"Animal protection is a just cause"

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_4953112

The Democrats have now taken control of Congress because, as President Bush memorably put it, Republicans took a "thumpin"' in the fall elections. But that wasn't the only thumpin' that occurred in November. In congressional contests and statewide ballot campaigns, the 2006 election brought decisive victories for the cause of animal protection - and left the callous to lick their own wounds for a change.

In Arizona, despite the best efforts of the National Pork Producers Council and other agribusiness interests, 62 percent of voters approved a measure to ban inhumane factory farming practices. In Michigan, meanwhile, the National Rifle Association puffed up its chest to promote a referendum to allow shooting of mourning doves for sport. Sixty-nine percent of voters answered with a firm "no," routing the NRA in one of its own supposed strongholds.

Throw in the defeat of two longtime opponents of animal welfare - California's Richard Pombo, the chairman of the House Resources Committee, and Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana - and you have the markers of a reform movement on the rise.

To borrow an image from our opponents, they make mighty impressive trophies on the wall.

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Lithos
DU Moderator

I was personally involved with one of their campaigns :). It was a lot of work but worth it.

:woohoo:

It is good to see an animal advocacy thread on DU.

Great to see this-I was very happy about all the animal victories too this year....err last year...
:hi: nam!

eom

:kick:

Thank you for sharing this great article!

and I'm glad to see these becoming more and more widespread. These are fabulous victories.

K&R!

:thumbsup: :bounce:
I donated money for that one!

Dawnwatch is a great resource for this type of news.

Karen Dawn is very good about scouring the net for editorials, news etc. related to animal welfare and sending them out to those on her email list. You can sign up to be on her list here:

http://www.dawnwatch.com/

a dog cannot be kept on a short chain for more than 3 hours and it is now a crime to leave your animals in a dangerously hot or cold car. The Gropenator signed these!

I honestly believe it is harder for many people to tolerate cruelty to animals than to humans -- in large part because the creatures of Earth are helplessly at humankind's mercy, whereas we view certain other human groups as threatening to us.

Could it be that a lot of Repug voters object to animal cruelty even though they might not mind it if "libruls" or "terraists" are treated horribly -- even killed?

I think that might explain why these votes have gone so well ... the issues cross party boundaries.

Whatever the reason, I am happy, so happy, about this great news!! :bounce:

>>Could it be that a lot of Repug voters object to animal cruelty even though they might not mind it if "libruls" or "terraists" are treated horribly -- even killed?

I always assumed that the roots of compassion, whether for humans or animals, were the same. Food for thought there!

Whatever the cause, I am glad they voted that way on those issues :toast:.
Now if only we could get some degree of agreement on Iraq, the environment etc. from some of those same people...

The roots of compassion are the same. If you can't have compassion for animals, you won't have much for humans. Most serial killers started out torturing animals.

:) :hi:

:thumbsup:

I am fairly newly registered myself, but I have been lurking since 2003 so welcome to DU :D. I have seen your posts in the environment forum and we need more people like you around here :).
So a very hearty :hi: and welcome!

I'm glad to be here. The environment, global warming, saving endangered species, etc is tops on my list of concerns, along with social justice for the poor. I'm sick of the wealthy and far right having their way and going to do my best to try to help get them out of power.

It's just too bad that a concept such as "don't be cruel to animals" needs to be enforced by law. And while it's good to hear 62% of Arizonans objected to inhumane factory farm practices, 38% of them had no problem with it.

Nevertheless, that is good news.

:banghead:

:shrug:

Say it. Speak!

can't come soon enough. Right before Christmas, my friend was walking her dog. The dog was not on a leash, (Arrgh! Pet peeve.) and ran into the woods near her house. Sadly, the dog was caught in an illegal trap baited with sardines. My friend struggled to get the trap open, but was unable to release her dog. She had to helplessly watch her dog suffocate.

This past weekend, a van was stolen from a hotel parking lot. Inside the van were two Viszla hunting dogs that were to be shown at the Rubber City Kennel Club dog show, a show I attended with my own dog. The thieves started a fire on the front seat and the dogs were left to burn to death in their cages.

Let's see how tough these bastards are in prison.

those who do break the lax laws.

This movement certainly needs more teeth, and I wish the various animal compassion groups would band together better than they do to make this happen. Factory farming is particularly grotesque.

And she says that few of the people found guilty of animal cruelty ever have to pay much of a price for it :-/....
Especially of the animal is not a cat or a dog...

Now let's see someone take up the cause of limiting backyard breeding.

"But when (Jesus) saw the multitudes, (Jesus) was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." (Matthew 9:36.) "...As sheep having no shepherd..."

The issue of animal protection and animal rights is as important as any other issue, its meaning is as deep as any other issue, and it cuts across and touches so many other issues, because it, also, is at the heart of things. People who are totally opposed to each other on all other issues, can agree here, and by thinking totally different premises for their arguments. There are people whose support of animal protection laws is based on their love of pets during their lives, and is all experience, for whom "Be Kind to Animals" is a rule of living. They may actually have given no real thought to animal rights as an issue, but always lived it as a practice, and always vicerally reacted against anyome who abuses animals. On the other end, may be those for whom it is an abstract, a stated principle of equality of all species, a philosophy that is argued on the inner truth of the nature of reality.

People can be concerned about animal cruelty and law, the environment and habitat preservation, or the outrages of commercial industries and their exploitation of animals. You can be against animal abusers because you are anti-violence, a lover of nature and rural areas, or because you hate the capitalist criminal oppressor. You can be for the protection of animals because you love them specifically, because you want a safer world for all, because you know that the most civilized societies recognize the rights of victims over the right of "property," because you seek a world of respect and equality, because you recognize the Divinity and Divine place in all, or for any number of other reasons. No matter what the principle, the higher perception of animals and their free place, is there.

Getting the violence against animals out of the human being is a huge, major step forward for all civilization, and is recognized as an overwhelming problem among those who have to deal with violent criminals. Getting violent criminals to take on the responsibility of training and caring for dogs in prison, for example, is sometimes the only way they ever begin to develop a conscience, or learn to love. Only those who have themselves been screened, so they will not just abuse the animals but will participate in the program, can be accepted, but then the dog begins to teach. Many people will tell you that they became good human beings by learning from their dogs how to live.

There is also no such excuse as that "there are other things more important, let this wait": What is more urgent than war itself, a coming battle; yet recall the wonderful story of General Ulysses S. Grant, who punished a soldier who had been abusing a horse--famous animal lover that Grant was--by tying the soldier to a tree all day. The horse had rights too, and the punishment was not delayed because there were "more important things first." It hurt nothing of the Army's cause, because Grant recognized that this horrible animal abuse, if left to get away with it, would destroy the Army's morale, and the morals of each individual. Recall the beautiful words of the late anthropologist Margaret Mead, and her comment that the worst thing that can happen to a child, is to abuse an animal--and get away with it. Then, a horrific lesson was learned.

Whether you study psychology or social justice, ecology and the environment, or religion and philosophy, no matter where you turn, the principle of animal rights and care for them, is there. It is one of the basic foundations of a true understanding of reality, and of good and fair treatment of all. No matter which modern social issue you study, sooner or later, the abuse or protection of animals will be there, because it is as much at the core of reality as anything else. God gave them souls, and a place in this world and the next, too.

To link with others who care for animals, as a religious issue, go to www.christianveg.com

:shrug:

That was cryptic :shrug:

The Zeppelin Tube, or Zeppo Tube, was a power so great that it could only be used for good or evil.

My husband and I would drive by all these houses with "Vote YES for Sportsmen on 3!" And we'd say to each other, "Don't they have enough things to kill?" And the doves they want to kill hang out in back yards and let you walk up to like a foot away from them. What kind of sport is that? I'm not anti-hunter, but my god it seems sometimes like hunters want to have the ability to shoot and kill everything in existence. I don't get it.

I hope this means anti-horse slaughter legislation gets back on the agenda after coming so close last session.