11 minute read
Tammy Fiebelkorn
I’m honored to be the first vegan animal rights activist to serve on Albuquerque City Council. I take office on January 1, 2022, and I am anxious to get to work for the residents of District 7, the planet and the animals. I haven’t taken office yet, but I’m already advocating for all animals. My first official act as City Councilor-Elect was to insist on having vegan food available at the swearing in ceremony on the 1st. My second act was meeting with the Director of the Animal Welfare Department to discuss needed improvements to the city shelter system and animal care & control, as well as inform them of my intention to push for all shelter events to be 100% vegan. My third act was to inform the City that District 7 City Council offices will be 100% vegan during my term on Council.
There will be many, many more opportunities to elevate animals in our society via City Council operations, events and legislation. Animals need a voice on City Council to help them live lives free from violence by humans. We can do a lot to elevate animals in our society and provide them respect and protection, and I’ll advocate for them every day. The animals deserve no less.
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I’ll be calling on animal advocates in the coming years to assist as we work on various animal-related issues here in Albuquerque. Here are just a few examples of the types of pro-animal policies that I hope to implement:
1. Update the HEART (Humane and Ethical Animals Rules and Treatment) Ordinance to better protect all animals. Specific areas that should be updated include the animal cruelty, exotic animal display, and “nuisance” animal sections of the code. This was a groundbreaking ordinance when it was introduced back in 2006, but it’s been 15+ years with no updates.
2. Include the benefits of plant-based foods in policy discussions at the city level. These benefits include the wellbeing of animals, better health for humans, and reduction in greenhouse gases that cause climate change. I will focus on policies to provide plant-based food at city functions, city buildings, city-run farmers markets, and more.
3. Raise awareness of The Link between animal abuse and human violence. I will propose a training program on The Link for all City staff working with the public. This training would teach them about The Link and how to spot signs of family violence: child abuse, animal abuse, domestic violence, or elder abuse. The training will also emphasize the importance of reporting any suspected family violence to the proper authorities.
These changes will not be easy, and some may take a long time to finalize. But, together, we can elevate animals in our society, improve the well-being of animals in Albuquerque and raise awareness of animal rights city wide.
To follow my work and receive updates as we move forward, please follow my FB page @Tammy4abq or send me your email address to add to our District 7 email listserv.
Tammy Fiebelkorn is a longtime vegan animal rights activist who was just elected to Albuquerque City Council, District 7. She’s an environmental economist and energy efficiency advocate. She’s also the founder and board president of Positive Links, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing all forms of family violence – animal abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, and elder abuse. Tammy lives with her partner, Paul; three senior and special needs mutts, Frida, Cinderella, and Frijolito; and a 68-year-old paralyzed Amazon parrot, Mr. T.
Tammy Fiebelkorn Albuquerque City Councilor-Elect tammyforabq@gmail.com tammyforalbuquerque.com
TACKLING THE CLIMATE CRISIS ISN’T ROCKET SCIENCE!
“Tackling the climate crisis isn’t rocket science! We already have a solution that can drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions – moving to a plant-based diet. What we need now is for politicians and policymakers to prioritize diet change to protect our planet.
veganuary.com/en-us/try-vegan/
Sprouting Compassion, a 501C3 Non-Profit organization, dedicated to raising awareness about the connection of veganism and its link to social justice issues.
Sprouting Compassion offers cooking demos (Eat Without Violence); vegan mentorship; school humane education for kids (EducateDuCare); Vegan Swap Meet; Red and Green VegFest Albuquerque; weekly mini podcast, Vegan Pulse. We also do live and virtual presentations, tabling, and so forth. If you know of an event we should be at, please email us at nancy@sproutingcompassion.org. We look forward to meeting, engaging, and connecting with all individuals who are seeking to improve their health, fight climate change, stand up for animals, and end oppression for all.
Visit our website for more informtation, www.sproutingcompassion.org. Together let’s Plant Seeds of Compassion for all.
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Animals can feel empathy just like humans do. Empathy for each other, for us, and even for other species.
Zebras
1. Zebras are herbivores, which means they eat plants, grasses, and roots. 2. Zebras are one of the few mammals that can see in color. 3. Zebras are social animals and can often be found in large groups. 4. Zebra herds vary in size, usually with 5 to 20 families traveling together. 5. When a mother zebra gives birth, she will usually keep her foal away from all other zebras for two or three days until the foal can recognize her scent, voice, and appearance. 6. Other than using their ears, zebras communicate with facial expressions and sounds. 7. Zebras are constantly moving, looking for delicious fresh green grass to eat and water to drink.
8. They have excellent eyesight, hearing and a keen sense of smell.
9. All zebra are close to their mother; however, the males also form very strong bonds with their fathers. 10. Zebras belong to the Equidae family along with horses and donkeys. 11. Every zebra has a unique pattern of black and white stripes. 12. There are 3 kinds of zebras: plains zebra, Grevy’s zebra, and mountain zebra. 13. The social species of zebra will protect their members from predators. They have been seen forming defensive circles around injured members of their families, often biting and kicking approaching predators. 14. Zebras are actually black with white stripes. 15. A group of zebras is called a zeal or dazzle.
The connection between antibiotics and animal agriculture is known. Maybe not as well known as it should be, but it hasn't remained hidden for the most part. An entire page on the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) website is dedicated to just such a topic. For a large part, what remains hidden is just how powerful the combined pharmaceutical and animal agriculture industries have become. In turn, this influences government policy, human and animal health, along with heavily swaying our approaches to addressing the climate crisis.
What We Need To Know About The Connection Between Pharmaceuticals and Animal Agriculture
In our quest for bigger, faster, better, and cheaper, we shouldn't be shocked that in 1950 a New York laboratory found that adding antibiotics to livestock feed accomplished two things: accelerated the animals' growth and was more cost-effective than traditional additives. The news was met with celebration. It meant farmers could now attempt to meet the growing demand for meat not just in the United States but around the world. The post-WWII boom and later introduction of the modern grocery store resulted in a growing population hungry to consume — everything and anything, including animal products. At the same time, as farmland became more expensive due to urbanization, costs were lowered for farmers who could produce more poultry, pork, and/or beef in a shorter amount of time.
From the beginning, pharmaceutical companies Merck, Pfizer, and American Cyanamid (which is no longer in business) worked hand in hand with the agricultural sector to provide medicated feeds and water additives, specifically in concentrated animal operations. Far from being isolated to what we think of in terms of livestock, Merck, in particular, created an antibiotic, sulfaquinoxaline, to be used in commercial beehives to curb infections in farmed fish and prevent mastitis in the dairy industry. Heralded as a solution for one and for all, it was and to this day remains hard to take off the rose-colored glasses.
Following The Money Downstream
As early as the 1970's some lobbied against the use of antibiotics in animal feed, citing the fact that it was creating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in individuals consuming said meat. Since then, this connection has become better understood, and countless papers tackle this very subject in scientific detail. But change has been hard to come by. From the beginning, the animal agricultural and pharmaceutical industries have walked hand in hand, forming powerful lobbying blocks that can sway legislation.
In 2013 and 2014, when three bills were presented, all of which would tighten restrictions on the use of antibiotics, they were met with fierce opposition. "Pharmaceutical companies…spent at least $14.3 million lobbying Congress. " Adding to the mounting opposition, the agricultural sector chipped in an additional $9.2 million. It was further reported that Health Committee members (House Energy and Commerce) had received a total of $73,500 in contributions from several leading agricultural groups. Unsurprisingly, the bills went nowhere.
Working Against Public Health
A 2018 paper Antibiotic Use in Agriculture and Its Consequential Resistance in Environmental Sources: Potential Public Health Implications (Manyi-Loh, Mamphweli, Meye & Okoh) lay bare the fact that the growing antibiotic resistance is of "great public health concern because the antibiotic-resistant bacteria associated with the animals may be pathogenic to humans, easily transmitted to humans via food chains, and widely disseminated in the environment via animal wastes." But this fact alone is not enough to upend a multibillion-dollar industry.
That same year Animal Pharm reported that pharmaceutical companies were earning an estimated $5 billion a year from antibiotics specifically for farm animals. This totaled about 70% of all antibiotic use in the United States. So, while the adverse side effects are very much understood, time and time again, concerned scientists, industry experts, politicians, and individuals are met with resistance from the powerful lobby interests of the industry.
Eighteen-month-old Noah Craten was hospitalized after becoming infected with Salmonella. While usually, this wouldn't be headline-worthy, an estimated 1.3 million people in the United States are infected with Salmonella annually. Noah had been exposed to an antibiotic-resistant strain that originated from a concentrated animal feed operation (CAFO), specifically a poultry operation. He underwent several treatments that ultimately left him with permanent damage.
Due to the high use of antibiotics on CAFOs, there has been a direct link to antibiotic resistance in human populations. "Transfer occurs in multiple different ways including through meat (consumptions) and the environment. " Continued use of antibiotics in animal feed and waters will inevitably lead to modern antibiotics becoming ineffective. Additionally, the problem will only compound. By 2050 some researchers have estimated that AMR could lead to the death of 10 million people annually.
Detangling the Web
It is a well-known fact that the animal agricultural industry needs a major overhaul, specifically in the face of climate change. A significant contributor to emissions, it still remains a complex subject to broach, never mind overhaul. But as deforestation continues in the name of beef production, as waterways are continuously polluted with animal waste, and air quality suffers due to desertification from large animal operations we need to realize that the resulting illnesses cannot be effectively treated if we are ingesting the very thing that makes us resistant to it. We are propping up both the problem and the solution. Only the problems are becoming too big to solve unless immediate and severe action is taken.
It's easy to understand why these two industries have so much influence. We rely on medications and food to survive. The unfettered quest for growth has gone unchecked, putting company profits above human, animal, and environmental health. Knowing that 70% of antibiotic use in the United States goes to farm animals, it's not hard to realize it would never be in a pharmaceutical company's interest to decrease their usage. At least not under how our current economic system operates.
The unfortunate story here is that farmers were struggling to meet demand. They struggled to pay their bills while providing for their communities. They struggled against the rapid urbanization post-WWII. But as time marched on and as the family farm disappeared and corporate contracts popped up in their place, we could not disentangle the two industries. What once were two industries supporting one another — both looking for solutions has now become a monstrosity which plays with the very lives of the people they purport to help.
