02.25.05

Hello!

Dave is out of the office today and has asked me to do a quick wrap up. It has been an extremely busy week in the office, especially in terms of public service and response, not to mention our ongoing commitments. Because of the current prairie wildlife situation we have handled eight inquiries in that area in addition to one urban wildlife, two farm animal, six companion animal, and three general inquiries and referrals.

Of note is the great public response to WildlifeKillers.com. RMAD has been contacted by parties concerned with their investments in companies that have caused great harm to wildlife. One person is threatening to sell *hundreds of thousand of shares* in Storage Tek. Yeah!

A few important things:

First, make sure you visit the Colorado Daily online (http://www.coloradodaily.com/best_of_boulder) to vote for RMAD as best non-profit and the team of Matt and Barbara Bear for best activist.

Second, please sign this online petition (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/397862963) that Deb Jones and I have set up to answer to the ongoing extermination of prairie dogs in Westminster. Sign this whether you live in Westminster or not, and forward to everyone. We have a modest goal of 5,000 signatures (though it says 50,000 on the website – I haven’t figured out how to fix that yet).

Third, it looks like the Wildlife Crossing Bill is going to the Senate floor this week. We’re very optimistic as support from other groups has helped this take off. Thanks to all of our supporters and testifiers.

Lastly, if you missed the numerous adoptions this week, here is a quick overview:

· Laura (laurahernbloom@yahoo.com) has eight seven chickens and one rooster that need a wonderful home. Please contact her if you can help!

· Donna Marino has two cats, Crystal and Maddie, that she rescued from Boulder Freecycle and need homes. Donna says: “They are two sweet sisters who were abandoned by their owners when they moved. They're very friendly and like to cuddle, once they warm up to you. Crystal is mostly cream-colored with calico markings on her head and tail; Maddie is black with a small diamond of white on her stomach. They've been through so much together in their short lives, I'm hoping to adopt them into the same home.” Please call Donna at 303-554-0462 (she has pictures she can share electronically as well).

· Hilary Lane says: “One of our rescue volunteers sent me a tragic story of Cleo and Kona. If you can help, please contact Jody at (303) 679-1931--home; (303) 915-6058--cell; (303) 295-8144--work, or send email to her at jellis@hollandhart.com. For further descriptions of the dogs' personalities and their photos, go to the PetFinder site at http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=1&pet.Shelterid=CO115&preview=1. Click on the links for Cleo and Kona.”

· Beth has 2 cats that need a foster home where they can stay together for a couple of months while their guardian gets back on her feet. She had an accident in November that has seriously disrupted her work and living arrangements and has no place to go with these cats. If you are able to help temporarily please call Beth at 720.255.6983

That’s all for now. Please let me know if you have any questions.

- Chris

02.18.2005

Happy Friday, Friends.

Last Saturday's WildlifeKillers.com launch in Boulder was a great success. Almost without exception, we were welcomed by those we encountered. And we had good coverage in the Daily Camera and Longmont Times-Call. Special thanks to Lorissa ArgoRay and Matt Bear. If you haven't yet checked out wildlifekillers.com, I suggest you go there... immediately!

Likewise, the Fur is a Drag demo last Saturday at Marks-Lloyd's Furs was well attended and, as usual, festive.

Thanks to everyone who participated in these events!

RMAD held an emergency meeting on prairie wildlife last night. Conflicts are arising in Lafayette, Superior, Longmont, Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Westminster, and along the I-25 corridor, to name but a few. Our prairie friends are taking a huge hit right now. I've never seen anything quite like it. If you've always wanted to get involved with this issue but have hesitated, now's the time to act. Just call or email.

In addition to the efforts described above, RMAD responded to four prairie wildlife inquiries, four companion animal inquiries, and four general inquiries. Our team of volunteer legal advisors had its hands full this week. Special thanks to them.

One Person Making a Difference
Everyone who knows Dan Hanley knows he knows how to make friends. Ya know? Anyway, Dan's latest friends are the proprietors of what he calls the "coolest spice shop" - it's on Platte Street near REI in downtown Denver. Dan says they carry a boatload of "cheese" mixes that are 100% vegan and yummy. Stop in, say Hi, and tell 'em Dan and RMAD sent ya.

David Crawford, Executive Director
Rocky Mountain Animal Defense

02.11.2005 Happy Birthday, RMAD!

Friends:

RMAD is 11 today! Happy Birthday, RMAD!

Prairie Wildlife
Some good news today from Colorado Springs. It appears Classic Homes is prepared to work with us to have the prairie dog colony at its Barnstormer development relocated to safety. Classic Homes has given a tentative commitment to the project, including supporting funds and a full 5 months to complete the relocation. We will work closely with Prairie Dog Action to see this process through to completion.

RMAD sent a representative to the Lafayette City Council meeting this week to demonstrate or support for the efforts of community members seeking to provide protections for the city’s prairie wildlife. We are cautiously optimistic.

Lots of other prairie dog slaughter going on, including a reported bulldozing of a Longmont colony by the beloved Walmart Corporation.

Vegetarian Starter Kit
Chris Jones has asked me to report that our starter kit, specifically designed for the foothills of Colorado, is really starting to develop. Chris says the kit “is going to be an aesthetically pleasing compendium of relevant and useful information.” Chris is volunteering his time to the effort, as is the team of writers, editors and organizers consisting of Liana Gregory, Donna Marino, Jill Bielawski, Hilary Hatch, Charis Denny, and Angela Rank. Thanks to all! We can’t wait to see what this looks like when it comes out of the oven.

Wildlife
WildlifeKillers.com debuts this week. We’ve been advertising the site in the Colorado Daily. Tomorrow we promote it on the Pearl Street Mall. And none too soon, as the wildlife killers just keep killing. The Division of Wildlife will certainly be featured on the site, probably sooner rather than later, as the agency is aching to kill more deer in its cruel and scientifically indefensible approach to chronic wasting disease. DOW’s misdeeds could fill a book, but we’ll start by listing a few on WildlifeKillers.com.

DIA is dragging its heels in developing a long-term, humane solution to its rabbit “problem.” We’re providing low-level support to Dave Welch of Bleating Hearts Sanctuary, who is taking the lead. Word is that several members of The House Rabbit Society are also engaged in the effort.

Companion Animals
Team leader Jennifer Bailey reports that the Companion Animals Team meeting last Saturday provided an auspicious start to the year. Jennifer’s team appears ready to solidify RMAD’s efforts on behalf of our companion animal friends.

Public Service
In addition to the efforts described above, RMAD responded to five prairie dogs inquiries, two wildlife inquiries, two urban wildlife inquiries, seven companion animal inquiries, and five general animal-related inquiries.

One Person Making a Difference
Matt Bear of the National Endowment for the Animals recently spent many hours making our animal ag/enviro stats a bit more digestible. Here is the fruit of his labor:

The number one user of fresh water in the U.S. is the meat/dairy industry – using over 50%.

FACT: A typical meat/dairy consumer requires over 4000 gallons of water per day, while a typical Vegan requires less than 300 gallons per day – a savings of over 3700 gallons per day. That’s enough water to:

> Flush a toilet over and over again 12 hours/day (5 gal./min)
> Run a typical shower 12 hrs./day or a low-flow shower 24 hrs./day (5 gal./min)
> Have 8 glasses of water/day for nearly 14 years (8 oz x 8/day x 365 days/yr)
> Save over 1.3 million gallons of water per year (3700 gal. x 365 days)

FACT: One gallon of cows’ milk requires over 750 gallons of water to produce -- enough water for 8 glasses of water/day for over 4 years - or flushing a toilet 150-200 times.

FACT: Meat and dairy are subsidized heavily by U.S. tax dollars. If the water used to produce meat wasn’t subsidized, meat would cost $35/pound. Those who eat meat/dairy are receiving corporate welfare at the expense of all taxpayers.

FACT: One pound of meat requires over 2500 gallons of water to produce, while one pound of wheat requires only 25 gallons.

For one pound of meat, imagine a room filled with 2500 one gallon jugs of water -- if you bought those jugs of water at a supermarket at 80 cents each, you'd be looking at a grocery bill of $2000.


David Crawford, Executive Director
Rocky Mountain Animal Defense

02.04.2005

Hi, All.

Happy Friday!

A very brief review this week.

Just about all the ongoing projects I’ve mentioned in the past several weeks continue to be ongoing.

The wildlife crossing bill made it through the Colorado house and has now moved to the senate.

Marc Bekoff’s animal behavior talk on Wednesday was absolutely gratifying. Marc always presents a great combination of knowledge and entertainment. Does it really surprise any of us advocate-types that mice and rats play?

We continued to update our records of 600 Front Range prairie dog colonies in preparation for porting to the web. Our thanks to volunteers Katy Reagan, Gabriele Paul, and Heather Cox for their efforts to date. Preliminary design of the website is under way.

RMAD was again represented at Boulder City Council this week as council debated city management plans for prairie wildlife. Just when we thought it was safe for prairie dogs, the city is apparently considering coming up with its own plan, separate from the recently completed ordinance. If this means another two years or three years of wrangling, all we can say is “ugh”. We did manage once again to generate some ink on behalf of our prairie friends.

I wish for you all a weekend that is as fun/quiet/productive/whatever as you want it to be. Cheers!

-d

David Crawford, Executive Director
Rocky Mountain Animal Defense