Editorial 4#

Are we to believe PeTA's latest article Why Euthanasia? It's so much hogwash one wonders just where it went all wrong for them. When once serious groups and people become caricatures of themselves you know that (morally at least) they are in deep trouble.

Daphna Nachminovitch, director of PeTA's "Domestic Animal and Wildlife Rescue and Information Department' wrote this putrid piece of pus about what a happy situation and a win/win situation it was for all concerned when they finally, having spent time with Candy, "the gorgeous snow-white German Shepherd", while holding her in Daphna's arms, Candy was "put to sleep forever". Oh please.

Sure, PeTA is in damage control over their pro-active stance in killing as many pound animals as they can possibly get their hands onto. They may be able to persuade the general "paying" public or their 850,000 strong member base that they are doing the right thing but with hard-core animal rights activists it's an entirely different matter.

Why bother having an ALF when just as quickly as some animals are rescued by them, PeTA's turning around and killing the equivalent, if not more? We implore people reading this, if you are thinking of leaving a bequest to the animals let it be for no kill solutions. We mean literally NoKillSolutions.com

Nathan Winograd is one of the most sanest voices around in the movement and there's 100% guarantee that your hard earned dollars will go directly to a non-human animal that's crying out to be rescued and re-homed. Or how about pattrice jones at Eastern Shore Sanctuary? They are always grateful for any funds to run a no kill sanctuary. Or Vikki Shore from NoKillNow.com (see her interview on Devore). Small rescue groups are doing exceptionally fine animal rescue work as well.

No Kill's not easy but that's what we are all here for. To first help and save animals lives. I mean, it's not credible to say you are advancing the cause of "animal rights" but then not be concerned whether the animal is dead or alive or not.

After meat-eaters, animal welfarists are the second largest group on the planet today killing healthy animals - and these people have the gall to call themselves "animal advocates".

We are here to challenge the killing and vast slaughter of non-human animals, not to join forces with the other side!

PeTA's, Daphna Nachminovitch's would have us believe her "mission", as she likes to call it, is to offer animals in their "care" the kindest injection of all - the one that will kill the animal quickly with little or no fuss and bother. The kindest cut of all blah, blah.

Let it be made quite clear that Daphna Nachminovitch is a traitor to animals everywhere. She is not a voice for the animal rights movement. PeTA should be denounced by the animal rights movement and exposed for what they are. And what they are now to every pound animal and to all kittens and puppies everywhere unfortunate enough to come under "their wing" or find themselves in PeTA's "care" is Freddy Kruger.

It's disturbing but it isn't rocket science either. We are of the view at the Abolitionist , call us crazy, that the animal rights movement has no business in killing healthy animals.

Our message to PeTA remains the same as before.

Stop Your Killing of Thousands of Thousands of Pound Animals, PeTA. It's not difficult once you try. And try you must. This isn't an undergraduate course in "Applied Ethics" - there are lives at stake.

Advancing animal rights is not a game. People are currently spending their whole lives in prison for animal rights and animal liberation activities. The very, very least we can do on the outside is be respectful of that and be a voice and defender for all animals, including pound animals - especially pound animals and so-called "feral" animals.

Informant Charlotte Laws

Only traitors speak to the FBI. Charlotte Laws wrote an article recently on her website titled, "My Animal Rights Adventure with the FBI". Now Charlotte Laws, on request, who describes herself as "a loyal animal rights person of 25 years running" flew, at no extra expense to herself, to the FBI's headquarters in the US to voluntarily help them put together a portfolio on what makes an animal liberationist tick. With the Green Scare happening and so many snitchers turning informant these days, and with activists dying in prison one wonders how Ms Laws can hold her head up high. How does it now feel to be a disloyal animal rights person of 25 years running, Charlotte ? It must hurt. Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

SHAC7 - A Vegan Fundraiser in Sydney

We are holding a vegan fundraiser dinner to raise money to help assist the SHAC7 defence team and help with their appeal. Please come and bring friends and family. When? Early July. If you can't make it please consider a donation. Contact us here for more details.

Calling All Queer Animal Rights and Liberation Activists

The next issue of the Abolitionist is dedicated to queer animal rights/liberation/rescue activism so if you have something important to tell us, contact us here. Issue 5# is also our anti-vivisection issue. If you are a queer or transgender activist and want to be interviewed by us, send us off an email. We will welcome it.

Bob Pyle's'Apple and Oranges Vegetarian and Vegan Music CD' Bob's been in contact with us and we have a copy of his latest hilarious CD to give-a-way to the first person who contacts us with their contact address.

Blacktown "Bloody" Pound

What do you want to be when you grow up, Charlie? I want to be an under achiever just like they are over at Blacktown Pound.

What kind of person refuses to move the hair out of a death row animal's eyes because it might "alter the way the animal looks" in expediency for the animals "owner" suddenly appearing and unable to recognise the poor depressed, bedraggled animal? That was our experience over at Blacktown Pound recently. Counter staff like that should not be involved in animal care.

In any case, Blacktown Pound should be shut down. It's an experiment in mega-pound practices that just didn't work, because they just don't want it to work.

For contrast, we spoke to Canberra City Council and Queanbeyan City Council. Summarised here is an account of how they turned around their kill rate from Canberra : 30% killing rate in Year 2000 to an average today of 5.8% and Queanbeyan's killing rate in 1996 was 40-50% to 10-12% today.

Here's how it was achieved.

1. Dedicated staff willing to go the extra mile for the animals. They must be prepared to look at the Lost List and Councils would do well to have a triple-checking system.

2. Important to provide an interactive and up-to-date and lively website of the dogs and cats available for re-homing.

3. Make getting dogs back to their owners a first priority.

4. Compulsive micro chipping has been a big boon in getting animals home again.

5. The next most important implementation was previously volunteers were not encouraged to get involved with the pound. Now at Canberra City Council, "they are indispensable." If a dog's only got one day to go, we ring up a rescue group and they never let us down.

6. Currently today the Canberra City Council is still developing and formalizing their volunteers however every dog, every day gets exercised. Kennels are disinfected when dogs are out of the kennels, not hosed down while they are still inside. Take note here Blacktown Pound. This is winter. Dogs are three to a kennel often fighting for food as there's a food hierarchy involved. These dogs are being hosed down and sitting there wet, shivering and miserable twice a day. If that's not a cruelty issue, I don't know what is!

7. Volunteers are important in providing important feedback to staff on how they socialize and the personal habits of the dogs.

8. Canberra Council was also willing to extend their statutory time limit whereabouts before it was 7 days for a non-micro-chipped dog to be killed and 14 days for a micro-chipped dog now it's 21 days for all animals. This, they tell us, has greatly helped rehome a lot more animals.

Blacktown Pound has told us on the phone that their OH and S policy does not allow them to assist the dogs any more than what they already do. We researched another megapound in Sydney, The Sydney Lost Dogs Home which happens to boast a very low kill rate due to hard work and having a dynamic volunteer base. They told us "there's always plenty of excuses not to help pound animals". We agree.

Do not tell us this cannot be done! If you have a complaint about Blacktown Pound we want to hear about it.

Vegan Cooking: Recipes For Health and Happiness

With every new issue we try to include in as much Australian material as possible so we'd like to make mention of a brand new vegan cookbook just out called Vegan Cooking by Amanda Quinn and Diipali Lilburne. There are over 130 recipes to tempt and delight you with, from Polenta Bake with Pumpkin and Tofu to Stuffed Peppers with Lima Bean, Eggplant and Dill Sauce. This book also contains an extensive range of decadent desserts such as Pecan Pie, Berry Cheesecake, Chocolate Truffles, Almond and Apple Cake and many more. Decadent, Divine and Delicious cooking. Contact us here to find out where you can buy a copy. Available at selected Health food stores in Sydney .

Thank you to all our contributors. We are most grateful for the high quality material we receive from grassroots animal rights activists.

Thank you to Annie Patterson for her graphics and on-going support.

Thank you to Dr. Coral Hull for her donation. Much appreciated.

Thank you to our friends at BiteBack magazine for permission to re-print the Martin Balluch interview.

Thank you to Derrick Jensen for writing such a fantastic book such as Endgame and for keeping it real. (see our review)

Thank you to Butterflies M. Katz for her considerable work on the Vegan Directory.

This site is dedicated to:

Barry Horne, Jill Phipps, Mike Hill, Tom Worby, the Australian Diana Simpson. And Ronnie Lee.