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 »

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 »

The China Study & Forks Over Knives

The book, The China Study, came out years ago and proved through extensive years and many studies that a vegan diet was the most healthy. Because it is a rather lengthy scientific book, it was not the kind of reading most people engage in. However, now , a film has been made using this book and other studies to show that the healthiest diet is one free of animals and their by-products. PLEASE see this film. do yourself that favor! And GO VEGAN- for your health, the animals and the planet!

The science is clear. The results are unmistakable.

Change your diet and dramatically reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Respected nutrition and health researcher, Dr. T. Colin Campbell reveals the truth behind special interest groups, government entities and scientists that have taken Americans down a deadly path

Even today, as the low-carb craze sweeps the nation, two-thirds of adults are still obese and children are being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, typically an “adult” disease, at an alarming rate. If we’re eating healthier, why are Americans stricken with heart disease as much as we were 30 years ago?

Drawing on the project findings in rural China, but going far beyond those findings, The China Study details the connection between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Continue reading »

My Trip to Borneo and the Orangutans

In March of this year, my friend and videographer, Sandra Mohr, and I began a journey that would forever change our lives. We set out for Indonesia and the island of Borneo, also known as Kalimantan, with the woman who has made it her life’s mission to save the orangutans, my friend Dr. Birute Galdikas. For over 40 years, Dr. G. has lived with them, she has studied them, she has rescued them and all along, she has been making plans and taking action to try and ensure their very survival. Dr. G., as the locals call her, has conducted the longest continuous study by a scientist of any wild mammal in the world. While she started out as a researcher hoping to learn more about these elusive and mysterious creatures, it quickly became apparent that their very survival as a species was in danger and that something had to be done before they vanished from this earth forever. At that time she founded Orangutan Foundation International – OFI – whose sole mission is to save the orangutans in Borneo. Continue reading »

I AM AN ELEPHANT by Stu Bykofsky

I was not born for your amusement any more than you were born for mine.

If you see me in the zoo, and especially in the circus, which arrived here yesterday, I am not there willingly.

I was kidnapped and carried far, far away from my home and my family. I might have been an adult, but was more likely a baby when captured. Some “brave” hunter might have killed my mother – who could be dangerous – and sold me to a zoo or circus as an orphan. Continue reading »

Watch out for HumaneWatch!

HumaneWatch has recently had full page ads in the LA Times, accusing the Humane Society of the United States of spending less than 1% of their budget on our country’s shelters. But the truth is that HSUS is not responsible for the overpopulation in our shelters nor is their mission to tackle that particular aspect of the problem. However, they do very effective work to reduce the pet overpopulation in other ways. HumaneWatch is anti-animal, anti-human and very pro-business. Too many people are fooled by their name & their confusing ads and I think it is crucial for the animal community to know that THEY ARE OUR ENEMY!  Please pass this knowledge on so none of us are fooled by their ridiculous claims. Continue reading »

A Half Century of Suffering Ends

I was honored to be a part of Animal Rescue Corps. first legal puppy mill raid in Tennessee. We rescued 117 small dogs from horrific conditions and they are now being adopted into loving homes. So many people came to their rescue and ARC and i are extremely grateful. Puppy mills must end and to do that, we all must stop buying our pets! Continue reading »

What’s Wrong With Palm Oil

Having just visited Borneo and the Orangutan Foundation Int’l.’s 330 orphaned orangutans, I am smitten by these beautiful, affectionate, loving primates. We MUST save them and to do this, we must stop using palm oil and end the deforestation that is occurring all over the world so this species, as well as so many others, can survive. I am so impressed with this company, LUSH, and thank them for their strong stance on this. Please urge other companies to do the same. Together, we can and will save them! Continue reading »

MEAT AGGRAVATES WORLD HUNGER

Cornell University Science News

U.S. could feed 800 million people with grain that livestock eat, Cornell ecologist advises animal scientists Future water and energy shortages predicted to change face of American agriculture.

From one ecologist’s perspective, the American system of farming grain-fed livestock consumes resources far out of proportion to the yield, accelerates soil erosion, affects world food supply and will be changing in the future.

“If all the grain currently fed to livestock in the United States were consumed directly by people, the number of people who could be fed would be nearly 800 million,” David Pimentel, professor of ecology in Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, reported at the July 24-26 meeting of the Canadian Society of Animal Science in Montreal. Or, if those grains were exported, it would boost the U.S. trade balance by $80 billion a year, Pimentel estimated. Continue reading »

CRUSH & FUR

I’ve been thinking lately about furs & the activity called “crush”. You see, I don’t think there’s much difference between them but they are seen very differently; one generally accepted in society and the other seen as a gross perversion needing laws to prohibit the viewing of it. Crush is an activity for people with sexual fetishes in which, usually, a woman in very high heels actually crushes to death a kitten, puppy or bunny by crushing her high heels or bare feet into their little bodies. It is videotaped and sold to the public. It is a very sick, disturbing activity and difficult for most of us to understand. Continue reading »