Bangging On Ft. Drum

Members of SARO joined PETA to protest the cruel use of animals at Ft. Drum.



From PETA:

Thousands of live animals are shot, stabbed, dismembered, burned, and poisoned every year in Department of Defense (DoD) training exercises, designed to train medics and infantry in how to treat various human battlefield injuries. Fort Drum plans to fatally wound live animals for the sole purpose of treating their traumatic injuries.

Mutilating living animals to teach military medics how to treat injuries in humans is both unethical and ineffective. The physiology and anatomy of non-human animals are drastically different from that of humans, and more sophisticated non-animal simulators are used in most medical schools and at several military trauma centers.

We need your help in urging Fort Drum to end its outdated trauma-training exercises on animals and adopt one of the many non-animal methods - such as rotations in military trauma hospitals and the use of the DoD's own Combat Trauma Patient Simulator.

Please be sure to send PETA's automated letter to your congressional representative and senators asking them to urge President Obama to ban military trauma exercises on animals.

Ringling Bros. Circus Is Caught Abusing Animals Again

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has released a video to the media showing what one man, posing as a stagehand for six months, had to witness. As seen in the video the elephants where beat for no reason at all, making seem as if they can't do anything right.

PETA has filed charges under Animal Welfare Act governed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. PETA also plans to file charges in each of the states where the abuse took place, including New York, when the circus was at Madison Square Garden, in New York City.

From 2005 to 2008 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's own Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service noted 24 violations of animal mishandling out of 52 inspections.

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In Wisconson Someone Trys To Put Their Wiener(mobile) Where It Does Not Belong

MOUNT PLEASANT (Wisconsin) - The owner of a southern Wisconsin house might not be in love with the Oscar Mayer wiener right now.

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile crashed into a Mount Pleasant house around noon Friday.
Mount Pleasant Police Chief Tim Zarzecki (zahr-ZEK-ee) says the 22-year-old female driver was turning the giant hot dog on wheels around in a driveway and thought she was reversing but instead went forward and crashed into the deck and garage.

No one was home and no one was injured.

Oscar Mayer spokeswoman Sydney Lindner apologized for any inconvenience to the home owner. Lindner says the company will work with insurance companies to fix the damage to the house and vehicle.

Source: http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/news_wienermobile_mount_pleasant_20090717855_rev1



This happens just days after PETA asks Oscar Mayer to "bury the Wienermobile." ( Story ) I see this as a sign that PETA might have been right on this one.

Should deer hunting be allowed at Green Lakes State Park?

CNYcentral is currently conducting a poll asking, "Should deer hunting be allowed at Green Lakes State Park?" Please take a moment and take the poll. http://www.cnycentral.com/#poll

UPDATE: Poll is now closed. Sorry I don't have the results.

State Could Open Green Lakes State Park to Hunting

State Park officials to hold hearing on opening Green Lakes State Park to hunting.

For those of you who don't know, Green Lakes State Park is located just outside of the Syracuse in Fayetteville, NY.

Green Lakes State Park is currently open to biking, boating, camping, golfing, hiking, picnicking, family playgrounds, cross-country skiing and more, but all that will end will bullets start flying and animals start dying.  See more information on this park at http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=23 .

The hearing will be held Tuesday, July 7th at 7pm at Pine Grove Middle School, 6318 Fremont Rd., East Syracuse, NY 13057

Onondaga Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs plans to speak at this hearing in favor of hunting in the park, we need to be there to show that we don't want hunting in this park.  I know this is short notice but please come to the meeting if you can.  However if you can't make the meeting please send a message to Park Planner, Mark Hohengasser (see below for contact info) you have a month to send messages.

For further information on the meeting, call the Green Lakes State Park Golf Course Main Office at 315-637-6111.

Written comments can be sent to the state up to Aug. 7 to:

Mark Hohengasser
Park Planner
Agency Building 1, 17th floor
Empire State Plaza
Albany, N.Y. 12238

or by emailing GreenLakes.Plan@oprhp.state.ny.us

Thank you for your time and action on this

Fireworks Safety

It's the forth of July and while you may be looking forward to the fireworks that come with the holiday, your pets are not.  To your pet, fireworks are loud, confusing and down right scary.

For your pet's safety and comfort you should:

• Leave your pet at home.  Your house is where your pet spends most of their time and therefore where the feel the safest. If they become scared while at home they will be less likely to run off, but if they do, it will make it easier for your pet to find it's way home.
• Bring your pet indoors.  Putting the walls and curtains of the house between your pet and the lights and sounds of the fireworks will help your pet feel safer.  Being indoors will also make it harder for your pet to run off.  Make sure you close the curtains as your pet may break through a glass window for a path to escape.
  
• Take your pet for a walk before the fireworks start.  Having your pet go potty before the fireworks will help keep your pet from having "accidents" should they become frightened from the fireworks.
• Make sure your pet's tags are up to date.  Should your pet run away during the fireworks, current tags help anyone who finds your pet get them back to you.  You should include a cell phone number on your pet's id tags, if possible.
  
• Don't bring the fireworks home.  Your pet is going to be curious and want to investigate new smells and sounds.  So when you light a firework and set it on the ground to get a safe distance before it explodes, your pet is going to investigate the firework, which may explode in your pet's face.

Have A Happy and Safe 4th of July!!

Additional Links:

• HSUS: Fireworks Are No Blast For Pets
• PETA - Fireworks Disasters: Tell Us Your Story

SARO Goes on Summer Vacation and Back Again

I've heard rumor that some folks think that when summer rolls around SARO disbands and goes away, becoming just a memory. Now I'd like to tell you that contrary to at least one business here in Syracuse's hopes (that would be the restaurant that serves foie gras) we don't go anywhere and we don't disband. A lot of people are used to seeing us on some of the local school campuses when these same campuses close for summer break SARO finds it more useful to move our activities to other places. It's not that we have given up on the campus it's simply that we wish to reach a wider audience than the summer staff and students.

Summer is also a time when SARO members take their families on vacations, just like you do. So yes sometimes a few of us might be out of town, but we promise that we will return – even we like to take a trip to the beach now and then.

As a matter of fact it was a week ago this very morning that I was waking up for the first time in New York City. I had never been to NYC before but have been dying to go, since I moved to New York state a few years ago. Surprisingly I've talked to quite a few people who grew up in Central New York but have never been to the city. Well I got an invite I couldn't pass up.

PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal, was planing to do a protest demonstration in Times Square on Wednesday, June 24th at noon and asked if I, along with other members of SARO, would be willing to help out. A few of us said yes, and got the chance to bare our backsides for the animals (bulls in this case). I'll give you a hint: In the picture we were wearing black underwear. Sorry, can't be more specific.

Unfortunately, PETA's protest of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain was bumped from most television and print media so that the untimely death of not one but two high profile celebrities could be covered. But just because it wasn't covered on YOUR news doesn't mean it wasn't news.

Within a couple of days of returning from New York City it was time to put on a local demonstration of our own. Our demonstration was for the organization Dogs Deserve Better and their national campaign Chain Off 2009, where we chain ourselves and try to bring awareness to the public that life on a chain is no life for a dog.

I'm happy to say that both events were a complete success, thanks to all those who participated.

As you can see we do stay active even when you don't know what we're up to. Now this was just one week, of one month, of our summer. What will you do with your summer? No clue? How about joining us? Visit our website to find our next event: http://SyracuseAnimalRights.com .