Ontario Elections - Vote Vegan!

For voters in Ontario, you can go cruelty-free and vote Vegan!

The Vegan Environmental Party of Ontario is newly formed and has three candidates running in this election:

Mississauga South - Paul Figueiras

Don Valley West - Rosemary Waigh

Toronto Centre - Harvey Rotenberg

You can visit the Party's facebook page via the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vegan-Environmental-Party-Parti-%C3%A9cologique-v%C3%A9gan/283571875003156?sk=info&ref=nf

Shop Cruelty-Free!

Cruelty Free Consumer officially launched and is now open for business!

Shop with peace of mind by visiting www.crueltyfreeconsumer.com

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Killing Habitats

Peaceful Parks Coalition

www.peacefulparks.org

For Immediate Release

Ontario Election - Honesty Press Release

McGuinty issues carte blanche exemptions to the ‘Endangered Species Act 2007’.

September 8, 2011 Toronto, Ontario:  Since Dalton McGuinty plopped Linda Jeffrey into the chair of Minister of Natural Resources in 2010, there have been two hundred and fifty five (255) permits issued to contravene the ‘Endangered Species Act 2007’.  An unprecedented number compared to her predecessor who issued twelve (12) in two years.  

On April 8, 2010, the McGuinty govt. issued two carte blanche exemptions – 1) to eighty-three (83) municipalities in south and central Ontario for infrastructure work, and 2) one hundred and three (103) aggregate companies. (EBR # 010-9526 and EBR # 010-9527) 

Typical individual exemptions include Metrus Development who in March 2010 received a permit to destroy the habitat of the Redside Dace , an endangered fish, to build a school and park as part of a subdivision inBrampton. (EBR # 010-9085)   

“I wonder how those children would feel if they knew their park destroyed the habitat of a species struggling to survive on this planet,” muses AnnaMaria Valastro of Peaceful Parks Coalition.

In April, 2011, the McGuinty government issued a permit to the City of Guelph to destroy a nesting site (an old chimney)  of the threatened Chimney Swift for the purpose of establishing a temporary parking lot and a new library.  (EBR # 010-3168)

“I guess Minister Jeffrey couldn’t figure out how to incorporate an old chimney stack currently being used by Chimney Swifts into the overall design of the temporary parking lot,” speculates Ms Valastro.

The number of species affected from all the exemptions is vast, including species on the brink of extinction such as Jefferson Salamander (endangered), American Ginseng (endangered), Butler’s Gartersnake (endangered), Mudpuppy Mussel (endangered), Redside Dace (endangered), Round Pigtoe (endangered), Eastern Flowering Dogwood (endangered), and so many more.

“This government is reckless with Section 17 (2)(c), a loophole which allows the minister to issue exemption permits,” concludes Valastro.  

“What’s worse, is that on the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry, these exemption notices are listed as an ‘overall benefit’ permit to a species.  So unless a person actually opens and reads the notice, one could conclude that McGuinty is protecting hundreds of species at risk,” says Valastro. 

This couldn’t be further from the truth. 

The McGuinty government is also considering a proposal to exempt the forestry industry, the hydro electric industry and the mining industry from the ‘Endangered Species Act 2007’  as it relates to the protection of Woodland Caribou – a species reliant on ancient forests to survive and whose population is rapidly declining in Ontario.

Enough of this!

Please see below, from the Canadian Wolf Coalition, of which Animal Alliance is a part.

***

As of mid June this year, wolves in the Cariboo Region of British Columbia have been exposed to even more threats:

Bag limits were removed so that hunters and trappers can kill as many wolves as they want and the hunting and trapping season was extended from 9.5 months to year-round.  This means that wolves can be killed in the summer months when their young are with them and their coats are not even used.  This type of killing is barbaric and senseless.  It must be stopped.  It can, if you will help by speaking out against it.  Demand the BC government stop this unnecessary killing.

Recent government cuts to the Predator Prevention and Compensation Program have lead to badly informed ranchers taking things into their own hands at perceived threats from wolves and other predators.  Insufficient government money has been invested in educating ranchers about responsible and predator-friendly husbandry practices, nor the importance of wolves ecologically.  Neither subsidies nor incentives have been provided (such as guardian dog grant programs, or rebates for electric fencing).   This is contrary the help ranchers receive when protecting crops from ungulates such as deer and elk feeding on them. 

It is within this same region, wildlife management unit five, that wolves are being experimentally sterilized and killed in government-hired trap-lines in the name of mountain caribou recovery.  This year, the government plans to kill fifteen wolves and sterilize another ten in a very small portion of region five called the Quesnell Highlands.  Everywhere surrounding is now OPEN SEASON UNFAIR GAME – BAITING IS ALLOWED AND WOLVES WITH PUPS CAN BE KILLED.  Apparently current decision makers do not know about the social bonds that wolf families share, nor that indiscriminate killing of wolves as a reaction to conflicts with livestock does NOT HELP the situation for livestock producers, as decades of wolf and coyote bounties across North America have proven.

HELP NOW!

Please let these officials know.  Send an e-mail to the following decision makers to tell them that their regulations for killing wolves are shameful and need to be improved.  In this Decade of Biodiversity wolves play an important role within ecosystems and should be protected and preserved in their most natural form.

SAMPLE LETTER : cut and paste.  ADD YOUR OWN COMMENTS and edit to make it personal and have more IMPACT!

The Honourable Steve Thomson, BC Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources

E-mail: FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca

The Honourable Terry Lake, BC Minister of Environment

Email: env.minister@gov.bc.ca

The Honourable Don McRae, Minister of Agriculture and Lands

E-mail: AGF.Webmaster@gov.bc.ca

Dear Minister:

I am writing to let you know that I am against the recent decision to extend hunting seasons and remove bag limits for wolves in region five for the purposes of the livestock sector.  Killing wolves indiscriminately is not the solution!  This can lead to problems at the ecological level as well as continued conflicts with livestock and thus producers.  Funding is required for education about prevention of livestock-wildlife conflict and this needs to be a priority.  Please ensure that this goal of funding and education is undertaken as soon as possible.

Please stop the needless killing of wolves.  These animals are highly intelligent and social, and they have a right to live fearlessly in what portions of British Columbia and Canada remain wild enough to support them within an ecosystem.  In this Decade of Biodiversity please protect more habitat for wolves and other wildlife, and ensure that our province maintains large predators such as wolves as a part of our culture and natural heritage.  As resource extraction claims more nature each day, please ensure that protected wilderness areas are created large enough for several wolf packs to survive unthreatened by humans.

I also raise that you put an immediate end to the Wolf Sterilization and Removal Experiment in the name of mountain caribou recovery in this same region.  The war zone atmosphere you are creating for these animals is unnecessary and cruel.  I would hope that wildlife management in British Columbia would be more responsible, as what remains is precious from a global perspective.

Please let me know that you will update these practices to include moral principles and wildlife stewardship.

Sincerely,

--

Coordinator, Canadian Wolf Coalition

250-344-7998

www.canadianwolfcoalition.com

PJ’s Pets ends puppy sales

A good news story!

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1040266--pj-s-pets-ends-puppy-sales

Animal Lib

Our detractors often argue that we work to protect only the cute and cuddly animals.

Just for the record, today we liberated two adolescent cockroaches (who probably ran back inside the office through some crack in the building).  We live as gently as possible and do not draw the line at "vermin".  We are not speciesist.

If I sound a little jadded, it's because it has been that kind of week, with all kinds of calls from people wanting to give up cats, for a whole variety of reasons (all of which we've heard before).  I better stop before I rant.

Have a wonderful compassion-filled weekend, everyone!  I will do my best to extend my compassion to my fellow man.

Lia and the AAC crew

Heat Advisory for Animals

Are your cat's or dog's gums suddenly bright red? Is the animal lethargic? Is she panting excessively, even when the temperature is cooler? These could be signs of heat stroke, a potentially fatal condition, says the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, and you should bring your cat or dog to the veterinarian immediately.

Even before bringing your animal to the veterinarian, your immediate goal is to cool the animal down. Place the animal in tub of cool water (not cold), wrap her in cool, wet towels, ice-packs, or simply use the hose to bring down body temperature. Take your animal immediately to the veterinarian in an air-conditioned car.

Never leave companion animals outside or in enclosures on hot days, and provide cold, fresh water at all times. Dogs, cats, rabbits, and all other animals are all susceptible to heat stroke.

Never leave your dog or cat unattended in a parked car. If you see a dog or cat in a parked car, enter the closest store and ask that the owner of the car be paged. If the animal is obviously under duress, immediately call the local police because it's against the law to leave an animal in a car in extreme heat.
 In a relatively mild 85-degree day, it takes only 10 minutes for the interior of a car to reach 102 degrees-and within 30 minutes, the inside of the car can be a staggering 120 degrees. New Jersey is under an extreme heat wave, where the temperature is reaching 100 and above and cars can get much hotter and quicker.


Leaving car windows open a few inches does not help. Dogs cool down mostly by panting and the car can become an inferno with the addition of hot panting breath. In only a short amount of time a dog with a high body temperature can suffer critical damage to his nervous system, heart, liver and brain, resulting in death.

For more information about Animal Protection League of New Jersey and our programs, please visit http://www.aplnj.org/