In Jackman, Maine, the Jackman-Moose River Region Chamber of Commerce is now sponsoring a coyote-killing tournament, supposedly to protect the deer herds. The contest began on December 16 and runs until January 30, 2010. But don't be fooled - if they really cared about the deer, wouldn't they stop deer hunting? And unlike hunters, coyotes target the young, the old, the weak and the sick, helping the prey species to evolve and become stronger.
Project Coyote is asking animal advocates to contact contest organizers and the governor of Maine:
Jackman-Moose River Region
Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 368
Jackman, Maine 04945
Email: mooserus@jackmanmaine.org
Phone: (207) 668-4171 or 1-888-633-5225
Gov. John E. Baldacci
Office of the Governor
#1 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0001
Email: governor@maine.gov (or share your views directly through the Governor's website.
Phone: 207-287-3531
For more information, visit the Project Coyote site.
Tom Brakefield / Getty Images
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Scientists in the Netherlands announced last month that they have successfully grown pork in a laboratory. So, it appears that Frankenmeat is the newest frontier in humane meat.
And like other forms of humane meat, laboratory-grown meat is not all it's cracked up to be. It still requires animal products, it's still wasteful, and it will still cause animals to suffer.
I do understand why some animal advocates are excited about the idea of laboratory-grown meat. Fewer animals being slaughtered is a good idea. But I don't know how some groups can say they have "no ethical objection" to laboratory-grown meat.
Really?! No objections? I can't help but think that it's due to a misunderstanding of how animals would continue to be exploited. Tissue cultures do not grow like magic. They require food and water, and eventually die, requiring resources and requiring more cells to be taken from live animals.
Learn more about laboratory-grown meat and why it's not vegan.
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A lobster is a cat is a dog is a boy?
Groups that simultaneously promote veganism and humane slaughter send a confusing message. But PETA's support of the Crustastun lobster killing device is downright baffling.
According to PETA, the Crustastun first stuns the lobsters with an electric shock, then kills them in 5-10 seconds. Much less painful, they say, than letting them suffer for up to 3 minutes before they die in boiling water.
To support their argument for the Crustastun, they quote some experts:
According to invertebrate zoologist and crustacean expert Dr. Jaren G. Horsley, lobsters have a "sophisticated nervous system" and feel "a great deal of pain" when cut or cooked alive . . . Dr. Nedim C. Buyukmihci, a professor of veterinary surgery, states that it "would be inappropriate to do something to lobsters that you would not consider doing to conscious dogs, cats, or humans."
Not many people would consider using the Crustastun to kill and eat their dog, their cat, or their sister, so why would PETA want people to use it on lobsters?
The comparison to dogs, cats and humans is not faulty; the conclusion - that we should find a more humane way to kill lobsters - is faulty. The conclusion should be that if we don't eat dogs, cats or our sisters, we shouldn't eat lobsters.
And according to The Independent, when organizers of a charity dinner in Tuscon, AZ asked PETA whether they would object to lobster being served, PETA went so far as to tell them that serving lobster is acceptable as long as the lobsters are killed using the Crustastun.
This could have been an opportunity to educate people about lobsters and veganism. They could have said, "Yes, we would object to lobster being served." But instead, PETA purchased two of the lobster killing machines, sent them to the event organizers, and flew the inventor of the machine out from the U.K. to Arizona to demonstrate it. Ironically, the machines arrived late, and 1,800 lobsters were killed in boiling water anyway.
The story on PETA's blog is slightly different:
[W]e convinced them to allow to us to provide them with a Crustastun to use . . . And while we don't condone this event and we hope that the organization's future fundraisers will not include harming animals, we're glad that we can at least help reduce the suffering of these lobsters.
They say that they don't condone this event, but the part that people will remember (and, apparently, the part that a reporter for The Independent remembered) is that PETA supported a lobster dinner by buying a Crustastun, so it must be OK to eat lobsters killed with a Crustastun.
And I can't help but wonder if the invertebrates are getting short-changed by PETA. If this were an event where cows, pigs or chickens were being killed, would PETA buy the organizers a more humane slaughter machine?
Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA, once said, "When it comes to pain, love, joy, loneliness, and fear, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." And while they quote an expert who argues that a lobster is a cat is a dog is a boy, PETA doesn't seem to think so.
Sebastian Artz / Getty Images
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On Wednesday, animal activists Anthony Marr, Jason Miller and Anthony Damiano organized a very successful funeral motorcade in Kansas City, KS for the deer killed in Shawnee Mission Park. Over 300 deer have already been killed by White Buffalo, a company that brings in sharpshooters to "manage" deer. Another 75 deer have been allocated to bow hunters.
The motorcade was a stunning visual that garnered coverage from at least two TV stations, two radio stations, and two newspapers.
The full story about the motorcade, written by Anthony Marr, and many more photos are here.
Is the state of Kansas keeping the deer population artificially high, in order to please hunters? Sadly, yes. The KS Department of Wildlife and Parks says on their website:
Hunting and fishing activities will continue to be important to a large segment of the Kansas population and economy. In the 21st Century, management of the state's harvestable wildlife resources for consumptive recreation will continue to be a primary focus of the Department.
Photo by Anthony Marr.
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