In this week's edition: 

• Urgent!  Stop PA Coyote Hunts
• Update on 501(c)(3) Status...IRS Denies Application
• VFA Meetings to Morph into Vegan Potluck Get-togethers
• Don't Miss Nathan Winograd This Saturday!
• And our weekly news briefs.... 

A d-list member living in Central PA contacted us last week urgently requesting help in stopping coyote hunts. She prepared the information below and we hope that everyone will take a few minutes to support this effort, because now is the time to stop this from becoming the next big fundraising trend in rural PA.

Coyote hunts are becoming a popular method of fundraising for volunteer fire companies in PA, especially in rural central and northern areas.  As the numbers of coyotes in the state increase, more fire companies are putting on annual coyote hunts in which prizes of about $50 are awarded for each coyote killed.

One central PA coyote hunt fundraiser (about 13 miles south of State College) scheduled for later this month is described here: http://www.shaverscreekfire.com/eventscoyote.htm

The argument that hunting is an effective way to reduce coyote populations is a false one.  The Humane Society of the U.S. says:  “Killing contests do not reduce the coyote population and do not protect livestock or wildlife from depredation. Even if large numbers of predators are removed from an area, scientific evidence demonstrates that predator species such as coyotes and foxes respond with an increase in numbers in their litters of pups. The population may even come to outnumber that in the area before the killing.”

HSUS also says:  “Killing living creatures for prizes is unethical. Declaring a winner for killing animals embodies the type of recreational hunting that the general public finds morally reprehensible.  Hunting advocates, such as retired Montana wildlife biologist Jim Posewitz, even agree that killing for prizes violates the hunter's ethical code.”

If you are outraged that coyote hunts are being used as a method of fundraising, please do the following:

1) Most important: write a letter to the editor of

The Centre Daily Times
http://www.centredaily.com/145/story/20332.html  or
3400 E. College Ave.
State College, PA 16801

Sample letters can be found at

http://www.hsus.org/hunt/campaigns/contests/contest_kills_packet.html

2) Call Shavers Creek Volunteer Fire Company Fundraising at (814) 667-3567 to let them know your opinion. Please be polite at all times. Their hunt is open to all PA hunters, so they should be willing to listen to all PA non-hunters too!

VFA Notes that...
Henke and Bryant have shown in their research that the Coyote is a necessary natural predator whose removal influences the faunal population in that the removal of a natural predator results in the overpopulation of the prey (Journal of Wildlife Management, 63(4), 1999).  Studies with other natural predators show similar results.  The coyote is a critical part of the ecosystem and their removal will cause far more problems than the coyotes themselves.

It's interesting how local authorities will claim that there are "too many deer/geese... and no natural predators" as justification for hunting/killing these animals. Yet those natural predators who do still remain in Pennsylvania, from bobcats to coyotes, are also considered "nuisances" and/or are considered prize hunting material... Make sense? 

As many of you know, VFA applied in late 2006 for 501(c)(3) status, the main advantage of this being that donors could deduct their donations on their tax forms, and that we could apply for certain grants and table at certain events and venues.  After one year of back-and-forth between VFA and the IRS, our application was definitively rejected by the IRS this month.  Here are two examples of quotes from that letter stating their reasons for rejecting the application:

- "On your website, the initial page that appears when visiting your site directly refers to urging people to take action by calling their representatives" (justification for the claim that we are more of a political lobbying organization than an educational animal protection organization)

- "During the protests .../...you utilize signs that contain slogans which you state the purpose of those is not to present full comprehensive information on an issue to the public, but to "draw them in, and encourage them to contact" your organization for further information and details. You have provided examples of pamphlets that you hand out to people passing by during the campaigning.  The pamphlets you submitted were not published by your organization but it appears you have determined them to be related to your goals."  The letter gives several examples of signs that it finds non-factual, such as: "Destroying forests is not sexy" and "Cruelest show on earth."  [N.B. Unless an issue is specific to the area, VFA uses leaflets from a variety of national organizations when protesting/tabling, simply because they are well-designed and avoid wasting time re-inventing the wheel...]

The letter also makes repeated reference to the foie gras campaign in particular. 

If the standards applied to VFA in this decision were applied to several national organizations, it seems to us they would lose their 501(c)(3)....  In any case, after much discussion as to how to react to the above, and in light of - in our opinion - the total bias of the IRS agent in the interpretations quoted above, we have decided not to oppose this decision and not to re-apply for 501(c)(3) status for the foreseeable future.  We do not want to spend much valuable time arguing over these issues to no avail.  And with so many issues ahead of us this year, we do not wish to have to "avoid" asking people to contact their representatives, through fear that we'll fail our 501(c)(3) application.  The fact is that very little of VFA's actual "time" (and time is the issue) is spent on legislative lobbying, as compared to rescue work, Trap-Neuter-Return, tabling, and other campaigns. And to state that having eye-catching, "clever" signs designed to catch people's interests runs counter to an educational mission is, as we see it, ridiculous.  We also want to be free to support the causes we wish to support, and say what we want to say, whether it's about pigeon shoots or supporting the SHAC prisoners, without having to "pay the price."  So for the time being, donations to VFA will continue not to be tax exempt.  We hope you will continue to support us in believing that this is the right decision at this time.

If you would like a copy of the (very long) letter from the IRS, please let us know and we will send you a PDF.

Whether or not you've attended a VFA public meeting before or not, now's the time to hop on board!  We will be changing our regular bi-monthly meeting schedule to something that makes meeting time more enjoyable and allows everyone to get to know each other better - we will now be holding vegan potlucks and dinners at vegan-friendly establishments!  Everyone is welcome, especially those with tasty vegan dishes to share (and if you don't bring anything to share, that's fine too!).  Future planning of events for VFA will be discussed.  

The date, time, and place of the first potluck and/or dinner is to be announced.  In the meantime, please feel free to simply email us with any questions or suggestions, and get your recipes together for our first potluck!

"We did it with a simple yet highly effective three-step process:  1) Stop the killing; 2) Stop the killing; 3) Stop the killing."  - Nathan Winograd 

For those of you not familiar with Nathan Winograd, he is a no-kill movement guru and a leading figure in the new No-Kill community movement.  Using the model for shelters he helped design, he has single-handedly turned shelters around 180 degrees-from a 10% adoption rate to a 90% adoption rate where no healthy and treatable animals coming in the shelter doors, including feral cats, are killed.  He has accomplished what many have said is impossible.  Now Pittsburghers have the amazing opportunity to see Nathan Winograd in person when he comes to the city this Saturday, January 19th, to give his presentation titled Building a No-Kill Community.  Nathan will be explaining his model on how to move a whole community, not just individual shelters, to no-kill, and VFA will be anxiously awaiting his speech in hopes of implementing his model in Pittsburgh in order to start moving the city down the no-kill path. 

This is a can't miss event you'll definitely want a seat at!  Information about the event can be found at this link:

http://www.nathanwinograd.com/nathanwinograd_053.htm  (and it may still be possible to register but hurry!)

If you don't get a chance to hear Nathan speak or even if you do, be sure to pick up his new book Redemption, which is an in-depth exploration of traditional animal shelters and the No-Kill model - it's a must read!  You can order it here: http://www.nathanwinograd.com/

Also, for more comprehensive information about Nathan Winograd and the new No-Kill movement, and to read some of Nathan's essays, check out the website of the organization Nathan helped co-found, The No Kill Advocacy Center: http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/

(Note: Details on location and time of the event are at the bottom of this email)   

A big thank you goes out to Healing Arts by Amethyst for holding yesterday's Vegan Hafla belly dance show fundraiser for VFA!  The event, which took place at Your Inner Vagabond Coffeehouse, was a big success, well-attended, a lot of fun, and brought in a good amount of much-needed funds for the animals.  Thanks goes out as well to everyone who attended the event (and bought a Bellydancers Love Animals T-shirt!) and supported us.  Be sure to check out the second fundraiser show next Friday at Aldo Coffee in Mt. Lebanon!

      January 25th, Friday, 7:00 PM, Aldo Coffee (Mt. Lebanon), Turkish Coffee & Bellydance Fundraiser for VFA