On Loving Animals...

Haven't met us yet? Stop by and visit the Animal Protection League table at the  Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale  this Saturday, May 5! Our programs director, Janine Motta, will be staffing an information table and she would love to meet you! Where : Go Lightly,  4 South Fullerton Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07042 When : Saturday, May 5 from 11AM - 4:30PM What : The  previous two Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale events, organized by Montclair Vegans, were such a success, that they're doing it again! Please stop by and bring your friends and family to come and try some delicious baked goods, mingle with like-minded people and check out the wonderful eco-friendly store, Go Lightly.  This is going to be the first year that there will also be live music, thanks to the band In Cages!     We're grateful to Montclair Vegans for offering us this outreach opportunity AND for choosing APLNJ to be a recipient of part of the proceeds raised from this event....

One foolish act compounded by another. When the Philippine National Police came to Jerzon Senador's home last week to arrest him, his parents claimed ignorance of this whereabouts. Evidently, Senador decided to make a go for it, and his parents stepped up to run interference for him. These things don't usually end well for the fugitive especially if  reward money enters the picture later on.  Like most animal abusers, Senador thought it was funny, entertaining, no big deal to subject an animal to an anomalous condition. In this case, as you can see in the photo above, he hung the family pet on a clothesline using pins. If my memory does not fail me, this happened back in June 2011, Senador subjected this dog to a few rounds in the washing machine as well.  The charge against Jerzon Senador isn't making a mountain out of a mole hill as some people argued. Some people stressed that the dog suffered no serious injury, that the Senador family normally treated...

I am crossposting a message from our dear friends at Keep Life in the Park. ============================================== Dear Friends of NJ Wildlife,   As we enter the warmer months with goslings appearing shortly, the following articles are relevant to us New Jersey too.  Intelligence and compassion can help us co-exist with the creatures that also call our outdoor space home.  The bird that survived the arrow is proof of how low some humans can stoop.  We take the high road promote non-violence towards all animals.   K.L.I.P.     http://www.friendsofanimals.org/news/2012/april/kill-the-idiotic-bil.html   Oppose Senator Gillibrand's Goose-Killing NYC Wildlife Refuge Birds striking planes up five-fold since 1990; Sullenberger calls experience key Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who landed his US Airways flight on the Hudson River after birds were sucked into both engines in 2009, interviewed with...

It has been a while, over a month, since my last post. Shameless backsliding, I must confess. I can't even claim writer's block since I have been writing a lot, opining on  newspaper readers' comments, social networks, emails and tete-a-tetes with brethren animal lovers on animal welfare issues particularly in the Philippines.  The standout, like a wart on a bald head, concerns the rescued pit bulls in San Pablo, Laguna, over 250 of them, used for fights held locally but broadcasted via internet to a betting and cheering public in Korea. The syndicate, ran by Koreans, was busted at the end of May 2012 by the Philippine National Police after months of surveillance. Much to their chagrin, the authorities discovered that the individuals they arrested in December 2011 on a similar raid were the very same ones running the San Pablo fights--while out on bail. Evidently, they have no fear of the law, counting on turnstile justice, in and out, easy peasy. Well, the Koreans nat...

People are so hypocritical, double standard. They become indignant that their idol was doused with flour, rushed to surround and protect her, but they wouldn't cry foul when raccoons , foxes, lynx, and other animals have their skin and fur ripped from their bodies to make fashionable clothing items from them.

I am all for animal rights and welfare, but please when you see a fawn curled up in the grass or bushes do not pick it up and take it away like you're doing it a favor. Don't put your human scent on a fawn because that will attract predators to it. The mother, sensing the human scent, will have to lick it off to throw off the predators. Don't make life any harder for the mother. Remember, a seemingly lonely fawn isn't one at all. In most cases, the mother will be back to care for it. Mom leaves her little one, who already knows to keep quiet, while she forages. Leave fawns alone where you found them!

I was perusing my small collection of wildlife photos, and I realized that I haven't published most of them on this blog. Facebook has been the usual venue for my photos, shown only to friends, fellow animals lovers, people who I have a symbiotic relationship with. We kinda feed off each other's passion for animal rights and welfare, sharing news and images that either uplift one's spirit or make the chest cave in from sadness. These photos were probably taken in the Fall of 2011, not too long ago. I heard that deer could be seen at Flat Rock Brook Nature Center which, incredibly, is only a stone's throw away from the hustle and bustle of Route 4 and the George Washington Bridge. So, I went back there (I have been there before) in the late afternoon to get lucky. I knew enough about deer to know that they come out to feed in the twilight, meaning early morning or late afternoon. They wisely stay hidden during the day. And even if they come out to graze, it does not me...

Logging Bill S1085, it worries me. I have this image in my head of denuded hills, smoky tractors and heavy transport trucks, wild animals scampering for cover, an open canopy, and reclining state legislators fattened up by lobbyists and with huge smiles on their faces. On Thursday, March 8 th , the NJ Senate Environment Committee will hear S1085 and so it has become extremely important to CALL the committee members' respective offices and urge them to defeat the bill. Stand up and be counted. Your state needs you. According to this ARTICLE , logging NJ's public lands will ruin the forests rather than make it healthier. Not surprisingly, it would take a knowledgeable person on the environment to explain things to lay people like us. I have no trouble in understanding that cutting mature trees, destroying the natural canopy of the forest, will allow invasive species to thrive on the forest floor while the deer eat up the saplings of the very hardwoods that are expected to repla...

S1085 - Forest Harvest on State Land (logging bill) to be heard in Senate Environment Committee on Thursday, March 8, 2012. ACTION 1. Contact the following committee members and ask them to vote AGAINST releasing S1085 from committee. This bill is bad for wildlife. Senate Environment and Energy Committee Senator Bob Smith (Chair) 732-752-0770 Senator Linda Greenstein (Vice-Chair) 609-395-9911 Senator Christopher Bateman 908-526-3600 Senator Jennifer Beck 732-933-1591 Senator Jim Whelan 609-383-1388 2. Contact your local state Senator (locate here ) and ask him or her to vote NO if this bill is posted for a vote in the full Senate. 3. Attend the hearing and speak out against the bill: Senate Environment and Energy Thursday, March 08, 2012 - 10:00 AM Meeting - Committee Room 10, 3rd Floor State House Annex, Trenton, NJ Animal Protection League of NJ Post Office Box 174 Englishtown, New Jersey 07726-0174 alerts@aplnj.org 732-...

Ever have doubts if the NYC carriage horses are in good hands? I saw this video posted in the comments section of an article by CBS News, an article vouching for the city's horse-drawn carriages. The responses from both sides of the issue have been vitriolic. Watch this carriage driver abuse tourists over a fare. The tourists can speak out, argue terms and conditions, and walk away from a bad situation. Horses that haul several people at a time on carriages throughout four seasons, obviously, can't do the same to save their hides. Just for one moment, try to imagine their lives of quiet desperation. Imagine a captive life under the control of drivers who wouldn't think twice about insulting their very clients... The apologists insist that the horses are in good hands. Is this what they mean? Boycott the horse-drawn carriage rides. New York City is a large and exciting city; there are other sights to see. Please respect our city by respecting the animals. Do not perpetuate a...