On Loving Animals...

I am a bit of a hypocrite. I dislike people who proselytize although I am guilty of it to some degree. It is especially irksome when religion is the issue, and I am quick to dash hopes and shut the door on any chances of conversion. I will, on the other hand, preach the benefits of a meatless diet. I will save the heathens from their meaty diets. And I find nothing wrong with that, only good. Such is the nature of bias. Assuming an open and fair mind, I should not come down hard on the agents of change. They are just fulfilling their mission. How else will they get the word out to the people if they don't try? My Facebook friend recounted her run-in with a confirmed meateater at "the morgue"---my term for the meat section of a supermarket. A suggestion was made to view the slaughterhouse videos on the web. The steak-lover listened but there was no confirmation that he actually viewed the videos afterwards. Nevertheless, a seed was planted and that is enough to make any pr...

T his photograph speaks to me. It suggests a certain communion between farm, presumably slaughter-bound, animals. It portrays a kind of camaraderie, a we're-all-together-in-this brotherhood, a recognition of a common fate. Surely, if people can have it, animals also possess a sense of being and community. Love thy neighbor. Animals, instinctively or consciously, know this more profoundly than our species. Unlike the animals, we are capable of plotting the murder of a fellow human for revenge and material gain. At one end, we produce profound scientific minds and persuasive moral philosophers. But at another end, there are the serial killers, animal torturers, and mass murderers. We raise other living beings for slaughter and consumption, disregarding their sentience. We organize armed forces to destroy societies opposed to us and justify it as inevitable, necessary, as the right course of action. Who are we, but a flawed species. Our dominion over animals is utterly wrong and our ...

Please speak out for the all-too-often forgotten animals at live markets--chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, turtles, quail and other innocents who are sold as "food". Call (732)693-9044 , or email anthony@faunnj.org for more information about this event. WHEN : Saturday, September 18th, 2010. TIME : From 1pm through 4pm. WHERE : Marzigliano's Live Market , 5217 Bergenline Avenue, West New York, NJ, 07093-5512. PARKING : *There is metered parking all along Bergenline Avenue, however since this demonstration is on a Saturday, finding a spot close to the demo location might be a problem. For those driving in and unfamiliar with the area, J F Kennedy Blvd is one of the main thoroughfares running through the town of West New York. Take J F Kennedy Blvd to 52nd Street, where you will see a large PC Richards on the corner. Turn onto 52nd Street, and drive down approximately 3/4 of a block, you will pass a long/large brown building. Just beyond this building on your right hand...

It might be the area I am staying at, the juction of Avenida Mexico and Avenida Maximo Gomez, but I have seen less stray animals than I expected before coming to Santo Domingo. Many of the stray dogs I have seen are full-bodied with good fur on them. Only a few fit my image of a stray animal---thin, mangy, having only clumps of matted fur, a body spangled with festering wounds. Stray animals also have that look of being on a constant search for food. This is a very sad image. These are certainly not the strays that I meet at the shelter in New Jersey. Our strays escaped from their homes and lost their way, ending up at the shelter. The strays in Santo DomingoI make the streets their home. They live and die on the concrete pavements of the city. Frequent visitors to garbage dumps, these dogs consume rotten, maggot-infested leftovers. I have seen them in Santo Domingo, but not many. Is this good? Well, I don't know for sure. As I said, it could be the area I am residing at. However,...

Greetings from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. I arrived here three days ago and I must say that the Dominicans have been friendly and helpful. My Spanish is close to nil, but I get by quite well. I visited Zona Colonial, a small district in the city, where visitors can see the earliest structures built by the Europeans in the New World ( early 1500s). The other part the zona reminded me of the French Quarter of New Orleans. There were some pesky street vendors, but no one that I would categorize as a problem. The other day, I did something I haven't done in decades--I bought a whole coconut from the pushcart man who expertly chopped it up with his long and exceedingly sharp machete so I could drink the juice and eat the meat. This is a throwback to my younger years in the Phiippines. How simple, innocent, and inexpensive! Yet, you get to consume a fresh fruit untouched by human hands; the juice and meat are inside the husk. I don't think I will ever see a coconut push...