I thought Nick Cooney's presentation was most interesting when he discussed the laws in various states that outlaw different forms of cruelty. I found it interesting which states outlawed certain practices, and was suprised by the fact that not more states outlawed them. I wonder why these particular states had more people who were educated on the specifics of animal cruelty, and why more states are not more educated. I also wonder now why these laws haven't been put into national affect. Is it only uneducated people that are keeping them from passing or are there a lot of companies in other states that use these practices and thus prevent lawmakers from passing these policies? I'm curious to know if the states which passed laws like this have less meat companies and if there are more vegetarians that reside in them.

TWB#4 Nick Cooney's Presentation

2011-04-12T16:17:00.003-04:00

After watching and listening to Nick Cooney's presentation I realized that I know very little about factory farming and its horrors. One very scary and interesting thing that I learned from the presentation was about gestational crates. These are tiny crates that pregnant pigs are forced to stay in throughout the duration of their pregnancy. I found this to be very sad and mean towards pigs. In many other countries they are outlawed. The enivornment was mentioned in the presentation and this was not only interesting but mind blowing. i couldnt believe that factory farming was harming our earth so much. Also Nick Cooney gave outstanding averages for the amount of animals that are held on most factory farms in America. He said that some factory farms have up to five hundred thousand chickens in one chicken house. This means that they are all cramped up together and very uncomfortable. The presentation was highly informative but at the same time I felt a bit sad because of the treatment given to these poor farm animals. I hope that things some day change.

JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ETHICS

2011-04-05T11:47:00.013-04:00

Launch of ground-breaking Journal of Animal Ethics A ground-breaking new journal covering the issue of animal ethics has been launched by a US and UK academic partnership with the goal of widening international debate about the moral status of animals. This month, the University of Illinois Press will publish the pioneering new Journal of Animal Ethics (JAE), the result of years of collaboration between the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and the University Press. The Journal of Animal Ethics, which is to be published bi-annually in the summer and winter, is jointly edited by the internationally known theologian the Reverend Professor Andrew Linzey, Director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, and Professor Priscilla Cohn, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Penn State University and Associate Director of the Centre. The JAE is the first academic journal in the world to include the phrase “animal ethics” in its title. “For far too long, academics have been slow to contribute to the burgeoning public debate about animal ethics. This is an opportunity for them to make their contribution to a multidisciplinary journal that aims to put animal ethics on the academic map” said Professor Andrew Linzey. “We want to ensure that animals receive the academic attention they deserve.” The Journal comprises: full-length scholarly articles, “argument” pieces in which authors will advance a particular perspective (usually related to current affairs) or respond to a previous article, review or research report, as well as review articles and book reviews. The JAE is devoted to the exploration of progressive thought about animals and is multidisciplinary in nature and international in scope. It covers theoretical and applied aspects of animal ethics that will be of interest to academics from both the humanities and the sciences, as well as professionals working in the field of animal protection. It aims to publish ground-breaking work written by new and established academics from a wide range of disciplines including anthropology, ethics, history, law, literature, linguistics, political theory, religion and science. In the first issue of the JAE: David M. Lavigne and William S. Lynn address Canada’s commercial seal hunt; Joel Marks writes on how animal suffering is unrecognized in research; Andrew Fenton and Frederic Gilbert question the use of animals in spinal cord research; Judith Benz-Schwarzburg and Andrew Knight examine the cognitive abilities of animals and asks how long they can be denied similar rights to humans; Grace Clement asks whether animals can be classed as “pets or meat”? Barbro Froding, Martin Peterson, and Mark J. Rowlands debate whether animal ethics should be based on friendship, and Jan Deckers and Jay B. McDaniel debate whether Whiteheadians should be vegetarians. To subscribe to the journal, please visit the journal’s website at http://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/jane.html.

Circuses

2011-03-05T18:55:00.002-05:00

http://www.allelephants.com/allinfo/trumble13.php

This article is voicing the "real" agenda for the anti-circus dilemma. First, the author focuses on the difference of animal cruelty and animal training. Today, the line that separates the two is often blurred. Especially when it comes to training animals in the circus. Trainers take advantage of the fact that they can discipline the animals and since they feel superior to the animals, they mistreat them but claim that they are just training them, hoping that people looking in will see them as doing good for the animals. Next, the article focuses on the fact that circuses fail to "meet minimal regulatory standards." The circuses get inspected often times, but there is no harsh treatment for the circuses that have unfit conditions.

Cock Fighting

2011-03-04T22:11:00.002-05:00

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/cockfighting/

This website defines cockfights and gives breif information about the sport. It also shows a video clip and gives a list of websites that lead to more information about cock fighting and what is being done to try and ban it. This website is biased. It takes the side that cock fighting is wrong and that states need to crack down on their laws because it is illegal and a felony in every state.
The website states that "in a cock fight, two roosters fight each other to the death while people place bets. Cockfighters let the bird suffer untreated injuries or throw the birds away like trash afterwards. Besides being cruel cock fighting often goes hand in hand with gambling, drug dealing, illegal gun sales, and murder."
In these fights, birds wear razor-sharp blades on their legs which cause injuries like punctured legs, broken bones and peirced eyes. Most of them do not survive. This website also talks about how parents take their children to see cock fights which could leave their children to think that violence is okay.
The websites video clip gives the most in depth look at cock fighting because it explains and shows how the cock fight is set up as well as the dead and injured birds. They are set up with orange scratch lines in the video. They also found a shelter where these cock fighters were breeding chickens and realized that it was also an animal cruelty case which made things worse. These chickens did not have access to water and were in very bad shape. This was a cock fight the the HSUS helped bust open.

Live Pigeon Shoots

2011-03-04T19:19:00.003-05:00

http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-gun.html

A historic Pennsylvanian gun club that has hosted Ernest Hemingway and Annie Oakley has surreptitiously restarted a century-old tradition of holding live pigeon shoots, reigniting the ire of animal rights groups and putting the state's porous animal cruelty legislation in the crosshairs.

The Philadelphia Gun Club has been fined $160 following a recent incident in which a member was spotted firing his rifle at birds that had been released from spring-loaded traps along the banks of the Delaware River, about 32 kilometers north of Philadelphia.

"Live pigeon shoots are a practice similar to cockfighting or dog fighting, where it is largely an underground circuit of the same people who follow it around," said Heidi Prescott of The Humane Society of the United States. "The Philadelphia Gun Club had shut them down, but apparently started them up quietly again, and we don't know when."

Horse Carriage

2011-03-04T19:19:00.002-05:00

http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/animal-precinct/nyc-carriage-horse-industry.aspx

The ASPCA's stance on horse carriages:

     The ASPCA believes that carriage horses were never meant to live and work in today's urban setting. In addition to the dangers of working in congested areas, these horses spend their days directly behind cars, trucks and buses, inhaling their fumes. Given the constraints and challenges that New York City presents, and as the primary enforcer of New York City's carriage horse laws, the ASPCA does not believe New York City can meet the needs of its horses. Neither the New York City environment nor the current law can provide horses with the fundamental necessities to ensure their safety and well being.

     For all of these reasons, the ASPCA is a supporter of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets, an organization dedicated to improving New York City's quality of life through education and advocacy. NYCLASS advocates viable alternatives to carriage horses that will not only relieve the City government of its financial burden, but will also avoid the safety and quality of life issues caused by the carriage horse industry.

     The ASPCA supports Intro. 86, Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito's legislation to phase out carriage horses in New York City, replacing horse drawn carriages with alternative, fuel-powered classic cars. These cars can provide rides for tourists, offer jobs to workers currently in the carriage horse industry and maintain the historic feel of the tours.

Kapparot

2011-03-04T18:59:00.001-05:00

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/407513/jewish/Kapparot-The-Chicken-Thing.htm

"Kapores is a custom carried out before Yom Kippur. Some do it in the days preceding Yom Kippur, others on the evening beforehand or in the early morning of the day preceding the Holy Day. It is observed by both men and women. Each man takes a live rooster, and each woman takes a hen. Pregnant women take both a rooster and a hen since they may give birth to a male. Preferably the chicken should be white. Some authorities say that one should not search out a white chicken, but if there is a choice, a white one should be chosen. Why? Because in Isaiah it says. 'And if your sins be like scarlet, they shall become as white as snow.'"

Santeria

2011-03-04T18:25:00.004-05:00

Conflicts concerning Santeria sacrifices: animal and human; real and imaginary

The article is a listing of various conflicts, controversies and court cases around animal rights under Santeria. Examples range from a witch-hunt in Mexico to a First Amendment Supreme Court case.

CIRCUS

2011-03-04T18:22:00.001-05:00

http://www.animalsaustralia.org/media/in_the_news.php?article=1995

In her article, “The Controversy Comes to Town,” Terra Sword talks about a specific case regarding the banning of circuses in an Australian city of Lismore. Circus owner Jan Lennon was denied the right to perform with her animals and the rest of the Stardust Circus crew when animal rights advocate Amber Hall took the matter into her own hands and joined forces with the Lismore City Council to prevent their ability to do so. Sword skillfully switches points of view to address each side of the argument and get incites from both parties.

In the article, Hall claims that, “animal circuses are inherently cruel with animals constantly confined to cages, pens, and trucks,” also mentioning that “Lismore City Council has declared animal circuses as cruel and thus against the social values of community.” Holder of a law degree, she tried to and succeeded in convincing the City Council to deny Lennon the right to perform. Her desires of doing so were in attempts to achieve the goal of decreasing the popularity of animals in the circus, the accomplishment of which would bring her, and the rest of the animal rights activists, closer to the passing of the law that would actually ban the practice as she believes that even though “it is still lawful to have animals in a circus, that doesn’t make morally acceptable.”

On the other side of the ring however, Lennon is attempting to fight for “the only life she’s ever known.” The circus owner claims that she’s had the lions “forever and a day,” also adding that “they’ve been born and bred in captivity and don’t know any other life,” which indeed brings up a good point in the argument. Who is to judge if lions are content with the life they have at the zoo? Like Lennon mentions, they don’t know life otherwise, and “don’t know what the wild is.” If the circus was to go out of business and the lions were to be let go there is a potential that they indeed would not survive in the wilderness. Even though some, and in this case Hall, may argue that the lion’s life and participation in the circus is “absolutely pathetic” and perhaps even unnatural for an animal who has perpetually been called the “King of the Jungle,” so may the life of a modern day actor be criticized similarly.

Animal abuse is, of course, immoral in any case and should be prevented the best way possible. However, if “anyone can come and watch a training session [at the circus] any time they want, and there is never any cruelty,” and if one truly devotes themselves to the upbringing and wellbeing of the animals like Jan Lennon claims she does, why not let the show and its participants go on?

Kapparot

2011-03-04T16:34:00.002-05:00

http://www.upc-online.org/kapparot.html

This report is accompanied by photographs and video documentation of the Kapparot 1996. I have included literature to assist in an in-depth understanding of why the chickens that you used were in poor health and present serious questions as to whether such chickens could be considered kosher on any day of the year, much less a sacred Jewish holiday.

This report is designed to open up discussions and may easily be supported by more descriptions and visual documents upon request. My intense involvement in the past year with the chickens changed me and many people who met them. Most of us had no idea how extensively damaged the chickens as a species have become as a result of human manipulation. Please understand that although the following is not easy to read, even ugly to think about, the intention is to constructively use this information to improve the situation. I write to foster understanding of who the chickens are and to explore our moral responsibility to them.

Circuses

2011-03-04T13:16:00.000-05:00

http://www.bornfreeusa.org/articles.php?p=493&more=1

"The Circus is coming to Town!" In the article "What's Wrong with The Circus?" the Animal Protection Institute (API) provides information on myths that are used to justify Circuses as being helpful and not harmful to animals. "The API has been involved in Forty years of fighting animal abuse and exploitation. Whether they use the courts, the legislatures, the ballot box ... engage in their nationwide team of grassroots activists at the community level ... work closely with individual advocates ... form coalitions with other national or state animal advocacy groups ... or use their position as a major media resource to focus national attention on the abuse of animals anywhere and everywhere ... they continue to get the job done". API explains that Exotic animals do not choose to work in circuses. The animals are being degraded and emerged into a lifestyle that is not natural. What kind of message are we sending to the younger generation? "That it is acceptable to use animals for amusement and profit" In the article API proves the myth that "Circuses help conserve endangered animals" to be completely false. They are not saving them they are exploiting them. They claim that they help to "preserve" the animals through "captive breeding." This does not help wild endangered animals because they don't have problems with breeding but with the dangerous environment that has put them into endangerment. Circuses are not "conserving" they are "exploiting" they are not here to help the animals they just want to make money off of them. This myth is a cover up and holds no truth. The API urges people to boycott circuses that exploit animals and attend shows that only show human performers to ensure the safety of the animals. They also urge people to lobby for animal rights before, during, and after the show. The API is diligently working to eliminate animal participation in circuses despite the myths. Therefore, Circuses try to justify the use of animals as a positive thing but in fact it is detrimental to the welfare of animals as well as extremely cruel practices.

Circuses

2011-03-04T11:06:00.003-05:00

Peta.org on circuses

PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is the largest animal rights organization in the world and has over 2 million members. PETA focuses on animal rights in four different categories: "on factory farms, in the clothing trade, in laboratories, and in the entertainment industry."(PETA). This organization argues that animals that are in circuses are treated horribly through training tactics and demands. No animal willingly performs the stunts that they are forced to do. Peta states, "They don't perform these and other difficult tricks because they want to; they perform them because they're afraid of what will happen if they don't." The training tactics that are used are very inhumane and torturous. The trainers use punishment and deprivation to control the animals (PETA). The Ringling Bros. circus go to violent extremes to train their animals, "elephants are beaten, hit, poked, prodded, and jabbed with sharp hooks, sometimes until bloody"(PETA). Baby elephants are even taken from their mothers at their vulnerable stage. Not only are the animals abused, they are also kept in horrible conditions when they are traveling. One or two animals are kept in tiny cages with hardly any space to move around (PETA). The animals travel in extreme weather conditions and hardly get the basic necessities to live. Some animals have even died because they were denied food and water. Animals that are mistreated in circuses also become a public danger. There have been many instances where animals try to escape from the circuses, causing harm to the audiences and the trainers. Elephants have ran through the streets trying to get away from the circuses, causing harm to pedestrians. There is no way for circuses to treat animals right, so the best circuses are the animal free ones.

Circuses

2011-03-03T18:17:00.001-05:00

http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=222&ssi=10

Animal Defenders International is a “group of organizations… [that] work together globally for the protection of animals.” (See “About Us”) They work together across an array of locations to ensure that animals are being treated as the members of the organization believe that they should be. Among the areas of focus, the treatment of animals in the entertainment industry is a main concern for ADI.

In 1998, a group of Animal Defenders’ Field Officers in the UK worked with various circuses, video-taped the daily routine of numerous animals involved in the circus, and were consequently horrified at the manner in which the animals were treated for 18 months. Stones, metal bars, wooden planks, and negligence were thrown at the animals whenever they appeared to be stressed or were simply not cooperating.

In traveling circuses, where constant uprooting is required, many animals and their apparent uneasy feelings towards the unorthodox traveling procedures, the circus companies paid no mind, tying the animals down with heavy chains, leaving them stuck in their transport cages for long hours.

When not traveling, the conditions of their living quarters were hardly improved. Kept in dark, cramped cages the animals were not given enough exercise or comfort that they inevitably require in order to remain physically and psychologically healthy. Such confinement caused what can be described as nervous habits, “pointless repetitive movements and pacing….” “Abnormal behavior increased when animals were closely confined, tied, or chained up.” Consequently, these are the very environment in which they are kept in.

ADI has done as much as it can to ensure that the circus institutions that inflict pain and unprecedented circumstances onto these animals get reprimanded and shut down. 58 summonses were sent out to three specific individuals and when the charges against them were dropped, “ADI…immediately launched a massive letter-writing campaign….” With the effort of ADI, the three humans who were treating animals with disdain were found guilty for the cruelty they bestowed upon elephants and chimpanzees.

ADI is doing what they can to not let the prevailing cruelty towards circus animals continue. Through their active study of the environment in which these animals are living in, the way in which they are being treated, and they manners in which they are being transported they have experienced first-hand the horrifying conditions these animals unwillingly have found themselves in. With this information, ADI hopes to save the hundreds of animals by freeing them of the life they never asked to have. ADIs involvement across the globe makes them a very viable, very strong force against animal cruelty in circuses.

Kapparot

2011-03-03T15:35:00.002-05:00

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/kapparot.html

Kapparot is a custom in which the sins of a person are symbolically transferred to a fowl. It is practiced by some Jews shortly before Yom Kippur. First, selections from Isaiah 11:9, Psalms 107:10, 14, and 17-21, and Job 33:23-24 are recited; then a rooster (for a male) or a hen (for a female) is held above the person's head and swung in a circle three times, while the following is spoken: "This is my exchange, my substitute, my atonement; this rooster (or hen) shall go to its death, but I shall go to a good, long life, and to peace." The hope is that the fowl, which is then donated to the poor for food, will take on any misfortune that might otherwise occur to the one who has taken part in the ritual, in punishment for his or her sins.

Carriage Horses

2011-03-03T12:46:00.001-05:00

http://www.banhdc.org/

The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages is a standing committee of the Coalition for New York City Animals, Inc. It was formed in January 2006 in response to the death of Spotty, a five year old carriage horse who died in a horrendous spooking accident on 9th Avenue and 50th St. on his way back to the stable.

It was the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages that brought this issue to the public after years of non-activity and disinterest. Since January 2006, we have been out there on the street educating people and creating support where there was none.We were the only organization that has been consistently involved and are primarily responsible for all the hard work that brought us to where we are today.

In the spring of 2006, we asked the Comptroller's office to do an Audit of the City agencies that oversee the carriage industry. When it was completed one year later, we made sure the NY Times reported on it even though it appeared that there was a cover-up since it had not been uploaded to the NYC Comptroller's web site two months after its issue date. In the last two years, we generated a lot of press - newspapers, radio and TV, letters to the editor - and got people and politicians talking about the issue again.

We created an issue where there had been no interest since the early 1990s when Peggy Parker of the Carriage Horse Action Committee was active.

In December, Council Member Tony Avella agreed to introduce legislation to ban horse-drawn carriages - Intro 658. This is the first time ever that legislation was introduced to ban this archaic out-of-place industry.

Our Committee and our volunteers consist of people from all walks of life. Some have a background in animal activism; for others, it was the first time they got involved with animal issues. But what we all have in common is compassion for the carriage horses and the hope that this cruel industry will come to an end.

Dog Fighting

2011-03-02T21:57:00.000-05:00

http://www.dogfighters.org/

"Dog-fighting is a blood-sport in which animals are specifically bred and trained to fight each other within an enclosed pit or ring, for the benefit of individuals who place bets on the animal they believe will win. The fights are extremely brutal, with animals often fighting to the death.

Dogfighting is illegal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and the federal Animal Welfare Act prohibits the interstate transportation of dogs for fighting purposes. Forty-eight states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have made dogfighting a felony offense. Forty-six states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands prohibit the possession of dogs for fighting. And�forty-eight states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands prohibit being a spectator at a dogfight."

Cockfighting

2011-03-02T20:45:00.004-05:00

http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/cockfighting.aspx

"Cockfighting - a blood sport in which two roosters specifically bred for aggressiveness and placed beak to beak in a small ring and encouraged to fight to the death - has been around for centuries."

The roosters endure severe training for several months which consists of long obstacles and running on treadmills. They are given vitamins and steroids to build their stamina and health for the fights. Their owners or trainers think of different strategies to lower the rooster's chance of losing therefore they pluck their feathers and cut off the wattles. This is a lot of work and it is an investment for many people. Numerous amount of money is invested in these activities because of the training and the weapons attached to the roosters feet. Weapons, such as sharp knives and sharp edges, are attached to their feet and the fights are based on these weapons. The fights are"short-knife" fight, "long-knife" fight or a "gaff" fight. Ironically, these fights have referees even though a rooster always ends up dead. Cockfighting is encouraged mostly by gang members, who make bets on which rooster will win or lose. This sounds like a great business but it is illegal and a crime in all fifty states and District of Columbia. " Cockfighting is illegal in all 50 states and a felony offense in 35 states and the District of Columbia. The possession of birds for fighting purposes is prohibited in 34 states and the District of Columbia" People are convicted for cockfighting even if they are spectators. Even though its banned in the United States, it is popular in other countries such as France, Haiti, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, Puerto Rico, Italy and Malaysia. Cockfighting is cruelty towards the roosters and animals activists are against these actions.

Dog Fighting

2011-03-02T11:24:00.003-05:00

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/dogfighting/facts/dogfighting_fact_sheet.html

For centuries, humans have deliberately pitted dog-aggressive dogs in staged fights against one another. Why are animal welfare advocates no closer to ending this brutal blood sport? This link provides a horrific detailed history on the practice of dog fighting.

Currently it is a felony in all 50 states to, not only host a dog fight, but also to spectate a fight.

Dog Fighting

2011-03-01T13:21:00.002-05:00

http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/dog-fighting/history-of-dog-fighting.aspx

For thousands of years humans have been pairing up aggressive dogs in a "sport" known as dog fighting, in which the competitors often fight until death. Humans arrange the matches and breed and train the fighting dogs. Surprisingly, original fighting dogs were taught to be people friendly because they had to be able to be handled by their owners and referees.

"The development of modern dogfighting as practiced in Europe, North America and South America can be clearly traced to 1835, when bull-baiting was banned in England. After the ban, the owners of "bulldogs"—used up until then to bait bulls, bears and other animals—turned to staging fights between their dogs to satisfy their blood lust." These "bull dogs" were cross bred and created different breeds, such as American Pit Bulls. Originally, dog fighting was an activity for the professionals and upper class, as long as it wasn't advertised in public. For the middle class, dog fighting was a family event. Obviously times have changed, "dogfighting is [now] an underground activity. Undercover cruelty investigators describe an environment of casual cruelty and easy violence. Defeated dogs are killed and dumped; stolen dogs and cats are used to train fighting dogs. Successful raids on dogfighting rings typically net a cross section of people."

"More frequently, dogfights are informal street corner and playground activities. Stripped of the rules and formality of the traditional pit fight, these are spontaneous events triggered by insults, turf invasions or the simple taunt, "My dog can kill yours." Many people who participate in these fights lack even a semblance of respect for the animals, often starving or beating them to encourage aggressive behavior.. And many of the dogs are encouraged to be a threat not only to other dogs, but to people as well—with tragic consequences." This new breed of dog fighting is difficult to control because the problem lays deep within the owners and coaches.

The ASPCA, or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, is an organization that aims "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States". It was founded on the belief that "animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans, and must be protected under the law". The organization has legal authority to investigate and make arrests for cruelty to animals. It is one of the largest organizations of its kind in the world, and has branches all across the United States.

SANTERIA

2011-02-27T14:41:00.012-05:00

Sacrificers: It's Religion, Not Abuse

Reprint of Philadelphia Daily News reporter Stephaie Farr’s article “Sacrificers: It’s Religion, Not Abuse” (12/20/2009) on live-animal sacrifice in Philadelphia:

http://www.rootsandrooted.org/?p=1082

On Nov. 24 in Katmandu, Nepal, more than 200,000 animals were sacrificed as part of an ancient Hindu ritual celebrated just once every five years.

Half a world away and two weeks prior, on Friday the 13th, in Northeast Philadelphia, five beheaded animals – a cat, three chickens and the skeletal remains of a dog – were found near an Olney bike path in what Pennsylvania SPCA officials said was the 11th case of animal sacrifice documented in the city this year.

PSCPA officials said that they often see more animal sacrifices in the city between November and December because it correlates with “high holidays” celebrated by various groups.

But serious practitioners of religions in the city that call for animal sacrifices, such as voodoo, Palo and Yoruba (known outside of the tradition as Santeria), say that they are not responsible for sacrificial remains found in public parks and cemeteries.

“We don’t leave animals out,” voodoo priest and Temple University art professor John Dowell said. “These people who leave stuff in the parks, I don’t know what they’re doing.”

According to experts, like local anthropologist and folklorist Dr. Eoghan Ballard, and Dr. Randall Lockwood, senior vice president of anti-cruelty services for the American SPCA, sacrificial remains found in parks, especially those adorned with talismans like candles or pennies, are most often the work of religious novices, teens or satanic dabblers.

“The moment you start finding things which are elaborate I rule out many Afro-diasporic religions,” Ballard said. “If they display it out in some way, that’s usually somebody looking for attention or following a recipe book.”

Ballard said that in Afro-diasporic religions a sacrificed animal becomes part of the liturgical meal, not a disturbing public display.

“It’s sort of like the church dinner,” he said. “If it’s a legitimate tradition it follows a practice that’s akin to methods used in kosher and halal.”
Dowell, who is a priest, or hungan, at Le Peristyle, a voodoo church in Philadelphia’s Fern Rock section, agreed.

“Most people sit down and eat chicken and beef,” he said. “The animal is already dead and then you thank God. We pray over the animal first. It’s kept, it’s cleaned and then it’s killed. It’s done in a very respectful and humane way.”
Animal sacrifice is a misunderstood practice in major metropolitan cities, where it’s become more prevalent with increased immigrant populations and an increased interest in Afro-diasporic religions among the Anglo-American population, Ballard said.

“The main problem, more than anything, is that people assume a crime has taken place when in a different cultural context no one would assume that,” he said. “We can’t assume something sinister is going on when people practice alternate religions. There’s more and more of them here so we need to deal with it.”

He said that serious practitioners of Afro-diasporic religions are usually discreet about what they do with the remains of the sacrifice once the animal is consumed. The remains are usually thrown in a trash can, not displayed in a public park, he said.

“If a trash can tips over and a bunch of chicken bones spills out no one assumes they’ve sacrificed an animal – they assume they’ve been to KFC,” he said.
Dowell, who has himself conducted sacrifices, said that Le Peristyle works with area farms to obtain their animals, and suggested that sacrificing an animal, which is typically done by slitting the throat, is a more humane practice then buying meat from a store.

“It’s done in a very, very respectful way.” he said. “The goat is numbed first and then it’s killed. The animal is not traumatized at all. When you buy meat a lot of those animals have been traumatized.”

About 96 percent of the sacrifices done at Le Peristyle are in celebration of festive occasions, and after the sacrifice the animal is eaten, Dowell said.
The other 4 percent, he said, are done if someone is very sick.

“Unfortunately, we do have to sacrifice the animal to heal someone,” he said. “In that case, something has to die for something to live.”

The practice itself is not illegal, though Nicole Wilson, PSPCA humane society police officer, said that a “person’s freedom of religion does not mean they have a free pass on animal cruelty issues.”

She said that different laws apply to livestock and domestic animals. As long as livestock, such as goats and chickens, are stunned – usually by a blow to the head – before they are killed, then no law is broken.

“If they are consistent in the method of killing, that is, they are meeting the standard for food consumption purposes, then they don’t even have to eat the animals,” she said. Dogs and cats, however, are afforded specific protections under animal-cruelty legislation. The ASPCA’s Lockwood said that even legitimate cases of sacrifice raise some concerns for animal-welfare advocates, including how the animal is treated, held and transported before the sacrifice and the effect that observing a sacrifice might have on children.

“What happens when children are exposed to a high-ranking authority or person of reverence participating in an act of cruelty?” he asked.

The religious novices, teens and satanic dabblers who leave behind horrific scenes – such as last year, when a beheaded rooster was found hanging from a tree in Greenmount Cemetery, with a bloody plate and knife nearby – are rarely caught.

If the sacrifices are traced back – which rarely happens – those who committed them are more likely to be charged with illegal disposal of carcasses, littering or zoning violations as opposed to animal cruelty, which is a harder charge to prove, Wilson said.

Ballard and Dowell want to dispel the myth that all animal sacrifices are disturbing and that organized, alternative religions are behind the bizarre animal-sacrifice displays found throughout the city.

“When somebody who is insane does something and they’re Baptist, we don’t associate their insanity with being Baptist,” Ballard said. “But if they claim some other religion we immediately associate it with that.

“That really is a cultural double standard.”

Human/Non-Human Animals

2011-01-31T21:23:00.001-05:00

I suppose the largest difference between we humans and the animals would be the lack of animals technology, and I use that term firmly. Humans have progressed steadily in the fields of science and technology, which ultimately increases our abilities to communicate. An animal in North America cannot contact an animal in South Africa.

Additionally, as humans, we typically tend to move away from nature while establishing new homes; whereas animals depend on their natural environment to find food and shelter. This being a result of our advanced level of thought.

Human/Nonhuman Animals

2011-01-29T19:15:00.002-05:00

Human/Nonhuman Animals.

2011-01-26T13:21:00.001-05:00

-Emerald Tawe

Nature Literacy

2010-11-04T19:16:00.002-04:00

Nature litracy for me is that knowledge of what nature means backed by concrete action aimed at supporting one's knowledge of nature. If nature literacy has to do a whole lot with man and his natural environment ,then it is but fair to argue that my generation is becoming more and more nature literate. For instance my generation is keen on addressing such things as green house gases, preservation of wild life , forest utilization, waste management, just to name a few as concrete demonstration of how more and more my generation is becoming nature literate.

Nature Literacy

2010-11-04T19:03:00.002-04:00

I believe our generation is defiantly becoming less nature literate. Most teenagers today are grossed out by animals or are frightened by them. during our summer vacations we hang out with friends and work jobs at pools and stores. But not long ago the entire reason of summer vacation was to harvest crops. Many of the people in my generation wouldn't be able to survive a night or two out in the wilderness. But people from past generations would be able to light a fire, hunt food and possibly survive several nights. To me nature literacy is the ability to feel at one with nature.

-Liam Bradley

Nature Literacy

2010-11-04T18:38:00.000-04:00

I define nature literacy as being able to look at nature, understand, and read it the way we look at a text and are able to do those things. Out generation is definitely becoming less literate. Today much of nature is being replaced. Even in my own neighborhood, I constantly see new housing developments and such where trees once were. Although houses are both essential and beneficial to humans we must also realize the importance of nature. This can be done by improving our literacy of nature by simply making an effort to learn a little more.