Action Line Spring 2015

SPRING 2015

ACTION LINE

BEE-WARE OF NEONICINOTOIDS CAUGHT IN THE WEB: WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING A FRIEND OF ANIMALS...WITH STYLE WHAT PZP PUSHERS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW

8 FEATURE Bee-Ware Of Neonicinotoids

4 N EWS Victory Lap: The Latest News About FOA’s Advocacy 6 NEWS Keeping Animals on the Agenda

14 NEWS Caught in the Web: Wildlife Trafficking 17 NEWS Second Chance Farm Provides Many Happy Endings 20 INTERVIEW A Friend of Animals...with Style 24 NEWS What PZP Pushers Don’t Want You To Know 28 VEGAN GETAWAYS

Bon Voyage Vegans 32 LETTERS 33 CHEERS & JEERS 34 FOA MERCHANDISE

Cover and Feature Illustration:

by Marcus Pierno

WHO WE ARE Friends of Animals is an international non-profit animal-advocacy organization, incorporated in the state of New York in 1957. FoA works to cultivate a respectful view of nonhuman animals, free-living and domestic. Our goal is to free animals from cruelty and institutionalized exploitation around the world.

CONTACT US NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS 777 Post Road Darien, Connecticut 06820 (203) 656-1522 contact@friendsofanimals.org NEW YORK OFFICE 1841 Broadway, Suite 350 New York, NY 10023 (212) 247-8120 WESTERN OFFICE 7500 E. Arapahoe Rd., Ste 385 Cetennial, CO 80112 (720) 949-7791 PRIMARILY PRIMATES SANCTUARY P.O. Box 207 San Antonio, TX 7891-02907 (830) 755-4616 office@primarilyprimates.org VISIT US www.friendsofanimals.org www.primarilyprimates.org FOLLOW US facebook.com /friendsofanimals.org facebook.com /primarilyprimates.org MEMBERSHIP Annual membership includes a year’s subscription to Action Line. Students/Senior membership, $15; Annual membership, $25; International member, $35; Sustaining membership, $50; Sponsor, $100; Patron, $1,000. All contributions, bequests and gifts are fully tax-deductible in accordance with current laws.

REPRODUCTION No prior permission for the reproduction of materials from Action Line is required provided the content is not altered and due credit is given as follows: “Reprinted from Action Line, the Friends of Animals’ magazine, 777 Post Road, Darien, CT 06820.”

Action Line is a quarterly publication. Issue CLXV Spring 2015 ISSN 107 2-2068

OUR TEAM PRESIDENT Priscilla Feral [CT] www.twitter.com/pferal www.twitter.com/primate_refuge feral@friendsofanimals.org VICE PRESIDENT Dianne Forthman [CT] dianne@friendsofanimals.org DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Robert Orabona [CT] admin@friendsofanimals.org DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Dustin Rhodes [NC] dustin@friendsofanimals.org ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT Donna Thigpen [CT] SECRETARY TO THE PRESIDENT Shelly Scott [CT] SPAY/NEUTER PROJECT Paula Santo [CT] DIRECTOR, WILDLIFE LAW PROGRAM Michael Harris [CO] michaelharris@friendsofanimals.org ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY Jenni Barnes [CO] jenniferbarnes@friendsofanimals.org ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Kaylee Dolan wlp-admin@friendsofanimals.org CAMPAIGNS DIRECTOR Edita Birnkrant [NY] www.twitter.com/EditaFoANYC edita@friendsofanimals.org CORRESPONDENT Nicole Rivard [CT] nrivard@friendsofanimals.org SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Meghan McIntire [CT] www.twitter.com/FoAorg mmcintire@friendsofanimals.org EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PRIMARILY PRIMATES Brooke Chavez [TX] brooke@primarilyprimates.org CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jane Seymour [NY] jane@friendsofanimals.org DESIGN MSLK Printed on Recycled Paper

BY PRISCILLA FERAL, PRESIDENT

IN MY VIEW EVEN A LITTLE ACTIVISM CAN DO A LOT A year ago, during a working trip in Senegal, I toured Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary along the Senegal River, one of the most important bird sanctuaries in the world. Djoudj hosts spectacular white pelicans, flamingos and approximately 400 species of migrating birds. Up-close, we saw thousands of birds across almost 40,000 acres.

It struck me how this refuge could thrive in an impoverished West African nation, while in wealthier North America, land use is dominated so much by monied interests. Ironically, in spite of planetary overpopulation—the root of the problem of disappearing habitat for wildlife—and grinding poverty, these breeding, feeding and resting birds were safe from indifference and negligence that too often accompanies human activity.

Early in January 2015, I was walking our dogs a couple of miles around our Connecticut shoreline village, and stopped dead in my tracks, startled by four dead Ring-necked Pheasants strung together and hanging from the porch of a red colonial house—on a street where residents pay high property taxes.

The next day, I sent the hunter-resident a Friends of Animals’ postcard, with an anti-fur photograph and message on one side. On the other side, I wrote that his house was on my daily walking route, (where I frequently enjoy seeing egrets and herons), and that I was disgusted by the sight of four dead pheasants hanging from his porch. I said that he offended the community with such a violent, egotistical spectacle.

I concluded by leaving my name as a resident, and the postcard included FoA’s Darien headquarters’ address and phone number.

Two days later, I received a call from the irate hunter who complained that I had written to him and said that I wasn’t to “harass” him anymore. I told him that I had been walking by the red colonial house for

most of my life—for more than three decades before he owned the property.

I added, “You’re living in the United States of America. I have every right to walk on the road and express my repulsion over the grotesque display of birds, who had been shot to death, hanging from your porch…as though neighbors should applaud you for such offensive bravado. What I’m doing is not harassment.”

The hunter shouted that he had shot the pheasants, and was “curing them”— hanging and aging the birds so that he could eat them.

Likely these pheasants had been sitting ducks in one of the region’s canned pheasant hunting ranches, where bird hunters go for the wild “sport” of gunning down a doomed, grain-fed bird with bright plumage on a fenced estate.

While getting in the last word, and before hanging up, I reminded the hunter he was a disgrace to our community.

After communicating that exchange with FoA’s Development Director Dustin Rhodes, he suggested I share the story with readers as an example of activism—standing up for animals in a simple yet effective way. Dustin said people ask him all the time what they can do in their communities to effect change. He thinks many would have felt upset, but wouldn’t have thought to confront the person’s actions by writing a letter, or picking up the phone.

Almost every day since early January, I’ve continued to walk along the same route past the hunter’s house, and there haven’t been any more dead birds hanging from his porch. We hope you’re stirring pots in your regions, too, confronting ideas, and righting wrongs in a stricken world that needs more kindness to human and non-human animals.

Spring 2015 | 3

VICTORY LAP

NY DIR ECTOR , EDITA LEADS BIRNKR A RALL ANT, Y STEPS YORK’S FROM N CITY HA EW LL.

PPI Earns GFAS Accreditation

By Dustin Rhodes

Our holidays came a little bit early in 2014, when Friends of Animals (FoA) received news in December that Primarily Primates, the sanctuary we manage in San Antonio, Texas, received accreditation by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS). GFAS is “the only globally recognized organization providing standards for identifying legitimate animal sanctuaries.”

We’ve been working with GFAS

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FOA Rallies In Support Of Carriage Horse Ban Bill

By Nicole Rivard

The nose to tailpipe lifestyle suffered by carriage horses in New York City is poised to come to an end thanks to an historic bill—#573— introduced Dec. 8, 2014, by New York City Council members. FoA rallied on the steps of City Hall that morning before the legislation, which ensures the horses will not go to slaughter, was introduced to show support for the City Council members and Mayor Bill DeBlasio, who vowed to abolish the carriage horse industry when he took office.

FoA has identified a sanctuary— the largest farm animal sanctuary in the country—that will take the first 100 horses, and another sanctuary has agreed to take at least 50 horses.

Sanctuary space will be found for all

Management’s (BLM) round-up and permanent removal of 200 wild horses in the Pine Nut Herd Management Area (HMA) of Nevada and the round-up of another 132 wild horses so that an estimated 66 mares can be given the fertility control drug PZP. Hicks said that with the proposed Pine Nut roundup, which was slated to begin Feb. 20, 2015, the BLM had failed to satisfy the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and other federal laws that are applicable. “Accordingly, the court finds that the public interest will be best served by enjoining the BLM’s proposed gather, at least until the court has an opportunity to fully consider the merits of plaintiffs’ claims,” Hicks said.

the freed carriage horses.

In four decades FoA has closely monitored and criticized the carriage horse industry, documenting a pattern of violations of laws by carriage drivers, a lack of endorsement of the weak laws that already exist and an attitude that values profit above the welfare of the horses. “I am thrilled that today we have legislation introduced that will do just that,” said Edita Birnkrant, campaigns director for Friends of Animals. “Right outside our NY office is the location where so many terrifying accidents have occurred…and where horses suffer the daily indignities of being treated like machines, denied what comes naturally to horses—freedom of movement, pasture to graze in and to socialize with other horses and to simply run free.”

“We are delighted that the Court agreed with Friends of Animals and Protect Mustangs that BLM is obligated to fully evaluate under NEPA each and every proposed round-up,” said Michael Harris, director of FoA’s Wildlife Law Program. “In relying upon a stale Environmental Assessment from 2010, BLM has not met its duty to fully inform the public about the impacts associated with its plan to permanently remove more than 200 wild horses from the Pine Nut Range, and to dose dozens of mares with the fertility drug PZP. It is time for BLM to evaluate the harsh reality that PZP has long-term detrimental effects on wild horses.”

“I would say this is a major victory for wild horses and reflects rising concerns about rounding

up and drugging wild horses with PZP,” added Jennifer Barnes, staff attorney with FoA’s Wildlife Law Program.

Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs was adamant that wild horses should never live in zoo-like settings on public land.

“That’s not freedom,” Novak said.

“Wild horses are a native species who contribute to the ecosystem.

They belong here.”

“I’m grateful that the wild herd I’ve been studying for 50 years has received justice in federal court today,” added Craig Downer, director of ecology and conservation at Protect Mustangs. “This is an opportunity to restore the herds.”

Wild horses from the White Mountain Herd in Wyoming.

Judge Rules to Stop the Roundup And Forced Drugging of Beloved Nevada Herd

By Nicole Rivard

Thanks to Friends of Animals and Protect Mustangs, Feb. 11, 2015 marked a milestone for America’s wild horses who have been scapegoated for range damage, rounded up and forcibly drugged with PZP in experiments for decades.

U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks granted FoA and Protect Mustangs’ a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the Bureau of Land

PHOTOS BY NICOLE RIVARD

for a few years now in an effort to achieve this goal, and we’re elated to partner with them. Our executive director, Brooke Chavez, commented: “It’s a wonderful validation of the work we do—to know that we are among the best sanctuaries in the world.”

For the past several years, FoA has put a great emphasis on improving practically everything: from PPI’s habitat design and husbandry standards to the ways it provides veterinary care and the diet fed to animals in PPI’s care.

THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT FOA’S ADVOCACY AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Spring 2015 | 5

BY MEG MCINTIRE

HOW THE 114TH CONGRESS CAN TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT ANIMALS AND THE ENVIRONMENT In the age of 24-hour news cycles, it sometimes feels like political campaigns never end.

With the new 114th Congress finally in place, newscasters and analysts are now focusing on predicting who will finalize their decision to enter the political ring and duke it out for the 2016 presidential election. A new presidential race certainly holds more interest and intrigue for the media than the glacial pace of Congress and the feeling that progress is barely attainable given the gridlock we often find. Despite the lack of speed, however, it’s undeniable that Washington holds sway over the laws that affect not only our daily lives, but the lives of animals and the state of the environment.

That is why we’re taking a look at some of the issues the current Congress finds itself faced with and what we hope they are able to achieve during the coming months.

There were some major setbacks last year, with Congress caving to the trophy hunting, farming and ranching lobbies, and blocking some very common-sense reform bills. And most recently, the omnibus package that was enacted includes some awful provisions that seek to interfere with Endangered Species Act listings, stop regulation of toxic lead content in ammunition and discourage reforms in the agribusiness

6 | Friends of Animals

lobbying sector. The spending bill also blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring the issuance of operating permits for greenhouse gas emissions from animal agricultural sources under the Clean Air Act, giving more leeway to the ranchers who are wiping out our wild horses on public lands for more grazing room for their livestock.

The 113th Congress also closed with quite a few animal-rights issues left unfinished, however, and there is a significant amount of potential progress to be made. Below, we take a look at a few issues left on the table that we hope to see come to a resolution during this Congressional session: We hope to see progress made on the bill introduced by a Californian representative that seeks to “to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to submit to Congress, and make available to the public on the Internet, a report on the animals killed under the Wildlife Services program.”

More steps should also be taken regarding a demand by representatives from California, Oregon and Michigan for an audit of the USDA’s Wildlife Services lethal predator control program, including its use of poisoning and aerial gunning, so that the public

is able to truly measure the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services’s slaughtering of America’s wildlife. Friends of Animals has consistently held government agencies accountable for their reckless and unnecessary killings, including filing a lawsuit over the shootings of thousands of animals at New York airports and fighting to protect mute swans in the state from an outrageous killing plan devised by the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Congress should continue to take action to prevent the removal of the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List in 48 states. Many representatives spoke out against this potentially disastrous decision and urged the Department of the Interior to cancel the scientifically flawed delisting proposal.

We hope to continue to see support from Congress on calling for the African lion to be listed as an endangered subspecies, as well as manatees and certain shark species that are threatened due to the shark-finning industry.

ivory and we hope to see similar legislation enacted during the coming months.

Recently, Friends of Animals and the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force filed a motion to intervene in the Safari Club International’s and National Rifle Association’s court case challenging the Zimbabwe African elephant importation ban issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Hopefully, there are some pieces of proposed legislation that stay in the past, however, like the HSUS-backed “Captive Primate Safety Act,” which does not fully represent the best interests of primates and would legitimize the Boston-based, financially struggling organization, Helping Hands Monkey Helpers, which breeds captive capuchin monkeys and employs barbaric training practices.

Despite setbacks and partisan gridlock, there are still areas where progress can be achieved. Together, we can keep the important issues facing animals at the frontlines of Congress by making our voices heard and demanding change so that animals everywhere can be freed from cruelty and exploitation.

It is vital that progress be made on stopping the illegal ivory trade. A bill was introduced to provide for trade sanctions against countries involved in illegal

Spring 2015 | 7

STORY BY NICOLE RIVARD • ILLUSTRATION BY MARCUS PIERNO

IS YOUR PERFECT GARDEN WORTH THE LIVES OF POLLINATORS?

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Spring 2015 | 9

NEONICS STAY IN THE SOIL Neonicotinoids, or “neonics,” are pesticides approved by the EPA on more than 120 crops—fruits, vegetables, corn, soy, canola, grains—to kill a variety of crop-ravaging insects. Neonics stay in the plant throughout its entire life. Because neonics are used as a soil treatment, they can remain in the soil for years, and new plantings of crops will soak them up. This is damaging to the bee population.

THE NUMBER OF BEES THAT DIED IN THE LARGEST MASS BUMBLE BEE DEATH ON RECORD IN 2013 REPRESENTING MORE THAN 300 COLONIES

When a honeybee arrives at a blossom to collect pollen, contact with the flower exposes much of the bee’s body to neonics.

Neonics are watersoluble and applied directly to the soil or sprayed directly on seeds and plants.

HIVES LOST BY COMMERCIAL BEEKEEPERS IN 2011

RECENT ANNUAL BEE-LOSS REPORTED

BY COMMERCIAL BEEKEEPERS

In 2013, the start of National Pollinator Week—a symbolic annual event intended to raise public awareness about the plight of bees—was an ironic one. It kicked off with the largest mass bumble bee death on record—on June 17, tens of thousands of bumble bees and other pollinators were found dead under European Linden trees at a Target store in Wilsonville, Ore. The Oregon Department of Agriculture confirmed that the deaths of more than 50,000 bumble bees, likely representing more than 300 wild colonies, were directly related to a pesticide application on the trees to control aphids, which secrete a sticky residue while feeding and can be a nuisance to parked cars. The pesticide product used was Safari, with the active ingredient dinotefuran, part of a group of insecticides known as neonicotinoids, which are particularly harmful because they are systemic—absorbed and then spread throughout an entire plant. Bumble bees, honey bees and other pollina-

tors are exposed to these insecticides through pollen and nectar when visiting plants.

The tragedy, though, did more than just raise awareness; it became a catalyst for new precedents for protecting bees at the federal level. Better yet, communities and individuals have begun taking matters into their own hands to ensure the health of pollinators.

A year after the incident, in June of 2014, the White House ordered the creation of a Pollinator Health Task Force to study ways of preserving bee populations and other pollinators amid mounting concerns over the insect’s decline. According to the nonprofit advocacy group Center for Food Safety (CFS), one out of every three bites of food we eat is from a crop pollinated by honey bees, yet over the past decade, there has been an alarming decline in honey bee populations around the world. Commercial beekeepers lost an average of 36 percent of their hives in 2011, according to the U.S.

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A plant soaks up neonics from the soil, and as the plant matures the neonic is present through all of its parts.

Department of Agriculture. More recently, beekeepers have reported average annual losses of 40 to 50 percent, with some as high as 100 percent.

Larissa Walker, who heads the CFS’ pollinator campaign BEE Protective, a joint effort with Beyond Pesticides, explains that in addition to being used ornamentally by homeowners, nurseries and landscapers in products like 12-Month Tree and Shrub Insect Control, All-in-One Rose & Flower Care, Ortho Bug B Gone and Ortho Rose & Flower Insect Killer, neonics are used in a way that insecticides were never used before, as seed coating to reduce farmers’ exposure to pesticide sprays.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, neonicotinoid seed coatings are used on more than 23 million acres of soybeans in the United States, and more than 1 million pounds of the insecticides were applied to soybean seeds from 2008 to 2012.

“What was not thought through by our regulatory

process when we were approving all of these chemicals was the cumulative persistent aspect and wider contamination threats these chemicals pose,” Walker said. “They stick around in soil; they are being picked up by other plants whose roots are grabbing the chemicals. They are water soluble so they are running off into rivers and streams contaminating groundwater. They are wiping out all the aquatic invertebrates and starving bird populations. They are wiping out the beneficial insects that would normally be predatory species for pests that harm crops like slugs, so now we are seeing slug damage escalate in areas where neonics are used heavily as a seed coating.”

Adding to Walker’s frustration is that studies are showing that neonic seed treatments do not provide significant yield benefits. “There is a reason that scientists are calling neonics the second ‘Silent Spring,’ it’s because it’s following along the same lines of the issues

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10

FOODS WE’LL MISS WITHOUT POLLINATORS

with DDT,” Walker said, referring to Rachel Carlson’s book that led to the banning of DDT. She says the Obama administration’s task force is a step in the right direction, but is adamant that assessment and habitat building won’t save pollinators. Decisive action on neonics will, Walker says.

“We have been trying to put pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency and USDA who are leading that task force to make sure that whatever they are recommending to the White House actually involves action on reducing, restricting or suspending use of neonics,” Walker said. “We don’t want the task force to recommend another report, or more habitat planted.

That won’t address the problem of bee kills associated with pesticide use.”

Walker said the EPA keeps rubberstamping neonics despite not having the safety data it should. EPA granted conditional registration to the neonic clothianidin in 2003, without a required field study for honey bees. EPA continues to allow its use, while trying to mitigate hazards with product label amendments. A regulatory review of neonics is slated to conclude by 2018, but Walker insists this timeframe is completely unacceptable given the severity of the current situation.

That’s why in March 2013, CFS and other groups filed a lawsuit against the EPA for its failure to protect pollinators from clothianidin and thiamethoxam, shown to be highly toxic to bees, citing regulatory failures and label deficiencies.

“EPA’s fundamental purpose is to protect the environment and so far they’ve been protecting the bottom line of chemical companies who have sold farmers a bill of goods,” Walker said. “Our regulators are arguing that there isn’t enough science, when there are many other countries who feel the science is strong enough to take action. How come the European Union has enacted a two-year moratorium on three of the worst neonics to protect pollinators?”

The good news, says Walker, is an important piece of legislation was introduced in the House in July of 2013 after the massive bumblebee kill. The Saving

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Cherries

Grapes

Cucumbers

America’s Pollinators Act, which needs to be reintroduced in the House in 2015 and introduced in the Senate, addresses the decline of honey bee populations by directing EPA to suspend the registration of certain neonicotinoids until it determines such insecticides will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators based on an evaluation of peer-review scientific evidence and a completed field study.

While frustrated by lack of progress at the federal level, Walker is moved by individuals and communities who are taking action.

“People don’t want to wait for the federal government, and I think that is where we’ve seen local action be so inspiring,” she said.

For instance, Eugene, Ore., became the first city in the nation to ban neonics on city property at the request of and with the help of Beyond Toxics, an Oregon-based group. Eugene’s City Council unanimously passed the resolution.

“Educating the public about the harm of those pesticides, not just to bees but to people, and making the case that there are organic alternatives to those so you are not condemning the community to being invaded by pests they can’t deal with, was really important,” said Eugene City Council Member Claire Syrett.

“And having an organization like Beyond Toxics, that could give a voice to those health concerns, was important to the political leadership so they could be able to say, ‘We see this neonic ban as a value and we can support it because it’s going to protect public health.”

CFS and Beyond Pesticides’ Bee Protective Campaign offers a model resolution that people could use in their own communities, or in the case of Vermont Law School, on campus Vermont Law School partnered with the BEE Protective Campaign, making it the first higher-education campus to sign a resolution to ban neonics. CFS and Beyond Pesticides worked with grounds crew to identify which products they were using contained neonics and suggested alternatives. The campus also encouraged to plant pollinator friendly habitat.

Plums

Tangerines

Broccoli

Carrots

“Cutting out neonics is an excellent step but then you want to make sure pollinators have the habitat they need to start to thrive in your area,” said Rebecca Valentine, program officer, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law School.

Valentine is thrilled to see the banning of neonics gaining so much momentum. “Especially at the home care level. People feel this is something they can do themselves that will actually have an impact and I think that is really exciting for people. It’s a way for them to take control of their environment and that’s really powerful,” Valentine said.

The best example of that, according to Walker, is the Melody-Catalpa neighborhood of Boulder, Colo. At least 200 households there signed a pledge not to use neonics because they wanted to take action immediately. Organizers also created www.beesafeboulder.com to inspire all of Boulder to become Bee-safe.

“They created this whole pocket of safe land and water and soil not being contaminated with neonics,” Walker said. “And they did that with their own powers as homeowners and individuals. And I think that is pretty great.”

She said people are surprised that when they stop using neonics their flowers look the same as they did before they started using it.

“People just think, why not buy Bayer 2 and 1 Rose and Flower Care? They think it might make their roses prettier,” Walker said. “But they might not even have an aphid problem to begin with. It’s marketing—you are sold this product thinking it’s going to do so some good so why not use it. People don’t know what they are using. They don’t know all the problems associated with this.”

Our plant-based dinner plates wouldn’t look the same without pollinators. See above for the top ten foods that we’ll miss.

Celery

Lemons

Peanuts

TAKE ACTION • Use these resources to create a neonic ban in your community. Center for Food Safety www.centerforfoodsafety.org; Beyond Pesticides www.beyondpesticides.org; Beyond Toxics www.beyondtoxics.org • Stop using these popular products that contain neonics.

Any of the Bayer 2-in-1, 3-in-1, or All-in-One garden insecticides; Green Light Tree and Shrub Insect Control; Complete Brand Insect Killer; and Ortho Rose and Flower Insect Killer.

A complete list of products to avoid can be found at http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/304/pollinators-and-pesticides/join-the-bee-protective-campaign • Create a pollinator-friendly habitat. Upload the Bee Protective Habitat Guide, which provides tips on what to plant based on where you live in the United States. http://www. beyondpesticides.org/pollinators/documents/BEEProtectiveHabitatGuide.pdf • Learn more about alternative options to pesticides http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pollinators/LandscapesforPollinators.php#Garden • Support the Safe Pollinator Act. Write to or call your U.S. Representatives and tell them you will support the Safe Pollinator Act when it’s reintroduced in the 114th Congress.

Write or call your U.S. Senators and tell them to introduce companion legislation that addresses the issue of neonics.

• Educate yourself about the impacts of chemical use on the food you eat. http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pollinators/ LandscapesforPollinators.php#Garden

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CAUGHT

IN THE

WEB

BY MEG MCINTIRE

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WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING FLOURISHES ON THE INTERNET, BUT NOW CRIMINALS ARE BEING BROUGHT DOWN BY THE SAME TECHNOLOGY THAT HELPED THEM GAIN A FOOTHOLD. In April of 2012, a government organization in China announced they had success with an undercover operation that resulted in 1,031 people prosecuted, 13 gangs infiltrated and 628 websites shut down.

The crime? Your first guess might be drugs or perhaps guns.

But the victorious agents were actually part of China’s State Forestry Administration, which successfully brought down an illegal wildlife trafficking circle that resulted in more than 150,000 animals and animal products seized.

Wildlife trafficking is the fourth From feeding the demand for largest contraband trade in the “specialty” pets to connecting buyers world, taking in an astounding $15 to rhino-horn tonic sellers, the Web billion each year, and the toll this has allowed wildlife trafficking illegal trade is having on animals is to spike dramatically in the last even more staggering. According to decade. The Web is a double-edged a recent study, more than sword, though, and the good news 50 percent of the world’s wildlife is it can also be a tool to help catch has disappeared since 1970 and criminals and stop illegal trafficking the biggest threat faced by many in its tracks. species still alive today is the illegal Time is running out for the wildlife trade. world’s wildlife, however, and it is Rhinos and tigers are two ultimately a race against the clock to prime examples of this tragic truth. see if we will be able to combat wildAccording to statistics by the wildlife life trafficking online at the same trade tracking nonprofit, TRAFFIC, rate it is expanding. there are only an estimated 3,200 So what needs to be done? tigers left in the wild, a population Ideally, governments need to decline of almost 97 percent since ensure they have hard-hitting laws the 1900s. Illegal rhino horn trade in place to specifically target wildhas also now reached the highest life cybercrimes and that they have levels in 20 years, with more than enough manpower to successfully 1,000 rhinos killed in South Africa enforce the laws online. in 2013.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many What is most blamed for the governmental agencies in the world cause of this uptick in wildlife that are fully dedicated to wildlife slaughter? The Internet. trafficking, so the responsibility in

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many cases falls to online businesses and website-users to catch wildlife traffickers red-handed. And quite a few online marketplaces have stepped up to the plate.

One example is Alibaba.com, Asia’s largest e-commerce site, which has taken the lead in combating the illegal wildlife trade online.

After learning that the site was being used by sellers to market ivory, animal skins and other products derived from endangered species, Alibaba.com signed a declaration stating it has a zero-tolerance policy for its services being used to aid the illegal wildlife trade.

The company then put into place an effective screening method where items sold were checked against protected species listed in the Wild Animal Protection Law and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. So illegal items are identified, removed and the seller prosecuted. Similar declarations and screening methods

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have been implemented by sites like Etsy, eBay and Google Shopping once they realized their marketplaces were being used to aid the illegal wildlife trade.

When websites fall short in monitoring their own stock for wildlife contraband, conscientious Web users can also play a role in fighting wildlife crime. Many social media sites, like Facebook and Instagram, allow users to report any ads or posts that look suspicious or are blatantly promoting criminal activity, like wildlife trafficking.

There is also another option for those looking to take action or speak out against the illegal wildlife trade.

WildLeaks.org, similar to WikiLeaks, is the first online whistleblower platform dedicated to wildlife and forest crime. Given that wildlife trafficking is a lucrative and dangerous business, funding some of the world’s most insidious terrorist groups, WildLeaks creators correctly assumed the cover of anonymity

might increase the chances of crimes being reported.

Since the project started last year, it has received hundreds of tips and leaks involving a range of topics from around the world including tiger poaching in Sumatra, illegal logging in eastern Russia and Mexico, and the smuggling of wildlife products into the United States.

The WildLeaks team evaluates all of the tips and turns them into actionable items that are then turned over to the proper authorities or media outlets so that a trafficking crime is exposed and ended.

It’s obvious that wildlife trafficking criminals have found ways to utilize the Internet to their great advantage, reaching buyers around the world and increasing the scope and profits of their operation. It’s imperative for us to do the same and combat their efforts on every front available, from the plains of South Africa to the darkest corners of the Web.

Beemer, a young goat rescued from slaughter

by Animal Control and raised at Second Chance Farm, catches some rays.

STORY BY NICOLE RIVARD • PHOTOS BY STEVEN JENSEN

SECOND CHANCE FARM PROVIDES MANY HAPPY ENDINGS Spring 2015 | 17

Cheyenne, a mustang seized in a neglect case in July of 2014, has gotten back to a healthier weight thanks to the care she has received at Second Chance Farm.

W

hen animal control officers seize horses from owners facing animal cruelty charges, they have to proceed with caution.

Sometimes the abused animals may strike out or be defensive because of what they’ve experienced.

However, last July, when state animal control Officer Nancy Jarvis seized two wild mustangs, Chinook and Cheyenne, from a home in Redding, Conn., the horses willingly loaded on to the unfamiliar trailer headed for Second Chance Farm—a large animal rehabilitation facility located at the York Correctional Facility in Niantic, Conn.

“For horses who never had halters on them, they wanted out,” said Ray Connors, supervisor for the Animal Control Division of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. “I truly feel animals know that you have reached out to help. There is a special bond when you help an animal. The mus-

tangs are especially kind toward Nancy Jarvis.”

“When I deal with these cases, I put my heart and soul in them…so you do form a bond,” Jarvis said, adding that she always brings Chinook and Cheyenne treats when it’s her turn to work at the farm, and she participates in their hands-on care. “I think they understand we are trying to help them.”

Jarvis found the mares— who were so badly emaciated that their ribs were showing under their fly-bitten skin—in stalls with manure eight inches deep and with water troughs filled with algae.

While at Second Chance, Chinook and Cheyenne have cooperated while being groomed and receiving medical care, including farrier work to improve their feet and dental work to fix their teeth. Chinook also had to undergo intravenous therapy for Lyme disease.

By late fall, both mares had gotten back to the weight

they should be. Friends of Animals is working with Second Chance to find a sanctuary that will enable the mares to live together.

“To watch the mustangs go from being that emaciated to seeing them doing well again is what gets you through this job,” said Jarvis. “I couldn’t do this job if I didn’t have the positive results on the other end.

Sometimes it’s very hard… because you are dealing with really sick animals. If you have to euthanize it’s very hard, but sometimes it has to be done. Sometimes there is no bringing them back.”

Fortunately, there have been a lot of happy endings—like Chinook’s and Cheyenne’s—thanks to Second Chance Farm, which opened in 2003 and is a collaboration of the departments of agriculture and corrections. While some animals eventually get well enough to be placed in loving homes, some remain at Second Chance, like

horses who have permanent lameness from untreated abscesses in their feet.

Connors fondly refers to them as “lifers.”

“We put corrective shoes on them to try and compensate and to make it easier for them to get around. As long as their quality of life remains good they stay with us,” Connors said.

Inmates from York Correctional can volunteer to receive minimal pay and work in partnership with agency personnel at Second Chance. The program is therapeutic for the animals and inmates, as they all work towards individual rehabilitation.

“You see the inmates get attached too,” Jarvis said, explaining that there is nothing like witnessing animals, at first very fearful of people, start to trust and then be handled.

More than 200 horses have been through Second Chance Farm, as well as other animals, like donkeys, turkeys, geese, guinea fowl and goats.

Connors felt a connection with one goat in particular, who he named Beemer.

Someone had witnessed the goat being thrown in the trunk of a BMW at an auction. The person took the license plate number down and called state police, who then notified Connors. He got out of his sick bed on a rainy October night and went to East Hartford, Conn., to pick up the goat.

“It was this little baby goat, and a guy had him in the trunk of his car,” recalled Connors. “He was going to slaughter him in his garage.”

The man got charged with

animal cruelty and Beemer was raised at Second Chance Farm. Beemer is now at the Last Post Animal sanctuary, where he has five acres to run around on and have a good time.

Prior to the establishment of Second Chance Farm, the Animal Control Division would rely on volunteers with barns to house animals, but when they had to seize a large number of animals, it became overwhelming.

Second Chance was the

Connors said the old barn will be used for quarantining animals who come in and have an infectious disease as well as storage of equipment.

Donations to offset the cost of caring for neglected animals are crucial to the ongoing success of Second Chance. A few years ago, the facility was in jeopardy because of budget cuts.

Chinook and Cheyenne’s story have helped put Second Chance back in the spotlight. Connors is grate-

ful for donations that came in for them, since their vet bills had exceeded $10,000 back in December.

As annual vet bills typically exceed $100,000 a year for all the animals, every penny counts, says Connors…so every animal can have a second chance.

To make a donation, send a check to Animal Abuse Cost Recovery Account, c/o Connecticut Department of Agriculture. 165 Capitol Ave., Room G-A, Hartford, CT 06106.

IN MEMORIAM

Friends of Animals has received kind donations in memory of the following individuals:

SANDY CAPPARELL

ALICE W. CORKREY

TAFFY & KINNEY

GARFIELD PAYANT

CAROLYN & LEE TIENTER

TINY FOSTER

ALBERT FEVERSTEIN

DENNIS PATRICK DALEY

COTTON, MOUSE & BOO

GAZELLE BARFIELD

ELTON WAYNE CHANEY

MILTON, BAILEY & MADDIE

OSCAR T. WILSON

IRENE CICONE

KRICKET

THEODORE BYE

TEDDY SMITH

DORA MORA

ETHEL WEGODSKY

GANSETT & MULLIGAN NOWYGROD

CHLOE

GERALD SWINDOLL RICHARD CHANG DANIEL CATALFAMO WILLIAM WELK SHARYN L. EZZO LINDA SAUL

THEODORE KERN JAMES E. STUDDER (?)

WILLIAM ANGELICA’S FRIEND LEONARDO TIKO

ELEANOR LOUISE (DOSSETT) NORTHCUTT

BIG BOY, (AKA SEXY REXY)

MARJORIE HOPE SAMS

KASHEE, SCHAUMEE, ASTAN & TAZMAN

JIM RYAN BELLE EMHOFF

18 | Friends of Animals

brainchild of former State Commissioner of Agriculture Bruce Gresczyk, who reached out to the Department of Corrections knowing it had an abundance of land at its facilities. The facility will mark a milestone this spring with its first expansion thanks to a $51,600 grant from the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation through The Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut. A new barn will be unveiled, complete with 23 pine-wood stalls.

PATRICIA & RICHARD

SPARKLE & TROUBLE LEXIS JEAN CLAUDE BUFFY CAPTAIN SHERRELL ROSE ROCKY ANNIE CIRRUS

Below Brave Gentleman’s visionary boot made from fine Italian microfiber

A Friend of Animals...

With Style Joshua Katcher blends vegan values with fashion, creating the look of the future.

He is, in no particular order, a sculptor, blogger, fashion designer, vegan, animal and human-rights activist and part-time professor at Parsons The New School of Design. Katcher is currently teaching two classes—Fashion and Culture and Fashion and the Narrative—that blend his diverse interests in social justice for human and non-human animals.

BY DUSTIN GARRETT RHODES • PHOTO BY JP BEVINS

20 | Friends of Animals

How did you become interested in animals and animal rights, and when did you become vegan?

I was always interested in animals. I think most human beings have always shared an inherent fascination with animals. After all, we evolved for millions of years of, with and surrounded by other Earthlings. When I first realized I had the choice to avoid intentionally supporting the confinement, torture and killing of other animals, it simply made sense to me. In high school in the 1990s, when we learned that the rainforests were being cleared to raise cattle and feed for cattle at an alarming rate, it was the first time I truly felt like the grown-ups who were running the world were making terrible decisions that needed to be challenged and stopped. I’ve been an ethical vegan for about 16 years.

You founded The Discerning Brute, a lifestyle blog aimed at men concerned about animals and the environment—and it’s still going strong. What gave you the (brilliant) idea; who’s your audience?

When I started the website in 2008, TheDiscerningBrute.com was filling a void that I perceived as problematic. No one was really addressing men, especially mainstream men, concerning aspiration around a lifestyle that I spun as heroic towards animals and the environment. My target audience is men who might read GQ, guys who are influencers, taste-makers and have an aspirational outlook on life. My actual readership is very diverse.

We still live in a patriarchal culture where masculinity is very much defined by overcoming that which is perceived as feminine: nurturement, empathy, compassion. So in this sense, simply providing documentation of cruelty might backfire for mainstream men. It is also no surprise then that the vegan lifestyle is overwhelmingly perceived in America as a women’s lifestyle consisting of the crazy-cat-lady archetype, new-age spirituality, brown rice and salad. Again, even since 2008 things have changed drastically regarding the perception of veganism for men, but there are myths that transcend truth, and we have to understand why these myths are

necessary to maintain a very entrenched and rewarded male identity.

Now TheDiscerningBrute.com features athletes, chefs, personalities and tips on clothing and grooming, highlighting superior products, materials and creative approaches that both appeal to and redefine masculinity while avoiding falling into the oppositional male-female binary trap.

What ignited your interest in fashion?

For the majority of my life, fashion did not seem to be something worth considering beyond fun and frivolity.

It wasn’t until I started writing TheDiscerningBrute. com that I realized how stealthily powerful fashion is.

Fashion is brushed off by most people as something that is simply about personal decoration. For a long time it was not taken seriously in academia or the world of activism. Many people do not even see themselves as participating in fashion discourse or the fashion system, yet at the same time fashion is the premiere way we construct our identities, define class status, wealth, power and sexuality. It is how we define who we are and how we want to be perceived and what culture or subculture we belong to. It is a global industrial complex that affects billions of animals, billions of people and ecosystems everywhere. Aspects of the fashion industry are some of the top causes of the worst global environmental and ethical problems from sheep livestock to leather tanneries to sweatshops.

Spring 2015 | 21

Brave Gentleman’s black twill suit jacket made from organic cotton/recycled poly blend, with matching suit pants

“My materials are superior to animal-derived materials and my designs appeal to many men regardless of their values or principles.”

I became fascinated with the psychology, history and sociology of fashion, and began specifically researching the ways in which animals are used and represented in fashion production and fashion culture.

Ultimately I launched my menswear line to work with cutting-edge sustainable and vegan materials and begin to develop an aspirational dialect around them.

You now design vegan, eco-conscious clothing for men under the Brave Gentleman label. Are your customers vegan? People concerned with our planet? Neither/both?

I have customers who simply like good design and I have customers who seek BGM out because it’s vegan.

The goal for me is to first and foremost create good design that anyone who likes menswear will enjoy.

My materials are superior to animal-derived materials and my designs appeal to many men regardless of their values or principles. I believe this elevates the perception of veganism among non-vegans, which is very important.

You’re also an adjunct faculty member at Parsons.

What’s it like teaching fashion as a vegan person concerned with animal rights and consumer culture?

On the surface, it seems like what you teach is at odds with the interests of fashion students?

I’ve been not only able to, but encouraged by the administration at Parsons, to incorporate my research and expertise in the fields of sustainability and ethics as they

22 | Friends of Animals

apply to fashion. It’s true that some of what I have to say disrupts the trajectories of many students (I get to tell them about the hidden narratives of fur farms and sweatshops and tanneries and wool-shearing operations and present-day slave labor in cotton fields). Believe it or not, these are things that many students are deeply concerned with, but feel completely unable to change. Many professionals fail to present compelling research or information to help students and young professionals navigate these paradoxes. What I do know is that the only viable future for the fashion industry is a slowed-down, sustainable and ethical model that draws on the most exciting innovations from synthetic biology, nanotechnology, organic plant-based materials, recycled hi-performance synthetics and bio-based hi-tech synthetics. In this sense, I am providing students with the biggest opportunity of all in the fashion world – to be truly visionary and innovative in more than just aesthetics.

What’s been the most gratifying experience of teaching?

I love seeing how young people tackle global problems.

They approach the issues with such fresh perspectives. I think that knowing these creative innovators are going to tackle some of these problems is very gratifying.

You were, to my knowledge, one of the first on the scene in terms of melding vegan values with an interest in fashion. What’s changed since you began?

What hurdles continue to stand in the way?

Thank you! Regarding specifically menswear and mens’ lifestyle, you’re right. I don’t think anyone else was specifically tackling this. My friend Chloe Jo Davis (GirlieGirlArmy.com) has a long-standing and celebrated website that has dealt with vegan fashion for a long time, and she is one of the main reasons I was able to launch TheDiscerningBrute.com. Since 2008 a lot has changed and I hope I’ve been part of creating that change. However, the fashion system is very well-funded and we’ve got a long way to go in challenging, holding accountable the wool, leather and fur industries. But innovation is on the rise and I am very optimistic.

Your Web presence and subsequent fashion line, in my opinion, has helped change the image of the vegan animal rights activist. Many think we are deprived of delicious food and fabulous shoes. Was that your intention?

Absolutely. We must always create desire and aspiration.

We fool ourselves into thinking that honesty, earnestness and transparency will somehow overcome the grace and simplicity of coveted aesthetic qualities. Being morally correct rarely overcomes the perceived correctness of beauty. And there’s a lot at stake when everything labeled as “vegan” is held accountable to representing an entire cultural movement, so we ought to be both daring and indulgent in curating how veganism is perceived.

What are some of the environmental and/or animal issues you feel most passionate about?

I am very passionate about the wool issue because it’s so often overlooked. So many sustainable and ethical designers use it thinking it is good for the environment, and this is such a huge disconnect. Not only is the wool industry exceptionally cruel, as shown in both undercover investigations and industry reports on shearing and live-export operations, in the largest wool-producing countries like Australia and New Zealand, the ecological impacts of sheep are staggering resulting in the regions top GHG emitter, top source of erosion and desertification. Wool in no way is sustainable at scale.

What’s next for you? Do you have any secret projects in the works? Seems like politics would be the logical next step (wink, wink)?

I am working on my book, Fashion & Animals. Ha! I have far too many tattoos to be a politician in this conservative country!

Spring 2015 | 23

Left Two wild horses enjoy their freedom in the northern part of the Pine Nut Herd Management Area back in June 2014.

WHAT PZP PUSHERS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW THE DEBATE OVER WHETHER OR NOT CONTROLLING WILD HORSES’ REPRODUCTIVE LIVES IS ACCEPTABLE HAS BECOME SO HEATED THAT IT HAS CAUSED A SIGNIFICANT BREAK AMONG WILD HORSE ADVOCATES.

24 | Friends of Animals

It’s early January, and wildlife ecologist Craig Downer is filled with melancholy as he looks out the window of his Minden, Nevada, home at the majestic pine nut mountain range. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has decided to remove 200 wild horses from the Pine Nut Herd Management Area and roundup at least 132 more, before it then releases them back onto the range after 66 mares receive the 22-month Porcine Zone Pellucida (PZP) immunocontraceptive vaccine—a contraceptive that will keep the mares from foaling for two or more years. (The roundup was stopped thanks to Friends of Animals’ efforts. See story on page 4) “It’s pretty heartbreaking to see that happening, because I grew up

here,” said Downer, author of The Wild Horse Conspiracy and director of conservation and ecology for Protect Mustangs, during a phone interview. “It’s a tremendous range, very large. But they just want to restrict the wild horses there just to the northern part. That is the first group of wild horses I really got to know as a teenager.”

Downer’s frustration with the cattle culture of the BLM, which caters to ranchers, is shared

by Friends of Animals, Protect Mustangs and the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs, who remain steadfast that PZP is an unnecessary evil— just like roundups—because wild horse populations are too small already to ensure survival for future generations.

ABOVE PHOTO BY CRAIG DOWNER. RIGHT PHOTO BY JANE SEYMOUR

BY NICOLE RIVARD

Below During a tour of the Pine Nut Herd Management Area, FOA came across a band of 12 wild horses, including this beautiful chestnut with a striking white blaze.

harmonious components of the The Equid Specialist Group public land ecosystem who are not of the International Union for overly tampered with,” Downer said.

Conservation of Nature’s Species “This is a very invasive thing they are Survival Commission recommends doing to these animals. minimum populations of 2,500 “Wild horses are just trying to fill individuals for the conservation their niche. But the BLM is telling of genetic diversity. Currently, no them their niche isn’t what it should single herd management area on be because they have to give 90 public lands has a minimal viable percent of the forage to the ranchpopulation for the long term. ers, even though the law says in the The debate over whether controlling wild horses’ reproductive horses’ legal areas the land will ‘be principally devoted to wild horse lives is acceptable has become so and burros welfare and benefit.’ The heated that it has caused a BLM ignores that and continues significant break among wild business as usual.” horse advocates.

It didn’t surprise Friends of “It’s time to hold everyone Animals that a lot of the research accountable who is pushing risky touting the advantages of PZP has PZP drugs—made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries,” said Anne Novak, been conducted by those with a president of Protect Mustangs. “PZP vested interest in it— the Humane is a ‘restricted-use pesticide’ that has labeled wild horses as ‘pests’ thanks to the Humane Society of the United States, the registrant of the drug. Why did horse advocates join up with BLM? The public will hold all these PZP pushers responsible for the destruction of America’s wild horses on public land.”

Part of the problem is that BLM tries to paint this rosy picture and portray themselves as saviors to the public rather than the backyard breeders with a wild horse extinction plan.

“The widespread use of PZP is really very contrary to the true core intent of the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971, which was to restore wild horses as naturally, integrated,

Society of the United States, which has to approve the use of PZP on wild horse herds—and Jay Kirkpatrick, HSUS consultant for contraception and director of the Science and Conservation Center in Billings, Montana, which produces the active ingredient in PZP. In a recent issue of All Animals, HSUS prides itself on helping to implement a humane alternative to roundups with PZP. It describes how it is using a $1.7 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation to try out the longer lasting PZP-22 at Cedar Mountains and Sand Wash Basin. The trials have been underway since 2008 and results are expected this year.

Downer said PZP pushers are counting on intellectual laziness,

Spring 2015 | 25

Craig Downer leads FOA staff on a tour of the Pine Nut Herd Management Area Feb. 27, 2015. Downer is depicted here with a band of horses from the Virginia Range Herd.

hoping that the public will just go along and not inquire. Not if Friends of Animals and its supporters have anything to say about it.

FoA will continue uncovering research that reveals adverse effects of PZP— that it sterilizes wild horses after multiple uses and results in risky foal birth out of season and significant behavioral changes that can affect the overall health of the herd.

For instance, a 2009 Princeton University study of the horses on Shackleford Banks in North Carolina, who started receiving PZP in 2000, showed that prolonged infertility has significant consequences on social behavior.

“We found that females who were receiving contraception were much more likely to change groups,” said Cassandra Nunez, one of the researchers. “The way PZP works is mares are still cycling and trying to mate with the male. They don’t know they are contracepted and so

they think there is something wrong with the male and say, ‘I am going to see what the neighbor can do for me.’”

Normally bands are really very stable, says Nunez, and mares will stay with males much if not all of their lives. That stability is really important for the health of the group members. Foal mortality increases when there are a bunch of different changes, and parasite load of animals in the group can go up because they are getting more stressed.

The National Park Service (NPS) and the Foundation for Shackleford Horses reached out to Nunez in 2005 after they had received anecdotal reports that the mares seemed “unsettled.”

In a later study in 2010, Nunez found that recipients of PZP also extend the receptive breeding period into what is normally the non-breeding season, resulting in foal birth out of season.

26 | Friends of Animals

PHOTO BY JANE SEYMOUR

PZP STERILIZES WILD HORSES AFTER MULTIPLE USES AND RESULTS IN RISKY FOAL BIRTH OUT OF SEASON AND SIGNIFICANT BEHAVIORAL CHANGES THAT CAN AFFECT THE OVERALL HEALTH OF THE HERD.

“If mares get pregnant in the winter time, they are going to give birth in the winter time and that’s not a good time because your resources are really low,” Nunez said. “Normally the winter is spent eating as much as they can, and everyone is more relaxed. Males tend to let females roam farther, which is good because food is patchier. So all of this is changing because of extended cycling.”

Some foals born late had to be removed from Shackleford Banks because they weren’t doing well, said Nunez, adding that in 2009, in response to some of her data, NPS decided to stop its contraception program. “I think they realized that it was leading down a path they didn’t want to go,” she said, adding that reproductive rates are still quite low at Shackleford Banks.

“It’s taking a while for the contracepted mares to respond physiologically,” Nunez said. “We showed NPS that even when you stop treating a mare, she doesn’t give birth right away. Years later she is still not producing. So that flexibility that you think you have with PZP…it’s not really that flexible.”

Karen Sussman learned a similar lesson and now speaks out against PZP. As head of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, she has adopted four herds threatened with extermination by the BLM. She oversees approximately 500 horses on an 800-acre ranch inside the Cheyenne

River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota and has logged 15 years of studying herd behaviors.

When the Catnip Mountain herd came to the ranch, it experienced a 31 percent population growth the first year followed by 36 percent the second year, which Sussman says is a result of dysfunctional behaviors caused by years of BLM roundups.

Her other herds, untouched by the BLM for 50 years, have much lower population growth.

“Sometimes younger stallions end up in charge after a roundup, and they breed anything, one-, two- and three year-old fillies, which doesn’t happen in a healthy herd,” Sussman said. “Even the National Academy of Science says population increase is a natural response to being threatened and endangered.”

Sussman used PZP in 2007 because the ranch did not have the

room to sustain the growth rate of the Catnip Herd, but stopped when she realized that PZP causes infertility after five years.

“We stopped PZP in 2012 because we are a conservation program protecting rare and endangered herds. If they can’t breed, then they are not in conservation. None of the mares that had five years of PZP has had a foal yet.”

She wants the public to know PZP will never replace roundups because in most cases the BLM will have to gather more than 90 percent of a herd to contracept mares, destroying the harem structure in the same way a regular roundup would.

Knowing what they know, it’s maddening to anti-PZP wild horse advocates that the BLM is investing $2.8 million into researching contraception methods, money

Downer says would be better spent on implementing reserve design, a holistic way to manage wild horses.

Reserve design would let wild horses reoccupy their full legal herd areas as outlined in the WHBA, which were stolen from them by ranchers, and involves utilizing natural and/ or artificial barriers, natural predators, as well as community-involving buffer zones. Once available habitat is filled, the horse/burro, as a climax species, limit their own population as density-dependent controls are triggered.

“We just have to persist in this even though there are no guarantees,” Downer said. “It’s like the war between good and evil. We are not defeated as long as we still know right from wrong and still have the will to fight what’s wrong.”

Spring 2015 | 27

Left The Stanford Inn by the Sea in Mendocino, Calif.

BY MEG MCINTIRE AND NICOLE RIVARD

BON VOYAGE VEGANS

Right Deer Run Bed and Breakfast

Harry and Jen Appel are committed to living as compassionate a lifestyle as possible—Jen decided to go vegan more than 15 years ago after learning the horrors of the fur industry, and Harry after visiting the White Pig Bed & Breakfast and Animal Sanctuary and realizing the misery of animal farming. “We visited the pigs and one rolled over for him to get a belly rub…Harry instantly went vegan,” recalls Jen. In addition to their love for animals, they have always been fond of travel, but found the world was lacking compassionate places to travel too. So they created their own vegan getaway for people whose suitcases are filled with empathy, concern and kindness towards animals and the environment no matter where they go. Their bed and breakfast, Deer Run in Big Pine Key, Fla., is showcased below, along with The Stanford Inn by the Sea. Other cruelty free getwaways to consider when you are planning your next trip will be featured in the summer issue of Action Line.

DEER RUN BED AND BREAKFAST

WE FOUND THESE LOCATIONS THAT CATER TO PEOPLE WHO LOVE ANIMALS…FROM THEIR MENUS AND AMENITIES TO THEIR PEOPLE-POWERED RECREATION. 28 | Friends of Animals

LEFT PHOTO BY JUSTIN LEWIS. RIGHT PHOTO BY JEN APPEL

LOOKING FOR A COMPASSION FILLED GETAWAY?

1997 Long Beach Dr., Big Pine Key, Fla. www.deerrunfloridabb.com Jen Appel 305.872.2015 Years in business: 11

How many meals do you serve a day and can you give examples of some of the items on the menu that guests rave about?

Deer Run serves a full organic vegan breakfast every day. Guests really love the food here because we do our best to do items that seem tradi-

tional, things that people are used to having, like pancakes, waffles, frittatas and so forth, however we make them with organic vegan ingredients, and we do our best along the way to make them healthier. For example, I’ll serve waffles here, but they are made with organic ground oats, not all purpose flour, so the sugar is virtually eliminated, and the fiber goes way up. None of the flavor is sacrificed, and our foods are nutrient dense. Even simple smoothies aren’t really simple, as I always like to add in ground chia, or flax, or something to amp up the fiber, and help with sugar spikes. Probably our most popular breakfast is our flax pancakes, it really is our flagship breakfast.

Do you grow any of the ingredients on the grounds?

We grow organic bananas, organic baby kale, organic star fruit, organic mangos, organic avocados, and a few other things. Being on the ocean, the windy and salty conditions make growing most non-tropical fruits very difficult. We do, however, also source locally grown and organic food from others on the island who have inland gardens. My vegan Key lime pies are made only with local grown organic Key limes. I buy them from locals in season, freeze the zest and juice, and you wouldn’t believe the difference it makes from the bottled stuff!

Are there any eco-friendly components of your business? Such as…

Cruelty-free toiletries, LEED certification, recycled furnishings? Etc. We are a certified Green Lodge by the State of Florida, the first one in the Keys outside of Key West (been certified for about 8 years now).

Also we are a platinum level certified lodge by TripAdvisor, this is the highest certification one can achieve from them and is very difficult to acquire. We’re audited annually for that achievement. It is our understanding that less than 10 properties worldwide have this level of certification. The only reason we’re not LEED certified is because as an existing structure, we’re not eligible unless we deconstruct our entire property and rebuild so inspectors could inspect the phases of construction they need to in order for a place to acquire a LEED certification.

Despite this, our green efforts are truly vast: water conservation in place in all rooms and front/back of the house; water flush vacuum composting toilets that use a 1/2 pint of water per flush, chemical free cleaning products, organic linens in all rooms and back of the house; vintage furnishings and repurposed furnishings; tablecloths and napkins made from recycled water bottles; vegan toiletries purchased in bulk (we have dispensers in the rooms instead of personal sized individually wrapped pieces). In

Spring 2015 | 29

Right The Pool at the Stanford Inn by the Sea Below Deer at the National Key Deer Refuge

What area attractions are nearby to make this the ultimate destination for environmentalism and veganism. For example, wildlife refuges or national parks nearby, etc. Do you offer any classes/ workshops on site?

Big Pine and the Lower Keys shine for our environment. The main attractions down here are oceanoriented—snorkeling the reef (the ONLY living reef in the continen-

30 | Friends of Animals

tal US is three miles offshore!), diving, kayaking, photo tours, Key Deer Refuge guided walking tours, and more. Deer Run lies within the boundaries of the National Key Deer Refuge, borders the Coupon Bight Aquatic Preserve, and a huge portion of the ocean is protected by the National Marine Sanctuary. We have several endangered species living on our Keys, and the endangered Key deer are visitors on a daily basis. We also include passes to the state parks for our guests, and Bahia Honda State Park is only 10 minutes away from us, a gorgeous park and beach. Also, Pigeon Key is about 30 minutes from us, which is a historical site, and also the Dry Tortugas are a must visit for anyone coming to the Keys. Daily tours depart from Key West—more than half our guests make a point to get to the Dry Tortugas.

A visit here is not complete without touring the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, which is about 25 minutes from us. Turtle Hospital is an authentic (not a zoo, not a marine mammal park) rescue and

rehab hospital for endangered and threatened sea turtles. Harry actually serves as president of Save-A-Turtle of the Florida Keys, and I am a board member. SAT is a non-profit that helps sea turtles survive in the Keys.

We are volunteer beach walkers for SAT during endangered sea turtle nesting season in the Keys. We work very closely with local environmental regulatory agencies to report any violations of illegal shoreline hardening, and things of that nature, which happens pretty often in their slice of paradise.

THE STANFORD INN BY THE SEA Coast Hwy. & Comptche Ukiah Rd. Post Office Box 487 Mendocino, CA 95460 www.stanfordinn.com Jeff Stanford 800.331.8884 Pet friendly

Can you discuss what prompted you to create a vegan getaway?

How many years have you been in business?

We have been in this business for nearly 40 years; the inn has been ova-lacto vegetarian virtually the entire time; wholly vegan for going on three years. When I learned that dairies are cruel I became vegan— that was 10 years ago. The restaurant was vegetarian and we turned dinner to vegan in 2007—once we had staff that could handle it. I was overly sensitive to our regular guests who did not want breakfast to turn vegan and tolerated that dissonance for an additional four years.

But we began 2012 as an entirely vegan resort.

LEFT PHOTO BY JEN APPEL. RIGHT PHOTO BY JUSTIN LEWIS

addition there are three composters on site and we compost all yard waste and food waste. Windows are tinted for energy savings, all HVAC in guest rooms is ductless.

Several rooms have been professionally decorated by a designer who sourced 100 percent recycled fibers for our custom made drapes and furniture coverings. All appliances are Energy Star rated. We have an electric car charging station for our guests on site. Our beach cleaning tractor (approved by DEP) is a highly specialized vehicle appropriate for turtle nesting beaches (which we are) and runs on biodiesel.

How many meals do you serve a day and can you give examples of some of the items on the menu that guests rave about? Do you grow any of the ingredients on the grounds?

We serve breakfast and dinner as well as a complimentary dessert with coffee and tea in the afternoon to overnight guests. Most popular breakfasts are the Citrus Polenta… the greens are often from the farm; Ravens Portobello, based on eggs benedict; Buckwheat waffles and Savory Crepe (like an omelet). Our most popular dinners are the Sea Palm Strudel – which has received recognition in Japan, on the Food Channel; ravioli (crossover dish); and Barbequed Portobello.

Are there any eco-friendly components of your business? Such as…

Cruelty-free toiletries, LEED certification, recycled furnishings? Etc. We converted all 10 acres to sustainable and organic gardening and landscaping in 1985. We provide approximately 25 percent of the organic produce, herbs, and fruit used at our Ravens’ Restaurant and

Mornings at the Stanford Inn by the Sea – substantially reducing its carbon “footprint.”

It is one of three U.S. sites for the international training program called the Green Belt project, which is administered by Ecology Action.

We train interns from around the world in sustainable mini-farming and the vegan lifestyle. In 2013, the UN declared that mini-farming was the only way to deal with uncertain climate and that mini-farming must be built on a non-animal model.

The toiletries are organic—not tested on animal—and we use VASKA cleaning products. We built to sustainable standards, many of which are similar to LEEDS, however that didn’t exist at the time of our last major building. We recover, re-finish furnishings. For example, we are using upholstered furniture originally made for us in 1981. We use organic towels, micro-fiber sheeting, which after investigating the procedures and longevity of the products, is more sustainable than organic sheets.

The Inn also helps protect Big

River from environmental degradation; maintains Mendocino Land Trust access to the bluffs overlooking Mendocino Bay; does not use herbicides or pesticides; composts all food and organic wastes, which are then recycled in the gardens, virtually eliminating the use of outside fertilizers.

As of spring 2013, Stanford Inn guests may charge their EV’s for no cost, while others would pay a $3 service charge.

What area attractions are nearby to make this the ultimate destination for environmentalism and veganism? For example, wildlife refuges or national parks nearby, etc.

We are surrounded by state parks, the ocean, and Big River which is a protected estuary. We have also have rescued animals on site, people powered recreation–canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking. We offer nutrition and cooking classes, programs on “thoughtful” meditation, and a variety of other programs from acupuncture to yoga.

Spring 2015 | 31

BY MEG MCINTIRE AND NICOLE RIVARD

CHEERS

LETTERS OUTSHOUTING, OUTNUMBERING WOLF HATERS I have always loved all animals, but certain ones hold a special place in my heart: all cats great and small, elephants and wolves.

To me, wolves are the voice of wilderness. The relentless, escalating war on wolves in this country leaves me furious, frustrated and heartsick. Thank heaven for wolf champions Friends of Animals and wolf biologist Jay Mallonee, who fight tirelessly for these wrongly maligned, persecuted creatures. I support your efforts.

I found this passage from L. David Mech’s 1970 book, The Wolf: “These people cannot be changed. If the wolf is to survive, the wolf-haters must be outnumbered. They must be out-shouted, out-financed and out-voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural process. Finally, their hate must be outdone by a love for the whole of nature, for the unspoiled wilderness, and for the wolf as a beautiful, interesting, and integral part of both.”

But what more can the rest of us do besides write letters to state officials that go ignored? Shouldn’t we be waging a major nationwide tourist boycott of wolfkilling states Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska?

ROSE PICARDI • VIA E-MAIL

NO TRAVEL ROCKS, TOO In the light of the great work that Friends of Animals does, I am somewhat reluctant to write this letter, but I think it’s important enough to go ahead with it. In your editorial, in which you speak of migrations and animal refuges, you mention visiting the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival. I want to point out how so many people visiting distant places contributes to the release of enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, thus contributing to the climate change that is at least a partial cause of the loss of animal life. If we are to save life on the planet, we must end our fossil fuel burning for unnecessary uses, such as long-distance vacations, going to sports events, visiting family, etc.

32 | Friends of Animals

I realize how interesting and important this trip is to you. I recently came back from a trip to Arizona from Pennsylvania, and I feel guilty as hell about it. It was just for pleasure, totally unnecessary, and our carbon footprint was very large. So, to summarize, you might consider promoting non-travel as a way to benefit our animal friends who so desperately need help.

Thanks for reading, and for your great work.

LEN FRENKEL • BETHLEHEM, PENN.

UNEARTHING THE RAINBOW BRIDGE After reading about the poem, The Rainbow Bridge, author unknown, I can’t get it out of my mind. I, too, would love to read it.

I hope you print it in your magazine. It is mentioned in Winter Action Line on page 32. I never heard of this poem before.

PHYLLIS GENTRY • ORMOND BEACH, FLA. RAINBOW BRIDGE Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies – one that has been especially close to someone here – that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food and water, sunshine and cozy beds, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who have been ill and old are restored to health and vigor, those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special, someone who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body quivers. Suddenly, he breaks from the group, flying over the green grass – his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in a joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain on your

face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more onto the trusting eyes of your pet – so long gone but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together.

STAND UP FOR BUFFALO Thank-you for all your hard work. I am thankful for people like you who fight for animals. I enjoy reading Action Line cover to cover.

The reason I am writing is to thank you for the article about Wild Buffalo and the Buffalo Field Campaign. These majestic animals are being slaughtered so Americans can eat cheap beef. I have volunteered with BFC and it is a life changing experience.

I saw state Department of Livestock agents shoot paintballs at buffalo to drive them off public land. I also saw DOL agents drive buffalo into barbed wire fences. The total disrespect for wildlife in this country is what made me volunteer with BFC. I encourage anyone reading this to take a few weeks and go volunteer with BFC. They are friendly, dedicated and hardworking folks. Stand up for buffalo before it’s too late.

To volunteer with BFC: www.BuffaloFieldCampaign.org 1-406-646-0070 PO Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 ROB BORDEN • WELLINGTON, MAINE

LET’S HEAR FROM YOU! MAIL US: Editor, Action Line Friends of Animals 777 Post Road Darien, CT 06820 E-MAIL US: contact@friendsofanimals.org

JEERS

CALIFORNIA’S FISH AND GAME COMMISSION

ZIPLOC

Cheers to members of the California’s Fish and Game Commission who voted 4 to 1 on Dec. 3 to ban coyote hunting derbies—contests where hunters vie to kill the most coyotes, or the biggest, for prizes.

Jeers to Ziploc, ad agency Energy BBDO and RSA Films’ director, Rob Cohen, for their “Little Beasts” online advertising campaign, which forces animals to “act.” The online commercials are supposed to appeal to parents by highlighting some of the most chaotic scenarios known to parenthood: potty training, putting a toddler to sleep, dining out with twins, etc. Improv actors play the roles of the parents; however the role of the kids is played by animals, including a lemur and two capuchins.

Project Coyote, an animal rights group based in San Francisco, had petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission. Media reports explained that Project Coyote, which is adamant that coyotes are vital to the ecosystem and food chain, sprang into action to ban coyote killing contests this year when it learned that a “killing contest” also threatened Journey, the one wolf left in Modoc County. Journey normally travels through Modoc and surrounding counties.

Although the California Fish and Game Commission had voted to protect wolves under their Endangered Species Act back in June, allowing a wildlife-killing contest to take place, although targeted on killing coyotes, foxes, bobcats and other animals, still endangered Journey’s life. Friends of Animals hopes California will inspire other states to pass similar legislation.

NJ SENATOR CORY BOOKER Cheers to Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, for making the transition to a vegan diet. Booker turned to a veggie-based diet almost 20 years ago and explained his decision on a recent Web forum, writing, “I was a competitive athlete back then and wanted to see what could take my body to the next level, also I was reading everything I could about food, where it came from, what impact it had both on me and my world. So in 1992, I decided to experiment, to try it for three to six months. And WOW! When I did my athletic performance took off, I felt so much better and it comported with other values and ideas I was exploring at the time, so I decided that this is what is best for me. It was a very personal decision.”

When Booker took office as a New Jersey Senator n 2013, he also became the one of the very few openly vegetarian lawmakers (come out, come out, wherever you are, closeted green-eaters!) serving in the Senate today, and now he’s the only openly vegan senator. He has also placed environmental issues at the forefront of his political agenda and has spoken out against the negative impact animal farming has on the future of our planet.

Ziploc was hoping this commiserative video series would resonate with parents by sending the message: While Ziploc can’t stop the crazy, it can help contain the chaos. Instead, the brand is saying to the public it is insensitive to animals and doesn’t mind exploiting them to sell products.

Primates are not meant to be actors or pets. Often these young animals are pulled prematurely from their mothers, and then trainers withhold affection and reassurance from them to get them to “act” the way they want them to. Please tell Ziploc to stop using animals to sell its products. Call 800.494.4855; write to CEO Fisk Johnson, SC Johnson, 1525 Howe Street, Racine WI, 53403 or send an email right here: www.econsumeraffairs.com/scj/ContactUs.htmIn

WEDDINGS THAT FEATURE EXOTIC ANIMALS Set the date, send the invitations, hire a photographer, rent a lion? Jeers for the cruel “trend” of including exotic animals in wedding celebrations.

CBS News reported in December that exotic animals are becoming must-haves at weddings and goes on to explain that increasingly wild corners of the animal kingdom are being tapped for the ever-increasing demand for super special weddings, proposals and pictures. The article includes mention of zoos and ranches that offer “wedding specials” to entice brides and grooms to seriously consider forcing wild animals to be included as props on their wedding day.

According to CBS, for $349, Cincinnati’s Newport aquarium will “loan” you a room full of penguins in which you can propose to your beloved. Or at the Lion Habitat Ranch, couples can ride in a Jeep near Bentley the lion for their big moment. See more at: http://friendsofanimals.org/news/2014/december/cheers-and-jeers-0#sthash.8Ah3NlTt.dpuf Animals are not meant to be actors or props at parties and celebrations. A word of advice to those planning their weddings: Instead of wasting money creating a self-indulgent spectacle, put something aside for your new home and your future.

Spring 2015 | 33

VEGAN T-SHIRT Men’s and women’s 100% certified organic cotton black and white. Men’s and women’s sizes. S, M, L, XL. Artwork by Nash Hogan at Hand of Glory Tattoo, Brooklyn, NY

WOLF SHIRT Show your support for wolves in this 100% certified organic T-shirt in white. (Women’s runs extremely small and fitted so order a larger size.) Men’s and women’s sizes: S, M, L, XL

$22 including shipping

$22 including shipping

WILD HORSES TEE BY VAUTE COUTURE Help support our efforts to get wild horses protected under the Endangered Species Act with this new t-shirt, available for a limited time. Shirts are unisex and are 100% certified organic cotton. Ladies order one size down for a more fitted look. Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL

VEGAN ECO BAG TOTE In 100% recycled cotton. Fair-trade and fair-labor. This tote is 15" tall and 13" wide with 5" gussets on sides and bottom.

The shoulder strap is 24" long. $15 including shipping

$28 including shipping CATALOG ORDER FORM

SEND TO: Friends Of Animals, P.O. Box 150451 Hartford, Connecticut 06115-0451 PLEASE ALLOW 3–4 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY. Twenty-five percent of the total sale price of your purchase will help fund Friends of Animals’ programs.

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NEW CHIMPANZEE T-SHIRT for Primarily Primates sanctuary Solid dark gray 100% combed and ring-spun cotton T-shirt in unisex sizes. XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL.Females should consider ordering a size down for great fit. Artwork by Jordan Rowe. $24 including shipping

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SIGNATURE For your convenience, you may fax your credit card order to: 203–656–0267 or shop online at www.friendsofanimals.org.

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THIS IS WHAT A VEGETARIAN LOOKS LIKE SHIRT Women’s fitted, baby-rib, 1/2 sleeve, U-neck tee in 100% cotton.

Available in white. Sizes S, M, L, XL only, runs small.

LOVE PEACE VEGAN SHIRT Men’s and women’s 100% preshrunk certified organic cotton in white. Men’s and women’s sizes: S, M, L, XL

$9 including shipping (Regular price $18)

$11 including shipping (Regular price $18)

SPARE AN ANIMAL EAT A VEGETABLE HOODED SWEATSHIRT Female: 80% cotton, 20% polyester in black and grey. S, M, L Male: 90% cotton, 10% polyester in black. S, M, L, XL

SPIDER MONKEY SHIRT Men’s and women’s are 100% certified organic cotton. Women’s only come in Dijon and is fitted. (It runs extremely small and fitted so order a larger size.) Men’s only come in Light Blue.

Men’s and women’s sizes: S, M, L, XL

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