Deep Roots: Animal Rights Blog

After several hours of writing, editing, layout and coding, our newsletter is now officially launched. Our print version is only available at our tabling events (and to prisoners), but you can easily subscribe for free and receive our newsletter directly in your email each month! You can subscribe by visiting our newsletter page. There you will also find the full web version of the March 2008 newsletter.

Yay! If you are interested in writing an article for the newsletter (or a letter to the editor), go ahead and send it to me at chris(at)deeprootssanctuary.org.

In other news, I apologize for the lack of posting here on the blog. There was a lot going on (within the sanctuary and personally), but things are getting back to a nice equilibrium so I should be back to regular posting.

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

You leave the blog alone for awhile to take care of other business and look what happens… hackers shut down your website so they can sell you drugs. Please bare with us as we fix the massive damage that was done to our site. Thanks!

Oh, and I promise lots of new blog posts and site updates soon.

My apologies for not getting the December edition of the Carnival of Empty Cages up this week. As you may have already heard, we bought land and took possession on December 1st. I’ve been busy moving stuff and have had very limited internet access. I will promise to get the carnival up next week. In the meantime, feel free to send in your submissions. If you want, you can just leave a link to your post in the comments section of this post.

We have a lot of exciting stuff coming up that I’ll be sure to write about (puppy mill campaign, coyote/fox trapping campaign, masquerade ball and more). If you are interested in getting involved, be sure to email volunteer [at] deeprootssanctuary.org.

This holiday season, thousands of puppies will be purchased as holiday gifts for loved ones. Many unsuspecting shoppers, however, will be giving their loved ones the gift of animal cruelty.

Yesterday marked the beginning of Puppy Mill Action Week (it also marked the beginning of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence), so expect to see a lot about puppy mills and what you can do to stop them in the coming days.

Here is a video from a recent undercover investigation that the Humane Society of the United States conducted in Virginia.

What you can do to shut down puppy mills:

• Adopt from local animal shelters and rescue organizations, never buy from pet stores, websites or newspaper ads
• Boycott pet stores that sell dogs; tell the store owners why you are boycotting them and have your friends do the same
• Write letters to the editor of your local newspapers
• Educate your friends and family
  Sign up for our free monthly email newsletter or volunteer list-serve to stay up-to-date on events, actions and legislation.
• Help end the status of animals as property. One easy way of doing this is to refer to yourself as a caretaker, guardian, companion or friend rather than as an “owner” or “master.” Much of the suffering on behalf of animals is due to their status as mere objects to be done with as their “owner” pleases.