Truth be told, there are a lot of things that you can do. Some more legal than others (but in the age of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, it seems harder to know the difference at times). I don’t want to tell you how you can be most productive in your activism. I just want to provide five easy things that anyone can do during “WAIL Week.” If you have more ideas, feel free to share them in the comments section.

1.) Support the Great Ape Protection Act (HR 1326)

It is true that this bill won’t protect all lab animals, but it will save thousands of chimpanzees from research that could potentially cause death, physical harm, or psychological distress. It will also allow about 600 chimps currently housed in U.S. laboratories to live out the rest of their lives in sanctuaries. Ending this type of experimentation and saving thousands of lives in the process is something that we should all be able to get behind. Since the U.S. is the last known country to conduct invasive experimentation on chimpanzees, this bill would effectively end all known chimpanzee experimentation throughout the world. The bill has 142 co-sponsors. Make sure that your representatives are on the list.

You can easily send an email to your representatives.

2.) Organize a demonstration

First, check to see if there is already an event being organized in your town. If not, grab some friends and put something together. The WWAIL website has a great demonstration checklist if you are new to organizing such things. While having a lot of people turn out for your demonstration can look good, you don’t need a ton of people to be effective. Be creative and have fun!

3.) Set up an educational event

You can educate people with a demonstration, but very few people are going to come up and ask questions of someone participating (unless they are epithetical questions). By passing out informative pamphlets, setting up a table, and/or setting up a presentation, you can help spread the world about the questionable ethics of animal testing to more people. You can find some free downloadable resources on the WWAIL website.

4.) Write a letter to the editor

These days, a “letter to the editor” means more than just your local newspaper to me. Sure, you should do that, too. (Why not? It is so easy.) But you can also “write a letter to the editor” in the form of a blog post, tweet, facebook status update, zine, and other form of be-the-media. Don’t let corporate news outlets control what the public does and doesn’t talk about. Help create a local, national, and international discussion on animal testing.

5.) Disobey

Nonviolent civil disobedience can be a great tool for several reasons: brings public attention to the issue, shows that we aren’t going to be satisfied with writing letters to no avail, and can sometimes shut down operations for periods of time. Civil disobedience in its very nature does probably mean you are breaking the law to some degree (hence, disobedience). I can’t be responsible for what actions you take, but be forewarned that you may get arrested depending on what you choose to do. But like those who fought for civil rights or the abolitionists that fought to end slavery or the suffragettes that fought for a woman’s right to vote, I don’t think you should let the law stand in the way of doing what is right. Especially when you are practicing nonviolence.

I decided not to break the posts into categories this edition because there were a lot of posts that didn’t easily fit into a box. I guess that’s a downside to seeing the interconnectedness of everything:)

Animal Rights 101 [An Animal-Friendly Life]
Eric Prescott has started a series of posts to introduce people to the fundamentals of the abolitionist approach to animal rights. The series now consists of three parts. Part One: The Need talks about why we need to clearly define animal rights. The second part, Rights, breaks down the differences and connections between legal and moral rights. And part three, Animal Rights, delves into the notion of sentience and the basis of equal consideration.

With greater clarity, precision, and stronger claims-making, our movement will be more coherent as it strikes at the roots of animal exploitation, rather than spending vast resources on efforts for nonhuman beings that on the surface seem good, but which ultimately do very little for them individually and may well further entrench their status as property for humans to use for the foreseeable future.

Veganism, Privilege and Liberation [The Vegan Ideal]
Dani, at The Vegan Ideal, writes about veganism as an ideology of liberation that renounces human privilege.

Theory and practice are one; you can’t “renounce absolutely … the right to use” without, at the same time, renouncing the actual use and the benefits of that use.

Full Frontal Factory Farming [Elaine Vigneault]
Many of us radicals and progressives have challenged PETA’s use of women in their campaigns. This is an excellent post from Elaine that challenges us to take a closer look at what is going on with these demonstrations and to open our minds to the idea that perhaps PETA may have a feminist perspective after all.

Speciesism: It’s Only Human [The Vegan Ideal]
The thing I like most about this post is that you could easily substitute some words and be talking about ableism, classism, racism, sexism, sizism or any other systematic oppression. Dani wrote a good follow-up, too, called Challenging the Structure of Nonhuman Oppression.

PPS Calls for Change in Direction of Vegan Advocacy [Animal Person]
Mary Martin, of Animal Person, toots the horn of the Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary and breaks down why the change in vegan advocacy is essential. Be sure to check out the original article from PPS, too.

if you believe there’s no such thing as humane farming, you do your own message a disservice by using “factory farming” as your descriptor because that creates an opening for the acceptance of an alternative.

On Speciesism, the ALF and the Media [Animal Person]
Mary sets a great example with this post. She opens her mind to the possibility of expanding definitions and encouraging new tactics in the name of strengthening strategies for an end goal: animal liberation. She also does a great job at address the concern of “negative media image” of ALF actions hurting the animal rights cause. And if that post wasn’t enough, she has a great follow-up responding to the backlash.

When one claims to be against speciesism, but would use certain tactics in the service of humans but not nonhumans, I have no choice but to say that’s a profound contradiction (a.k.a., hypocrisy).

Robot Monkeys [The PETA Files]
Grace gives us a perfect example of unnecessary animal testing. While the implications of a prosthetic limb can prove to be helpful to amputees, the argument for using monkeys in the experiment becomes morally bankrupt when it is leaked that the study has already been conducted… with humans.

The electrodes in the monkeys’ brains were attached to a computer, and the computer was attached to a robotic arm. The vivisectors restrained the monkeys’ arms and had the animals use their thoughts to move the robotic arm to their mouths so that they could get the food.

Earth Balance, palm oil, rainforests and RAN [Invisible Voices]
Deb over at Invisible Voices openly shares her struggle with coming to terms about the fact that the beloved vegan butter, Earth Balance, kills animals by destroying habitat, not to mention displacing communities, exploiting workers, and killing other species. Not that palm oil is particularly insidious (as Deb admits in the comments), environmental destruction is a part of industrial farming, but there is an active campaign to stop the deforestation caused by palm oil.

Every time I turn around, I’m reminded about how intertwined these issues are. Social justice, environmental protection, animal rights. Palm oil is a hat trick of issues, and it is something we all need to pay attention to.

This is great! Sure, San Marino may be a small nation with little-to-no international influence, but they are a prime example of what can be accomplished when compassionate citizens take action. Although the media has paid no attention to this story, I predict that one day San Marino will be remembered and honored as the nation that first banned the morally corrupt and scientifically bankrupt practice of animal testing.

All that is left to say is thanks, San Marino, you’ve given hope to the world.

Measures to protect pets from being sold for experimentation, and also from the horrors of dogfighting, are being considered right now for inclusion in the final Farm Bill. A small committee will decide the fate of these provisions, and you live in a district that has more influence than others in the country. Please take action right away to protect pets.

Both the House and Senate Farm Bills include provisions to stop the abuses of Class B Dealers, who acquire dogs and cats through methods such as pet theft and fraudulent response to “free to good home” ads. The Senate Bill also includes a provision to strengthen the federal law to combat the barbaric activity of dogfighting. These provisions are in jeopardy and we need your help right away to ensure that they are retained in the final Farm Bill.

You should call your senators and representatives (calls have a greater impact). You can reach your elected officials by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or click here to look up your legislators and office phone numbers.

Those of us in Indiana have even more of an impact because Senator Lugar is the chair of the agriculture committee, the committee that determines the fate of the companion animal language in the bill. Calls are quick and can have a big effect on protecting animals. Here is a sample call from HSUS:

“Hello, my name is [your name] and I am a constituent from [your town]. I want to urge [legislator's name] to make sure that the final Farm Bill includes the Senate-and House-approved language that will put an end to the sale of random source dogs and cats by Class B Dealers for experimentation, and the Senate-passed language to crack down on dogfighting. These issues are very important to me. Thank you.”

“There are differences between species. We are not rats and we are not even other primates, and so that [the] desire here is to see if we could do better,” said Francis Collins, director of the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute. “Ultimately what you are looking for is [whether] this compound does damage to cells.”

Federal scientists have decided to collaborate on a new toxicology testing program that uses stem cell research and computer modeling rather than animal testing. The collaboration is the result of an agreement among the National Toxicology Program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Chemical Genomics Center under the National Human Genome Research Institute, and EPA National Center for Computational Toxicology.

The agencies teamed up in a five-year agreement to implement the recommendations of the 2007 report from the National Research Council, “Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy.” The agencies are confident that the new testing methods will provide more accurate results at a greater speed and with lower costs.

“What is being proposed here is to move the 20th century paradigm of testing of one compound at a time in many animals to going to the 21st Century paradigm [that] tests 5,000 to 10,000 compounds against 20,000 conditions in cells that are very specific to human toxicology,” said NIH Director Elias Zerhouni.

In 30 years of animal testing, NIH has tested 2,500 chemicals. With the use of the new technology, it is estimated that same amount could be done in a single afternoon.

While the shift away from animal testing could take several years, say NIH officials, it is a huge victory for animal rights and public health activists.

Researchers implant coils on the monkeys’ eyeballs, thread wires up the skull and put a metal cylinder – sometimes two – into holes drilled in the monkey’s skull.

Through public disclosure requests we obtained thousands of pages of internal e-mails and reports from the UW and federal agencies. Some of the surgeries were approved, many more were not. We found evidence that some monkeys underwent a dozen or more surgeries, as the eye coils and head chambers were removed and replaced, again and again.

From StopAnimalTests.com:

Prompted by a complaint from PETA, federal investigators opened a formal inquiry at the University of Washington, Seattle (UW). New information from the ensuing investigations has confirmed widespread violations of animal protection regulations. The animal suffering involved in these cruel experiments is shocking. Experimenters cut off the tops of monkeys’ skulls, insert electrodes into their brains, and implant wire coils in their eyes. The monkeys are then restrained in experimentation chairs, with their heads bolted in place so that they can’t move while experimenters track their eye movements. They are kept hungry or thirsty much of the time so that they’ll comply during tests to get a sip of water or a bite of food.

Patrick was one of the monkeys used in these experiments at the UW. During his years of imprisonment at the university, Patrick battled illness and repeated infections caused by the implants. Because Patrick would not always perform during the experiments, his food was tightly restricted. There were times when he was so thin that his spine and his hips jutted out under his skin. Patrick also suffered from serious psychological conditions and even self-mutilated. Despite all of this, the operations and tests continued. Experimenters violated federal animal protection regulations by performing unauthorized surgeries on Patrick and other monkeys—cutting into the monkeys’ heads and eyes without approval from the university’s animal oversight committee.

You can send an email to the National Eye Institute asking them to stop the cruel experiments at UW by visiting getactive.peta.org/campaign/uw_monkeys

You can read the full story and watch the video from KOMO TV at komotv.com/news/15988507.html.

The Pet Safety and Protection Act is in danger! This act prohibits experimentation facilities from buying dogs and cats from Class B dealers. It was passed as an amendment to the Farm Bill by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. However, as the Senate and the House work out differences between their bills, animal experimenters are pressuring Congress to drop the pet-safety provisions altogether.

Class B animal dealers, also known as “random source dealers,” often acquire animals through theft and deception and are known to sell lost and stolen cats and dogs to laboratories.

Please contact your senator today and ask him/her to keep the Pet Safety and Protection Act in the Farm Bill.

from PETA

One city’s fight over biomed plans [Christian Science Monitor]
When Covance, a multinational drug-testing company, elected to build a $44 million laboratory here – where it will test chemical and medical compounds on animals – residents, as well as national and international animal rights groups, mounted a vigorous campaign to block it.
To learn more about Covance, go to http://www.protectchandler.org/

Vick Loses Another Sponsor _ Rawlings [ABC News]
Michael Vick lost another sponsor Rawlings. The sports goods company said Tuesday it was ending its relationship with the Atlanta Flacons quarterback because of dogfighting conspiracy charges.

Nike suspends Vick’s endorsement deal [The Oregonian]
A week after seemingly standing by accused dogfighter Michael Vick, Nike said Friday it is suspending without pay its multimillion-dollar endorsement contract with the embattled NFL quarterback.

Is a Vegetarian Diet Healthier? [MSN]
Evidence has been building for two decades that people who eat a mostly vegetarian diet have the upper hand. But even scientific studies may not be enough to convince meat eaters to give up their lust for flesh in exchange for a longer, more disease-free life.

Your Veggie Burger Deconstructed [MSN]
We explain the purpose of some mysterious ingredients commonly spotted on the labels of meat-free burgers.

Poaching, Encroachment Threaten India’s Leopards [ENN]
India’s leopards are under threat, with increasing numbers of the wild cats being poached for their body parts and villagers killing them for straying into human settlements, experts said.

Canada Fights Belgian Ban on Seal Trade at WTO [ENN]
Canada will request consultations at the World Trade Organization to challenge Belgium’s ban of Canadian seal products.

Paul Sentenced to 4 Years… and a Book Report [Green Is The New Red.com]
A federal judge sentenced Jonathan Paul to four years and three months in prison for his role in a 1997 fire that destroyed the Cavel West horsemeat packing plant in Redmond, Ore.

‘Vegansexuals’ Do It With Each Other [ABC]
A recent study conducted in New Zealand found that vegans — notoriously finicky eaters who don’t eat meat or animal byproducts, like eggs and dairy — don’t like the idea of swapping spit (or anything else) with those who have been dining on flesh.

I-Team Report: Poultry Farm Abuse [Fox 8 News, Cleveland]
The Fox 8 News I-Team has obtained hidden camera video shot inside one of the nation’s largest poultry slaughterhouses. (link contains graphic video footage)

Dumping pets a burden on national forests [The Huntsville Item]
Each year, unwanted cats and dogs dumped on national forest lands kill and harass native birds, small mammals, amphibians and reptiles.

Activists ask feds to confiscate Maggie [KTUU]
In a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, In Defense of Animals claims the Alaska Zoo is in violation of the Animal Welfare Act.

Costa Rica monkeys lose ground to developers [MSN]
Costa Rica has lost up to half of its monkeys over the last 12 years as developers expanding into their jungle habitat isolate them in small communities, according to local scientists.

Victory for animal rights group against testing [The Independent]
An anti-vivisection campaign group won a partial victory yesterday in its High Court claim that the Government was failing in its legal duty to ensure animal suffering was kept to a minimum in UK laboratories.

Animal rights group at odds with circus, village [Chicago Heights Star]
A national animal rights group is calling on Steger lawmakers to ban devices they say are used to inflict pain on elephants in time for this week’s performance by Carson & Barnes Circus.

Cockfighting on Web Enters Legal Arena [Washington Post]
One evening last week, two roosters in a ring surrounded by cheering spectators pecked and clawed one another in a fight to the death. With each lunge, feathers flew, then floated to the ground. Finally, one bloodied bird, its eyes plucked out, lurched and faltered.

New Texas Animal Cruelty Laws Take Effect In September [KFOX-TV]
Beginning this September, you can expect some new laws when it comes to your four-legged friends.

Zoos kill healthy tigers for the skin trade [The Sunday Times, UK]
Zoos are killing healthy tigers and other endangered species and selling their skins to be stuffed and mounted as trophies for private collectors, an investigation has found.

Gene-spliced mice fuel rise in animal testing [Reuters, UK]
The number of scientific experiments on animals in Britain rose 4 percent in 2006, driven by increased use of genetically-altered mice, the government said on Monday.

Texas Turtles Ending up in China Soup Pots [ENN]
Growing up in East Texas, Dian Avriett loved to watch the turtles sunning on the banks of local rivers and lakes. But now she says it’s rare to see them on those same waterways, and the reason is clear — China’s taste for Texas turtle meat.

Stray Pets: A Complex Problem [NPR]
Several million dogs and cats are put to death in U.S. animal shelters each year. Spay and neuter programs are having some impact in some areas, but solving the overpopulation problem tests the resources of activists and animal-control officials. Audio

Calling Cruelty a ‘Cultural Trait’ Doesn’t Excuse It [NPR]
Allegations that NFL star Michael Vick took an active role in an illegal dogfighting ring, coupled with video of severe treatment of ducks and geese in the foie gras industry, lead to a conclusion: It’s hard to excuse cruelty by calling it a cultural trait. Audio

The steer who escaped into our conscience [Newsday]
“Moo,” as he came to be nicknamed, represented the fiery spirit of independence even domesticated animals still harbor. He broke free in a bid for liberation, impressed the public and was rewarded with sanctuary in the end.

Will Potter Posts Updated Analysis of Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act [GreenIsTheNewRed.com]
I finally got around to posting my updated analysis of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and posted a new pdf file that you can download as well.

UCSF Primate Research Is Target Of Watchdog Group [KTVU]
Ohio-based Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) has filed an official complaint with the USDA about UCSF and its research practices on primates, the group announced today.

Vineyard shark tournament met with opposition [WPRI]
Groups like the Humane Society of the United States say shark fishing techniques are barbaric and tournaments harm dwindling populations of thresher, blue and mako sharks.

SLC law limits picketing, but legal challenges sure to come [Salt Lake Tribune]
After abbreviated debate, the council voted 5-2 to make it illegal to demonstrate within 100 feet of private residences in Utah’s capital.

Animal group backs ACT’s proposed caged egg ban [ABC Rural]
Animal Liberation hopes a Bill to ban battery egg production in the ACT will set a precedent for other states.

Livestock contractor for rodeo sued [The State Journal-Register]
Saying that bulls were jabbed and electrically shocked at last summer’s rodeo, Steve Hindi, president of Geneva-based Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, on Friday sued Johnson & Jordan Rodeos LLC, which provided animals for the 2006 event. Johnson & Jordan is scheduled to do the same for this year’s weeklong rodeo, which begins Sunday at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Red panda escapes from Zoo exhibit again [Yahoo! News]
Virginia Zoo officials on Monday began trimming the landscaping around a new red panda exhibit after the animal escaped for the second time in less than a month.

In Speech, Sen. Byrd Denounces Enthusiasts of Dogfighting [Washington Post]
“I am confident that the hottest places in hell are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God’s creatures in such brutal and cruel contempt,” he said.

NOTE: I have purposefully left out any news coverage of the Michael Vick indictment. The reason is because I am working on a separate post for that issue… and its not exactly hard to find coverage of it.