Deep Roots: Animal Rights Blog

My first response to this question is, well, nothing. There is nothing innately wrong with circuses, that is. There are plenty of examples of circuses that don’t depend on the exploitation of [tag]animals[/tag]. Unfortunately, these are not typically what people think of when they hear the word circus.

Most of us were taught as children that [tag]circuses[/tag] involve animals (usually large and “wild”) performing stupid tricks at the behest of a ringleader who does nothing more than gently wave a hand to indicate to the animal its next move. What we aren’t taught is what it takes to get a wild animal to behave so unnaturally. I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the intellectual superiority of the trainers.

Rather, these animals are stripped from the nurturing care of their families at a young age, when they are then forced into a life of beatings, shoutings, burnings, and deprivation. The video below (from circuses.com) shows a little about the reality of circus animals.

Targeting Activists
The corporations behind these circuses spend a lot of money portraying themselves as wholesome family fun. They also spend a lot of money on lawyers and undercover agents to make sure that no one tarnishes that image.

Will Potter recently wrote an exposé about some of the tactics used by the circus industry to smash the public’s ability to criticize their practices. While the Ringling Brothers’ Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) suit against the ASPCA was rejected by the judge, Potter is likely correct in his assessment that this will not be the final tactic used against activists who are trying to put a stop to [tag]animal cruelty[/tag] in circuses.

Feld Entertainment, the producers of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus, has already begun to align the work of the ASPCA and other groups with extremism (which in today’s hyped climate is akin to terrorism).

“This lawsuit is a direct result of the animal rights extremists’ agenda to deny families in the United States entertainment choices like the circus and their ongoing conspiracy to harm Feld Entertainment,” company spokesman Stephen Payne said in a statement. (from The Dallas Morning News)

While it may be true that animal rights groups are attempting to deny families in the United States entertainment choices that are based on exploitation and torture, it can just as easily be said that Feld Entertainment has an agenda of denying U.S. citizens the right to assembly and free speech (not to mention privacy… check out the link above from Salon.com).

For more information about the exploitation and abuse of circus animals and what you can do to put a stop to it, visit circuses.com.

I have a skewed view of saturday’s kickball tournament. As an organizer, any event is always a little stressful. As the tournament umpire… even more so. But it was still great fun. Myself and the other organizers have had several people come up to us over the past couple of days to tell us how it was one of the funnest days they’ve experienced in awhile.

In case you were wondering, The KickAssers won the tournament after defeating The Qix eight to seven. It was a close game that was won in the bottom of the final inning. The winning team took home some really nice Kickball Championship tshirts, tickets to the haunted train, raffle tickets, and an amazing trophy. I was a little too busy to take any pictures, but I’ll try to track some down.

In addition to kickball (and the obstacle course that decided one tie game), we had a lot of vegan ice cream (donated by Chicago Soy Dairy), veggie hot dogs, and a raffle with several prizes donated by the local companies listed to the right. We also introduced our new tshirt, which will be for sale on this site soon (and several places around Bloomington).

Even though this event was meant to be more of a community event than a fundraiser, we were able to raise enough for the retainer fee for the lawyer. Which brings me to my next point… we are buying land! We’ve been in the process for a couple of months now, but I’ve been waiting to write about it until we got a little closer to signing the contract. The land is absolutely gorgeous, and it already has a large house (which will be used for housing sick, injured, and adoptable animals). Sticking with our commitment to environmental sustainability, one wall of the house is earth berm, it is heated and cooled geothermally using radiant floor coils, and the windows are triple-paned. We will also work on implementing renewable sources of energy such as microhydro. I’ve included a map of the land below so you can check it out.

As you can see, we are buying 21.79 acres, which is part of about an 150-acre parcel. We plan to buy a good portion of the additional acreage (if not all of it), not too far down the road, but one thing at a time, right? Beside, the current owner of the land is nice enough to allow us to lease the land for free for the first four years. As you can image, 22 acres with a fairly new (and big) house and a lake is pretty expensive. A little over $300,000, actually. We are hoping to pay off the land within three years, but we need your help today to help us with the down payment and monthly mortgage (not to mention the cost of building a new intake center and caring for dozens of animals). I’ve set up a fund-raising page through change.org where you can easily donate using your credit or debit card. You can also donate on our site via PayPal or send a check to:

Deep Roots Animal Sanctuary
P.O. Box 171
Bloomington, IN 47404

Every bit helps, but please give as much as you can. And remember, right now we are a completely volunteer-ran organization so 100% of your money will go towards housing, rehabilitating, and otherwise fighting for the animals. I’ll keep you informed on our progress! Thanks in advance for donating and passing on the word.

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Welcome to the long awaited 6th Carnival of Empty Cages! It has been nearly a year since the last carnival was published, and a lot of great [tag]animal liberation[/tag] material has been written across the blogosphere. We’ve seen the birth of several new animal lib bloggers and the growth of many of our old favorites. I wish I could promise you that this carnival would successfully catch you up to everything that has gone on in the past year, but that is just not feasible. Instead, you will find a nice (yet relatively small) sampling of some of the great material that has been published.

With this edition of the Carnival of Empty Cages, we announce that the Deep Roots blog will now be the permanent host of the carnival and that the carnival will be published on a monthly basis! Please help spread the word about the animal lib blogosphere by submitting posts to future editions of the carnival and linking back to us. Enjoy!

Connecting Oppression

In his post Is Heterosexism Different?, Gary Francione talks about the links between [tag]speciesism[/tag] and [tag]heterosexism[/tag] by responding to the following question that he received:

I understand that speciesism is problematic because it is like racism and sexism because it attaches a negative value to species in the same way that racism attaches a negative value to race or sexism attaches a negative value to the status of being a woman. But you also often liken speciesism to heterosexism and I think that there is a difference here because unlike race or sex, which have no inherent moral value, sexual relations between members of the same sex may be considered as immoral because such conduct is not natural.

Sistah Vegan discusses a challenge to PETA’s Animal Liberation Project and the [tag]animal rights[/tag] movement as a whole in the post Unresolved Trauma from Experiencing Racism (and not experiencing it). The post talks about the balance of connecting issues of speciesism and racism while also dealing with the triggers and trauma from generations of racism (and being compared to animals).

Focusing on PETA’s attack of Michael Moore and fat people in general, Ryan at Veg Blog discusses Anti-Fat Sentiment in Animal Rights.

Sometimes its the comments section of a post that interest me most. Such is the case with the post Confessions of a (former) breeder at Invisible Voices. About halfway down the comments section, Pattrice Jones initiates a great dialogue about reproductive freedom and how it connects the liberation of humans and non-human animals.

Of Human and Non-Human Animals reminds us that meat isn’t just bad for animals, its also the most danger industry for human workers.

Few people realize that, in a country like the USA, meatpacking is the most dangerous occupation.

In the year 2000, about 25 percent of all employees of American meatpacking plants had non-fatal occupational injuries or job-related illnesses: that is as many as 4 times the national average for all private industry sectors.

I had planned to write a post for this carnival critiquing PETA’s recent State of the Union video, which features a woman stripping (eventually to the point of full frontal) while talking about PETA’s campaigns, but alas Gary Francione beat me to the punch. Nothing wrong with that, though, as Gary has done a wonderful job at highlighting what is so wrong with PETA’s pornography.

First, these campaigns commodify a traditionally disempowered group (women) as a supposed means to the end of helping another disempowered group (nonhumans). But what sense does it make to say that we should treat one group instrumentally in order to help another group? It does not make any sense whatsoever. Indeed, by encouraging the public to see women as objects, PETA merely ensures that people will continue to see nonhumans as objects. As long as we continue to treat women like meat, we will continue to treat nonhumans as meat.

Animals as Food

Bruce Friedrich over at the Huffington Post write about a growing trend among “conscious consumers”: [tag]humane meat[/tag]. Friedrich, however, boils the topic down to one question: would you (as a compassionate consumer) be be willing to cut an animal’s throat?

With 111 shark species on the World Conservation Union’s Red List, the issue of shark protection is starting to become popular these days. Anita Wolff at Britannica Blog published a post about the shark’s deadliest predator: humans.

Another post, or rather a series of posts, dealing with “compassionate consumers” is Animal Writings’ three-part series on Advocating to Free-Rangers. In part one of the series, entitled Understanding Why They Buy Free-Range/Cage-Free, Gary shares his observations about the ethical basis (even if weak) for why people choose free-range or cage-free eggs. Part two, Leveraging Their Consciences to Get Them Closer to Veganism, deals with using that ethical basis as a way to push their logic a little further towards a more compassionate living standard. And part three, Organizations’ Message, discusses the need for organizations (and individual vegans) to really focus on getting the most out of their messaging with regards to promoting veganism as an ethical living standard.

Gregory McNamee at Britannica Blog has a post about Horse Slaughter in America. Although miniscule in comparison to the slaughter of chickens, cows, and pigs, the number of horses slaughtered in the U.S. for food in 2006 was around 100,000. This post discusses why we are slaughtering horses for food and what we can do to stop it.

Animal Rights and the Environment

Pattrice Jones’ post entitled Drought and Despair takes the issue of drought and uses it to connect struggles of liberation and personal mental health.

Animal liberationists often talk about how the best thing you can do for the environment is to go vegan. Invisible Voices published a post (Environmentalism: Part of Animal Rights) along these lines, but highlighting how many of our environmentally destructive patterns are antithetical to animal liberation.

Gary at Animal Writings has a short and simple Two Simple Ways to Help Birds. After all, wild birds deserve the right to a home and food, too.

Veganism, Speciesism, Abolition and Animal Rights

It seems more and more discussion is being heard about why [tag]veganism[/tag] must be at the root of any movement for animal rights. The Garys have both weighed in on this topic. Gary at Animal Writings writes about why he is vegan to reduce animal suffering and Gary Francione writes that veganism is the fundamental principle of abolitionism.

For new vegans, Ryan at The Veg Blog has some good tips on label reading for beginners. He also compiled a list of 10 Ways To Be A Kick-Ass Vegan.

Jenna, over at VeganFreaks, has a very interesting and compelling argument against speciesism using the notion of semiotic communication as one way to point out the sentience of non-humyn animals. Along that same line of thought, Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary has a post about pig love and sentience.

Eric at An Animal-Friendly Life writes about the Language of Liberation

Well-chosen words hold the secret to liberating animals, those who cannot speak for themselves. How? Because emancipation begins in the mind. We can physically rescue as many individual nonhuman animals as we want, but the only way to truly achieve lasting liberation for all nonhuman beings is to first alter the mindset, or attitudes, of a meaningful percentage of those responsible for their exploitation.

Another post from superblogger Ryan discusses a key reason as to Why We Need to Rethink Welfare – we’re doing the industry’s marketing for them.

Animal Person has a post fisking a New York Times article on Nonhumans as Property. Mary points out that it is this status as property that needs the full attention of animal rights advocates.

Randomness

Invisible Voices has a really nice and important post sparked by Pattrice Jones’ book Aftershock.

I wouldn’t have ever described myself as someone dealing with trauma, and my activism tends to be low-key, low-risk. Yet we all deal with the repeated trauma of facing what goes on in this world, to humans and non-humans, as we work to enact change. It doesn’t have to be something as obvious as being beaten by the police or rescuing animals at our own peril to put us in the position of dealing with trauma. And burnout.

Will Potter writes about an odd case where Death Threats to Biologists “Not Necessarily a Crime”. It is, of course, another example of double standards.

Last but certainly not least, Britannica Blog has yet another post dealing with animal exploitation. This one, The Bull Market in Bear Parts, talks about the growing trade in bear parts as medicine and how this is leading to the “farming” of bears.

Well, that’s it for this edition. I know its all a little overwhelming, but there was a lot of catching up to do. Please be sure to submit your post (or any other great animal lib related posts you like) at http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_197.html. The next edition of the carnival will be posted at the beginning of November, so be sure to get your submissions in before the end of the month.

The kind folks at Bakers Junction have donated 50 haunted train tickets for us to sell as a fundraiser. If you aren’t familiar with the haunted train, you need to check it out. If you are familiar, then I’ll get on with how you can get your tickets and support the sanctuary.

Those interested in buying tickets can contact Melissa at 312-927-0039 or melissa [at] deeprootssanctuary.org. You can also buy tickets next Saturday, September 29th, at the Bloomington Coffee Roasters’ table at the Farmers’ Market. The ticket price is $5, but if you can’t afford the full amount, just give what you can (if you can afford more, remember that all of the money is going to the sanctuary). The tickets are only good for the 5th and 6th of October, so be sure to get your tickets soon!

Bringing Moos and Oinks Into the Food Debate [NY Times]
As Farm Sanctuary has grown, so too has its influence. Soon, due in part to the organization’s work, veal calves and pregnant pigs in Arizona won’t be kept in cages so tight they can’t turn around. Eggs from cage-free hens have become so popular that there is a national shortage. A law in Chicago bans the sale of foie gras. (video)

The Feds’ War on the Animal Rights Movement [counterpunch]
The imprisonment of the group, known as SHAC 7, is nothing more than history repeating itself. Those who first called for an end to slavery were imprisoned. Those who believed women should vote went to jail. Civil rights activists, supporters of gay and lesbian rights, and now animal rights activists have all been jailed. The only thing sadder than the imprisonment of animal rights activists is that they are fighting for a losing cause; for we now live in a society that slaps the wrist of a person who harms the neighbor’s dog yet subsidizes the systematic annual killing of billions of other animals for food, clothing, research and sport.

Urgent Action Needed for Kangaroos in California [Animal Protection Institute]
SB 880, a bill that would allow the sale of kangaroo skins and body parts in the state of California, is sailing through the legislative process. Sadly, it has now passed the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee and moves to the Assembly for a floor vote.

Beyond Vick: Animal Cruelty for Sport [NPR]
And Vick’s infamy has at least put the spotlight on the loathsome business of dog-fighting. Who knew that the Humane Society estimates that there are as many as 40,000 Americans who fight dogs? And there are, too, other animal torture amusements in this country that, lacking a celebrity to spotlight them, actually remain legal in many states.(audio)

Cities Across North America Walk to Save Farm Animals [PR Newswire]
Throughout September and October, compassionate citizens join Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, in the annual Walk for Farm Animals.

Tiger, Tiger: Why it’s time to reconsider the whole notion of putting wild animals in zoos [Newsweek]
The tigers I saw spent all day pacing in their cages, and it was clear that they were not happy cats. The attack on Jeff Tierney ought to remind us that these are wild animals that we foolishly expect to behave like house pets so that we can ogle them.

Lawmaker-Veterinarian Wants Pets Protected [WLWT-NBC]
A veterinarian who also serves as a legislator is pushing for changes in the state’s animal protection laws to keep pets out of the hands of neglectful owners.

Decision on managing the bear population due[NorthJersey.com]
After Wednesday’s deadline for comment, state Environmental Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson will then have to a render a decision on the best way deal with the state’s estimated 3,000 bears.