If you have difficulty locating any of the links below, try the Wayback Machine Internet archive at http://www.archive.org/

CHAPTER 3 – ALL MY RELATIONS

Still Killing After All These Years

1.       Don't shop at department stores that sell fur. Cancel magazines that allow fur advertisements. Write letters to the stores or magazines telling them why you won't patronize them anymore. Tell any friend who wears a fur coat (or fur trim) that it is not "ok" to do so. If you have a coat yourself, don't wear it. Donate it to a school or museum.

2.       Visit the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade at http://www.banfur.com/index2.html.

3.       The Fur Industry of America site at http://www.fur.org/edmat.html contains overstated figures about the acceptance of fur and understated concerns about the treatment of the animals. Don't be distracted by anyone's numbers ("numb-ers"). It doesn't take a statistician to figure out that suffering for greed and fashion is wrong.

4.       Learn about the issue from People for the Ethical Treatment of at http://www.peta-online.org/pubs/at/at1299/fur.html.

The Fur is still Flying

1.       To learn how you can get involved in ending the fur industry, visit the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade website at http://www.banfur.com/index2.html.

2.       See what some students are doing to improve animal rights at http://soar.contentfree.org/

3.       Keep in touch with this issue and learn how you can help at the Fur Is Dead website at http://www.furisdead.com/index2.html

4.       The media often uses furs, using them as signs of affluence. Keep in touch with such abuses and find out what to do about it at http://www.furisdead.com/100.html

5.       Read about redefining the American dream and overcoming consumerism at http://www.islandpress.com/ecocompass/dream.html

6.       Read some disturbing facts about the effects of television on children at http://www.mediaandthefamily.org/research/fact/chduse.shtml

7.       Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-mail them. Tell them you want your state to outlaw the steel jaw leghold trap. If you know your Zip code, you can find them at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html

Food Even a Dog Shouldn't Eat

1.       Visit the following websites for details of the shocking situation in the pet food industry:

Pet Food Alert at http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Farm/9113/petfood/alert.html

Article from Animal Agenda at http://www.sojos.com/truthabout.html

A book on the subject at http://www.teleport.com/~newsage/books/petfood.html

An article by a veterinarian at http://www.ozemail.aust.com/~aciro/pollak1.html

From Alternative Medicine magazine at http://members.iinet.net.au/~animcom8/processedpetfood.html

The Animal Protection Institute at http://www.api4animals.org/Petfood.htm 

2.       Visit the following websites to learning the disgusting truth about the rendering industry:

·         "The Invisible Industry" by PR Watch at http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1996Q1/madcow13.html

·         Rothsay Rendering Plant website at http://www3.sympatico.ca/rothsay/dundas.html

3.       See for yourself who regulates this industry at the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) website at http://www.aafco.org/

4.       Read an Animal Advocate article about the AAFCO at http://home.att.net/~wdcusick/03.html

5.       There are many alternatives to commercial pet food. I have used products by the Wysong Company and friends have recommended products by Solid Gold and Flint River Ranch. Here are some ideas for you to research. Many pet stores and even health food stores are starting to carry their products. Ask your local stores for them or you can get them by mail order. Keep an eye on who owns your preferred pet food company. When owners change, often the quality of the ingredients changes as well. The best thing you can do is to find a holistic veterinarian who can help you.

·          Wysong human and animal health products at http://www.wysong.net/

·          Solid Gold products at http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/default.asp

·          Flint River Ranch at http://naturalpet.protohype.net/naturalpet/index.html

6.       One of the best books on pet care and nutrition is "Natural Health for Dogs and Cats" by Richard Pitcairn, DVM and Susan Pitcairn (Rodale Press, 1995). You can also learn how to prepare meals and supplements for your pets at home (it is not that hard).

7.       Don't expect much help from your regular veterinarian with this issue. Most haven't been trained to understand. No one professional will suit all your needs. I have three vets on my "team:" one specialist, one general practitioner and one holistic practitioner. To find a holistic vet in your state, visit the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association Directory at  http://www.altvetmed.com/ahvmadir.html

8.       Visit the site of holistic vet Dr. Nancy Scanlon. at http://www.hibridge.com/drsfaq.htm

9.       Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-mail them. Demand meaningful government intervention and the creation of standards for pet foods.  If you know your Zip code, you can find them at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html

You Are What You Eat

1.       Read the FDA's food labeling guidelines at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/label.html

2.       Read about the grain industry's opposition to labeling for MSG at  http://www.truthinlabeling.org/l-manuscript.htm

3.       Get help understanding the toxic dangers from artificial sweeteners at http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/

4.       Read about the sweetener Ace-K at http://www.1st-sugar-free-products.com/non.htm

5.       Learn about many toxic substances in food at the Holistic Healing Web Page at http://www.holisticmed.com/

6.       Even The Food Marketing Institute at (http://www.fmi.org/media/bg/bacteria.html) will tell you of the dangers of ground meat.

7.       Find a helpful glossary of food related terms at http://ificinfo.health.org/glossary.htm

8.       Learn about food additives from the International Food Information Council, a propaganda organization for food manufacturers. Their information site at http://ificinfo.health.org/brochure/food-add.htm is there to calm our fears, but I think you will agree they only serve to indict themselves further.

9.       Learn about what some of the crazy claims on food labels mean at http://ificinfo.health.org/backgrnd/bkgr5.htm

10.   Boycott the products of companies contributing to these problems. Find out what boycotts are going on now from the Boycott Action News site at http://www.coopamerica.org/boycotts/index.html

11.   Learn about the issues with genetically engineered foods at http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/gedanger.htm

12.   Explore vegetarianism with EarthSave at http://www.earthsave.org/

13.   Learn about Veganism,  the next step after vegetarianism, at http://www.vegan.org/index.html

14.   See a new way to perceive the food groups at http://www.oldwayspt.org/html/p_veg.htm

15.   Keep your eye on corporations through Corporate Watch at http://www.corpwatch.org/

16.   Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-mail them. Tell them to resist pressure from industry and make the FDA stop the lying.  If you know your Zip code, you can find them at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html.

Burgers, Pain and Slaughter

1.       Read about the television story – and see the video – on the IBP slaughterhouse abuses at http://www.king5.com/investigators/storydetail.html?StoryID=1386

2.       The Seattle Times article about the issue can be seen at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/local/html98/cows01m_20000601.html

3.       See the complete story of Seattle's losing battle against aerial spraying at see the complete story at http://www.ens.lycos.com/ens/may2000/2000L-05-20g.html.

4.       Many people erroneously believe that Kosher slaughter is somehow better. See the Healing Our World commentary called “Vegetarians Beware . . .” on the Environment News Service at http://www.ens.lycos.com/ens/may99/1999L-05-23g.html and learn otherwise.

5.       Get involved in this issue. This is a particularly complex one that will require contacts on a number of fronts. Send a copy of all your communications to the Washington Congressional representatives as well as your own state lawmakers:

Write Washington Attorney General Christine O. Gregoire at emailago@atg.wa.gov or telephone her at 360-753-6200. Tell her to investigate the IBP plant.

Write Washington State Senators Maria Cantwell (http://cantwell.senate.gov/mailform.html)  and Patty Murray (senator_murray@murry.senate.gov)

6.       Stay involved with humane issues with food animals through the:

Humane Farming Association at http://www.hfa.org/index.html

Meat Stinks website, a project of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, at http://www.meatstinks.com/

Farm Sanctuary at http://www.farmsanctuary.org/

Meat Source website at http://www.meatsource.com/index.htm

Northwest Animal Rights Network at http://www.narn.org/

Fish: A Good Neighbor, but a Dangerous Food

1.       Be reminded of the routine destruction of our oceans at: http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/peril_oil_pollution.html

2.       Read about the recent FDA warning about mercury in four types of fish in the “Seattle Times” at http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=fish13&date=20010113&query=fish+mercury

3.       Read about the 60,000 newborns affected by mercury from contaminated fish by visiting http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=merc12&date=20000712&query=fish+mercury.

4.        You can ask your doctor to get vaccinations that are free of preservatives that contain mercury. See the list at http://www.metrokc.gov/health/phnr/prot_res/thimervac.htm. Also, consider the risks of vaccinations for your children with the help of Healthy Child Online at http://www.healthychild.com/database/vaccinations_a_parent_s_right_to_choose.htm.

5.       Learn about the connection between consuming dairy products and osteoporosis at Earthsave at: http://www.earthsave.org/ and through the John McDougall Wellness Center at: http://www.drmcdougall.com/

6.       Learn about the situation with halibut from the International Pacific Halibut Commission at: http://www.iphc.washington.edu/halcom/default.htm

7.       Check out the Organic Consumers Association at: http://www.organicconsumers.org/info.htm

8.       Look for food co-ops near you for the best in food. You can find a listing for many at the Co-Op America Green Pages Online at: http://www.coopamerica.org/gp/

9.       Want to feed the homeless and needy in your community wholesome foods? Visit the Food Not Bombs webpage at: http://home.earthlink.net/~foodnotbombs/ and learn how.

10.   An interesting summary of compelling reasons to reduce the consumption of animal products can be found at: http://www.essene.com/Essene%20Teachings/Vegetarian.html. It includes an overview of the eating practices of the world’s major religious groups.

11.   Many resources to help the consumer can be found at the web site of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals at: http://www.peta-online.org/liv/index.html

Wildlife Harassment in the name of Research

1.       Visit the website of the Bird Banding Laboratory at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/

2.       See the Canadian guidelines for handling wildlife in research at http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/ric/Pubs/Tebiodiv/capt/index.htm

3.       Statistics for how many birds are banded can be found at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/homepage/howmany.htm

4.       Visit the website for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals at http://www.peta-online.org/alert/index.html for more examples of how wildlife are challenged.

5.       Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-mail them. Demand that they force agencies that fund research to scrutinize the proposals, especially if they involve capturing wildlife. If you know your Zip code, you can find them at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html.

Sorry Rachel - DDT is Still Here

1.       A detailed accounting of the proposed DDT ban can be found in a N.Y. Times article posted at the Malaria Foundation International website at http://www.malaria.org/DDT_NYTimes_29_VIII.html.

2.       A review of the use of DDT can be found in Science News Magazine at http://www.sciencenews.org/20000701/bob2.asp.

3.       Write to the U.N. and urge them to ban the deadly persistent organic pollutants, including DDT. Urge them to devote some of the vast financial resources available in this world to the creation of a safe alternative and the elimination of the root causes. The travel expenses alone from one U.N. meeting might be a good beginning. Email the Chemical branch of the U.N. Environment Program at pops@unep.ch. Also send email to the main U.N. at ecu@un.org and to the Environment Program director at OPereira@UNEP.CH. Tell them they also need to work on the root causes of malaria including increasing drug and insecticide resistance, wars, natural disasters and human migrations that interrupt control operations, local climate changes and the economic exploitation of remote areas for mining, forestry and irrigated agriculture.

4.       Read about the hazards of DDT from the Environmental Defense Fund at http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/summary.tcl?edf_substance_id=50%2d29%2d3 (the EDF was responsible for filing the original lawsuit in the early 1970’s that resulted in the U.S. EPA banning DDT). For a detailed profile of the chemical, visit http://ace.ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/pips/ddt.htm

5.       Read about the proposal by the World Wildlife Fund to ban DDT and use alternatives to DDT at http://www.panda.org/news/press/news.cfm?id=454.

6.       See a Greenpeace report on the production and use of DDT in Asia at http://www.greenpeace.org/pressreleases/toxics/1998nov10.html

7.       Pelicans were dramatically effected by DDT in 1969, observers of 1,125 pairs of pelicans found only 4 chicks and in 1970, 727 pairs of pelicans produced only 5 chicks. In 1974, just two years after the ban on DDT, residues of the pesticide in anchovies, the primary food of the pelican, had declined nearly 97 percent. In 1974, 1,286 pairs of pelicans produced 1,185 chicks. This dramatic recovery was a serious indictment of DDT. Yet some people still claim there is not connection to DDT and that hunting is responsible for the decline in birds (Ever see anyone hunt pelican chicks?).

8.       Visit the Rachel Carson Council at http://members.aol.com/rccouncil/ourpage/rcc_page.htm

Horse What? You've Got to be Kidding?

NOTE: The web resources below are presented for your information. I have done my best to present only those who appear credible, but one should always use caution when using information from the web, particularly in health care issues. Discuss any ideas you may have to about changing your health care program with your health care practitioner BEFORE you change anything.

1.       Call Wyeth-Ayerst in the United States (800) 666-7248 to protest how Premarin is produced. (For Canada, call 215 971-5823). Write to Robert Essner, President of Wyeth-Ayerst, at P.O. Box 8299, Philadelphia, PA19101 and let him know how you feel.

2.       Visit http://www.premarin.org/purveyor.html for a complete list of the products made by American Home Products, the owners of Wyeth-Ayerst. Write them to let them know you are boycotting their products until they stop blocking work on synthetic replacements for Premarin and they cease their abusive practices on horses. Try e-mailing AHP at pr@ahp.com.

3.       Write to the FDA and express your demand for that agency's prompt approval of one or more synthetic/generic forms of Premarin to make them available to those who wish to use them. Write to her at: FDA, 5600 Fisher's Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857. In addition to your hard-copy letter, email them at http://www.fda.gov/cder/comment/commentdrug.htm

4.       Learn the full Premarin story from the Equine Advocates organization at http://www.allrealgood.com/equineadvocates/premarin.html, from HorseAid at http://www.premarin.org/, and from the United Animal Nations at http://www.uan.org/programs/premarin/index.htm

5.       Get some of the latest Premarin news at http://athena.athenet.net/~nrsprntg/stpindex.html

6.       Follow the FDA's attempts to synthesize conjugated estrogens at http://www.fda.gov/cder/news/cepage.htm.

7.       Learn about estrogen replacements at http://www.premarin.org/synth.html. 

8.       Read a detailed accounting of the politics behind Premarin at the site of Citizens Against Government Waste at http://www.cagw.org/mediacenter/newsrel/search/97-08-18.htm.

9.       Read of a horse rescue organization, the Pegasus Foundation at http://www.wanet.net/~pegasus/.

10.   Visit Menopause Online for complete information on alternatives to Premarin and substitutes for traditional hormone replacement therapy at http://www.menopause-online.com/. You should always discuss any treatment program with your health care practitioner before making any changes to the medication or program you are currently on.

11.   Visit the Voices of Women website for interesting articles about the challenges for women at http://www.voiceofwomen.com/articles/articles.html

Delisted Species - Recovered or Imperiled?

1.       Visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species page at http://endangered.fws.gov/index.html

2.       The original press release about the delisting of the Bald Eagle can be found at http://www.fws.gov/r9extaff/eaglejuly2.html

3.       The National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition is an anti-environmental group who lobbies Congress to get them to place economic values ahead of environmental values. Keep an eye on them at http://www.nesarc.org/info.htm

4.       Follow the progress of the Endangered Species Act with a REAL environmental organization, the Endangered Species Coalition at http://www.stopextinction.org/org/index.html. It is no coincidence that the anti-environmental group in Resource #1 choose a very similar name. Beware.

5.       Visit the National Cattleman 's Beef Association and see how they are interested in weakening the Endangered Species Act at http://hill.beef.org/cnsrvt/sd.htm

6.       Email the head of the Department of the Interior at SecretaryoftheInterior@fws.gov. Demand that delisting a species should not be the priority. That is a clever way to appease business and industry. Insist that the priority should be the health and wellbeing of the ecosystems of the Earth, at any cost.

7.       Demand that your Congressional representatives strengthen the Endangered Species Act, not weaken it.

All Is Not As It Seems

1.       American Anti Vivisection Society can be seen at http://www.aavs.org/.

2.       People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ home page is at http://www.peta-online.org/.

3.       Explore the toxics problem in the Mississippi through a powerful video called “We All Live Downstream," marketed by The Video Project (http://www.videoproject.net/we_all_live_downstream.html).

4.       More about the threats to the Mississippi River can be found at http://www.mrba.org/.

Do You Matter?

1.       Learn about alternatives to dissection in the classroom from the United Federation of Teachers at http://www.uft.org/committees.cfm?doc_id=213 and the Anti Vivisection Society at http://www.aavs.org/Docs/dissectionvivi.htm.

2.       Read about the connection between animal and human abuse at

http://www.hsus.org/firststrike/factsheets/index.html

http://www.peta-online.org/mc/facts/fsc24.html

http://www.cfhs.ca/Programs/HumaneEducation/ViolenceLink/ccbackgrounder5.htm

http://www.hsus.org/whatnew/litteton032399.html

3.       Humane organizations are trying to educate school districts about the importance of educating children about the value of life. See an example at http://www.peta-online.org/news/99/599humaneed.html.

4.       Read more about the use of animals in the classroom at the site of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals at http://www.peta-online.org/kids/disalicia.html.

5.       Face the pain and fears and visit your local animal shelter. See the despair of the animals there and do something. Get a friend to adopt an animal or adopt one yourself.

6.       Contact the authorities immediately if you see or suspect any act of cruelty to an animal (or to anyone). Don’t assume that everything is OK. Act.

7.       Investigate your local schools. Do they have programs involving animals? If so, have some meaningful meetings with school officials.

8.       If you have children, encourage them to not participate in any program that uses animals and support them if they choose to not participate. PETA has lots of information about how to do this.

You and I could be Next: The Plight of The Southern Sea Otter 

1.       Keep up with the issues surrounding the Southern Sea Otter with the Otter Project at http://www.otterproject.org/.

2.       Send a copy of your letter to Jim Curland, Science Director for the Friends of the Sea otter at jim@seaotters.org

3.       Read a letter from the Friends of the Sea Otter to the USFWS about this issue at http://www.seaotters.org/pdf/letter8498.pdf (you will need Adobe Acrobat to read this file).

4.       Read about the reasons why the sea otter should not be blamed for the decline of the shellfisheries at the Friends of the Sea Otter web site at http://www.seaotters.org/CurrentIssues/.

5.       Read about the recovery plan for the Southern Sea Otter at the USFWS web site at http://pacific.fws.gov/news/2000/2000-31.htm

6.       See a video of sea otters at work and play at http://www.seaotters.org/Videos/.

7.       You can read the details of the investigations into Southern Sea Otter deaths at http://www.otterproject.org/is_diseasepollution.html.

It DOES Matter

1.       In general, if you want to boycott a product:

·         Using the Internet, it is easy to find out the address of the manufacturer of the product (or service) in question. Write a letter to the chairperson of the board and the chief executive officer. Tell them that you will no longer use or recommend their product and tell them why. Send a copy to your local newspaper, humane society, and elected representatives. For example, a copy of the letter could be sent to every camping store in your city if you wanted to alert them to the water bottle issue. You should send e-mail messages as well.

·         Alert your family and friends of your decision.

·         If you choose another product, write to that company and tell them why you have chosen them over the other.

·         If the company you are boycotting ever stops the practice you were concerned about, thank them and resume buying their products.

2.       For a good discussion that will provide an alternative view to the Nalgene position about animal research, visit http://www.aavs.org/html/common_questions.html

3.       If you want to comment to Nalgene, send a letter to the President and CEO, Nalge Nunc International, World Wide Headquarters, 75 Panorama Creek Drive, Rochester, NY 14625. You can call them at 716 586-8800. You can call them for a name of their president and for his/her email (it will be in the format ___@nalgenunc.com). Their corporate web site is at http://www.nalgenunc.com/

4.       The complaints from outdoor product users inundated Nalgene and their corporate office issued a statement on their production of animal research equipment. You can see it at
http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/about/history/whitepaper.html.

5.       Millions of dollars in research grants are given out by government and private companies to conduct research. Yet there are virtually no requirements that any productive research result from those studies. In fact, the U.S. National Institutes of Health own investigator has said that 25% of the animal research they fund turns out to be fraudulent. Send an email message to the Director of the NIH at execsec1@od.nih.gov telling him or her you want their funding requirements tightened up.

6.       Most animals are not like humans and testing human drugs on them is ludicrous. If guinea pigs had been chosen as the animal subjects for penicillin tests, that drug would never have been released - penicillin kills guinea pigs. Learn about this aspect of the issue from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals at http://www.peta-online.org/

7.       For a list of companies that do and do not test on animals, visit the National Anti-Vivisection Society at http://www.aavs.org/html/companies.html

8.       For a good list of commonly asked questions about animal research, visit http://www.aavs.org/html/common_questions.html

9.       Visit the Johns Hopkins University Center for Alternatives to Animal testing at http://caat.jhsph.edu/.

10.   Choose from a number of resources about the uses of animals in research at http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/online/research/. 

11.   Visit Psychologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals at http://www.psyeta.org/

12.   Keep an eye on what companies are doing at the following sites:

Boycott Action News at http://www.coopamerica.org/boycotts/index.html
Corporate Watch at http://www.corpwatch.org/
Corporate Accountability Project at http://www.corporations.org/index.html
Center for Media and Democracy at http://www.prwatch.org/
The Media Foundation at http://adbusters.org/home/

13.   Keep an eye on activism world wide at Macrocosm at http://www.macronet.org/

14.   The National Institute on Media and the Family can help you decide the best television and media strategy for your children at http://www.mediaandthefamily.org/home.html

15.   Learn about children and how they use and interpret the media at http://www.mediaandthefamily.org/chduse.html

16.   Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting will help you stay ahead of the media at http://www.fair.org/

Calculate your
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

If you would like to translate any of the articles into French, Portuguese, Italian,
Spanish or German, go to

and enter the URL of the article for a free translation.

All Images and Content
Copyright (c)2002, Jackie A. Giuliano Ph.D.
jackie@deepteaching.com