Let’s Talk Turkey; a living, feeling, animal

As a vegetarian, Thanksgiving dinner and its baseless tradition of eating fowl isn’t one of my favorite meals. And I am sure the turkey likes it even less.

Every fourth Thursday in November people like myself, who don’t believe animals should be eaten, are asked to sit at the spread on the dinner table and pick around the baked bird carcass just to fill ours plates with cranberry sauce, corn, mashed potatoes and everything else, which hasn’t been tainted by the juices of this once feathered friend. Why? Does eating a once sentient being have any basis other than what the meat industry has force fed us as a yearly ritual?

Every year in the U.S. between 250-300 million turkeys are bred for slaughter, which amounts to about 5 billion pounds of dead flesh. Their meat is valued at close to $8 billion dollars, so no wonder Americans are force fed turkey meat; the factory farm industry is making billions of dollars off of the holiday dinner table.

But what about the cruelty these sentient animals endure? Vast majorities are crowded into factory farm confinement operations where each gets less than three square feet of space. You just have to watch this short video to see how this holiday feast is actually a cruel deception. http://www.adoptaturkey.org/aat/media_center/thanksgiving_toll.html

Once their genetically engineered bodies reach market weight (which is an average of fifteen pounds) they are packed into crates and trucked to slaughterhouses. Once in this infirmary, they die a not so pleasant death, just to feed us.

So how did the turkey become a symbol of Thanksgiving Day gluttony? Wild turkeys, as colonists would have encountered in ‘New England” four centuries ago surely did not resemble the stuffing crammed bird many serve on today’s dinner table. These birds of yesteryear were able to fly, difficult to catch, and their tenacity had Benjamin Franklin suggest they be revered as our national symbol.

What was the Pilgrims first celebratory meal in 1621 and did they eat manifestations of today’s factory farmed animals? One of the first recordings I found was a celebration of harvest not a “day of thanksgiving”, which colonists would have viewed more as the end of a period of fasting and prayer.

This festival was for Native Americans and Colonists to give thanks for the bounty they had reaped from their farmed lands, and important members of the community gathered for a main course of local grown items which they themselves grew. They did not have national food chains to buy neatly cellophane wrapped processed food from, as we do today.

It seems there are many unfounded legends as to why turkeys are carved up by the millions every year, but none so far to convince me they deserve to die and be eaten.  So this Thanksgiving I will once again make my traditional vegan meal and eat it proudly knowing that no animal, feathered, furred or hoofed suffered for my dinner plate.

Care to sponsor the life of a turkey instead of eating one?

https://secure2.convio.net/fsi/site/Donation2?idb=[[S76:idb]]&5451.donation=form1&df_id=5451&autologin=true

Some fun trivia facts about turkeys.

~The long fleshy skin that hangs over the turkey’s beak is called a snood

~ The color of a wild turkey’s naked head and neck area change blue when mating

~ Male turkeys are nicknamed “toms” while the females are called “hens”

~ When turkeys reach maturity they can have as many as 3,500 feathers

~ Faster than a speeding bullet--- wild turkeys can run up to 55 miles an hour

Eulogy for Cicely (November 3, 2011)

It is upon this day that beloved Cicely (cat) has passed into eternal Kitty Heaven.

Born twenty years ago in Milford CT, into a family who could not care for her, the then nameless kitten and her 8 week old litter mate brother were surrendered to the local dog pound (now known as animal control).

Known only as an impound number, she and her sibling were placed in a steel metal cage, waiting to be adopted into her fur-ever home.

Upon seeing her petite black and white furry frame (suspended from the steel bars), her new mother-to-be could not resist her cute-ness, and upon that moment the adoption commenced.

She was blessed with the name Cicely Fernandes (Haas) and for the next almost decade, shared her life with other adopted critters; her cat husband, Frodo (predeceased), cat sister Pebbles (predeceased) and 4 sibling pooches; Bitsey (predeceased), Dexter (predeceased), Rusty (predeceased) and May-Belle (predeceased).

Upon her human parents’ divorce her furry family shared two homes and adoptive father (William Haas) would often come to visit her and her cat and dog siblings at their mini mansion.

In her new home, Cicely would spend the next 10 + years being a foster sister to countless homeless and shelter animals of many species and gain one new adopted brother, Jack.

Cicely was the most curious of felines, always looking for a paper bag to hide in, bathtub to accidentally fall in, foster pooch to tease, toy mouse to toss around, window to perch in, sun to sleep in, closet to rummage through, heating vent to curl in front of, and occasionally being allowed outside to discover the wonders of mouse-ing, tree climbing, sneaking into any open car window, and (rare) bird catching. She loved to purr, have belly rubs, and didn’t mind nail trims.

Her last days were spent basking in the autumnal sunshine while the fall breezes tickled her whiskers, eating fresh fish, lounging on the front porch watching life pass by, and purring, all while being loved and adored by her human mom.

She is survived by her adopted cat brother, Jack, two outdoor stray porch cats, Snickers and Kit Kat and countless previously fostered critters.

Her mother of twenty years, Cheryl is heartbroken at the loss of her cat companion, but thankful for two decades of purrs and belly kneading.

In lieu of toy mouses, fresh cat nip and canned tuna, she asks for your commitment to microchip and spay & neuter your pets, to adopt your next companion animal from a shelter or rescue group and to help end factory farming.  

Internment is private and her ashes will share a special place in her mother’s home, with her other (predeceased) furry family members.

(A special thank you to Ash Creek Veterinary Hospital- Bridgeport CT, Dr. Kristopher Hansen and his compassionate & caring staff for helping Cicely cross over the Rainbow Bridge).

Bats, Black Cats and Hooting Owls

It’s that time of year again. Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin airs on television, pumpkin patches become filled with children searching for just the right rounded orange gourd to carve into a jack-o-lantern and retail shops are haunted by ghouls and goblins wanting to buy the scariest and spookiest of Halloween merchandise.

According to the CBS Early Show, ‘Broomstick and Business’ Americans will spend nearly $7 billion celebrating this Halloween season. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500202_162-20126955/halloween-anything-but-scary-for-retailers-now/?tag=mncol;lst;2 That, explains National Federation’s Ellen Davis, is about $72 per person and predicts many celebrators plan to spend money on dressing up their family pet.

So why is Halloweens tradition filled with folklore, myths and omens that invoke so many spooky superstitions and ghoulish misfortunes for animals? For thousands of year’s historic myths and monster like predictions of death and doom surround some of our most beloved and sacred animals. Why?  

Let’s be reasonable here, cats can’t cast spells, bats aren’t vampires (except for the vampire bat http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/common-vampire-bat/), owls seen during daylight hours aren’t omens of death and a crow’s caw does not foretell that death is upon you. Even in ancient history, the Sparrow was thought to carry the souls of the dead and bring you bad luck if you killed one.

Where do these animal related superstitions come from? Let’s examine a few.

Pilgrims coming to America used religion as reason to hate black cats.  Arriving from Europe and England, they brought with them many suspicions, one of them being that black cats possessed evil spirits and anyone owning a coal colored cat would be subject to punishment and even death.

Black cats were thought to be reincarnated spirits who had a supernatural ability to see into the future, and a middle ages myth created the cat into an apparition of a witch who was in disguise.

Animal shelters across the country have often contributed to this beastly myth. By banning or limiting the adoption of black cats during the month of October, shelter workers have inadvertently committed themselves to believing that satanic cults or mischievous monsters rush to animal welfare agencies to trick workers into adopting out a black cat who will then be used in some type of satanic ritual.

I believe that if a shelter has a solid adoption policy the situation can be avoided. As an animal advocate, I do encourage extra vigilance if a suspicious characters inquiry is specific to a black cat, just as I am when someone wants a guard dog, un-spayed female or intact male (but those topics really are for another blog). Even local shelters like Milford Animal Control are often cautious when someone requests a black cat around Halloween and makes certain the adopter has the right intentions in mind when adopting (any animal).

Where are black cats seen as the deliverance of good fortune? The Scottish revered black cats who arrived to someone’s home as a sign of prosperity, while in Ireland and Great Britain the black cat is a symbol of good luck. The Egyptian Cat Goddess, Bast or Bastet, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastet

 also represented good luck. There is even a national black cat appreciation day.

http://blogs.discovery.com/cat-scratchings/2011/08/in-celebration-of-black-cats.html

What about bats? Why are these creatures of the night more frightening this time of year? They are nocturnal, they do hunt after dusk but they don’t suck blood through their fangs. Their beady little eyes and odd shaped heads, along with their sonar style hunting (echolocation) help them catch their prey, which are mostly bugs and insects.

Spiders are beneficial because they entangle insect pests in their sticky web, while toads should not be part of any witch’s brew. In fact they are a good indicator of a healthy environment that has little pollution. When the local toad population dies out, that can be the first sign of environmental toxins and a faulty eco-system.

The silent flight and glowing eyes of the predatory owl make some goblins howl in fright. But owls are not eerie and their screech is not to scare you (unless you plan to do them harm), but to communicate everything from warning oncoming predators to stay away, to juvenile antics and begging momma owl for food.

So superstitions whose centuries old origins of bad luck, omens and predictions can now be cast away to recognize cats as good luck, toads as eco- predictors and bats as bad-bug eaters.

Have a HOOT-Y Halloween.

(Searches used to create this blog)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_cat

http://nicheweber.com/niche/halloween/halloween-myths.php

http://www.science20.com/news_releases/go_wild_these_facts_and_myths_about_halloweens_favorite_animals

Milford’s Running of the Bull

In most urban dwellers reality, a cow is known only by the name the local grocer assigns it. Those terms are: ‘flank, rump roast, rib eye, steak, hamburger; not living, breathing, feeling, sentient being.

Recently Milford, with only 278 acres for agricultural use, another 1,665 acres for open space and only 7 registered farms, has been host to a four-hooved friend. A bewildered bovine has taken up refuge in backyards & wooded areas in the Calf Pen Meadow School area since late June or early July.

When Milford Animal Control was alerted to a roaming ruminant wandering, grazing and ruminating in residential neighborhoods, the investigation to discover exactly how this beefy boy, most likely a fugitive from slaughter, began. From the first photograph sighting, ACO Rick George concluded his black coloring, size and tag in his ear labeled him as a Black Angus breed, who probably escaped from a corral across from Lattella’s Farm on Prindle Hill Road on the West Haven/Orange line, where he was being raised to be food.

Rumors began to circulate that this was one mad cow (I know, a cow is a female, a bull or ox is a male) who refused to end up on someone’s dinner plate. And with that, it seems he decided to create his own fate. He hoofed it right out of that slaughter house queue and into his current life on the lamb.

Always elusive and rarely allowing photographs, this sacred bull somehow seems to sense that if caught, he could end up dying a horrible slaughter house death. So he has kept himself well hidden deep inside his wooded sanctuary, defying statistics to be yet another neatly cellophane wrapped hunk of meat lying about in a refrigerated section of some Piggly Wiggly cut up into pieces unrecognizable, except for the label slapped upon his once living and now decaying carcass.

So what is a dog catcher do when such a brazen bovine challenges fate? Trying to round up a herd-of-one can be quite a challenge, especially when this elusive hoofed ox has settled into the same 15 acres of wooded land where history’s lure claims local residents hid their cattle from the British during the Revolutionary war.

Animal Control Officer Rick George has since created an elaborate humane trap, scaled to fit a nearly 4oo lb, plumped for slaughter steer. But to slaughter he won’t go, absolutely not states Officer George. It seems that if this hapless farmer did want his chattle back, there would be a hefty fine to pay. Thus far, no rancher has claimed him.

Officer George said the bull is skittish, and has organized a reconnaissance type mission; with the help of the State Department of Agriculture, a large animal veterinarian, and a tranquillizer gun, to try and capture the bull before the cold New England winter sets in. “He needs to be moved to a safe place before the weather turns bad”, George said.

George could not stress enough that this bull would not be anyone’s burger. “Not on my watch”, he stated with authority.

As soon as he is safely secured, ACO George said has made arrangements for this herbivore to have a forever farm-charmed life; a life reminiscent to Old MacDonald’s farm, where there is a promise to love, honor and cherish this beefy boy until NATURAL death do they part. He will be living a charmed country cows life, mooingly happily ever after.

What to do with Man’s Best Friend, if a disaster strikes

Disasters strike at any time and in many forms, sometimes with warning, oftentimes without. Luckily this most recent of hurricanes is giving weather watchers some much needed information on how, when, where and what her potential track might be. It seems that Hurricane Irene is wagging her angry tail in the direction of the whole East Coast and this not so friendly shake is spraying massive rain and wind up and down the Eastern corridor.

CT’s Governor Dannel P. Malloy has launched a State run web site http://www.governor.ct.gov/malloy/cwp/view.asp?a=11&q=485102 to help assist residents in getting the most up-to-date information on Hurricane Irene’s angry bite and how to residents can prepare if she becomes unleashed.

So where will Fido or Fluffy end up if we, their human care-takers need to evacuate our homes?

The Malloy web site instructs pet parents to be prepared but it does not list specific locations where our beloved best friends can be temporarily housed. It instead instructs pet parents to have a list of pet friendly accommodations and recommends an American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) video and a list of items needed for short term off property housing for our companion critters.

The link on the Governor Malloy web site has a pretty good leash on disaster preparedness recommendations http://www.ct.gov/doag/cwp/view.asp?Q=485152&A=1401 as do others like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/disaster-preparedness/  and The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/animal_rescue/tips/disaster_preparedness_pets.html.

Currently our faithful fur balls and feathered friends are not allowed in most human evacuation shelters unless the municipality where you reside has specifically set up a co-located (or co-habitated) evacuation shelter which either includes pets or has created a separate location for pets only.

Now when I refer to pets, this definition of what a companion animal is can vary from town to town and most only include domestic pets such as cats, dogs, birds, ferrets, small mammals (rabbits, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs and mice), reptiles and fish. Pet friendly evacuation shelters also include service animals and those pets recognized by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), but then again those animals are allowed to be housed along with their guardians wherever they are as well as at American Red Cross shelters.

Livestock and other large animals are temporarily sheltered at the discretion of the municipality, while exotics, feral or wild animals, poisonous or dangerous animals are not allowed at pet friendly evacuation shelters. Don’t expect your local animal control department to temporarily house or rescue your pets, their focus will be on the homeless and impounded shelter animals already in their charge, responding to injured animal emergencies or managing the co-located evacuation shelter.

To learn more about how many CT municipal animal control departments are working on disaster preparedness plans for our pampered pets, please visit the CT’s State Animal Response Team (CT-SART) web site http://www.ctsart.org/ and see how, when a disaster strikes you too can become involved in your region, helping animals.

If Hurricane Irene decides to roam the streets of Connecticut, you will find me responding to help out our most vulnerable of furry, feathered and reptiled friends; as I am a team member of CT-SART, Region One.