Deep Roots: Animal Rights Blog

We here at DRAS aren’t big fans of most of the big dog and cat food producers. While many, including us, have maintained that these products have been slowly contributing to illnesses such as kidney failure and cancer, it seems that millions of packages from Menu Foods are now being recalled due to reported kidney failures and deaths.

Menu Foods says the recall is for products “manufactured between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. The recall is limited to “cuts and gravy” style pet food in cans and pouches manufactured at two of the Fund’s United States facilities.” We’re including the list of dog and cat food brands that are being recalled. Below is the article from the Indianapolis Star about the recall.
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I just bought Hillary Rettig’s The Lifelong Activist, so you can expect a full review soon. But in the meantime, I thought I’d share the following list from Rettig highlighting ten ways to avoid activist burnout. Although a simple list, it is very insightful and one that i suggest every activist post in a visible place. As someone who has been involved in organizing for the past decade, learning each of these skills has proven to be vital to my staying active while so many around me suffered from burnout and gave up.

1. Be honest about who you are and how you want to live your life. Don’t be ashamed if there are limits to the amount and type of activism you want to do.

2. Acknowledge your physical, emotional, material and other non-activist needs.

3. Surround yourself with mentors and others who will encourage and inspire you.

4. Avoid people who abuse you or make you feel guilty or bad in any way. This includes, but is not limited to, other activists and family members.

5. Don’t abuse yourself with constant selfcriticism. Become a compassionate observer of your own flaws.

6. Celebrate every achievement, no matter how small. It’s recognizing and acknowledging the positive, not harping on the negative, that creates growth.

7. If you need therapy, get it. If you suffer from ADD, ADHD, OCD, depression, addiction, codependency or another affliction, see a specialist and follow through on his or her recommendations. These conditions are fundamental barriers to success and happiness, so it is vital to deal with them.

8. Manage your time. Time management is a primary skill that separates successful from unsuccessful people.

9. Stop worrying about your problems and start solving them. Solving involves observation, analysis, consultation with experts and deliberate behavioral change.

10. Never give up. Sometimes success seems remote—particularly if you have a habit of worrying instead of solving—but it is never as remote as it seems. Start taking small positive steps as I outline here and in The Lifelong Activist, and you will make faster progress than you ever dreamed possible.

Once i get some time to focus on this site, i plan to create a section for this topic and to write some original pieces. But since i’m already a day late for Blog Against Sexism Day, i thought it would be best to just put up a list of resources for more information. Much of this i am shamelessly stealing from the Eastern Shore Animal Sanctuary website. But its out of love, as they’ve been a model for our own sanctuary.

Online Resources
Speciesism and Sexism 101 [pdf]
There Bodies, Our Selves: Moving Beyond Sexism and Speciesism (Pattrice Jones, Satya magazine)
Of Brides and Bridges: Linking Feminist, Queer and Animal Liberationist Movements (Pattrice Jones, Satya magazine)
Do Feminists Need to Liberate Animals, too? (Carol Adams, On The Issues interview)
Toward Total Animal Liberation (speech by Pattrice Jones)
Gender and the Animal Liberation Movement (Students Against Cruelty to Animals)
From Heroic to Holistic Ethics: The Ecofeminist Challenge (from Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature [ed. Greta Gaard])
Thinking Like a Chicken: Farm Animals and The Feminine Connection (Karen Davis, Ph.D. – United Poultry Concerns)
Mothering, Caring, and Animal Liberation (Greta Gaard)
Anarcha-feminism and Animal Liberation (author unknown – SEKHMET)

Books
The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams
The Pornography of Meat by Carol J. Adams
Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations edited by Carol J. Adams and Josephine Donovan
Neither Man nor Beast: Feminism and the Defense of Animals
Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism
Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature edited by Greta Gaard
Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals edited by Steven Best
Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of Mother Earth edited by Steven Best
Ecofeminism edited by Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva

Environmentalism and animal liberation have always been inextricable in my mind. When you destroy or disturb ecosystems, the result is almost certainly the death of animals. The greater the destruction, the more animals that die as a result. The New York Times recently published an article about how ski resorts have had a devastating effect on bird populations because they destroy high-elevation habitat.

The NRDC and BioGems Defenders are now embarking on a campaign to protect the endangered Grizzly Bear. Grizzly habitat in the lower 48 states is being targeted for oil and gas drilling. In combination with the Bush administration’s proposal to remove the Grizzly from the endangered species list, this could mean the end of the Grizzly Bear. The irony is that the administration is likely removing the Grizzly from the list so that corporate interests can exploit the Grizzly habitat for profit (at the expense of the Grizzly population).

It is important that animal rights activists get involved in environmentalist organizing efforts and extend our compassion beyond domesticated animals.

When I was seventeen, i got a job at PetSmart because i loved animals and liked PetSmart’s policy of not selling animals. I didn’t last very long at that job. Mostly because the manager was incredibly rude, demanding and condescending, but also because despite their policy, they still sold tropical fish. I guess this can be connected to the belief that you can be a vegetarian and still eat fish. Just to clarify, fish are animals. And tropical fish are obtained by invading and destroying their delicate habitats.

Well it seems that over the years, PetSmart completely abandoned that policy and began selling small animals in addition to the (vegetable-based?) fish. A recent article from azcentral.com showcases yet another reason why animal-loving people should start putting pressure on the corporate giant to stop selling animals. Here’s a snippet from the article:

The complaint stems from one PetSmart store in Scottsdale and one in Manchester, Conn. An undercover activist worked at the stores for a total of four and a half months, shooting photos and videos of sick and dead animals – including hamsters, rats, lizards, chinchillas and birds – that had been pulled from the sales floor. During her time working as a pet care specialist in Manchester, the unidentified investigator said 118 small animals, excluding fish, died at the store.

check out the full article