Newsletter: Happypets.org Action_Alerts &
More !
Hello Again Friends, welcome back to the happypets.org Action_Alerts
& More Newsletter! If you missed any previous issues, please visit the
archives at: happypets.addr.com/Newsletter_Archives.htm
I hoped you have all enjoyed your
summers. I certainly did, but it's great to be back in your inboxes once again.
IN THIS ISSUE:
WARNING -
VIRUS FAKING MY "FROM" ADDRESS!
ACTION ALERT: ASK LORD & TAYLOR NOT TO OPEN A FUR DEPARTMENT
ACTION ALERT: DIRTY DOZEN FUR RETAILERS
ANIMAL BYTE: 'Miracle Dog' Sparks Awareness Campaign -
by Maria A. Schulz
AA/UPDATE: NY RESIDENTS - PATAKI VOTES AGAINST CANNED HUNT BILL
ANIMAL BYTE: Therapy Pets
PET TIP: DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
VEG-RECIPE: Autumn Corn Tarts with Spinach and Hazelnuts
FUNNY BONES: Cats & Teenagers
WARNING - SOMEONE ELSE'S VIRUS FAKING MY "FROM" ADDRESS!
There are certain viruses that e-mail themselves from infected machines using a fake "From" address randomly picked from all
e-mail addresses stored on an infected computer's hard drive or network.( Klez and SObil for example). It appears that this has happened to my address
Tara@happypets.org. My computer is clean but someone who has my name & email address in their Outlook
address book is or was infected and I have gotten emails returned to me that I never sent with an attachment called "Your application".
I WILL NOT SEND ANY SUBSCRIBERS AN ATTACHMENT SO PLEASE DO NOT OPEN MAIL THAT APPEARS TO BE FROM
ME IF IT HAS AN ATTACHMENT ON IT! However, please do keep reading the newsletter - it's clean - I Promise!
ACTION ALERT: ASK LORD & TAYLOR NOT TO OPEN A FUR DEPARTMENT
Lord & Taylor's Parent Company, The May Company, established an anti-fur department policy almost ten years ago. This honorable and socially responsible policy will be undermined if Lord and
Taylor's plans to open a fur department in New York become a reality. Opening one fur department could lead to similar departments in other Lord and Taylor locations and other department
stores owned by The May Company, including Hecht's, Filene's, and Robinsons May.
Please urge Lord and Taylor and The May Company to uphold their current high standards of not selling fur, by not opening a fur department in New York.
A pre-written letter can be found on the web and sent directly through the fund for animals website at:
action.fund.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=5064
OR
Write to
Jane Elfers, CEO,
Lord and Taylor
424 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10018.
Phone the Exec. Offices at 212-391-3344 x7789
or Julio Rios, Coat Dept Mngr. at 212-827-6057.
Gene Kahn, CEO,
The May Company
611 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63101.
Call the Exec. Offices at 314-342-6300 or
e-mail Customer Service at roycie_earvin@may-co.com
ACTION ALERT: DIRTY DOZEN FUR RETAILERS
Hey, while your at it why not Join a nationwide letter writing campaign to the "dirty dozen" department stores that still support
the cruel killing of animals for fur. A prewritten letter can be found on the web and sent to all 12 retailers directly at
action.fund.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=1252
ANIMAL BYTE: 'Miracle Dog' Sparks Awareness Campaign
by Maria A. Schulz
His name is Quentin, and he's one lucky dog. Not many would have thought so
after Quentin, a 30-pound Besenji mix, entered a St. Louis gas chamber which was packed with unwanted dogs. But when the death chamber doors opened again,
Quentin greeted animal-control supervisor Rosemary Ficken with his tail and
tongue wagging.
Quentin named for the San Quentin State Prison beat the odds, and so
Ficken didn't have the heart to put him back into the gas chamber. Instead, she turned him over to Randy Grimm, the founder of Stray Rescue of St. Louis.
Grimm said that Quentin's "bad days are behind him for good." And with that thought in mind, Grimm took Quentin's story public. "To me, it's a miracle or
divine intervention," Grimm said. "I can't help but think he's here to serve a
higher purpose."
Grimm felt his thoughts were confirmed when In Defense of Animals, a Mill Valley,
California-based organization, asked Grimm if Quentin could be their "spokesdog"
in their campaign to educate the public about the plight of millions of dogs facing
euthanasia. About 5 million dogs are euthanized each year because no one is willing
to adopt them, In Defense of Animals founder, Elliot Katz, said.
As for Quentin, hundreds of people have been looking to adopt him since his story
went public. Two days after his ordeal, Grimm said that Quentin was a little
malnourished but "in very good condition." "You can tell he's really digging it,"
Grimm said. "He has a bed, love, food and water."
In Defense of Animals will donate $5,000 to start a fund to eliminate the gas chamber as St. Louis' primary means of
euthanizing stray dogs, Katz said.
Sources
SF Gate
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/08/14/national0630EDT0501.DTL
CNN.com
edition.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/08/07/offbeat.dog.survivor/ap/
IDA Action Alert
www.idausa.org
Alert: Shelter Dog Survives Death: Help Others!
© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.
AA/UPDATE: NY RESIDENTS: PATAKI VOTES AGAINST CANNED HUNT BILL
Well, New Yorkers, we can't smoke in bars anymore but we can still shoot helpless caged animals. A. 4609 and S. 2735, bills that would
have extended the ban on canned hunting operations, were recently vetoed by Governor George Pataki. According the the Humane Society of the United States, "The governor bowed to the power of big money
and decided to continue to allow the hunting of caged animals".
For more information on canned hunts visit
happypets.addr.com/cannedhunts.htm
Currently, New York law prohibits canned hunting on ten acres or less. A. 4609 and S. 2735 would have extended that ban to prohibit all canned hunting operations, regardless of acreage. Although many shooting operations cover several hundred acres, guides usually find
the animals trapped by a fence or in corners.
Please contact the governor and express your disappointment of
his veto of the canned hunt bill.
Governor George Pataki
Office of the Governor
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
Phone: 518-474-8390
Fax: 518-474-3767
Send e-mail through: www.state.ny.us/governor
Contact Senator Frank Padavan and Assemblymember Scott Stringer, the sponsors of S. 2735 and A. 4609. Thank them for introducing the legislation to ban canned hunts regardless of acreage, and urge them to
reintroduce the bills next session.
Senator Frank Padavan
8939 Gettysburg St.
Bellerose, NY 11426
Phone: 718-343-0255 or 518-455-3381
Fax: 518-455-2008 or 718-746-2171
padavan@senate.state.ny.us
Assemblymember Scott Stringer
230 West 72nd St.
Suite 2F
New York, NY 10023
Phone: 518-455-5802
Fax: 518-455-5015
ANIMAL BYTE: THERAPY PETS
Our friends Jack the Chihuahua and his guardian Lauren recently became pet therapy
volunteers. Nationwide, thousands of volunteers bring the special companionship
that only dogs and cats can provide to the residents of nursing homes and patients
in hospitals across the country. The residents and patients look forward to the visits
and the pet therapy volunteers and their companion animals find them just as rewarding.
Consider joining the pet therapy program at your local shelter. Its a great way you
and your pet can help someone in need.
PET TIP: DISASTER PLANNING
With the black out last month and hurricane Isabel on the way, I
got to thinking;
How many of us would be ready to pick up and leave our homes if there were a
need
for evacuation? Now consider that close to half of all American households include
companion animals our pets. Do emergency shelters for people within the area accept
pets? Is there a preplanned area where animals can be housed in great numbers if the
need arises? Are there animal facilities within the community, i.e., animal shelter,
pet store, boarding kennel, veterinarian, specialty group associations, whose resources
can be utilized in a disaster situation? Have emergency procedures been established
with these animal facilities? Who keeps the current list? In other words, is there a plan?
For disaster planning to fully serve a community, planning for the animals within that
community must be a considered part of a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, and
communities around the country are starting to see the benefits of including this
often-overlooked population in their planning efforts.
Below are valuable links to animal disaster planning:
www.avma.org
www.avmf.org
www.americanhumane.org
exoticpets.about.com/library/weekly/aa051299.htm
doacs.state.fl.us/ai/pesf17br.htm
www.cyberpet.com/cyberdog/articles/general/artad1d.htm
www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/ah/disaster_preparedness.htm
www.petswelcome.com/
www.missingpet.net/
www.uan.org/
www.hsus.org/disaster/brochure091499.html
www.fema.gov
VeG-RECIPE: Autumn Corn Tarts with Spinach and Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts, traditional around the time of the Autumn Equinox at the end of September, have age-old associations with wisdom and poetic inspiration.
These golden tart shells make a nice autumn picture heaped with succulent greens and topped with crunchy hazelnuts.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup plus 1/4 cup fine cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) chilled margarine,
cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
5 tablespoons ice water
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 garlic cloves, chopped
9 cups (more or less) fresh spinach
1/2 cup chopped hazlenuts
In a large bowl combine flour, 3/4 cup of the cornmeal,
and the 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt (more, if you use unsalted margarine).
Add margarine and vegetable shortening.
Using two knives or a pastry blender, work the margarine and shortening into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse meal. Sprinkle with the ice
water and mix until dough holds together. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
About half an hour before serving, preheat the oven to 350F.
Sprinkle your work surface with the remaining 1/4 cup of cornmeal and roll out the
dough as thinly as you can. Cut into rounds to fit six individual tart tins and press
the dough gently into the tins.
Bake 10 to 20 minutes or until crisp. Allow to cool slightly and remove from tins.
Meanwhile, to make the filling, heat the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan over
medium-high heat. Add the chopped garlic and stir until coated with oil.
Add spinach and cook, stirring often, until crisp-tender and fragrant.
Salt to taste.
Heap the shells with the cooked spinach and sprinkle with chopped hazlenuts.
FUNNY BONES: CATS & TEENAGERS
If you must live with teenagers, the best sources of advice are not other parents
but veterinarians. It is also a good idea to keep a guidebook on cats at hand at
all times.
Neither teenagers nor cats turn their heads when you call them by name.
No matter what you do for them, it is not enough. Indeed, all humane efforts
are barely adequate to compensate for the privilege of waiting on them hand and foot.
You rarely see a cat walking outside of the house with an adult human being,
and it can be safely said that no teenager in his or her right mind wants to be seen
in public with his or her parents.
Even if you tell jokes as well as Jay Leno, neither your cat nor your teen will
ever crack a smile.
No cat or teenager shares you taste in music.
Cats and teenagers can lie on the living-room sofa for hours on end without
moving, barely breathing.
Cats have nine lives. Teenagers carry on as if they did.
Cats and teenagers yawn in exactly the same manner, communicating that
ultimate human ecstasy -- a sense of complete and utter boredom.
Cats and teenagers do not improve anyone's furniture.
Cats that are free to roam outside sometimes have been known to return in the
middle of the night to deposit a dead animal in your bedroom. Teenagers are not above
that sort of behavior.
And remember, above all else, put out the food and do not make any sudden moves in their
direction. When they make up their minds, they will finally come to you for some affection
and comfort, and it will be a triumphant moment for all concerned.
And that wraps up this week's Newsletter! I hope you are all enjoying it, but if not please know that you can unsubscribe at any time. As always, I
welcome your questions, comments and suggestions. If you have an Actiopn Alert
or Animal Byte, a recipe, joke or pet tip you would like to share with the community in the next
newsletter please let me know. Plus, I am always looking for fresh content for the website.
Warmest Regards,
Tara
Tara@happypets.org
www.happypets.org
