"I am only one, but still I am one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And just because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." - Helen Keller

Media Release

Please find a press release about the desperate situation for Flying-foxes occurring across the east coast at the present time.

Flying-foxes are suffering a starvation event right now in SE Qld with an increase in calls to our service for rescues for hungry bats

Due to hunger there is an increase in the need for rescues as bats attempt to get food from the ground therefore we are getting more attacks from domestic animals. They also try to land in fruiting flowering trees near barbed-wire so we are experiencing an increase in our work load not only for the rescue but also in the intensive care required when bats are injured.

This is an animal welfare issue we want to alert the public to. In the winter of 2007 we suffered an extreme food shortage for bats, many people left them to die in their backyards because it is assumed no one cares for these animals. We are passionate about our work and concerned that the disease hysteria is totally out of proportion in the minds of the public – we hear it constantly.

Please assist in community awareness about this problem by passing this email on.

Thank you

Kind Regards,

Louise Saunders

(0425 73 4008)

Rage against the dying of the light

We should rage against the dying of the light in every animal's eyes that results from human cruelty and abuse. The thing is to transform that pity and rage into one's case for animal rights. It's hard to burn out once we see ourselves as advocates with a case to put before the public. What matters is making the most of the opportunity of being on the right side, win or lose, while we are living.

Karen Davis

Satya Magazine, July/August

This quote is in the book "Striking at the Roots.A practical guide to Animal Activism". If we do nothing else, we must educate ourselves and support those that are making a difference.

Get 'Striking at the Roots'

K Rudd's take on Live Exports

I received the usual xeroxed reply from the office of K Rudd after sending an email protesting the resumption of live exports. Below are the links mentioned in this reply. The letter itself is fairly standard stuff about how much the industry is worth, what it's doing to educate the "ignorant, poor " in the middle east, blah,blah. What I thought was interesting is their reasoning that if we don't supply live animals to other countries, they are "likely to source live animals from elsewhere". While this is probable, how about we clean up our own backyard and set an example for these other countries to follow. Profiting off the misery of animals is not fine, even if "everyone else is doing it."

Australian Standards for Livestock Export

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Not tested on Animals

Not only are animals abused in the provision of our food, but it seems an endless list of products is tested on our little friends as well. The website below contains a list of Australian cosmetic companies that do NOT test on animals.

http://www.choosecrueltyfree.org.au/list.html

A short story

The life of a meat chicken is pretty short and ugly. Without knowing it, I have been supporting this vile, gargantuan industry my whole life. Not any more. Have a look at the sad condition of our feathered friends and ask if we can't do better in the 21 century.

http://www.freebetty.com/meat_chickens.php

Free Range Meat Suppliers

If we are going to boycott certain suppliers of food for their cruel practices, we need to encourage the success of those that prove they will do the right thing. The link below is to a source of humane alternative suppliers posted on the RSPCA website.

Humane food shopping

Here's an article about a free range pig farm from the Queensland Courier Mail, September, 2009

Gooralie Free Range

Australian cruelty exposed.

Let me say at the outset that I am not a vegetarian or vegan. Animals can be killed HUMANELY for food. It's torturing them for weeks or sometimes years before-hand that I find appalling. And the reason this occurs is that the greater majority of people do not know it is occurring.

Normal people will have no part in animal cruelty, but if their complicity is kept from them, how can they do anything about it?

We really need to stop buying pork. The conditions 98% of pigs are kept in is truly disgusting.

Consumers have the ultimate power in ridding the country of cruel animal practices. Today, many industries simply do not exist because their products were no longer wanted. The free market delivered the heavy blow to close these unwanted businesses down.

Check the link below for the honest truth on the pork industry in this country. We can do better than this.

savebabe.com

It's not hard to help

In our local newspaper, I ran across an article on The Animal Rescue Site. It has sponsors that donate food if enough people click on their ads. The site address is

www.theanimalrescuesite.com.

It's American based, but their work looks truly worthy of a look.

I emailed a letter to Ipswich city council and did receive a standard reply. We'll see how this pans out.

Do animals like Rodeos?

Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale has been asked to ban rodeos on council land. There are several councilors who oppose this.

http://www.qt.com.au/story/2010/03/13/rodeos-under-attack-from-activists/

For the people who say rodeos are not cruel; just how much fun is a calf having when its jerked to a stop, slammed to the ground and tied up while a bunch of drunken hicks cheer and clap?

I always believed that rodeos where an American tradition with very little relevance to Australia anyway. Perhaps that is my ignorance. For anyone in the vicinity, here is the address to write to, so that your views can be voiced.

Ipswich City Council
PO Box 191

Ipswich
QLD 4305
council@ipswich.qld.gov.