and white kitten(?) near a visitor info center in NC and had nothing with me to offer it. Later, I wondered if it’d be a good idea to keep healthy cat treats in the car for such an occasion. Though I couldn’t bring the cat home – and sensed I shouldn’t try reporting it to any animal welfare organization in the area, not knowing the operating philosophy – I wanted to do something.

* no joy ride: on the highway coming home, a pickup truck passed our car . . . with a handsome German Shepherd in the open back. Looking uncomfortable, the dog moved from side to side and when the driver accelerated, nearly lost his balance. The truck (with Pennsylvania tags) quickly got out of our reach/vision; I couldn’t even note the license plate (though I don’t know what I could have done with it—citizen’s arrest?). Do any states have rules against dogs or other animals in open trucks? “There ought to be a law.”
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