Animal Rights

All of us have seen a puppy at least once in a lifetime. We usually associate puppies with being cute and cuddly, with no worries, and no harm in the past. Were we ever wrong. Puppy mills are pretty much mass-dog breeding associations. Dogs bred in puppy mills may spend their whole life in excruciatingly small cages without any human accompaniment or any hope of ever being in a loving family. These dogs recieve limited or no “vet” checkups, and usually never see a bed or toy. After it reaches “dog puberty,” and their fertility status goes down, the dogs are sometimes killed, abandoned, or shipped off to another mill. The result of this cruelty? Harmless, innocent puppies with diseases, behavior and/or health problems, and other harmful conditions.

Several hundred puppies are shipped across the country to be sold in pet shops, but many other puppy mill puppies are sold via internet sites or newspaper classified, which are many times accompanied with false claims such as “We’d never sell puppies from a puppy mill,” or other false claims. Puppy mills are made purely for profit and buisness, not for the well being of dogs. So as you can see, the puppies are probably treated like dirt during their probable short lives. I wouldn’t be surprised if the puppies wanted to die, they were treated so poorly.

In the summer, the dogs usually swelter of heat. In the winter, the dogs usually ache from shivering from the frigid cold air. The state and federal government need to put an END to this awful torture to these poor helpless animals! These cruel breeders are making tons of money because they torture animals unrelentlessly. The breeders THRIVE off of their torture. If we stop buying puppies from puppy mills, the puppy mills will start to lose profit. When they lose profit, they won’t have enough money to continue breeding animals. If they can’t breed animals, they can’t torture them. Easy solution, right? Not quite. That has been a solution that has been thrown out there for years. But is the problem being solved? Absolutely not.

Please, help put a stop to Puppy Mills. Let’s put a stop to animal cruelty altogether. Animals share this planet with us, let’s give them the rights they deserve. If we do give them the rights they deserve, I strongly believe the world will slowly become a better place.

-Hannah

thanks to:
www.stoppuppymills.org
www.prisonersofgreed.org

Protesters  gathered  at  a  abandoned  military  site  in  the  Australian  capital  last  Saturday  to  protest  and  prevent  the  slaughtering  of  400  majestically  beautiful  kangaroos.  These  kangaroos  were  blamed  for  supposedly   ruining  the  habitat  of  rare  lizards  and  insects,  which  I  highly  doubt.  The  government  has  portrayed  the  cull  as  a  necessary  case  of  being  cruel  to  be  kind.  However,  most  people  and  me  have  thought  of  this  as  just  cruelty.  About  70  protesters  congregated  around  the  gate  to  stop  the  government  contractors  from  entering  and  killing  the  eastern  gray  kangaroo.  The  kangaroos  themselves  are  endangered,  which  is  the  biggest  reason  for  not  killing  them  in  the  first  place.  It  is  just  wrong!!!  The  Defense  Department  says  that  they  do  not  plan  to  kill  them  by  shooting  them  but  by  tranquilizing  first  them  giving  them  lethal  injection.  Which  I  suppose  that  I  a  little  more  humane  that  just  shooting  the  kangaroos,  but  in  the  end  they  are  still  killing  kangaroos.  “We  are  all  determined  to  see  that  the  kangaroos  are  not  killed,”  said  protest leader  Pat  O’Brien,  president  of  the  Wildlife  Protection  Association  of  Australia, whose  patrons  are  the  family  of  the  late  “Crocodile  Hunter”. Defense  Department declined  to  say  when  the  cull  would  start,  but O’Brien  said  he  has  heard  rumors  it  would  begin  in the  coming  days.  Australia  is  no  stranger  to  killing kangaroos.  Last  year,  state  governments  issued  permits  to cull  3.7  million  kangaroos,  about  15  percent  of  the  population  of  the four  species  licensed  for  commercial  exploitation.  However,  the government  says  that  less  than  two-thirds  of  the  quota  are  shot in  any  given  year.  I  just  think  that  this  is  wrong  they  should  not  kill  kangaroos  at  all   let  alone  any  other  animal.  They  should  just  stop  killing  animals  al  together.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/15/kangaroos.australia.ap/index.html?eref=rss_world

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/world/asia/14australia.html?ex=1363233600&en=8184b9470a4cbb00&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Animal testing- the use of non-human animals in research and development projects, especially for purposes of determining the safety of substances such as foods or drugs.

Animals are routinely being sacrificed for the “common good” of humans. They are poked, prodded, poisoned, forced to live in terrible conditions, and even cut open so that we humans can save risking our own species. This is morally as well as humanly wrong; if we don’t want to test the product on a living human being, a person who has complete thoughts and feelings just as you and I do, then how is it even remotely fair to force it upon animals? First and foremost, they have no say in it. It’s not like they signed up to be a part of it, oh no, they were bread, born, and raised for the sole purpose of being used to test new products. Studies show that there are vast differences between the human anatomy and that of lab animals. And not only is the DNA different, but studies also show that alternatives to animal testing are humane, more accurate, less expensive, and less time-consuming than animal experiments. If all of this is true, then why I ask you, do we still continue to harm and even kill millions of animals each and every year? Many researchers are slow and resilient to change their normal routines. They think it easier to stay with the way that things have always been, than to change their already comparatively easy lives in order to save those of innocent animals. Alternative or new methods include computer models, cell cultures, and human studies. And there are sure to be many more ideas and research methods to come.

Want to know how you can help?

Protest, do something about it. If you buy a product and later find out that it has been tested on animals before sold to stores, return it. Or better yet, send it back to the company along with a note explaining why you won’t buy their products anymore. I know that that is only one unsatisfied customer and so they may not pay much attention to your personal note, but if we can get enough people out there complaining, well, then we may have something.

In conclusion, I’d like all of you to stop and think next time you use your favorite shampoo or body wash that is being tested on animals. Think really hard if buying the off-brand product is worth saving millions of innocent lives. In the end, I think the answer should be clear. Make the right decision and buy non-animal tested products from now on.

 -Audrey

Thanks to: http://www.stopanimaltests.org/index.aspx

http://www.hsus.org/animals_in_research/animal_testing/

http://www.peta.org/actioncenter/testing.asp

I  am  so  very  appaled  at  what  South  Africa  is  starting  to  let  wicked  hunters  kill  their  big  lovely  elephants.  I  cannot  beleive  this,  elephants  are  indangered  they  should  not  hunt  them.  South  Africa  said  that  last  monday  they  were  going  to  let  the  hunters  start  hunting  elephants  after  a  13-year  ban.  Environment  Minister  Marthinus  van  Schalkwyk  said  that  the  government  was  left  with  no  choice  but  to  start  killing  them  as  a  last  option  to  reduce  environmental  degradation  and  rising  conflicts  with  humans.  That  is  still  no  right  to  kill  the  pretty  much  defenceless  animals.  He  also  said  “There  will  be  no  wholesale  slaughter,”.  South  Africa  has  been  hugely  successful  in  protecting  the  elephant  population  which  was  once  one  the  verge  of  extinction.  Moreover,  if  they  let  the  hunt  of  them  go  on  then  they  are  probally  going  to  be  close  to  extinction  again!  They  say  that  the  elephant  population  is  growing  at  a  rate  of  5%  a  year  which  is  a  good  thing.  The  big  white  hunter  of  the  1800s  brought  total  population  near  extinction.  In  South  Africa  was  left  with  only  200  elephants  at  the  beginning  of  the  20th  century.  Now  South  Africa  has  a  booming  populations  due  to  their  conservation  efforts,  while  those  of  east  and  west  African  nations  are  struggling  due  to  largescale  poaching.  South  Africa  has  about  18,000  elephants  and  all  of  southern  Africa  is  home  to  300,000  elephants;  about  half  of  all  the  elephants  on  the  whole  continant.  Elephants  can  turn  woodlands  into  grass  and  stubs  in  a  matter  of  a  few  years.  Atleast  that  is  what  the  enviromentalists  say.  South  Africa  says  that  they  might  upset  tourist  that  come  to  see  the  elephants  which  they  would  if  they  saw  someone  walk  up  a  shoot  an  elephant  right  in  their  face.  Anyway  I  still  do  not  see  a  reason  to  kill  the  elephant,  the  worlds  largest  land  mammal  I  might  add.  If  they  want  to  stop  environmental  degradation  plant  some  trees.

If  you  would  like  to  read  more  about  thin  visit  one  or  both  of  these  site

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4339457

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/25/world/main3876059.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_3876059

Vegetarian is becoming the new fad right? Or so it seems. A lot of people are doing it because their friends are, because they think it makes them look cool or sound cool. All of these reasons help to save the lives of animals, so who am I to complain right? But don’t you think that we should be doing it for the right reasons? Animals are being mistreated every single day. And what’s worse, we only pick certain ones. It’s like we’re stereotyping them just like we do our own human race. People treat house animals, such as cats and dogs, with the utmost respect. Letting them live among us in our homes, giving them great food, a nice place to sleep, the ability to lounge around all day if they please. But tell me this: how is it fair for them to be able to bask in the sun, sprawled on the living room floor when chickens, pigs, cows, turkeys, and many other animals are being crammed into tiny cages and kept in horrible, wet, dirty, and ungodly terrible smelling warehouses, without ever seeing sunlight until the day they are sent to the slaughter houses? Maybe it’s just a crazy idea, but to me this seems just about as fair as discriminating against people for the color of their skin. It is so unnecessary; I mean come on, it’s the twenty-first century, I think we as human beings should be able to accept people for who they are, not what they are. And the same should be true of animals. They’re not just a rack of ribs, or a juicy leg of meat. They’re living, breathing individuals too. Ones who deserve to live in their natural environments. Ones who deserve to be able to raise their young naturally, not have their babies torn from them at birth, never to be seen again. This is unjust and unfair treatment that needs to be stopped. In researching the topic I have gotten suggestions from http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming.asp This site says, and rightly so, that the single most effective way to help out is the in fact, become a vegetarian. It saves over 100 animals every year! They also give links to sites such as the homepage of PETA and such organizations. Also, buying meat from local, organic farmers is a lot better than buying it from huge, chainlike corporations. It give the locals more profit, as well as supports a company that treats their animals the way they should be treated.

Its up to you to decide what you’re going to do … or not do, to help out these animals. The choice is yours, and it’s only a click away.

-Audrey

Thanks to: http://www.meat.org

http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming.asp

http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-substitutes.asp 

The picture is well known: A well-off older woman walking around with a beautiful, sleek coat that probably cost as much as a small house. Her friends all compliment her on the beautiful coat and she blows it off her shoulder with “This old thing?” Little does she know that 30-60 on average helpless animals were killed to make that coat. If you are thinking of purchasing a fur coat somewhere in the future, please read this before buying it. We’ll see if this changes your mind.

First of all, most of the animals killed to make the coats, stoles, or other fur-based clothing are caught in traps. They often suffer for days before finally being killed, where they will proceed to be skinned for one person’s coat. Now imagine how many fur coats there are in the world. Then imagine 30-60, sometimes even more, animals killed to make just one fur coat. Millions of animals are inhumanely killed every year just to make fur clothing. Now, is fur clothes really necessary? We have faux fur that we can use instead; why do we have to use innocent animals?

As I said earlier, animals are trapped so their fur can be used. 1 in 4 animals escape from these traps by chewing off their own feet, which eventually leads to them dying from gangrene, blood loss, fever, etc. Is it really worth it to lead animals to their death this way just so we can look good? On top of everything, traps are a huge hazard to other animals that we don’t use for fur. Every year, thousands of dogs, deer, cats, and other animals are accidently trapped in the “fur traps” and die. Sometimes, even bald eagles are killed in these traps. So, now we’re not only killing innocent animals for vanity, we’re also killing other animals along the way.

Ranch raised foxes are kept in 2.5 square foot cages with 4 animals per cage. That’s smaller than your average bathroom stall! We wouldn’t want to be treated this way, so why are we treating animals this way?

To keep from damaging the animal’s fur, trappers usually kill the animals by strangling, beating, or other ways I won’t mention. Now, these methods aren’t always 100% effective, and sometimes the animals “wake up” while being skinned. I’m really sorry this is so gruesome, but I’m trying to get it into your head that fur is an awful thing to wear. I really don’t think people will realize how awful it really is without knowing all the facts.

Certain animals, like leopards, sea otters, and some monkeys are faced by being added to the endangered list due to trapping. What do you think is more important, clothing and accessories, or the lives of animals? You decide. But I will never believe that we should use animals for our own vanity instead of letting them live freely.

-Hannah

thanks to:
www.furisdead.com
http://www.teenvoices.com/issue_current/archives/tvsf_animal_2.html

The King penguin has been at the top of the food chain in the Antarctic for what seems like forever. They are the second largest penguin, after their cousin the Emperor penguin. Both of these species came dangerously close to extinction during the nineteenth century when sailors hunted them nonstop so that their fat could be used to cook foods in. Soon after this scare, people began to prefer other fats to cook their food in as opposed to penguin fat, and the penguin population started to grow again. Today it is at about two million. But this could soon be on the decline once again if we don’t start doing something.

French scientists have been following 456 birds over the course of the past eight years by implanting radio transponders beneath their skin. The Antarctic Ocean has heated up at about 0.47 degrees F over the course of their studies, which scientists say could lower the penguin popular by as much as nine percent. This being because the fish population is on the decline as well as a result of the warming temperatures of the ocean. And this isn’t even the worst part. King penguins are at the top of the food chain as of right now, meaning that all of the other species under them could be, and most likely are, suffering even more than the penguins. For example, one major reason why the penguins aren’t surviving is because of a shortage of food. The ocean is heating up, leaving more of the Antarctic fish to die, and ultimately having less fish in the ocean to feed the penguins.

The conditions in which the penguins are accustomed to living in are also becoming a problem. Both the north and south poles are warming up faster than any other part of the world, and this is five times faster than the global average from the past fifty years. Another species on their way to becoming endangered and maybe even extinct is the polar bear. Environmentalists are trying to push for it to be officially declared threatened, which would make it the first species to be declared threatened based on climate change specifically.

When it comes down to it, we either have to start changing our attitudes and actions towards global warming, or face the facts that the habitats as well as the animals that live in them are going to cease to exist as we know them.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1712518,00.html

Obviously, the penguin population is a huge problem, but unfortunately not many people think about penguins other than in the zoo. The penguins didn’t choose to live in these conditions, they didn’t ask for it. It’s just how they are. Humans can live just about anywhere, so why do we need their space, when this is the only place that they can survive? What our goal is to inform people of this problem so that we can all work together in order to fix it. There is so much that we as human beings, as well as individually are capable of doing. It’s just a matter of getting off the couch and out into society so that we can make use of ourselves. In researching the topic, I’ve found a few ways in which we can help to save the penguins:

• Make the entire ocean safer by preventing oil spills
• Stop taking away their habitats
• Don’t over-fish
• Newspaper and magazine journalists could publish articles about it, which would potentially reach hundreds of thousands of people
• Television and radio personal could talk about these problems, also potentially reaching many people
• Internet sites could do more to advertise the problem
• Save the rookeries (places where penguins go to find a mate and also make great habitats for penguins when it isn’t mating season)
• And most importantly, you individually you can make a difference by supporting companies that are ecologically responsible or buy gas from companies that haven’t been/aren’t involved in big oil spills.

These are just a few of the ways that you can help out. No one knows what will happen to the penguin population, but what will you do to help?

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0214752/help.html

-Audrey

Animals are used for many purposes every day. They are used for food, sporting purposes, fur, and many other countless, sometimes inhumane, things. Some things, like food, is a necessity, (even though that fact is arguable.) Other things, such as animal testing, is NOT a necessity and should be banned forever. Animals are forced to test makeup, washes, treatments, and many other frivolous things, and for what? So we can look pretty. Animals are DYING for our vanity. Some examples of animal cosmetic testing as follows:

1.) Skin Penetration: This is used on animals to determine the extent to which cosmetics might penetrate the skin. This is important in determining whether or not the cosmetic ingredients might enter the bloodstream or other parts of the body causing toxic effects.

2.) Skin Irritancy: Rabbits and Guinea Pigs are used for skin irritancy testings, where they apply the cosmetic to shaved or occasionally scraped skin areas. Redness, ulcers, rashes etc. may occur.

3. Eye Irritancy: Animals such as albino rabbits are held down with their eyes held open with clips as people drop product into their eyes to see if it harms people.

In tests such as the eye irritancy test, animals often end up breaking their neck trying to escape. If they don’t break their neck, many animals end up going blind, having liver problems or excessive bleeding, even dying. Animals are also said to have a different distribution of blood vessels, and therefore, their skin doesn’t react the same way a person’s skin would. Therefore, animal testing isn’t 100% effective, so why should we even do it? Not to mention the inhumane way we are making the animals be tested. Animal testing is also much more expensive.

People argue that animal testing is the only way to make sure that cosmetic products are safe for people to use. In my opinion, since we’re the ones using the products, we should be the ones testing the products. After all, we’re the ones using them. But seeing as that would be illegal, I looked up some other testing alternatives.

Testskin: Testskin uses human skin grown in a sterile plastic bag and can be used for measuring irritancy,

Epipack: The Epipack uses cloned human tissue to test potentially harmful subsances.

Skintex: Skintex uses pumpkin rind to assess skin irritancy to replicate the results of a foreign substance on human skin.

As you can see those are just a few, simple ways to test cosmetic products WITHOUT using animals. I hope next time you go shopping for soap, eyeshadow, or other cosmetic products, make sure that it says “This product is not tested on animals.” The animals will thank you.

-Hannah.

sources:

www.PETA.com

http://www.clearleadinc.com/site/cosmetic-animal.html

http://www.allforanimals.com/alternatives1.htm

These  stories  that  I  have  found  were  very  heartbreaking  to  me!  I  cannot  belaeve  that  these  people  are  this  cruel  to  animals.  What  I  am  about  to  write  about  is  very  dear  to  me.  I  was  searching  though  my  articles  online  when  one  stood  out  at  me;  pets  thrown  off  a  50ft  bridge  into  a  gorge.  What  was  said  in  these  to  articles  (Links  to  articles  at  the  bottem  of  this  post)  was  that  animal  control  workers  took  pets  and  stray  cats  and  dogs  and  hurled  them  from  atop  a  bridge  to  there  cruel  and  painful  deaths.  That  is  what  authorites  and  witnesses  said.  These  animal  control  workers  were  suposaly  to  take  these  50-80  cats  and  dogs  to  an  animal  shelter,  but  did  otherwise.  Mayor  Sol  Luis  Fontanez  blamed  a  contractor  hired  to  take  the  poor  animals  to  a  shelter.  He  said,  “This  is  an  irresponsible,  inhuman,  and  shameful  act.”  I  do  not  believe  him  when  he  says  it  is  not  his  fault.  These  animals  were  mostly  abtainted  from  families  that  had  pets  that  were  not  alowed  to  have  them.  These  raids  happened  the  8th  and  10th  of  October,  2007.  As  the  animal  control  workers  were  taking  the  animals  away  they  were  injecting  them  with  something,  poeple  asked  what  it  was  and  the  replied  it  was  a  sedative  for  the  drive  to  the  shelter.  However,  I  do  not  believe  that  at  all!  One  Person  remarked, “They  came  as  if  it  was  a  drug  bust.  They  took  away  cats,  dogs,  and  whatever  other  animal  they  could  find.  Some  were  even  taken  in  front  of  children.”  That  is  just  so  mean!  However,  instead  of  taking  them  to  the  shelter  they  went  to  a  near  by  bridge  before  dawn  Tuesday  the  9th,  October,  2007.  People  that  lived  next  to  the  bridge  said  most  of  them  were  already  dead  when  they  started  throwing  them  to  their  inhumane  graves.  About  half a  dozen  unlucky  ones  that  did  not  die  instantly  climbed  out  of  the  gorge  all  battered,  so  they  had  to  suffer  even  more  before  they  died.  And  the  ones  that  died  lying  in  the  gorge  had  lime  spread  over  them  to  cover  the  smell.  A  lawsuit  has  been  filed  against  Animal  Control  Solutions  and  city  officials  including  the  ones  that  did  the  terrible  deeds,  for  22.5  millon  dollors.  “The  animals’  deaths  show  a  cold  and  depraved  heart  and  has  stirred  public  outrage  around  the  whole  world,”  the  lawsuit  said.  No  one  has  been  sent  to  jail  yet,  but  I  hope  they  do.  This  was  a  terrible  act  that  I  hope  will  never  happen  again.

 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/12/national/main3363614.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_3363614 

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3865114              

Animals cannot speak out as they should be able to, so we speak out for them instead. However, people all over the world take advantage of their inability to speak … and those people are cruel. They torture animals, use them for personal gain, as well as many other horrible things. We don’t know why, but we are here to stop them.We are the students of City High School and we choose to speak out against all of these  people and to help our animal friends. We will each be writing individual posts about animal rights in general, as well as about sepcific topics. The posts will include ways in which we can help to stop the abuse of animals and how we can give them back the rights that they rightfully deserve. J

(We will each be posting multiple times about animal rights sometime in the future.)

Sincerely,

Animal lovers of City High School- Audrey, Tyler, and Hannah.

The sources used to aid us in this post were: Google reader- Google News, Washingtonpost.com, The Trail, Newsweek International Version, and many more. If other sites are used, they will be added at the bottom of the post.