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From: In Defense of Animals - takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Tue, Jul 1, 2008 at 4:25 PM
Subject: Fourth of July Animal Safety Tips

Keep Your Animals Safe On July 4th!

Photo via Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton

The Fourth of July can be one of the most dangerous and frightening holidays for animals. Loud explosions are terrifying to animals who don’t understand them.

With proper planning and some common sense, your companion animals can remain safe and secure on Independence Day. Here are some tips:

* First and foremost, leave your companion animals at home when you go to see fireworks! Resist the urge to take them to fireworks displays.

* Before you leave home for the fireworks, make sure your animals are indoors in a sheltered, quiet area. Some animals become destructive when frightened, so be sure that you’ve removed any items that your companion animal could destroy or that would be harmful if chewed or swallowed. Leave a television or radio playing at normal volume to keep him/her company.

* Make sure your animals are wearing identification tags (and it’s even better if they’re also microchipped!) so that if they do become lost, they can be returned promptly.

* Do not leave an animal in your car. With only hot air to breathe, your animal friend can suffer serious health effects, even death, in a few short minutes. Partially opened windows do not provide sufficient air or cooling, but they do provide an opportunity for your animal to be kidnapped.

* If you know that your animal becomes seriously distressed by loud noises, consult with your veterinarian before July 4th for ways to help alleviate the fear and anxiety he or she will experience during fireworks displays.

* Never leave your animals outside unattended, even in a fenced yard, and especially not on a chain. With explosions occuring, animals who normally wouldn’t leave the yard may escape and become lost, or become entangled in their chain, risking injury or death. (There are lots of other reasons to never leave your dog chained! Contact us if you want more information about the negative effects of chaining dogs.)

* If you find somebody else’s companion animals running at-large, either take them to the address on the tag, if you feel comfortable doing so, or bring them to the local animal shelter, where they will have the best chance of being reunited with their human families.

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Inside sez: “Warmest wishes this Mother’s Day”

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Hello Green Friends,

Your moderators hereby challenge all of you to find one thing in your possession that you can offer here between now and this Saturday, April 26th.

Anything! Big, small, pretty, ugly, working, in need of fixing, children’s items, adults’ items, pet goodies, anything.

Sometimes people list an item to give and say something like “pick up today or it’s going in the trash tomorrow!”

Let’s avoid that by offering it tonight or tomorrow.

Has your spouse been nagging you to get rid of something? Do your kids think you’re hanging onto an eyesore? Are you tired of the astronomical amount of toys cluttering the house?

Here’s your chance. Take the Earth Day/Week Challenge right now.

It’s so easy to do; just sweep through your house and you’ll probably find something in the first room you visit.

I double dare you all to meet this challenge.

Yes, all 11,196 of you could keep 11,196 items out of the landfill this week by offering something to your neighbors now.

Let’s go!

Shelly, KC Freecycle List Moderator
shelly [at] kcfreecycle.org

getcher grist ecard here!

Happy Earth Day, y’all! While I love celebrating the earth and raising environmental consciousness, it’s important not to relegate Earth Day to just one day of the year. Earth Day is every day. And environmental activism doesn’t always - or even usually - mean buying more stuff.

Cartoonist Mikhaela Reid waxed green about the un-sustainability of our current culture over at her blog The Boiling Point yesterday:

With every Earth Day there comes a flood of special newspaper and magazine “Green Issues,” all generally pushing the same deluded feel-good idea that if only we replaced non-green products with slightly more green products, we’d really Make a Big Difference and Save the Planet. We don’t really need to change our consumer culture or hold corporate polluters accountable or enact sweeping and drastic environmental legislation–we just need to change our lightbulbs and wear organic cotton T-shirts. […]

Anyway, here’s the thing: buying more fancy stuff you don’t need (no matter how organic or recycled it is) is fundamentally an anti-green act. If you replace your perfectly good couch with some fancy organic or more sustainably produced designer creation, that does not mean you are saving the planet. It means you are buying a nice couch that is slightly less destructive than another couch. You’re still consuming, and you’re still creating waste. You are not a hero, and you are not an activist, you’re just a less destructive shopper.

And shopping is not a substitute for action.

Anyway, go read the whole thing; she makes many a good point. Buying green is good, but only when necessary. ‘Tis better to not buy (and consume) at all. And mere shopping is not to be mistaken for activism. Replacing your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs is a most certainly a good thing, but it does nothing to curb our increasingly demanding lifestyles, discourage corporate polluters, or encourage a nationwide shift to renewable forms of energy. To truly make a difference, we need structural change.

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Tagged: kcfreecycle earth day consumerism green environment the boiling point Mikhaela Reid

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Tagged: bbc documentary penguins kcfreecycle

And since Dr. Stephen Colbert, DFA is just as refreshing as the wet stuff (and also due in no small part to the crazy amount of yard work I have to do today), I’ll let him give you the lowdown on WWD. Here are all five segments of Thursday’s Colbert Report Special ReporT, “Watershift Down: Getting the Sea Monkey off America’s Aqua-Back.”

If you’d like to learn more about World Water Day (this year’s theme: Sanitation), check out www.worldwaterday.org and www.worldwaterday.net. Also, you can read more about the awesome Dean Kamen here. (If you only watch one clip, make it Stephen’s interview with Dean, which is the fourth one down below.)

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FYI: You can find out more about our no-animal policy here: www.kcfreecycle.org/animals-and-freecycle/

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Last Chance for Animals - campaigns [at] lcanimal.org
Date: Jan 25, 2008 4:57 PM
Subject: Join us for Pet Theft Awareness Day 2008!

On February 14th, LCA will observe The 20th Annual National Pet Theft Awareness Day! Each year, LCA educates the public on the dangers of pet theft with the help of individuals and other animal organizations throughout the United States.

An estimated 2 million companion animals are stolen in the United States annually. Unfortunately, most stolen pet cases go unreported, so it is almost impossible to know exact numbers of missing animals, but we do know is that pet theft is a real threat! Stolen pets are sold on the street for top dollar (especially popular breeds), shipped to puppy mills for breeding, sold to animal research labs, trained for dogfights or used as “bait” by dogfighters. It is the responsibility of caretakers to protect their pets from these horrible fates. Visit www.StolenPets.com to learn how you can protect your pet.

Do you want to get involved and spread the word about Pet Theft?

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Wishing you a safe and merry Christmas / x-mas / Hanukkah / Kwanzaa / Festivus / FSMas / winter solstice / holiday season!

If you’d like to send your season’s greetings to the list, please either leave a comment here or check out our Chat Cafe!
groups.yahoo.com/group/KCChatCafe/

- Kelly G., your sick-but-still-fairly-merry holiday moderator

Copied below is a press release from the animal welfare organization Dogs Deserve Better warning against leaving your dogs - and other companion animals - outside during Halloween.

For more on keeping your companion animals safe this Halloween, see also…

* ASPCA Offers Halloween Safety Tips For Pets at aspca.org

* NO SCAREDY CATS THIS HALLOWEEN: TOP 10 SAFETY TIPS FOR PET PARENTS at aspca.org

* Guard Against Ghoulish Goodies: Keep Your Pets Safe From Halloween Hazards at aspca.org

* Halloween Safety at dogs.about.com

* A Safe and Sound Halloween for Dogs at Bella Online

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Tammy Grimes, Dogs Deserve Better - tammy [at] dogsdeservebetter.org
Date: Oct 17, 2007 7:57 PM
Subject: Non-profit warns of Halloween dangers to chained dogs

Non-profit Warns of Halloween Dangers to Chained Dogs

Asks caretakers to keep dogs inside every night-especially on Halloween

Tipton, PA, October 12, 2007 — For dogs that are kept perpetually chained, a dark, autumn night is just another night to be cold, lonely and longing for affection. On Halloween, a chained dog may also have to fear for his life.

Halloween is a particularly dangerous time for dogs that are kept chained outside, warns Dogs Deserve Better, a non-profit dedicated to ending the suffering endured by dogs that are kept perpetually chained or caged. At Halloween, the group frequently sees an increase in the number of dogs that are helpless victims of attack. Fireworks or rocks are sometimes thrown at them and more horrific crimes, such as dogs being set on fire, have occurred in recent years. In addition, chained dogs can easily become agitated by strangers in or near their yards. Dogs Deserve Better representatives have encountered incidents of dogs breaking free from their chains and attacking trick-or-treaters.

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Too cute!

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: World Wildlife Fund - ecomments [at] wwfus.org
Date: Oct 1, 2007 1:30 PM
Subject: WWF: Carve a Pumpkin for Conservation

Carve a Pumpkin for Conservation
Going Wild With Pumpkins

Photo via Johnny Huh

This Halloween, show your support for conservation by displaying pumpkins carved with WWF nature-themed stencils!

Want a jack-o-lantern this Halloween that all your neighbors will be talking about? These WWF nature-themed stencils make it easy and fun for the whole family to carve a great pumpkin… and creatively show your support of conservation! You can also win a prize for your creation by entering the Going Wild With Pumpkins photo challenge from Snapfish by HP if you visit www.snapfish.com: wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=V3DKfX24ff6OJBm6OJDfvQ..

It’s fun and easy to participate!

1. Download your favorite WWF Wild Pumpkin stencils from the HP Activity Center.

2. Carve wild pumpkins with your friends and family.

3. Shoot digital photos of your favorite wild pumpkin display.

4. Upload your photos to Snapfish and share with the world.

5. Vote on Snapfish for your favorite Wild Pumpkin photo and compete for a chance to win 100 different prizes.

Get Stencils

Upload Photos

Learn more about Going Wild With Pumpkins, check out WWF’s 10 Green Halloween Tips and discover the ways that WWF is working to save wild animals and wild places.

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World Wildlife Fund
1250 24th St. NW
Washington, DC 20037-1193
www.worldwildlife.org/index.cfm

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Tagged: animals wwf world wildlife fund holidays halloween pumpkins pumpkin carving contests wildlife conservation stencils snapfish photos jack o’ lantern festive fall october flickr kcfreecycle