Restore The Sanity: Tell Politicians What Matters To You
Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and thousands of Americans in Washington D.C. and around the country are out restoring sanity to our politics. We at Care2 hope you all are getting involved in this and other efforts to help drum up enthusiasm among progressives and get out the vote before Tuesday.
Whether or not you could make it to DC or any of the satellite rallies near you, Care2 has a lot of ways you can take action on important election and policy issues.
Tell Karl Rove: Stop the Lies! GOP operative Karl Rove spending millions to distort facts to bring back the failed Bush policies from his tenure in the White House. Tell him to back off.
Investigate the Chamber of Commerce's Spending There's evidence that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spening money from foreign companies on the election. Urge Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate.
You can also read more about some of the hottest election stories, like Delaware Tea-Party darling Christine O'Donnell's threats to a local radio station and our list of this election season's most powerful women.
Thanks for getting involved with Care2. We want to encourage you and everyone you know to VOTE on Tuesday and make your voice heard.
i know a girl on youtube who is with the pro horse slaughter she sends horses to slaughter and eats horse meat she lives here in america and she is paying to have horse slaughter reopened and she has an illegal slaughter house she preaches to everyone how horse slaughter and animal abuse should be done she says if a horse cant win a rodeo or run 100 miles an hour or that dont win thats ugly that its worthless trash and needs to die and she says the crueler the slaughter is the better the meat taste she will admit it to you to your face how she slaughters horses she does rodeo and she says if her horse loses she will kill it her youtube is http:../../..www...youtube...com/..user/..kelliefan1017 shes so proud and prideful that she slaughters horses and she says if a horse stays in a pasture at a loveing home that its wasteing meat and she belives if a horse cant ride how she thinks it should that it should be killed and she admits this on her youtube page and she makes fun of people who rescue horses and animals and she thinks if a horse cant do anything and if its in a pasture and dont get rode that it should die she throws lies saying its a unwanted horse proplem and says its inhumane to have a pasture horse but she uses that as an excuse she just cares about the money and she will go on how her life sucks now because they baned horse slaughter in america and that she has has to take them to canada or mexico and she hates the mustangs she tells people she wants them exstinct and i sent out stuff on myspace about her because we need to get as many people as possible to report her on youtube she needs to be reported and her youtube needs to be deleted and if you do belive her lies be sure to read this pass this message around to everyone so we can get her youtube account deleted Have you or someone you know been misled or duped about horse slaughter?
Horse slaughter is NOT humane euthanasia. The so called "unwanted horse problem" is a phrase coined by the AAEP to support their position in favor of horse slaughter. You may be a follower, or be a member of pro slaughter association and not even realize that they are actively fighting to reopen horse slaughter plants in the US. You or an entity you belong to might even be parroting their favorite pro slaughter argument; the so called "unwanted horse problem".
Please Beware!! Pro slaughter proponents have one of the strongest lobbyists around; the Ag Department. (The US Department of Agriculture)
A Partial Listing of some of the entities that support horse slaughter, or that are listed as member organizations of the Unwanted Horse Coalition (a pro slaughter proponent) are listed below:
* AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners) * AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) * The Unwanted Horse Coalition * UOH (United Org of the Horse) * United Horseman's Front * AHC (American Horse Council) * AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association) * American Humane Association * Various State Horse Councils * American Paint Horse Association * Various Farm Bureaus * California Thoroughbred Breeders Association * Arabian Horse Association * Maryland Horse Breeders Association
The Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC) and the UOH (United Org of the Horse) supports horse slaughter. Their theme is to restore horse meat processing (aka horse slaughter) in the US to control the so-called unwanted horse problem and what they claim to be the overpopulation of wild and feral horses on federal, state, tribal, and private lands. For a more complete list of entities that are on record as supporting horse slaughter, click here. Current list of Unwanted Horse Coalition Member Organizations
Don't be duped by pro slaughter attempts to misinform the public. The UOH (United Org of the Horse) claims that Tribal horse people from across the Nation have joined their cause. They also claim that name celebrities have been paid off to advocate against animal cruelty... But these things are NOT true.
WFLF suggest that Anti slaughter supporters use caution when connecting with new friends and or joining new groups on social websites like Facebook and MySpace, etc. Pro slaughter proponents have been increasingly clever with distributing misguided information. (UOH) Support the WFLF "WANTED HORSE CAMPAIGN". Stomp out cruelty. The "unwanted horse" argument is a pro-slaughter position. Slaughter makes cruelty profitable. Please support the WFLF "WANTED Horse Campaign". Together were are their voice and they need to be heard. • Horse slaughter is NOT humane and cannot be made humane • Horse slaughter does not stop; has nothing to do with Abuse, Neglect or Abandonment of equines • Americans do NOT support human consumption of horsemeat • A Federal Law permanently banning horse slaughter in the US is necessary • A Fed Law permanently banning the transport of equines for slaughter is necessary • Wild horses and burros belong free on the range • A moratorium on all BLM round ups is necessary • Horses may become homeless, but No horse is unwanted • Horse owners should have the right to humanely euthanize their equine • Equine owners and breeders must take responsibility for the life of each equine in their charge unregulated. Thrashing on a meat hook. These horses are slaughtered ALIVE conscious during their own slaughter and throat slitting! Over 30 million horses slaughtered in the past 12 years. This is a holocaust! Now this includes our Wild Mustangs too! Protected no more! Gone FOREVER. Only alive in pictures and books. This agenda and it's deception represents pure evil and only appeals to those who have no soul! Most horses arrive at the slaughterhouses.. via livestock auctions where, often unknown to the seller, they are bought by the middlemen working for the slaughter plants called Killer Buyers. They collect mostly the young and the healthy. Packed in their trucks until full and some are shipped for more than 24 hours at a time piled and crammed into double & triple decker cattle trucks without food, water or rest. America's hidden dirty secret travels our highways under the dark cover of the night. Think about it. Look for it on your next road trip. Is this a means of behavior and employment that you want our children to find acceptable in their future? With horse slaughter under our flag there is no honor or pride! What then are we at war and fighting for? In EVERY state across the country we say we love and hold dear? Americans DO NOT EAT HORSES! We DO NOT RAISE THEM FOR FOOD! HORSE MEAT IS TOXIC
That time of year is upon us again. Always loved the fall, until I moved to upstate N.Y. in 1978. I had grown up in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, I had never seen hunting like that before. The color change of the trees was magnificent, with the bright yellows, reds and oranges. But then by November all the leaves were gone making way for Grey woods, which was still mysterious and beautiful to me until the guns started firing all around me, Deer running everywhere, dead deer hanging in front yards as ornaments by the dozen. It definitely sent me into a culture shock. My ex husbands family, whom I thought to be peace loving hippies, to my shock took part in such heinous crimes of violence and were hunters too. We had been staying with them for a few months until our house closed, and on a cool, crisp morning, I had opened the garage door to find them up to their elbows in blood, cutting up this once living sweet, innocent animal, these people by no means needed help for food, they were quite privileged from my perspective. I closed the garage door slowly, went upstairs to my room and played my BB King record to resemble my mood. About a week later, they had gone on vacation and had called to ask my ex if he would do some work in the room where they had there freezer full of murdered deer meat, I was keeping my ex company while he did his work and he had unplugged the freezer to use the outlet for his power tools. When finished as we were leaving, he asked me to plug the freezer back in the outlet, I looked at the plug on the floor and turned off the light. When they returned from vacation a few days later, the floor by the freezer was covered in diluted blood, they turned and looked at me and said "disgusting", I looked hard at them and said "exactly" as I exited the room. Please read Lane's letter for further information, (below) and Sign the petition:
To Mayor Currin, Council Members and Anthony Bales,
It has come to my attention that you are considering allowing bow hunting in Hudson as a means to thin the deer herd. That will not work any more than hiring sharp shooters will because you will not be addressing the root cause of the problem.
Studies across the board prove that killing significant numbers of deer will not only fail to solve the problem but exacerbate it. Dr. Allen Rutberg, eminent expert on wildlife management as well as wildlife contraception, and head of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine said, "The most visible weakness in the assertion that hunting is necessary to control deer populations is that it has largely failed to do so over the last two decades. Just because deer are being killed doesn't mean that deer populations are being controlled."
Studies conducted by Fish and Game agencies across the country show that 50% of deer shot with an arrow run off to die long, drawn out agonizing deaths. Please read admissions from hunters themselves, regarding unretrieved deer:
Important data recently published by the Erie Insurance company (the 16th largest auto insurer in the U.S.) found that, after collecting statistics for a decade, it was determined that the two most dangerous days to drive (in terms of deer) are the opening day and opening Saturday of hunting season. The study showed a dramatic five-fold increase. Deer frightened by bullets and arrows run blindly into the roads.
The Independence chief of police said, "An accident we had was a guy east of route 21 in the woods. He shot a deer that ran out onto route 21 and into the side of a car."
In a recent Freedom of Information request to the city of Independence it was revealed that during the city's bow hunting season deer were shot with arrows and never retrieved.
Here is a picture of a dead deer a resident in Independence found in their backyard. Many residents have witnessed wounded deer running through the neighborhoods impaled with arrows or have found dead deer in their yards.
The following was sent from a resident in Independence to a council member:A nearby resident told me of another dead deer on their property. This one still has the arrow in it and has been there long enough to be bloated due to the warm weather we have been having. I would give you the resident's name and you would know it, but many people are reluctant to get the visibility that accompanies complaining. You can certainly count this one as having been lost by the hunter, or possibly not even tracked due to lack of permission on adjoining properties.
Presently there is a doe that has been traveling between Brecksville and Broadview Hts. for the last nine months who has an arrow in her eye.
Yet another picture of a doe found in a suburban neighborhood. She had two fawns.
I have seen a deer standing in the middle of Turney Rd. stamping her foot and shaking her head with an arrow in her throat.
There is no doubt that if bow hunting is allowed in Hudson residents will be seeing the same kinds of things. How will you handle this? Will you be held responsible if someone is injured?
Solon police chief, Wayne Godzich, himself a bow hunter would never allow bow hunting in the city. He said, "As a hunter I don't think anyone wants to see deer expire in their front yards. I'm responsible for the people of the city of Solon and their properties.That's why I can't condone hunting. Deer can run for miles before collapsing and dying of arrow wounds. They can even get hit through the lungs and still run."
Bow hunting as a deer management tool quotes:
In Texas, which has more deer than any other state, Parks and Wildlife Biologist, Horace Gore comments: "You cannot call bow hunting a population control measure. It is a recreational pursuit. In fact, he adds: "We do not advocate bow hunting when the objective is controlling the population."
Larry Gillette, wildlife biologist for Hennepin Parks, acknowledges that bow hunters fail to retrieve a substantial number of deer they shoot and does not advise the use of archery hunting to control deer.
A report in Rock Cut State Park in Illinois, department of conservation biologist, Tom Beiset states: "This report recognizes that bow hunting has never been an effective tool for bow hunting.
The mayor of Egan, Tom Eagan, was quoted as saying, "I have always supported bow hunting but I no longer feel the rationale that it's an efficient management tool or outweighs the safety and cruelty aspects. I think if we set loose every bowhunter in Eagan we still wouldn't reduce the deer population and the city would be less safe. It isn't feasible for every bowhunter to shoot and retrieve five deer. They might each shoot and wound five deer but not shoot and retrieve five."
Please read quotes (attached) from respected biologists, scientists and other experts regarding the efficacy of bow hunting or culling as a management tool.
Two years ago Peaceful Deer Alliance, along with the Humane Society of the U.S., brought Sandy Baker, (dubbed the Deer Dr.), here where she gave four seminars on How to Deer-Proof your Garden. She presented at Petitti's Garden Center, The city of Seven Hills rec center, the Aurora Recreation and Parks Center and Eagle Creek Garden Center in Bainbridge. A Hudson resident won the Scarecrow deer deterrent. I have just spoken to him and he said that "it worked like a charm and his Day Lillies are even coming back." Ms. Baker's vast knowledge and success stories are so impressive that Pepper Pike Mayor, along with a few others, brought her back to the area last year where she gave two more presentations.
Ms. Baker recently called Mr. Bales to discuss coming to Hudson for a seminar. She is waiting for his return call.
I know that the city of Hudson purchased the Strieter Lites several years ago but no data has been taken nor have they been maintained. Mr. Dennis Randolph, P.E., has worked for almost four decades in road and highway relatated postitions and has acquired extensive experience in these areas. He served from 1992 to 2008 as the Calhoun County Road Commission Managing Director, Calhoun Ct., MI. Michigan consistently ranked first, second or third place state wide on Deer-Vehicle-Accidents (DVA's) As a measure to address this problem and reduce budget expenses, Mr. Randolph and his team approved and oversaw the installation of Streiter-Lite deer reflectors in both rural and urban areas of the county., resulting in an 80-95% reduction of DVA's in those areas.After ten years the reflectors are still working.
I'm sure Mr. Randolph would be happy to work with you to correct any mistakes or unsatisfactory results with the Strieter Lites.
As modern technology marches on another roadside deer deterrent, Wildlife Crossing Guard has been developed. DeerDeter by JAFATechnologies has been used with tremendous success. Ed Mulka, president of the company, has sent me a packet of information along with a CD, as well as Greg Janik, who will give this information to Mr. Bales for you to review.
The DeerDeter Wildlife Crossing Guard is a roadside device that is activated by approaching headlights to emit sound and light as stimuli to stop animals from crossing the road. The shrill alarm and a blue-white strobe-type light is an active method to keep deer from crossing a road when a vehicle is present at night.
This system is significantly less expensive than the Strieter Lites and does not require the precision installation nor the same maintenance as the Strieter Lites. I firmly believe this system will be the answer to dva's across the country. Hunting will not.
Mr. Mulka is willing to come to Hudson to give you a presentation at your convenience. After reviewing the information packet and CD I am positive you will be very excited and interested in this system.
Allowing bow hunting within city limits will encourage poachers as proven in many other suburbs such as Solon and Broadview Hts. Your stated concern for residents safety will prove to be very insincere if you allow razor-tipped arrows and crossbow bolts that travel 184 mph, with a minimum range of 180 ft. close to homes, residents and their families and companion animals. Bow hunting accidents are on the rise and some are even fatal.
OH citizens are strongly opposed to allowing lethal weapons to be dispersed in our neighborhoods as demonstrated recently by completed referendums in Ottawa Hills (near Toledo) and in Broadview Hts.
Ottawa Hills was considering hiring White Buffalo and Broadview Hts. wanted to allow bow hunting. I believe the Hudson residents will also do a referendum should you decide on any lethal means of deer population control.
You may not be aware but you have been looked upon by many people across the country, who are working on the deer issue, with great respect for your progressive thinking, ethics, responsible leadership and rational thinking. We must keep in step with our changing environment when making decisions in today's world. Killing sentient beings for the sake of expediency should NEVER be a community service. Luckily modern technology offers many long-term, science-proven non-violent, non-lethal solutions.
Hunting serves ONLY hunters.
For your continued respectability and as role models I hope you will not allow beautiful Hudson to be turned into a killing field.
When it comes to gray wolves, the federal Wildlife Services agency typically has one thing on its mind: killing them.
Now it’s teaming up with the State of Idaho in a plan for gray wolf management that would slaughter hundreds of wolves. In some cases, entire packs will be killed -- and newborn pups could be gassed in their dens.
You may recall that earlier this month, a federal judge ruled in our favor and restored endangered species protection for wolves in Idaho and Montana, saying that they should not have been removed from the endangered species list in the first place.
Now, Wildlife Services is proposing to slash the wolf population in Idaho by about 40 percent!
What’s worse, they are justifying this deadly plan by saying it’s necessary for the protection of livestock, elk and deer. But the reality is that wolf conflicts with livestock make up a miniscule percentage of livestock losses, and 23 of Idaho’s 29 elk population zones are above or within management objectives.
Tell Wildlife Services to go back to the drawing board and prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement for their plan to manage wolves in Idaho, especially now that wolves are back on the endangered species list.
Last week in Montana, a federal judge overturned the Obama administration’s decision to remove Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. The ruling wasn’t unprecedented: The courts have blocked five previous attempts to lift protections from wolves in either the Rocky Mountains or the Great Lakes.
In this case, the judge concluded that splitting the northern Rockies population along state lines — retaining wolf protections in Wyoming while removing them in Montana, Idaho, Utah and other states — was “at its heart a political solution” that does not comply with the law.
We couldn’t agree more. Both the Bush and Obama administrations have taken a piecemeal approach to recovering these majestic canines, moving to remove protections even though wolf populations struggle to survive and occupy a fraction of their historic range in the lower 48 states.
Once — before bounties, government-funded extermination projects and expansive human settlement — wolves freely roamed much of the United States. They were abundant across most of the West’s mountains and valleys, including Utah, in the dense Eastern forests, the lush grasslands of the Great Plains and elsewhere. Scientists estimate there were once about 2 million wolves in North America.
Most are gone now, victims of an unwillingness primarily on the part of the livestock industry to coexist with a predator so wild and complex and uncontrolled. Today, a mere 5,000 to 6,000 wolves occupy roughly 5 percent of their historic range.
That’s why the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a national recovery plan for wolves. The plan would provide a much-needed road map for establishing wolf populations in suitable habitat in Utah, the Pacific Northwest, California, Great Basin, southern Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains and New England. Specifically, scientists have identified areas in the Uinta Mountains and elsewhere in the state of Utah that could support wolves.
Establishing wolf populations throughout much of the country — and corridors for individuals to travel back and forth — will not only increase numbers but will also allow for needed genetic exchange.
But the problem is, this sort of national perspective on wolf restoration has never been applied by the government.
Instead, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service relies on outdated, decades-old plans that view wolf restoration as a piecemeal project — a few wolf populations here and there — and underestimate how many are needed for true recovery. The recovery plan for the northern Rockies, for example, calls for a population of just 30 breeding pairs spread between three populations.
There were 115 wolf pairs in 2009, but because the plan sets the bar far lower than this, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, to varying degrees, would all like to drastically slash wolf populations from where they are now to near the very low thresholds established in the recovery plan. This would drastically reduce the potential for wolves to move into Utah.
We’ve learned so much more about wolves since these plans were written. We know more about their behavior, their ecology and what’s needed for healthy, sustainable populations.
But rather than embracing what we’ve learned and taking a national scope for wolf recovery, the government has been busy trying to lift protections and defending its own flawed decisions.
We hope our petition sparks a new national conversation about finishing the job of wolf restoration in a way that identifies suitable habitat, considers connectivity between populations, and gives this vital animal a chance to help us learn to live in balance. Unlike the government’s multiple failed attempts to prematurely wash their hands of wolf recovery, such an approach would have no problem passing legal muster.
Our Mustang’s are free-roaming wild horse‘s, that first descended from horses brought to the America by the Spanish. In 1971, the U.S. Congress recognized Mustangs as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West, which continue to contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.” Since 1971, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management)has removed over 270,000 horses from their western home ranges and taken away nearly 20 million acres of wild horse habitat. Only 37,000 wild horses and burros remain on public lands in the West before this recent cull, but, we allow millions of cattle graze our public lands for human consumption. 32,000 wild horses who have been removed from the range are already held in government holding facilities, and the BLM intends to round up a total of 12,000 more horses by the end of 2010. On August 11 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had rejected an emergency motion to stop the Twin Peaks wild horse roundup. This Court of Appeals upheld a denial by U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. of motions filed by Plaintiff In Defense of Animals for an emergency stay, temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the roundup. After reading more into who is behind this outside of BP, Please read previous post: http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/2010/07/mustang-conspiracy-british-petroleum.html , I found the Safari Club International in support of The Twin Peaks Roundups named in the the lawsuit against IDA’s motion to stop the Round ups. http://www.safariclubfoundation.org/ This is blatantly outrageous corruption murdering our precious wild horses over greed and power, yet again. There are millions of horse lovers in this country that disagree with these actions, some wealthy and celebrities, so why are the tax payers paying BLM to appease special interest groups for profit? Why did they not ask for public opinion or help if they claim there is an overpopulation issue? Many people would have stepped up and volunteered time and efforts for alternatives. And there are alternatives to be utilized that the government keeps ignoring. The most intelligible, moral and ethical one being Managing Wild Horses Through Fertility Control By Jay F. Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., Traditional management of wild horse populations, over the past 100 years, has included everything from simply shooting animals, to sending them off to slaughter plants for dog food, to gathers and adoptions, through the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Adopt-A-Horse program. None has been successful in stabilizing populations over the long haul and management by removal ignores two biological imperatives. Removal of animals, by any means, lethal or otherwise, presents two problems, aside from the immense costs. First, as the density of horses is reduced, the remaining animals breed at younger ages, have less time between foals and in general speed up reproduction through a process known as compensatory reproduction. (To read more: http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/resources/fertility.html ) We could very easily use this method of control for the wild herds if it were really the issue, rather than continuing to embrace the provincial thinking from the barbarian drama queens that are currently controlling these issues. Below is an example of their tactics, Please, we need to force them out of the position to continue these horrific practices.
The body of a wild horse foal was found near the site of the Twin Peaks roundup Wednesday by Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist and Cloud Foundation Board member, and Christy Davis, wild horse advocate. Davis, an experienced horse woman, examined the foal for any broken bones. What she found was an apparent rope burn on a rear leg as well as a gunshot wound. "It seems as though the foal was shot in the gut," Davis states. "It looked as though the foal was abused, lassoed around the hind legs and dragged." The foal, approximately 2 weeks old, was killed prior to the start of the controversial Twin Peaks Herd Management Area roundup in Northern California. When Davis told BLM officials about finding the gunshot foal, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employee, Carman Prisco, told Davis she must be confused and the dead animal was an antelope. Photos taken by Downer confirmed that this is indeed a wild horse foal. ( http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/2010/08/twin-peaks-roundup-starts-with.html ) we have to let our voices be heard and loud whomever is in power, and take back our country for the animals and humans to live free from harm. Please take the following actions: CALL THE BLM, ask them to cease and desist the Round up of the Wild Mustangs! 202-208-3801. CALL SALAZAR, (202) 208-7351- DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
DEMAND A TOTAL MORATORIUM ON WILD HORSE ROUNDUPS.
Please call President Obama and ask to end the Wild Horse Roundups now (202) 456-1111 9-5 EST, M-F
Tell Karl Rove: Stop the Lies!
Investigate the Chamber of Commerce's Spending 
No Backroom Deals for Big Polluters
Take a Stand Against Anti-Wolf Legislation
Thanks for making a difference!
