Over 200,000 square miles of land, water and ice may become a designated critical habitat for polar bears in Alaska if a proposal by the Interior Department is adopted. The proposal is the result of a partial settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Greenpeace under the Endangered Species Act, against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But don't celebrate yet - the proposal has nothing with climate change and would still allow for oil and gas drilling.

Although threats to habitat are usually considered under the ESA, a special rule for polar bears means that the ESA cannot be used to restrict activities that contribute to global warming, even though global warming is a major threat to polar bears.

Oil and gas drilling are also a threat. The proposal itself states that "the chance of a large spill greater than or equal to 1,000 barrels occurring and entering offshore waters is within a range of 33 to 51 percent." Also, "the release of oil trapped under the ice from an underwater spill during the winter could be catastrophic during spring break-up if bears were present." The proposal came the same week that the Shell oil company was granted permission to drill in the proposed critical habitat.

As Melanie Duchin, a Greenpeace campaigner, explains:

Designating polar bear critical habitat is a good first step toward protecting this species . . . However, as long as the secretary of the interior maintains that he can do nothing about greenhouse emissions and global warming, protections for the polar bear will ultimately be ineffective.

You can submit a comment online or via mail at:

Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R7-ES-2009-0042
Division of Policy and Directives Management
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222
Arlington, VA 22203

Keep in mind that your public comments are public - your information as well as your comment will be made available online, but you can leave a field blank if you'd rather not divulge your name, address or phone number. The deadline for submitting comments is December 28, 2009.

Tom Brakefield / Getty Images

Suggested Reading:

• What is the Endangered Species Act?
  
• Polar Bears Won't be Protected from Global Warming
  
• Sarah Palin Covered Up Polar Bear Info
  
• U.S. Proposes Plan to Protect Critical Polar Bear Habitat in Alaska from the Guide to Environmental Issues

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John Lennon, Michael Jackson and Pete Townshend are just a few of the musicians who appear in a new calendar to benefit Rational Animal, a New York City-based charity that raises awareness about homeless animal issues. Each page of the 13-month calendar features a different vintage photograph of a famous musician with an animal. The calendar is the result of a collaboration between the photographers and Morrison Hotel Gallery.

The calendar is $24.95 and can be purchased online.

Photo by Henry Diltz, courtesy of Rational Animal.

Suggested Reading:

• Michael Jackson, Vegetarian, Dead at 50
  
• The Truth About Mandatory Spay/Neuter Laws
  
• The Hardest Dogs to Adopt Out
  

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On Saturday, I attended and spoke at "Bear in Mind," a one-day conference about bears and bear protection at Rutgers University, in New Jersey.

My talk, titled, "Why the 2005 New Jersey Bear Hunt Was Illegal," was about the New Jersey bear hunt lawsuit that I handled on behalf of New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (n.k.a. Animal Protection League of NJ) and the Bear Education and Resource Group. In a unanimous decision by the NJ Appellate Division, the court held that the NJ Fish and Game Council's 2005 bear management policy was invalid and that the 2005 New Jersey bear hunt was illegal because of ten violations of the state Administrative Procedure Act. Although the court based its decision on the procedural flaws in the adoption of the policy, the policy also contained many substantive flaws and outright fabrications. In NJ, as in many (if not all) states, wildlife is managed by hunters, for hunters. In their zeal to hold a bear hunt, the Council fabricated scientific information, because the facts did not support their pro-hunt position.

Another speaker on Saturday was Alice Ng, from Animals Asia Foundation, a group that rescues bears from bile farms in Asia and raises public awareness about the issue. Ng's presentation included horrific photos of bears in cages barely larger than their bodies, with catheters inserted into their abdomens to drain the bile. The bile has medicinal properties, but there are now herbal and synthetic substitutes for ursodeoxycholic acid, and some pharmacies in Asia now proudly display stickers that proclaim that they do not sell bear bile or bear parts.

I was especially intrigued by the talk by Dr. Edward Tavss, a chemistry lecturer at Rutgers University who authored a report titled, "Synopsis of National Research on Effective Bear Management." The report showed that over and over again, in the U.S. and Canada, non-lethal black bear management was effective for reducing human/bear conflicts, while hunting was not. Tavss is neither a hunter nor an animal rights activist, but the conflicting information from the two sides inspired him to look deeper into the issue. Although I'd read the report and used information from it in my brief for the bear hunt lawsuit, I didn't realize until Saturday that Tavss had begun his research with the opposite hypothesis: that hunting would be more effective for reducing conflicts. But being a true scientist, Tavss kept an open mind when he analyzed the data, and found the opposite to be true.

My sincere thanks to bear advocate and conference organizer, Prof. Carole Allamand!

Don Farrall / Getty Images

Suggested Reading:

• Living with Black Bears
  
• Black Bears Looking for Fast Food Choose Minivans from the Guide to Environmental Issues
  
• What is Deer Overabundance?
  

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October 25-31 is World Go Vegan Week. If you're not already vegan, please consider the reasons for veganism: the animals, the environment, and your own health.

Before I was vegan, I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian for over three years, but taking that extra step seemed impossible. I knew that it was the right thing to do, but it seemed unbelievably difficult. I already had enough problems finding food as a vegetarian! Even though I was vegetarian and knew several vegans, I was guilty of the same misconceptions that many others have.

But then I met up with a vegan friend in Washington D.C. for an animal rights protest. After the protest, she took me to see Alex Herschaft, founder of Farm Animal Rights Movement. We hung out with Alex at the FARM office, and he gave us bagels and juice. Surrounded by all the literature and posters at the FARM office, I knew that I had to go vegan.

Of course, after going vegan, I found that it was easier than I thought it would be. Much easier! I bought vegan cookbooks, attended vegan potlucks and joined the Boston Vegetarian Society. Just spending time with other vegans was very helpful, and the potlucks were great for learning about different foods and recipes.

Need some vegan recipes to get started? Try these links:

• Choose Veg;
• VegFamily; and
• Vegan Outreach.

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Chris Rock's comments supporting Michael Vick seem to have cost him a plum movie role. According to Badrap Blog, via Contactmusic.com, Rock made comments defending Vick on the The Jay Leno Show: "What the hell did Michael Vick do? Pitbulls ain't (sic) even real dogs! Dogs have never been good to black people!" But Rock was up for the lead role in a movie about the life of Richard Pryor, and Pryor's wife Jennifer was not amused. She wrote to Rock:

For your information, Chris, what Michael Vick did was to torture, drown, electrocute and murder dogs all for fun and for profit! He went to prison for felony animal cruelty! That's what he did! . . . These types of comments only encourage abuse and misunderstanding of this breed, as well as actual dog-fighting. Clearly this part of your latest stand-up routine would not make Richard laugh!

Instead, the role reportedly went to Marlon Wayans.

Was Rock's comment so different from others' supporting Vick? Yes. Usually, if people defend Vick, they start by admitting that Vick committed a terrible crime. The disagreement tends to center on whether Vick deserves a second chance at fame and fortune, considering that he served jail time and and says that he regrets his actions. Instead, Rock decided to excuse the crime, and as Pryor's wife points out, making light of Vick's actions make it easier for people to dismiss animal cruelty.

Oh, and for the record, Leno also seems to support Vick, and Vick is not sorry.

Malcolm Taylor / Getty Images

Suggested Reading:

• Michael Vick to Work with The Humane Society of the US
  
• Every Dogfighter Has His Day?
  
• ASPCA Turned Down Vick
  
• Boycott Nike

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The Baltimore city school district has adopted Meatless Mondays as a way of cutting costs and encouraging children to eat healthier, and their school cafeterias now offer only meatless foods on Mondays. On the day that a TV crew visited, the menu included vegetarian chili, grilled cheese, corn, green beans, refried beans and fruit. Even though the entire menu is not vegan, it challenges the notion that meals should include meat. CNN was unable to find any parents who object to the program, but the American Meat Institute, of course, was up in arms, citing a lack of choice by parents and children and a false statistic that 75% of children are not getting enough protein.

First, feigning an interest in the rights of children and parents to choose is a popular tactic by industries that peddle dangerous products - alcohol, tobacco, meat, etc. The Center for Consumer Freedom, a non-profit organization funded by these industries, has turned this rhetoric into its mantra. Where were they when my school cafeteria offered no meatless entrees? Obviously, they have no concern - real or feigned - about choices if their products are the only choices.

And in what country do 75% of children not get enough protein? Certainly not the United States, where the USDA has found that 80.1% of all Americans meet the Dietary Reference Intake of protein, and 81.9% of all people in Maryland meet the protein DRI.

Lastly, meat is not the only source of protein, as I'm sure the American Meat Institute would like people to believe. Their statement implies that children not eating meat will not get sufficient protein from vegetarian sources, which is absolutely incorrect. For the record, the American Dietetic Association supports vegetarian and vegan diets.

Oh, and if you visit the Huffington Post website to watch the CNN video, ignore the commercial for Tide. Tide is owned by Proctor & Gamble, which tests on amimals.

Suggested Reading:

• Factory Farming FAQ
  
• What is Veganism??
• Vegetarian Health and Nutrition Info from the Guide to Vegetarian Food
  
• Proctor & Gamble Kills Animals
  

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Do you ever unexpectedly see or hear the word "vegan"? Does it make you stop and look at something twice, because it's such a pleasant surprise?

When I first became vegan, over 20 years ago, animal rights activists discussed amongst ourselves whether it should be pronounced "VEE-gun" or "VEJ-un" (the former is correct) because it was so rare to actually meet another vegan and hear the word spoken out loud, and it was much more common to just read the word in an animal rights newsletter.

I've been seeing the word more and more, and it's great! One of my local grocery stores prints recipes in their ads, and vegan recipes are marked with a green letter "V." I also recently saw a car with the word "vegan" as part of the license plate.

And around About.com, I've been seeing the word pop up in other topics. Of course it comes up in the expected places, such as the vegan recipes found under topics like:

• Vegetarian Food;
• Dairy-Free Cooking; and
• Whole Foods Cooking.

But I've also seen it in unexpected places. For example:

• The Guide to sexually transmitted diseases has an article on vegan condoms.
• The Guide to shoes has a list of sources for vegan shoes.
• And the Guide to make-up recently blogged about carmine and why vegans avoid it. She also came up with a list of her top 10 carmine-free lipsticks and lip glosses (although "carmine-free" does not necessarily mean that the lipsticks are vegan or cruelty-free).

Don't know what carmine is? Check out this link.

Links:

• What is Carmine?
• What is Veganism?
• What is Veganic Farming?
  
• What are Cruelty-Free Products?

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Animal cruelty at a turkey farm in West Virginia.
Photo courtesy of PETA.

Ohio voters, please vote "no" on Issue 2 on November 3, 2009.

At first glance, it may sound like a good idea - a proposed constitutional amendment in Ohio would create a Livestock Care Standards Board to set enforceable standards for the care of animals raised for food. But the measure is opposed by a coalition of consumer advocacy groups, small farms, environmental groups and animal advocates.

Because the Board would be a part of the state's constitution, there could be no other state laws or regulations set for the care of farmed animals, short of another constitutional amendment. And that's intentional.

What is big agribusiness afraid of? Changes like Prop. 2 in California and the law enacted in Michigan this week to ban veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages.

As The Humane Society of the US explains:

While designed to give the appearance of helping farm animals, Issue 2 is little more than a power grab by Ohio's agribusiness lobby. The industry-dominated "animal care" council proposed by Issue 2 is really intended to thwart meaningful improvements in how the millions of farm animals in Ohio are treated on large factory farms.

From an animal rights perspective, the "improvements" are negligible. The animals will still suffer and die. But this constitutional amendment would be a giant step backwards.

Links:

• California's Prop. 2
  
• Factory Farming FAQ
• Arguments For and Against Humane Meat
  
• What's Wrong with Cage-Free Eggs?

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Halloween can be loaded with stress and hazards for cats and dogs. Be sure to take some precautions to protect your companion animals.

First, keep your animals indoors. While there are many reasons for keeping your cats indoors, it's especially important at Halloween. With so many people out and about, some wearing strange and scary costumes and some with mischievous or downright malicious intentions, the safest place for your animals is inside your home. Although evidence of Halloween-related animal sacrifice and torture of black cats is anecdotal, many shelters prohibit adoptions of black cats in the days leading up to Halloween, as a precaution.

Also, the Pet Poison Helpline offers Halloween safety tips for pets, such as:

• Make sure your candy stash is inaccessible to your animals. Large amounts of candy can lead to pancreatitis, and ingestion of candy wrappers can lead to bowel obstructions. Also, chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is toxic to dogs.
• Putting costumes on your pets may obstruct their vision and/or movement, and never dye or color your pets' fur, even if the manufacturer claims the product is non-toxic.
• Keep burning candles out of the the reach of your animals. Better yet, use electric light sources.

For more Halloween safety tips, visit the Pet Poison Helpline site.

John Giustina / Getty Images

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My reward for never turning my compost piles? Veganically grown tomatoes. Lots of them!

Last year, my reward was veganic pumpkins. Another year, I got veganic cherry tomatoes. I throw all my vegetable waste into my two large compost piles all year round, and at least a handful of little seedlings spring forth at the beginning of every summer. Some die untimely deaths (my squash plants this year succumbed to squash bugs), but others grow to maturity and bear fruit.

OK, I guess technically they are not completely veganic because my compost piles do include waste from my rabbits' litterboxes, so they probably do benefit from some animal waste as fertilizer. But no animal agriculture operation benefitted from the sale of bonemeal or manure in order to produce these gorgeous and delicious tomatoes. And I didn't even till any soil or kill any insects, as many happy squash bugs can attest.

What's veganic farming, you say? Learn more about veganic farming.

Photograph © Doris Lin 2009, licensed to About.com, Inc.

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