6.3.05

Hi, Folks.

This has been another rough week for prairie wildlife. At Stapleton, a planned prairie dog relocation hit a roadblock. Pastor Ed and LIFE Fellowship Church (Westminster, CO - http://lifefellowship.org/) poisoned again. The City of Boulder appears poised to kill prairie dogs on open space land – the first such killing in many years. Boulder’s Clay Evans wrote yet another column calling for lethal control. If there’s any good news, it’s that our message is at least getting some column inches. We were quoted in the Denver Post, Boulder Daily Camera and Colorado Daily this week. The Colorado Daily piece (see http://www.coloradodaily.com/articles/2005/06/02/news/news01.txt) gave our perspective a good amount of ink and the last word.

Our existing prairie wildlife work must continue. We must continue to educate the public. We must continue to provide tools and support for citizens who want to help prairie wildlife. We must continue to push for favorable policies. But it’s time for some new thinking on the prairie dog issue. When the powers that be are trying to divide and conquer us, we must respond.

Oh, in the meantime, if you want to tell Pastor Ed what you think of his church poisoning wildlife, give a call to – brace yourselves – 303-451-LIFE!

Fishing Derby
Thanks to everyone who came out to demonstrate against the Boulder Fishing Derby. And thanks especially to Barb B. and Jill B. for their substantial efforts in support of it. Although the Daily Camera focused on the few disagreements between the demonstrators and participants, the event and interactions were mostly positive. Demonstrators did receive some favorable newspaper coverage in the Colorado Daily.

Boulder Creek Festival
Thanks to everyone who came out to help promote RMAD and the animals at the Boulder Creek Festival. It was a wonderful event. And the RMAD table looks great. Lots of good exchanges, lots of new names and faces. Big special thanks to Donna M. and Dawne E. Let’s hope for the same success at this weekend’s People’s Fair in Denver.

School for the Gifted
Who better to give a talk to the gifted than the gifted Mark Reinhardt? Thanks to Board Member Mark for taking time from his day last week to speak up on factory farming and other animal issues.

Help Wanted: Operations Director
Rocky Mountain Animal Defense is hiring a part-time operations director to help with (among other things) the organization’s accounting, staff supervision and fundraising. If you are looking for part-time employment (15 or so hours per week) and have substantial high-level administrative experience, fundraising experience, and both good people skills and excellent writing skills, send me your resume and a writing sample. We hope to hire by July 1. We’ll post a more formal announcement soon.

Van Needed
RMAD needs a dependable, air-conditioned van for the month of June, starting next week, to help with the relocation of a prairie dog colony in Colorado Springs. We can pay a modest fee and will return the van in the same or better condition.

Public Service
The phone rang off the hook and out the door and down the street this week. We received a dozen calls on prairie dogs, with folks reporting poisonings or asking for information. We had three calls on companion animals and seven general requests for assistance.

One Person Making a Difference
To Donna M., for all she’s been doing.

Another Person Making a Difference
To Steve Greig, for his excellent letter to the Denver Post editor.


David Crawford, Executive Director
Rocky Mountain Animal Defense
2525 Arapahoe, #E4-335
Boulder, CO 80302
303-449-4422 / www.rmad.org

RMAD has been advocating for animals and serving the public since 1994.