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