TRUMPETS TO PAT DERBY- June 7, 1943- Feb. 16, 2013 MyTribute to My Friend
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” —Max DePree
On February 16, 2013, I lost a good friend; the wild animals, both captive and in the wild, lost a great friend. Pat Derby, co-founder of Performing Animal Welfare Society and ARK 2000 Sanctuary, passed away after a long battle with cancer. She will be sorely missed, not only by her human admirers but by the myriad animals she took in and cared for throughout the years and the ones still in need of her ferocious voice and tenacity.
Photo above (Pat Derby & Ed Stewart with their baby, 71!)
Love Never Dies- The Story of Capitan
For the past 6 years, a German shepherd called Capitán has slept next to the grave of his owner every night at 6pm. His owner, Miguel Guzmán died in 2006. Capitán, the dog, disappeared while the family attended the funeral services. A week later relatives of Guzmán were visiting the cemetery when they were astounded to find the dog next to the owner’s grave. The cemetery director says that the dog comes around each night at 6pm, and has done so for the past 6 years.
My Speech to Ban Bullhooks to LA City Council Committee- 9/12
Los Angeles City Council is considering a ban on the use of bullhooks which would seem to end the use of elephants on city property. The Committee listened to people from both sides of the debate and came back suggesting that Animal Services look into not only a ban on bullhooks but a ban on exotic animals in traveling shows, which makes so much more sense as it encompasses ALL the wild animals and a ban on bullhooks doesn’t stop their using electric prods, whips, chains or other “guides” they feel they need to use. Animal Services brought them a comprhensive evaluation of both proposals. Now City Council must decide which proposal to take. I ask all Los Angelenos to please contact your city council member & urge the complete ban. This is what i said that day at the committee meeting but as you will read, I encourage the broader, more effective ban on all wild animals as i could not speak just for the elephants. They all suffer; they all are enslaved; they all deserve better! Contact Animal Defenders International for more info about this proposal & how to reach your city council member- www.ad-international.org. TRUMPETS & ROARS FOR HELPING! Continue reading »
Addressing Los Angeles City Council re. ban on selling pets in pet stores
I went to City Council in downtown Los Angeles this week to speak about puppy mills. The compassionate councilman, Paul Koretz, has introduced an ordinance to ban the sale of dogs, cats & rabbits in pet stores in our City of Angels. Pet stores sell puppy mill pets; that is an undeniable fact- so if we stop the pet stores from supplying them, the demand goes down & the people who run these disgraceful operations will suffer, finally, and we will eventually close them down. It does allow for these pet stores to show & sell shelter pets which is becoming the humane move with pet stores. One pet store owner in Glendale learned about the horrors of puppy mills & turned his store into one that helps the shelter animals find homes and he has been so successful that he is adding another store. I felt compelled to go to this meeting to talk about my personal experience with puupy mills as i have gone on three legal puppy mill raids with Animal Rescue Corps in 2011. You are only give 2 minutes so this is brief but honest.
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Superior Court’s Decision against the LA Zoo’s Elephant Exhibit
I have been very involved in trying to get the elephants out of the LA Zoo for many years. In fact, just a few years ago, City Council of Los angeles had to decide whether to go ahead with the $42 Million remodel of the elephant exhibit, which remains completely inadequate for these pachyderms. In fact, when Councilman Tony Cardenas decided to challenge the zoo’s plans, based on the zoo’s inadequacies to accomodating elephants living in captivity & their premature deaths due to it, he asked me if I would make a promise to donate $100,000. for Billy’s transport & housing at the PAWS Sanctuary in Northern California should the council decide to shut the exhibit down. I said I would as I was mostly interested in helping any of these poor animals suffering in and around this country. But even before this debate was heard in Los Angeles City Council, Pat Derby & Ed Stewart called me to see if i would donate that pledge before Billy’s arrival to accommodate Ned, a very young, emaciated Asian elephant who was confiscated from circus trainer Lance Ramos for Ramos’ failure to comply with the Animal Welfare Act. Continue reading »
My Speech after Receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at Worldfest- Los Angeles, Ca. May 20, 2012
I am so honored & humbled to be getting this incredible award as I look out and see so many friends out here who have helped me work for the animals. I share this honor with you all & dedicate this award to all of the advocates around the world. We all know that, to paraphrase Scotlund, alone we can do very little but together we can & are accomplishing a lot. I want to thank my dear friend, Scotlund Haisley, for his kind words about me. I can only hope to live up to them. Scotlund is a fairly new friend but he has definitely made me a better activist by working with him and his organization, Animal Rescue Corps. He is an inspiring leader who shows care & concern for all of us (2 & 4 leggers) on his ARC’s mission and has an amazing core team. It consists of Tim Woodward, Michael Cunningham, Elaine Hendricks, Karla Goodson, Chris Hoar and Ady Gil- along with many rescue groups, veterinarians & volunteers throughout this country & Canada. Continue reading »
Timmy and Dylan’s Motherless Day By Helene Goldson, Jungle Friends Volunteer
Animal Rescue Corp., with whom i have done 4 animal rescues within the past year, was called to help a monkey. They took Louie to Jungle Friends where he will live happily with others for the rest of his life. I missed this one but this is what ARC writes about it. Continue reading »
Endangered Wildlife: Where Did All Our Birdie & Beasts Go?
As the world population steadily increases, and the demand for land, water, and natural resources becomes more and more intense, our wildlife is becoming threatened due to loss of habitat, over exploitation, and other human induced factors. Biodiversity is important – not only is it essential to maintaining healthy ecosystems, but humans can actually benefit from many of the species that are being lost, and without them the world is worse off. Plant and animal species are interlinked in an intricate web of life that is finely balanced. This system – or ecosystem, as it is commonly referred to – is made up of various components, some living (biotic components), some non-living (abiotic components), which all function together like clockwork. All species have a role to play in their ecosystem, and when they disappear, the system starts functioning less effectively, often with negative spin offs to other organisms within that ecosystem. Continue reading »
Did You Know My Mother?
By Mary Lynn
Did you know my mother? I’m told her name was Belle. I don’t know what she looked like, but have memories of her smell.
Did you ever hear my mother?…Did her cries pull at your heart?
I remember them quite clearly, when the men pulled us apart.
Did you drink from my mother? Did you ever taste her milk?
Did you feel her face against yours? Was her skin as soft as silk?
THE GREAT APE PROTECTION ACT & COST SAVINGS ACT- H.R. 1513/S. 810- by Physicians Committee For Responsible Medecine
We have an amazing opportunity now to help stop the horrific experiments done on chimpanzees in America with this bill & to send the ones languishing in laboratories to sanctuary. I haven’t posted anything about vivisection, i.e. using animals in scientific experiments, but, as you can guess, I am totally against the use of all animals in experiments, along with many, many others throughout the ages which I will name at the end of this article. We are called “anti-vivisectionists”. We can & should, at least, start with the end of experiments on chimps.Please contact your senators and your representatives and urge their support of this bill. Continue reading »
