Earlier this month, nearly 90 wild horses rescued from abuse and neglect arrived at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Texas, where they are receiving the care they desperately need — both medical and rehabilitative — from HSUS dedicated animal care teams.

The horses were among more than 200 mustangs The Humane Society of the United States helped rescue from a Nebraska farm, where they were found suffering from starvation, severe parasite infestation, and other ailments. All the horses were taken from the range by the Bureau of Land Management and then sold to the highest bidder — a controversial practice we’re all working to stop.

The horses are on the mend, but they have a long way to go. Because they’re in such terrible shape, the Humane Society of the United States is in desperate need of support to care for these horses over the next few months and beyond.

Watch the video to meet these beautiful horses, and then please make a special gift to help HSUS care for them.

Your support is needed to help make the horses healthy and whole again so that when the time comes, they’re ready to be adopted into a loving — and permanent — home of their own.

Your help and support is always greatly appreciated

Eco-Market Store specializes in finding products for everyday living that work well with the environment, ie: cleaning products, doggie poop-bags, etc. Stay Tuned because lots more coming soon!

Visit EcoMarket Store now! www.ecomarketstore.com

AMAZING VICTORIES IN 2008

Let’s celebrate our victories for 2008 and may they serve as inspiration and motivation for the work to be done in 2009.

- Illegal Logging Ban Enacted. The United States became the first country in the world to prohibit the import and sale of illegally-sourced wood and wood products. Siberian tigers, orangutans and many other species dependent on forest habitat around the globe will benefit.
by WWF

- Clean Energy Tax Incentives Extended. The U.S. Congress extended tax incentives that encourage individuals and businesses to install renewable energy systems and build energy-efficient buildings.
by WWF

- Sumatran Elephant and Tiger Habitat Protected. Indonesia committed to doubling the size of a national park that is one of the last havens for endangered Sumatran elephants and critically endangered Sumatran tigers.
by WWF

- 50 Million People Switched Off Their Lights for Earth Hour 2008. WWF activists were among the estimated 50 million people around the world who turned off their lights for one hour on March 29, 2008, to demonstrate their commitment to slowing the effects of climate change. Sign up to join us for Earth Hour 2009
by WWF

There is still a lot of work to do and the WWF has a list of campaigns where we can all be a part of and help reach the ears and eyes of the world. Visit World Wildlife Fund.

- Donna Karan dumps fur! Thanks to the hard work of PETA’s staff, members, and volunteers and after nearly a year of pressuring designer Donna Karan to drop fur from her designs—by protesting outside her boutiques, crashing her runway show, and exposing her cruel use of fur online—Donna Karan has announced that all her Fall 2009 lines will be fur-free and that she has “no plans” to use fur in the future. Well done, everyone!
by Peta

For more ways to help and getting active visit Peta’s Action Center.

- Four years have passed since the devastating Asia tsunami of December 26, 2004 — the biggest emergency response in Save the Children’s history.

Today, our primary focus is on helping families become more self-sufficient and enabling children to succeed in school. Thousands of children affected by the tsunami are attending schools. And many of these children are also benefitting from our health, nutrition and child protection programs.
by Save the Children

Last night, I got sucked into watching a few documentaries with overly dramatic titles about insects. I sat in awe for nearly three hours watching ants raise caterpillar larvae as their own, spiders weave thick squares of web to use in a tool-like fashion to capture their prey from the rain-forest floor, and mayflies and cicadas as they shed their skin and emerged from the water and dark underground to start the last and most brief part of their life.

Insects develop complex relationships, care for their young, and work as teams much as we do. When you see a spider or ant running across the floor, it’s likely that they have somewhere important to be in order to complete something that they set out to do that day, just as we run errands and have order in our daily lives. However, often when we see them, we treat their presence as an intrusion, and many people even resort to inhumane methods for dealing with these encounters.

Cockroaches probably bear the brunt of our negative reactions more heavily than most insects. While you certainly don’t want your living space to turn into a cockroach haven, there are humane and affordable methods for discouraging them. Inhumane poisons and traps will do nothing for long-term control and will have you spending more time and money than solving the problem once and for all in an effective and humane manner. With a little time, you can have your environment cockroach-free, and no one has to get hurt. The following is a strategy that I used a couple of years ago, and it worked perfectly.

First and foremost, you must work on prevention. Keep all dishes washed, take trash out frequently, and make sure that unrefrigerated companion animal food is tightly sealed and put away when your animal companion is not eating. Keep countertops wiped down with a vinegar-and-water solution, and sweep, mop, and vacuum regularly. Now for the actual cockroachproofing, you will need the following:
• Non-toxic white glue
• Caulking in either white or clear (available from hardware stores)
• Stoppers for all your drains that do not already have built-in stoppers
• Dried whole bay leaves

Start with one room at a time, and begin with places where you have seen cockroaches. Put stoppers in all your drains—sinks and bathtub―when not in use to prevent roaches from coming in via your drainpipes. Also be sure to repair leaky faucets and pipes, as roaches are attracted to water.

Seal up all gaps between floorboards, under counters, around sink plumbing and windowsills, and near fuse boxes. For larger gaps, use the caulking, and for smaller gaps, use the glue. This will take some time, but if you just work on it for a little while each day, you will have it finished in no time.

Add dried bay leaves to your kitchen drawers and cabinets, too, as they are a great natural repellent and will leave your kitchen smelling wonderful!

P.S. If after your cockroachproofing you find any little guys who got stuck inside, help them out and use something like this to humanely remove them from your living space. Click here for more tips too.

[by Mylie]

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Play FreeRice and Help End World Hunger

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In the past week, more than 30,000 ONE members have signed our petition to Barack Obama and John McCain asking them to keep their poverty-fighting commitments to the world’s most vulnerable people. Together, we’re proving that, even in tough times, we stand up for our principles. And so far, it’s working. Since our campaign began, the candidates have continued to stand by the promises they made earlier in the campaign.

Now we need to keep the pressure on, and to do that we’re going global and breaking records. This Friday, October 17th, through Sunday the 19th is the “Stand Up and Take Action” weekend against poverty, when we’ll join the Global Call To Action Against Poverty and the U.N. Millennium Campaign to set a new Guinness World Record of 67 million people standing up, literally, against poverty – 1% of everyone on earth.Add your name to the petition. Show John McCain, Barack Obama and the world that Americans are serious about keeping our commitments to meet the Millennium Development Goals and halve extreme poverty and global disease by 2015. When you do, we’ll also add your name to the millions around the globe who are standing up against global poverty this weekend.

Barack Obama and John McCain have already gone On The Record in response to the call from ONE members like you, and made historic commitments to end extreme poverty and global disease. In two weeks, we’ll deliver your petitions and give them one more chance to reaffirm where they stand on our issues. Between now and then, let’s Stand Up, set a world record, and make our voices heard as Americans, and as part of a global movement against global poverty.

Thank you for making a difference,

David Lane, ONE.org

Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights? LEARN MORE.

* Animals Are Not Ours to Eat
* Animals Are Not Ours to Wear
* Animals Are Not Ours to Experiment On
* Animals Are Not Ours to Use for Entertainment
* Animals Are Not Ours to Abuse in Any Way

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What Is So Special About Animals?

Animals are a big part of our lives, and play a very important role here. They too are an expression of God. We don’t even realize how much of our lives they are. Animals are an essential piece of the work of art that Nature is. We see them everyday. Every morning I like to step outside to my yard with my dogs and contemplate on the majestic beauty of Nature, and everywhere I look I see a creature of Nature. I hear them, and I’m sure they hear and see me too. I dont go out much, so my direct interaction with humans is quite limited, with the animal kingdom, however, is a bit different. Daily I see squirrels, dogs and cats, birds and butterflies of all colors, sizes and shapes, lizards, bees, and I like to interact with them. My dog’s ears stand up when he hears a bird nearby, or sees a bird on a low branch, I believe it’s because the bird has greeted him hello, and he acknowledges. His facial gestures show so kind, his tail wags very gently showing content for seeing a friend.
My neighbor has a huge tree in the yard, it looks old and beautiful, full of wisdom. Sadly, last week one of its big branches ripped right off and fell over the house. Fortunately, there was no damage done, its as if the branch had gently settled over the roof. Ever since this happened the squirrels have taken this tree branch like an amusement park, running and chasing after each other all around the branch, onto the roof and right back up the tree. It’s truly enjoyable to watch. Nature is healing, when we embrace her, She embraces us back giving us Her Love and Her Strength. Interacting with Nature and the animals is a way to practice Natural Healing, we are engaging in an interaction with that realm, which means there is an exchange of energy. This is why its becoming more common to see therapy pets, specially dogs, but also cats, birds, dolphins, apes, and the list goes on. Give yourself the gift of welcoming the animals into your life, you won’t regret it.
Animals help us feel grounded, they also assist us in relieving stress. I like to sing, and when I’m in Nature I feel inspired to chant. It’s an amazing sight how Nature and Her creatures react to our vibrations. I recommend trying it, if you already haven’t .
This routine is a daily blessing to me, I hope it brings you the same.

In The Greatest Degree of Love & Divine Light.

Rev. Adriana Zotelo, RMT

* Give purchasing preference to suppliers that use controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK)—the least-cruel method of bird slaughter available. By the end of 2010, the company will purchase 5 percent of its turkey meat from suppliers that use CAK.
* Give purchasing preference to suppliers that don’t use gestation crates—restrictive metal enclosures that confine pregnant pigs. The company will also increase the total amount of pig meat that it purchases from crate-free suppliers by 5 percent each of the next three years, for a total increase of 15 percent.
* Give purchasing preference to producers of cage-free eggs and increase the amount of cage-free eggs that it sells to 4 percent by the end of 2009 and 5 percent by the end of 2010. The company will also work toward increasing that amount to 10 percent within the next 5 years.

Winn-Dixie is following in the footsteps of other major grocery and restaurant companies that have recently made animal welfare improvements following discussions with PETA, including Safeway, Harris Teeter, Burger King, Carl’s Jr., and Hardee’s.

While this agreement doesn’t mean that the eggs and meat sold by Winn-Dixie—or any other company—are produced without causing animals to suffer (visit PETA’s Web site Meat.org to learn more), Winn-Dixie has begun to phase out its suppliers’ worst abuses, which is a real victory for animals.

Please use Winn-Dixie’s online customer service form to thank the company for improving the lives of animals killed for its stores.

Thank you for all that you do for animals!

Sincerely,

Brooke Jones, Activist Liaison
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

“We’re pleased to share with you some of the recent marine conservation successes your support has helped make happen.

- In Florida, a recently completed study on reef resilience, a concept Conservancy scientists pioneered that involves identifying and protecting corals that are most likely to survive bleaching and other traumatic events, is providing important information about where corals survive and flourish in the Keys.

- Through the Micronesia Challenge, the Caribbean Challenge and the Coral Triangle Initiative, the Conservancy has played a key role in influencing governments to pledge to protect some of the most threatened marine systems.

- The Conservancy has launched a Marine Conservation Fellowship Program to prepare recent college graduates to become the next generation of conservation leaders in Hawai’i. Read about the first two Fellows selected who will learn all aspects of marine resource planning, management and monitoring.

- The Mesoamerican Reef — the largest coral reef in the Atlantic — extends more than 400 miles from Mexico to Honduras. In Belize, the Conservancy is working with local government and partners to protect 13 spawning aggregation sites for endangered reef fish.

Thanks to your support, the Conservancy is able to address the crisis facing our oceans in a way unique from other conservation organizations. We’re focused on protecting and restoring ocean and coastal habitats as a whole, as opposed to protecting individual species or managing fishing quotas.

We will continue to work with communities, partner organizations and governments to create networks of marine protected areas that are resilient in the face of climate change and provide benefits to local communities.

Thank you again for all you’ve done to help make this work possible.

Sincerely,

Sue M. Citro
Senior Digital Membership Manager
The Nature Conservancy

One week after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake shook southwestern China,
Save the Children plans to set up child-friendly spaces and temporary classrooms for primary schools in one of the most devastated communities
in Deyang Prefecture, part of Sichuan Province.
More than 3 million children live in the earthquake zone. For them, the disaster has meant the loss of everything that gave them a sense of security: their families, their homes, schools, and their daily routines.
Save the Children child protection adviser, Deborah Barry, arrived in China this week. Barry and other experts say child disaster victims need to quickly return to their routines. Even though they might be living in tents, families should try to get back to some normal activities like eating dinner at the same time as before the quake, and children should return to school as quickly as possible.
For children whose caregivers have survived, Save the Children, working alongside the local Red Cross, is preparing plans for five temporary child-friendly spaces to create a sense of normalcy and provide a safe place for children to play, learn and socialize. These areas also will help to support parents and caregivers.

In cases where children have no caregivers, while family tracing begins,
Save the Children will support the Women’s Federation of Sichuan Province, which is creating four temporary child-friendly centers in Mianyang, Deyang and Chengdu.

In Mianyang and Deyang Prefectures, Save the Children also is working with the local Education Bureau to help set up 12 temporary classrooms — providing desks, chairs, textbooks, and other school supplies — for primary school children, ages 6 to 12.

Read more on Save the Children’s response in China.

The morning of May 20, the USDA announced that it will implement a complete ban on slaughter for human consumption of cattle unable to stand and walk unassisted. The decision comes after The Humane Society of the United States documented horrible abuses of downed cows in a series of undercover videos.
For far too long, sick and crippled animals have been allowed into the food supply, subjecting them to needless torment and putting consumers at risk. Thanks in part to many thousands of animal advocates who emailed and called public officials about the scandalous mistreatment of these animals, the USDA is moving to close the downer loophole. We are calling on the agency to expedite the process and ban the slaughtering of downers without delay.

Once the loophole is closed, we’ll push for additional reforms. Stronger federal legislation is needed to ensure humane euthanasia of downers and protect all farm animals from this kind of abuse. We’ll continue to lobby for further reforms and keep you updated.

New Law Cracks Down on Animal Fighting and Puppy Mills

The U.S. Senate yesterday followed the lead of the House of Representatives and overrode President Bush’s veto of the Farm Bill, ushering in key new protections for animals. The final bill — which is now considered law, except for one section excluded due to a technical glitch — bans the import of puppies from foreign puppy mills for commercial sale in the U.S. The law spares young, unweaned, and unvaccinated pups from harsh, long-distance transport — during which they are exposed to extreme temperatures and often die in cargo holds — and will keep foreign breeders from adding to the tragic overpopulation of pets in this country.

The Farm bill also adds a provision to federal law to make almost any form of animal fighting a federal felony. It’s also now a federal crime to knowingly possess or train animals for fighting, and the maximum prison time for a single violation of any section of the law goes from three years to five years. It is hard to overstate what a blow this is to dogfighters and cockfighters, and it brings us one step closer to eradicating these criminal industries.

The law also authorizes an increase in potential fines — quadrupled from $2,500 to $10,000 — for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, fines that haven’t been upgraded in more than 20 years. Such penalties will more effectively deter abuses at puppy mills, laboratories, circuses, and other facilities that use animals.

Animal Fighting Magazine to be Pulled from Amazon.com

On Tuesday, in another blow to animal fighters, we reached a settlement with one of the defendants in our federal lawsuit challenging the sale of two criminal animal fighting magazines on Amazon.com in violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act. The publishers of “The Gamecock” magazine agreed to permanently change the magazine’s format to exclude all ads for fighting animals, knives, and other illegal paraphernalia, and to stop selling the magazine on Amazon.com until it has demonstrated full compliance with federal law for one year.

Sadly, Amazon.com has vowed to fight on in the case, arguing that the First Amendment gives it the right to sell illegal animal fighting contraband. It wants to remain the only online retailer selling “The Feathered Warrior,” soon to be the sole remaining cockfighting trade publication sold on Amazon.com in violation of federal law. Tell Amazon.com what you think of its decision to continue profiting from illegal animal fighting.

All these victories were made possible by your emails, phone calls, letters, and donations. Thank you for standing with us, and for all you do for animals.

Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States