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| Lynx Issue 22: Tablings, Living Treasures Living Hell for Animals |
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| Friday, 20 June 2008 00:00 |
In this week's edition:
VFA Tabling at Two Events This Weekend-New Exhibits Making First Appearance Voices For Animals will be tabling at two different events this weekend: a Pet Care Fair on Saturday and the annual PrideFest festival on Sunday. We will be featuring two new displays at these events in order to educate others about important issues affecting animals: the trapping and killing of wildlife and the horrors of factory farming. We will also be selling used books from our book distro as well as our newest fundraiser item, smencils (gourmet scented pencils made from recycled newspapers featuring choices such as cherry, grape, popcorn, chocolate, bubble gum, etc.) in order to try to raise some much needed funds for VFA and the animals. So if you'll be attending either of these events this weekend, please stop by and visit us! Saturday, June 21 The event will feature local rescue groups showing off adoptable animals of all kinds, and also a variety of animal-related vendors (arts and crafts, doggy day care, home-made treats, etc.) VFA will be presenting a display on the theme of "good trap / bad trap", contrasting TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return for feral cats) with the Trap-and-Kill method used widely by animal control as an ineffective and inhumane method of wildlife "management". As many of you know, VFA is committed to seeing an end to trap-and-kill in the City of Pittsburgh, and eventually the surrounding communities. Sunday, June 22 VFA's making its annual appearance at the GLBT community festival PrideFest. This year, along with our usual available literature, we are very excited to present for the first time our new factory farming photo exhibit. This exhibit comes to us through Mobilization for Animals in Philadelphia, where it was first used, and is titled Put Yourself in Their Place! Make the Connection. The photos feature some pretty shocking pictures of standard factory farming practices, such as debeaking and throwing live baby chicks in dumpsters to die (as they do in the egg industry) juxtapositioned with photos of humans in the very same situations and suffering the same fate (Nelson Lau and Gary Reed are the photographers for the human volunteers in the pictures). Asking the viewers of the photos to wonder, "What if it were you?" the exhibit sends a powerful, thought-provoking, and important message. We are happy to have this new exhibit to use as an outreach tool to show more people the reality of factory farming and move them towards veganism. After its appearance at PrideFest, we will be looking for other locations and tabling events where the exhibit can be used. If you have any ideas or know of any good upcoming community festivals or events where we would be welcome to table, please let us know! This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Living Treasures - Living Hell for Animals - Planning $300,000 "Improvements" A Post-Gazette article this week reported that one of Voices For Animals' least favorite places, the two-location LivingTreasures Animal Park, with sites in Donegal and Newcastle, PA, is implementing "park improvements" to the tune of $300,000. One third of the amount comes from a "Small Business First" state loan, part of a state funding program for agricultural and tourism projects announced by Governor Ed Rendell in April this year. The "improvements" don't seem to be focused much on enhancing the animals' living conditions, notorious among local animal activists. Instead they include building a "safari trail" and instituting a horse-drawn wagon ride around the park, which the owner hopes will increase attendance. Some of you will remember that Voices For Animals members successfully halted a field trip to Living Treasures by a Pittsburgh public school last year after we organized a call- and fax-in to the school and the Principal listened to your input. Our alert at the time stated: "Hundreds of primates, big cats, otters, deer, turtles, and other animals languish in small, inadequate enclosures and care, are bred for their young to be sold as “pets” and prisoners in the exotic animal trade, and live lives of frustration and neglect, far from their native homelands. Living Treasures Animal Park has been cited for violations of the Federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), been targeted by animal protection organizations for years, and have even shot and killed animals – including three tiger cubs - who escaped from their cages. Living Treasures Animal Park is not even accredited by the American Zoological Association, an organization that accredits so-called “reputable” zoos and aquariums." It is totally unacceptable that an enterprise like Living Treasures should receive state funding. Please let Governor Ed Rendell know that you object strongly to State taxes being used to fund animal exploitation. Mr. Rendell's office can be reached via this online email form: http://www.capwiz.com/politicsol/mail/?id=131335&type=GV&state=PA The Post Gazette article - which reads more like a free advertisement than a report - can be found at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08157/887224-57.stm Letters to the editor (maximum 250 words / include address and phone number) can be sent to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Reminder: Still Collecting Supplies for Tiger Ranch Cats Don't forget, we're still collecting supplies for the Tiger Ranch cats. The two collection bins are located at Construction Junction (Point Breeze), to the right after the entrance, behind the blackboard. Needs list: premium quality dry food, canned food (all varieties), and cat litter. Thanks to all who have donated so far. UPCOMING EVENTS: Saturday, June 21st, 9 AM-2 PM: VFA Tabling at Pet Care Fair, Christ United Methodist Church, Bethel Park (details above) Sunday, June 22nd, 12 PM-6 PM: VFA Tabling at PrideFest, Liberty Avenue & 10th Street, Downtown Saturday, June 28th, 1-3 PM: Tentative Date for South Side Park Wildlife Awareness Day
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