Animal Writings

"The trapper approached, a five foot...club in hand. The coyote struggled frantically against the trap, pulling one leg loose and leaving the lifeless paw in the trap. The trapper poked at the coyote. The animal hissed and snapped at the club. Then, as the trapper slowly swished the club back and forth, the coyote became unusually calm. Mesmerised by steady motion, he crouched motionless, his eyes dutifully following the swishing club. Suddenly the club smashed across the coyote's nose and slammed him to the ground. But the blow was not delivered with precision. Almost instantly he was in a semi crouch; blood spurting from his nose, eyes dazed, again the club fell. The trapper … grabbed the stunned coyote by the hind legs, stretching the animal full length while planting his foot heavily on its neck.
The other foot delivered a series of thumping blows to the coyote's chest, expelling hollow gasps of air. Releasing the hind legs, the trapper rested one foot on the coyote's neck, the other on the chest. The coyote's eyes bulged, the mouth gaped, the tongue hung listlessly along the bloodstained jaw. Periodically stomping near the heart, the trapper maintained his position for 14 minutes. He indicated this was necessary to ensure that the animal was dead...I thought how ridiculous it was for a 200 pound man to be stomping on an 18 pound coyote as if his very existence depended on the animal's elimination. The coyote, had he been given the opportunity, would not have sought revenge. He would have tried to escape."

--Daniel Kelly, wildlife researcher at Turnbull National Wildlife refuge, Washington

...here's what I'd do:

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Inspired by a visit to the Eastern Shore Sanctuary and Education Center, where the chickens arrange themselves rather neatly on risers in the barn each evening.

This post is the first of a continuing series that will illustrate altruism and empathy in animals. Sacrificing our own desires in order to help and comfort others is often considered to be an ideal state of grace, a level of enlightenment that few humans can attain. Yet we see it daily in animals. Often the acts of kindness are small and seemingly routine; in other cases they are dramatic and inspiring. I hope that the stories in this series will expand your perceptions of animals. You may come to feel, as I do, that we need to re-think the phrase "animal nature." Our "animal nature" may really be our better nature; something to embrace rather than avoid.

In this installment, Pattrice Jones, director of Eastern Shore Sanctuary and Education Center (ESSEC), gives us a glimpse of everyday politeness and friendly overtures that occur between the species that live at at the sanctuary.

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While I was driving home from work this evening, a construction crew started laying down cones in my lane about a half-mile ahead, so all of us in that lane had to move over to the adjoining lane. Although I had my turn signal on, and attempted to shift lanes early so I wouldn't cut anyone off, driver after driver made sure to close up any space that would have let me in. Rather than cede an inch of ground, they'd speed up, then immediately put on the brakes, so that they were practically touching the car in front of them. The drivers looked straight ahead and avoided eye contact. The construction zone was small, which meant that those of us who had to move over only needed to borrow the other lane for a minute or so.

I thought about the six ducks at the sanctuary who generously let a slow and confused stranger, in search of a comfortable sleeping spot, go in front of them.

Are we really "superior" to other animals?

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ESSEC provides a haven for chickens and other domestic fowl that have escaped the prison-camp environment of the modern poultry industry. Every one of the birds that arrives at the sanctuary has experienced physical hardship and emotional trauma. Because of their genetically-altered bodies and harsh upbringing, none of them can be considered truly "normal." Yet, despite their handicaps, all of them manage not only to find their own happiness but to share it with co-residents (including the humans). At the sanctuary, for the first time in their lives, the chickens are allowed to be chickens. They bathe in the dust, lay in the sun, make friends, explore the grounds, lay eggs in favorite spots — they do all the things that chickens are prevented from doing in the long, windowless Perdue sheds into which 100,000 birds are crammed.

To get an idea of where the sanctuary refugees come from, and the difference ESSEC makes in their lives, view this wonderful picture gallery.

You can make a tax-deductable donation to ESSEC by sending a check or money order to this address:

Eastern Shore Sanctuary; 13981 Reading Ferry Road; Princess Anne, MD 21853

or through PayPal from the main page of the site, www.bravebirds.org.

I just got back from a conference put on by United Poultry Concerns (UPC) about how chicken is made. I don't think it's a big stretch to say that the entire process — genetically altering chickens, raising them, delivering them to the slaughterhouse, killing them, marketing them — is thoroughly corrupt and violent.

I've already had some posts on the horrific conditions that broiler chickens and egg-laying hens have to face. I'll have many more in the coming months. In addition to talking about the plight of the chickens, I'll also discuss the rotten treatment of poultry industry employees and the scandalous misuse of the USDA meat inspection system.

In the meantime, here are two steps you can take that may have a significant positive impact on animal welfare and your health:

• Peruse the UPC web site. I can almost guarantee that you'll learn things about chickens and other domestic fowl that you never knew before. Even if you have a background in poultry science or processing, I recommend visiting the site; you're sure to get a fresh perspective.


• For God's sake, don't buy the product when there are so many good-tasting, healthy, relatively cruelty-free alternatives. Just look in the freezer and refrigerator sections of your grocery store. Try some different brands. Also, check out the recipes at www.tryveg.com. You'll be pleasantly surprised as well as doing the right thing — for the birds, yourself, and your family.

Regular Oreos are not vegan. But Mini-Oreos are! They're packaged in a cup-like container and are sold at fine retail outlets like 7-11.

First of all, hello to all the Atkins dieters, Atkins followers, Atkins adherents, and low-carb dieters looking for delicous recipes that came here through search engines.

Welcome to my continuing review of veggie and vegan foods, to help your transition to a more humane lifestyle.

Need Work

Unless someone is asking you if their butt looks big in a new pair of pants, honesty is the best policy. Therefore, here are some vegan options that "still need work." I'd rather have me tell you this, then you try them and say, "yuck, vegan foods are no good."

Muffins. ETA when they can compete with non-vegan varieties: 2006. Exception: vegan blueberry muffins at Whole Foods. Usually near the deli with the other self-serve items. Ask for them if they're not in your store.

Cookies. Blah. Taste like sand is one of the ingredients. But I have a hunch that in the next 18 months, someone will find the trick and that's all she wrote. (In contrast, vegan chocolate, aka dark chocolate, is to die for. I just decided to devote a post to this subject in the near future)

Mixed; Changing

"Chreeze." I tried using this on pizza. I really wanted to like it. Yuck. It was awful. On the other hand, someone made me a grilled Chreeze sandwich, using I don't know which flavor, and it was yummy.

Ready For Prime Time

Vegan Pizza at Pizza Paradisio, Washington, DC. Wow, this was delicious.

Fake chicken. This stuff is amazing. I've tried every variety I can find. I know it sounds ridiculous with chicken EVERWHERE, and 20 million birds slaughtered every day, but chicken's days as a staple on menus are numbered. I've tasted the solution and it's called "chickn" and "chick nuggets" and "chik'n." Without fail, I give a sample of fake chicken to a meat-lover and they're sold. No exceptions. I'm talking folks who pray that their children don't join PETA. I'm talking republicans. I'm talking a guy who wore a t-shirt commemorating a pig roast. Plant-based chicken substitutes are already in Safeway, Krogers, and every other other mainstream grocery chain. The next big step is for a mainstream restaurant to offer it. That will be huge, It will happen in 2 years or soon after the first detected case of "mad chicken disease," whichever occurs first.

Gimme Lean sausage. The attempt to parody the "Jimmy Dean" name is so bad, it's good. I'll bet next Saturday, two million non-vegetarians will enjoy veggie versions of bacon or sausage with breakfast. The only difference with Gimme Lean sausage is that it's not already pre-formed. Get that good old-fashioned down-home feel by cutting the package of Gimme Lean sausage with a butterknife and throwing the sort-of handmade patties into the slightly oiled frying pan. Brew up some "assertive" coffee and, mmm-mmm, that's wakin' up.

Making myself hungry again, gotta end the post.

Tie-In to the Post's Title

The old joke (please tell me it's not still around) is that you're hungry 30 minutes after eating Chinese food. That's because the meal included white rice. Make or order the same meal but change the white rice to brown rice. Now you can go 45 minutes before you're hungry again. Just kidding. You've gone from simple carbs that have all the nutrition sucked out of them to complex carbs that provide healthy fiber, minerals, vitamins, and energy. Whole grains and other complex carbohydrates pack a whollop of nutrition without the downsides of meat and dairy. Whole grains are the base of the USDA food pyramid — which is saying a lot, considering six out of eleven members of the panel that specified the pyramid had ties to the meat and dairy industries.

So re-think bread, rice, and pasta. Go with whole-grain varieties and take advantage of their cancer-fighting, blood sugar-stabilizing benefits. Also remember that around the world, those who eat the highest proportion of healthy carbs in their diet are the thinnest. And I'll lay you ten-to-one odds they have more energy at 50 years old then people on a high-fat, low-carb diet.

And please, please keep in mind the ethical benefits of a plant-based diet. Conditions in factory farms and slaughterhouses have never been worse. At the same time, the evidence that animals have emotions is overwhelming. They suffer without relief in modern agriculture. I know you don't want to be cruel if you don't have to be. Give the animals a break, by seeking out meat and dairy substitutes; You'll do your heart a world of good; the impact of your choices on the animals is incalculable but real.

This is a very insightful quote, but the reality is even worse. The way that animals are most like us — their capacity to suffer — is the reason to free them from the vivisection laboratory. On the other hand, animals' divergence from us at the genetic and biochemical levels renders them unsuitable as experimental models.

AnimaNaturalis.com is one of the best animal rights web sites by any measure, but its distunguishing characteristic is that it's written completely in Spanish. AnimaNaturalis covers a wide spectrum of animal issues, including factory farms, circuses, companion animals, and product testing. Its reporting on bullfighting is superb, since it's close to the source. The site has opinon polls, message forums, and a vast directory of animal advocacy organizations. Their photo gallery features an impressive diversity of images, ranging from the horrific (fur farms, animal experiments, and bullfighting) to the irresistably cute.

AnimaNaturalis does an impressive job of covering animal-related issues that affect Spanish-speaking populations in Europe and South America; most U.S.-based web sites pay scant attention to these stories.

Here's the mission of AnimaNaturalis, in its own words:


AnimaNaturalis is a great site for anyone who speaks Spanish and wants to help animals. Highly recommended; fantástico.

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This is the first in a series of short reviews of sites around the Internet, especially ones about animals, starting with the ones in the "Links" section on the right.

"As the daughter of a three-time Olympic coach, I am appalled, as would have been my father, by the cruel and deliberate poisoning of thousands of homeless dogs by the city of Athens in its effort to 'clean up' the streets prior to the opening of the 2004 Olympic Games. To give starving dogs food laced with poison, as a means of population control, is simply barbaric. Their slow and excruciating deaths undercut not only the 'civilized' image of Athens, but the ideal of perfection towards which Olympians aspire." -- Myriam Alaux

Ringling Brother's public story is that the company cares deeply about the welfare of its animals. They're lying and they know it. But the lie sells tickets.

Almost all of Ringling's elephants are kidnapped when they're very young and never see their families again. Elephants are normally raised by their mothers until their late teens, and live in a herd that provides close companionship and a complex social structure. In the circus, elephants spend most of their time chained or in confinement.

Ringling elephant trainers use bullhooks — metal rods with sharp hooks — and whips to beat the animals into shape, so that they'll perform stupid human tricks that they would never do unless forced. There's really no debate about the use of physical force in circus elephant training. Video footage, testimony under oath, and first-hand accounts provide undeniable evidence that this takes place. In some cases, the elephants, still just children, are beaten until they cry. Meanwhile, a Ringling VP writes a letter to the editor of the Washington Post claiming that Ringling really cares about its animals. Yeah, they care about how much money they can make off them.

The elephants who unwillingly become indentured servants to Ringling are reminded of the lie very time the bullhook smacks them on the back of their knees or the the tops of their toes, where it produces the most pain. If you cared about the welfare of your dog, would you take a metal rod and slam it down on his toes, day after day?

Ringling tells the public that not only is the company concerned about the welfare of its animals, but that its core purpose is showcasing human-animal relationships. The relationship of humans to animals at Ringling is tormentor to victim. Ringling's core purpose is to make money through animal abuse and deception. How does one lie through their teeth, knowing that by doing so they're perpetuating animal suffering? How do these people sleep at night?

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This is only the tip of a very large iceberg. Ringling has a sordid history of animal cruelty, animal welfare violations, and shady dealings. I'll be writing about it over the next several months. In the meantime, I recommend Cirque du Soleil, which performs its magic without animals.

Notes from an undercover investigator at a chinchilla fur farm:


This is all legal. Fur "farmers" are exempt from all animal cruelty laws. If captive fur animals were included in the Animal Welfare Act, they would at least have minimal protections. Please contact:

Dr. W. Ron DeHaven, Administrator
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services
U.S. Department of Agriculture
4700 River Rd., Unit 84
ace@aphis.usda.gov

Worldwide, about one a second.

The fox has been in the tiny cage for months. In the wild he would be running freely; he would spend the first part of his life often engaged in play. In his filthy cage he can't take more than three steps in any direction. He chews on the wires of the cage. He bangs his head against the door. He eventually gives up hope and collapses in the corner. That's how he spends each day.

His eye infection is untreated and a constant source of pain. He suffers from lameness due to lack of exercise. His water is a drip bottle. His meals are gruel, sometimes the corpses of foxes from neighboring cages that have been slaughtered.

One day a man comes, opens the cage door, and grabs the fox by the tail. He picks him up and takes him out. For the first time in his life, the fox is outside his cage. He is taken down the hall. He is weak but wants to feel the ground, to walk. But he's restrained, now by two men.

They shove a metal rod into his anus. The fox, no longer looking forward to a day of freedom, is worried about what these men are doing to him. He struggles to get away but hasn't got the energy. The probe falls out; this time they stick it in harder. They put a metal device over the fox's mouth, and force him to clamp down. He is electrocuted. His body is thrown on top of the pile.

That's where fur comes from.

About a year ago, Victoria's Secret dropped fur from its lineup. Why not thank them for this compassionate move by visiting their online store and buying something special for you, your wife, your girlfriend, or your partner?

We all know about their lingerie, but they also have great casual outfits, dresses, and shoes. My wife loves their sleepwear. Go ahead, get something frilly or fun. Be frugal or frivoulous. Best of all, be fashionable and fur-free.

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Note: This is the first entry in my "good guys" series, which highlights individuals, businesses, and organizations — other than animal groups — from all corners of the globe that have done something good for animals. (I tried putting "good guys" and "Victoria's Secret" in the title, but couldn't make it work.)

Maybe you have your eye on a mink coat or a vest with real fur trim. Perhaps you've read that the fur comes from "farm-raised" animals. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? I urge you to watch this video, narrated by fashion designer Stella McCartney, to see how your fur was made: Life On a Fur Farm. Please view it. Let me know if it changes your mind.

Is there no limit to what we will do to be "fashionable?"

Rabbits are beloved storybook characters in childrens' books. What would our children think of us if they knew we forced rabbits into God-awful living conditions and killed them by breaking their necks or smashing their heads against the wall? Just so we could "look good?" It's senseless. It's not like we don't have a million alternatives to clothe ourselves. How on earth can we justify making so many animals suffer in the name of fashion?

The following ad, featuring supermodel Imogen Baily (warning: nudity) explains the multiple cruelties of the rabbit fur trade. Here's an excerpt:

"Rabbits—who are extremely clean by nature—are kept in tiny, filthy cages, surrounded by their own waste. They spend their entire miserable lives standing on the thin cage wires, never having a chance to dig, jump, or play. The methods of slaughter are no more humane—they are killed by having their necks snapped or having their skulls beaten before being strung up by the legs and having their heads cut off."

Here's the ad: "Hands off the Buns!". PLEASE READ.

Go ahead, force yourself to read the two articles below. They're first-hand accounts of the violence that occurs in poultry processing plants. It's not pretty. But each of the chickens you're about to grill or eat once had a life, and it was pure misery from start to finish. Many of the birds never made it as far as the slaughterhouse; they died along the way. The survivors, crammed into sheds by the tens of thousands, had to eat, sleep, and step around the rotting corpses.

The least you can do for these gentle creatures (9 billion of which are killed each year in the U.S.) is understand how you're contributing to their Hell.

"...The guys would get ticked off and beat the birds and break their necks. The birds were supposed to be stunned but this didn't always happen. Also the line speed was so fast that there was no possible way to catch all the birds and make sure they were cut. So I know that some of them went into the scalder alive. I felt very bad about this, but there was nothing I could do. The birds we killed there were broiler chickens..."


"Our line runs 182 shackles per minute. It is physically impossible to catch them all. Therefore, they are scalded alive. When this happens, the chickens flop, scream, kick, and their eyeballs pop out of their heads. Then, they often come out the other end with broken bones and disfigured and missing body parts because they've struggled so much in the tank. Sometimes, when we had a line broken down, they would be left hanging upside down in the stunner in the water to drown. In the stunner, the water is cold and salted to better conduct the electricity. I have personally seen them hang in this position for hours..."

There is a very simple and direct way to put an end to this suffering.

You know the old sort-of joke about how everything you're not familiar with eating tastes like chicken? Well, "fake" chicken products, now at probably every grocery store in America, taste just like chicken. Perhaps it's easy to make things taste like chicken, I don't know. But plant-based, healthy alternatives to chicken have, in my opinion, emerged as the best tasting substitute meats. Almost any brand, almost any style — nuggets, Buffalo wings, patties, sliced for stir-frying, spicy, plain, barbecued — they're not just okay, they're good!

A tasty, nutritious meal that helps reduce suffering (and also helps conserve land, fossil fuels, and fresh water). You simply cannot beat that combination.

Below is an exerpt from an article I read today on the PETA Media Center web site, http://www.peta.org/mc. If you don't think animals are abused that much, check this web site regularly and you'll soon change your mind. Against the backdrop of everday horrors that occur in factory farms, medical labs, fur ranches, and various forms of entertainment, there are is a steady stream of diverse cruelty against animals from every corner of the globe. Mosty of it never gets reported; the tip of the iceberg shows up here.

Today's news item is about the punishment inflicted on elephants at a so-called "sanctuary." Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbriar, Arkansas, is one of thousands of entertainment venues that pretend to be a refuge for animals but actually treat them terribly. Please, be very skeptical about any place that houses large or exotic animals and charges you to see them. Be doubly skeptical if the animals do "tricks" or "put on a show." The chances are very good that the animals were stolen from their mothers long before their natural separation, are provided with insufficient habitat or stimulation, and are hit, whipped, or otherwise beaten. When in doubt, check the animal welfare sites and/or do a Google search to see if the operation has a rap sheet. You may be shocked at what you find.

Here's the excerpt, which refers to an insider's account of wanton mistreatment of the elephants by the owner:

"According to the intern, Scott Riddle beat a baby elephant about the head with a steel-tipped bullhook and placed two adult bulls in the same small pen, resulting in the severe goring of one elephant’s earflap. Other alleged abuses include chaining elephants for up to 15 hours a day, denying them sufficient access to water in stifling heat, and allowing them to suffer from untreated and potentially deadly foot and jaw abscesses. The intern also reported seeing a cabinet full of electric prods, which Riddle’s staff termed "necessary" to use on elephants."

For the full story: http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=4858

To see what a real elephant sanctuary is like: http://www.elephants.com/sanct.htm

"What you've been hearing from West Hollywood [where the city council voted unanimously to ban declawing] is hysteria," said Edgar Folkers, a veterinarian in nearby Mission Viejo.

Declawing cats "is not bad at all," said Folkers, whose office declaws 15 to 20 house cats each month - a third of all cats he sees - for fees of $245 to $350. "When we declaw kittens, the same afternoon they're playing with toys in their cage," he said.

"If the cat is at home and everybody is enjoying it more because it's not damaging the furniture, that's a good thing," Folkers said.

What you've been hearing from Dr. Folkers is self-serving stupidity. If he cut a leg off each kitten and the kittens still played in their cage, would that make the procedure "not bad at all?" After all, many "tripod" cats cope remarkably well and have a good life. The cruelty — and crime — is in needlessly imposing the handicap.

I can tell you one thing Dr. Folkers' declawed kittens won't do in their cage, or ever: scratch. Scratching is one of life's joys for a cat. Cats love to pull against their claws' resistance. The exercise keeps their upper body strong and works off stress. Long past kittenhood, cats still scratch each day.

I wonder if Dr. Folkers would de-tooth a kitten if "everybody" would "enjoy it more?" Sound far-fetched? If veterinarians pushed "de-fanging" like they push declawing, it wouldn't be long before de-fanging became routine.

The real hysteria is peoples' veterinarian-induced "clawstrophobia." No one freaks out about dogs' claws or cats' teeth. And the rest of the world, where veterinarians have more respect for claws and disdain declawing, is calm and rational about cats' claws. It's only here, in the land of Dr. Folkers, that cat owners are unable to accept that cats come with claws, and benefit from them practically every hour of their waking life.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to teach your cat to use a scratching post. Buy a variety of posts and pads (including at least one tall, sturdy one), place them in locations most frequented by your cat, provide gentle but consistent rewards and incentives, cover the furniture if necessary during the training process — and enjoy your cat enjoying his claws.

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For more information on the West Hollywood legislation, as well as a bill in the California Senate that would make declawing of big cats illegal, visit The Paw Project.

Humorist Gene Weingarten wrote a heartfelt column a few weeks ago about the death of his dog. Throughout the column, Weingarten good-naturedly (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt) talked about how stupid his dog was. He recalled one incident that I'm probably going to get wrong, but I'll try to capture the gist. Weingarten and another person were rehearsing a scene from a play in which tensions, tempers, and voices rise. The dog became upset and started barking. Weingarten observed that "you don't have to have brains to have a heart."

That is a brilliant and beautiful sentence. It conjures up philosopher Jeremy Bentham's famous quote in which he submits that our treatment of animals should be based not on whether they can reason or talk, but on whether they can suffer. There is little doubt that animals, especially the more complex ones, can suffer physically. Any animal with a heart can suffer emotionally as well.

But was Weingarten's thoughtful conclusion correct? Isn't the ability to detect mounting acrimony a type of intelligence? That the humans were acting doesn't diminish the dog's perceptiveness; after all, you and I sometimes respond strongly to movies and plays even though we know that the lines are read from a script. What we and Mr. Weingarten's dog both are reacting to is — for lack of a better term — the bad vibe.

Not only did the dog sense that the persons to whom he was attached were getting angry, he also did something about it. He voiced his concern. And I'll bet things got calmer as a result. Not too shabby.

I have friends who can solve quadratic equations in their head but lack the sensitivity to notice when they're making someone angry. Some folks are terrible at math or science but create breathtaking art. Intelligence is more than being book-smart. There are many types of intelligence. One might be recognizing it in others, even your dog.