>The foie gras protest tonight was a fun and interesting experience! Although we thought we had figured out all the kinks with the Syracuse Police Department trying to infringe on our right to free speech, we again had to rehash with them that we are legally allowed to protest on a public sidewalk. The owners of L’Adour recently took down their ‘protester shield’ curtains, and we believe they were upset being ‘caught in the open’ with no way to keep their customers from looking out the windows at us! Also, this protest saw the biggest turnout in over a year and we thank everyone for coming out for the ducks! It renews our hope that we can keep up the energy needed to keep this campaign against foie gras alive! Stay tuned for more foie gras protests!
In the mean time, check out photos of tonight’s protest here: www.myspace.com/animalrights (apologies for all the red-eye photos!) Check out our website about L’Adour here: www.ladourpollutes.com and, as always, contact L’Adour directly and keep the pressure on: Write: L’Adour, 110 Montgomery St., Syracuse, NY 13202. Call: 315-475-7653 Fax: 315-471-9713
>After being made aware of the inherent cruelty to ducks in foie gras production, L’adour refuses to take the product off their menu or sign a foie gras free pledge. Please show support for all the birds suffering on these farms by coming to SARO’s public outreach events and contacting L’Adour(below). For more information about foie gras, please watch the video(s) posted below
Protest Details What: Hold signs and distribute literature to the dinner crowd at L’Adour. Signs and literature provided-including our large ‘ladourpollutes.com‘ banner. Just bring yourself and friends! Important Note: Due to the ‘upscale’ nature of the crowd and in order to better advocate for the animals, please dress ‘business casual’. Where: L’Adour Restaurant, 110 Montgomery St. in Downtown Syracuse When: Friday, September 25th from 7pm-8pm Carpool info: Meet at the Schine Student Center loading dock(facing Waverly Ave.) on SU Campus at 6:30pm sharp.
Other Ways You Can Help Write: L’Adour 110 Montgomery St., Syracuse, NY 13202. Call: 315-475-7653 Fax: 315-471-9713 Keep the issue fresh in the mind of L’Adour owners and patrons. Please make sure you state your opposition to L’Adour serving foie gras. Feel free to call, write and email the restaurant letting them know you want foie gras off their menu and you don’t plan on giving them business until then.
>”World Carfree Day is an annual celebration of cities and public life, free from the noise, stress and pollution of cars. Every September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets and neighbourhoods to celebrate World Carfree Day and to remind the world that we don’t have to accept our car-dominated societies.
World Carfree Day, promoted and supported by the World Carfree Network, is intended to advance the economic, social and environmental benefits of self-propelled or mass transportation. It is meant to promote more sustainable ways of transportation and new ways of building and thinking the urbanism of our cities, allowing streets to be a living space, rather than only a transit space.
With the global economy in freefall, carmakers are facing turbulent times and people around the world are re-evaluating their relationship with the car. So now is the perfect timing to try out the alternatives, spread the carfree word, join or start a World Carfree Day in your area! It is also time to push for a new use of car factories that could be used to build public transportation, providing employment and allowing us to build a better urban environment.” [ Source: World Carfree Day Press Relaese ]
In celebration of a world without cars, we bring you two classic Walt Disney cartoons:
>On Tuesday PETA sent a letter to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s director offering a donation of two thousand dollars to replace the zoo’s penguins with robotic ones, which were developed by Festo, a German engineering company.
PETA’s letter to Rosamond Gifford Zoo Director Chuck Doyle follows. September 15, 2009
Chuck Doyle Director Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Dear Mr. Doyle, I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 2 million members and supporters–including thousands in the Syracuse area–to ask you to replace the zoo’s captive penguins with the lifelike robotic penguins that were recently developed by the German engineering company Festo. PETA is even offering to make a donation toward fundraising for the project by pledging the first $2,000.
While zoos claim to be educational, a true understanding and appreciation of wildlife cannot come from looking at bored animals who are confined to cramped enclosures that can never replicate the animals’ real home environments. Captive animals are denied any semblance of a natural life, and virtually every facet of their existence is controlled. The only thing that people can learn from a visit to the zoo is how animals behave when held in captivity.
Penguins are avid swimmers and divers, and their need to roam in open water cannot be met in a small enclosure. They are good parents and form monogamous pairs, working together to care for their young. In zoos, their mates are often chosen for them through breeding programs, and in many cases, their chicks are removed. The physical and mental frustrations of captivity commonly lead to abnormal, neurotic, and even self-destructive behavior known as “zoochosis.” And while zoos tout species preservation, the fact is that captive-breeding programs do little if anything to protect wild populations. Warehousing penguins in zoos is not the solution to saving their counterparts in the wild.
Festo’s robotic penguins move, swim, and even communicate just as real penguins do, and visitors who observe the robots will be able to learn about penguin behavior without inflicting additional stress on captive live birds. This will be particularly true if you also erect a sign that reads, “This zoo does not house real penguins because we recognize that we cannot adequately replicate their natural environment or provide them with a satisfying life.” Please see the attached article about these fascinating robots. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Tracy Reiman Executive Vice President People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
By now, we all now that PETLAND is one of the major contributors to: 1) animal abuse via puppymills; and 2) the pet overpopulation problem. When folks breed or buy, shelter dogs die. See the facts here that “almost every Petland store in the country is buying from puppymills”: http://www.hsus.org/pets/pets_related_news_and_events/petland_investigation_2_062909.html
Our one local PETLAND is responsible for hundreds of dogs flooding into our community each year. While these dogs might be bought into nice homes by unsuspecting PETLAND customers, these dogs came from suffering mothers and will cause additional suffering of our region’s shelter animals.
PETLAND is a major competitor with U.S. shelters. WHY, then, would our local shelter, CNY SPCA (based in Syracuse, NY), partner with PETLAND, including them as a SPONSOR for their upcoming 10th Annual Walk and Four-Legged Family Fun Festival Festival on Sept. 13? That is like Sea Shepherd partnering with the Japanese whalers!
PLEASE CALL the shelter TODAY and ask POLITELY ASK them to CUT TIES with PETLAND asap: 315-454-4479. Choose the Customer Service option; if you don’t get a live person, let it keeping ringing until you reach voicemail and leave a message.
These are rough times for all charities, but especially for animal rescue groups. In addition to calling, if you are financially able, please consider making a donation to your local animal shelter, and show them that they do not have to compromise their morals and mission statement to avoid bankruptcy.
>Last Friday, around four in the afternoon, a fire broke out at 1305 Cedarbrook Drive in Rome, NY. Smoke and fire were reportedly coming from the house when the fire department rolled onto the scene. Trapped inside where three feline friends, but their sole guardian, Dawn Baris, was not at home at this time. According to one report, the house suffered substantial heat and smoke damage through out. According to Rome Deputy Fire Chief Mark Kohlbrenner, two of the three cats did not survive. EMTs administered oxygen to the third cat, the cat is going to live.
While we can’t all stay home to watch our companion animals 24/7, we can help fire and rescue teams by putting a decal on our front doors or windows that lets them know their are animals inside. You can buy one from most pet stores or you can order a free one from the ASPCA.
